‘Tak hame, tak hame your daughter dear,
A blessing gae her wi’!
For I maun marry my Burd Isbel,
That’s come o’er the sea to me.’

XXXVI

‘Is this the custom o’ your house,
Or the fashion o’ your lan’,
To marry a maid in a May mornin’,
An’ to send her back at even?’

FOOTNOTES:

[318] borrow = ransom.

[319] but = out.

[320] ben = in.

[321] rottons = rats.

[322] royal bone = ivory.

[323] Or than = Or else.