|
O, CAME ye ower by the Yoke-burn Ford, | |
Or down the Kings Road o the cleuch? 1 | |
Or saw ye a knight and a lady bright, | |
Wha hae gane the gate they baith shall rue? | |
|
I saw a knight and a lady bright | 5 |
Ride up the cleuch at the break of day; | |
The knight upon a coal-black steed, | |
And the dame on one of a silver-gray. | |
|
And the ladys palfrey flew the first, | |
With many a clang of silver bell: | 10 |
Swift as the ravens morning flight | |
The two went scouring ower the fell. | |
|
By this time they are man and wife, | |
And standing in St. Marys fane; | |
And the lady in the grass-green silk | 15 |
A maid you will never see again. | |
|
But I can tell thee, saucy wight, | |
And that the runaway shall prove, | |
Revenge to a Douglas is as sweet | |
As maiden charms or maidens love. | 20 |
|
Since thou sayst that, my Lord Douglas, | |
Good faith some clinking there will be; | |
Beshrew my heart but and my sword, | |
If I winna turn and ride with thee! | |
|
They whipped out ower the Shepherd Cleuch, | 25 |
And doun the links o the Corsecleuch Burn; | |
And aye the Douglas swore by his sword | |
To win his love, or neer return. | |
|
First fight your rival, Lord Douglas, | |
And then brag after, if you may; | 30 |
For the Earl of Ross is as brave a lord | |
As ever gave good weapon sway. | |
|
But I for ae poor siller merk, | |
Or thirteen pennies and a bawbee, | |
Will tak in hand to fight you baith, | 35 |
Or beat the winner, whicheer it be. | |
|
The Douglas turned him on his steed, | |
And I wat a loud laughter leuch he: | |
Of a the fools I have ever met, | |
Man, I hae never met ane like thee. | 40 |
|
Art thou akin to lord or knight, | |
Or courtly squire or warrior leal? | |
I am a tinkler, quo the wight, | |
But I like croun-cracking unco weel. | |
|
When they came to St. Marys kirk, | 45 |
The chaplain shook for very fear; | |
And aye he kissed the cross, and said, | |
What deevil has sent that Douglas here! | |
|
He neither values Book nor ban, | |
But curses all without demur; | 50 |
And cares nae mair for a holy man | |
Than I do for a worthless cur. | |
|
Come here, thou bland and brittle priest, | |
And tell to me without delay | |
Where have you hid the lord of Ross | 55 |
And the lady that came at the break of day. | |
|
No knight or lady, good Lord Douglas, | |
Have I beheld since break of morn; | |
And I never saw the lord of Ross | |
Since the woful day that I was born. | 60 |
|
Lord Douglas turned him round about, | |
And looked the Tinkler in the face; | |
Where he beheld a lurking smile, | |
And a deevil of a dour grimace. | |
|
How s this, how s this, thou Tinkler loun? | 65 |
Hast thou presumed to lie on me? | |
Faith that I have! the Tinkler said, | |
And a right good turn I have done to thee; | |
|
For the lord of Ross and thy own true-love, | |
The beauteous Harriet of Thirlestane, | 70 |
Rade west away, ere the break of day; | |
And you ll never see the dear maid again; | |
|
So I thought it best to bring you here, | |
On a wrang scent, of my own accord; | |
For had you met the Johnstone clan, | 75 |
They wad hae made mince-meat of a lord. | |
|
At this the Douglas was so wroth | |
He wist not what to say or do; | |
But he strak the Tinkler oer the croun, | |
Till the blood came dreeping ower his brow. | 80 |
|
Beshrew my heart, quo the Tinkler lad, | |
Thou bearst thee most ungallantlye! | |
If these are the manners of a lord, | |
They are manners that winna gang doun wi me. | |
|
Hold up thy hand, the Douglas cried, | 85 |
And keep thy distance, Tinkler loun! | |
That will I not, the Tinkler said, | |
Though I and my mare should both go doun! | |
|
I have armor on, cried the Lord Douglas, | |
Cuirass and helm, as you may see. | 90 |
The deil me care! quo the Tinkler lad; | |
I shall have a skelp at them and thee. | |
|
You are not horsed, quo the Lord Douglas, | |
And no remorse this weapon brooks. | |
Mine s a right good yaud, quo the Tinkler lad, | 95 |
And a great deal better nor she looks. | |
|
So stand to thy weapons, thou haughty lord, | |
What I have taken I needs must give; | |
Thou shalt never strike a tinkler again, | |
For the langest day thou hast to live. | 100 |
|
Then to it they fell, both sharp and snell, | |
Till the fire from both their weapons flew; | |
But the very first shock that they met with, | |
The Douglas his rashness gan to rue. | |
|
For though he had on a sark of mail, | 105 |
And a cuirass on his breast wore he, | |
With a good steel bonnet on his head, | |
Yet the blood ran trickling to his knee. | |
|
The Douglas sat upright and firm, | |
Aye as together their horses ran; | 110 |
But the Tinkler laid on like the very deil, | |
Siccan strokes were never laid on by man. | |
|
Hold up thy hand, thou Tinkler loun, | |
Cried the poor priest with whining din; | |
If thou hurt the brave Lord James Douglas; | 115 |
A curse be on thee and all thy kin! | |
|
I care no more for Lord James Douglas | |
Than Lord James Douglas cares for me; | |
