They hae taen to the heiding-hill 10 They hae taen to the heiding-hill And for the words the queen had spoke 6 THE DOWIE DENS OF YARROW 1 (Sir Walter Scott's Version) Late at e'en, drinking the wine, "O stay at hame, my noble lord! ! O stay at hame, my marrow 3 My cruel brother will you betray, On the dowie 4 houms 5 of Yarrow." 6 "O fare ye weel, my ladye gay! O fare ye weel, my Sarah! For I maun gae, though I ne'er return 10. Heiding-hill. Heading-hill; place of execution. 1. In all the various versions of this ballad there is an ill feeling between the family of the woman and the man. This explains the treachery. Evidently the brother-in-law remained in the background until the man was well nigh slain. 2. Lawing. Tavern reckoning. 3. Marrow. Mate. 4. Dowie. Doleful, sad, wretched. 5. Houms. Level low ground on a river bank. 6. Yarrow. A small stream in southeastern Scotland. She kiss'd his cheek, she kaim'd his hair, As he gaed up the Tennies bank, I wot he gaed wi' sorrow, Till, down in a den,' he spied nine arm'd men, On the dowie houms of Yarrow. "O come ye here to part your land, Or come ye here to wield your brand, "I come not here to part my land, "If I see all, ye're nine to ane; 8 And that's an unequal marrow; Four has he hurt, and five has slain, "Gae hame, gae hame, good-brother John, To come and lift her noble lord! "Yestreen I dream'd a dolefu' dream; I dream'd I pu'd the heather green, "O gentle wind, that bloweth south, "But in the glen strive armed men; They've wrought me dole and sorrow; They've slain-the comeliest knight they've slain He bleeding lies on Yarrow." As she sped down yon high, high hill, She kiss'd his cheek, she kaim'd his hair, "Now, haud your tongue, my daughter dear! For a' this breeds but sorrow. I'll wed ye to a better lord, Than him ye lost on Yarrow." “O haud your tongue, my father dear, Ye mind me but of sorrow; A fairer rose did never bloom Than now lies cropp'd on Yarrow." 9. Dole. Grief. 1. 7 THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURN1 (Sir Walter Scott's Version) It fell about the Lammas tide,2 He chose the Gordons and the Graemes, And he has burned the dales of Tyne, And he marched up to Newcastle, And rode it round about; "O wha's the lord of this castle, Or wha's the lady o't?" But up spake proud Lord Percy then, And O but he spake hie! "I am the lord of this castle, My wife's the lady gay." Otterburn is a brook in Northumberland, about thirty miles northwest of Newcastle and not many miles from the Scotch border. The battle of Otterburn was fought in 1388. The ballad_aptly illus trates the border raids so common in early Scotch and English_history. The two chief characters are Lord Douglas, Scotch, and Lord Percy, English. The other names are those of notable clans or lords, or near localities. "If thou'rt the lord of this castle, Sae weel it pleases me! For, ere I cross the Border fells, He took a lang spear in his hand, But O how pale his lady looked, When down before the Scottish spear "Had we twa been upon the green, I wad hae had you, flesh and fell; "But gae ye up to Otterburn, And wait there dayis three; 6 And, if I come not ere three dayis end, A fause knight ca' ye me." "The Otterburn's a bonny burn; 7 'Tis pleasant there to be; But there is nought at Otterburn, "The deer rins wild on hill and dale, 5. Tane. One. 9 |