"Is there never a bird in a' this wood That will tell what I can say; That will go to Cockley's Well, Tell my mither to fetch me away?” There was a bird into that wood, KINMONT WILLIE [In its present form this ballad is partly the work of Sir Walter Scott. Kinmont Willie was William of Armstrong,-"Will o' Kinmouth." His capture and release took place in 1596. Lord Scroop was warden of the West-Marches of England, and Salkeld was his deputy. The Scotch marshal was Sir Walter Scott of Branxholm, laird of Buccleuch. Hairibee is the place of execution at Carlisle.] O have ye na heard o' the false Sakelde? O have ye na heard o' the keen1 Lord Scroop? How they ha' ta'en bold Kinmont Willie, On Hairibee to hang him up? Had Willie had but twenty men, But twenty men as stout as he, False Sakelde had never the Kinmont ta'en, Wi' eight score in his company. They bound his legs beneath the steed, They tied his hands behind his back; 10 They guarded him, fivesome2 on each side, And they brought him over the Liddel rack.s They led him through the Liddel rack, And also through the Carlisle sands; They brought him to Carlisle's castle, To be at my Lord Scroop's commands. "My hands are tied, but my tongue is free, And who will dare this deed avow? Or answer by the border law? Or answer to the bold Buccleuch?" 20 "Now hold thy tongue, thou rank reiver ! There's never a Scot shall set ye free; Before ye cross my castle-gate, I trow ye shall take farewell o' me." I keen. Bold. 2 fivesome. Five together. 3 rack. Ford. 4 reiver. Robber. He has called him forty marchmen bold, I trow they were of his ain name, Except Sir Gilbert Elliot, called The Laird of Stobs, I mean the same. He has called him forty marchmen bold, Were kinsmen to the bold Buccleuch, With spur on heel, and splent on spauld,1 And gloves of green, and feathers blue. There were five and five before them a', Wi' hunting-horns and bugles bright; And five and five came wi' Buccleuch, 71 Like Warden's men, arrayed for fight. And five and five like a mason-gang, That carried the ladders lang and hie; And five and five like broken men;2 And so they reached the Woodhouselee. And as we crossed the Batable Land, When to the English side we held, The first o' men that we met wi', Whae should it be but false Sakelde! 80 "Where be ye gaun, ye hunters keen?" Quoth false Sakelde; "come tell to me!" "We go to hunt an English stag, Has trespassed on the Scots countree." "Where be ye gaun, ye marshal-men?" Quoth false Sakelde; "come tell me true!" "We go to catch a rank reiver, Has broken faith wi' the bold Buccleuch." "Where are ye gaun, ye mason-lads, Wi' a' your ladders lang and hie?" 90 "We gang to harry a corbie's" nest, That wons not far frae Woodhouselee." "Where be ye gaun, ye broken men?" Quoth false Sakelde; "come tell to me!" Now Dickie of Dryhope led that band, And the never a word o' lore? had he. "Why trespass ye on the English side? Row-footed outlaws, stand!" quoth he; The ne'er a word had Dickie to say, So he thrust the lance through his false bodie. I splent on spauld. Armor on shoulder. 2 broken men. Outlaws. 3 Batable Land. Border. 4 harry. Plunder. s corbie's. Crow's. 6 wons. Dwells. 7 lore. Learning. 8 Row-footed. Rough-footed. 100 150 "I'll pay you for my lodging-mail* When first we meet on the border side." Then shoulder high, with shout and cry, I wot the Kinmont's iron played clang. "O mony a time," quoth Kinmont Willie, "I have ridden horse both wild and wood,5 But a rougher beast than Red Rowan "And mony a time," quoth Kinmont Willie, "I've pricked a horse out o'er the furs, But since the day I backed a steed I never wore sic cumbrous spurs." We scarce had won the Staneshaw-bank, When a' the Carlisle bells were rung, And a thousand men, in horse and foot, Came wi' the keen Lord Scroop along. Buccleuch has turned to Eden Water, Even where it flowed from bank to brim, 170 [The refrain in the first stanza, which is supposed to be repeated in all the others, is of the irrelevant sort which merely gives evidence of the ballad's having been sung to a familiar tune.] There was twa sisters in a bowr, There was twa sisters in a bowr, There was twa sisters in a bowr, Bonny St. Johnston stands upon Tay. He courted the eldest wi glove an ring, But he lovd the youngest as his life. Upon a morning fair an clear, 10 "O father, father, draw your dam, Here's either a mermaid or a swan." The miller quickly drew the dam, You coudna see her fingers white An by there came a harper fine, When he did look that lady upon, 40 AGINCOURT WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE [In 1415 Henry V of England, prosecuting a claim to the French throne, landed in France with an invading army. He met the French forces, far superior in numbers to his own. at Agincourt, and on October 25 decisively defeated the Constable of France.] I Now all the youth of England are on fire, And silken dalliance1 in the wardrobe lies. Now thrive the armorers, and honor's thought Reigns solely in the breast of every man. They sell the pasture now to buy the horse, Following the mirror of all Christian kings, With winged heels, as English Mercuries. ΙΟ With crowns imperial, crowns and coro- |