66

"O open, open, my true love,
O open, and let me in!"-
"I darena open, young Benjie,

My three brothers are within."

"Ye lied, ye lied, ye bonny burd,
Sae loud's I hear ye lie;
As I came by the Lowden banks,
They bade gude e'en to me.

"But fare ye weel, my ae fause love,
That I have loved sae lang!
It sets ye chuse another love,

And let young Benjie gang."-
Then Marjorie turn'd her round about,
The tear blinding her ee,—
"I darena, darena let thee in,
But I'll come down to thee."-

Then saft she smiled, and said to him,
"O what ill hae I done?"-

He took her in his armis twa,

And threw her o'er the linn.

The stream was strang, the maid was stout, And laith laith to be dang,"

But, ere she wan the Lowden banks,

Her fair colour was wan.

Then up bespak her eldest brother,

"O see na ye what I see?"And out then spak her second brother, "It's our sister Marjorie !"

Out then spak her eldest brother, "O how shall we her ken ?"And out then spak her youngest brother, "There's a honey mark on her chin."Then they've ta'en up the comely corpse, And laid it on the ground"O wha has killed our ae sister, And how can he be found?

"The night it is her low lykewake,

The morn her burial day,

And we maun watch at mirk midnight,
And hear what she will say.”-

Wi' doors ajar, and candle light,
And torches burning clear,

The streikit corpse, till still midnight,
They waked, but naething hear.

About the middle o' the night,
The cocks began to craw;

Sets ye-Becomes you-ironical.

2 Dang-Defeated.

3 Scug-Shelter, or expiate.

4 [Mr. Motherwell has received, from recitation in the west of

Scotland, a fuller, and less poetical, copy of this piece

"She leaned her back unto a thorn,

And there she has her two babes born.
She took frae 'bout her ribbon belt,
And there she bound them band and foot.
She has ta'en out her wee penknife,

And at the dead hour o' the night,

The corpse began to thraw. "O whae has done the wrang, sister, Or dared the deadly sin?

Whae was sae stout, and fear'd nae dout, As thraw ye o'er the linn ?""Young Benjie was the first ae man

I laid my love upon;

He was sae stout, and proud-hearted,
He threw me o'er the linn."—
"Sall we young Benjie head, sister,
Sall we young Benjie hang,
Or sall we pike out his twa gray een,
And punish him ere he gang?"—
"Ye maunna Benjie head, brothers,
Ye maunna Benjie hang,

But ye maun pike out his twa gray een,
And punish him ere he gang.

"Tie a green gravat round his neck,

And lead him out and in,

And the best ae servant about your house To wait young Benjie on.

"And aye, at every seven years' end,

Ye'll tak him to the linn;

For that's the penance he maun dree,

This ballad was communicated to me by Mr. Kirkpatrick Sharp of Hoddom, who mentions having copied it from an old magazine. Although it has probably received some modern corrections, the general turn seems to be ancient, and corresponds with that of a fragment, containing the following verses, which I have often heard sung in my childhood :—

"She set her back against a thorn,

And there she has her young son born;

'O smile nae sae, my bonny babe!

An ye smile sae sweet, ye'll smile me dead.'—

nals of popular superstition. It is, for example, currently believed in Ettrick Forest, that a libertine, who had destroyed fifty-six inhabited houses, in order to throw the possessions of the cottagers into his estate, and who added, to this injury, that of seducing their daughters, was wont to commit to a carrier in the neighbourhood the care of his illegitimate children, shortly after they were born. His emissary regularly carried them away, but they were never again heard of. The unjust and cruel gains of the profligate laird were dissipated by his extravagance, and the ruins of his house seem to bear witness to the truth of the rhythmical prophecies denounced against it, and still current among the peasantry. He himself died an untimely death; but the agent of his amours and crimes survived to extreme old age. When on his death-bed, he seemed much oppressed in mind, and sent for a clergyman to speak peace to his departing spirit: but, before the messenger returned, the man was in his last agony; and the terrified assistants had fled from his cottage, unanimously averring, that the wailing of murdered infants had ascended from behind his couch, and mingled with the groans of the departing sinner.

LADY ANNE.

Fair Lady Anne sate in her bower,

Down by the greenwood side,

And the flowers did spring, and the birds did sing, 'Twas the pleasant May-day tide.

