Popular British Ballads, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 2 (of 4)
General
Popular British Ballads, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 2 (of 4)
Ballads, English -- England -- Texts
"But that same weed ye've shaped for me,
It quickly shall be sewed for thee."
(_wald_, choose. _weed_, dress.)
I
Then to the wood they baith are gane;
John Thomson clomb frae tree to tree;
And aye he sighed and said, "Ochone!
Here comes the day that I must die,"
He tied a ribbon on every branch,
Put up a flag his men might see;
But little did his false foes ken
He meant them any injury.
He set his horn unto his mouth,
And he has blawn baith loud and shrill:
And then three thousand armed men
Came tripping all out ower the hill.
"Deliver us our chief," they all did cry;
"It s by our hand that ye must die;" -
"Here is your chief," the Turk replied,
With that fell on his bended knee.
"O mercy, mercy, good fellows all,
Mercy I pray you'll grant to me;"
"Such mercy as ye meant to give,
Such mercy we shall give to thee."
This Turk they in his castle burnt,
That stood upon yon hill so high;
John Thomson's gay lady they took
And hanged her on yon greenwood tree.
LORD DERWENTWATER
|Our King has wrote a lang letter
And sealed it ower with gold;
He sent it to my lord Dunwaters,
To read it if he could.
He has not sent it with a boy, with a boy,
Nor with any Scotch lord;
But hes sent it with the noblest knight
E er Scotland could afford.
The very first line that my lord did read,
He gave a smirkling smile;
Before he had the half of it read,
The tears from his eyes did fall.
"Come saddle to me my horse," he said,
"Come saddle to me with speed;
For I must away to fair London town,
For me there was neer more need."
Out and spoke his lady gay,
In child-bed where she lay:
"I would have you make your will, my lord
Dunwaters,
Before you go away."
"I leave to you, my eldest son,
My houses and my land;
I leave to you, my youngest son,
Ten thousand pounds in hand.
"I leave to you, my lady gay,--
You are my wedded wife,--
I leave to you, the third of my estate,
That'll keep you in a ladys life."
They had not rode a mile but one,
Till his horse fell ower a stane:
"Its a warning good enough," my lord Dunwaters said,
"Alive I'll ne'er come hame."
When they came to fair London town,
Into the courtiers' hall,
The lords and knights in fair London town
Did him a traitor call.
"A traitor! a traitor!" says my lord,
"A traitor! how can that be?
An' it was na for the keeping of five thousand men,
To fight for King Jamie.
"O all you lords and knights in fair London town,
Come out and see me die:
The Twa Magicians s'
181
O all you lords and knights in fair Londo town,
Be kind to my lady.
"Theres fifty pounds in my right pocket,
Divide it to the poor;
There's other fifty in my left pocket,
Divide it from door to door."
THE TWA MAGICIANS
|The lady stands in her bower door,
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account