Ballad: The Laird Of Waristoun

(Child, vol. iii. Early Edition.)

Down by yon garden green,
Sae merrily as she gaes;
She has twa weel-made feet,
And she trips upon her taes.

She has twa weel-made feet;
Far better is her hand;
She’s as jimp in the middle
As ony willow wand.

“Gif ye will do my bidding,
At my bidding for to be,
It’s I will make you lady
Of a’ the lands you see.”

* * * * *

He spak a word in jest;
Her answer was na good;
He threw a plate at her face,
Made it a’ gush out o’ blood.

She wasna frae her chamber
A step but barely three,
When up and at her richt hand
There stood Man’s Enemy.

“Gif ye will do my bidding,
At my bidding for to be,
I’ll learn you a wile,
Avenged for to be.”

The foul thief knotted the tether;
She lifted his head on hie;
The nourice drew the knot
That gar’d lord Waristoun die.

Then word is gane to Leith,
Also to Edinburgh town
That the lady had kill’d the laird,
The laird o’ Waristoun.

* * * * *

Tak aff, tak aff my hood
But lat my petticoat be;
Pat my mantle o’er my head;
For the fire I downa see.

Now, a’ ye gentle maids,
Tak warning now by me,
And never marry ane
But wha pleases your e’e.

“For he married me for love,
But I married him for fee;
And sae brak out the feud
That gar’d my dearie die.”