6 ‘My merry men, they are all gone out, An they will not be in till dine; So, if you would my favour gain, Come up an taste a glass of wine.’ 7 The fair maid tripped up the stair, The old wife bolted the door behind; He’s tane her in his arms twa, Says, O but ye are a bonny thing! 8 Twenty times he kissed her cheek, An twenty times her bonny chin, An twenty times her ruby lips: ‘O but ye are a bonny thing!’ * * * * * * * * 9 ‘Noo, since ye’ve got your wills o me, What is your name, I pray you tell; . . . . . . . . . . . . where you dwell.’ 10 . . . . . . . . ‘My eldest brother, he heirs the land; I was forced to be a highwayman, Or else a soldier, as I am.’ 11 An aye the lassie she sat an grat, An aye thae words spak them atween, An aye the lassie she sat an grat, And cursed the auld wife that brocht her in. 12 They had na been in Edinburgh A month, a month but only nine, When they have got the royal commission For to march to Aberdeen. 13 An aye the lassie she sat an grat, An aye thae words spak them atween, An aye the lassie she sat an grat, And cursed the auld wife that brocht her in. 14 They had na been in Aberdeen A month, a month but only one, When he got on the captain’s coat, An made her lady o his land. 15 An aye the lassie she sat an sang, An aye thae words spak them atween, An aye the lassie she sat an sang, An hersed the auld wife that brocht her in. * * * * * =A.= 1^4. _Qy_, gade? 3^1. _Written_ and af pint gold, _with_ pint _struck out (anticipation of the next line)_. 5^4. now come. =B.= _Motherwell, Minstrelsy_, p. xci, _supplies, from a recited version, after 15:_ Aye she sat, and aye she grat, And kaimd her yellow hair, And aye she cursd the hostler’s wife, That wysit her in at the door. _And after 16:_ Aye she sat, and aye she sang, And kaimd her yellow hair, And aye she blessd the hostler’s wife, That wysit her in at the door. _Compare_ =D= 13, 15. 291 CHILD OWLET ‘Childe Owlet,’ Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 27; Motherwell’s MS., p. 572. Lady Erskine invites Child Owlet to be her paramour. Child Owlet revolts at the suggestion; he is sister’s son to Lord Ronald. The lady cuts herself with a penknife sufficiently to draw blood; Lord Ronald hears her moaning, comes in, and asks what blood this is; his wife gives him to understand that Child Owlet has offered her violence. A council is held upon the case, and the youth is condemned to be torn by four horses. There was not a twig or a rush on the moor that was not dropping with his blood.