Then, God wott, faire Eddenburrough rose,
And so besett poore Jonne [a]rounde,
That fowerscore and tenn of Jonnes best men,55
Lay gasping all upon the ground.
Then like a mad man Jonne laide about,
And like a mad man then fought hee,
Untill a falce Scot came Jonne behinde,
And runn him through the faire boddee.60
Saying, "Fight on, my merry men all,
And see that none of you be taine;
For I will stand by and bleed but a while,
And then will I come and fight againe."
Newes then was brought to young Jonne Armestrong,65
As he stood by his nurses knee,
Who vowed if er'e he lived for to be a man,
O th' the treacherous Scots reveng'd hee'd be.
[11]. syke.
LOUDOUN CASTLE. (See p. [149].)
From The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire, First Series, p. 74, where it is taken from a Statistical Account of the Parish of Loudoun. The writer of the Statistical Account states that the old castle of Loudoun is supposed to have been destroyed by fire about 350 years ago. "The current tradition," he adds, "ascribes that event to the Clan Kennedy, and the remains of an old tower at Auchruglen, on the Galston side of the valley, is still pointed out as having been their residence."
It fell about the Martinmas time,
When the wind blew snell and cauld,
That Adam o' Gordon said to his men,
"When will we get a hold?