Elspeth's Ballad Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCB DEFF GHIF JKLK FMNM OPOQ RIRR NMNM EFM RMRM SMSM RMR MQMQ| The herring loves the merry moon light | A |
| The mackerel loves the wind | B |
| But the oyster loves the dredging sang | C |
| For they come of a gentle kind | B |
| - | |
| Now haud your tongue baith wife and carle | D |
| And listen great and sma' | E |
| And I will sing of Glenallan's Earl | F |
| That fought on the red Harlaw | F |
| - | |
| The cronach's cried on Bennachie | G |
| And doun the Don and a' | H |
| And hieland and lawland may mournfu' be | I |
| For the sair field of Harlaw | F |
| - | |
| They saddled a hundred milk white steeds | J |
| They hae bridled a hundred black | K |
| With a chafron of steel on each horse's head | L |
| And a good knight upon his back | K |
| - | |
| They hadna ridden a mile a mile | F |
| A mile but barely ten | M |
| When Donald came branking down the brae | N |
| Wi' twenty thousand men | M |
| - | |
| Their tartans they were waving wide | O |
| Their glaives were glancing clear | P |
| The pibrochs rung frae side to side | O |
| Would deafen ye to hear | Q |
| - | |
| The great Earl in his stirrups stood | R |
| That Highland host to see | I |
| 'Now here a knight that's stout and good | R |
| May prove a jeopardie | R |
| - | |
| 'What would'st thou do my squire so gay | N |
| That rides beside my reyne | M |
| Were ye Glenallan's Earl the day | N |
| And I were Ronald Cheyne | M |
| - | |
| 'To turn the rein were sin and shame | E |
| To fight were wond'rous peril | F |
| What would ye do now Roland Cheyne | M |
| Were ye Glenallan's Earl ' | - |
| - | |
| 'Were I Glenallan's Earl this tide | R |
| And ye were Roland Cheyne | M |
| The spear should be in my horse's side | R |
| And the bridle upon his mane | M |
| - | |
| 'If they hae twenty thousand blades | S |
| And we twice ten times ten | M |
| Yet they hae but their tartan plaids | S |
| And we are mail clad men | M |
| - | |
| 'My horse shall ride through ranks sae rude | R |
| As through the moorland fern | M |
| Then ne'er let the gentle Norman blude | R |
| Grow cauld for Highland kerne ' | - |
| - | |
| He turn'd him right and round again | M |
| Said Scorn na at my mither | Q |
| Light loves I may get mony a ane | M |
| But minni ne'er anither | Q |
Sir Walter Scott
(1)
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