Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 64, from the recitation of widow
McCormick, February 1825.
| 1 |
* * * *
She's taen her petticoat by the band,
Her mantle owre her arm,
And she's awa to Chester wood,
As fast as she could run. |
| 2 |
She scarsely pulled a rose, a rose,
She scarse pulled two or three,
Till up there starts Thomas
On the Lady Margaret's knee. |
| 3 |
She's taen her petticoat by the band,
Her mantle owre her arm,
And Lady Margaret's gane hame agen,
As fast as she could run. |
| 4 |
Up starts Lady Margaret's sister,
An angry woman was she:
'If there ever was a woman wi child,
Margaret, you are wi!' |
| 5 |
Up starts Lady Margaret's mother,
An angry woman was she:
'There grows ane herb in yon kirk-yard
That will scathe the babe away.' |
| 6 |
She took her petticoats by the band,
Her mantle owre her arm,
And she's gane to yon kirk-yard
As fast as she could run. |
| 7 |
She scarcely pulled an herb, an herb,
She scarse pulled two or three,
Till up starts there Thomas
Upon this Lady Margret's knee. |
| 8 |
'How dare ye pull a rose?' he says,
'How dare ye break the tree?
How dare ye pull this herb,' he says,
'To scathe my babe away? |
| 9 |
'This night is Halloweve,' he said,
'Our court is going to waste,
And them that loves their true-love best
At Chester bridge they'll meet. |
| 10 |
'First let pass the black,' he says,
'And then let pass the brown,
But when ye meet the milk-white steed,
Pull ye the rider down. |
| 11 |
'They'll turn me to an eagle,' he says,
'And then into an ass;
Come, hold me fast, and fear me not,
The man that you love best. |
| 12 |
'They'll turn me to a flash of fire,
And then to a naked man;
Come, wrap you your mantle me about,
And then you'll have me won.' |
| 13 |
She took her petticoats by the band,
Her mantle owre her arm,
And she's awa to Chester bridge,
As fast as she could run. |
| 14 |
And first she did let pass the black,
And then let pass the brown,
But when she met the milk-white steed,
She pulled the rider down. |
| 15 |
They turned him in her arms an eagle,
And then into an ass;
But she held him fast, and feared him not,
The man that she loved best. |
| 16 |
They turned him into a flash of fire,
And then into a naked man;
But she wrapped her mantle him about,
And then she had him won. |
| 17 |
'O wae be to ye, Lady Margaret,
And an ill death may you die,
For you've robbed me of the bravest knight
That eer rode in our company.' |
