Began full fast to weepe. "Weepe not," said shee," but shutt the dores And windowes round about, And with one sighe, which brake her hart, This is a very ancient song, but we could only give it from a modern copy. Some editions, instead of the four last lines in the second stanza, have these, which have too much merit to be wholly suppressed: "When cockle shells turn siller bells, See the Orpheus Caledonius, &c. Arthur's-seat, mentioned in verse 17, is a hill near Edinburgh; at the bottom of which is St. Anthony's well. O WALY, waly up the bank, And waly, waly down the brae, And waly, waly yon burn side, Where I and my love wer wont to gae. I leant my back unto an aik, I thought it was a trusty tree; But first it bow'd, and syne it brak, Sae my true love did lichtly me. 5 O waly, waly, gin love be bonny, Or wherfore shuld I kame my hair? Now Arthur-Seat sall be my bed, The sheets shall neir be fyl'd by me: Saint Anton's well sall be my drink, Since my true love has forsaken me. Tis not the frost that freezes fell, But my loves heart grown cauld to me. But had I wist, before I kisst, That love had been sae ill to win, I had lockt my heart in a case of gowd, And, oh! if my young babe were born, And I my sell were dead and gane! For a maid again Ise never be. 40 XII. The Wanton Wife of Bath.1 From an ancient copy in black-print, in the Pepys Collection. Mr. Addison has pronounced this an excellent ballad. See the Spectator, No. 248. IN Bath a wanton wife did dwelle, As Chaucer he doth write, Who did in pleasure spend her dayes, Upon a time sore sicke she was, And then her soul at Heaven's gate First Adam came unto the gate: "Who knocketh there?" quoth hee. 5 10 "Thou art a sinner," Adam sayd, "And here no place shalt have;" "And so art thou, I trowe," quoth shee, 15 "And eke a' doting knave." "And first broke God's commandiments, "In pleasure of thy wife: When Adam heard her tell this tale, He ranne away for life. Ver. 16. Now gip you. P. 20 1 This ballad was admitted by Percy into the earlier editions of the Reliques, though excluded from the revised edition of 1794.-Editor. Then downe came Jacob at the gate, 25 And bids her packe to hell: "Thou false deceiving knave," quoth she, "How now," quoth she, "thou drunken ass, Who bade thee here to prate? 35 And thus most tauntingly she chaft "Who calleth there," quoth Judith then, "With thy two daughters thou didst lye, On them two bastardes got: 40 "This fine minkes surely came not here," Quoth she, "for cutting throats!" Good Lord, how Judith blush'd for shame, 45 King David hearing of the same, He to the gate would goe. Quoth David, "Who knockes there so loud, And maketh all this strife?" 50 "You were more kinde, good sir," she sayd, "Unto Uriah's wife. |