"No more of that," James Stuart said;
"Speak not of curing wounds to me!
For one of us must yield our breath,
Ere off the field one foot we flee."
They looked oure their shoulders both, 105
To see what company was there:
They both had grievous marks of death,
But frae the other nane wad steer.
George Wharton was the first that fell,
Our Scotch lord fell immediately; 110
They both did cry to Him above
To save their souls, for they boud die.
[10]. Sir George Wharton was quarrelsome at cards; a temper which he exhibited so disagreeably when playing with the Earl of Pembroke, that the Earl told him, "Sir George, I have loved you long; but by your manner in playing, you lay it upon me either to leave to love you, or to leave to play with you; wherefore choosing to love you still, I will never play with you any more."—Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 350. Scott.
[SADDLE TO RAGS.]
From Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, Percy Society, vol. xvii. p. 126. The editor took this piece down from the recitation of a Yorkshire yeoman. Other ballads are popular with nearly the same plot, one of them called The Crafty Ploughboy, or the Highwayman outwitted. Another of a similar description is Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant, (Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 165,) formed on the model of some Robin Hood ballad.
This story I'm going to sing,
I hope it will give you content,
Concerning a silly old man
That was going to pay his rent.
As he was a-riding along, 5
Along all on the highway,
A gentleman-thief overtook him,
And thus unto him did say.