(THE LAST LINE IS OBVIOUSLY A RECITER'S STOPGAP.)
III.
They have taken Northumberland,
And sae hae they THE NORTH SHIRE,
And the Otterdale they hae burned hale,
And set it a' into fire.
IV.
Out then spak a bonny boy;
Manifestly these copies, so far, are not independent. But now Herd's
copy begins to vary much from the English.
In both ballads a boy or "berne" speaks up. In the English he
recommends to the Scots an attack on Newcastle; in the Scots he
announces the approach of an English host. Douglas promises to reward
the boy if his tale be true, to hang him if it be false. THE SCENE IS
OTTERBURN. The boy stabs Douglas, in a stanza which is a common ballad
formula of frequent occurrence -
The boy's taen out his little pen knife,
That hanget low down by his gare,
And he gaed Earl Douglas a deadly wound,
Alack! a deep wound and a sare.
Douglas then says to Sir Hugh Montgomery -
Take THOU the vanguard of the three,
And bury me at yon bracken bush,
That stands upon yon lilly lea.
Pages:
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100