A Bundle of Ballads Part 7

"And I give thee seventeen pence a day," said the Queen, "By G.o.d and by my fay, Come fetch thy payment when thou wilt, No man shall say thee nay.

William, I make thee a gentleman Of clothing and of fee, And thy two brethren yeomen of my chamber: For they are seemly to see;

"Your son, for he is tender of age, Of my wine-cellar shall he be, And when he cometh to man's estate, Better preferred shall he be.

And, William, bring me your wife," said the Queen, "Me longeth her sore to see; She shall be my chief gentlewoman, To govern my nursery."

The yeomen thanked them full courteously, And said: "To some bishop we'll wend, Of all the sins that we have done To be a.s.soiled at his hand."

So forth be gone these good yeomen, As fast as they might hie; And after came and dwelt with the King, And died good men all three.

Thus ended the lives of these good yeomen, G.o.d send them eternal bliss; And all that with a hand-bow shooteth, That of heaven they may never miss!

BINNORIE.

There were two sisters sat in a bour; Binnorie, O Binnorie!

There came a knight to be their wooer By the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie.

He courted the eldest with glove and ring, But he lo'ed the youngest aboon a' thing.

He courted the eldest with brooch and knife, But he lo'ed the youngest aboon his life.

The eldest she was vex-ed sair, And sore envi-ed her sister fair.

Upon a morning fair and clear She cried upon her sister dear:

"O, sister, come to yon river strand, And see our father's ships come to land."

She's ta'en her by the lily hand, And led her down to the river strand.

And as they walk-ed by the linn, The eldest dang the youngest in.

"O, sister, sister, reach your hand, And ye'll be heir to a' my land!"--

"Foul fa' the hand that I wad take To twin me o' my warld's make!"--

"O, sister, reach me but your glove, And sweet William shall be your love!"--

"Sink on, nor hope for hand or glove, And sweet William shall be my love:

"Your cherry cheeks and your yellow hair Garr'd me gang maiden evermair."

She clasped her hands about a broom root, But her cruel sister she loosed them out.

Sometimes she sunk, and sometimes she swam, Until she came to the miller's dam.

The miller's daughter was baking bread, She went for water as she had need.

"O father, father, draw your dam!

There's either a maid or a milk-white swan!"

The miller hasted and drew his dam, And there he found a drowned wom-an.

You couldna see her yellow hair For gowd and pearls that were sae rare;

You couldna see her middle sma', Her gowden girdle was sae bra'.

A famous harper pa.s.sing by, The sweet pale face he chanced to spy;

And when he looked that ladye on, He sighed and made a heavy moan.

He made a harp of her breast-bone, Whose sounds would melt a heart of stone;

He's ta'en three locks of her yellow hair, And wi' them strung his harp sae fair.

He brought it to her father's hall, And there was the court a.s.sembled all.

He laid this harp upon a stone, And straight it began to play alone:

"Oh, yonder sits my father, the king, And yonder sits my mother, the queen,

And yonder stands my brother, Hugh, And yonder my William, sweet and true."

But the last tune that the harp played then Binnorie! O Binnorie!

Was, "Wae to my sister, false Ellen, By the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie!"

KING COPHETUA AND THE BEGGAR-MAID.

I read that once in Africa A princely wight did reign, Who had to name Cophetua, As poets they did feign: From nature's laws he did decline, For sure he was not of my mind, He car-ed not for women-kind, But did them all disdain.

But mark what happened on a day: As he out of his window lay, He saw a beggar all in gray, The which did cause his pain.

The blinded boy, that shoots so trim, From heaven down did hie; He drew a dart and shot at him, In place where he did lie: Which soon did pierce him to the quick, And when he felt the arrow p.r.i.c.k, Which in his tender heart did stick, He looked as he would die.

"What sudden chance is this," quoth he, "That I to love must subject be, Which never thereto would agree, But still did it defy?"

Then from the window he did come, And laid him on his bed, A thousand heaps of care did run Within his troubled head: For now he means to crave her love, And now he seeks which way to prove How he his fancy might remove, And not this beggar wed.

But Cupid had him so in snare, That this poor beggar must prepare A salve to cure him of his care, Or else he would be dead.

And, as he musing thus did lie, He thought for to devise How he might have her company, That so did 'maze his eyes.

"In thee," quoth he, "doth rest my life; For surely thou shalt be my wife, Or else this hand with b.l.o.o.d.y knife The G.o.ds shall sure suffice!"

Then from his bed he soon arose, And to his palace gate he goes; Full little then this beggar knows When she the king espies.

"The G.o.ds preserve your majesty!"

The beggars all gan cry: "Vouchsafe to give your charity Our children's food to buy!"

The king to them his purse did cast, And they to part it made great haste; This silly woman was the last That after them did hie.

The king he called her back again, And unto her he gave his chain; And said, "With us thou shalt remain Till such time as we die: