He's ta'en a lock o' her yellow hair, _Hey wi' the gay and the grinding_; And made a string to his fiddle there, _At the bonny, bonny bows o' London_. He's taen a lith o' her little finger bane, 65 _Hey wi' the gay and the grinding_; And he's made a pin to his fiddle then, _At the bonny, bonny bows o' London_. The firstand spring the fiddle did play, _Hey wi' the gay and the grinding_; 70 Said, "Ye'll drown my sister, as she's dune me." _At the bonny, bonny bows o' London_. I. THE CROODLIN DOO. See _Lord Donald_, p. 244. From Chambers's _Scottish Ballads_, p. 324. Other copies in _The Scot's Musical Museum_, (1853,) vol. iv. 364*, and Buchan's _Ballads of the North of Scotland_, ii. 179. "O whaur hae ye been a' the day, My little wee croodlin doo?" "O I've been at my grandmother's; Mak my bed, mammie, noo." "O what gat ye at your grandmother's, 5 My little wee croodlin doo?" "I got a bonnie wee fishie; Mak my bed, mammie, noo." "O whaur did she catch the fishie, My bonnie wee croodlin doo?" 10 "She catch'd it in the gutter-hole; Mak my bed, mammie, noo." "And what did she do wi' the fish, My little wee croodlin doo?" "She boiled it in a brass pan; 15 O mak my bed, mammie, noo." "And what did ye do wi' the banes o't, My bonnie wee croodlin doo?" "I gied them to my little dog; Mak my bed, mammie, noo," 20 "And what did your little doggie do, My bonnie wee croodlin doo?" "He stretch'd out his head, his feet, and dee'd, And so will I, mammie, noo!" II. THE SNAKE-COOK. From oral tradition, in Erk's _Deutscher Leiderhort_, p. 6. Our homely translation is, as far as possible, word for word. Other German versions are _The Stepmother_, at p. 5 of the same collection, (or Uhland, i. 272,) and _Grandmother Adder-cook_, at p. 7. The last is translated by Jamieson, _Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_, p. 320. "Where hast thou been away so long, Henry, my dearest son?" "O I have been at my true-love's, Lady mother, ah me! _My young life, 5 She has poisoned for me_." "What gave she thee to eat, Henry, my dearest son?" "She cooked me a speckled fish, Lady mother, ah me!" &c. 10 "And how many pieces cut she thee, Henry my dearest son?" "She cut three little pieces from it, Lady mother, ah me!" &c. "Where left she then the third piece, 15 Henry, my dearest son?" "She gave it to her dark-brown dog, Lady mother, ah me!" &c.