61 Worde ys commyn to lovly Londone,

62

till27 the fourth Harry our kynge, That lord Persë, leyff-tenante of the

Marchis,

he lay siayne Chyviat within.

"God have merci on his solle," sayde Kyng Harry,

"good Lord, yf thy will it be!

I have a hondrith captayns in Ynglonde," he sayd,

"as good as ever was he:

But, Persë, and I brook28 my lyffe,
thy deth well quyte29 shall be."

13 As our noble kynge mayd his avowe,
lyke a noble prince of renowen,
For the deth of the lord Persë
he dyde the battell of Hombyll-down;

64 Wher syx and thrittë Skottishe knyghtes
on a day wear beaten down:
Glendale glytteryde on30 ther armor bryght,
over castille, towar, and town.

05 This was the hontynge off the Cheviat, that tears begane this spurn32,

66

67

Old men that knowen the grownde well yenoughe

call it the battell of Otterburn.

At Otterburn begane this spurne uppone a Monnynday;

Ther was the doughte Doglas slean,

the Perse never went away.

Ther was never a tym on the Marchepartës

sen33 the Doglas and the Persë met, But yt ys mervele and34 the rede blude

ronne not,

as the reane doys35 in the stret.

38 Jhesue Crist our balys36 betes7,

and to the blys us brynge!

8 O our Scots nobles wer richt laith
To weet their cork-heild schoone;
Bot5 lang owres a' the play wer playd,
Thair hats they swam aboone7.

O lang, lang may their ladies sit, Wi thair fans into their hand, Or eir they se Sir Patrick Spence Cum sailing to the land.

O lang, lang may the ladies stand,
Wi thair gold kemss in their hair,
Waiting for thair ain deir lords,

For they'll se thame na mair.

Haf owre, haf owre to Aberdour,
It's fiftie fadom deip,

And thair lies guid Sir Patrick Spence,
Wi the Scots lords at his feit.

Forsters,

2 'Ye'll busk1, ye'll busk my noble dogs,
Ye'll busk and mak them boun2,
For I'm going to the Braidscaur hill
To dings the dun deer doun.'

3 Johnie's mother has gotten word o that, And care-bed she has taen5: 'O Johnie, for my benison,

I beg you'l stay at hame;

For the wine so red, and the well-baken bread,

My Johnie shall want nane.

4 There are seven forsters at Pickeram

Side,

At Pickeram where they dwell, And for a drop of thy heart's bluid They wad ride the fords of hell.'

5 But Johnie has cast off the black velvet, And put on the Lincoln twine7, And he is on to gude greenwud

As fast as he could gang.

6 Johnie lookit east, and Johnie lookit west, And he lookit aneath the sun,

And there he spied the dun deer sleeping
Aneath a buss o whun8.

7 Johnie shot, and the dun deer lap9,
And she lap wondrous wide,
Until they came to the wan water,
And he stemd10 her of her pride.

8 He 'as taen out the little pen-knife, 'Twas full three quarters11 long, And he has taen out of that dun deer The liver bot12 and the tongue.

9 They eat of the flesh, and they drank of the blood,

And the blood it was so sweet,
Which caused Johnie and his bloody hounds
To fall in a deep sleep.

10 By then came an old palmer,
And an ill death may he die!
For he's away to Pickram Side
As fast as he can drie13.

'What news have ye brought to me?'
'I have noe news,' the palmer said,
'But what I saw with my eye.

12 As I cam in by Braıdısbanks,
And down among the whuns,
The bonniest youngster eer I saw
Lay sleepin amang his hunds.
'The shirt that was upon his back
Was o the holland14 fine;

13

The doublet15 which was over that
Was o the Lincoln twine.'

14 Up bespake the Seven Forsters,
Up bespake they ane and a':
'O that is Johnie e Cockleys Well,
And near him we will draw.'

15 O the first stroke that they gae him,
They struck him off by the knee;
Then up bespake his sister's son:
'O the next 'll gar1s him die!'

16 'O some they count ye well-wight17 men, But I do count ye nane;

For you might well ha wakend me,
And askd gin I wad be taen.

17 The wildest wolf in aw this wood
Wad not ha done so by me;
She'd ha wet her foot ith wan water,
And sprinkled it oer my brae18,
And if that wad not ha wakend me,
She wad ha gone and let me be.

18 'O bows of yew, if ye be true,
In London, where ye were bought,
Fingers five, get up belive19,
Manhuid shall fail me nought.'

19 He has killd the Seven Forsters,
He has killd them all but ane,
And that wan20 scarce to Pickeram Side,
To carry the bode-words21 hame.

Lord Lauderdale came to the place, The bridal for to see.

7 'O are you come for sport, young man? Or are you come for play?

10

11

12

Or are you come for a sight o our bride,
Just on her wedding day?'

'I'm nouther come for sport,' he says,
'Nor am I come for play;
But if I had one sight o your bride,
I'll mount and ride away.'

9 There was a glass of the red wine
Filld up them atween,
And ay she drank to Lauderdale,
Wha her true-love had been.

Then he took her by the milk-white hand,
And by the grass-green sleeve,

And he mounted her high behind him there,
At the bridegroom he askt nae leive.

Then the blude run down by the Cowden
Banks,

And down by Cowden Braes,

And ay she gards the trumpet sound,
'O this is foul, foul play!'

Now a' ye that in England are,

Or are in England born,

Come nere to Scotland to court a lass,
Or else ye'l get the scorn.

13 They haik ye up4 and settle ye by5,
Till on your wedding day,
And gie ye frogs instead o fish,*
And play ye foul, foul play.

It is both wreten and said

That woman's feyth is, as who seyth,
Alle utturly decayde;

But neverthelesse right good witnes
In this case myght be layde,
That they love trew, and contenewe,-
Recorde the Nutbrown Mayde,
Which, whan her love cam her to prove,
To her to make his mone,
Wolde not departe, for in her hart
She loved but hym alone.

Than betwen us let us discusse
What was alle the manere
Between them two: we wille also
Telle alle the payn in fere+
That she was in. Now I begyn,
So that ye me answere;
Wherfor alle ye that present be,

I pray you, geve an ere.

I am the knyght; I com by nyght,
As secrete as I can,

Saying, 'Alas! thus stondith the caas,
I am a banysshed man.'

1 all the while 2 then

3 their

4 i-fere, together *This poem is essentially a little drama, of which the first three stanzas constitute a kind of prologue and the last stanza an epilogue. In the first stanza one speaker propounds the general theme of the fickleness of womankind. In the second stanza, another speaker cites in refutation the story of the Nutbrown Mayde. Then the first speaker proposes that they two enact that story, and he begins by assuming the part of the man who pretended to be outlawed in order to "prove" the maid's love. The second speaker takes the part of the maid, and the dialogue continues regularly in alternate stanzas. It is readily seen that the poem, though for convenience grouped here with the ballads, is of a very different character from the folk-ballads proper, and a product of much more conscious art. Our text is that of the Balliol MS., with some very slight changes of spelling and the regular substitution of MAYDE for the more frequent marginal PUELLA of the manuscript.