| CLERK SAUNDERS and May Margaret | |
| Walked owre yon garden green; | |
| And sad and heavy was the love | |
| That fell them twa between. | |
| |
| And thro’ the dark, and thro’ the mirk, | 5 |
| And thro’ the leaves o’ green, | |
| He cam that night to Margaret’s door, | |
| And tirléd at the pin. | |
| |
| “O wha is that at my bower door, | |
| Sae weel my name does ken?” | 10 |
| “’Tis I, Clerk Saunders, your true love; | |
| You’ll open and let me in?” | |
| |
| “But in may come my seven bauld brithers, | |
| Wi’ torches burning bright; | |
| They’ll say—‘We hae but ae sister, | 15 |
| And behold she’s wi’ a knight!’” | |
| |
| “Ye’ll tak my brand I bear in hand, | |
| And wi’ the same ye’ll lift the pin; | |
| Then ye may swear, and save your aith, | |
| That ye ne’er let Clerk Saunders in. | 20 |
| |
| “Ye’ll tak the kerchief in your hand, | |
| And wi’ the same tie up your een; | |
| Then ye may swear and save your aith, | |
| Ye saw me na since yestere’en.” | |
| |
| It was about the midnight hour, | 25 |
| When they asleep were laid, | |
| When in and cam her seven brothers, | |
| Wi’ torches burning red. | |
| |
| When in and cam her seven brothers, | |
| Wi’ torches burning bright; | 30 |
| They said, “We hae but ae sister, | |
| And behold she’s wi’ a knight.” | |
| |
| Then out and spak the first o’ them, | |
| “We’ll awa’ and lat them be.” | |
| And out and spak the second o’ them, | 35 |
| “His father has nae mair than he!” | |
| |
| And out and spak the third o’ them, | |
| “I wot they are lovers dear!” | |
| And out and spak the fourth o’ them, | |
| “They hae lo’ed this mony a year!” | 40 |
| |
| Then out and spak the fifth o’ them, | |
| “It were sin true love to twain!” | |
| “’Twere shame,” out spak the sixth o’ them, | |
| “To slay a sleeping man!” | |
| |
| Then up and gat the seventh o’ them, | 45 |
| And never a word spak he; | |
| But he has striped his bright brown brand | |
| Through Saunders’ fair bodie. | |
| |
| Clerk Saunders started, and Margaret she turned, | |
| Into his arms as asleep she lay; | 50 |
| And sad and silent was the night, | |
| That was atween thir twae. | |
| |
| And they lay still and sleepit sound, | |
| Till the day began to daw; | |
| And kindly to him she did say, | 55 |
| “It is time, love, you were awa’.” | |
| |
| But he lay still, and sleepit sound, | |
| Till the sun began to sheen; | |
| She looked atween her and the wa’, | |
| And dull, dull were his een. | 60 |
| |
| She turned the blankets to the foot, | |
| The sheets unto the wa’, | |
| And there she saw his bloody wound, | |
| And her tears fast doun did fa’. | |
| |
| Then in and cam her father dear, | 65 |
| Said, “Let a’ your mournin’ be; | |
| I’ll carry the dead corpse to the clay | |
| And then come back and comfort thee. | |
| |
| “Hold your tongue, my daughter dear, | |
| And let your mourning be; | 70 |
| I’ll wed you to a higher match | |
| Than his father’s son could be.” | |
| |
| “Gae comfort weel your seven sons, father, | |
| For man sall ne’er comfort me; | |
| Ye’ll marry me wi’ the Queen o’ Heaven, | 75 |
| For wedded I ne’er sall be!” | |
| |
| The clinking bell gaed through the toun, | |
| To carry the dead corse to the clay; | |
| And Clerk Saunders stood at Margaret’s window, | |
| ’Twas an hour before the day. | 80 |
| |
| “O are ye sleeping, Margaret?” he says. | |
| “Or are ye waking presentlie? | |
| Gie me my faith and troth again, | |
| I wot, true love, I gied to thee. | |
| |
| “I canna rest, Margaret,” he says, | 85 |
| “Doun in the grave where I must be, | |
| Till ye gie me my faith and troth again, | |
| I wot, true love, I gied to thee.” | |
| |
| “Your faith and troth ye sall never get, | |
| Nor our true love sall never twin, | 90 |
| Until ye come within my bower, | |
| And kiss me cheek and chin.” | |
| |
| “My mouth it is full cold, Margaret, | |
| It has the smell, now, of the ground; | |
| And if I kiss thy comely mouth, | 95 |
| To the grave thou will be bound. | |
| |
| “O, cocks are crawing a merry midnight, | |
| I wot the wild-fowls are boding day; | |
| Gie me my faith and troth again, | |
| And let me fare me on my way.” | 100 |
| |
| “Thy faith and troth thou sall na get, | |
| And our true love shall never twin, | |
| Until ye tell what comes of women, | |
| I wot, who die in strong travailing.” | |
| |
| “Their beds are made in the heavens high, | 105 |
| Down at the foot of our good Lord’s knee, | |
| Weel set about wi’ gillyflowers; | |
| I wot sweet company for to see. | |
| |
| “O, cocks are crawing a merry midnight, | |
| I wot the wild-fowl are boding day; | 110 |
| The psalms of heaven will soon be sung, | |
| And I, ere now, will be missed away.” | |
| |
| Then she has ta’en a crystal wand, | |
| And she has stroken her troth thereon, | |
| She has given it him out at the shot-window, | 115 |
| Wi’ mony a sigh and heavy groan. | |
| |
| “I thank ye, Margaret; I thank ye, Margaret; | |
| And aye I thank ye heartilie; | |
| Gin ever the dead come for the quick, | |
| Be sure, Margaret, I’ll come for thee.” | 120 |
| |
| It’s hosen, and shoon, and gown, alane, | |
| She clam the wa’ and after him; | |
| Until she cam to the green forest, | |
| And there she lost the sight o’ him. | |
| |
| “Is there ony room at your head, Saunders, | 125 |
| Is there ony room at your feet? | |
| Or ony room at your side, Saunders, | |
| Where fain, fain, I wad sleep?” | |
| |
| “There’s nae room at my head, Margaret, | |
| There’s nae room at my feet; | 130 |
| My bed it is full lowly now: | |
| ’Mang the hungry worms I sleep. | |
| |
| “Cauld mould is my covering now, | |
| But and my winding-sheet; | |
| The dew it falls nae sooner down, | 135 |
| Than my resting-place is weet. | |
| |
| “But plait a wand o’ the bonnie birk | |
| And lay it on my breast; | |
| And shed a tear upon my grave, | |
| And wish my saul gude rest. | 140 |
| |
| “And fair Margaret, and rare Margaret, | |
| And Margaret o’ veritie, | |
| Gin e’er ye love anither man, | |
| Ne’er love him as ye did me.” | |
| |
| Then up and crew the milk-white cock, | 145 |
| And up and crew the gray; | |
| Her lover vanished in the air, | |
| And she gaed weeping away. | |
