21.
‘For if I had killed a man to-night,
Jack, I would tell it thee;
But if I have not killed a man to-night,
Jack, thou hast killed three!’
22.
22.2 Another commonplace of the ballads. The Scotch variant is generally, ‘And striped it thro’ the straw.’ See special section of the Introduction.
And he pull’d out his bright brown sword,
And dried it on his sleeve,
And he smote off that lither lad’s head,