The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Part 2, Chapter 40

The Queen of Elfan’s Nourice

I HEARD a cow low, a bonnie cow low,
An a cow low down in yon glen;
Lang, lang will my young son greet
Or his mither bid him come ben.
I heard a cow low, a bonnie cow low,
An a cow low down in yon fauld;
Lang, lang will my young son greet
Or his mither take him frae cauld.

• * * * *
  . . . . .
  . . . .
  Waken, Queen of Elfan,
  An hear your nourice moan.’
  ‘O moan ye for your meat,
  Or moan ye for your fee,
  Or moan ye for the ither bounties
  That ladies are wont to gie?’
  ‘I moan na for my meat,
  Nor moan I for my fee,
  Nor moan I for the ither bounties
  That ladies are wont to gie.
  . . . . .
  . . . . .
  But I moan for my young son
  I left in four nights auld.
  ‘I moan na for my meat,
  Nor yet for my fee,
  But I mourn for Christen land,
  It’s there I fain would be.’
  ‘O nurse my bairn, nourice,’ she says,
  ‘Till he stan at your knee,
  An ye’s win hame to Christen land,
  Whar fain it’s ye wad be.
  ‘O keep my bairn, nourice,
  Till he gang by the hauld,
  An ye’s win hame to your young son
  Ye left in four nights auld.’
• * * * *
  ‘O nourice lay your head
  Upo my knee:
  See ye na that narrow road
  Up by yon tree?
  . . . . . .
  . . . . .
  That’s the road the righteous goes,
  And that’s the road to heaven.
  ‘An see na ye that braid road,
  Down by yon sunny fell?
  Yon’s the road the wicked gae,
  An that’s the road to hell.’
• * * * *

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Wikisource. “The English and Scottish Popular Ballads” by Francis James Child (1882) is in the public domain; the text is as transcribed and proofread by Wikisource's volunteers.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.