P. 289, IV, 499. From C.K. Sharpe's "first collection," p. 21.
Tradition in this copy, as in Herd's, B, ascribes the
death of Douglas to an offended and treacherous page.
| 1 |
It was about the Lammes time
When moorland men do win their hay,
Brave Earl Douglass, in armer bright,
Marchd to the Border without delay. |
| 2 |
He hes tean wi him the Lindseys light,
And sae hes he the Gordons gay,
And the Earl of Fife, without all strife,
And Sir Heugh Montgomery upon a day. |
| 3 |
The hae brunt Northumberland,
And sae have [the] Northumbershire,
And fair Cluddendale they hae brunt it hale,
And he's left it all in fire fair. |
| 4 |
Ay till the came to Earl Percy's castle,
Earl Percey's castle that stands sae high:
'Come dowen, come dowen, thou proud Percey,
Come down and talk one hour with me. |
| 5 |
'Come down, come down, thou proud Percey,
Come down and talk one hour with me;
For I hae burnt thy heritage,
And sae will I thy building high.' |
| 6 |
'If ye hae brunt my heritage,
O dule, O dule, and woe is me!
But will ye stay at the Otter burn
Untill I gather my men to me?' |
| 7 |
'O I will stay at the Otter burn
The space of days two or three,
And if ye do not meet me there,
I will talk of thy coardie.' |
| 8 |
O he hes staid at the Otter burn
The space of days two or three;
He sent his page unto his tent-door,
For to see what ferleys he could see. |
| 9 |
'O yonder comes yon gallent knight,
With all bonny banners high;
It wad do ony living good
For to see the bonny coulers fly.' |
| 10 |
'If the tale be true,' Earl Douglass says,
'The tidings ye have told to me,
The fairest maid in Otterburn
Thy bedfellow sure shall she be. |
| 11 |
'If the tale be false,' Earl Douglass says,
'The tidings that ye tell to me,
The highest tree in Otterburn,
On it high hanged shall ye be.' |
| 12 |
Earl Douglass went to his tent-door,
To see what ferleys he could see;
His little page came him behind,
And ran him through the fair body. |
| 13 |
'If I had a little time,' he says,
'To set in order my matters high,
Ye Gordons gay, to you I say,
See that ye let not my men away. |
| 14 |
'Ye Linseys light, both wise and wight,
Be sure ye carry my coulers high;
Ye Gordons gay, again I say,
See that ye let not my men away. |
| 15 |
'Sir Heugh Montgomery, my sistir's son,
I give you the vangaurd over all;
Let it neer be said into old England
That so little made a true Scot fall. |
| 16 |
'O lay me dowen by yon brecken-bush,
That grows upon yon liley lea;
Let it neer be said into old England
That so little made a true Scot die.' |
| 17 |
At last those two stout knights did meet,
And O but they were wonderous keen!
The foght with so wards of the temperd steel,
Till the drops of blood ran them betwen. |
| 18 |
'O yeald thee, Percie,' Montgomery crys,
'O yeald ye, or I'll lay the low;'
'To whome should I yeald? to whom should I yeald?
To whom should I yeald, since it most be so?' |
| 19 |
'O yeald ye to yon breckan-bush,
That grows upon yon lilley lea;
And if ye will not yeald to this,
In truth, Earl Percey, I'll gar ye die.' |
| 20 |
'I will not yeald to a breckan-bush,
Nor yet will I yeald to a brier;
But fain wad I yeald to Earl Douglass,
Or Sir Heugh Montgomery, if he were here.' |
| 21 |
O then this lord begun to faint,
And let his soward drop to the ground;
Sir Heugh Montgomery, a courtious knight,
He bravely took him by the hand. |
| 22 |
This deed was done at the Otter burn,
Betwen the sunshine and the day;
Brave Earl Douglass there was slain,
And they carried Percie captive away. |
292 b, 2d paragraph, 9th line. C 203,4 may
have been supplied by Scott; not in Hogg's copy. See IV, 500, st.
21.
294, 520 a, IV, 499. St. George, Our Lady's Knight.
Lydgate, Kalendare, vv. 113, 114, ed. Horstmann, in Herrig's
Archiv, LXXX, 121.
Fabyan's Chronicles, ed. Ellis, 1811, p. 601. (G.L.K.)
Pp. 294, 520 a, IV, 499, V, 244 b. St. George Our Lady's
Knight. Add: Torrent of Portyngale, v. 1677: E. Flügel,
Neuenglisches Lesebuch, I, 441.
