On we lap[112], and awa’ we rade, Till we came to yon bonny green; We lighted down to bait our steed, And out there came a lady sheen[113]; VI Wi’ four and twenty at her back A’ comely clad in glisterin’ green; Tho’ the King of Scotland had been there, The warst o’ them might ha’ been his queen. VII On we lap, and awa’ we rade, Till we came to a bonny ha’; The roof was o’ the beaten gowd, And the floor was o’ the cristal a’. VIII When we came to the stair-foot, Ladies were dancing jimp[114] and sma’, But in the twinkling of an eie My wee wee man was clean awa’. IX Out gat the lights, on came the mist, Ladies nor mannie mair cou’d I see: I turn’d about, and gae a look Just at the foot o’ Benachie. FOOTNOTES: [109] shathmont = measure from the point of the extended thumb to the extremity of the palm, six inches. [110] thimber = stout. [111] thie = thigh. [112] lap = leapt. [113] sheen = shining, beautiful. [114] jimp = slim, slender. _12. Alison Gross_ I O Alison Gross, that lives in yon tow’r, The ugliest witch i’ the north countrie, Has trysted[115] me ae day up till her bow’r And mony fair speeches she made to me. II She straik’d my head an’ she kaim’d my hair, An’ she set me down saftly on her knee; Says, ‘Gin ye will be my lemman sae true, Sae mony braw things as I would you gie!’ III She show’d me a mantle o’ red scarlét, Wi’ gouden flowers an’ fringes fine; Says, ‘Gin ye will be my lemman[116] sae true, This gudely gift it sall be thine.’-- IV ‘Awa’, awa’, ye ugly witch, Haud[117] far awa’, an’ lat me be! I never will be your lemman sae true, An’ I wish I were out o’ your company.’ V She neist brought a sark o’ the saftest silk, Well wrought wi’ pearls about the band; Says, ‘Gin ye will be my lemman sae true, This gudely gift ye sall command.’ VI She show’d me a cup o’ the good red gowd, Well set wi’ jewels sae fair to see; Says, ‘Gin ye will be my lemman sae true, This gudely gift I will you gie.’-- VII ‘Awa’, awa’, ye ugly witch, Haud far awa’, an’ lat me be! For I wouldna once kiss your ugly mouth For a’ the gifts that ye could gie.’ VIII She’s turn’d her right an’ roun’ about, An’ thrice she blaw on a grass-green horn; An’ she sware by the moon an’ the stars abune That she’d gar me rue the day I was born. IX Then out has she ta’en a silver wand, An’ she’s turn’d her three times roun’ and roun’; She mutter’d sic words till my strength it fail’d, An’ I fell down senseless upon the groun’. X She’s turn’d me into an ugly worm, And gar’d me toddle about the tree; An’ ay, on ilka Saturday’s night, My sister Maisry came to me, XI