But fair Lady Anne on Sir William call'd,
With the tear grit in her ee,

"O though thou be fause, may Heaven thee guard, In the wars ayont the sea!"

Out of the wood came three bonnie boys,

Upon the simmer's morn,

And they did sing and play at the ba',

As naked as they were born.

"O seven lang years wad I sit here,

Amang the frost and snaw,

A' to hae but ane o' these bonnie boys,
A playing at the ba'."-

Then up and spake the eldest boy,
"Now listen, thou fair ladie,
And ponder well the rede that I tell,

Then make ye a choice of the three.

""Tis I am Peter, and this is Paul,

And that ane, sae fair to see,

But a twelve-month sinsyne to paradise came,
To join with our companie."-

"OI will hae the snaw-white boy,

1 Propine-Usually gift, but here the power of giving or bestowing. * [See this ballad, post.]

3 Smit--Clashing noise, from smite-hence also (perhaps) Smith and Smithy.

The bonniest of the three.""And if I were thine, and in thy propine,' O what wad ye do to me?"

""Tis I wad clead thee in silk and gowd,

And nourice thee on my knee.""O mither! mither! when I was thine, Sic kindness I couldna see.

"Beneath the turf, where now I stand, The fause nurse buried me;

The cruel penknife sticks still in my heart, And I come not back to thee."

*

LORD WILLIAM.

This ballad was communicated to me by Mr. James Hogg; and, although it bears a strong resemblance to that of Earl Richard,' so strong, indeed, as to warrant a supposition that the one has been derived from the other, yet its intrinsic merit seems to warrant its insertion. Mr. Hogg has added the following note, which, in the course of my enquiries, I have found amply corroborated :

"I am fully convinced of the antiquity of this song; for, although much of the language seems somewhat modernized, this must be attributed to its currency, being much liked, and very much sung in this neighbourhood. I can trace it back several generations, but cannot hear of its ever having been in print. I have never heard it with any considerable variation, save that one reciter called the dwelling of the feigned sweetheart, Castleswa."

Lord William was the bravest knight

That dwalt in fair Scotland,

And though renown'd in France and Spain, Fell by a ladie's hand.

As she was walking maid alone,

Down by yon shady wood,
She heard a smit 3 o' bridle reins,
She wish'd might be for good.
"Come to my arms, my dear Willie,
You're welcome hame to me;
To best o' cheer and charcoal red,
And candle burning free."-

"I winna light, I darena light,
Nor come to your arms at a';
A fairer maid than ten o' you
I'll meet at Castle-law."-

"A fairer maid than me, Willie !
A fairer maid than me!

4 Charcoal red-This circumstance marks the antiquity of the poem. While wood was plenty in Scotland, charcoal was the usual fuel in the chambers of the wealthy.

A fairer maid than ten o' me
Your eyes did never see.”-

He louted ower his saddle lap,
To kiss her ere they part,
And wi' a little keen bodkin,

She pierced him to the heart.

"Ride on, ride on, Lord William now, As fast as ye can dree!

Your bonny lass at Castle-law

Will weary you to see."

Out up then spake a bonny bird,

Sat high upon a tree,—

"How could you kill that noble lord?

He came to marry thee."—

"Come down, come down, my bonny bird, And eat bread aff my hand!

Your cage shall be of wiry goud,

Whar now it's but the wand."-
"Keep ye your cage o' goud, lady,
And I will keep my tree;
As ye hae done to Lord William,
Sae wad ye do to me."-

She set her foot on her door step,
A bonny marble stane ;

And carried him to her chamber,
O'er him to make her mane.

And she has kept that good lord's corpse
Three quarters of a year,

Until that word began to spread,

Then she began to fear.

Then she cried on her waiting maid,

Aye ready at her ca';
"There is a knight into my bower,
"Tis time he were awa."-

The ane has ta'en him by the head,
The ither by the feet,

And thrown him in the wan water,
That ran baith wide and deep.

"Look back, look back, now, lady fair,
On him that lo'ed ye weel!

A better man than that blue corpse
Ne'er drew a sword of steel."

