“ But ne'er a word wad he speak to me.
But slowly, slowly, rose he up,
And slowly, slowly, cam he down,
And when he saw me set on my horse,
He caused his drums and trumpets soun.30
"Now fare ye weel my goodly palace,
And fare ye weel, my children three;
God grant your father grace to love you,
Far more than ever he loved me."
He thocht that I was like himsel,35
That had a woman in every hall;
But I could swear by the heavens clear,
I never loved man but himsel. ”

“ You may have ladies enough at home,
And I have a lord in mine own country:20
"For I have a lover true of mine own,
A serving-man of low degree,
One Tommy Pots it is his name,
My first love, and last that ever shall be."
"If that Tom Pots [it] is his name,25
I do ken him right verily;
I am able to spend fourty pounds a week,
Where he is not able to spend pounds three." [Pg 313]
"God give you good of your gold," she said,
"And ever God give you good of your fee,30
Tom Pots was the first love that ever I had,
And I do mean him the last to be." ”

“ Against the brave wedding of pretty Bessee.
The wedding thro' England was spread by report,
So that a great number thereto did resort,
Of nobles and gentles of every degree,15
And all for the fame of pretty Bessee.
To church then away went this gallant young knight,
His bride followed after, an angel most bright, [Pg 169]
With troops of ladies, the like was ne'er seen,
As went with sweet Bessee of Bednall Green.20
This wedding being solemnized then,
With music performed by skilfullest men,
The nobles and gentles sat down at that tide,
Each one beholding the beautiful bride. ”

“ To the new Tune of Greensleeves.
"The earliest mention of the ballad of Green Sleeves, in the Registers of the Stationers' Company, is in September, 1580, when Richard Jones had licensed to him A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Green Sleeves."
"Green Sleeves, or Which nobody can deny, has been a favorite tune from the time of Elizabeth to the present day, and is still frequently to be heard in the streets of London to songs with the old burden, Which nobody can deny. It will also be recognized as the air of Christmas comes but once a year, and many another merry ditty." ”

“ How doth thy lord and master at home,
And all the ladies in that country?"
"My lord and master is in good health,
I trust since that I did him see;190
Will you walk with me to an out-side,
Two or three words to talk with me? [Pg 319]
"You are a noble man," said Tom,
"And born a lord in Scotland free;
You may have ladies enough at home,195
And never take my love from me."
"Away, away, thou Tommy Pots;
Thou serving-man, stand thou aside;
It is not a serving-man this day,
That can hinder me of my bride."200 ”

“ Now let us all kneel down and pray,
That Tommy Pots may win his love.
"If it be his fortune the better to win,125
As I pray to Christ in trinity,
Ile make him the flower of all his kin,
For the young Lord Arundel he shall be." ”

“ At the Ladie's wrong
The harlot fleer'd and laughed;
Enticements are so strong,
They overcome the wise.
The Knight nothing regarded105
To see the Lady scoffed:
Thus was she rewarded
For her enterprise.
The harlot, all this space,
Did him oft embrace;110
She flatters him, and thus doth say:
"For thee Ile dye and live,
For thee my faith Ile give,
No wo shall work my love's decay; [Pg 230]
Thou shalt be my treasure,115
Thou shalt be my pleasure,
Thou shalt be my heart's delight:
I will be thy darling,
I will be thy worldling,
In despight of fortune's spight."120 ”

“ Sir James, it is said, stood on the defensive till the bully had spent himself a little; being a taller man than Sir James, in his mighty gasconading and bravadoing, he actually leapt over the knight as if he would swallow him alive ”

“ We owe the preservation of this beautiful old ballad to Arnold's Chronicle, of which the earliest edition is thought to have been printed in 1502. In Laneham's account of Elizabeth's visit to Kenilworth, the Nut-brown Maid is mentioned as a book by itself, and there is said to be at Oxford a list of books offered for sale at that place in 1520, among which is the Not-Broon Mayd, price one penny; still, the ballad is not known to exist at present in any other ancient form than that of the Chronicle. ”

“ Young Beichan will not bed with his bride,
For love of one that's yond the sea."
She's put her hand in her pocket,
Gi'en him the gold and white monie;90
"Hae, take ye that, my bonny boy,
For the good news thou tell'st to me."
When she came to young Beichan's gate,
She tirled softly at the pin;
So ready was the proud porter95
To open and let this lady in.
"Is this young Beichan's hall," she said,
"Or is that noble lord within?"
"Yea, he's in the hall among them all,
And this is the day o' his weddin."100
"And has he wed anither love? ”

