8 'I learned it in my father's hall,
I learned it for my weel,
That whan I come to deep water,
I can swim as it were an eel.
9 'I learned it in my mother's bower,
I learned it for my better,
That whan I come to broad water,
I can swim like ony otter.'
10 He plunged his steed into the ford,
And straught way thro he rade,
And she set in her lilly feet,
And thro the water wade.
11 And whan she cam to the king's court,
She tirled on the pin,
And wha sae ready's the king himsel
To let the fair maid in?
12 'What is your will wi me, fair maid?
What is your will wi me?'
'There is a man into your court
This day has robbed me.'
13 'O has he taen your gold,' he said,
'Or has he taen your fee?
Or has he stown your maidenhead,
The flower of your bodye?'
14 'He has na taen my gold, kind sir,
Nor as little has he taen my fee,
But he has taen my maidenhead,
The flower of my bodye.'
15 'O gif he be a married man,
High hangit shall he be,
But gif he be a bachelor,
His body I'll grant thee.'
16 'Sometimes they call him Jack,' she said,
'Sometimes they call him John,
But whan he's in the king's court,
His name is Sweet William.'
17 'There's not a William in a' my court,
Never a one but three,
And one of them is the Queen's brother;
I wad laugh gif it war he.'