I winnae give owre, ze false Gordòn,

To nae sik traitor as zee;

And if ze brenn my ain dear babes,

My lord sall make ze drie.

50

But reach me hether my guid bend-bowe,

Mine arrows one by one;

For, but an I pierce that bluidy butcher,

55

Set fire to the house, quo' fals Gordon,

All wood wi' dule and ire:

Fals lady, ze sall rue this deid,

As ze brenn in the fire.

Wae worth, wae worth ze, Jock my man,

65

I paid ze weil zour fee;

Quhy pow ze out the ground-wa stane,

Lets in the reek to me?

* The two foregoing stanzas are improved in this edition by more ancient readings, communicated lately to the publisher. In the former edition they were evidently modernised, viz., " Reach my pistol, Glaud, my man, And charge ze weil my gun :" and below, "let twa bullets flee."

And ein wae worth ze, Jock my man,

I paid ze weil zour hire;

70

Quhy pow ze out the ground-wa stane,

To me lets in the fire?

Sayes, Mither deare, gi owre this house,
For the reek it smithers me.

80

O bonnie bonnie was hir mouth,

And cherry were hir cheiks,

And clear clear was hir zellow hair,

Whareon the reid bluid dreips.

Then wi' his spear he turnd hir owre,
O gin her face was wan!

95

He sayd, Ze are the first that eir
I wisht alive again.

100

He turnd hir owre and owre again,
O gin hir skin was whyte!

I might ha spared that bonnie face,
To hae been sum mans delyte.

Busk and boun, my merry men a',
For ill dooms I doe guess;

105

I cannae luik in that bonny face,
As it lyes on the grass.

Thame, luiks to freits, my master deir,

110

Then freits wil follow thame:

Let it neir be said brave Edom o' Gordon

Was daunted by a dame.

But quhen the ladye see the fire

Cum flaming owre hir head,

Ver. 98, 102. O gin, &c. a Scottish idiom to express great ad

miration.

V. 109, 110, thame, &c. i. e. them that look

after omens of ill luck, ill luck will follow.

She wept and kist her children twain,
Sayd, Bairns, we been but dead.

115

The Gordon then his bougill blew,

And said, Awa', awa';

This house o' the Rodes is a' in flame,

Than sum they rade, and sum they rin,

Fou fast out-owr the bent;

But eir the foremost could get up,

Baith lady and babes were brent.

He wrang his hands, he rent his hair,
And wept in teenefu' muid:
G 3

135

O traitors, for this cruel deid

Ze sall weep teirs o' bluid.

And after the Gordon he is gane,

Sa fast as he might drie;

And soon i' the Gordon's foul hartis bluid,
He's wroken his dear ladie.

140

Since the foregoing ballad was first printed, the subject of it has been found recorded in Abp. Spotswood's History of the Church of Scotland, p. 259; who informs us, that

66

“Anno 1571. In the north parts of Scotland, Adam Gordon (who was deputy for his brother the Earl of Huntley) did keep a great stir; and under colour of the queen's authority, committed divers oppressions, especially upon the Forbes's.... having killed Arthur Forbes, brother to the Lord Forbes .... Not long after he sent to summon the house of Tavoy, pertaining to Alexander Forbes. The Lady refusing to yield without direction from her husband, he put fire unto it, and burnt her therein, with children and servants, being twenty-seven persons in all.

"This inhuman and barbarous cruelty made his name odious, and stained all his former doings; otherwise he was held very active and fortunate in his enterprises."

This fact, which had escaped the Editor's notice, was in the most obliging manner pointed out to him by an ingenious writer, who signs his name H. H. (Newcastle, May 9,) in the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1775, p. 219.

END OF THE FIRST BOOK.