sorry cheer, quo' the heir of Linne.

The little window dim and dark
Was hung with ivy, brier, and yew;
No shimmering sun here ever shone;
No wholesome breeze here ever blew.

No chair nor table he mote spy,
No cheerful hearth, no welcome bed,
Nought save a rope with running noose
That dangling hung up o'er his head.

And over it in broad letters,
These words were written plain to see:
"Ah! graceless wretch, hast spent thine all,
And brought thyself to penury?

"All this my boding mind misgave,
I therefore left this trusty friend:
Let it now shield thy foul disgrace,
And all thy shame and sorrows end."

Sorely shent[103] wi' this rebuke,
Sorely shent was the heir of Linne;
His heart, I wis, was near to burst
With guilt and sorrow, shame and sin.

Never a word spake the heir of Linne,
Never a word he spake but three:
This is a trusty friend indeed,
And is right welcome unto me.

Then round his neck the cord he drew,
And sprang aloft with his body:
When lo! the ceiling burst in twain,
And to the ground came tumbling he.

Astonished lay the heir of Linne,
Nor knew if he were live or dead:
At length he looked, and saw a bill,[104]
And in it a key of gold so red.

He took the bill, and looked it on,
Straight good comfort found he there:
It told him of a hole in the wall,
In which there stood three chests in-fere.[105]

Two were full of the beaten gold,
The third was full of white money;
And over them in broad letters
These words were written so plain to see:

"Once more, my son, I set thee clear;
Amend thy life and follies past;
For but thou amend thee of thy life,
That rope must be thy end at last."

And let it be, said the heir of Linne;
And let it be, but[106] if I amend:
For here I will make my vow,
This reade[107] shall guide me to the end.

Away then went with a merry cheer,
Away then went the heir of Linne;
I wis, he neither ceas'd nor blanne,[108]
Till John o' the Scales' house he did win.

And when he came to John o' the Scales,
Up at the speere[109] then looked he;
There sat three lords upon a row,
Were drinking of the wine so free.

And John himself sat at the board-head,
Because now lord of L