Communicated by Mr. Robert White, of Newcastle-on-Tyne.
| 1 |
As Lord Lovel was at the stable-door,
Mounting his milk-white steed,
Who came by but poor Nancy Bell,
And she wished Lovel good speed. |
| 2 |
'O where are ye going, Lord Lovel?' she said,
'How long to tarry from me?'
'Before six months are past and gone,
Again I'll return to thee.' |
| 3 |
He had not been a twelvemonth away,
A twelvemonth and a day,
Till Nancy Bell grew sick and sad,
She pined and witherd away. |
| 4 |
The very first town that he came to,
He heard the death-bell knell;
The very next town that he came to,
They said it was Nancy Bell. |
| 5 |
He orderd the coffin to be broke open,
The sheet to be turned down,
And then he kissd her cold pale lips,
Till the tears ran tricklin down. |
| 6 |
The one was buried in St. John's church,
The other in the choir;
From Nancy Bell sprang a bonny red rose,
From Lord Lovel a bonny briar. |
| 7 |
They grew, and they grew, to the height o the church,
To they met from either side,
And at the top a true lover's knot
Shows that one for the other had died. |
