O, mickle dolour shall ye dree,* And aye the salt seas o'er ye'se swim, On Estmere + Crags, when ye them climb. I weird ye to a fiery beast, And relieved shall ye never be, Come to the crag, and thrice kiss thee. O, mickle dolour did she dree, And aye the salt seas o'er she swam, On Estmere Crags, ere she them clamb. And aye she cried for Kempion, Gin he would but come to her hand.- Now by my sooth, said Kempion, Then builded have they a bonny boat, O Segramour, keep the boat afloat And let her not the land o'er near; Soon has he bent an arblast bow, Suffer. And aimed an arrow at her head, + Estmere crags are probably intended to represent the cliffs of Northum berland, in opposition to Westmoreland.-W. S. I Caused. And swore, if she did not quit the land, O out of my stythe I winna rise, Come to the crag, and thrice kiss me. He has louted him o'er the dizzy crag, O out of my stythe I winna rise, Come to the crag, and thrice kiss me. He's louted him o'er the Estmere crags, O out of my den I winna rise, Nor flee it for the fear of thee, He's louted him o'er the lofty crag, And he has given her kisses three; * Sir Walter Scott has taken a hint from this, in one of the episodes in the Lady of the Lake : "She Crossed him once, she Crossed him twice, That lady was so brave; The fouler grew his goblin hue, The darker grew the cave. "She Crossed him thrice,- that lady bold, He rose beneath her hand; The fairest knight on Scottish mould, Her brother, Ethert Brand," Away she gaed, and again she came, And by my sooth, says Kempion, O was it warwolf in the wood, Or was it mermaid on the sea; Or was it man, or vile woman, My ain true love, that misshaped thee? It was no warwolf in the wood, O! a heavier weird shall light her on Her hair shall grow rough, and her teeth grow lang, None shall take pity her upon: In Wormeswood she aye shall wan, Till Saint Mungo come over the sea :— "I doubt that day I'll never see.” SCOTT'S BORDER MINSTRELSY. WILLIE OF KINMONT. THIS, which Sir Walter Scott characterises as one of the last and most gallant achievements performed upon the Border, took place in the year 1596. O HAVE ye na heard of the false Sakelde?— O have ye na heard of the keen Lord Scroop?— How they have taken bold Kinmont Willie, On Hairibee* to hang him up? Had Willie had but twenty men; But twenty men as stout as he, False Sakelde had never the Kinmont ta'en, They bound his legs beneath the steed,-- They guarded him fivesome on each side, They led him through the Liddel-rack, The place of execution for the English Marches, at Carlisle. My hands are tied, but my tongue is free; Or answer to the bold Buccleugh? Now hold thy tongue, thou rank rover, I trow ye shall take farewell of me. Fear na ye that, my Lord, quoth Willie; By the faith of my body, Lord Scroop, he said, I never yet lodged in a hostelrie, * But I paid my lawing + before I gaed. Now word is gane to the bold Keeper, He has taken the table with his hand, O is my basnet a widow's curch, § Or my lance a wand of the willow tree Or my arm a lady's lily hand, That an English lord should lightly || me? And have they ta’en him—Kinmont Willie, And forgotten that the bold Buccleuch And have they e’en ta’en him—Kinmont Willie, Withouten either dread or fear, * Inn. + Reckoning. + Helmet. Set light by. |