"Ye paid me weil my hire, lady, "Ye paid me weil my fee;

"But now I'm Edom o' Gordon's man, "Maun either do or die."

O then bespake her zoungest son,
Sat on the nurse's knee,

"Dear mother, gie owre zour house," he says, "For the reek it worries me."

"I winnae gie up my house, my dear, "To nae sik traitor as he;

"Cum weil, cum wae, my jewels fair, "Ye maun tak share wi' me."

O then bespake her dochter dear,
She was baith jimp and sma',
"O row me in a pair o' shiets,
"And tow me owre the wa'."

They rowd her in a pair o' shiets,
And towd her owre the wa',
But on the point of Edom's speir,
She gat a deadly fa'.

O bonny, bonny was hir mouth,
And cherry were her cheiks,
And cleer, cleer was hir zellow hair,
Whereon the reid bluid dreips.

Then wi his speir he turnd hir owre,
O gin* hir face was wan!

He said,

"Zou are the first that eer

"I wist alive again."

He turned hir owr and owr again;

O gin hir skin was whyte! He said "I might ha spard thy life, "To been some man's delyte.

"Busk and boon + my merry men all,
"For ill dooms I do guess;
"I cannae luik in that bonny face,
"As it lyes on the grass."

"Them luiks to freits ‡, my master deir,

"Then freits will follow them;

"Let it neir be said, brave Edom o' Gordon "Was daunted with a dame."

*O gin, an expression of great admiration.

Boon, make ready. Freits, superstitious notions.

O then he spied her ain dear lord,

As he came owr the lee;

He saw his castle in a fire,
As far as he could see.

"Put on, put on, my mighty men,

"As fast as ze can drie;

"For he that's hindmost of my men, "Sall neir get guid o' me."

And some they raid, and some they ran,
Fu' fast out owr the plain;

But lang, lang ere he coud get up,
They were a' deid and slain.

But

mony were the mudie men

Lay gasping on the grien;

For, o' fifty men that Edom brought out,

There were but five ged hame.

And

mony were the mudie men

Lay gasping on the grien;

And mony were the faire ladys
Lay lemanless at hame.

And round, and round the waa's he went,

Their ashes for to view;

At last, into the flames he flew,

And bade the world adieu.

NOTE

ΤΟ

EDOM O' GORDON.

THERE is an English ballad on the same subject, but of no value. Some of the stanzas of the present one, towards the conclusion, bear strong marks of modern composition.

Mr Ritson has altered "Edom" into "Adam," as Edom, he says, may be only the local pronunciation of the lady from whose memory it was published. He might have substituted another idiom and orthography for the same reason. In "The Duke of Gordon's three Daughters" he likewise gives us "shoon" (shoes) instead of sheen, which last is the northern pronunciation, and is necessary for the rhyme.