85 'Now for to fight I cannot tell,
And for to fight I am not sure;
Thou hast run me throw the brawn o th' arm,
That with a spear I may not endure.
86 'Thou'st have the lady with all my heart;
It was never likely better to prove
With me, or any nobleman else,
That would hinder a poor man of his love.'
87 'Seeing you say so much,' said Tommy Pots,
'I will not seem your butcher to be;
But I will come and stanch your blood,
If any thing you will give me.'
88 As he did stanch Lord Phenix blood,
Lord, in his heart he did rejoyce!
'I'le not take the lady from you thus,
But of her you'st have another choice.
89 'Here is a lane of two miles long;
At either end we set will be;
The lady shall stand us among,
Her own choice shall set her free.'
90 'If thou'l do so,' Lord Phenix said,
'To lose her by her own choice it's honesty;
Chuse whether I get her or go her without,
Forty pounds I will give thee.'
91 But when they in that lane was set,
The wit of a woman for to prove,
'By the faith of my body,' the lady said,
'Then Tom Pots must needs have his love.'
92 Towards Tom Pots the lady did hie,
To get on behind him hastily;
'Nay stay, nay stay,' Lord Phenix said,
'Better proved it shall be.
93 'Stay you with your maidens here here—
In number fair they are but three—
Tom Pots and I will go behind yonder wall,
That one of us two be proved to dye.'
94 But when they came behind the wall,
The one came not the other nigh;
For the Lord Phenix had made a vow,
That with Tom Pots he would never fight.