Gil Morrice. A Scottish Ballad Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBDB EFGHIBJ KLM IJN JOJ GJJJ PQJODLR JJJJJJJJ OST DUDO GDJVJUJ WJJJ PQJO DLR JIJI O I XIR XII OIJIYI DOJOJQZ JDDJQJQ OQTQODA2D JB2RB2C2B2D2B2 RD2JD2RJO JB2JDJB2OB2 E2JB2J VOJO JB2F2 RORO G2QJOOE2L DOR OJO JQJOJD2LD2 RJR JJD2J JJOJQJB2J JD2JD2 ROJGil Morrice was an erles son | A |
His name it waxed wide | B |
It was nae for his great riches | C |
Nor zet was mickle pride | B |
Bot it was for a lady gay | D |
That livd on Carron side | B |
- | |
'Quhair sall I get a bonny boy | E |
That will win hose and shoen | F |
That will gae to Lord Barnard's ha' | G |
And bid his lady cum | H |
And ze maun rin my errand Willie | I |
And ze may rin wi' pride | B |
Quhen other boys gae on their foot | J |
On horse back ze sall ride ' | - |
- | |
'O no O no my master dear | K |
I dare nae for my life | L |
I'll no gae to the bauld barons | M |
For to triest furth his wife ' | - |
'My bird Willie my boy Willie | I |
My dear Willie ' he sayd | J |
'How can ze strive against the stream | N |
For I shall be obeyd ' | - |
- | |
'Bot O my master dear ' he cry'd | J |
'In grene wod ze're zour lain | O |
Gi owre sic thochts I walde ze rede | J |
For fear ze should be tain ' | - |
'Haste haste I say gae to the ha' | G |
Bid hir cum here wi speid | J |
If ze refuse my heigh command | J |
Ill gar zour body bleid | J |
- | |
'Gae bid hir take this gay mantel | P |
'Tis a gowd bot the hem | Q |
Bid hir cum to the gude grene wode | J |
And bring nane bot hir lain | O |
And there it is a silken sarke | D |
Hir ain hand sewd the sleive | L |
And bid hir cum to Gill Morice | R |
Speir nae bauld barons leave ' | - |
- | |
'Yes I will gae zour blacke errand | J |
Though it be to zour cost | J |
Sen ze by me well nae be warn'd | J |
In it ze sall find frost | J |
The baron he is a man of might | J |
He neir could bide to taunt | J |
As ze will see before it's nicht | J |
How sma' ze hae to vaunt | J |
- | |
'And sen I maun zour errand rin | O |
Sae sair against my will | S |
I'se make a vow and keip it trow | T |
It sall be done for ill ' | - |
And quhen he came to broken brigue | D |
He bent his bow and swam | U |
And quhen he came to grass growing | D |
Set down his feet and ran | O |
- | |
And quhen he came to Barnards ha' | G |
Would neither chap nor ca' | D |
Bot set his bent bow to his breist | J |
And lichtly lap the wa' | V |
He wauld nae tell the man his errand | J |
Bot straiht into the ha' he cam | U |
Quhair they were set at meit | J |
- | |
'Hail hail my gentle sire and dame | W |
My message winna waite | J |
Dame ze maun to the gude grene wod | J |
Before that it be late | J |
- | |
'Ze're bidden tak this gay mantel | P |
Tis a' gowd bot the hem | Q |
Zou maun gae to the gude grene wode | J |
Ev'n by your sel alane | O |
- | |
'And there it is a silken sarke | D |
Your ain hand sewd the sleive | L |
Ze maun gae speik to Gill Morice | R |
Speir nae bauld barons leave ' | - |
The lady stamped wi' hir foot | J |
And winked wi' her ee | I |
Bot a' that she coud say or do | J |
Forbidden he wad nae bee | I |
- | |
'Its surely to my bow'r woman | O |
It neir could be to me ' | - |
'I brocht it to Lord Barnards lady | I |
I trow that ze be she ' | - |
Then up and spack the wylie nurse | X |
The bairn upon hir knee | I |
'If it be cum frae Gill Morice | R |
It' deir welcum to mee ' | - |
- | |
'Ze leid ze leid ze filthy nurse | X |
Sae loud I heird ze lee | I |
I brocht it to Lord Barnards lady | I |
I trow ze be nae shee ' | - |
- | |
Then up and spack the bauld baron | O |
An angry man was hee | I |
He's tain the table wi' his foot | J |
Sae has he wi' his knee | I |
Till siller cup and 'mazer' dish | Y |
In flinders he gard flee | I |
- | |
'Gae bring a robe of zour cliding | D |
That hings upon the pin | O |
And I'll gae to the gude grene wode | J |
And speik wi' zour lemman | O |
'O bide at hame now Lord Barnard | J |
I warde ze bide at hame | Q |
