But when they came to Cholerford, 105 There they met with an auld man; Says--"Honest man, will the water ride? Tell us in haste, if that ye can." "I wat weel no," quo' the good auld man; "Here I hae liv'd this threty yeirs and three, 110 And I ne'er yet saw the Tyne sae big, Nor rinning ance sae like a sea." Then up and spake the Laird's saft Wat, The greatest coward in the company-- "Now halt, now halt, we needna try't; 115 The day is com'd we a' maun die!" "Poor faint-hearted thief!" quo' the Laird's ain Jock, "There'll nae man die but he that's fie; I'll lead ye a' right safely through; Lift ye the pris'ner on ahint me." 120 Sae now the water they a' hae tane, By anes and twas they a' swam through; "Here are we a' safe," says the Laird's Jock, "And, poor faint Wat, what think ye now?" They scarce the ither side had won, 125 When twenty men they saw pursue; Frae Newcastle town they had been sent, A' English lads, right good and true. But when the land-sergeant the water saw,[L129] "It winna ride, my lads," quo' he; 130 Then out he cries--"Ye the pris'ner may take, But leave the irons, I pray, to me." "I wat weel no," cry'd the Laird's Jock, "I'll keep them a'; shoon to my mare they'll be: My good grey mare--for I am sure, 135 She's bought them a' fu' dear frae thee." Sae now they're away for Liddisdale, E'en as fast as they cou'd them hie; The pris'ner 's brought to his ain fire-side, And there o's aims they make him free. 140 "Now, Jock, my billie," quo' a' the three, "The day was com'd thou was to die; But thou's as weel at thy ain fire-side, Now sitting, I think, 'tween thee and me." They hae gard fill up ae punch-bowl, 145 And after it they maun hae anither, And thus the night they a' hae spent, Just as they had been brither and brither. 41. Cholerford is a ford on the Tyne, above Hexham.--S. 129. The land-sergeant (mentioned also in _Hobbie Noble_) was an officer under the warden, to whom was committed the apprehending of delinquents, and the care of the public peace.--S. ARCHIE OF CA'FIELD. _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, ii. 116. This is substantially the same story as _Jock o' the Side_. Another version from Motherwell's collection, is subjoined. "Ca'field, or Calfield," says Scott, "is a place in Wauchopdale, belonging of old to the Armstrongs. In the account betwixt the English and Scottish Marches, Jock and Geordie of Ca'field, then called Calf-hill, are repeatedly marked as delinquents. _History of Westmoreland and Cumberland_, vol. i. Introduction, p. 33."