 | Ballads and Other Poems |  |
I. PART I.
How Willie o' Wyburn goes to study with the Monks of Elverslie.
Wyburn Willie was pale and thin,
And he was ten years old;
He dwelt with his mother, a widow poor,
And books loved more than gold.
And he was ten years old;
He dwelt with his mother, a widow poor,
And books loved more than gold.
Willie, when he was a little child,
He did not rave and cry;
His spirit was meek as a little saint's,
Yet bright was his dark blue eye.
He did not rave and cry;
His spirit was meek as a little saint's,
Yet bright was his dark blue eye.
Willie, he did not run about
With the forest-boys at play;
But he sate beside his mother's door
A-reading all the day.
With the forest-boys at play;
But he sate beside his mother's door
A-reading all the day.
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The long, long words he could spell them,
And their meaning he could tell;
And, by the time he was five years old,
He could read the missal well.
And their meaning he could tell;
And, by the time he was five years old,
He could read the missal well.
There was not a prayer to any saint,
But he the prayer did know;
Nor a carol good, nor ballad sweet,
That he could not sing also.
But he the prayer did know;
Nor a carol good, nor ballad sweet,
That he could not sing also.
“Now, where gat ye this learning, Willie?”
Said a monk of Elverslie,
“And where did ye get this learning,
For no scholar's son ye be?
Said a monk of Elverslie,
“And where did ye get this learning,
For no scholar's son ye be?
“Your mother she cannot read, poor soul,
Nor is it meet she should;
Then how did ye get this learning,
All in this lonesome wood?”
Nor is it meet she should;
Then how did ye get this learning,
All in this lonesome wood?”
“My learning, methinks, is small,” said Willie,
“The aves and the creed,
“And the prayers, out of a missal old,
I learnëd them to read.
“The aves and the creed,
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I learnëd them to read.
“And the forest-folk they sing their songs
All in the forest dim;
And whenever a wandering harper comes,
I learn a deal from him.
All in the forest dim;
And whenever a wandering harper comes,
I learn a deal from him.
“I'm full of though when the organ peals,
Or when the bells are rung;
And I often go down to Elverslie,
To hear the masses sung.”
Or when the bells are rung;
And I often go down to Elverslie,
To hear the masses sung.”
“Thou shalt dwell with me,” said the good old monk,
“In the house at Eleverslie;
For thy Latin is spoken sore amiss,
And I'll make a clerk of thee.”
“In the house at Eleverslie;
For thy Latin is spoken sore amiss,
And I'll make a clerk of thee.”
Said Willie, “'Twould break my mother's heart,
If with her I do not stay;
Therefore I will go to Elverslie,
If it please you, every day.”
If with her I do not stay;
Therefore I will go to Elverslie,
If it please you, every day.”
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Now Willie goes down to Elverslie,
Through the forest doth he go,
In the hot days of the summer,
And through the winter's snow.
Through the forest doth he go,
In the hot days of the summer,
And through the winter's snow.
Willie he read, and Willie he wrote,
And his head is sound and clear;
And the fame of Willie o' Wyburn
It spreadeth far and near.
And his head is sound and clear;
And the fame of Willie o' Wyburn
It spreadeth far and near.
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