| |
| ‘OH, will ye walk the wood, lady? | |
| Or will ye walk the lea? | |
| Or will ye gae to the Liddel Bower, | |
| An’ rest a while wi’ me?’ | |
| |
| ‘The deer lies in the wood, Douglas, | 5 |
| The wind blaws on the lea; | |
| An’ when I gae to Liddel Bower | |
| It shall not be wi’ thee.’ | |
| |
| ‘The stag bells on my hills, Lady, | |
| The hart but and the hind; | 10 |
| My flocks lie in the Border dale, | |
| My steeds outstrip the wind; | |
| |
| ‘At ae blast o’ my bugle horn, | |
| A thousand tend the ca’: | |
| Oh, gae wi’ me to Liddel Bower— | 15 |
| What ill can thee befa’? | |
| |
| ‘D’ye mind when in that lonely bower | |
| We met at even tide, | |
| I kissed your young an’ rosy lips, | |
| An’ wooed you for my bride? | 20 |
| |
| ‘I saw the blush break on your cheek, | |
| The tear stand in your e’e; | |
| Oh, could I ween, fair Lady Jane, | |
| That then ye lo’ed na me?’ | |
| |
| ‘But sair, sair hae I rued that day, | 25 |
| An’ sairer yet may rue; | |
| Ye thought na on my maiden love, | |
| Nor yet my rosy hue. | |
| |
| ‘Ye thought na’ on my bridal bed, | |
| Nor vow nor tear o’ mine; | 30 |
| Ye thought upon the lands o’ Nith, | |
| An’ how they might be thine. | |
| |
| ‘Away! away! ye fause leman, | |
| Nae mair my bosom wring: | |
| There is a bird within yon bower, | 35 |
| Oh, gin ye heard it sing!’ | |
| |
| Red grew the Douglas’ dusky cheek, | |
| He turned his eye away, | |
| The gowden hilt fell to his hand; | |
| ‘What can the wee bird say?’ | 40 |
| |
| It hirpled on the bough an’ sang, | |
| ‘Oh, wae’s me, dame, for thee, | |
| An’ wae’s me for the comely knight | |
| That sleeps aneath the tree! | |
| |
| ‘His cheek lies on the cauld, cauld clay, | 45 |
| Nae belt nor brand has he; | |
| His blood is on a kinsman’s spear; | |
| Oh, wae’s me, dame, for thee!’ | |
| |
| ‘My yeomen line the wood, lady, | |
| My steed stands at the tree; | 50 |
| An’ ye maun dree a dulefu’ weird, | |
| Or mount and fly wi’ me.’ | |
| |
| What gars Caerlaverock yeomen ride | |
| Sae fast in belt an’ steel? | |
| What gars the Jardine mount his steed, | 55 |
| And scour owre muir and dale? | |
| |
| Why seek they up by Liddel ford, | |
| An’ down by Tarras linn? | |
| The heiress o’ the lands o’ Nith, | |
| Is lost to a’ her kin. | 60 |
| |
| Oh, lang, lang may her mother greet, | |
| Down by the salt sea faem; | |
| An’ lang, lang may the Maxwells look, | |
| Afore their bride come hame. | |
| |
| An’ lang may every Douglas rue, | 65 |
| An’ ban the deed for aye;— | |
| The deed was done at Liddel Bower | |
| About the break of day. | |
| |