“ For a' the gowd o' fair Scotland
Shall not save the life o' young Logie."
But she has stown the king's redding kaim,
Likewise the queen her wedding knife;
And sent the tokens to Carmichael,35
To cause young Logie get his life. ”

“ To search and to seek for her own true love,
Who seeing young Monford there gasping to die,95
She saved his life through her charity.
"And then all our victuals in beggars attire,
At the hands of good people we then did require;
At last into England, as now it is seen,
We came, and remained in Bednall Green.100
"And thus we have lived in Fortune's despyght,
Though poor, yet contented, with humble delight,
And in my old years, a comfort to me,
God sent me a daughter, called pretty Bessee.
"And thus, ye nobles, my song I do end,105
Hoping by the same no man to offend ”

“ From Buchan's Lang Johnny Moir, printed in the Appendix, it will be seen that the title of Little Scot is not to be taken literally, but that the doughty champion was a man of huge stature.
O Johnie Scot 's to the hunting gane,
Unto the woods sae wild;
And Earl Percy's ae daughter
To him goes big wi' child. [Pg 52]
O word is to the kitchen gane,5
And word is to the ha',
And word is to the highest towers,
Among the nobles a'.
"If she be wi' child," her father said,
"As woe forbid it be!10
I'll put her into a prison strang,
And try the veritie." ”

“ The Italian he slew out.
"A priest, a priest," fair Johnie cried,
"To wed my love and me;" [Pg 59]
"A clerk, a clerk," her father cried,
"To sum her tocher free."170
"I'll hae none of your gold," fair Johnie cried,
"Nor none of your other gear;
But I will have my own fair bride,
For this day I've won her dear."
He's ta'en his true love by the hand,175
He led her up the plain:
"Have you any more of your English dogs
You want for to have slain?"
He put a little horn to his mouth,
He blew 't baith loud and shill;180
And honour is into Scotland gone,
In spite of England's skill. ”

“ Unfortunately for the truth of the story, letters are in existence, written by the Earl of Cassilis to the Lady Jean after the date of these events, which prove the subsistence of a high degree of mutual affection and confidence; and Finlay assures us that after a diligent search, he had been able to discern nothing that in the slightest confirmed the popular tale. The whole story is perhaps the malicious invention of an enemy of the house of Cassilis, and as such would not be unparalleled in the history of ballad poetry. See Dauney's Ancient Scottish Melodies, p. ”

“ THE DUKE OF ATHOL.
"Taken down from the recitation of an idiot boy in Wishaw." Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 170.
"I am gaing awa, Jeanie,
I am gaing awa,
I am gaing ayont the saut seas,
I'm gaing sae far awa."
"What will ye buy to me, Jamie,5
What will ye buy to me?"
"I'll buy to you a silken plaid,
And send it wi' vanitie."
"That's na love at a', Jamie,
That's na love at a';10
All I want is love for love,
And that's the best ava.
"Whan will ye marry me, Jamie,
Whan will ye marry me? ”

“ O willow, &c.
The salt tears fell from him, which drowned his face.
O willow, &c.25
Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
The mute birds sate by him, made tame by his mones;
O willow, &c. [Pg 236]
The salt tears fell from him, which softened the stones.
O willow, &c.30
Sing, O the greene willow shall be my garland.
"Let nobody blame me, her scornes I do prove;
O willow, &c.
She was borne to be faire; I, to die for her love.
O willow, &c.35
Sing, O the greene willow, &c.
"O that beauty should harbour a heart that's so hard!
Sing willow, &c.
My true love rejecting without all regard. ”

“ Accused of treasonable converse with Bothwell, he confessed to the charge, and was, of course, in danger of expiating his crime by death. But he was rescued through the address and courage of Margaret Twynstoun, a lady of the court, to whom he was attached. It being her duty to wait on the queen the night of Logie's accusation, she left the royal chamber while the king and queen were asleep, passed to the room where he was kept in custody, and ordered the guard to bring the prisoner into the presence of their majesties. ”

