18 'Before thou get thy bow bendit,
And set unto thy knee,
I'll be at Earl Richard's father,
Telling ill tales on thee.'
19 As they were coming hame again,
Upon the road so bricht,
There they saw Earl Richard's father,
Coming marching in their sicht.
20 'Whare has thou been, fair lady?' he says,
'Whare has thou been back sae sune?
O what did thou wi my auld son,
Was late wi thee yestreen?'
21 She did swear by stars o licht,
And grass-green growing corn,
That she had not seen Earl Richard's face
Since Saturday at morn;
'But in Lorn's Water, indeed,' she says,
'I fear his days are done.'
22 'There was not a ford in Lorn's Water
But he could ride it weel;
And what did thou wi my auld son,
That went with thee afield?'
* * * * *
E
Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 265, 1803, communicated by James Hogg, from the recitation of his mother (Motherwell).
1 Lord William was the bravest knight
That dwalt in fair Scotland,
And, though renowned in France and Spain,
Fell by a ladie's hand.
2 As she was walking maid alone,
Down by yon shady wood,
She heard a smit o bridle reins,
She wishd might be for good.