A more sanguine antiquary than the Editor might perhaps endeavour to identify this poem, which is of undoubted antiquity, with the "Broom Broom on Hill," mentioned by Lane, in his Progress of Queen Elizabeth into Warwickshire, as forming part of Captain Cox's collection, so much envied by the blackletter antiquaries of the present day.-DUGDALE'S Warwickshire, p. 166. The same ballad is quoted by one of the personages, in a very merry and pythie comedie," called, "The longer thou livest, the more Fool thou art." See Ritson's Dissertation prefixed to Ancient Songs, p. lx. "Brume brume on hill" is also mentioned in the Complaynt of Scotland. See Leyden's edition, p. 100.

THE BROOMFIELD HILL.

There was a knight and a lady bright
Had a true tryst at the broom;
The ane ga'ed early in the morning,

The other in the afternoon.

And aye she sat in her mother's bower door,
And aye she made her mane,

"O whether should I gang to the Broomfield hill, Or should I stay at hame?

"For if I gang to the Broomfield hill,

My maidenhead is gone;

And if I chance to stay at hame,

My love will ca' me mansworn."Up then spake a witch woman,

Aye from the room aboon; "O, ye may gang to Broomfield hill, And yet come maiden hame.

"For when ye come to the Broomfield hill, Ye'll find your love asleep,

With a silver belt about his head,

And a broom-cow 3 at his feet.
"Take ye the blossom of the broom;
The blossom it smells sweet,
And strew it at your true love's head,
And likewise at his feet.

"Take ye the rings off your fingers,
Put them on his right hand,
To let him know, when he doth awake,
His love was at his command."-

She pu'd the broom flower on Hive-hill,
And strew'd on's white hals bane, 4
And that was to be wittering true,
That maiden she had gane.

"O where were ye, my milk-white steed,
That I hae coft' sae dear,
That wadna watch and waken me,
When there was maiden here?"-

5 Coft-Bought. From the same root, are the old English cheap, i. e. market; German, Kauffman, i. e. merchant; Kopenhagen, the merchant's haven, etc. etc.

"I stamped wi' my foot, master,

And gar'd my bridle ring;
But nae kin' thing wald waken ye,
Till she was past and gane."-

"And wae betide ye, my gay goss hawk,
That I did love sae dear,

That wadna watch and waken me,
When there was maiden here."-

"I clapped wi' my wings, master,
And aye my bells I rang,

And aye cry'd, Waken, waken, master,
Before the ladye gang."-

"But haste and haste, my gude white steed,
To come the maiden till,
Or a' the birds of gude green-wood

Of your flesh shall have their fill.”—

"Ye needna burst your gude white steed,
Wi' racing o'er the howm;'
Nae bird flies faster through the wood,
Than she fled through the broom."

PROUD LADY MARGARET.

This ballad was communicated to the Editor by MR. HAMILTON, Music-seller, Edinburgh, with whose mother it had been a favorite. Two verses and one line were wanting, which are here supplied from a different Ballad, having a plot somewhat similar. These verses are the 6th and 9th.

'Twas on a night, an evening bright, When the dew began to fa',

Lady Margaret was walking up and down,
Looking o'er her castle wa'.

She looked east, and she looked west,
To see what she could spy,
When a gallant knight came in her sight,
And to the gate drew nigh.

"You seem to be no gentleman,

You wear your boots so wide;

But you seem to be some cunning hunter, You wear the horn so syde."—" "I am no cunning hunter," he said, "Nor ne'er intend to be; But I am come to this castle To seek the love of thee; And if you do not grant me love, This night for thee I'll die.""If you should die for me, sir knight, There's few for you will mane, For mony a better has died for me, Whose graves are growing green.

1 Howm, or holm-a flat ground by a river.

"But ye maun read my riddle," she said,

"And answer me questions three; And but ye read them right," she said, "Gae stretch ye out and die.

"Now what is the flower, the ae first flower, Springs either on moor or dale;

And what is the bird, the bonnie bonnie bird, Sings on the evening gale ?"

"The primrose is the ae first flower

Springs either on moor or dale;
And the thristlecock is the bonniest bird
Sings on the evening gale."—

"But what's the little coin," she said,
"Wald buy my castle bound?
And what's the little boat," she said,
"Can sail the world all round?"-
small pennies
Make thrice three thousand pound?
Or hey, how mony small fishes

"O hey, how mony

Swim a' the salt sea round ?"

