89
FAUSE FOODRAGE
Fa'se Footrage
FAUSE FOODRAGE—A
[_]
Alexander Fraser Tytler's Brown MS., No 3.
1
King Easter has courted her for her gowd,
King Wester for her fee,
King Honor for her lands sae braid,
And for her fair body.
2
They had not been four months married,
As I have heard them tell,
Until the nobles of the land
Against them did rebel.
3
And they cast kaivles them amang,
And kaivles them between,
And they cast kaivles them amang
Wha shoud gae kill the king.
4
O some said yea, and some said nay,
Their words did not agree;
Till up it gat him Fa'se Footrage,
And sware it should be he.
5
When bells were rung, and mass was sung.
And a' man boon to bed,
King Honor and his gay ladie
In a hie chamer were laid.
6
Then up it raise him Fa'se Footrage,
While a' were fast asleep,
And slew the porter in his lodge,
That watch and ward did keep.
7
O four and twenty silver keys
Hang hie upon a pin,
And ay as a door he did unlock,
He has fastend it him behind.
8
Then up it raise him King Honor,
Says, What means a' this din!
Now what's the matter, Fa'se Footrage?
O wha was't loot you in?
9
‘O ye my errand well shall learn
Before that I depart;’
Then drew a knife baith lang and sharp
And pierced him thro the heart.
10
Then up it got the Queen hersell,
And fell low down on her knee:
‘O spare my life now, Fa'se Footrage!
For I never injured thee.
11
‘O spare my life now, Fa'se Footrage!
Until I lighter be,
And see gin it be lad or lass
King Honor has left me wi.’
12
‘O gin it be a lass,’ he says,
‘Well nursed she shall be;
But gin it be a lad-bairn,
He shall be hanged hie.
13
‘I winna spare his tender age,
Nor yet his hie, hie kin;
But as soon as eer he born is,
He shall mount the gallows-pin.’
14
O four and twenty valiant knights
Were set the Queen to guard,
And four stood ay at her bower-door,
To keep baith watch and ward.
15
But when the time drew till an end
That she should lighter be,
She cast about to find a wile
To set her body free.
16
O she has birled these merry young men
Wi strong beer and wi wine,
Until she made them a' as drunk
As any wallwood swine.
17
‘O narrow, narrow is this window,
And big, big am I grown!’
Yet thro the might of Our Ladie
Out at it she has won.
18
She wanderd up, she wanderd down,
She wanderd out and in,
And at last, into the very swines' stye,
The Queen brought forth a son.
19
Then they cast kaivles them amang
Wha should gae seek the Queen,
And the kaivle fell upon Wise William,
And he's sent his wife for him.
20
O when she saw Wise William's wife,
The Queen fell on her knee;
‘Win up, win up, madame,’ she says,
‘What means this courtesie?’
21
‘O out of this I winna rise
Till a boon ye grant to me,
To change your lass for this lad-bairn
King Honor left me wi.
22
‘And ye maun learn my gay gose-hawke
Well how to breast a steed,
And I shall learn your turtle-dow
As well to write and read.
23
‘And ye maun learn my gay gose-hawke
To wield baith bow and brand,
And I shall learn your turtle-dow
To lay gowd wi her hand.
24
‘At kirk or market where we meet,
We dare nae mair avow
But, Dame how does my gay gose-hawk?
Madame, how does my dow?’
25
When days were gane, and years came on,
Wise William he thought long;
Out has he taen King Honor's son,
A hunting for to gang.
26
It sae fell out at their hunting,
Upon a summer's day,
That they cam by a fair castle,
Stood on a sunny brae.
27
‘O dinna ye see that bonny castle,
Wi wa's and towers sae fair?
Gin ilka man had back his ain,
Of it you shoud be heir.’
28
‘How I should be heir of that castle
In sooth I canna see,
When it belongs to Fa'se Footrage,
And he's nae kin to me.’
29
‘O gin ye shoud kill him Fa'se Footrage,
You woud do what is right;
For I wot he killd your father dear,
Ere ever you saw the light.
