186KINMONT WILLIE

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, I, 111, 1802; II, 32, 1833.

This ballad celebrates a bold and masterly exploit of Sir Walter Scott of Branxholm, laird of Buccleuch, which is narrated as follows by a contemporary, Archbishop Spotiswood:[309]

“The Lord Scroop being then Warden of the West-Marches of England, and the Laird of Bacleugh having the charge of Lidisdale, they sent their deputies to keep a day of truce for redress of some ordinary matters. The place of meeting was at the Dayholme of Kershop, where a small brook divideth England from Scotland, and Lidisdale from Bawcastle. There met, as deputy for the Laird of Bacleugh, Robert Scott of Hayninge, and for the Lord Scroop, a gentleman within the West-Wardenry called Mr Salkeld. These two, after truce taken and proclaimed, as the custom was, by sound of trumpet, met friendly, and, upon mutual redress of such wrongs as were then complained of, parted in good terms, each of them taking his way homewards. Meanwhile it happened one William Armstrong, commonly called Will of Kinmouth, to be in company with the Scottish deputy; against whom the English had a quarrel for many wrongs he had committed, as he was indeed a notorious thief. This man having taken his leave of the Scots deputy, and riding down the river of Liddell on the Scottish side, towards his own house, was pursued by the English that espied him from the other side of the river, and after a chase of three or four miles taken prisoner, and brought back to the English deputy, who carried him away to the castle of Carlile.

“The Laird of Bacleugh complaining of the breach of truce (which was always taken from the time of meeting unto the next day at sun-rising) wrote to Mr Salkeld and craved redress. He excused himself by the absence of the Lord Scroop. Whereupon Bacleugh sent to the Lord Scroop, and desired the prisoner might be set at liberty, without any bond or condition, seeing he was unlawfully taken. Scroop answered that he could do nothing in the matter, it having so happened, without a direction from the queen and council of England, considering the man was such a malefactor. Bacleugh, loath to inform the king of what was done, lest it might have bred some misliking betwixt the princes, dealt with Mr Bowes, the resident ambassador of England, for the prisoner’s liberty: who wrote very seriously to the Lord Scroop in that business, advising him to set the man free, and not to bring the matter to a farther hearing. But no answer was returned; the matter thereupon was imparted to the king, and the queen of England solicited by letters to give direction for his liberty; yet nothing was obtained. Which Bacleugh perceiving, and apprehending both the king, and himself as the king’s officer, to be touched in honor, he resolved to work the prisoner’s relief by the best means he could.

“And upon intelligence that the castle of Carlile, wherein the prisoner was kept, was surprisable, he employed some trusty persons to take a view of the postern-gate, and measure the height of the wall, which he meant to scale by ladders; and if those failed, tobreak through the wall with some iron instruments, and force the gates. This done so closely as he could, he drew together some two hundred horse, assigning the place of meeting at the tower of Morton,[310]some ten miles from Carlile, an hour before sun-set. With this company passing the water of Esk about the falling, two hours before day he crossed Eden beneath Carlile bridge (the water through the rain that had fallen being thick), and came to the Sacery [Sacray], a plain under the castle. There making a little halt at the side of a small bourn which they call Cadage [Caday, Caldew], he caused eighty of the company to light from their horses, and take the ladders and other instruments which he had prepared with them. He himself, accompanying them to the foot of the wall, caused the ladders to be set to it; which proving too short, he gave order to use the other instruments for opening the wall, nigh the postern, and finding the business like to succeed, retired to the rest whom he had left on horseback, for assuring those that entered upon the castle against any eruption from the town. With some little labor a breach was made for single men to enter, and they who first went in brake open the postern for the rest. The watchmen and some few the noise awaked made a little restraint, but they were quickly repressed and taken captive. After which they passed to the chamber wherein the prisoner was kept, and having brought him forth, sounded a trumpet, which was a signal to them without that the enterprise was performed. My Lord Scroop and Mr Salkeld were both within the house, and to them the prisoner cried a good-night. The captives taken in the first encounter were brought to Bacleugh, who presently returned them to their master, and would not suffer any spoil, or booty, as they term it, to be carried away. He had straightly forbidden to break open any door but that where the prisoner was kept, though he might have made prey of all the goods within the castle and taken the warden himself captive; for he would have it seen that he did intend nothing but the reparation of his Majesty’s honor. By this time the prisoner was brought forth, the town had taken the alarm, the drums were beating, the bells ringing, and a beacon put on the top of the castle to give warning to the country. Whereupon Bacleugh commanded those that entered the castle, and the prisoner, to horse, and marching again by the Sacery, made to the river at the Stony bank, on the other side whereof certain were assembled to stop his passage; but he, causing sound the trumpet, took the river, day being then broken; and they choosing to give him way, he retired in order through the Grahams of Esk (men at that time of great power and his unfriends) and came back into Scottish ground two hours after sun-rising, and so homewards. This fell out the thirteenth of April, 1596.” (History of the Church of Scotland, 1639, in the second edition, 1666, p. 413 ff.)

