SIR PATRICK SPENS.
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, i. 299.
In singing, the interjection O is added to the second and fourth lines.
The king sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blude-red wine:
"O whare will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this new ship of mine?"
O up and spake an eldern knight,5
Sat at the king's right knee:
"Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That ever sailed the sea."
Our king has written a braid letter,
And sealed it with his hand,10
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.
"To Noroway, to Noroway,
To Noroway o'er the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,15
'Tis thou maun bring her hame!"
The first word that Sir Patrick read,
Sae loud loud laughed he;
The neist word that Sir Patrick read,
The tear blindit his e'e.20