Willie's father and mother have vowed that he shall never marry Annie. Annie resolves that she will be a nun, asks her father's consent and obtains it readily. At the nunnery-gate there is a maiden porter 'wi gowd upon her hat,' who would not have been quite out of place at the wicket of the garden of the Rose. Porter though she be, she seems to exercise the authority of a mother-superior. Annie asks admission, 'there to live or die,' and is allowed to come in on terms: never to kiss a young man's mouth, and to work hard; conditions not surprising, but there is another which is unusual, never to go to church (or is it Kirk that is meant?) Annie is seven years in the nunnery, all which time Willie lies languishing. His mother asks him if there is nothing that would help him; there is nothing, he says, but his love Annie. They dress him up like a lady, in silk and gold, he goes to the nunnery-gate, and the maiden porter 'wi gowd upon her hat' makes no difficulty about letting him in. Annie knows him, and says, Come up, my sister dear. Willie essays to kiss her lips, but she whispers, This I dare not avow. The rest is wanting, and again we may doubt whether the balladist had not exhausted himself, whether a story so begun could be brought to any conclusion.
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