William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910.
The Dowy Houms of YarrowAnonymous
L
And ere they paid the mornin’
They set a combat them between,
To fight it in the dawnin’.
O stay at hame, my marrow!
My cruel brother will you betray,
On the dowy houms o’ Yarrow.’
O fare ye weel, my Sarah!
For I maun gae, tho’ I ne’er return
Frae the dowy banks o’ Yarrow.’
As she had done before, O;
She belted on his noble brand,
An’ he’s awa to Yarrow.
I wat he gaed wi’ sorrow—
An’ in a den spied nine arm’d men,
I’ the dowy houms o’ Yarrow.
As ye hae doon before, O?
Or are ye come to wield the brand,
On the dowy banks o’ Yarrow?’
As I hae doon before, O,
But I am come to wield the brand,
On the dowy houms o’ Yarrow.’
On the dowy houms o’ Yarrow,
Till that stubborn knight came him behind,
An’ ran his body thorrow.’
An’ tell your sister Sarah
To come an’ lift her noble lord,
Who’s sleepin’ sound on Yarrow.’
I ken’d there wad be sorrow;
I dream’d I pu’d the heather green,
On the dowy banks o’ Yarrow.’
I wat she gaed wi’ sorrow—
An’ in a den spied nine dead men,
On the dowy houms o’ Yarrow.
As oft she did before, O;
She drank the red blood frae him ran,
On the dowy houms o’ Yarrow.
For what needs a’ this sorrow?
I’ll wed you on a better lord
Than him you lost on Yarrow.’
An’ dinna grieve your Sarah;
A better lord was never born
Than him I lost on Yarrow.
For they hae bred our sorrow;
I wiss that they had a’ gane mad
Whan they cam first to Yarrow.’