But I want to let his proud heart know | |
That a tinkler s a man as well as he. | 120 |
|
So they fought on, and they fought on, | |
Till good Lord Douglas breath was gone; | |
And the Tinkler bore him to the ground, | |
With rush, with rattle, and with groan. | |
|
O hon! O hon! cried the proud Douglas, | 125 |
That I this day should have lived to see! | |
For sure my honor I have lost, | |
And a leader again I can never be! | |
|
But tell me of thy kith and kin, | |
And where was bred thy weapon hand? | 130 |
For thou art the wale of tinkler louns | |
That ever was born in fair Scotland. | |
|
My name s Jock Johnstone, quo the wight; | |
I winna keep in my name frae thee; | |
And here, tak thou thy sword again, | 135 |
And better friends we two shall be. | |
|
But the Douglas swore a solemn oath, | |
That was a debt he could never owe; | |
He would rather die at the back of the dike | |
Than owe his sword to a man so low. | 140 |
|
But if thou wilt ride under my banner, | |
And bear my livery and my name, | |
My right-hand warrior thou shalt be | |
And I ll knight thee on the field of fame. | |
|
Woe worth thy wit, good Lord Douglas, | 145 |
To think I d change my trade for thine; | |
Far better and wiser would you be, | |
To live a journeyman of mine, | |
|
To mend a kettle or a casque, | |
Or clout a goodwifes yettlin pan, | 150 |
Upon my life, good Lord Douglas, | |
You d make a noble tinkler-man! | |
|
I would give you a drammock twice a day, | |
And sunkets on a Sunday morn, | |
And you should be a rare adept | 155 |
In steel and copper, brass and horn! | |
|
I ll fight you every day you rise, | |
Till you can act the heros part; | |
Therefore, I pray you, think of this, | |
And lay it seriously to heart. | 160 |
|
The Douglas writhed beneath the lash, | |
Answering with an inward curse, | |
Like salmon wriggling on a spear, | |
That makes his deadly wound the worse. | |
|
But up there came two squires renowned; | 165 |
In search of Lord Douglas they came; | |
And when they saw their master down, | |
Their spirits mounted in a flame. | |
|
And they flew upon the Tinkler wight, | |
Like perfect tigers on their prey: | 170 |
But the Tinkler heaved his trusty sword, | |
And made him ready for the fray. | |
|
Come one to one, ye coward knaves, | |
Come hand to hand, and steed to steed; | |
I would that ye were better men, | 175 |
For this is glorious work indeed! | |
|
Before you could have counted twelve, | |
The Tinklers wondrous chivalrye | |
Had both the squires upon the sward, | |
And their horses galloping oer the lea. | 180 |
|
The Tinkler tied them neck and heel, | |
And many a biting jest gave he: | |
O fie, for shame! said the Tinkler lad; | |
Siccan fighters I never did see! | |
|
He slit one of their bridle reins, | 185 |
O, what disgrace the conquered feels! | |
And he skelpit the squires with that good tawse, | |
Till the blood ran off at baith their heels. | |
|
The Douglas he was forced to laugh | |
Till down his cheek the salt tear ran: | 190 |
I think the deevil be come here | |
In the likeness of a tinkler man! | |
|
Then he has to Lord Douglas gone, | |
And he raised him kindly by the hand, | |
And set him on his gallant steed, | 195 |
And bore him away to Henderland: | |
|
Be not cast down, my Lord Douglas, | |
Nor writhe beneath a broken bane; | |
For the leechs art will mend the part, | |
And your honor lost will spring again. | 200 |
|
T is true, Jock Johnstone is my name; | |
I m a right good tinkler, as you see; | |
For I can crack a casque betimes, | |
Or clout one, as my need may be. | |
|
Jock Johnstone is my name, t is true, | 205 |
But noble hearts are allied to me; | |
For I am the lord of Annandale, | |
And a knight and earl as well as thee. | |
|
Then Douglas strained the heros hand, | |
And took from it his sword again: | 210 |
Since thou art the lord of Annandale, | |
Thou hast eased my heart of meikle pain. | |
|
I might have known thy noble form | |
In that disguise thou rt pleased to wear; | |
All Scotland knows thy matchless arm, | 215 |
And England by experience dear. | |
|
We have been foes as well as friends, | |
And jealous of each others sway; | |
But little can I comprehend | |
Thy motive for these pranks to-day. | 220 |
|
Sooth, my good lord, the truth to tell, | |
T was I that stole your love away, | |
And gave her to the lord of Ross | |
An hour before the break of day; | |
|
For the lord of Ross is my brother, | 225 |
By all the laws of chivalrye; | |
And I brought with me a thousand men | |
To guard him to my ain countrye. | |
|
But I thought meet to stay behind, | |
And try your lordship to waylay, | 230 |
Resolved to breed some noble sport, | |
By leading you so far astray. | |
|
Judging it better some lives to spare, | |
Which fancy takes me now and then, | |
And settle our quarrel hand to hand, | 235 |
Than each with our ten thousand men. | |
|
God send you soon, my Lord Douglas, | |
To Border foray sound and haill! | |
But never strike a tinkler again, | |
If he be a Johnstone of Annandale. | 240 |