They had na sailed a league, a league,
A league but barely three.
Let it also here be noted that the eldern knight in that ballad sits 'at the king's knee,' and the nurse in Gil Morrice is not very necessarily described as having 'the bairn upon her knee.' Why the knee on these occasions, if not a habitual idea of one poet? [ [27] ]
The consequences of the visit having been fatal to Lady Janet's health and peace, she goes back to see her elfin lover, Tam Lane, who instructs her how to recover him from his bondage to the queen of fairy-land.
'The night it is good Halloween,
When fairy folk will ride;
And they that wad their true love win,
At Miles Cross they maun bide.'
'But how shall I thee ken, Tam Lane,
Or how shall I thee knaw,