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I
THERE was a knight and a lady bright | |
| Set trysts amang the broom, | |
| The ane to come at morning ear, | |
| The other at afternoon. | |
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II
‘I’ll wager, I’ll wager, I’ll wager wi’ you | 5 |
| Five hundred merks and ten | |
| That a maid shanna gae to the bonny broom | |
| And a maiden return again.’— | |
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III
‘I’ll wager, I’ll wager, I’ll wager wi’ you | |
| Five hundred merks and ten | 10 |
| That a maid shall gae to the bonny green broom | |
| And a maiden return again.’ | |
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IV
The may she sat at her mother’s bower door | |
| And aye she made her mane: | |
| ‘O whether shou’d I gang to the Broomfield Hill, | 15 |
| Or should I stay at hame? | |
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V
‘For if I do gang to the Broomfield Hill, | |
| A maid I’ll not return; | |
| But if I stay frae the Broomfield Hill, | |
| My love will ca’ me man-sworn.’ | 20 |
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VI
Up then spake an auld witch-wife, | |
| Sat in the bower abune: | |
| ‘O ye may gang to the Broomfield Hill, | |
| And yet come maiden hame, | |
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VII
‘For when ye gang to the Broomfield Hill, | 25 |
| Ye’ll find your love asleep, | |
| Wi’ a silver belt above his head, | |
| And a broom-cow at his feet. | |
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VIII
‘Tak’ ye the bloom frae aff the broom, | |
| Strew’t at his head an’ feet, | 30 |
| And aye the thicker that ye do strew, | |
| The sounder he will sleep. | |
| |
IX
‘Tak’ ye the rings aff your fingers, | |
| Put them in his right hand, | |
| To let him know when he does wake, | 35 |
| His love was at his command.’ | |
| |
X
Lord John has ta’en his milk-white steed | |
| And his hawk wi’ his bells sae bright, | |
| And he’s ridden swift to the Broomfield Hill, | |
| [Was never a baulder] knight. | 40 |
| |
XI
‘Now rest, now rest, my milk-white steed, | |
| My lady will soon be here, | |
| And I’ll lay my head by this rose sae red, | |
| And the bonny burn sae near.’ | |
| |
XII
She’s pu’d the broom-flower on Hive Hill, | 45 |
| And strew’d on’s white breast-bane, | |
| And that was to be wittering true | |
| That maiden she had gane. | |
| |
XIII
‘O where were ye, my milk-white steed, | |
| That I hae coft sae dear, | 50 |
| That wadna watch and waken me | |
| When there was maiden here?’— | |
| |
XIV
‘I stampèd wi’ my foot, master, | |
| And gar’d my bridle ring, | |
| But no kin’ thing wald waken ye | 55 |
| Till she was past and gane.’— | |
| |
XV
‘And wae betide ye, my gay goss-hawk, | |
| That I hae coft sae dear, | |
| That wadna watch an’ waken me | |
| When my true-love was here.’— | 60 |
| |
XVI
‘I clappèd wi’ my wings, master, | |
| And aye my bells I rang, | |
| And aye cried, Waken, waken, master, | |
| Before the ladye gang!’— | |
| |
XVII
‘But haste, but haste, my gude white steed, | 65 |
| To come the maiden till, | |
| Or a’ the birds of the gude greenwood | |
| O’ your flesh shall have their fill!’— | |
| |
XVIII
‘Ye needna burst your gude white steed | |
| Wi’ racing o’er the howm; | 70 |
| Nae bird flies faster thro’ the wood | |
| Than she fled thro’ the broom.’ | |
| | | GLOSS: trysts] assignations. ear] early. broom-cow] branch of broom. wittering] information, token. coft] bought. howm] holm, river-mead. |
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