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34 |
THE OUTLAW MURRAY. |
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Five erles sail gang himsell befor,
Nae mair in number will he be. ve
"And gif you refuse to do that,
(I freely here upgive wi' thee,) He'll cast yon bonny castle down,
And make a widowe o' that gay ladye.
" He'll loose yon bluidhound Borderers, 255
Wi' fire and sword to follow thee ; There will nevir a Murray, after thysell,
Have land in Ettrick Foreste free."
" It stands me hard," the Outlaw said,
" Judge gif it stands na hard wi' me, ko
Wha reck not losing of mysell, But a' my offspring after me.
" My merry em en's lives, my widowe's teirs— There lies the pang that pinches me ;
When I am straught in bluidie eard, aa
Yon castell will be right dreirie.
He learned Kingis to lie! For to fetch me here frae amang my men, Here, like a dog for to die.'"
I believe the reader will think with me, that the catastrophe is better, as now printed from Mrs. Cockburn's copy. The deceit, supposed to be practised on the Outlaw, is unworthy of the military monarch, as he is painted in the ballad; especially if we admit him to be King James IV. —S. |
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