"To horse, to horse, my ryal liege,
"Zour faes stand on the strand,
"Full twenty thousand glittering spears
"The king of Norse commands.
Bring me my steed Mage dapple grey,
Our gude king raise and cryd,
A trustier beast in all the land
A Scots king nevir seyd.
VII.
Go little page, tell hardyknute,
That lives on hill so hie,
To draw his sword, the dreid of faes,
And haste and follow me.
The little page flew swift as dart
Flung by his master's arm,
Cum down, cum down lord hardyknute,
And rid zour king frae harm.
VIII.
Then reid, reid grow his dark-brown cheiks,
Sae did his dark-brown brow;
His luiks grew kene, as they were wont,
In dangers great to do;
He hes tane a horn as grene as glass,
And gien five sounds sae shrill,
That treis in grene wode schuke thereat,
Sae loud rang ilka hill.
His sons in manly sport and glie,
Had pass'd the summer's morn,
Quhen lo! down in a grassy dale,
They heard their fatheris horn.
That horn, quod they, neir sounds in peace,
We haif other sport to byde;
And sune they heyd them up the hill,
And sune were at his syde.
X.
Late, late the zestrene I weind in peace
To end my lengthen'd lyfe,
My age micht weil excuse my arm
Frae manly feats of stryfe;
But now that norse dois proudly boast
Fair Scotland to inthrall,
Its neir be said of hardyknute
He feard to ficht or fall.
XI.