to be

"ffor some deeds of armes ffaine wold I doe your Bacheeleere."

60

"vpon Eldridge hill there growes a thorne vpon the mores brodinge;

& wold you, Sir Knight, wake there all night to day of the other Morninge?

65

"ffor the Eldrige King that is mickle of Might will examine you beforne;

& there was neuer man that bare his liffe away since the day that I was borne.”

"but I will ffor your sake, ffaire Ladye, walke on the bents [soe] browne,

& Ile either bring you a readye token or Ile neuer come to you againe.”

70

but this Ladye is gone to her Chamber,

her Maydens ffollowing bright;

75

& Sir Cawlins gone to the mores soe broad, ffor to wake there all night.

vnto midnight they Moone did rise,

he walked vp and downe,

& a lightsome bugle then heard he blow

8

ouer the bents soe browne.

saies hee, "and if cryance come vntill my hart,

I am ffarr ffrom any good towne ;"

& he spyed ene a litle him by,

a ffuryous King and a ffell,

& a ladye bright his brydle led, that seemlye itt was to see;

85

& soe fast hee called vpon Sir Cawline, 66 Oh man, I redd thee fflye!

for if cryance come vntill thy hart,

I am a-feard least thou mun dye."

he sayes, "[no] cryance comes to my hart,
nor ifaith I ffeare not thee;
ffor because thou minged not christ before,
Thee lesse me dreadeth thee."

but Sir Cawline he shooke a speare,
the King was bold, and abode,
& the timber these 2 Children bore
soe soone in sunder slode,

ffor they tooke & 2 good swords,

& they Layden on good Loade.

but the Elridge King was mickle of might,
& stiffly to the ground did stand;
but Sir Cawline with an aukeward stroke
he brought him ffrom his hand,

I, & fflying ouer his head soe hye, ffell downe of that Lay land:

90

95

100

105

& his lady stood a litle thereby,

ffast ringing her hands:

"for they maydens loue that you haue most meed,

smyte you my Lord no more,

& heest neuer come vpon Eldrige [hill]

him to sport, gamon, or play,

& that liues on christs his lay.

& to meete noe man of middle earth,

115

but he then vp, and that Eldryge King sett him in his sadle againe,

& that Eldryge King & his Ladye

to their castle are they gone.

& hee tooke then vp & that Eldryge sword as hard as any fflynt,

120

& soe he did those ringes 5,

harder than ffyer, and brent.

ffirst he presented to the Kings daughter

they hand, & then they sword.

"but a serrett buffett you haue him giuen, the King & the crowne!" she sayd.

"I, but 34 stripes

comen beside the rood."

125

& a Gyant that was both stiffe [&] strong,
he lope now them amonge,
& vpon his squier 5 heads he bare,
vnmackley made was hee.

& he dranke then on the Kings wine,

& hee put the cup in his sleeue;

130

135

& all the trembled & were wan

ffor feare he shold them greeffe.

"Ile tell thee mine Arrand, King," he sayes,

"mine errand what I doe heere;

says, "is there noe Knight of the round table

this matter will vndergoe?

his owne errand ffor to say.

"ifaith, I wold to god, Sir," sayd Sir Cawline, "that Soldan I will assay.

155

& the King has betaken him his broade lands & all his venison.

165

"but take you too & your Lands [soe] broad, & brooke them well your liffe,

ffor you promised mee your daughter deere to be my weded wiffe."

V.

EDWARD, EDWARD.

A SCOTTISH BALLAD.

From a MS. copy transmitted from Scotland.

HE affectedly antique orthography of this ballad has caused some to suppose that it was a modern invention, probably by Lady Wardlaw, the author of Hardyknute, but Motherwell obtained another version from the recitation of an old woman, which he printed in his Minstrelsy under the title of "Son Davie, son Davie." He there says that there is reason to believe that Lord Hailes "made a few slight verbal improvements in the copy he transmitted, and altered the hero's name to Edward, a name which, by the bye, never occurs in a Scottish ballad except where allusion is made to an English king."

There is a Swedish ballad of the same character entitled The Fratricide's Lament and Dialogue with his Mother before he wanders away from home for ever.

The form of a dialogue between a mother and her son is a favourite one in the old ballads, and “Lord Donald” in Kinloch's Scottish Ballads and "Lord Randal" in Scott's Minstrelsy bear some likeness to the ballad of "Edward." The hero is supposed to have been poisoned by eating toads prepared as a dish of fishes, and the last stanza of Kinloch's ballad is as follows:

"What will ye leave to your true love, Lord Donald,

What will ye leave to your true love,

My jollie young man ?

My son ?

The tow and the halter for to hang on yon tree,
And lat her hang there for the poysoning o' me."]