B
Skene MS., p. 39.
1
Our queen’s sick, an very sick,
She’s sick an like to die;
She has sent for the friars of France,
To speak wi her speedilie.
2
‘I’ll put on a friar’s robe,
An ye’ll put on anither,
An we’ll go to Madam the Queen,
Like friars bath thegither.’
3
‘God forbid,’ said Earl Marishall,
‘That ever the like shud be,
That I beguile Madam the Queen!
I wad be hangit hie.’
4
The King pat on a friar’s robe,
Earl Marishall on anither;
They’re on to the Queen,
Like friars baith thegither.
5
‘Gin ye be the friars of France,
As I trust well ye be—
But an ye be ony ither men,
Ye sall be hangit hie.’
6
The King he turnd him roun,
An by his troth sware he,
We hae na sung messe
Sin we came frae the sea.
7
‘The first sin ever I did,
An a very great sin ’twas tee,
I gae my maidenhead to Earl Marishall,
Under the greenwood tree.’
8
‘That was a sin, an a very great sin,
But pardond it may be;’
‘Wi mendiment,’ said Earl Marishall,
But a heavy heart had he.
9
‘The next sin ever I did,
An a very great sin ’twas tee,
I poisened Lady Rosamond,
An the King’s darling was she.’
10
‘That was a sin, an a very great sin,
But pardond it may be;’
‘Wi mendiment,’ said King Henry,
But a heavy heart had he.
11
‘The next sin ever I did,
An a very great sin ’twas tee,
I keepit poison in my bosom seven years,
To poison him King Henrie.’
12
‘That was a sin, an a very great sin,
But pardond it may be;’
‘Wi mendiment,’ said King Henry,
But a heavy heart had he.
13
‘O see na ye yon bonny boys,
As they play at the ba?
An see na ye Lord Marishal’s son?
I lee him best of a’.
14
‘But see na ye King Henry’s son?
He’s headit like a bull, and backit like a boar,
I like him warst awa:’
‘And by my sooth,’ says him King Henry,
‘I like him best o the twa.’
15
The King he turned him roun,
Pat on the coat o goud,
. . . . . . .
The Queen turnd the King to behold.
16
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
‘Gin I hadna sworn by the crown and sceptre roun,
Earl Marishal sud been gart die.’