54 Lord Thomas and Fair Annet
I
Lord Thomas and Fair Annet
Sat all day on a hill;
When night was come, and sun was set,
They had not talk’d their fill.
II
Lord Thomas said a word in jest,
Fair Annet took it ill:
‘I’ll never wed a tocherless374 maid
Against my ain friends’ will.’—
III
‘Gif ye’ll not wed a tocherless wife,
A wife will ne’er wed ye:
Fare ye well now, Lord Thomas,
It’s fare ye well a wee.’
IV
O Annet she’s gane till her bower,
Lord Thomas down the den;
And he’s come till his mither’s bower
By the lee375 light o’ the moon.
V
‘O sleep ye, wake ye, mither?’ he says,
‘Or are ye the bower within?’—
‘I sleep right aft, I wake right aft;
What want ye with me, son?
VI
‘Where have ye been a’ night, Thomas?
O wow, ye’ve tarried long!’—
‘I have been courtin’ Fair Annet,
And she is frae me gone.
VII
‘O rede376, O rede, mither,’ he says,
‘A gude rede gie to me:
O sall I tak’ the nut-brown bride,
And let Fair Annet be?’—
VIII
‘The nut-brown bride has gold and gear,
Fair Annet she’s got nane;
And the little beauty Fair Annet has
O it will soon be gane.
IX
‘It’s an’ ye wed the nut-brown bride,
I’ll heap gold wi’ my hand;
But an’ ye wed her, Fair Annet,
I’ll straik377 it wi’ a wand.
X
‘The nut-brown bride has sheep and kye,
Fair Annet she’s got nane;
Son Thomas, for my benison
Bring ye the brown bride hame.’—
XI
‘But alas, alas!’ says Lord Thomas,
‘O fair is Annet’s face!’—
‘But what matter for that, son Thomas?
She has nae ither grace.’—
XII
‘Alas, alas!’ says Lord Thomas,
‘But white is Annet’s hand!’—
‘What matter for that, son Thomas?
She has not a fur’378 o’ land.’—
XIII
‘Sheep will die in cots, mither,
And owsen379 die in byre;
And what is warldis wealth to me,
An’ I getna my heart’s desire?’
XIV
And he has till his sister gane:
‘Now, sister, rede ye me;
O sall I marry the nut-brown bride
And set Fair Annet free?’—
XV
‘I’se rede ye tak’ Fair Annet, Thomas,
And let the brown bride alane,
Lest ye should sigh and say Alas!
What is this we brought hame?’—
XVI
‘No, I will tak’ my mither’s counsel,
And marry me out of hand;
And I will tak’ the nut-brown bride;
Fair Annet may leave the land.’
XVII
Up then rose Fair Annet’s father
Twa hours or it were day,
And he is gone to Fair Annet,
To the bower wherein she lay.
XVIII
‘Rise up, rise up, Fair Annet,’ he says,
‘Put on your silken sheen;
Ye are bidden come to St. Mary’s Kirk,
To see a rich weddin’.’...
XIX
‘My maids, gae to my dressing-room
And dress to me my hair;
Where’er ye laid a plait before
See ye lay ten times mair.
XX
‘My maids gae to my dressing-room
And dress to me my smock,
The one half is o’ the holland fine,
The other o’ needle-work.’
XXI
At yae380 tett381 o’ her horse’s mane
Was tied a silver bell,
And yae tift382 o’ the norland wind
It gar’d them a’ to knell.
XXII
Four and twenty gay good knights
Rade by Fair Annet’s side,
And four and twenty fair ladies
As gin she had been a bride.
XXIII
And when she came to Mary’s Kirk,
She shimmer’d like the sun;
The belt that was about her waist
Was a’ wi’ pearls bedone383.
XXIV
And when she came to Mary’s Kirk,
And sat down in the deas384,
The cleiding385 that Fair Annet had on
Enlighten’d a’ that place.
XXV
She sat her by the nut-brown bride,
And her e’en they were sae clear,
Lord Thomas he clean forgat the bride
When Fair Annet drew near.
XXVI
He had a rose into his hand,
He gave it kisses three,
And reaching by the nut-brown bride,
Laid it on Annet’s knee.
XXVII
‘O wha is this, my father dear,
Blinks in Lord Thomas’s e’e?’—
‘O this Lord Thomas’s first true-love
Before he lovèd thee.’
XXVIII
Up then spake the nut-brown bride—
She spake wi’ mickle spite:
’And where gat ye the rose-water
That washes thy face so white?’—
XXIX
‘O I did get my rose-water
Where ye will ne’er get nane,
For I did get that very rose-water
Into my mither’s wame386.’
XXX
The bride she drew a long bodkin
Frae out her gay head-gear,
And strake Fair Annet to the heart,
That word spak’ never mair.
XXXI
‘O Christ thee save!’ Lord Thomas he said,
‘Methinks thou look’st wondrous wan;
Thou was used to look with as fresh a colour
As ever the sun shined on.’
XXXII
‘O art thou blind, Lord Thomas?’ she said,
‘Or canst thou not very well see?
Or dost thou not see my own heart’s blood
Runs trickling down my knee?’
XXXIII
Lord Thomas he saw Fair Annet was pale,
And marvellèd what mote be;
But when he saw her dear heart’s blood,
All wood-wroth387 waxèd he.
XXXIV
He drew his dagger frae his side,
That was so sharp and meet,
And drave it into the nut-brown bride,
That fell dead at his feet.
XXXV
‘Now stay for me, dear Annet,’ he said,
‘Now stay, my dear!’ he cried;
Then strake the dagger untill his heart,
And fell dead by her side.
Footnotes
374 tocherless = without a dowry.
375 lee = calm, pleasant.
376 rede = counsel.
377 straik = stroke, as one might smooth over the top of a bushel of corn to make it bare measure.
378 fur’ = furrow.
379 owsen = oxen.
380 yae = each.
381 tett = tuft.
382 tift = puff, whiff.
383 bedone = adorned.
384 deas = daïs, pew.
385 cleiding = clothing.
386 wame = womb.
387 wood-wroth = mad with rage.