And lang, lang, may the maidens sit,
Wi' their goud kaims in their hair,
A' waiting for their ain dear loves!
For them they'll see na mair.
O forty miles off Aberdeen,
'Tis fifty fathoms deep,
And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi' the Scots lords at his feet.
NOTES AND GLOSSARY.
This ballad in its original form is a very old one, and was probably at first a metrical story of the Scotch expedition which was sent to bring the Maid of Norway to Scotland (about the year 1285). In its sixteenth-century form it shows many changes and additions, some of which are not in harmony with the original tale. The cork-heel'd shoon, for example, were unknown until some hundreds of years later than the occurrence of the events here narrated.
| skeely, skilful. | gane, suffice. |
| skipper, captain. | half-fou, a quart, dry measure. |
| braid, open, not private. | alake, alack. |
| goud, gold. | lift, sky. (Still used in Scotland.) |
| fee (see note 13, page [105]). | shoon, shoes. |
THE BAILIFF'S DAUGHTER OF ISLINGTON.
There was a youthe, and a well-beloved youthe,
And he was a squires son;
He loved the bayliffes daughter deare,
That lived in Islington.
Yet she was coye, and would not believe
That he did love her soe,
Noe nor at any time would she
Any countenance to him showe.
But when his friendes did understand
His fond and foolish minde,
They sent him up to faire London,
An apprentice for to binde.