30
‘Gin ye should kill him Fa'se Footrage,
There is nae man durst you blame;
For he keeps your mother a prisoner,
And she dares no take you hame.’
31
The boy stared wild like a gray gose-hawke,
Says, What may a' this mean!
‘My boy, you are King Honor's son,
And your mother's our lawful queen.’
32
‘O gin I be King Honor's son,
By Our Ladie I swear,
This day I will that traytour slay,
And relieve my mother dear.’
33
He has set his bent bow till his breast,
And lap the castle-wa,
And soon he's siesed on Fa'se Footrage,
Wha loud for help gan ca.
34
‘O hold your tongue now, Fa'se Footrage,
Frae me you shanno flee;’
Syne pierced him through the foul fa'se heart,
And set his mother free.
35
And he has rewarded Wise William
Wi the best half of his land,
And sae has he the turtle-dow
Wi the truth of his right hand.
The Eastmure King and the Westmure King
FAUSE FOODRAGE—B
[_]
Motherwell's MS., p. 341.
1
The Eastmure king, and the Westmure king,
And the king of Onorie,
They have all courted a pretty maid,
And guess wha she micht be.
2
The Eastmure king courted her for gold,
And the Westmure king for fee,
The king of Onore for womanheid,
And for her fair beautie.
3
The Eastmure king swore a solemn oath,
He would keep it till May,
That he would murder the king of Onore,
Upon his wedding day.
4
When bells was rung, and psalms was sung,
And all men boune for sleep,
Up and started the Eastmure king
At the king of Onore's head.
5
He has drawn the curtains by —
Their sheets was made of dorn —
And he has murdered the king of Onore,
As innocent as he was born.
6
This maid she awak'd in the middle of the night,
Was in a drowsy dream;
She found her bride's-bed swim with blood,
Bot and her good lord slain.
7
‘What will the court and council say?
What will they say to me?
What will the court and council say
But this night I've murderd thee?’
8
Out and speaks the Eastmure king:
‘Hold your tongue, my pretty may,
And come along with me, my dear,
And that court ye'll never see.’
9
He mounted her on a milk-white steed,
Himself upon a gray;
She turnd her back against the court,
And weeping rode away.
10
‘Now if you be with child,’ he says,
‘As I trew well you be,
If it be of a lassie-bairn,
I'll give her nurses three.
11
‘If it be a lassie-bairn,
If you please she'll get five;
But if it be a bonnie boy,
I will not let him live.’
12
Word is to the city gone,
And word is to the town,
And word is to the city gone,
She's delivered of a son.
13
But a poor woman in the town
In the same case does lye,
Wha gived to her her woman-child,
Took awa her bonnie boy.
14
At kirk or market, whereer they met,
They never durst avow,
But ‘Thou be kind to my boy,’ she says,
‘I'll be kind to your bonnie dow.’
15
This boy was sixteen years of age,
But he was nae seventeen,
When he is to the garden gone,
To slay that Eastmure king.
16
‘Be aware, be aware, thou Eastmure king,
Be aware this day of me;
For I do swear and do declare
Thy botcher I will be.’
17
‘What aileth thee, my bonnie boy?
What aileth thee at me?
I'm sure I never did thee wrang;
Thy face I neer did see.’
18
‘Thou murdered my father dear,
When scarse conceived was I;
Thou murdered my father dear,
When scarse conceived was me:’
So then he slew that Eastmure king,
Beneath that garden tree.
Eastmuir King
FAUSE FOODRAGE—C
[_]
Harris MS., No 18, fol. 22: derived from Jannie Scott, an
old Perthshire nurse, about 1790.
1
Eastmuir king, and Wastmuir king,
And king o Luve, a' three,
It's they coost kevils them amang,
Aboot a gay ladie.
2
Eastmuir king he wan the gowd,
An Wastmuir king the fee,
But king o Luve, wi his lands sae broad,
He's won the fair ladie.
3
Thae twa kings, they made an aith,
That, be it as it may,
They wad slay him king o Luve,
Upon his waddin day.
4
Eastmuir king he brak his aith,
An sair penance did he;
But Wastmuir king he made it oot,
An an ill deid mat he dee!
