XXVIII
He bought himself a suit of apparel
That any lord might a-seem’d to worn;
He went a-wooing to the Duke’s daughter,
And call’d himself the Lord of Lorn.
XXIX
The Duke he welcomed the [brisk] young lord
With three baked stags and the Rhenish wine:
If he had wist him the false steward,
With the devil he’d have bade him dine.
XXX
But when they were at supper set
With dainty delicates that was there,
The Duke said, ‘If thou’lt wed my daughter
I’ll give thee a thousand pound a year.’
XXXI
Then hand in hand the steward her took,
And plight that lady his troth alone,
That she should be his married wife,
And he would make her the Lady of Lorn.
XXXII
The lady would see the roebuck run
Up hills and dales and the forest free,
When she was ’ware of a shepherd’s boy
Was tending sheep on a lonely lee.