"O is it to a man o' might, Janet? 25 Or is it till a man that's mean? Or is it to one of my poor soldiers, That I've brought hame frae Spain?" "It's not till a man o' might," she says, "Nor yet to a man that's mean; 30 But it is to Thomas o' Winesberry, That cannot langer len'." "O where are all my wall-wight men, That I pay meat and fee; That will gae for him, true Thomas, 35 And bring him here to me? For the morn, ere I eat or drink, High hanged shall he be." She's turn'd her right and round about, The tear blindet her e'e; 40 "If ye do any ill to true Thomas, Ye'se never get guid o' me." When Thomas came before the king, He glanced like the fire; His hair was like the threads o' gowd, 45 His eyes like crystal clear. "It was nae wonder, my daughter, Janet, Altho' ye loved this man; If he were a woman, as he is a man, My bed-fellow he would been. 50 "O will ye marry my daughter Janet? The truth's in your right hand; Ye'se hae some o' my gowd, and some o' my gear, And the twalt part o' my land." "It's I will marry your daughter Janet; 55 The truth's in my right hand; I'll hae nane o' your gowd, nor nane o' your gear, I've enough in my own land. "But I will marry your daughter Janet, With thirty ploughs and three, 60 And four an' twenty bonny breast-mills, All on the water of Dee. LADY ELSPAT. Jamieson's _Popular Ballads_, ii. 191. From the recitation of Mrs. Brown. "How brent's your brow, my Lady Elspat? How gouden yellow is your hair? O' a' the maids o' fair Scotland, There's nane like Lady Elspat fair." "Perform your vows, sweet William," she says, 5 "The vows which ye ha' made to me; And at the back o' my mither's castell, This night I'll surely meet wi' thee." But wae be to her brother's page, That heard the words thir twa did say; 10 He's tald them to her lady mither, Wha wrought sweet William mickle wae. For she has ta'en him, sweet William, And she's gar'd bind him wi' his bow string, Till the red bluid o' his fair body 15 Frae ilka nail o' his hand did spring. O it fell ance upon a time That the Lord-justice came to town; Out has she ta'en him, sweet William, Brought him before the Lord-justice boun'. 20 "And what is the crime, now, lady," he says, "That has by this young man been dane?" "O he has broken my bonny castell, That was weel biggit wi' lime and stane.