6.

'But afore ye hae your bow well bent, An' a' your arrows yare, I will flee till another tree, Whare I can better fare.'

7.

'O whare was you gotten, and whare was ye clecked?

My bonny birdy, tell me'; 'O I was clecked in good green wood, Intill a holly tree; A gentleman my nest herryed An' ga' me to his lady.

8.

'Wi' good white bread an' farrow-cow milk He bade her feed me aft, An' ga' her a little wee simmer-dale wanny, To ding me sindle and saft.

9.

'Wi' good white bread an' farrow-cow milk I wot she fed me nought, But wi' a little wee simmer-dale wanny She dang me sair an' aft: Gin she had deen as ye her bade, I wouldna tell how she has wrought.'

10.

The knight he rade, and the birdy flew, The live-lang simmer's night, Till he came till his lady's bow'r-door, Then even down he did light: The birdy sat on the crap of a tree, An' I wot it sang fu' dight.

11.

'O wow for day! _(diddle)_ An' dear gin it were day! _(diddle)_ Gin it were day, and gin I were away, For I ha' na lang time to stay.' _(diddle)_

12.

'What needs ye lang for day, _(diddle)_ An' wish that you were away? _(diddle)_ Is no your hounds i' my cellar.

Eating white meal and gray?' _(diddle)_ 'O wow for day,' _etc._

13.

'Is nae you[r] steed in my stable, Eating good corn an' hay?

An' is nae your hawk i' my perch-tree, Just perching for his prey?

An' is nae yoursel i' my arms twa?

Then how can ye lang for day?'

14.

'O wow for day! _(diddle)_ An' dear gin it were day! _(diddle)_ For he that's in bed wi' anither man's wife Has never lang time to stay.' _(diddle)_

15.

Then out the knight has drawn his sword, An' straiked it o'er a strae, An' thro' and thro' the fa'se knight's waste He gard cauld iron gae: An' I hope ilk ane sal sae be serv'd That treats ane honest man sae.

[Annotations: 2.4: 'blate,' astonished, abashed.

7.1: 'clecked,' hatched.

8.1: 'A Farrow Cow is a Cow that gives Milk in the second year after her Calving, having no Calf that year.'--Holme's _Armoury_, 1688.

8.3: 'wanny,' wand, rod: 'simmer-dale,' apparently = summer-dale.

8.4: 'sindle,' seldom.

10.5: 'crap,' top.

10.6: 'dight,' freely, readily.

15.1-4: Cp. _Clerk Sanders_, 15.]

[Illustration]

FAIR ANNIE

+The Text+ is that of Scott's _Minstrelsy_, 'chiefly from the recitation of an old woman.' Scott names the ballad 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annie,'

adding to the confusion already existing with 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annet.'

+The Story.+--Fair Annie, stolen from the home of her father, the Earl of Wemyss, by 'a knight out o'er the sea,' has borne seven sons to him.

He now bids her prepare to welcome home his real bride, and she meekly obeys, suppressing her tears with difficulty. Lord Thomas and his new-come bride hear, through the wall of their bridal chamber, Annie bewailing her lot, and wishing her seven sons had never been born. The bride goes to comfort her, discovers in her a long-lost sister, and departs, thanking heaven she goes a maiden home.

Of this ballad, Herd printed a fragment in 1769, some stanzas being incorporated in the present version. Similar tales abound in the folklore of Scandinavia, Holland, and Germany. But, three hundred years older than any version of the ballad, is the lay of Marie de France, _Le Lai de Freisne_; which, nevertheless, is only another offshoot of some undiscovered common origin.

It is imperative (in 4.4) that Annie should _braid_ her hair, as a sign of virginity: married women only bound up their hair, or wore it under a cap.

FAIR ANNIE

1.

'It's narrow, narrow, make your bed, And learn to lie your lane; For I'm ga'n o'er the sea, Fair Annie, A braw bride to bring hame.

Wi' her I will get gowd and gear; Wi' you I ne'er got nane.

2.

'But wha will bake my bridal bread, Or brew my bridal ale?

And wha will welcome my brisk bride, That I bring o'er the dale?'

3.

'It's I will bake your bridal bread, And brew your bridal ale; And I will welcome your brisk bride, That you bring o'er the dale.'

4.

'But she that welcomes my brisk bride Maun gang like maiden fair; She maun lace on her robe sae jimp, And braid her yellow hair.'

5.

'But how can I gang maiden-like, When maiden I am nane?

Have I not born seven sons to thee, And am with child again?'

6.

She's taen her young son in her arms, Another in her hand, And she's up to the highest tower, To see him come to land.

7.

'Come up, come up, my eldest son, And look o'er yon sea-strand, And see your father's new-come bride, Before she come to land.'

8.

'Come down, come down, my mother dear, Come frae the castle wa'!

I fear, if langer ye stand there, Ye'll let yoursell down fa'.'

9.

And she gaed down, and farther down, Her love's ship for to see, And the topmast and the mainmast Shone like the silver free.

10.

And she's gane down, and farther down, The bride's ship to behold, And the topmast and the mainmast They shone just like the gold.