75 And bidd him bring with him a hundred gunners,
And ranke riders lett them bee;
Lett them be of the rankest ryders
That be to be ffound in that countrye.
76 The best and worse, and all in like,
Bidd him clothe them in one liuerye;
And for his men, greene is the best,
And greene now lett their lyueryes bee.
77 And cloth himselfe in scarlett redd,
That is soe seemelye for to see;
For scarlett is a ffaire coulor,
And pleasant in a woman's eye.
78 What they lady sayd, Iohn Stewart writt,
To Argyle Castle sent itt hee;
His bagg and his dish and showing horne,
Unto three beggars he gaue them all three.
79 And when Willie Stewart saw the letter,
Fforth of care-bed then lope hee;
He thought himselfe as lustye and sound
As any man in that countrye.
80 He mustered together his merrymen all,
He mustered them soe louinglye;
He thought he had had scarce halfe a hundred,
Then had hee eleuen score and three.
81 He chose fforth a hundred of the best
That were to be found in that companye,
And presentlye they tooke their horsse,
And to Martingsdale posted hee.
82 And when he came to Martingsdale,
He found his loue staying there trulye,
For shee was a lady true of loue,
And was there by [the] sunn was a qwarter highe.
83 Shee kisst William Stewart and his brother Iohn,
Soe did shee part of his merry men:
'If the churle, thy ffather, hee were here,
He shold not haue thee backe againe.'
84 They sent ffor preist, they sent ffor clarke,
And they were marryed there with speede;
William tooke the lady home with him,
And they liued together long time indeed.