Lord Scroope, on the morning after, wrote thus to the Privy Council of England:

“Yesternight, in the dead time thereof, Walter Scott of Hardinge and Walter Scott of Goldylands, the chief men about Buclughe, accompanied with five hundred horsemen of Buclughe and Kinmont’s friends, did come, armed and appointed with gavlocks and crows of iron, hand-picks, axes, and scaling-ladders, unto an outward corner of the base-court of this castle, and to the postern-door of the same, which they undermined speedily and quickly, and made themselves possessors of the base-court, brake into the chamber where Will of Kinmont was, carried him away, and, in their discovery by the watch, left for dead two of the watchmen, hurt a servant of mine, one of Kinmont’s keepers, and were issued again out of the postern before they were descried by the watch of the inner ward, and ere resistance could be made. The watch, as it should seem, by reason of the stormy night, were either on sleep or gotten under some covert to defend themselves from the violence of the weather, by means whereofthe Scots achieved their enterprise with less difficulty.... If Buclughe himself have been thereat in person, the captain of this proud attempt, as some of my servants tell me they heard his name called upon (the truth whereof I shall shortly advertise) then I humbly beseech that her Majesty may be pleased to send unto the king to call for and effectually to press his delivery, that he may receive punishment as her Majesty shall find that the quality of his offence shall demerit.”[311]MS. of the State Paper Office, in Tytler’s History, IX, 436.

Kinmont’s rapacity made his very name proverbial. “Mas James Melvine, in urging reasons against subscribing the act of supremacy, in 1584, asks ironically, Who shall take order with vice and wickedness? The court and bishops? As well as Martine Elliot and Will of Kinmont with stealing upon the borders!” Scott, Minstrelsy, 1833, II, 46.

Accordingly, when James was taking measures for bringing the refractory ministers and citizens of Edinburgh into some proper subjection, at the end of the year 1596, a report that Kinmont Willie was to be let loose upon the city caused a lively consternation; “but too well grounded,” says Scott, “considering what had happened in Stirling ten years before, when the Earl of Angus, attended by Home, Buccleuch, and other border chieftains, marched thither to remove the Earl of Arran from the king’s councils: the town was miserably pillaged by the borderers, particularly by a party of Armstrongs, under this very Kinmont Willie, who not only made prey of horses and cattle, but even of the very iron grating of the windows.” Minstrelsy, II, 45.

