Lord Barnard he had a little small sword,
That hung low down by his knee;
He cut the head off Child Noryce,55
And put the body on a tree.
And when he came to his castel,
And to his lady's hall,
He threw the head into her lap,
Saying, "Lady, there is a ball!"60
She turned up the bloody head,
She kissed it frae cheek to chin:
"Far better do I love this bloody head
Than all my royal kin.
"When I was in my father's castell,65
In my virginitie,
There came a lord into the North,
Gat Child Noryce with me."
"O wae be to thee, Lady Margaret," he said,
"And an ill death may you die;70
For if you had told me he was your son,
He had ne'er been slain by me."
[27]. This unquestionably should be Lady Barnard, instead of her lord. See third stanza under. M.