ill,
In the lowlands of Buleighan,
And there they found Sir James the Rose,
Lying sleeping in his brechan.

15.
Up then spake Sir John the Graeme
Who had the charge a-keeping,
'It shall ne'er be said, dear gentlemen,
We killed a man when a-sleeping.

16.
They seized his broad sword and his targe,
And closely him surrounded;
And when he waked out of his sleep,
His senses were confounded.

17.
'O pardon, pardon, gentlemen,
Have mercy now upon me.'
'Such as you gave, such you shall have,
And so we fall upon thee.'

18.
'Donald, my man, wait me upon,
And I'll gie you my brechan;
And if you stay here till I die,
You'll get my trews of tartan.

19.
'There is fifty pounds in my pocket,
Besides my trews and brechan,
Ye'll get my watch and diamond ring,
And take me to Loch-Largan.'

20.
Now they've ta'en out his bleeding heart,
And stuck it on a spear,
Then took it to the House of Marr,
And gave it to his dear.

21.
But when she saw his bleeding heart,
She was like one distracted,
She wrung her hands and tore her hair,
Crying, 'Oh! what have I acted.

22.
'It's for your sake, Sir James the Rose,
That my poor heart's a-breaking;
Cursed be the day I did thee betray,
Thou brave knight o' Buleighan.'

23.
Then up she rose, and forth she goes,
And in that fatal hour
She bodily was borne away,
And never was seen more.

24.
But where she went was never kent;
And so, to end the matter,
A traitor's end you may depend
Can never be no better.

[Annotations:
7.2: 'brechan,' plaid.]

CLYDE'S WATER

+The Text+ is from the Skene MS., but I have omitted the three final
lines, which do not make a complete stanza, and, when compared with
Scott's 'Old Lady's' version, are obviously corrupt. The last verse
should signify that the mothers of Willie and Meggie went up and down
the bank saying, 'Clyde's water has done us wrong!'

The ballad is better known as _Willie and May Margaret_.

+The Story.+--Willie refuses his mother's request to stay at home, as he
wishes to visit his true-love. The mother puts her malison, or curse,
upon him, but he rides off. Clyde is roaring, but Willie says, 'Drown me
as I come back, but spare me as I go,' which is Martial's

'Parcite dum propero, mergite cum redeo,'

and occurs in other English broadsides. M