The ballad gives Buccleuch only forty men, and they are all of the name of Scott except Sir Gilbert Elliot of Stobs: st. 16. A partial list of the men who forced the castle was obtained by Lord Scroope. It includes, as might be expected, not a few Armstrongs, and among them the laird of Mangerton, Christy of Barngleish (son of Gilnockie), and four sons of Kinmont Willie (he had at least seven); two Elliots, but not Sir Gilbert; four Bells.[312]Scott of Satchells, in his History of the Name of Scott, 1688, makes Sir Gilbert Elliot one of the party, but may have taken this name from the ballad. (Scott’s Minstrelsy, 1833, II, 43.) Dick of Dryhope, 24, 25, was an Armstrong.[313]The ballad, again, after cutting down Buccleuch’s men to thirty (st. 33) or forty (18, 19), assigns the very liberal garrison of a thousand to the castle, 33; the ladders are long enough, Buccleuch mounts the first,[314]the castle is won, and Kinmont Willie, in his irons, is borne down the ladder on Red Rowan’s[315]shoulders: all ofwhich is as it should be in a ballad. And so with the death of the fause Sakelde, though not a life seems to have been lost in the whole course of the affair.

“This ballad,” says Scott, “is preserved by tradition in the West Borders, but much mangled by reciters, so that some conjectural emendations have been absolutely necessary to render it intelligible. In particular, the Eden has been substituted for the Esk [in 262], the latter name being inconsistent with geography.” It is to be suspected that a great deal more emendation was done than the mangling of reciters rendered absolutely necessary. One would like, for example, to see stanzas 10–12 and 31 in their mangled condition.[316]

1. William Armstrong, called Will of Kinmonth, lived in Morton Tower, a little above the Marchdike-foot. He appears, says Mr R. B. Armstrong, to have been a son of Sandy,aliasIll Will’s Sandy. Haribee is the place of execution outside of Carlisle. 3. The Liddel-rack is a ford in that river, which, for a few miles before it empties into the Esk, is the boundary of England and Scotland. 8. Branxholm, or Branksome, is three miles southwest, and Stobs, 16, some four miles southeast, of Hawick. 19. Woodhouselee was a house on the Scottish border, a little west of the junction of the Esk and Liddel, “belonging to Buccleuch,” says Scott.

