"The first vile thing that e're I did, I will to you unfold; Earl Marshal had my maidenhead, Beneath this cloth of gold." 40 "That's a vile sin," then said the King; "God may forgive it thee!" "Amen, amen!" quoth Earl Marshal; With a heavy heart spoke he. "The next vile thing that e're I did, 45 To you I'll not deny; I made a box of poyson strong, To poyson King Henry." "That's a vile sin," then said the King, "God may forgive it thee!" 50 "Amen, amen!" quoth Earl Marshal; "And I wish it so may be." "The next vile thing that e're I did, To you I will discover; I poysoned fair Rosamond, 55 All in fair Woodstock bow'r." "That's a vile sin," then said the King; "God may forgive it thee!" "Amen, amen!" quoth Earl Marshal; "And I wish it so may be." 60 "Do you see yonder's [a] little boy, A tossing of the ball? That is Earl Marshal's eldest son, I love him the best of all. "Do you see yonder's [a] little boy, 65 A catching of the ball? That is King Henry's son," she said; "I love him the worst of all. "His head is like unto a bull, His nose is like a boar,"-- 70 "No matter for that," King Henry cry'd, "I love him the better therefore." The king pull'd off his fryar's coat, And appeared all in red; She shriek'd, she cry'd, and wrung her hands, 75 And said she was betray'd. The King look'd over his left shoulder, And a grim look looked he; And said, "Earl Marshal, but for my oath, Or hanged shouldst thou be." 80 From Kinloch's _Ancient Scottish Ballads_, 247. The Queen fell sick, and very, very sick, She was sick, and like to dee, And she sent for a friar oure frae France, Her c['o]nfessour to be. King Henry, when he heard o' that, 5 An angry man was he; And he sent to the Earl Marshall, Attendance for to gie. "The Queen is sick," King Henry cried, "And wants to be beshriven; 10 She has sent for a friar oure frae France; By the rude, he were better in heaven! "But tak you now a friar's guise, The voice and gesture feign, And when she has the pardon crav'd, 15 Respond to her, Amen! "And I will be a prelate old, And sit in a corner dark, To hear the adventures of my spouse, My spouse, and her holy spark." 20