"What dost thou wish for thy nurse, my little daughter?" "The same hell, my nurse. Alas! how I suffer." A point connected with the diffusion of ballads is the extraordinarily wide adoption of certain conventional forms. One of these is the form of testamentary instructions by means of which the plot of a song is worked up to its climax. It reappears in the "Cruel Brother"--which, I suppose, is altogether to be regarded as of the Roland type: "O what would ye leave to your father, dear?" _With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay._ "The milk-white steed that brought me here," _As the primrose spreads so sweetly._ "What would ye give to your mother, dear?" _With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay._ "My wedding shift which I do wear," _As the primrose spreads so sweetly._ "But she must wash it very clean," _With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay_, "For my heart's blood sticks in every seam," _As the primrose spreads so sweetly_. "What would ye give to your sister Anne?" _With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay._ "My gay gold ring and my feathered fan," _As the primrose spreads so sweetly_. "What would ye give to your brother John?" _With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay._ "A rope and a gallows to hang him on!" _As the primrose spreads so sweetly_. "What would ye give to your brother John's wife?" _With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay._ "Grief and sorrow to end her life!" _As the primrose spreads so sweetly_. "What would ye give to your own true lover?" _With a heigh-ho! and a lily gay._ "My dying kiss, and my love for ever!" _As the primrose spreads so sweetly_.