And aye as the twa clerks sat and wrote,
The ladies sewed and sang;10
There was mair mirth in that chamber,
Than in a' fair Ferrol's land.
But word's gane to the michty Mayor,
As he sailed on the sea,
That the Clerk's twa sons made licht lemans15
O' his fair dauchters twae.
"If they hae wranged my twa dauchters,
Janet and Marjorie,
The morn, ere I taste meat or drink,
Hie hangit they shall be."20
And word's gane to the clerk himsell,
As he was drinking wine,
That his twa sons at fair Parish
Were bound in prison strang.
Then up and spak the Clerk's ladye,25
And she spak tenderlie:
"O tak wi' ye a purse o' gowd,
Or even tak ye three;
And if ye canna get William,
Bring Henry hame to me."30
O sweetly sang the nightingale,
As she sat on the wand;
But sair, sair mourned Owsenford,
As he gaed in the strand.
When he came to their prison strang,35
He rade it round about,
And at a little shot-window,
His sons were looking out.
"O lie ye there, my sons," he said,
"For owsen or for kye?40
Or what is it that ye lie for,
Sae sair bound as ye lie?"