Ethelfrith was seated upon the ground, holding Ethelbert's dissevered head in her arms, and she rocked herself to and fro, and chanted in a far-away tone.

"Under the leaves, under the leaves,

There saw I maidens seven!"

She broke off short, and changed her tune.

"Then He built Him a bridge of the beams of the sun,

And over the water ran He;

And the three wealthy wights they followed him after,

And drowned they were all three!"

"Come, canst thou riddle me my ridlass?

"Yellow and green,