Ballads of Mystery and Miracle and Fyttes of Mirth Part 7

'Now speak to me, blankets, and speak to me, bed, And speak, thou sheet, inchanted web;

22.

'And speak up, my bonny brown sword, that winna lie, Is this a true maiden that lies by me?'

23.

'It is not a maid that you hae wedded, But it is a maid that you hae bedded;

24.

'It is a liel maiden that lies by thee, But not the maiden that it should be.'

25.

O wrathfully he left the bed, And wrathfully his claiths on did;

26.

And he has taen him thro' the ha', And on his mother he did ca'.

27.

'I am the most unhappy man, That ever was in Christen land!

28.

'I courted a maiden, meik and mild, And I hae gotten naething but a woman wi' child.'

29.

'O stay, my son, into this ha', And sport ye wi' your merrymen a';

30.

'And I will to the secret bour, To see how it fares wi' your paramour.'

31.

The carline she was stark and sture, She aff the hinges dang the dure.

32.

'O is your bairn to laird or loun?

Or is it to your father's groom?'

33.

'O hear me, mother, on my knee, Till my sad story I tell to thee:

34.

'O we were sisters, sisters seven, We were the fairest under heaven.

35.

'It fell on a summer's afternoon, When a' our toilsome task was done,

36.

'We cast the kavils us amang, To see which suld to the grene-wood gang.

37.

'Ohon! alas, for I was youngest, And aye my wierd it was the hardest!

38.

'The kavil it on me did fa', Whilk was the cause of a' my woe.

39.

'For to the grene-wood I maun gae, To pu' the red rose and the slae;

40.

'To pu' the red rose and the thyme, To deck my mother's bour and mine.

41.

'I hadna pu'd a flower but ane, When by there came a gallant hende,

42.

'Wi' high-coll'd hose and laigh-coll'd shoon, And he seem'd to be some king's son.

43.

'And be I maid, or be I nae, He kept me there till the close o' day.

44.

'And be I maid, or be I nane, He kept me there till the day was done.

45.

'He gae me a lock o' his yellow hair, And bade me keep it ever mair.

46.

'He gae me a carknet o' bonny beads, And bade me keep it against my needs.

47.

'He gae to me a gay gold ring, And bade me keep it abune a' thing.'

48.

'What did ye wi' the tokens rare That ye gat frae that gallant there?'

49.

'O bring that coffer unto me, And a' the tokens ye sall see.'

50.

'Now stay, daughter, your bour within, While I gae parley wi' my son.'

51.

O she has taen her thro' the ha', And on her son began to ca':

52.

'What did you wi' the bonny beads, I bade ye keep against your needs?

53.

'What did you wi' the gay gold ring, I bade you keep abune a' thing?'

54.