One king’s daughter said to another ...

One king’s daughter said to anither,
Brume blumes bonnie and grows sae fair
‘We’ll gae ride like sister and brither.’
And we’ll neer gae down to the brume nae mair.

‘We’ll ride doun into yonder valley,
Whare the greene green trees are budding sae gaily.

‘Wi hawke and hounde we will hunt sae rarely,
And we’ll come back in the morning early.’

They rade on like sister and brither,
And they hunted and hawket in the valley the-gether.

‘Now, lady, hauld my horse and my hawk,
For I maun na ride, and I downa walk.*

‘But set me doun be the rute o this tree,
For there hae I dreamt that my bed sall be.’

The ae king’s dochter did lift doun the ither,
And she was licht in her armis like ony fether.

Bonnie Lady Ann sat doun be the tree,
And a wide grave was houkit whare nane suld be.**

The hawk had nae lure, and the horse had nae master,
And the faithless hounds thro the woods ran faster.

The one king’s dochter has ridden awa,
But bonnie Lady Ann lay in the deed-thraw.***

Anon.

Collected in Scotland in the early nineteenth century by William Motherwell (1797–1835)

*downa: darena’

**houkit: dug

***deed-thraw: death-throe


This ballad (from the Child collection) is more than usually elliptical and enigmatic.

( Reflections on the story )

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