He’s louted him o’er the lofty crag, And he has given her kisses three; Awa she gaed, and again she cam, The loveliest ladye e’er could be! The same subject is found in the ballads of other countries. In the Danish _Jomfruen i ormeham_ the young maiden has been changed into a little snake, compelled to wriggle in the grass. However, the knight Jennus comes: It was the brave knight Jennus; Forth to the greenwood he hies. As o’er the grass he rideth, A little snake he espies. It was the brave knight Jennus; Over his saddle he lay. He kissed the little serpent; A maiden it turned straightway. It was the brave knight Jennus; Troth to the maid he did plight. He bade them keep his wedding For both with much delight. W. F. H. In another ballad the maiden has been turned by her stepmother into a lime-tree, and makes her moan: She changed me into a lime-tree, and She bade me e’en in the greenwood stand. She bade me stand and hope for no bote, Until a king’s son should kiss my root. Here have I tarried for years full five, Nor kissed me has any king’s son alive. Here have I tarried for years now ten, Nor has a king’s son kissed me since then. W. F. H. But at last the hour of her freedom arrives; the king’s daughter has heard the lime-tree’s lamentation, and she sends a message to her brother, who comes at once: He hoisted his silken sail of red, And o’er the salt sea on he sped. The knight on his back a red cloak threw, And fared to the lime-tree without ado. He kissed himself the lime-tree’s feet, Which straight became a maiden sweet. W. F. H.