5.

The ladie turned her head aside; The knight he woo'd her to be his bride.

6.

The ladie blush'd a rosy red, And say'd, 'Sir knight, I'm too young to wed.'

7.

'O ladie fair, give me your hand, And I'll make you ladie of a' my land.'

8.

'Sir knight, ere ye my favour win, You maun get consent frae a' my kin.'

9.

He's got consent frae her parents dear, And likewise frae her sisters fair.

10.

He's got consent frae her kin each one, But forgot to spiek to her brother John.

11.

Now, when the wedding day was come, The knight would take his bonny bride home.

12.

And many a lord and many a knight Came to behold that ladie bright.

13.

And there was nae man that did her see, But wish'd himself bridegroom to be.

14.

Her father dear led her down the stair, And her sisters twain they kiss'd her there.

15.

Her mother dear led her thro' the closs, And her brother John set her on her horse.

16.

She lean'd her o'er the saddle-bow, To give him a kiss ere she did go.

17.

He has ta'en a knife, baith lang and sharp, And stabb'd that bonny bride to the heart.

18.

She hadno ridden half thro' the town, Until her heart's blude stain'd her gown.

19.

'Ride softly on,' says the best young man, 'For I think our bonny bride looks pale and wan.'

20.

'O lead me gently up yon hill, And I'll there sit down, and make my will.'

21.

'O what will you leave to your father dear?'

'The silver-shod steed that brought me here.'

22.

'What will you leave to your mother dear?'

'My velvet pall and my silken gear.'

23.

'What will you leave to your sister Anne?'

'My silken scarf and my gowden fan.'

24.

'What will you leave to your sister Grace?'

'My bloody cloaths to wash and dress.'

25.

'What will you leave to your brother John?'

'The gallows-tree to hang him on.'

26.

'What will you leave to your brother John's wife?'

'The wilderness to end her life.'

27.

This ladie fair in her grave was laid, And many a mass was o'er her said.

28.

But it would have made your heart right sair, To see the bridegroom rive his hair.

1.2,4: It should be remembered that the refrain is supposed to be sung with each verse, here and elsewhere.

15.1: 'closs,' close.

28.2: 'rive,' tear.

THE NUTBROWN MAID

+The Text+ is from Arnold's _Chronicle_, of the edition which, from typographical evidence, is said to have been printed at Antwerp in 1502 by John Doesborowe. Each stanza is there printed in six long lines.

Considerable variations appear in later editions. There is also a Balliol MS. (354), which contains a contemporary version, and the Percy Folio contains a corrupt version.

This should not be considered as a ballad proper; it is rather a 'dramatic lyric.' Its history, however, is quite as curious as that of many ballads. It occurs, as stated above, in the farrago known as the _Chronicle_ of Richard Arnold, inserted between a list of the 'tolls'

due on merchandise entering or leaving the port of Antwerp, and a table giving Flemish weights and moneys in terms of the corresponding English measures. Why such a poem should be printed in such incongruous surroundings, what its date or who its author was, are questions impossible to determine. Its position here is perhaps almost as incongruous as in its original place.

From 3.9 to the end of the last verse but one, it is a dialogue between an earl's son and a baron's daughter, in alternate stanzas; a prologue and an epilogue are added by the author.

Matthew Prior printed the poem in his works, in order to contrast it with his own version, _Henry and Emma_, which appealed to contemporary taste as more elegant than its rude original.

THE NUTBROWN MAID