Young Hunting
No: 68; variant: 68F
- EARL RICHARD is a hunting gone,
As fast as he can ride,
His hunting-horn hung about his neck,
And a small sword by his side.
- When he came to my lady's gate
He tirled at the pin,
And wha was sae ready as the lady hersell
To open and let him in.
- 'O light, O light, Earl Richard,' she says,
'O light and stay a' night;
You shall have cheer wi charcoal clear,
And candles burning bright.'
- 'I will not light, I cannot light,
I cannot light at all;
A fairer lady than ten of thee
Is waiting at Richard's Wall.'
- He stooped from his milk-white steed,
To kiss her rosy cheek;
She had a pen-knife in her hand,
And wounded him so deep.
- 'O lie ye there, Earl Richard,' she says,
'O lie ye there till morn;
A fairer lady than ten of me
Will think lang of your coming home.'
- She called her servants ane by ane,
She called them twa by twa:
'I have got a dead man in my bower,
I wish he were awa.'
- The one has taen [him] by the hand,
And the other by the feet,
And they've thrown him in a deep draw-well,
Full fifty fathom deep.
- Then up bespake a little bird,
That sat upon a tree:
'Gae hame, gae hame, ye false lady,
And pay your maids their fee.'
- 'Come down, come down, my pretty bird,
That sits upon the tree;
I have a cage of beaten gold,
I'll gie it unto thee.'
- 'Gae hame, gae hame, ye fause lady,
And pay your maids their fee;
As ye have done to Earl Richard,
Sae wud ye do to me.'
- 'If I had an arrow in my hand,
And a bow bent on a string,
I'd shoot a dart at thy proud heart,
Amang the leaves sae green.'