| |
| I CLOSED and drew for my love’s sake | |
| That now is false to me, | |
| And I slew the Reiver of Tarrant Moss | |
| And set Dumeny free. | |
| |
| They have gone down, they have gone down, | 5 |
| They are standing all arow— | |
| Twenty knights in the peat-water, | |
| That never struck a blow! | |
| |
| Their armour shall not dull nor rust, | |
| Their flesh shall not decay, | 10 |
| For Tarrant Moss holds them in trust, | |
| Until the Judgment Day. | |
| |
| Their soul went from them in their youth, | |
| Ah God, that mine had gone, | |
| Whenas I leaned on my love’s truth | 15 |
| And not on my sword alone! | |
| |
| Whenas I leaned on lad’s belief | |
| And not on my naked blade— | |
| And I slew a thief, and an honest thief, | |
| For the sake of a worthless maid. | 20 |
| |
| They have laid the Reiver low in his place, | |
| They have set me up on high, | |
| But the twenty knights in the peat-water | |
| Are luckier than I! | |
| |
| And ever they give me gold and praise | 25 |
| And ever I mourn my loss— | |
| For I struck the blow for my false love’s sake | |
| And not for the Men of the Moss! | |
| |
