The English and Scottish Popular Ballads :: :: University of Virginia Library

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads

Edited by Francis James Child.

Part I.

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

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The Deil's Courtship

THE ELFIN KNIGHT—H

[_]

Motherwell's MS., p. 92.

1

‘Come, pretty Nelly, and sit thee down by me,
Every rose grows merry wi thyme
And I will ask thee questions three,
And then thou wilt be a true lover of mine.

2

‘Thou must buy me a cambrick smock
Without any stitch of needlework.

3

‘Thou must wash it in yonder strand,
Where wood never grew and water neer ran.

4

‘Thou must dry it on yonder thorn,
Where the sun never shined on since Adam was formed.’

5

‘Thou hast asked me questions three;
Sit down till I ask as many of thee.

6

‘Thou must buy me an acre of land
Betwixt the salt water, love, and the sea-sand.

7

‘Thou must plow it wi a ram's horn,
And sow it all over wi one pile o corn.

8

‘Thou must shear it wi a strap o leather,
And tie it all up in a peacock feather.

9

‘Thou must stack it in the sea,
And bring the stale o't hame dry to me.

10

‘When my love's done, and finished his work,
Let him come to me for his cambric smock.’