1O have ye na heard o the fause Sakelde?O have ye na heard o the keen Lord Scroop?How they hae taen bauld Kinmont Willie,On Hairibee to hang him up?2Had Willie had but twenty men,But twenty men as stout as he,Fause Sakelde had never the Kinmont taen,Wi eight score in his companie.3They band his legs beneath the steed,They tied his hands behind his back;They guarded him, fivesome on each side,And they brought him ower the Liddel-rack.4They led him thro the Liddel-rack,And also thro the Carlisle sands;They brought him to Carlisle castell,To be at my Lord Scroope’s commands.5‘My hands are tied, but my tongue is free,And whae will dare this deed avow?Or answer by the border law?Or answer to the bauld Buccleuch?’6‘Now haud thy tongue, thou rank reiver!There’s never a Scot shall set ye free;Before ye cross my castle-yate,I trow ye shall take farewell o me.’7‘Fear na ye that, my lord,’ quo Willie;‘By the faith o my bodie, Lord Scroop,’ he said,‘I never yet lodged in a hostelrieBut I paid my lawing before I gaed.’8Now word is gane to the bauld Keeper,In Branksome Ha where that he lay,That Lord Scroope has taen the Kinmont Willie,Between the hours of night and day.9He has taen the table wi his hand,He garrd the red wine spring on hie;‘Now Christ’s curse on my head,’ he said,‘But avenged of Lord Scroop I’ll be!10‘O is my basnet a widow’s curch?Or my lance a wand of the willow-tree?Or my arm a ladye’s lilye hand?That an English lord should lightly me.11‘And have they taen him Kinmont Willie,Against the truce of Border tide,And forgotten that the bauld BacleuchIs keeper here on the Scottish side?12‘And have they een taen him Kinmont Willie,Withouten either dread or fear,And forgotten that the bauld BacleuchCan back a steed, or shake a spear?13‘O were there war between the lands,As well I wot that there is none,I would slight Carlisle castell high,Tho it were builded of marble-stone.14‘I would set that castell in a low,And sloken it with English blood;There’s nevir a man in CumberlandShould ken where Carlisle castell stood.15‘But since nae war’s between the lands,And there is peace, and peace should be,I’ll neither harm English lad or lass,And yet the Kinmont freed shall be!’16He has calld him forty marchmen bauld,I trow they were of his ain name,Except Sir Gilbert Elliot, calldThe Laird of Stobs, I mean the same.17He has calld him forty marchmen bauld,Were kinsmen to the bauld Buccleuch,With spur on heel, and splent on spauld,And gleuves of green, and feathers blue.18There were five and five before them a’,Wi hunting-horns and bugles bright;And five and five came wi Buccleuch,Like Warden’s men, arrayed for fight.19And five and five like a mason-gang,That carried the ladders lang and hie;And five and five like broken men;And so they reached the Woodhouselee.20And as we crossd the Bateable Land,When to the English side we held,The first o men that we met wi,Whae sould it be but fause Sakelde!21‘Where be ye gaun, ye hunters keen?’Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell to me!’‘We go to hunt an English stag,Has trespassd on the Scots countrie.’22‘Where be ye gaun, ye marshal-men?’Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell me true!’‘We go to catch a rank reiver,Has broken faith wi the bauld Buccleuch.’23‘Where are ye gaun, ye mason-lads,Wi a’your ladders lang and hie?’‘We gang to herry a corbie’s nest,That wons not far frae Woodhouselee.’24‘Where be ye gaun, ye broken men?’Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell to me!’Now Dickie of Dryhope led that band,And the nevir a word o lear had he.25‘Why trespass ye on the English side?Row-footed outlaws, stand!’ quo he;The neer a word had Dickie to say,Sae he thrust the lance thro his fause bodie.26Then on we held for Carlisle toun,And at Staneshaw-bank the Eden we crossd;The water was great, and meikle of spait,But the nevir a horse nor man we lost.27And when we reachd the Staneshaw-bank,The wind was rising loud and hie;And there the laird garrd leave our steeds,For fear that they should stamp and nie.28And when we left the Staneshaw-bank,The wind began full loud to blaw;But ’twas wind and weet, and fire and sleet,When we came beneath the castel-wa.29We crept on knees, and held our breath,Till we placed the ladders against the wa;And sae ready was Buccleuch himsellTo mount the first before us a’.30He has taen the watchman by the throat,He flung him down upon the lead:‘Had there not been peace between our lands,Upon the other side thou hadst gaed.31‘Now sound out, trumpets!’ quo Buccleuch;‘Let’s waken Lord Scroope right merrilie!’Then loud the Warden’s trumpets blew‘O whae dare meddle wi me?’32Then speedilie to wark we gaed,And raised the slogan ane and a’,And cut a hole thro a sheet of lead,And so we wan to the castel-ha.33They thought King James and a’ his menHad won the house wi bow and speir;It was but twenty Scots and tenThat put a thousand in sic a stear!34Wi coulters and wi forehammers,We garrd the bars bang merrilie,Untill we came to the inner prison,Where Willie o Kinmont he did lie.35And when we cam to the lower prison,Where Willie o Kinmont he did lie,‘O sleep ye, wake ye, Kinmont Willie,Upon the morn that thou’s to die?’36‘O I sleep saft, and I wake aft,It’s lang since sleeping was fleyd frae me;Gie my service back to my wyfe and bairns,And a’gude fellows that speer for me.’37Then Red Rowan has hente him up,The starkest men in Teviotdale:‘Abide, abide now, Red Rowan,Till of my Lord Scroope I take farewell.38‘Farewell, farewell, my gude Lord Scroope!My gude Lord Scroope, farewell!’ he cried;‘I’ll pay you for my lodging-maillWhen first we meet on the border-side.’39Then shoulder high, with shout and cry,We bore him down the ladder lang;At every stride Red Rowan made,I wot the Kinmont’s airns playd clang.40‘O mony a time,’ quo Kinmont Willie,‘I have ridden horse baith wild and wood;But a rougher beast than Red RowanI ween my legs have neer bestrode.41‘And mony a time,’ quo Kinmont Willie,‘I’ve pricked a horse out oure the furs;But since the day I backed a steedI nevir wore sic cumbrous spurs.’42We scarce had won the Staneshaw-bank,When a’the Carlisle bells were rung,And a thousand men, in horse and foot,Cam wi the keen Lord Scroope along.43Buccleuch has turned to Eden Water,Even where it flowd frae bank to brim,And he has plunged in wi a’his band,And safely swam them thro the stream.44He turned him on the other side,And at Lord Scroope his glove flung he:‘If ye like na my visit in merry England,In fair Scotland come visit me!’45All sore astonished stood Lord Scroope,He stood as still as rock of stane;He scarcely dared to trew his eyesWhen thro the water they had gane.46‘He is either himsell a devil frae hell,Or else his mother a witch maun be;I wad na have ridden that wan waterFor a’the gowd in Christentie.’

