9.  O lang, lang may their ladies sit,
Wi’ their fans into their hand,
Or e’er they see Sir Patrick Spens
Cum sailing to the land.

10.  O lang, lang may the ladies stand,
Wi’ their gold kerns[75] in their hair,
Waiting for their ain dear lords,
For they’ll se thame na mair.

11.  Half owre, half owre to Aberdour,
It’s “fiftie fadom deep,
And their lies guid Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet.”

[Footnote 73:  “A braid letter, open or patent, in
opposition to close rolls.”—­Percy.]

[Footnote 74:  Note that it is the sight of the new moon
late in the evening which makes a bad omen.]

[Footnote 75:  Combs.]

     THE BONNY EARL OF MURRAY[76]

     1.  Ye highlands, and ye Lowlands,
          Oh where have you been? 
        They have slain the Earl of Murray,
          And they layd him on the green.

     2.  “Now wae be to thee, Huntly! 
          And wherefore did you sae? 
        I bade you bring him wi’ you,
          But forbade you him to slay.”

     3.  He was a braw gallant,
          And he rid at the ring[77];
        And the bonny Earl of Murray,
          Oh he might have been a king!

4.  He was a braw gallant,
And he play’d at the ba’;
And the bonny Earl of Murray
Was the flower amang them a’.

5.  He was a braw gallant,
And he play’d at the glove[78];
And the bonny Earl of Murray,
Oh he was the Queen’s love!

6.  Oh lang will his lady
Look o’er the Castle Down,
E’er she see the Earl of Murray
Come sounding thro the town!

[Footnote 76:  James Stewart, Earl of Murray, was killed by
the Earl of Huntly’s followers, February, 1592.  The second
stanza is spoken, of course, by the King.]

     [Footnote 77:  Piercing with the lance a suspended ring, as
     one rode at full speed, was a favorite sport of the day.]

     [Footnote 78:  Probably this reference is to the glove worn by
     knights as a lady’s favor.]

     MARY HAMILTON

     1.  Word’s gane to the kitchen,
          And word’s gane to the ha’,
        That Marie Hamilton has born a bairn
          To the highest Stewart of a’.

     2.  She’s tyed it in her apron
          And she’s thrown it in the sea;
        Says, “Sink ye, swim ye, bonny wee babe,
          You’ll ne’er get mair o’ me.”

     3.  Down then cam the auld Queen,
          Goud[79] tassels tying her hair: 
        “O Marie, where’s the bonny wee babe
          That I heard greet[80] sae sair?”

     4.  “There was never a babe intill my room,
          As little designs to be;
        It was but a touch o’ my sair side,
          Came o’er my fair bodie.”

     5.  “O Marie, put on your robes o’ black,
          Or else your robes o’ brown,
        For ye maun gang wi’ me the night,
          To see fair Edinbro town.”