Neir wyte a man for violence | Z |
That neir wate ze wi' nane ' | - |
- | |
Gil Morice sate in gude grene wode | J |
He whistled and he sang | D |
'O what mean a' the folk coming | D |
His hair was like the threeds of gold | J |
Drawne frae Minerva's loome | Q |
His lipps like roses drapping dew | J |
His breath was a' perfume | Q |
- | |
His browe was like the mountains snae | O |
Gilt by the morning beam | Q |
His cheeks like living roses glow | T |
His een like azure stream | Q |
The boy was clad in robes of grene | O |
Sweete as the infant spring | D |
And like the mavis on the bush | A2 |
He gart the vallies ring | D |
- | |
The baron came to the grene wode | J |
Wi' mickle dule and care | B2 |
And there he first spied Gill Morice | R |
Kameing his zellow hair | B2 |
That sweetly wavd around his face | C2 |
That face beyond compare | B2 |
He sang sae sweet it might dispel | D2 |
A' rage but fell despair | B2 |
- | |
'Nae wonder nae wonder Gill Morice | R |
My lady loed thee weel | D2 |
The fairest part of my bodie | J |
Is blacker than thy heel | D2 |
Zet neir the less now Gill Morice | R |
For al' thy great beautie | J |
Ze's rew the day ze eir was born | O |
That head sall gae wi' me ' | - |
- | |
Now he was drawn his trusty brand | J |
And slaited on the strae | B2 |
And thro' Gill Morice' fair body | J |
He's gar cauld iron gae | D |
And he has tain Gill Morice' head | J |
And set it on a speir | B2 |
The meanest man in a' his train | O |
Has gotten that head to bear | B2 |
- | |
And he has tain Gill Morice up | E2 |
Laid him across his steid | J |
And brocht him to his painted bowr | B2 |
And laid him on a bed | J |
- | |
The lady sat on castil wa' | V |
Beheld baith dale and doun | O |
And there she saw Gill Morice' head | J |
Cum trailing to the toun | O |
- | |
'Far better I loe that bluidy head | J |
Both and that zellow hair | B2 |
Than Lord Barnard and a' his lands | F2 |
As they lig here and thair ' | - |
And she has tain her Gill Morice | R |
And kissd baith mouth and chin | O |
'I was once as fow of Gill Morice | R |
As the hip is o' the stean | O |
- | |
'I got ze in my father's house | G2 |
Wi' mickle sin and shame | Q |
I brocht thee up in gude grene wode | J |
Under the heavy rain | O |
Oft have I by thy cradle sitten | O |
And fondly seen thee sleip | E2 |
But now I gae about thy grave | L |
The saut tears for to weip ' | - |
- | |
And syne she kissd his bluidy cheik | D |
And syne his bluidy chin | O |
'O better I loe my Gill Morice | R |
Than a' my kith and kin ' | - |
'Away away ze ill woman | O |
And an il deith mait ze dee | J |
Gin I had kend he'd bin zour son | O |
He'd neir bin slain for mee ' | - |
- | |
'Obraid me not my Lord Barnard | J |
Obraid me not for shame | Q |
Wi' that saim speir O pierce my heart | J |
And put me out o' pain | O |
Since nothing bot Gill Morice' head | J |
Thy jealous rage could quell | D2 |
Let that saim hand now tak hir life | L |
That neir to thee did ill | D2 |
- | |
'To me nae after days nor nichts | R |
Will eir be saft or kind | J |
I'll fill the air with heavy sighs | R |
And greet till I am blind ' | - |
'Enouch of blood by me's bin spilt | J |
Seek not zour death frae me | J |
I rather lourd it had been my sel | D2 |
Than eather him or thee | J |
- | |
'With waefo wae I hear zour plaint | J |
Sair sair I rew the deid | J |
That eir this cursed hand of mine | O |
Had gard his body bleid | J |
Dry up zour tears my winsome dame | Q |
Ze neir can heal the wound | J |
Ze see his head upon the speir | B2 |
His heart's blude on the ground | J |
- | |
'I curse the hand that did the deid | J |
The heart that thocht the ill | D2 |
The feet that bore me wi' sik speid | J |
The comely zouth to kill | D2 |
- | |
I'll ay lament for Gill Morice | R |
As gin he were mine ain | O |
I'll neir forget the dreiry day | J |
On which the zouth was slain ' | - |
Anonymous Olde English
(1)
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