Till Sir John fell to the ground,
And there was a knife in Sir Willie's pouch,
Gied him a deadlie wound.

3.
'Oh brither dear, take me on your back,
Carry me to yon burn clear,
And wash the blood from off my wound,
And it will bleed nae mair.'

4.
He took him up upon his back,
Carried him to yon burn clear,
And washd the blood from off his wound,
But aye it bled the mair.

5.
'Oh brither dear, take me on your back,
Carry me to yon kirk-yard,
And dig a grave baith wide and deep,
And lay my body there.'

6.
He's taen him up upon his back,
Carried him to yon kirk-yard,
And dug a grave baith deep and wide,
And laid his body there.

7.
'But what will I say to my father dear,
Gin he chance to say, Willie, whar's John?'
'Oh say that he's to England gone,
To buy him a cask of wine.'

8.
'And what will I say to my mother dear,
Gin she chance to say, Willie, whar's John?'
'Oh say that he's to England gone,
To buy her a new silk gown.'

9.
'And what will I say to my sister dear,
Gin she chance to say, Willie, whar's John?'
'Oh say that he's to England gone,
To buy her a wedding ring.'

10.
'But what will I say to her you lo'e dear,
Gin she cry, Why tarries my John?'
'Oh tell her I lie in Kirk-land fair,
And home again will never come.'

[Annotations:
1.4: 'warsle,' wrestle.]

THE OUTLYER BOLD

+The Text+ is taken from Motherwell's MS., which contains two versions;
Motherwell printed a third in his _Minstrelsy_,--_Babylon; or, The
Bonnie Banks o' Fordie_. Kinloch called the ballad the _Duke of Perth's
Three Daughters_. As the following text has no title, I have ventured to
give it one. 'Outlyer' is, of course, simply 'a banished man.'

+The Story+ is much more familiar in all the branches of the
Scandinavian race than in England or Scotland. In Denmark it appears as
_Herr Truels' Daughters_ or _Herr Thor's Children_; in Sweden as _Herr
Tores' Daughters_. Iceland and Faroe give the name as Torkild or
Thorkell.

The incidents related in this ballad took place (i) in Scotland on the
bonnie banks o' Fordie, near Dunkeld; (ii) in Sweden in five or six
different places; and (iii) in eight different localities in Denmark.

THE OUTLYER BOLD

1.
There were three sisters, they lived in a bower,
_Sing Anna, sing Margaret, sing Marjorie_
The youngest o' the