Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 502.
From the recitation of Mrs. Notman.
| 1 |
'Rise up, rise up, my seven brave sons,
And dress in your armour so bright;
Earl Douglas will hae Lady Margaret awa
Before that it be light. |
| 2 |
'Arise, arise, my seven brave sons,
And dress in your armour so bright;
It shall never be said that a daughter of mine
Shall go with an earl or a knight.' |
| 3 |
'O will ye stand, fair Margaret,' he says,
'And hold my milk-white steed,
Till I fight your father and seven brethren,
In yonder pleasant mead?' |
| 4 |
She stood and held his milk-white steed,
She stood trembling with fear,
Until she saw her seven brethren fall,
And her father that loved her dear. |
| 5 |
'Hold your hand, Earl Douglas,' she says,
'Your strokes are wonderous sair;
I may get sweethearts again enew,
But a father I'll ne'er get mair.' |
| 6 |
She took out a handkerchief
Was made o' the cambrick fine,
And aye she wiped her father's bloody wounds,
And the blood sprung up like wine. |
| 7 |
'Will ye go, fair Margaret?' he said,
'Will ye now go, or bide?'
'Yes, I'll go, sweet William,' she said,
'For ye've left me never a guide. |
| 8 |
'If I were to go to my mother's house,
A welcome guest I would be;
But for the bloody deed that's done this day
I'll rather go with thee.' |
| 9 |
He lifted her on a milk-white steed
And himself on a dapple gray;
They drew their hats out over their face,
And they both went weeping away. |
| 10 |
They rode, they rode, and they better rode,
Till they came to yon water wan;
They lighted down to gie their horse a drink
Out of the running stream. |
| 11 |
'I am afraid, Earl Douglas,' she said,
'I am afraid ye are slain;'
I think I see your bonny heart's blood
Running down the water wan.' |
| 12 |
'Oh no, oh no, fair Margaret,' he said,
'Oh no, I am not slain;
It is but the scad of my scarlet cloak
Runs down the water wan.' |
| 13 |
He mounted her on a milk-white steed
And himself on a dapple gray,
And they have reached Earl Douglas' gates
Before the break of day. |
| 14 |
'O rise, dear mother, and make my bed,
And make it braid and wide,
And lay me down to take my rest,
And at my back my bride.' |
| 15 |
She has risen and made his bed,
She made it braid and wide;
She laid him down to take his rest,
And at his back his bride. |
| 16 |
Lord William died ere it was day,
Lady Margaret on the morrow;
Lord William died through loss of blood and wounds,
Fair Margaret died with sorrow. |
| 17 |
The one was buried in Mary's kirk,
The other in Mary's quire;
The one sprung up a bonnie bush,
And the other a bonny brier. |
| 18 |
These twa grew, and these twa threw,
Till they came to the top,
And when they could na farther gae,
They coost the lovers' knot. |
