"O thy hound's blude was ne'er sae red, Nor e'er sae dear to me: O what blude's this upon your hand? "It is the blude of my gay goss hawk; He wadna flee for me.' "O thy hawk's bluid was ne'er sae red, Nor e'er sae dear to me: O what blude 's this upon your . Dear Willie, tell to me.' dirk? "It is the blude of my ae brother; O dule and wae is me." "O what will ye say to your father? Dear Willie, tell to me." "I'll saddle my steed, and awa I'll ride, To dwell in some far countrie." "O when will ye come hame again? Dear Willie, tell to me." "When sun and mune leap on yon hill, And that will never be." She turn'd hersel' right round about, FINE FLOWERS I' THE VALLEY. This favourite ballad-which exists in a variety of forms, both in Scotland and England-first appeared in Herd's Collection. Jamieson, who calls it The Cruel Brother, printed it with the burden chorus "With a heigho and a lily gay, And the primrose blooms sae sweetly," instead of the burden more commonly used"Fine flowers in the valley, The red, the green, and the yellow." The following is taken from Gilchrist's Collection. THERE were three ladies in a ha', There came three lords amang them a', The first o' them was clad in red, The second o' them was clad in green, The third o' them was clad in yellow, "O! ye maun ask my father dear, And "O! I have asked thy father dear, Likewise the mother that did thee bear; "And I have asked thy sister Ann; But I forgot thy brother John." Now when the wedding day was come, The knight would take his bonny bride home. And mony a lord, and mony a knight, There was nae man that did her see, Her father led her through the ha', Her sister Anne led her through the close, “You are high, and I am low, She was louting down to kiss him sweet, When wi' his penknife he wounded her deep. "Ride up, ride up," said the foremost man, "I think our bride looks pale and wan." "O lead me over into yon stile, "O lead me over into yon stair, For there I'll lie and bleed nae mair." "O! what will you leave to your mother dear?" "The silken gown that I did wear." "What will you leave to your father dear?" "The milk-white steed that brought me here." "What will you leave to your sister Ann?” "My silken snood and golden fan." "What will you leave to your brother John?" "The highest gallows to hang him on." "And what will you leave to your brother John's wife?" "Grief and sorrow to end her life." "And what will you leave to your brother John's bairns ?" "The world wide for them to range.” SON DAVIE! SON DAVIE! The following, which is given from the recitation of an old woman, will strike the reader as resembling the ballad of The Twa Brothers. But it resembles more the ballad given in Percy's Reliques, beginning— "Why does zour brand sae drap wi' blood? Indeed, and which was communicated by Lord Hailes. there is reason to believe that his lordship made a few slight verbal improvements on the copy he transmitted, and altered the hero's name to Edward; a name which, by the by, never occurs in a Scottish ballad, except where allusion is made to an English king. This, then, may be looked upon as the genuine traditionary version.-MOTHER WELL. "WHAT bluid's that on thy coat lap? What bluid's that on thy coat lap? "It is the bluid of my great hawk, It is the bluid of my great hawk, Hawk's bluid was ne'er sae red, Son Davie ! son Davie ! Hawk's bluid was ne'er sae red, 'It is the bluid of my grey hound, "Hound's bluid was ne'er sae red, Son Davie! son Davie ! Hound's bluid was ne'er sae red, And the truth come tell to me, 0." "It is the bluid o' my brother John, It is the bluid o' my brother John, "What about did the plea begin? Son Davie son Davie!" "It began about the cutting o' a willow wand, That would never hae been a tree, O." "What death dost thou desire to die? Son Davie! son Davie ! What death dost thou desire to die? And the truth come tell to me, O." |