| |
I
LATE at een, drinkin’ the wine, | |
| And ere they paid the lawin’, | |
| They set a combat them between, | |
| To fight it in the dawin’. | |
| |
II
‘O stay at hame, my noble lord! | 5 |
| O stay at hame, my marrow! | |
| My cruel brother will you betray, | |
| On the dowie houms o’ Yarrow.’— | |
| |
III
‘O fare ye weel, my lady gay! | |
| O fare ye weel, my Sarah! | 10 |
| For I maun gae, tho’ I ne’er return | |
| Frae the dowie banks o’ Yarrow.’ | |
| |
IV
She kiss’d his cheek, she kamed his hair, | |
| As she had done before, O; | |
| She belted on his noble brand, | 15 |
| An’ he ’s awa to Yarrow. | |
| |
V
O he ’s gane up yon high, high hill— | |
| I wat he gaed wi’ sorrow— | |
| An’ in a den spied nine arm’d men, | |
| I’ the dowie houms o’ Yarrow. | 20 |
| |
VI
‘O are ye come to drink the wine, | |
| As ye hae doon before, O? | |
| Or are ye come to wield the brand, | |
| On the dowie houms o’ Yarrow?’— | |
| |
VII
‘I am no come to drink the wine, | 25 |
| As I hae done before, O, | |
| But I am come to wield the brand, | |
| On the dowie houms o’ Yarrow.’ | |
| |
VIII
Four he hurt an’ five he slew, | |
| On the dowie houms o’ Yarrow, | 30 |
| Till that stubborn knight came him behind, | |
| An’ ran his body thorrow. | |
| |
IX
‘Gae hame, gae hame, good brother John, | |
| An’ tell your sister Sarah | |
| To come an’ lift her noble lord, | 35 |
| Who ’s sleepin’ sound on Yarrow.’ | |
| |
X
‘Yestreen I dream’d a dolefu’ dream; | |
| I ken’d there wad be sorrow; | |
| I dream’d I pu’d the heather green, | |
| On the dowie banks o’ Yarrow.’ | 40 |
| |
XI
She gaed up yon high, high hill— | |
| I wat she gaed wi’ sorrow— | |
| An’ in a den spied nine dead men, | |
| On the dowie houms o’ Yarrow. | |
| |
XII
She kiss’d his cheek, she kamed his hair, | 45 |
| As oft she did before, O; | |
| She drank the red blood frae him ran, | |
| On the dowie houms o’ Yarrow. | |
| |
XIII
‘O haud your tongue, my douchter dear, | |
| For what needs a’ this sorrow? | 50 |
| I’ll wed you on a better lord | |
| Than him you lost on Yarrow.’— | |
| |
XIV
‘O haud your tongue, my father dear, | |
| An’ dinna grieve your Sarah; | |
| A better lord was never born | 55 |
| Than him I lost on Yarrow. | |
| |
XV
‘Tak hame your ousen, tak hame your kye, | |
| For they hae bred our sorrow; | |
| I wiss that they had a’ gane mad | |
| Whan they cam’ first to Yarrow.’ | 60 |
| | | GLOSS: dawin’] dawn. curn] pack. widdifu’s] gallows-birds, fit to fill a ‘widdie’ or halter. graith] harness, arms. riving] tearing. yate] gate. lawin’] reckoning. marrow] married mate. dowie] doleful. houms] water-meads. ousen] oxen. |
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