"Vergris is greener than the grass; Heaven's hicher than the trees; The deil's warse nor a woman's wish; Hell's deeper than the seas; 100 The cock craws first; on cedar top The dew down first doth fa'; And we'll lie baith in ae bed, And ye'se lie neist the wa'." "O haud your tongue, young man," she says, 105 "And gi'e your fleechin' o'er, Unless you'll find me ferlies, And that is ferlies four; Ferlies four ye maun find me, And that is twa and twa; 110 Or I'll never lie in your bed, Either at stock or wa'. "And ye maun get to me a plumb That in December grew; And get to me a silk mantel, 115 That waft was ne'er ca'd thro'; A sparrow's horn; a priest unborn, This night to join us twa; Or I'll nae lie in your bed, Either at stock or wa'." 120 "My father he has winter fruit That in December grew; My mither has an Indian gown, That waft was ne'er ca'd thro'; A sparrow's horn is quickly found; 125 There's ane on every claw; There's ane upon the neb o' him; Perhaps there may be twa. "The priest he's standing at the door, Just ready to come in; 130 Nae man can say that he was born, To lie it were a sin; A wild bore tore his mither's side, He out o' it did fa'; Then we'll baith lie in ae bed, 135 And thou's lie neist the wa'." Little kend Girzy Sinclair That morning whan she raise, That this wad be the hindermaist O' a' her maiden days; 140 But now there's nae within the realm, I think, a blyther twa; And they baith lie in ae bed, And she lies neist the wa'. 78. The peasants in Scotland say that the dove that was sent out of the Ark by Noah flew till she burst her gall, and that no dove since that time ever had a gall. J. LAY THE BENT TO THE BONNY BROOM. From Durfey's _Pills to Purge Melancholy_, iv. 129, with the title _A Riddle wittily expounded_. The same in Jamieson's _Popular Ballads_, ii. 155, and in The Borderer's Table Book, vii. 83. A fragment of this ballad, called _The Three Sisters_, is printed in Gilbert's _Ancient Christmas Carols_, (2d ed.) p. 65, and has a different burden. It begins There were three sisters fair and bright, _Jennifer gentle and Rosemaree_, And they three loved one valiant knight, _As the dew flies over the mulberry tree_. * * * * * There was a lady in the North-country, _Lay the bent to the bonny broom_, And she had lovely daughters three, _Fa, la la la, fa, la la la ra re_.