“ AS I CAME FROM WALSINGHAM.
From The Garland of Good Will, as reprinted by the Percy Society, vol. XXX. p. 111. Percy's copy was communicated to him by Shenstone, and was retouched by that poet.
"The pilgrimage to Walsingham," remarks the Bishop, "suggested the plan of many popular pieces. In the Pepys collection, vol. i. p. 226, is a kind of interlude in the old ballad style, of which the first stanza alone is worth reprinting.
As I went to Walsingham,
To the shrine with speede,
Met I with a jolly palmer
In a pilgrimes weede. ”

“ Being daughter to the Lord Arundel, whose love was obtained by the valour of Tommy Pots: who conquered the Lord Phenix, and wounded him, and after obtained her to be his wife. Being very delightful to read." Ritson, Pieces of Ancient Popular Poetry, p. 135. [Pg 312]
Of all the lords in Scotland fair,
And ladies that been so bright of blee,
There is a noble lady among them all,
And report of her you shall hear by me. ”

“ The earl came with a large retinue to carry her off, when, according to the ballad, as well as the tradition of the country, a most affecting scene took place. The Marquis himself was so much overcome by the parting of his wife and child—for she had now borne a son—that he expressed, even in that last hour, a desire of being reconciled to her. But the traitorous Lowrie succeeded in preventing him from doing so, by a well-aimed sarcasm at his weakness.... ”

“ WALY, WALY, BUT LOVE BE BONNY.
These beautiful verses are thought to be only a part of Lord Jamie Douglas, (see the next piece,) in one copy or another of which, according to Motherwell, nearly all of them are to be found. They were first published in the Tea-Table Miscellany, (i. 231,) and are here given as they there appear, separate from an explicit story. ”

“ The circumstances which gave rise to the ballad are thus stated by Chambers: "James, second Marquis of Douglas, when aged twenty-four, married at Edinburgh, on the 7th of September, 1670, Lady Barbara Erskine, eldest daughter of John, ninth Earl of Mar. This lady is said to have been previously wooed, without success, by a gentleman of the name of Lowrie, who on account of his afterwards marrying Mariotte Weir, heiress of Blackwood, in Lanarkshire, was commonly called, according to the custom of Scotland, the Tutor, and sometimes the Laird, of Blackwood. ”

“ The portions which occur in Shakespeare are the first stanza, and fragments of the fifth, sixth, and seventh; he also introduces a couplet which does not belong to the ballad as here given.
The Second Part is very likely a separate composition. Songs upon this model or with the same burden were not infrequent. See one in Park's Heliconia, Part i. 132, and another in The Moral Play of Wit and Science, (Shakespeare Society,) p. 86.
Percy gave this song from a black-letter copy in the Pepys collection, entitled A Lover's Complaint, being forsaken of his Love. ”

“ HYND HORN. From Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 268.
"Hynd Horn fair, and Hynd Horn free,
O where were you born, in what countrie?"
"In gude greenwood, there I was born,
And all my forbears me beforn.
"O seven years I served the king,5
And as for wages, I never gat nane;
But ae sight o' his ae daughter,
And that was thro' an augre bore.
"My love gae me a siller wand,
'Twas to rule ower a' Scotland;10
And she gae me a gay gowd ring,
The virtue o't was above a' thing."
"As lang's this ring it keeps the hue,
Ye'll know I am a lover true ”

“ THE LOVERS QUARREL; OR, CUPIDS TRIUMPH.
"This 'pleasant History,' which 'may be sung to the tune of Floras Farewell,' is here republished from a copy printed at London for F. Cotes and others, 1677, 12mo. bl. 1., preserved in the curious and valuable collection of that excellent and most respected antiquary Antony à Wood, in the Ashmolean Museum; compared with another impression, for the same partners, without date, in the editor's possession. A different copy of the poem, more in the ballad form, was published, and may be found among the king's pamphlets in the British Museum. ”

“ Jellyflorice his true love spy'd,
As she rade roun' the cross;
And thrice he kiss'd her lovely lips,
And took her frae her horse.80
"Gang to your bower, my lily flower,
For a' my mother's spite;
There's nae other amang her maids,
In whom I take delight.
"Ye are my jewel, and only ane,85
Nane's do you injury;
For ere this-day-month come and gang,
My wedded wife ye'se be."
[Pg 299]
CHIL ETHER. From Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 228.
Chil Ether and Lady Maisry
Were baith born at ae birth;
They lov'd each other tenderlie,
Boon every thing on earth. ”