And in the ballad of “Earl Richard”—
“Put na the wite on me, she said,
It was my may Catherine.
Then they hae cut baith fern and thorn,
To burn that maiden in.
“It wadna take upon her cheik,
Nor yet upon her chin,
Nor yet upon her yellow hair
To cleanse that deadly sin.
“The maiden touched that clay-cauld corpse,