XXIX
‘No wonder, no wonder,’ John Steward he said,
‘My lady loved thee well,
For the fairest part of my body
Is blacker than thy heel.’
XXX
John Steward had a little brown sword
That hung low down by his knee;
He has cut the head off Childe Maurice
And the body put on a tree.
XXXI
And he prick’d the head on his sword’s point,
Went singing there beside,
And he rode till he came to the castle
Whereas his lady ly’ed[348].
XXXII
And when he came to his lady—
Look’d o’er the castle-wall—
He threw the head into her lap,
Saying ‘Lady, tak’[349] the ball!’
XXXIII
Says, ‘Dost thou know Childe Maurice’ head,
If that thou dost it see?
And lap it soft, and kiss it oft,
For thou loved’st him better than me.’