"Ye'll tak' the sword frae my scabbard,
And lowly, lowly, lift the gin;

And you may say, your oath to save,
You never let Clerk Saunders in.

"Ye'll tak' a napkin in your hand,
And ye'll tie up baith your een;
And ye may say, your oath to save,
You saw na Sandy sin' late yestreen.

"Ye'll tak' me in your arms twa,

Ye'll carry me ben1 into your bed;

And ye may say, your oath to save,
On your bower floor I never tread."

She has ta'en the sword frae his scabbard,
And lowly, lowly, lifted the gin;
She was to swear, her oath to save,
She never let Clerk Saunders in.

She has ta'en a napkin in her hand,
And she tied up baith her een;
She was to swear, her oath to save,
She saw na him sin' late yestreen.

She has ta'en him in her arms twa,
And carried him ben into her bed;
She was to say, her oath to save,

He never on her bower floor tread.

I to the inner

apartment.

In and came her seven brothers,

And all their torches burning bright, Says they, "We ha'e but ae sister,

And see there she's lying wi' a knight."

Out and speaks the first of them,

"I wat they ha'e been lovers dear." Out and speaks the next of them,

"They ha'e been in love this mony a year."

Out and speaks the third of them,

"It were great sin this twa to twain." Out and speaks the fourth of them,

"It were a sin to kill a sleeping man."

Out and speaks the fifth of them,

"I wat they'll ne'er be twained by me." Out and speaks the sixth of them,

"We'll tak' our leave and gae our way."

Out and speaks the seventh of them,

'Although there were no a man but me, I bear the brand into my hand

Shall quickly gar Clerk Saunders dee.

Out he has ta'en a bright long brand,
And he has striped it through the straw,
And through and through Clerk Saunders' body
I wat he has gar'd cold iron gae.

Saunders he started and Marg❜ret she lapt
Intil his arms, where she lay;

And well and wellsome was the night,
I wat it was, between these twae.

And they lay still and sleepéd sound
Until the day began to daw;
And kindly till him she did say,
"It's time, true love, ye were awa."

They lay still and sleepéd sound
Until the sun began to shine;
She looked between her and the wa',
And dull and heavy were his een.

She thought it had been a loathsome sweat,
I wat, it had fallen this twa between;
But it was the blood of his fair body;
I wat his life days were na lang.

"O Saunders, I'll do for your sake
What other ladies wouldna thole1;
When seven years is come and gone
There's ne'er a shoe go on my sole.

"O Saunders, I'll do for your sake

What other ladies would think mair, When seven years is come and gone

There's ne'er a comb go in my hair.

I endure.

I doleful.

2 softly, carefully.

3 moan.

O Saunders, I'll do for your sake
What other ladies would think lack,
When seven years is come and gone
I'll wear nought but dowie1 black."

The bells gaed clinking through the town
To carry the dead corpse to the clay,
And, sighing, says her, May Marg❜ret,
"I wat I bide a dulefu' day."

In and come her father dear,

Canny2 cam' he stepping in;

Says, "Haud your tongue, my dochter dear,
What need ye mak' sic heavy mene3?*

"Haud your tongue, my dochter dear,
Let all your mourning a be;

I'll carry the dead corpse to the clay,
And I'll come back and comfort thee."

"Comfort well your seven sons,

For comforted will I never be;

For it was neither lord nor loun

That was in bower last night wi' me."

* The stanza, imperfect in Herd's, is completed from Kinloch's version.

THE WIFE OF USHER'S WELL.

[The only original version of this strange and powerful ballad appeared in Scott's Minstrelsy of the Border.]

THERE lived a wife at Usher's Well,
And a wealthy wife was she;

She had three stout and stalwart sons,
And sent them o'er the sea.

They hadna been a week from her,

A week but barely ane,

When word came back to the carline1 wife

That her three sons were gane.

They hadna been a week from her,

A week but barely three,

When word came to the carline wife

That her sons she'd never see.

"I wish the wind may never cease,

Nor fashes in the flood,

Till my three sons come hame to me,

In earthly flesh and blood!"

It fell about the Martinmas,

When nights are lang and mirk,

The carline wife's three sons cam' hame,

And their hats were o' the birk3.

1 Fem. of carl, a man. Here probably

means

rustic."

2 troubles.

Fr. fâcheries.

3 birch.