Out then spake the jealous king,
And an angry man was he:
“O, if he had been twice as fair,
You might have excepted me.”
“You’re neither laird nor lord,” she says,
“But the king that wears the crown;
There is no knight in fair Scotland,
But to thee maun bow down.”
For a’ that she could do or say,
Appeased he wouldna be:
And for the words which she had said,
Young Waters he maun die.
They ha’e ta’en young Waters,
Put fetters to his feet;
They ha’e ta’en young Waters,
And thrown him in dungeon deep.
“Aft ha’e I ridden through Stirling town
In the wind baith and the weet;
But I ne’er rade through Stirling town
Wi’ fetters at my feet.
“Aft ha’e I ridden through Stirling town
In the wind baith and the rain;
But I ne’er rade through Stirling town
Ne’er to return again.”
They ha’e ta’en to the Heading Hill
His young son in his cradle;
And they ha’e ta’en to the Heading Hill
His horse baith and his saddle.
They ha’e ta’en to the Heading Hill
His lady fair to see;
And for the words the queen had spoke
Young Waters he did die.
The slaughter of the Earl of Douglas by his sovereign has not been commemorated in any ballad, although the Douglas execution at Edinburgh formed the subject of some verses, of which only one has survived:
“Edinburgh Castle town and toure
God grant thou sink for sin,
And that even for the black dinnour
Erl Douglas gat therein.”