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The Ballad of Lord Soulis and the Nine Stane Rig
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Just the last part .........

They turned their horse-heads round about,
Rode back a day and twain :
And a* the rivers they rode upon
The devil rode at their rein.

The third castle they came to,
It was the castle of Hermitage ;
There is nae man may break the sides of it,
Though the stanes therein are great of age.

" whatten a may is yonder may,
That looks like ony flower? "
" yon is my very love, Marjorie,
Was borne out of my bower."

The bower Lady Marjorie was in,
It had neither white cloths nor red,
There were nae rushes to the bower floors,
And nae pillows to the bed.

" will ye come down but a very little,
For God's sake or for me?
Or will ye kiss me a very little,
But six poor kissess and three? "

She's leaned hersell to that window,
For sorrow she couldna stand ;
She's bound her body by that window,
With iron at her hand.

She's sworn by tree and by tree's leaf,
By aits and rye and corn,
" Gin ye hadna come the night," she says,
" I had been but dead the morn."

She's kissed him under the bower-bar
Nine goodly times and ten ;
And forth is come that keen wizard
In the middest of his men.

And forth is come that foul wizard,
God give him a curse and care!
Says " The life is one time sweet to have
And the death is three times sair."

Forth is come that strong wizard,
God give him a heavy day!
Says " ye shall have joy of your leman's body
When April cometh after May."

Between the hill and the wan water
In fields that were full sweet,
There was riding and running together,
And many a man gat red-shod feet.

Between the wa's and the Hermitage water,
In ways that were waxen red
There was cleaving of caps and shearing of jack,
And many a good man was there dead.

They have taken that strong wizard
To bind him by the hands :
The links of aim brast off his body
Like splints of bursten birken wands.

And they have taken that keen wizard
To bind him by the hause-bane ;
The links of aim brast off his body
As blossom that is burst wi' rain.

And they have taken that foul wizard
To bind him by the feet :
The links of aim brast off his body
As berries that are burst with heat.

They have putten fire upon his flesh,
For nae fire wad it shrink :
They have cast en his body in the wan well-head,
For nae water wad it sink.

Up then gat the fiend Borolallie
Bade them give ower and let be :
" Between warld's fire and warld's water
He gat a gift of me ;
Till fire came out of wan water,
There's nane shall gar him dee."

" A rede, a rede, thou foul Borolallie,
A good rede out of hand ;
Shall we be wroken of Lord Soulis
By water or by land?
Or shall we be wroken a great way off,
Or even whereas we stand? "

And up it spak him, foul Borolallie,
Between the tree and the leaf o* the tree ;
" Ye maunna be wroken of Lord Soulis
By land neither by sea ;
Between red fire and wan water
Weel wroken ye shall be."

And up it spak him, foul Borolallie,
Between Lord Soulis and them a' :
" Ye maunna be wroken of Lord Soulis
Betwixen house and ha' ;
But ye maun take him to the Ninestane rigs
And take his life awa.' "

They have take him to the Ninestane rigs
His foul body to slay ;
Between the whins and the whinstanes
He had a weary way.

They have taken him to the Ninestane rigs
His foul body to spill :
Between the green broom and the yellow
He gat a bitter ill.

They had a sair cast with his foul body,
There was nae man wist what to do ;
" And gin his body were weel sodden,
Weel sodden and suppit in brool "

And out is spak him, foul Borolallie,
Says " whatten a coiPs this coil?
Ye'll mak a fire on the Ninestane rigs,
For a pot thereon to boil."

And out it spak him, foul Borolallie,
Says " whatten a din's this din?
Ye'll boil his body within the brass,
The brass to boil him in."

They boiled his body on the Ninestane rigs
That wizard mickle of lear ;
They have sodden the bones of his body,
To be their better cheer.

They buried his bones on the Ninestane rigs
But the flesh was a* clean gane ;
There was great joy in a* that border
That Lord Soulis was well slain.


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Posted by Branwen
6th November 2009ce
23:03

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Megalithic Poems (Littlestone)

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