oer the castle wa,
And says, “Alas, fair Janet, for thee
   But we’ll be blamed a’.”

“Haud your tongue, ye auld-fac’d knight,
   Some ill death may ye die!
Father my bairn on whom I will,
   I’ll father nane on thee.”

Out then spak her father dear,
   And he spak meek and mild;
“And ever alas, sweet Janet,” he says.
   “I think thou gaes wi child.”

“If that I gae wi’ child, father,
   Mysel maun bear the blame;
There’s neer a laird about your ha
   Shall get the bairn’s name.

“If my love were an earthly knight,
   As he’s an elfin grey,
I wad na gie my ain true-love
   For nae lord that ye hae.

“The steed that my true-love rides on
   Is lighter than the wind;
Wi siller he is shod before
   Wi burning gowd behind.”

Janet has kilted her green kirtle
   A little aboon her knee,
And she has snooded her yellow hair
   A little aboon her bree,
And she’s awa’ to Carterhaugh,
   As fast as she can hie.

When she cam to Carterhaugh,
   Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she fand his steed standing,
   But away was himsel.

She had na pu’d a double rose,
   A rose but only twa,
Till up then started young Tam Lin,
   Says, “Lady, thou pu’s nae mae.

“Why pu’s thou the rose, Janet,
   Amang the groves sae green,
And a’ to kill the bonie babe
   That we gat us between?”

“O tell me, tell me, Tam Lin,” she says,
   “For’s sake that died on tree,
If eer ye was in holy chapel,
   Or christendom did see?”

“Roxbrugh he was my grandfather,
   Took me with him to bide,
And ance it fell upon a day
   That wae did me betide.

“And ance it fell upon a day,
   A cauld day and a snell,
When we were frae the hunting come,
   That frae my horse I fell;
The Queen o Fairies she caught me,
   In yon green hill to dwell.

“And pleasant is the fairy land,
   But, an eerie tale to tell,
Ay at the end of seven years
   We pay a tiend to hell;
I am sae fair and fu’ o flesh
   I’m feared it be mysel.

“But the night is Halloween, lady,
   The morn is Hallowday;
Then win me, win me, an ye will,
   For weel I wat ye may.

“Just at the mirk and midnight hour
   The fairy folk will ride,
And they that wad their true love win,
   At Miles Cross they maun bide.”

“But how shall I thee ken, Tam Lin,
   Or how my true-love know,
Amang sae mony unco knights
   The like I never saw?”

“O first let pass the black, lady,
   And syne let pass the brown,
But quickly run to the milk-white steed,
   Pu ye his rider down.

“For I’ll ride on the milk-white steed,
   And ay nearest the town;
Because I was an earthly knight
   They gie me that renown.

“My right hand will be gloyd, lady,
   My left hand will be bare,
Cockt up shall my bonnet be,
   And kaimd down shall my hair;
And thae’s the takens I gie thee,
   Nae doubt I will be there.

“They’ll turn me in your arms, lady,
   Into an esk and adder;
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
   I am your bairn’s father.

“They’ll turn me to a bear sae grim,
   And then a lion bold;
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
   As ye shall love your child.

“Again they’ll turn me in your arms
   To a red het gaud of airn;
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
   I’ll do to you nae harm.

“And last they’ll turn me in your arms
   Into the burning gleed;
Then throw me into well water,
   O throw me in wi speed.

“And then I’ll be your ain true-love,
   I’ll turn a naked knight;
Then cover me wi your green mantle,
   And cover me out o sight.”

Gloomy, gloomy was the night,
   And eerie was the way,
As fair Jenny in her green mantle
   To Miles Cross she did gae.

About the middle o’ the night
   She heard the bridles ring;
This lady was as glad at that
   As any earthly thing.

First she let the black pass by,
   And syne she let the brown;
But quickly she ran to the milk-white steed,
   And pu’d the rider down,

Sae weel she minded whae he did say,
   And young Tam Lin did win;
Syne coverd him wi her green mantle,
   As blythe’s a bird in spring.

Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
   Out of a bush o broom:
“Them that has gotten young Tam Lin
   Has gotten a stately groom.”

Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
   And an angry woman was she;
“Shame betide her ill-far’d face,
   And an ill death may she die,
For she’s taen awa the bonniest knight
   In a’ my companie.

“But had I kend, Tam Lin,” she says,
   “What now this night I see,
I wad hae taen out thy twa grey e’en,
   And put in twa een o tree.”

THOMAS THE RHYMER

(Child, Part II., p. 317.)

True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank;
   A ferlie he spied wi’ his ee;
And there he saw a lady bright,
   Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.

Her skirt was o the grass-green silk,
   Her mantle o the velvet fyne,
At ilka tett of her horse’s mane
   Hang fifty siller bells and nine.

True Thomas he pulld aff his cap,
   And louted low down to his knee:
“All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven!
   For thy peer on earth I never did see.”

“O no, O no, Thomas,” she said,
   “That name does not belang to me;
I am but the queen of fair Elfland,
   That am hither come to visit thee.

“Harp and carp, Thomas,” she said,
   “Harp and carp, along wi’ me,
And if ye dare to kiss my lips,
   Sure of your bodie I will be!”

“Betide me weal, betide me woe,
   That weird sall never daunton me;
Syne he has kissed her rosy lips,
   All underneath the Eildon Tree.

“Now, ye maun go wi me,” she said,
   “True Thomas, ye maun go wi me,
And ye maun serve me seven years,
   Thro weal or woe as may chance to be.”

She mounted on her milk-white steed,
   She’s taen True Thomas up behind,
And aye wheneer her bride rung,
   The steed flew swifter than the wind.

O they rade on, and farther on—
   The steed gaed swifter than the wind—
Until they reached a desart wide,
   And living land was left behind.

“Light down, light down, now,