1O have ye na heard o the fause Sakelde?O have ye na heard o the keen Lord Scroop?How they hae taen bauld Kinmont Willie,On Hairibee to hang him up?

O have ye na heard o the fause Sakelde?

O have ye na heard o the keen Lord Scroop?

How they hae taen bauld Kinmont Willie,

On Hairibee to hang him up?

2Had Willie had but twenty men,But twenty men as stout as he,Fause Sakelde had never the Kinmont taen,Wi eight score in his companie.

Had Willie had but twenty men,

But twenty men as stout as he,

Fause Sakelde had never the Kinmont taen,

Wi eight score in his companie.

3They band his legs beneath the steed,They tied his hands behind his back;They guarded him, fivesome on each side,And they brought him ower the Liddel-rack.

They band his legs beneath the steed,

They tied his hands behind his back;

They guarded him, fivesome on each side,

And they brought him ower the Liddel-rack.

4They led him thro the Liddel-rack,And also thro the Carlisle sands;They brought him to Carlisle castell,To be at my Lord Scroope’s commands.

They led him thro the Liddel-rack,

And also thro the Carlisle sands;

They brought him to Carlisle castell,

To be at my Lord Scroope’s commands.

5‘My hands are tied, but my tongue is free,And whae will dare this deed avow?Or answer by the border law?Or answer to the bauld Buccleuch?’

‘My hands are tied, but my tongue is free,

And whae will dare this deed avow?

Or answer by the border law?

Or answer to the bauld Buccleuch?’

6‘Now haud thy tongue, thou rank reiver!There’s never a Scot shall set ye free;Before ye cross my castle-yate,I trow ye shall take farewell o me.’

‘Now haud thy tongue, thou rank reiver!

There’s never a Scot shall set ye free;

Before ye cross my castle-yate,

I trow ye shall take farewell o me.’

7‘Fear na ye that, my lord,’ quo Willie;‘By the faith o my bodie, Lord Scroop,’ he said,‘I never yet lodged in a hostelrieBut I paid my lawing before I gaed.’

‘Fear na ye that, my lord,’ quo Willie;

‘By the faith o my bodie, Lord Scroop,’ he said,

‘I never yet lodged in a hostelrie

But I paid my lawing before I gaed.’

8Now word is gane to the bauld Keeper,In Branksome Ha where that he lay,That Lord Scroope has taen the Kinmont Willie,Between the hours of night and day.

Now word is gane to the bauld Keeper,

In Branksome Ha where that he lay,

That Lord Scroope has taen the Kinmont Willie,

Between the hours of night and day.

9He has taen the table wi his hand,He garrd the red wine spring on hie;‘Now Christ’s curse on my head,’ he said,‘But avenged of Lord Scroop I’ll be!

