19.

'But & you be sicke, my owne wed Lord, Soe sore it greiueth mee, But my 5 maydens & my selfe Will goe & make your bedd,

20.

'& at the wakening of your first sleepe, You shall haue a hott drinke made, & at the wakening of your next sleepe Your sorrowes will haue a slake.'

21.

He put a silke cote on his backe, Was 13 inches folde, & put a steele cap vpon his head, Was gilded with good red gold;

22.

& he layd a bright browne sword by his side & another att his ffeete, & full well knew old Robin then Whether he shold wake or sleepe.

23.

& about the middle time of the night Came 24 good knights in, Sir Gyles he was the formost man, Soe well he knew that ginne.

24.

Old Robin with a bright browne sword Sir Gyles' head he did winne, Soe did he all those 24, Neuer a one went quicke out [agen];

25.

None but one litle foot page Crept forth at a window of stone, & he had 2 armes when he came in And [when he went out he had none].

26.

Vpp then came that ladie light With torches burning bright; Shee thought to haue brought Sir Gyles a drinke, But shee found her owne wedd knight;

27.

& the first thing that this ladye stumbled vpon, Was of Sir Gyles his ffoote; Sayes, 'Euer alacke, & woe is me, Heere lyes my sweete hart roote!'

28.

& the 2d. thing that this ladie stumbled on, Was of Sir Gyles his head; Sayes, 'Euer alacke, & woe is me, Heere lyes my true loue deade!'

29.

Hee cutt the papps beside her brest, & bad her wish her will, & he cutt the eares beside her heade, & bade her wish on still.

30.

'Mickle is the man's blood I haue spent To doe thee & me some good'; Sayes, 'Euer alacke, my fayre Lady, I thinke that I was woode!'

31.

He call'd then vp his litle foote page, & made him heyre of all his land, ... ... ...

32.

& he shope the crosse in his right sholder Of the white flesh & the redd, & he went him into the holy land, Wheras Christ was quicke and dead.

[Annotations: 2.1: 'Lin,' a stock ballad-locality: cp. _Young Bekie_, 5.4.

5.3: 'vnbethought.' The same expression occurs in two other places in the Percy Folio, each time apparently in the same sense of 'bethought [him] of.'

6.1,3: 'Four and twenty': the Folio gives '24' in each case.

8.1: 'sikt,' sighed. The Folio reads _sist_.

11.1, 12.1: The Folio reads _bookes man_; but see 15.1.

14.2: 'thye,' thrive: the Folio reads _dye_.

19.1: '&' = an, if.

20.3: 'next': the Folio reads _first_ again; probably the copyist's error.

23.4: 'ginne,' door-latch.

24.4: 'quicke,' alive. The last word was added by Percy in the Folio.

25.4: Added by Hales and Furnivall.

26.1,2: _light_ and _bright_ are interchanged in the Folio.

32.3: 'went': the Folio gives _sent_.]

LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD

+The Text+ here given is the version printed, with very few variations, in _Wit Restor'd_, 1658, _Wit and Drollery_, 1682, Dryden's _Miscellany_, 1716, etc. The Percy Folio contains a fragmentary version, consisting of some dozen stanzas. Child says that all the Scottish versions are late, and probably derived, though taken down from oral tradition, from printed copies. As recompense, we have the Scotch _Bonny Birdy_.

+The Story+ would seem to be purely English. That it was popular long before the earliest known text is proved by quotations from it in old plays: as from _Fair Margaret and Sweet William_. Merrythought in _The Knight of the Burning Pestle_ (1611) sings from this ballad a version of stanza 14, and Beaumont and Fletcher also put quotations into the mouths of characters in _Bonduca_ (circ. 1619) and _Monsieur Thomas_ (circ.

1639). Other plays before 1650 also mention it.

The reader should remember, once for all, that burdens are to be repeated in every verse, though printed only in the first.

LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD

1.

As it fell one holy-day, _Hay downe_ As many be in the yeare, When young men and maids together did goe, Their mattins and masse to heare;

2.

Little Musgrave came to the church-dore;-- The preist was at private masse;-- But he had more minde of the faire women Then he had of our lady['s] grace.

3.

The one of them was clad in green, Another was clad in pall, And then came in my lord Barnard's wife, The fairest amonst them all.

4.

She cast an eye on Little Musgrave, As bright as the summer sun; And then bethought this Little Musgrave, 'This lady's heart have I woonn.'

5.

Quoth she, 'I have loved thee, Little Musgrave, Full long and many a day'; 'So have I loved you, fair lady, Yet never word durst I say.'

6.

'I have a bower at Bucklesfordbery, Full daintyly is it deight; If thou wilt wend thither, thou Little Musgrave, Thou's lig in mine armes all night.'

7.

Quoth he, 'I thank yee, fair lady, This kindnes thou showest to me; But whether it be to my weal or woe, This night I will lig with thee.'

8.

With that he heard, a little tyne page, By his ladye's coach as he ran: 'All though I am my ladye's foot-page, Yet I am Lord Barnard's man.

9.