32 The win was fair, an the sea was clear,
An they a' wan safe to lan;
He's haild her lady of Douglassdale,
Himsel the lord within.
B
a. Buchan MSS, II, 117. b. Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 181; Motherwell's MS., p. 619.
1 Willie was an earl's ae son,
And an earl's ae son was he,
But he thought his father lack to sair,
And his mother of low degree.
2 But he is on to fair England,
To sair for meat an fee,
And all was for Dame Oliphant,
A woman of great beauty.
3 He hadna been in fair England
A month but barely ane,
Ere he dreamd that fair Dame Oliphant
Gied him a gay gold ring.
4 He hadna been in fair England
A month but barely four,
Ere he dreamd that fair Dame Oliphant
Gied him a red rose flower,
Well set about with white lilies,
Like to the paramour.
5 It fell ance upon a day
Dame Oliphant thought lang,
And she gaed on to good green wood,
As fast as she could gang.
6 As Willie stood in his chamber-door,
And as he thought it good,
There he beheld Dame Oliphant,
As she came thro the wood.
7 He's taen his bow his arm oer,
His sword into his hand,
And he is on to good green wood,
As fast as he could gang.