The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Part 2, Chapter 44

The Two Magicians

THE lady stands in her bower door,
As straight as willow wand;
The blacksmith stood a little forebye,
Wi hammer in his hand.
‘Weel may ye dress ye, lady fair,
Into your robes o red;
Before the morn at this same time,
I’ll gain your maidenhead.’
‘Awa, awa, ye coal-black smith,
Woud ye do me the wrang
To think to gain my maidenhead,
That I hae kept sae lang!’
Then she has hadden up her hand,
And she sware by the mold,
‘I wudna be a blacksmith’s wife
For the full o a chest o gold.
‘I’d rather I were dead and gone,
And my body laid in grave,
Ere a rusty stock o coal-black smith
My maidenhead shoud have.’
But he has hadden up his hand,
And he sware by the mass,
‘I’ll cause ye be my light leman
For the hauf o that and less.’
O bide, lady, bide,
And aye he bade her bide;
The rusty smith your leman shall be,
For a’ your muckle pride.
Then she became a turtle dow,
To fly up in the air,
And he became another dow,
And they flew pair and pair.
O bide, lady, bide, ’C..
She turnd hersell into an eel,
To swim into yon burn,
And he became a speckled trout,
To gie the eel a turn.
O bide, lady, bide, ’C..
Then she became a duck, a duck,
To puddle in a peel,
And he became a rose-kaimd drake,
To gie the duck a dreel.
O bide, lady, bide, ’C..
She turnd hersell into a hare,
To rin upon yon hill,
And he became a gude grey-hound,
And boldly he did fill.
O bide, lady, bide, ’C..
Then she became a gay grey mare,
And stood in yonder slack,
And he became a gilt saddle,
And sat upon her back.
Was she wae, he held her sae,
And still he bade her bide;
The rusty smith her leman was,
For a’ her muckle pride.
Then she became a het girdle,
And he became a cake,
And a’ the ways she turnd hersell,
The blacksmith was her make.
Was she wae, etc.
She turnd hersell into a ship,
To sail out ower the flood;
He ca’ed a nail intill her tail,
And syne the ship she stood.
Was she wae, etc.
Then she became a silken plaid,
And stretchd upon a bed,
And he became a green covering,
And gaind her maidenhead.
Was she wae, etc.

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