“There did three knights come from the West,
With the high and the lily oh!
And these three knights courted one lady,
And the rose was so sweetly blown.”
This is precisely the ballad given by Herd and others as “The Cruel Brother.” One version in Scotland begins:—
“There was three ladies play’d at the ba’
With a hegh-ho! and lily gay;
There came a knight and play’d o’er them a’,
And the primrose spread so sweetly.”
But another version sung in Scotland begins—