He has taen the table wi his hand,

He garrd the red wine spring on hie;

‘Now Christ’s curse on my head,’ he said,

‘But avenged of Lord Scroop I’ll be!

10‘O is my basnet a widow’s curch?Or my lance a wand of the willow-tree?Or my arm a ladye’s lilye hand?That an English lord should lightly me.

‘O is my basnet a widow’s curch?

Or my lance a wand of the willow-tree?

Or my arm a ladye’s lilye hand?

That an English lord should lightly me.

11‘And have they taen him Kinmont Willie,Against the truce of Border tide,And forgotten that the bauld BacleuchIs keeper here on the Scottish side?

‘And have they taen him Kinmont Willie,

Against the truce of Border tide,

And forgotten that the bauld Bacleuch

Is keeper here on the Scottish side?

12‘And have they een taen him Kinmont Willie,Withouten either dread or fear,And forgotten that the bauld BacleuchCan back a steed, or shake a spear?

‘And have they een taen him Kinmont Willie,

Withouten either dread or fear,

And forgotten that the bauld Bacleuch

Can back a steed, or shake a spear?

13‘O were there war between the lands,As well I wot that there is none,I would slight Carlisle castell high,Tho it were builded of marble-stone.

‘O were there war between the lands,

As well I wot that there is none,

I would slight Carlisle castell high,

Tho it were builded of marble-stone.

14‘I would set that castell in a low,And sloken it with English blood;There’s nevir a man in CumberlandShould ken where Carlisle castell stood.

‘I would set that castell in a low,

And sloken it with English blood;

There’s nevir a man in Cumberland

Should ken where Carlisle castell stood.

15‘But since nae war’s between the lands,And there is peace, and peace should be,I’ll neither harm English lad or lass,And yet the Kinmont freed shall be!’

‘But since nae war’s between the lands,

And there is peace, and peace should be,

I’ll neither harm English lad or lass,

And yet the Kinmont freed shall be!’

16He has calld him forty marchmen bauld,I trow they were of his ain name,Except Sir Gilbert Elliot, calldThe Laird of Stobs, I mean the same.

He has calld him forty marchmen bauld,

I trow they were of his ain name,

Except Sir Gilbert Elliot, calld

The Laird of Stobs, I mean the same.

17He has calld him forty marchmen bauld,Were kinsmen to the bauld Buccleuch,With spur on heel, and splent on spauld,And gleuves of green, and feathers blue.

He has calld him forty marchmen bauld,

Were kinsmen to the bauld Buccleuch,

With spur on heel, and splent on spauld,

And gleuves of green, and feathers blue.

18There were five and five before them a’,Wi hunting-horns and bugles bright;And five and five came wi Buccleuch,Like Warden’s men, arrayed for fight.

There were five and five before them a’,

Wi hunting-horns and bugles bright;

And five and five came wi Buccleuch,

Like Warden’s men, arrayed for fight.

19And five and five like a mason-gang,That carried the ladders lang and hie;And five and five like broken men;And so they reached the Woodhouselee.

And five and five like a mason-gang,

That carried the ladders lang and hie;

And five and five like broken men;

And so they reached the Woodhouselee.

20And as we crossd the Bateable Land,When to the English side we held,The first o men that we met wi,Whae sould it be but fause Sakelde!

And as we crossd the Bateable Land,

When to the English side we held,

The first o men that we met wi,

Whae sould it be but fause Sakelde!

21‘Where be ye gaun, ye hunters keen?’Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell to me!’‘We go to hunt an English stag,Has trespassd on the Scots countrie.’

‘Where be ye gaun, ye hunters keen?’

Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell to me!’

‘We go to hunt an English stag,

Has trespassd on the Scots countrie.’

22‘Where be ye gaun, ye marshal-men?’Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell me true!’‘We go to catch a rank reiver,Has broken faith wi the bauld Buccleuch.’

‘Where be ye gaun, ye marshal-men?’

Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell me true!’

