Earl Bran; or, The Brave Earl Brand and the King of England's Daughter
EARL BRAND—A
[_]
a, b, from the papers of the late Robert White, Esq., of
Newcastle-on-Tyne: c, R. Bell, Ancient Poems, Ballads, etc.
(1857), p. 122: d, fragmentary lines as remembered by Mrs
Andrews, Mr White's sister, from her mother's singing.
1
Oh did ye ever hear o brave Earl Bran?
Ay lally, o lilly lally
He courted the king's daughter of fair England.
All i the night sae early
2
She was scarcely fifteen years of age
Till sae boldly she came to his bedside.
3
‘O Earl Bran, fain wad I see
A pack of hounds let loose on the lea.’
4
‘O lady, I have no steeds but one,
And thou shalt ride, and I will run.’
5
‘O Earl Bran, my father has two,
And thou shall have the best o them a.’
6
They have ridden oer moss and moor,
And they met neither rich nor poor.
7
Until they met with old Carl Hood;
He comes for ill, but never for good.
8
‘Earl Bran, if ye love me,
Seize this old carl, and gar him die.’
9
‘O lady fair, it wad be sair,
To slay an old man that has grey hair.
10
‘O lady fair, I'll no do sae;
I'll gie him a pound, and let him gae.’
11
‘O where hae ye ridden this lee lang day?
Or where hae ye stolen this lady away?’
12
‘I have not ridden this lee lang day,
Nor yet have I stolen this lady away.
13
‘She is my only, my sick sister,
Whom I have brought from Winchester.’
14
‘If she be sick, and like to dead,
Why wears she the ribbon sae red?
15
‘If she be sick, and like to die,
Then why wears she the gold on high?’
16
When he came to this lady's gate,
Sae rudely as he rapped at it.
17
‘O where's the lady o this ha?’
‘She's out with her maids to play at the ba.’
18
‘Ha, ha, ha! ye are a' mistaen:
Gae count your maidens oer again.
19
‘I saw her far beyond the moor,
Away to be the Earl o Bran's whore.’
20
The father armed fifteen of his best men,
To bring his daughter back again.
21
Oer her left shoulder the lady looked then:
‘O Earl Bran, we both are tane.’
22
‘If they come on me ane by ane,
Ye may stand by and see them slain.
23
‘But if they come on me one and all,
Ye may stand by and see me fall.’
24
They have come on him ane by ane,
And he has killed them all but ane.
25
And that ane came behind his back,
And he's gien him a deadly whack.
26
But for a' sae wounded as Earl Bran was,
He has set his lady on her horse.
27
They rode till they came to the water o Doune,
And then he alighted to wash his wounds.
28
‘O Earl Bran, I see your heart's blood!’
‘T is but the gleat o my scarlet hood.’
29
They rode till they came to his mother's gate,
And sae rudely as he rapped at it.
30
‘O my son's slain, my son's put down,
And a' for the sake of an English loun.’
31
‘O say not sae, my dear mother,
But marry her to my youngest brother.
[OMITTED]
32
‘This has not been the death o ane,
But it's been that of fair seventeen.’
[OMITTED]
