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24 |
THE SANG OF |
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When James he cam before the King,
He knelit befor him on his kne\ *>
" Wellcum, James Boyd! " said our nobil King, "A message ye maun gang for me ;
Ye maun hye to Ettricke Foreste, To yon Outlaw, where bydeth he.
"Ask him of whom he haldis his landis, «
Or man, wha may his master be, And desyre him cum, and be my man,
And hald of me yon Foreste frie.
" To Edinburgh to cum and gang,
His safe warrant I sail gie ; »
And gif he refuses to do that,
"We'll conquess baith his landis and he.
" Thou mayst vow I'll cast his castell down, And mak a widowe o' his gaye ladye;
I'll hang his merryemen, payr by payr, m
In ony frith where I may them see."
James Boyd tuik his leave o' the nobil King,
To Ettricke Foreste feir cam he ; Down Birkendale Brae when that he cam,
He saw the feir Foreste wi' his ee. eo
meant, we should read, " The Earl of Arran his son was he."
Glenriddel's copy reads, " a Highland laird I'm sure was he."
Keciters sometimes call the messenger the Laird of Skene.—S-
60. Birkendale Brae, now commonly called Birkendailly, is |
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