11
'Take me in yer arms, Janet,
An ask, an adder lang;
The grip ye get ye maun haud fast,
I'll be father to your bairn.
12
'Take me in your arms, Janet,
An adder and a snake;
The grip ye get ye maun haud fast,
I'll be your warld's make.'
* * * * *
13
Up bespak the Queen of Fairies,
She spak baith loud and high:
'Had I kend the day at noon
Tam Lane had been won from me,
14
'I wad hae taen out his heart o flesh,
Put in a heart o tree,
That a' the maids o Middle Middle Mist
Should neer hae taen Tam Lane frae me.'
15
Up bespack the Queen of Fairies,
And she spak wi a loud yell:
'Aye at every seven year's end
We pay the kane to hell,
And the koors they hae gane round about,
And I fear it will be mysel.'
I.
a. Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, II, 337, ed. 1833. b. II, 228, ed. 1802.
1
'O I forbid ye, maidens a',
That wear gowd on your hair,
To come or gae by Carterhaugh,
For young Tamlane is there.
2
'There's nane that gaes by Carterhaugh
But maun leave him a wad,
Either gowd rings, or green mantles,
Or else their maidenheid.