Ballads, English -- England -- Texts; Ballads, Scots -- Scotland -- Texts
When they had other fifty sayld, 205
Other fifty mile upon the sea,
Lord Percy called to Douglas himselfe,
Sayd, "What wilt thou nowe doe with mee?"
"Looke that your brydle be wight, my lord,
And your horse goe swift as shipp att sea; 210
Looke that your spurres be bright and sharpe,
That you may pricke her while shee'll away."
"What needeth this, Douglas?" he sayth;
"What needest thou to flyte with mee?
For I was counted a horseman good 215
Before that ever I mett with thee.
"A false Hector hath my horse,
Who dealt with mee so treacherouslìe;
A false Armstrong hath my spurres,
And all the geere belongs to mee." 220
When they had sayled other fifty mile,
Other fifty mile upon the sea,
They landed low by Berwicke side,
A deputed laird landed Lord Percye.[L224]
Then he at Yorke was doomde to die, 225
It was, alas! a sorrowful sight;
Thus they betrayed that noble earle,
Who ever was a gallant wight.
59. Of the Earl of Morton, the Regent.--P.
78. i. e. Lake of Leven, which hath communication with the sea.
Edinburgh was at that time in the hands of the opposite faction.--P.
119. The Lord Warden of the East Marches.--P.
123. Governor of Berwick.--P.
139. Warden of the Middle-march.--P.
224. fol. MS. reads _land_, and has not the following stanza.
KING OF SCOTS AND ANDREW BROWNE.
From _Reliques of English Poetry_, ii. 217.
"This ballad is a proof of the little intercourse that subsisted
between the Scots and English, before the accession of James I. to the
crown of England. The tale which is here so circumstantially related,
does not appear to have had the least foundation in history, but was
probably built upon some confused hearsay report of the tumults in
Scotland during the minority of that prince, and of the conspiracies
formed by different factions to get possession of his person. It
should seem from ver. 97 to have been written during the regency, or
at least before the death, of the Earl of Morton, who was condemned
and executed June 2, 1581; when James was in his fifteenth year.
"The original copy (preserved in the archives of the Antiquarian
Society, London,) is entitled, _A new ballad, declaring the great
treason conspired against the young king of Scots, and how one Andrew
Browne, an English-man, which was the king's chamberlaine, prevented
the same. To the tune of Milfield, or els to Green-sleeves_. At the
end is subjoined the name of the author, W. Elderton. 'Imprinted at
London for Yarathe James, dwelling in Newgate Market, over against Ch.
Church,' in black-letter folio."--PERCY.
This ballad was licensed to James on the 30th of May, 1581.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account