In the Scotch ballad of Kempion we are told how the Earl of Estmereland’s daughter is persecuted by her wicked stepmother, who at last by magic arts changes her into a snake:
Cum heir, cum heir, ye freely feed
And lay your head low on my knee;
The heaviest weird I will you read,
That ever was read to gay ladye.
O meikle dolour sall ye dree,
And aye the salt seas o’er ye’se swim;
And far mair dolour sall ye dree,
On Estmere crags, when ye them climb.
“I weired ye to a fiery beast,
And relieved sall ye never be,
Till Kempion, the king’s son,
Cum to the crag, and thrice kiss thee.”
O meikle dolour did she dree,
And aye the salt seas o’er she swam;
And far mair dolour did she dree
On Estmere crags, when she them clamb.
And aye she cried for Kempion,
Gin he would but come to her hand.
At last Kempion hears her voice, and straightway rows towards the foot of the mountain:
Out of my stythe I winna rise,
. . . . . . . . . .
Till Kempion, the king’s son,
Cum to the crag, and thrice kiss me;
implores the snake; but Kempion dares not. The snake coils in and out, and the mountain is aflame; at last Kempion summons all his courage:
He’s louted him o’er the lofty crag,
And he has given her kisses three;
Awa she gaed, and again she cam,
The loveliest ladye e’er could be!