ANONYMOUS (1100-2010)
Edom o' Gordon
1It fell about the Martinmas,
2 When the wind blew shrill and cauld,
3Said Edom o' Gordon to his men,
4 'We maun draw to a hauld.
5'And whatna hauld sall we draw to,
6 My merry men and me?
7We will gae to the house of the Rodes,
8 To see that fair ladye.'
9The lady stood on her castle wa',
10 Beheld baith dale and down;
11There she was aware of a host of men
12 Came riding towards the town.
13'O see ye not, my merry men a',
14 O see ye not what I see?
15Methinks I see a host of men;
16 I marvel who they be.'
17She ween'd it had been her lovely lord,
18 As he cam' riding hame;
19It was the traitor, Edom o' Gordon,
20 Wha reck'd nor sin nor shame.
21She had na sooner buskit hersell,
22 And putten on her gown,
23Till Edom o' Gordon an' his men
24 Were round about the town.
25They had nae sooner supper set,
26 Nae sooner said the grace,
27But Edom o' Gordon an' his men
28 Were lighted about the place.
29The lady ran up to her tower-head,
30 As fast as she could hie,
31To see if by her fair speeches
32 She could wi' him agree.
33'Come doun to me, ye lady gay,
34 Come doun, come doun to me;
35This night sall ye lig within mine arms,
36 To-morrow my bride sall be.'
37'I winna come down, ye fause Gordon,
38 I winna come down to thee;
39I winna forsake my ain dear lord,--
40 And he is na far frae me.'
41'Gie owre your house, ye lady fair,
42 Gie owre your house to me;
43Or I sall burn yoursell therein,
44 But an your babies three.'
45'I winna gie owre, ye fause Gordon,
46 To nae sic traitor as thee;
47And if ye burn my ain dear babes,
48 My lord sall mak' ye dree.
49'Now reach my pistol, Glaud, my man,
50 And charge ye weel my gun;
51For, but an I pierce that bluidy butcher,
52 My babes, we been undone!'
53She stood upon her castle wa',
54 And let twa bullets flee:
55She miss'd that bluidy butcher's heart,
56 And only razed his knee.
57'Set fire to the house!' quo' fause Gordon,
59'Faus ladye, ye sall rue that shot
60 As ye burn in the fire!'
61'Wae worth, wae worth ye, Jock, my man!
62 I paid ye weel your fee;
63Why pu' ye out the grund-wa' stane,
64 Lets in the reek to me?
65'And e'en wae worth ye, Jock, my man!
66 I paid ye weel your hire;
67Why pu' ye out the grund-wa' stane,
68 To me lets in the fire?'
69'Ye paid me weel my hire, ladye,
70 Ye paid me weel my fee:
71But now I'm Edom o' Gordon's man,--
72 Maun either do or dee.'
73O then bespake her little son,
74 Sat on the nurse's knee:
75Says, '`O mither dear, gie owre this house,
76 For the reek it smothers me.'
77'I wad gie a' my goud, my bairn,
78 Sae wad I a' my fee,
79For ae blast o' the western wind,
80 To blaw the reek frae thee.'
81O then bespake the daughter dear,--
82 She was baith jimp and sma':
83'O row me in a pair o' sheets,
84 A tow me owre the wa'!'
85They row'd her in a pair o' sheets,
86 And tow'd her owre the wa';
87But on the point o' Gordon's spear
88 She gat a deadly fa'.
89O bonnie, bonnie was her mouth,
90 And cherry were her cheeks,
91And clear, clear was her yellow hair,
92 Whereon her red blood dreeps.
93Then wi' his spear he turn'd her owre;
94 O gin her face was wan!
95He said, 'Ye are the first that e'er
96 I wish'd alive again.'
97He cam and lookit again at her;
98 O gin her skin was white!
99'I might hae spared that bonnie face
100 To hae been some man's delight.'
101'Busk and boun, my merry men a',
102 For ill dooms I do guess;--
103I cannot look on that bonnie face
104 As it lies on the grass.'
105'Wha looks to freits, my master dear,
106 Its freits will follow them;
107Let it ne'er be said that Edom o' Gordon
108 Was daunted by a dame.'
109But when the ladye saw the fire
110 Come--flaming o'er her head,
111She wept, and kiss'd her children twain,
112 Says, 'Bairns, we been but dead.'
113The Gordon then his bugle blew,
114 And said, 'Awa', awa'!
115This house o' the Rodes is a' in a flame;
116 I hauld it time to ga'.'
117And this way lookit her ain dear lord,
118 As he came owre the lea;
119He saw his castle a' in a lowe,
120 Sae far as he could see.
121'Put on, put on, my wighty men,
122 As fast as ye can dri'e!
123For he that's hindmost o' the thrang
124 Sall ne'er get good o' me.'
125Then some they rade, and some they ran,
126 Out-owre the grass and bent;
127But ere the foremost could win up,
128 Baith lady and babes were brent.
129And after the Gordon he is gane,
130 Sae fast as he might dri'e;
131And soon i' the Gordon's foul heart's blude
132 He's wroken his fair ladye.
Notes
1] This ballad is based on historical fact and was composed not long after the event it relates. In the year 1571, one Adam Gordon, brother of the Earl of Huntly, and a zealous partisan of the queen, dispatched his men to summon the Castle of Towie in Aberdeenshire. In the absence of the laird, Alexander Forbes his wife, Margaret Campbell, defended the castle. Thereupon Gordon or, according to some authorities, his deputy, Captain Thomas Ker, set fire to the house and burned to death the lady, her children, and servants, about twenty-seven persons in all. This barbarous deed was greeted even in that cruel time with horror and execration, but the ballad is wrong in stating that it was avenged. Versions of this ballad exist both in Scottish and in English; one of the latter was recorded before 1600. The form here given is a composite of a Scottish and an English version made by Bishop Percy, with a few touches of his own, for his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765) and slightly changed by William Allingham for his Ballad Book (1864).
Martinmas. St. Martin's Day, November 11.
4] maun. Must
5] whatna. What kind of a.
7] house of the Rodes. A castle which formerly stood a mile south of Duns in Berwickshire; the castle burned by Gordon was really Towie in Aberdeenshire.
10] dale and down. Low-land and upland.
21] buskit hersell. Got ready, dressed herself.
35] lig. Lie.
44] But an. And also.
48] dree. Suffer.
51] but an. Here means "but if unless". Contrast the use of the phrase in 1. 44.
58] Wud. Mad.
dule. Grief.
59] faus. False.
61] wae worth ye. Woe be to you.
63] grund-wa' stane. Foundation stone.
64] reek. Smoke.
77] goud. Gold.
82] jimp. Slender.
83] row. Roll.
84] tow me. Let me down.
94] O gin her face was wan! O but her face was wan! (gin literally means "if").
101] Busk and boun. Prepare to make ready (to go). The two words have the same meaning, but one intensifies the other.
105] freits. Omens.
112] we been but dead. We are nothing better than dead.
119] lowe. Flame.
121] put on. Make haste (see OED, "put," 462).
wighty. Strong.
122] drie. Endure.
126] outowre. Out over.
bent. Coarse grass.
127] win up. Come up.
132] wroken. Revenged.
Online text copyright © 2010, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765); The Ballad Book: A selection of the Choicest British Ballads, ed. William Allingham (London: Macmillan, 1864). AR DeLury Collection (Fisher Rare Book Library)
Publication date note: late 16th century
RPO poem editor: W. J. Alexander, William Hall Clawson
RP edition: RP (1912), pp. 7-11; RPO 1997.
Recent editing: 2:2002/5/17
Rhyme: abcb
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