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Read Ebook: The Oxford Book of Ballads by Quiller Couch Arthur Editor
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Ebook has 6757 lines and 267092 words, and 136 pages
PART I
BOOK I
NO. PAGE 1. Thomas the Rhymer 1 2. Tam Lin 4 3. Sir Cawline 14 4. Sir Aldingar 20 5. Cospatrick 29 6. Willy's Lady 36 7. The Queen of Elfland's Nourice 41 8. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight 43 9. The Riddling Knight 46 10. May Colvin 47 11. The Wee Wee Man 51 12. Alison Gross 52 13. Kemp Owyne 55 14. The Laily Worm 59 15. King Orfeo 62 16. King Henry 64 17. The Boy and the Mantle 68 18. King Arthur and King Cornwall 75 19. The Marriage of Sir Gawain 88 20. Bonnie Annie 98 21. Brown Robyn's Confession 100 22. The Cruel Mother 102 23. Binnorie 104 24. The Broomfield Hill 107 25. Earl Mar's Daughter 110 26. Proud Lady Margaret 116 27. Clerk Saunders 118 28. The Daemon Lover 123 29. Clerk Colven 126 30. Young Hunting 129 31. The Great Silkie of Sule Skerrie 135 32. The Wife of Usher's Well 136 33. A Lyke-Wake Dirge 138 34. The Unquiet Grave 140
BOOK II
BOOK IV
PART II
BOOK V
BOOK VI
INDEX OF FIRST LINES 867
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.
BOOK I
True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank; A ferlie he spied wi' his e'e; And there he saw a ladye bright Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.
Her skirt was o' the grass-green silk, Her mantle o' the velvet fyne; At ilka tett o' her horse's mane Hung fifty siller bells and nine.
True Thomas he pu'd aff his cap, And louted low down on his knee: 'Hail to thee, Mary, Queen of Heaven! For thy peer on earth could never be.'
'O no, O no, Thomas,' she said, 'That name does not belang to me; I'm but the Queen o' fair Elfland, That am hither come to visit thee.
'Harp and carp, Thomas,' she said; 'Harp and carp along wi' me; And if ye dare to kiss my lips, Sure of your bodie I will be.'
'Betide me weal, betide me woe, That weird shall never daunten me.' Syne he has kiss'd her rosy lips, All underneath the Eildon Tree.
'Now ye maun go wi' me,' she said, 'True Thomas, ye maun go wi' me; And ye maun serve me seven years, Thro' weal or woe as may chance to be.'
She's mounted on her milk-white steed, She's ta'en true Thomas up behind; And aye, whene'er her bridle rang, The steed gaed swifter than the wind.
O they rade on, and farther on, The steed gaed swifter than the wind; Until they reach'd a desert wide, And living land was left behind.
'Light down, light down now, true Thomas, And lean your head upon my knee; Abide ye there a little space, And I will show you ferlies three.
'O see ye not yon narrow road, So thick beset wi' thorns and briers? That is the Path of Righteousness, Though after it but few inquires.
'And see ye not yon braid, braid road, That lies across the lily leven? That is the Path of Wickedness, Though some call it the Road to Heaven.
'And see ye not yon bonny road That winds about the fernie brae? That is the Road to fair Elfland, Where thou and I this night maun gae.
'But, Thomas, ye sall haud your tongue, Whatever ye may hear or see; For speak ye word in Elflyn-land, Ye'll ne'er win back to your ain countrie.'
O they rade on, and farther on, And they waded rivers abune the knee; And they saw neither sun nor moon, But they heard the roaring of the sea.
It was mirk, mirk night, there was nae starlight, They waded thro' red blude to the knee; For a' the blude that's shed on the earth Rins through the springs o' that countrie.
Syne they came to a garden green, And she pu'd an apple frae a tree: 'Take this for thy wages, true Thomas; It will give thee the tongue that can never lee.'
'My tongue is my ain,' true Thomas he said; 'A gudely gift ye wad gie to me! I neither dought to buy or sell At fair or tryst where I might be.
'I dought neither speak to prince or peer, Nor ask of grace from fair ladye!'-- 'Now haud thy peace, Thomas,' she said, 'For as I say, so must it be.'
He has gotten a coat of the even cloth, And a pair o' shoon of the velvet green; And till seven years were gane and past, True Thomas on earth was never seen.
FOOTNOTES:
'O I forbid you, maidens a', That wear gowd on your hair, To come or gae by Carterhaugh, For young Tam Lin is there.
'For even about that knight's middle O' siller bells are nine; And nae maid comes to Carterhaugh And a maid returns again.'
Fair Janet sat in her bonny bower, Sewing her silken seam, And wish'd to be in Carterhaugh Amang the leaves sae green.
She's lat her seam fa' to her feet, The needle to her tae, And she's awa' to Carterhaugh As fast as she could gae.
And she has kilted her green kirtle A little abune her knee; And she has braided her yellow hair A little abune her bree; And she has gaen for Carterhaugh As fast as she can hie.
She hadna pu'd a rose, a rose, A rose but barely ane, When up and started young Tam Lin; Says, 'Ladye, let alane.
'What gars ye pu' the rose, Janet? What gars ye break the tree? What gars ye come to Carterhaugh Without the leave o' me?'
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