Stories from the Ballads, Told to the Children

by Mary Macgregor

Then said Hynde Etin, 'I am forester of Elmond wood, nor should ye enter it without my leave.'

'Nay now,' cried the lady Margaret, 'leave will I ask of no man, for my father is earl of all this land.'

'Your father may be earl of all the land, May Margaret, yet shall ye die, because ye will not ask my leave to come to Elmond wood.' And he seized her fast and tied her to a tree by her long, yellow locks.

Yet did Hynde Etin not kill the maiden, but this is what he did.

He pulled up by the root the tallest tree he could see, and in the hollow he dug a deep deep cave, and into the cave he thrust May Margaret.

'Now will ye wander no more in my woods!' cried Hynde Etin. 'Here shall ye stay, or home shall ye come with me to be my wife.'

'Nay, here will I rather stay!' cried May Margaret, 'for my father will seek for me and will find me here.'

But the cave was dark and cold, and the earl sought yet did not find his daughter.

No bed was there in the cave for May Margaret, no bed save the rough earth, no pillow save a stone.

Poor May Margaret! She did not like the dark or the cold. Ere many days had passed away, she thought it would be better to live with Hynde Etin than to stay longer alone in so dismal a cave.