But the answer he received again

The lines did grieve his heart right sair : Nane of her friends there had her seen,

For a twelvemonth and something mair. Then he put on a Palmer's weed,

And took a pike-staff in his hand;

To Violentrie's castell he hied,

But slowly, slowly, he did gang.

When within the hall he came,

He jooked and couch'd out ower his tree,

"If ye be lady of this hall,

Some of your good bountith gie me.'

"What news, what news, Palmer," she said, "And from what countrie cam ye?" "I'm lately come from Grecian plains Where lies some of the Scots armie." "If ye be come from Grecian plains Some mair news I will ask of theeOf one of the chieftains that lies there, If he has lately seen his gay ladie." "It is twa months and something mair, Since we did pairt on yonder plain; And now this knight has began to fear One of his foes he has her ta'en." "He has not ta'en me by force nor slight, It was a' by my ain free will; He may tarry into the fight,

For here I mean to tarry still.

And if John Thomson ye do see,
Tell him I wish him silent sleep;

His head was not so coziely,

Nor yet sae weel as lies at my feet." With that he threw aff his strange disguise, Laid by the mask that he had on;

Said, "Hide me now, my lady fair,

Then she put him down in a dark cellar
Where there lay many a new slain man.
But he hadna in the cellar been,

Not an hour but barely three,
Then hideous was the noise he heard,
When in at the gate cam Violentrie.
Says, "I wish you well, my ladie fair,
It's time for us to sit to dine;

Come, serve me with the good white bread,
And likewise with the claret wine.
That Scots chieftain, our mortal fae,
Sae aft frae field has made us flee,
Ten thousand zechins this day I'll give
That I his face could only see."
"Of that same gift wuld ye give me,

If I wuld bring him unto thee?

I fairly hold you at your word

Come ben, John Thomson, to my lord." Then from the vault John Thomson came, Wringing his hands most piteouslie, "What would ye do," the Turk he cried, "If ye had me as I hae thee?"

"If I had you as ye have me,

I'll tell ye what I'd do to thee;

I'd hang you up in good green wood,
And cause your ain hand wale the tree.

I meant to stick you with my knife
For kissing my beloved lady "—

"But that same weed ye've shaped for me,
It quickly shall be sewed for thee."
Then to the wood they baith are gane;
John Thomson clamb frae tree to tree;
And aye he sighed and said, "Och, hone,
Here comes the day that I must die."
He tied a ribbon on every branch,
Put up a flag his men might see;
But little did his false faes ken
He meant them any injurie.

MUSICK.

The following tunes having been taken down from the singing of particular verses in the respective ballads to which they belong, and these verses having sometimes happened not to be the initial stanza of the ballad, it has been deemed advisable to print the precise verses from the singing of which the several tunes were so noted. This is rendered the more necessary as some tunes are given to which no correspondent ballad will be found in this collection, while others refer to sets of a ballad different from those which it contains.

Is an English ballad, to be found in Deloney's "History of Jack of Newbury," from which it is inserted in Ritson's Ancient Songs." A Scottish version is given in Mr. Kinloch's Ballads, entitled, "The Provost's Daughter." It is popular in Scotland.

III. THE WHUMMIL BORE.

This ballad, had it been obtained perfect, would probably have found a place in this collection. As nothing but a few stanzas were recovered we have contented ourselves with merely preserving its

Is not printed in this collection.

It is one of the numerous versions which exist of the ballad known under the titles of Bothwell, Corspatrick, Gil Brenton, &c. See "Herd's Ballads and Border Minstrelsy."

The text now given is a version of the ballad differing a little from the one published in this volume.