Chapter XV Fair Helen of Kirkconnell
Very simple, very touching, is the story of fair Helen of Kirkconnell. This beautiful maiden had two lovers, one rich, one poor. Her friends favoured the rich one, she loved the poor one. She and her chosen lover used to meet secretly in the romantic churchyard of Kirkconnell, by the side of the river Kirtle. Learning this, the rejected lover crept up one evening, with his carbine, to shoot his luckier rival; Helen saw him at the moment of firing, and threw herself forward to receive the shot in her bosom, and so save her lover’s life at the cost of her own.
The ballad describing the grief of her lover is one of the most beautiful and touching pieces of poetry in existence, and must be given here entire.
FAIR HELEN
I wish I were where Helen lies;
Night and day on me she cries;
O that I were where Helen lies,
On fair Kirkconnell Lee!
Curst be the heart that thought the thought,
And curst the hand that shot the shot,
When in my arms burd Helen dropt,
And died to succour me.
O think ye not my heart was sair,
When my love dropt and spak nae mair!
There did she swoon wi’ meikle care,
On fair Kirkconnell Lee.
As I went down the water-side,
None but my foe to be my guide,
None but my foe to be my guide,
On fair Kirkconnell Lee!
I lighted down my sword to draw,
I hacked him in pieces sma’,
I hacked him in pieces sma’,
For her sake that died for me.
O Helen fair beyond compare,
I’ll make a garland of thy hair,
Shall bind my heart for evermair,
Until the day I die.
O that I were where Helen lies,
Night and day on me she cries;
Out of my bed she bids me rise,
Says, “Haste and come to me!”
O Helen fair! O Helen chaste!
If I were with thee, I were blest,
Where thou lies low, and takes thy rest,
On fair Kirkconnell Lee.
O that my grave were growing green,
A winding sheet drawn ower my een,
And I in Helen’s arms were lying,
On fair Kirkconnell Lee!
I wish I were where Helen lies!
Night and day on me she cries,
And I am weary of the skies,
For her sake that died for me.