The neisten step Burd Ellen stept,
The water came to her middle;
And sighing said Burd Ellen,
‘I’ve wetted my golden girdle!’
XVI
The thirden step Burd Ellen slept,
The water came to her pap;
And the bairn that was in her two sides
For cold began to quake.
XVII
‘Lie still, lie still, my own dear babe!
Ye work your mother woe;
Your father that rides on high horseback
Cares little for us two.’
XVIII
About the midst of Clyde-water
There was a yeard-fast[333] stone:
He lightly turn’d his horse about
And took Burd Ellen on.
XIX
When she over the water won,
She then came to his knee:
Says, ‘How far is it to your lodgin’
Where we this night may be?’—