‘We go to catch a rank reiver,

Has broken faith wi the bauld Buccleuch.’

23‘Where are ye gaun, ye mason-lads,Wi a’your ladders lang and hie?’‘We gang to herry a corbie’s nest,That wons not far frae Woodhouselee.’

‘Where are ye gaun, ye mason-lads,

Wi a’your ladders lang and hie?’

‘We gang to herry a corbie’s nest,

That wons not far frae Woodhouselee.’

24‘Where be ye gaun, ye broken men?’Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell to me!’Now Dickie of Dryhope led that band,And the nevir a word o lear had he.

‘Where be ye gaun, ye broken men?’

Quo fause Sakelde; ‘come tell to me!’

Now Dickie of Dryhope led that band,

And the nevir a word o lear had he.

25‘Why trespass ye on the English side?Row-footed outlaws, stand!’ quo he;The neer a word had Dickie to say,Sae he thrust the lance thro his fause bodie.

‘Why trespass ye on the English side?

Row-footed outlaws, stand!’ quo he;

The neer a word had Dickie to say,

Sae he thrust the lance thro his fause bodie.

26Then on we held for Carlisle toun,And at Staneshaw-bank the Eden we crossd;The water was great, and meikle of spait,But the nevir a horse nor man we lost.

Then on we held for Carlisle toun,

And at Staneshaw-bank the Eden we crossd;

The water was great, and meikle of spait,

But the nevir a horse nor man we lost.

27And when we reachd the Staneshaw-bank,The wind was rising loud and hie;And there the laird garrd leave our steeds,For fear that they should stamp and nie.

And when we reachd the Staneshaw-bank,

The wind was rising loud and hie;

And there the laird garrd leave our steeds,

For fear that they should stamp and nie.

28And when we left the Staneshaw-bank,The wind began full loud to blaw;But ’twas wind and weet, and fire and sleet,When we came beneath the castel-wa.

And when we left the Staneshaw-bank,

The wind began full loud to blaw;

But ’twas wind and weet, and fire and sleet,

When we came beneath the castel-wa.

29We crept on knees, and held our breath,Till we placed the ladders against the wa;And sae ready was Buccleuch himsellTo mount the first before us a’.

We crept on knees, and held our breath,

Till we placed the ladders against the wa;

And sae ready was Buccleuch himsell

To mount the first before us a’.

30He has taen the watchman by the throat,He flung him down upon the lead:‘Had there not been peace between our lands,Upon the other side thou hadst gaed.

He has taen the watchman by the throat,

He flung him down upon the lead:

‘Had there not been peace between our lands,

Upon the other side thou hadst gaed.

31‘Now sound out, trumpets!’ quo Buccleuch;‘Let’s waken Lord Scroope right merrilie!’Then loud the Warden’s trumpets blew‘O whae dare meddle wi me?’

‘Now sound out, trumpets!’ quo Buccleuch;

‘Let’s waken Lord Scroope right merrilie!’

Then loud the Warden’s trumpets blew

‘O whae dare meddle wi me?’

32Then speedilie to wark we gaed,And raised the slogan ane and a’,And cut a hole thro a sheet of lead,And so we wan to the castel-ha.

Then speedilie to wark we gaed,

And raised the slogan ane and a’,

And cut a hole thro a sheet of lead,

And so we wan to the castel-ha.

33They thought King James and a’ his menHad won the house wi bow and speir;It was but twenty Scots and tenThat put a thousand in sic a stear!

They thought King James and a’ his men

Had won the house wi bow and speir;

It was but twenty Scots and ten

That put a thousand in sic a stear!

34Wi coulters and wi forehammers,We garrd the bars bang merrilie,Untill we came to the inner prison,Where Willie o Kinmont he did lie.

Wi coulters and wi forehammers,

We garrd the bars bang merrilie,

Untill we came to the inner prison,

Where Willie o Kinmont he did lie.

