"And many was the feather bed
That fluttered on the foam;
And many was the gude lord's son
That never mair came home!
The ladyes wrang their fingers white;
The maidens tore their hair,
A' for the sake of their true loves;
For them they'll see nae mair.
O lang, lang may the ladyes sit,
Wi' their fans into their hand,
Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come sailing to the strand!
And lang, lang may the maidens sit,
With their goud kaims[#] in their hair,
A' waiting for their ain dear loves!
For them they'll see nae mair.
[#] Golden combs.
O forty miles off Aberdeen,
'Tis fifty fathoms deep,
And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi' the Scots lords at his feet."
Chapter V
Auld Maitland
"'Wha holds this house?' young Edward cried,
'Or wha gives it o'er to me?'
''Tis I will keep my good old house,
While my house will keep me!'"
The story of Auld Maitland is said to be taken from a very old ballad, and known chiefly to the people who lived in the neighbourhood of Ettrick Forest. The old folks there would while away the long winter evenings by singing of the deeds of their ancestors, and the ballad of Auld Maitland, as thus chanted, was written down by the mother of James Hogg, the "Ettrick Shepherd."
The castle of Thirlestane stood on the river Leader, and still, in its restored form, deserves its name of "the darksome house." It may have often withstood the English during the Baliol wars, and hatred of the English and of Edward I. is expressed with extreme virulence throughout the poem. Here is the story:—
There lived in the south country a king named Edward, who wore the crown unworthily for fifty years. This king had a nephew, strong in blood and bone, who bore the same hateful name. One day the young man came before the king, and kneeling low, he said, "A boon, a boon I crave of thee, my good uncle. Oft have I wished to take part in our long wars in fair Scotland. Grant me fifteen hundred chosen strong men to ride there with me."
"Certainly thou shalt have them, and more, and I myself, though old and grey, will see thy host arrayed for battle."