4
'O little wee man, but ye be wight!
Tell me whar your dwelling be;'
'I hae a bower, compactly built,
Madam, gin ye'll cum and see.'
5
Sae on we lap, and awa we rade,
Till we come to yon little ha;
The kipples ware o the gude red gowd,
The reef was o the proseyla.
6
Pipers were playing, ladies dancing,
The ladies dancing, jimp and sma;
At ilka turning o the spring,
The little man was wearin's wa.
7
Out gat the lights, on cam the mist,
Ladies nor mannie mair coud see
I turnd about, and gae a look,
Just at the foot o' Benachie.
[A].
22. The printed copy has thighs.
43. dwelling down.
There is a copy of this ballad in Cunningham's Songs of Scotland, I, 303. Though no confidence can be felt in the genuineness of the "several variations from recitation and singing," with which Cunningham says he sought to improve Herd's version, the more considerable ones are here noted.
13. O there I met.