n print in
broadside form.

LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF-KNIGHT

1.
Fair lady Isabel sits in her bower sewing,
_Aye as the gowans grow gay_
There she heard an elf-knight blawing his horn.
_The first morning in May_

2.
'If I had yon horn that I hear blawing,
And yon elf-knight to sleep in my bosom.'

3.
This maiden had scarcely these words spoken,
Till in at her window the elf-knight has luppen.

4.
'It's a very strange matter, fair maiden,' said he,
'I canna blaw my horn but ye call on me.

5.
'But will ye go to yon greenwood side?
If ye canna gang, I will cause you to ride.'

6.
He leapt on a horse, and she on another,
And they rode on to the greenwood together.

7.
'Light down, light down, Lady Isabel,' said he,
'We are come to the place where you are to die.'

8.
'Hae mercy, hae mercy, kind sir, on me,
Till ance my dear father and mother I see.'

9.
'Seven king's-daughters here hae I slain,
And ye shall be the eight o' them.'

10.
'O sit down a while, lay your head on my knee,
That we may hae some rest before that I die.'

11.
She stroak'd him sae fast, the nearer he did creep,
Wi' a sma' charm she lull'd him fast asleep.

12.
Wi' his ain sword-belt sae fast as she ban him,
Wi' his ain dag-durk sae sair as she dang him.

13.
'If seven king's-daughters here ye hae slain,
Lye ye here, a husband to them a'.'

[Annotations:
10.1: 'yon': MS. _won_.
10.2: '&' for _and_ =
12.1: 'ban,' bound.
12.2: 'dag-durk,' dagger.]

A NOBLE RIDDLE WISELY EXPOUNDED

+The Text+ is from a broadside of the seventeenth century from the press
of Coles, Vere, Wright, and Clarke, now preserved in the Rawlinson
collection in the Bodleian Library.

+The Story+ of this ballad is one of the common class of riddle-ballads.
Some of these riddles are found also in _Captain Wedderburn_.

It is not clear why in 18.1 'poyson is greener than the grass.' In
_Captain Wedderburn_ (17.1) it is 'death' that is greener than the
grass, which is equally inexplicable. A variant of the latter gives
'virgus' [= verjuice], a kind of vinegar, which obviously means 'green
juice.' It is possible that this might come to be regarded as a synonym
for 'poyson'; and the next step is to substitute 'death' for 'poyson.'

A NOBLE RIDDLE WISELY EXPOUNDED

1.
There was a lady of the North Country,
_Lay the b