And do you stand a little forbye, And listen weel what she shall say." [He did him to the market-place, And there he bought a loaf o' wax; He shaped it bairn and bairnly like, And in twa glazen een he pat; He did him till his mother then, And bade her to his boy's christening; And he did stand a little forbye, And noticed well what she did say. "O wha has loosed the nine witch knots, That was amang that lady's locks? And wha's ta'en out the kaims o' care, That hang amang that lady's hair? "And wha's ta'en down the bush o' woodbine, That hung between her bower and mine? And wha has kill'd the master kid, That ran beneath that lady's bed? And wha has loosed her left foot shee, And letten that lady lighter be?" O, Willy's loosed the nine witch knots, That was amang that lady's locks; And Willy's ta'en out the kaims o' care, That hang amang that lady's hair; (_shee_, shoe.) The Dæmon Lover ss' 17 And Willy's ta'en down the bush o' woodbine, Hung atween her bower and thine And Willy has kill'd the master kid, That ran beneath that lady's bed; And Willy has loosed her left foot shee, And letten his lady lighter be; And now he's gotten a bonny young son, And mickle grace be him upon. THE DÆMON LOVER [[Illustration: 9052] |O where have you been, my long, long love, This long seven years and more?"-- "O I'm come to seek my former vows Ye granted me before."-- "O hold your tongue of your former vows, For they will breed sad strife; O hold your tongue of your former vows, For I am become a wife." He turn'd him right and round about, And the tear blinded his ee; "I wad never hae trodden on Irish ground, If it had not been for thee. "I might hae had a king's daughter, Far, far beyond the sea; I might have had a king's daughter, Had it not been for love o' thee."-- "If ye might have had a king's daughter, Yoursel' ye had to blame; Ye might have taken the king's daughter, For ye kenned that I was nane."-- ["O false are the vows of womankind, But fair is their false bodie; I never wad hae trodden on Irish ground, Had it not been for love o' thee."--] "If I was to leave my husband dear, And my two babes also, O what have you to take me to, If with you I should go?"-- "I hae seven ships upon the sea, The eighth brought me to land; With four-and-twenty bold mariners, And music on every hand." She has taken up her two little babes, Kiss'd them baith cheek and chin; "O fair ye weel, my ain two babes, For I'll never see you again." She set her foot upon the ship, No mariners could she behold; But the sails were o' the taffety, And the masts o' the beaten gold. She had not sail'd a league, a league, A league but barely three, When dismal grew his countenance, And drumlie grew his ee. [The masts that were like the beaten gold,