For they are so seemly to see. "Your son, for he is tender of age, Of my wine-cellar shall he be, And when he cometh to man's estate, Better avaunced shall he be. "And, William, bring me your wife," saidthe queen, "Me longeth her sore to see; She shall be my chief gentlewoman, To govern my nursery." (_fay_, faith. _Over God's forbode_, on God's prohibition, i.e. God forbid.) The yeomen thanketh them full courteously, And said, "To some bishop will we wend, Of all the sins that we have done To be assoiled at his hand." So forth be gone these good yeomen, As fast as they might hie, And after came and dwelled with the king, And died good men all three. Thus endeth the lives of these good yeomen, God send them eternal bliss, And all that with hand bow shooteth, That of heaven may never miss. (_assoiled_, absolved.) [Illustration: 00189] THE BRAVE EARL BRAND [Illustration: 0190] |O did you ever hear o' brave Earl Bran? Ay lally, o lilly lally! He courted the king's daughter of fair England, All i' the night sae early. She was scarcely fifteen years of age, Till sae boldly she came to his bed-side. "O, Earl Bran, fain wad I see A pack of hounds let loose on the lea." "O lady, I have no steeds but one, And thou shalt ride, and I will run." "O Earl Bran, my father has two, And thou shalt have the best of them a'." They have ridden o'er moss and moor, And they met neither rich nor poor, Until they met with old Carl Hood, He comes for ill, but never for good. "Earl Bran, if ye love me, Seize this old carl, and gar him die." "O lady fair, it wad be sair, To slay an old man that has grey hair. "O lady fair, I'll no do sae, I'll gie him a pound, and let him gae." "O where hae ye ridden this lee lang day, And where hae ye stolen this lady away?" "I have not ridden this lee lang day, Nor yet have I stolen this lady away. "She is my only, my sick sister, Whom I have brought from Winchester." "If she be sick, and like to dead, Why wears she the ribbon sae red? "If she be sick, and like to die, Then why wears she the gold on high?" Then he came to this lady's gate, Sae rudely as he rapped at it. "O where's the lady of this ha'?" "She's out with her maids to play at the ba'." "Ha, ha, ha! ye are a' mista'en; Gae count your maidens o'er again. "I saw her far beyond the moor, Away to be the Earl o' Bran's whore." The father armed fifteen of his best men, To bring his daughter back again. [Illustration: 0192] O'er her left shoulder the lady looked then; "O Earl Bran, we both are ta'en." "If they come on me ane by ane, You may stand by and see them slain." "But if they come on me one and all, You may stand by and see me fall." They have come on him ane by ane, And he has killed them all but ane. And that ane came behind his back, And he's gi en him a deadly whack.