Ballads of Mystery and Miracle and Fyttes of Mirth Part 14

15.

'Ye're welcome, welcome, my ain gude lord, Ye're welcome hame to me; But where away are my twa sons?

Ye should hae brought them wi' ye.'

16.

'It's I've putten them to a deeper lair, An' to a higher schule; Yere ain twa sons 'ill no' be here Till the hallow days o' Yule.'

17.

'O sorrow, sorrow, come mak' my bed, An' dool come lay me doon!

For I'll neither eat nor drink, Nor set a fit on ground.'

18.

The hallow days of Yule are come, The nights are lang and dark; An' in an' cam' her ain twa sons, Wi' their hats made o' the bark.

19.

'O eat an' drink, my merry men a', The better shall ye fare, For my twa sons the[y] are come hame To me for evermair.'

20.

She has gaen an' made their bed, An' she's made it saft an' fine, An' she's happit them wi' her gay mantel, Because they were her ain.

21.

O the young c.o.c.k crew i' the merry Linkem, An' the wild fowl chirp'd for day; The aulder to the younger did say, 'Dear brother, we maun away.'

22.

'Lie still, lie still, a little wee while, Lie still but if we may; For gin my mother miss us away, She'll gae mad or it be day.'

23.

O it's they've ta'en up their mother's mantel, And they've hang'd it on the pin: 'O lang may ye hing, my mother's mantel, Or ye hap us again!'

[Annotations: 1.4: 'lair,' lesson. Cp. 16.1.

7.1 etc.: 'owsen,' oxen.

17.2: 'dool,' grief.

18: Here begins _The Wife of Usher's Well_ in a variant.

20.3: 'happit,' wrapped.

21.1: 'Linkem,' perhaps a stock ballad-locality, like 'Lin,' etc.

See First Series, Introduction, p. 1.]

THE WIFE OF USHER'S WELL

1.

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.

2.

They hadna been a week from her, A week but barely ane, When word came to the carline wife That her three sons were gane.

3.

They hadna been a week from her, A week but barely three, When word came to the carlin wife, That her sons she'd never see.

4.

'I wish the wind may never cease, Nor fishes in the flood, Till my three sons come hame to me, In earthly flesh and blood.'

5.

It fell about the Martinma.s.s, When nights are lang and mirk, The carlin wife's three sons came hame, And their hats were o' the birk.

6.

It neither grew in syke nor ditch, Nor yet in ony sheugh; But at the gates o' Paradise That birk grew fair eneugh.

7.

'Blow up the fire, my maidens, Bring water from the well; For a' my house shall feast this night, Since my three sons are well.'

8.

And she has made to them a bed, She's made it large and wide, And she's ta'en her mantle her about, Sat down at the bedside.

9.

Up then crew the red, red c.o.c.k, And up and crew the gray; The eldest to the youngest said, ''Tis time we were away.'

10.

The c.o.c.k he hadna craw'd but once, And clapp'd his wings at a', Whan the youngest to the eldest said, 'Brother, we must awa'.

11.

'The c.o.c.k doth craw, the day doth daw, The channerin' worm doth chide; Gin we be mist out o' our place, A sair pain we maun bide.

12.

'Fare-ye-weel, my mother dear!

Fareweel to barn and byre!

And fare-ye-weel, the bonny la.s.s That kindles my mother's fire!'

[Annotations: 2.3: 'carline,' old woman.

5.4: 'birk,' birch.

6.1: 'syke,' marsh.

6.2: 'sheugh,' ditch.

11.2: 'channerin',' fretting.]

THE GREAT SILKIE OF SULE SKERRIE

+The Text+ was communicated to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland by Captain F. W. L. Thomas, who took it down from the dictation of an old woman of Shetland.