"I think ye maun be my match," she said, "My match and something mair, You are the first e'er got the grant Of love frae my father's heir.

"My father was lord of nine castles, My mother lady of three;

My father was lord of nine castles,

And there's nane to heir but me.

"And round about a' thae castles,
You may baith plow and saw,
And on the fifteenth day of May
The meadows they will maw."-

"O hald your tongue, Lady Margaret," he said, "For loud I hear you lie!

Your father was lord of nine castles,

Your mother was lady of three;
Your father was lord of nine castles,
But ye fa' heir to but three.
"And round about a' thae castles,

You may baith plow and saw,
But on the fifteenth day of May
The meadows will not maw.

"I am your brother Willie," he said,
"I trow ye ken na me;

I came to humble your haughty heart,
Has gar'd sae monie die."-

"If ye be my brother Willie," she said,
"As I trow weel ye be,

This night I'll neither eat nor drink,

But gae alang wi' thee."

"O hald your tongue, Lady Margaret," he said, Again I hear you lie!

66

3

The hills were high on ilka side,
An' the bought i' the lirk o' the hill,
And aye, as she sang, her voice it rang,
Out o'er the head o' yon hill.

There was a troop o' gentlemen

Came riding merrilie by,

And one of them has rode out o' the way, To the bought to the bonny may. "Well may ye save an' see, bonny lass, An' weel may ye save an' see.""An' sae wi' you, ye weel-bred knight, And what's your will wi' me?""The night is misty and mirk, fair may, And I have ridden astray,

And will you be so kind, fair may,

As come out and point my way? ""Ride out, ride out, ye ramp rider!

Your steed's baith stout and strang;
For out of the bought I dare na come,
For fear 'at ye do me wrang."-
"O winna ye pity me, bonny lass,

■ Unwashen hands and unwashen feet-Alluding to the custom of washing and dressing dead bodies.

2 [In Mr. Buchan's Collection, vol. i. p. 51, there is a northcountry edition of this ballad, under the title of "The Courteous Knight." His is, as usual, a coarse and vulgar version; but it contains many more stanzas than that in the text; and the knight's farewell speech runs into an edifying lecture on his sister's vanity of dress e. g.

"My body's buried in Dumfermline,

O winna ye pity me?

An' winna ye pity my poor steed, Stands trembling at yon tree?""I wadna pity your poor steed,

Though it were tied to a thorn;
For if ye wad gain my love the night,
Ye wad slight me ere the morn.

"For I ken you by your weel-busket hat,
And your merrie twinkling ee,
That ye're the Laird o' the Oakland hills,
An' ye may weel seem for to be.”-

"But I am not the Laird o' the Oakland hills, Ye're far mista'en o' me;

But I'm ane o' the men about his house,
An' right aft in his companie."-
He's ta'en her by the middle jimp,

And by the grass-green sleeve;
He's lifted her over the fauld-dyke,

And speer'd at her sma' leave. O he's ta'en out a purse o' gowd,

And streek'd her yellow hair,
"Now, take ye that, my bonny may,
Of me till you hear mair.”—

O he's leapt on his berry-brown steed,
An' soon he's o'erta'en his men;
And ane and a' cried out to him,

"O master, ye've tarry'd lang!"—
"OI hae been east, and I hae been west,
An' I hae been far o'er the knowes,
But the bonniest lass that ever I saw
Is i' the bought, milking the ewes."-
She set the cog 4 upon her head,

An' she's gane singing hame"O where hae ye been, my ae daughter? Ye hae na been your lane.'

"O naebody was wi' me, father,

O naebody has been wi' me;
The night is misty and mirk, father,

Yee may gang to the door and see. "But wae be to your ewe-herd, father, And an ill deed may he die;

He bug' the bought at the back o' the knowe, And a tod has frighted me.

"There came a tod to the bought door,

The like I never saw;

And ere he had ta'en the lamb he did,
I had lourd he had ta'en them a'."-

And far beyont the sea,

But day nor night nae rest could get
All for the pride o' thee:

"When ye are in the gude kirk set,
The gowd pins in your hair,

Ye tak mair delight in your feckless dress

Than ye do in the morning prayer," etc.-ED.

3 Lirk-Hollow.-4 Cog-Milking-pail.-5 Bug-Built. 6 Tod-Fox.-7 Lourd-Liefer.