The Baron of Brackley
THE BARON OF BRACKLEY—B
[_]
Kinloch MSS, V, 379, in the handwriting of John Hill
Burton.
1
‘Baron of Brackley, are ye in there?
The're sharp swords at yer yetts, winna ye spear.’
2
‘If they be gentlemen, lat them cum in;
But if they be reavers, we'll gar them be taen.’
3
‘It is na gentlemen, nor yet pretty lads,
But a curn hir'd widdifus, wears belted plaids.’
4
She called on her women and bade them come in:
‘Tack a' yer rocks, lasses, and we'll them coman.
5
‘We'll fecht them, we'll slight them, we'll do what we can,
And I vow we will shoot them altho we shod bang.
6
‘Rise up, John,’ she said, ‘and turn in yer kye,
For they'll hae them to the Hielands, and you they'l defie.’
7
‘Had your still, Catharine, and still yer young son,
For ye'll get me out, but I'll never cum in.’
8
‘If I had a man, as I hae na nane,
He wudna lye in his bed and see his kye tane.’
9
‘Ye'll cum kiss me, my Peggy, and bring me my gun,
For I'm gaing out, but I'll never cum in.’
10
There was twenty wi Invery, twenty and ten;
There was nane wi the baron but his brother and him.
11
At the head of Reneeten the battle began;
Ere they wan Auchoilzie, they killed mony a man.
12
They killed Harry Gordon and Harry of the Knock,
The mullertd's four sons up at Glenmuick.
13
They killed Harry Gordon and Harry of the Knock,
And they made the brave baron like kail to a pot.
14
First they killed ane, and then they killed twa,
Then they killed the brave baron, the flower o them a'.
15
Then up came Craigievar, and a party wi him;
If he had come an hour sooner, Brackley had not been slain.
16
‘Came ye by Brackley? and was ye in there?
Or say ye his lady, was making great care?’
17
‘I came by Brackley, and I was in there,
But I saw his lady no makin great care.
18
‘For she eat wi them, drank wi them, welcomed them in;
She drank to the villain that killed her guid man.
19
‘Woe to ye, Kate Fraser! sorry may yer heart be,
To see yer brave baron's blood cum to yer knee.’
20
There is dule in the kitchen, and mirth i the ha,
But the Baron o B[r]ackley is dead and awa.
