They hae taen to the heiding-hill 10
His young son in his craddle,
And they hae taen to the heiding-hill
His horse bot and his saddle.

They hae taen to the heiding-hill
His lady fair to see,

And for the words the queen had spoke
Young Waters he did die.

6

THE DOWIE DENS OF YARROW 1

(Sir Walter Scott's Version)

Late at e'en, drinking the wine,
And ere they paid the lawing,2
They set a combat them between,
To fight it in the dawing.

"O stay at hame, my noble lord!

!

O stay at hame, my marrow 3 My cruel brother will you betray,

On the dowie 4 houms 5 of Yarrow." 6

"O fare ye weel, my ladye gay!

O fare ye weel, my Sarah!

For I maun gae, though I ne'er return
Frae the dowie banks o' Yarrow."

10. Heiding-hill. Heading-hill; place of execution.

1. In all the various versions of this ballad there is an ill feeling between the family of the woman and the man. This explains the treachery. Evidently the brother-in-law remained in the background until the man was well nigh slain.

2. Lawing. Tavern reckoning.

3. Marrow. Mate.

4. Dowie. Doleful, sad, wretched.

5. Houms. Level low ground on a river bank.

6. Yarrow. A small stream in southeastern Scotland.

She kiss'd his cheek, she kaim'd his hair,
As oft she had done before, O;
She belted him with his noble brand,
And he's awa' to Yarrow.

As he gaed up the Tennies bank,

I wot he gaed wi' sorrow,

Till, down in a den,' he spied nine arm'd men, On the dowie houms of Yarrow.

"O come ye here to part your land,
The bonny forest thorough?

Or come ye here to wield your brand,
On the dowie houms of Yarrow?"

"I come not here to part my land,
And neither to beg nor borrow;
I come to wield my noble brand,
On the bonnie banks of Yarrow.

"If I see all, ye're nine to ane;

8

And that's an unequal marrow;
Yet will I fight, while lasts my brand,
On the bonny banks of Yarrow."

Four has he hurt, and five has slain,
On the bloody braes of Yarrow,
Till that stubborn knight came him behind,
And ran his body thorough.

"Gae hame, gae hame, good-brother John,
And tell your sister Sarah,

To come and lift her noble lord!
He's sleepin sound on Yarrow."

"Yestreen I dream'd a dolefu' dream;
'I fear there will be sorrow!

I dream'd I pu'd the heather green,
Wi' my true love, on Yarrow.

"O gentle wind, that bloweth south,
From where my love repaireth,
Convey a kiss from his dear mouth,
And tell me how he fareth!

"But in the glen strive armed men;

They've wrought me dole

and sorrow;

They've slain-the comeliest knight they've slain

He bleeding lies on Yarrow."

As she sped down yon high, high hill,
She gaed wi' dole and sorrow,
And in the den spied ten slain men,
On the dowie banks of Yarrow.

She kiss'd his cheek, she kaim'd his hair,
She search'd his wounds all thorough,
She kiss'd them, till her lips grew red,
On the dowie houms of Yarrow.

"Now, haud your tongue, my daughter dear! For a' this breeds but sorrow.

I'll wed ye to a better lord,

Than him ye lost on Yarrow."

“O haud your tongue, my father dear,

Ye mind me but of sorrow;

A fairer rose did never bloom

Than now lies cropp'd on Yarrow."

9. Dole. Grief.

1.

7

THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN1

(Sir Walter Scott's Version)

It fell about the Lammas tide,2
When the muir-men win their hay,
The doughty Douglas bound him to ride
Into England, to drive a prey.3

He chose the Gordons and the Graemes,
With them the Lindesays, light and gay;
But the Jardines wald not with him ride,
And they rue it to this day.

And he has burned the dales of Tyne,
And part of Bamb'rough shire;
And three good towers on Reidswire fell,
He left them all on fire.

And he marched up to Newcastle,

And rode it round about;

"O wha's the lord of this castle,

Or wha's the lady o't?"

But up spake proud Lord Percy then,

And O but he spake hie!

"I am the lord of this castle,

My wife's the lady gay."

Otterburn is a brook in Northumberland, about thirty miles northwest of Newcastle and not many miles from the Scotch border. The battle of Otterburn was fought in 1388. The ballad_aptly illus trates the border raids so common in early Scotch and English_history. The two chief characters are Lord Douglas, Scotch, and Lord Percy, English. The other names are those of notable clans or lords, or near localities.

"If thou'rt the lord of this castle,

Sae weel it pleases me!

For, ere I cross the Border fells,
The tane 5 of us shall die."

He took a lang spear in his hand,
Shod with the metal free,
And for to meet the Douglas there,
He rode right furiouslie.

But O how pale his lady looked,
Frae aff the castle wa',

When down before the Scottish spear
She saw proud Percy fa'.

"Had we twa been upon the green,
And never an eye to see,

I wad hae had you, flesh and fell;
But your sword sall gae wi me."

"But gae ye up to Otterburn,

And wait there dayis three;

6

And, if I come not ere three dayis end, A fause knight ca' ye me."

"The Otterburn's a bonny burn; 7

'Tis pleasant there to be;

But there is nought at Otterburn,
To feed my men and me

"The deer rins wild on hill and dale,
The birds fly wild from tree to tree;
But there is neither bread nor kale,8
To fend my men and me.

5. Tane. One.

9