4 'And whatten penance wul ye drie, for that, Edward, Edward? And whatten penance will ye drie for that? My deir son, now tell me O.' 'Ile set my feit in yonder boat, Mither, mither, Ile set my feit in yonder boat, And Ile fare ovir the sea O.' 5 'And what wul ye doe wi your towirs and your ha, Edward, Edward? And what wul ye doe wi your towirs and your ha, That were sae fair to see O?' 'Ile let thame stand tul they doun fa, Mither, mither, Ile let thame stand tul they doun fa, For here nevir mair maun I bee O.' 6 'And what wul ye leive to your bairns and your wife, Edward, Edward? And what wul ye leive to your bairns and your wife, Whan ye gang ovir the sea O?' 'The warldis room, late them beg thrae life, Mither, mither, The warldis room, late them beg thrae life, For thame nevir mair wul I see O.' 7 'And what wul ye leive to your ain mither deir, Edward, Edward? And what wul ye leive to your ain mither deir? My deir son, now tell me O.' 'The curse of hell frae me sall ye beir, Mither, mither, The curse of hell frae me sall ye beir, Sic counseils ye gave to me O.' C MS. of Alexander Laing, 1829, p. 25. 'O what did the fray begin about? My son, come tell to me:' 'It began about the breaking o the bonny hazel wand, And a penny wad hae bought the tree.' * * * * * #A. b.# 1^4. tell to me O. _And so every fourth line._ 7^4. That would never hae been a tree O. 10^4. And she'll never get mair frae me O. 11^3. The weary warld to wander up and down. #B.# _Initial ~qu~ for ~w~ and ~z~ for ~y~ have been changed throughout to ~w~ and ~y~._ 6^7. let. [150] An eager "Englishman" might turn Motherwell's objection to the name into an argument for 'Edward' being an "English" ballad. [151] That is to say, initial _quh_ and _z_ for modern _wh_ and _y_, for nothing else would have excited attention. Perhaps a transcriber thought he ought to give the language a look at least as old as Gavin Douglas, who spells _quhy_, _dois_, _ȝour_. The _quh_ would serve a purpose, if understood as indicating that the aspirate was not to be dropped, as it often is in English _why_. The _z_ is the successor of ȝ, and was meant to be pronounced _y_, as _z_ is, or was, pronounced in _gaberlunzie_ and other Scottish words. See Dr J. A. H. Murray's Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland, pp. 118, 129. Since _quh_ and _z_ serve rather as rocks of offence than landmarks, I have thought it best to use _wh_ and _y_.