35And when we cam to the lower prison,Where Willie o Kinmont he did lie,‘O sleep ye, wake ye, Kinmont Willie,Upon the morn that thou’s to die?’

And when we cam to the lower prison,

Where Willie o Kinmont he did lie,

‘O sleep ye, wake ye, Kinmont Willie,

Upon the morn that thou’s to die?’

36‘O I sleep saft, and I wake aft,It’s lang since sleeping was fleyd frae me;Gie my service back to my wyfe and bairns,And a’gude fellows that speer for me.’

‘O I sleep saft, and I wake aft,

It’s lang since sleeping was fleyd frae me;

Gie my service back to my wyfe and bairns,

And a’gude fellows that speer for me.’

37Then Red Rowan has hente him up,The starkest men in Teviotdale:‘Abide, abide now, Red Rowan,Till of my Lord Scroope I take farewell.

Then Red Rowan has hente him up,

The starkest men in Teviotdale:

‘Abide, abide now, Red Rowan,

Till of my Lord Scroope I take farewell.

38‘Farewell, farewell, my gude Lord Scroope!My gude Lord Scroope, farewell!’ he cried;‘I’ll pay you for my lodging-maillWhen first we meet on the border-side.’

‘Farewell, farewell, my gude Lord Scroope!

My gude Lord Scroope, farewell!’ he cried;

‘I’ll pay you for my lodging-maill

When first we meet on the border-side.’

39Then shoulder high, with shout and cry,We bore him down the ladder lang;At every stride Red Rowan made,I wot the Kinmont’s airns playd clang.

Then shoulder high, with shout and cry,

We bore him down the ladder lang;

At every stride Red Rowan made,

I wot the Kinmont’s airns playd clang.

40‘O mony a time,’ quo Kinmont Willie,‘I have ridden horse baith wild and wood;But a rougher beast than Red RowanI ween my legs have neer bestrode.

‘O mony a time,’ quo Kinmont Willie,

‘I have ridden horse baith wild and wood;

But a rougher beast than Red Rowan

I ween my legs have neer bestrode.

41‘And mony a time,’ quo Kinmont Willie,‘I’ve pricked a horse out oure the furs;But since the day I backed a steedI nevir wore sic cumbrous spurs.’

‘And mony a time,’ quo Kinmont Willie,

‘I’ve pricked a horse out oure the furs;

But since the day I backed a steed

I nevir wore sic cumbrous spurs.’

42We scarce had won the Staneshaw-bank,When a’the Carlisle bells were rung,And a thousand men, in horse and foot,Cam wi the keen Lord Scroope along.

We scarce had won the Staneshaw-bank,

When a’the Carlisle bells were rung,

And a thousand men, in horse and foot,

Cam wi the keen Lord Scroope along.

43Buccleuch has turned to Eden Water,Even where it flowd frae bank to brim,And he has plunged in wi a’his band,And safely swam them thro the stream.

Buccleuch has turned to Eden Water,

Even where it flowd frae bank to brim,

And he has plunged in wi a’his band,

And safely swam them thro the stream.

44He turned him on the other side,And at Lord Scroope his glove flung he:‘If ye like na my visit in merry England,In fair Scotland come visit me!’

He turned him on the other side,

And at Lord Scroope his glove flung he:

‘If ye like na my visit in merry England,

In fair Scotland come visit me!’

45All sore astonished stood Lord Scroope,He stood as still as rock of stane;He scarcely dared to trew his eyesWhen thro the water they had gane.

All sore astonished stood Lord Scroope,

He stood as still as rock of stane;

He scarcely dared to trew his eyes

When thro the water they had gane.

46‘He is either himsell a devil frae hell,Or else his mother a witch maun be;I wad na have ridden that wan waterFor a’the gowd in Christentie.’

‘He is either himsell a devil frae hell,

Or else his mother a witch maun be;

I wad na have ridden that wan water

For a’the gowd in Christentie.’

Back to Index Next