William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Georgian Verse. 1909.
Allen-a-DaleSir Walter Scott (17711832)
A
Allen-a-Dale has no furrow for turning,
Allen-a-Dale has no fleece for the spinning,
Yet Allen-a-Dale has red gold for the winning.
Come, read me my riddle! come, hearken my tale!
And tell me the craft of bold Allen-a-Dale.
And he views his domains upon Arkindale side.
The mere for his net and the land for his game.
The chase for the wild and the park for the tame:
Yet the fish of the lake and the deer of the vale
Are less free to Lord Dacre than Allen-a-Dale!
Though his spur be as sharp and his blade be as bright;
Allen-a-Dale is no baron or lord,
Yet twenty tall yeomen will draw at his word;
And the best of our nobles his bonnet will vail,
Who at Rere-cross on Stanmore meets Allen-a-Dale!
The mother, she asked of his household and home:
‘Though the castle of Richmond stand fair on the hill,
My hall,’ quoth bold Allen, ‘shows gallanter still;
’Tis the blue vault of heaven, with its crescent so pale
And with all its bright spangles!’ said Allen-a-Dale.
They lifted the latch and they bade him be gone;
But loud on the morrow their wail and their cry:
He had laughed on the lass with his bonny black eye
And she fled to the forest to hear a love-tale,
And the youth it was told by was Allen-a-Dale!