| 1 |
It fell about the Martinmass time,
When the wind blew shill and cald,
That Adam McGordon said to his men,
Where will we get a hall? |
| 2 |
'There is a hall here near by,
Well built with lime and stone;
There is a lady there within
As white as the . . bone.' |
| 3 |
'Seven year and more this lord and I
Has had a deadly feud,
And now, since her good lord's frae hame,
His place to me she'll yield.' |
| 4 |
She looked oer her castle-wall,
And so she looked down,
And saw Adam McGordon and his men
Approaching the wood-end. |
| 5 |
'Steik up, steik up my yett,' she says,
'And let my draw-bridge fall;
There is meickle treachery
Walking about my wall.' |
| 6 |
She had not the sentence past,
Nor yet the word well said,
When Adam McGordon and his men
About the walls were laid. |
| 7 |
She looked out at her window,
And then she looked down,
And then she saw Jack, her own man,
Lifting the pavement-stane. |
| 8 |
'Awa, awa, Jack my man!
Seven year I paid you meat and fee,
And now you lift the pavement-stane
To let in the low to me.' |
| 9 |
'I yield, I yield, O lady fair,
Seven year ye paid me meat and fee;
But now I am Adam McGordon's man,
I must either do or die.' |
| 10 |
'If ye be Adam McGordon's man,
As I true well ye be,
Prove true unto your own master,
And work your will to me.' |
| 11 |
'Come down, come down, my lady Campbell,
Come down into my hand;
Ye shall lye all night by my side,
And the morn at my command.' |
| 12 |
'I winna come down,' this lady says,
'For neither laird nor lown,
Nor to no bloody butcher's son,
The Laird of Auchindown. |
| 13 |
'I wald give all my kine,' she says,
'So wald I fifty pound,
That Andrew Watty he were here;
He would charge me my gun. |
| 14 |
'He would charge me my gun,
And put in bullets three,
That I might shoot that cruel traitor
That works his wills on me.' |
| 15 |
He shot in, and [s]he shot out,
The value of an hour,
Until the hall Craigie North
Was like to be blawn in the air. |
| 16 |
'He fired in, and she fired out,
The value of houris three,
Untill the hall Craigie North
The reik went to the sea. |
| 17 |
'O the frost, and ae the frost,
The frost that freezes fell!
I cannot stay within my bower,
The powder it blaws sae bald.' |
| 18 |
But then spake her oldest son,
He was both white and red;
'O mither dear, yield up your house!
We'll all be burnt to deed.' |
| 19 |
Out then spake the second son,
He was both red and fair;
'O brother dear, would you yield up your house,
And you your father's heir!' |
| 20 |
Out then spake the little babe,
Stood at the nurse's knee;
'O mither dear, yield up your house!
The reik will worry me.' |
| 21 |
Out then speaks the little nurse,
The babe upon her knee;
'O lady, take from me your child!
I'll never crave my fee.' |
| 22 |
'Hold thy tongue, thou little nurse,
Of thy prating let me bee;
For be it death or be it life,
Thou shall take share with me. |
| 23 |
'I wald give a' my sheep,' she says,
'T[hat] . . yon . . s]ha],
I had a drink of that wan water
That runs down by my wa.' |
