"O came ye here to hunt or hawk, As ye hae dune before, O? Or came ye here to wiel' your brand, Upo' the braes o' Yarrow?" 20 "I came na here to hunt nor hawk, As I hae dune before, O; But I came here to wiel' my brand, Upon the braes o' Yarrow." Four he hurt, and five he slew, 25 Till down it fell himsell, O; There stood a fause lord him behin', Who thrust him thro' body and mell, O. "Gae hame, gae hame, my brother John, And tell your sister sorrow; 30 Your mother to come take up her son, Aff o' the braes o' Yarrow." As he gaed ower yon high, high hill, As he had dune before, O; There he met his sister dear, 35 Came rinnin fast to Yarrow. "I dreamt a dream last night," she says, "I wish it binna sorrow; I dreamt I was pu'ing the heather green,[L39] Upo' the braes o' Yarrow." 40 "I'll read your dream, sister," he says, "I'll read it into sorrow; Ye're bidden gae take up your love, He's sleeping sound on Yarrow." She's torn the ribbons frae her head, 45 They were baith thick and narrow; She's kilted up her green claithing, And she's awa' to Yarrow. She's taen him in her arms twa, And gien him kisses thorough, 50 And wi' her tears she bath'd his wounds, Upo' the braes o' Yarrow. Her father looking ower his castle wa', Beheld his daughter's sorrow; "O had your tongue, daughter," he says, 55 "And let be a' your sorrow, I'll wed you wi' a better lord, Than he that died on Yarrow." "O had your tongue, father," she says, "And let be till to-morrow; 60 A better lord there cou'dna be Than he that died on Yarrow." She kiss'd his lips, and comb'd his hair, As she had dune before, O; Then wi' a crack her heart did brack, 65 Upon the braes o' Yarrow. 39. To dream of any thing green is regarded in Scotland as unlucky. SIR JAMES THE ROSE. Pinkerton first published this piece in his _Scottish Tragic Ballads_, p. 61. In a note, it is said to have been taken "from a modern edition in one sheet, 12mo. after the old copy." Motherwell gives another version "as it occurs in early stall prints," (_Minstrelsy_, p. 321,) and suspects a few conjectural emendations in Pinkerton's text. The passage from v. 51 to v. 59 is apparently defective, and has, probably, been tampered with; but Pinkerton's copy is on the whole much better than Motherwell's, or than Whitelaw's, (_Scottish Ballads_, 39,) which professes to be given chiefly from oral recitations.