The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Edited by Francis James Child. |
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Moss Groves
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 | The English and Scottish Popular Ballads |  |
Moss Groves
LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD—O
[_]
Taken down in 1891 by Mr John Sampson, Liverpool, from Philip Murray, an old tinker, who learned the ballad in his boyhood from an old gypsy named Amos Rice.
1
There was four-and-twenty ladiesAssembled at a ball,
And who being there but the king's wife,
The fairest of them all.
2
She put her eye on the Moss Groves,Moss Groves put his eye upon she:
‘How would you like, my little Moss Groves,
One night to tarry with me?’
3
‘To sleep one night with you, fair lady,It would cause a wonderful sight;
For I know by the ring upon your hand
You are the king's wife.’
4
‘If I am the king's wife,I mean him to beguile;
For he has gone on a long distance,
And won't be back for a while.’
5
Up spoke his brother,An angry man was he;
‘Another night I'll not stop in the castle
Till my brother I'll go see.’
6
When he come to his brother,He was in a hell of a fright:
‘Get up, get up, brother dear!
There's a man in bed with your wife.’
7
‘If it's true you tell unto me,A man I'll make of thee;
If it's a lie you tell unto me,
It's slain thou shalt be.’
8
When he came to his hall,The bells begun to ring,
And all the birds upon the bush
They begun to sing.
9
‘How do you like my covering-cloths?And how do you like my sheets?
How do you like my lady fair,
All night in her arms to sleep?’
10
‘Your covering-cloths I like right well,Far better than your sheets;
Far better than all your lady fair,
All night in her arms to sleep.’
11
‘Get up, get up now, little Moss Groves,Your clothing do put on;
It shall never be said in all England
That I drew on a naked man.
12
‘There is two swords all in the castleThat cost me very dear;
You take the best, and I the worst,
And let's decide it here.’
13
The very first blow Moss Groves he gave,He wounded the king most sore;
The very first blow the king gave him,
Moss Groves he struck no more.
14
She lifted up his dying headAnd kissed his cheek and chin:
‘I'd sooner have you now, little Moss Groves,
Than all their castles or kings.’
| The English and Scottish Popular Ballads | |