Page:National Ballad and Song (1897), vol. 1.djvu/24

“O wow!” quo he, “were I as free,
As first when I saw this countrie,
How blyth and merry wad I bee!
 become wearyAnd I wad nevir think lang.”
livelyHe grew canty, and she grew fain,
her old mother knowBut little did her auld minny ken
What thir slee twa togither were sayn,
 busyWhen wooing they were sa thrang.

if“And O!” quo he, “ann ze were as black,
As evir the crown of your dadyes hat,
‘Tis I wad lay thee by my back,
 goAnd awa wi’ me thou sould gang!”
“And O!” quoth she, “ann I were as white,
As evir the snaw lay on the dike,
I’d clothe me gayIld clead me braw, and lady-like,
 And awa with thee Ild gang.

Between the twa was made a plot;
a littleThey raise a wee before the cock,
And wyliely they shot the lock,
 open fieldAnd fast to the bent are they gane.
Up the morn the auld wife raise,
And at her leisure put on her claiths,
Syne to the servants bed she gaes
 enquireTo speir for the silly poor man.

wentShe gaed to the bed, whair the beggar lay,
The strae was cauld, he was away;