THE DEATH OF QUEEN JANE—C
[_]
a. Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 182; “from two fragments,
one transmitted from Arbroath and another from
Edinburgh.” b. Herd's MSS, I, 103.
1
Queen Jeany has traveld for three days and more,
Till the ladies were weary, and quite gave her oer:
‘O ladies, O ladies, do this thing for me,
To send for King Henry, to come and see me.’
2
King Henry was sent for, and sat by her bedside:
‘Why weep you, Queen Jeany? your eyes are so red.’
‘O Henry, O Henry, do this one thing for me,
Let my side straight be opend, and save my babie!’
3
‘O Jeany, O Jeany, this never will do,
It will leese thy sweet life, and thy young babie too.’
She wept and she wailed, till she fell in a swoon:
Her side it was opened, the babie was found.
4
Prince Edward was christened with joy and with mirth,
But the flower of fair England lies cold in the earth.
O black was King Henry, and black were his men,
And black was the steed that King Henry rode on.
5
And black were the ladies, and black were their fans,
And black were the gloves that they wore on their hands,
And black were the ribbands they wore on their heads,
And black were the pages, and black were the maids.
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6
The trumpets they sounded, the cannons did roar,
But the flower of fair England shall flourish no more.
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