I will be there.

31.
'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.

32.
'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.

33.
'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.

34.
'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.

35.
'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.'

36.
Gloomy, gloomy was the night,
And eerie was the way,
As fair Jenny in her green mantle
To Miles Cross she did gae.

37.
About the middle o' the night
She heard the bridles ring;
This lady was as glad at that
As any earthly thing.

38.
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.

39.
Sae weel she minded whae he did say,
And young Tarn Lin did win;
Syne cover'd him wi' her green mantle,
As blythe's a bird in spring.

40.
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.'

41.
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 ta'en awa' the bonniest knight
In a' my companie.

42.
'But had I kend, Tam Lin,' she says,
'What now this night I see,
I wad hae ta'en out thy twa grey een,
And put in twa een o' tree.'

[Annotations:
2.2: 'wad,' forfeit.
3.4: 'bree,' brow.
8.3: 'snooded,' tied with a fillet.
10.4: 'glass': perhaps a mistake for 'grass.'
23.2: 'snell,' keen.
24.4: 'tiend,' tithe.
31.2: 'esk,' newt.
33.2: 'gaud,' bar.
34.2: 'gleed,' a glowing coal.
42.4: 'tree,' wood.]

THE CLERK'S TWA SONS O' OWSENFORD, and THE WIFE OF USHER'S WELL

These two ballads must be considered together, as the last six verses
(18-23) of _The Clerk's Twa Sons_, as here given, are a variant of _The
Wife of Usher's Well_.

+Texts.+--_The Clerk's Twa Sons_ is taken from