StoryTitle("caps", "Thomas the Rhymer") ?>
PoemStart() ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "A ferlie he spied wi' his e'e; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And there he saw a ladye bright ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Come riding down by the Eildon Tree. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Her skirt was o' the grass-green silk,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Her mantle o' the velvet fyne; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "At ilka tett o' her horse's mane, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Hung fifty siller bells and nine. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "True Thomas he pu'd aff his cap, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And louted low down on his knee", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"Hail to thee Mary, Queen of Heaven! ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "For thy peer on earth could never be.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"O no, O no, Thomas,\" she said, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2DQ", "", "\"That name does not belang to me; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "I'm but the Queen o' fair Elfland,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "That am hither come to visit thee. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"Harp and carp, Thomas,\" she said; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2DQ", "", "\"Harp and carp along wi' me; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And if ye dare to kiss my lips, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Sure of your bodie I will be.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"Betide me weal; betide me woe, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "That weird shall never daunten me.\" ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Syne he has kiss'd her rosy lips, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "All underneath the Eildon Tree. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"Now ye maun go wi' me,\" she said,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2DQ", "", "\"True Thomas, ye maun go wi' me; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And ye maun serve me seven years, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Thro' weal or woe as may chance to be.\" ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "She's mounted on her milk-white steed, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "She's ta'en true Thomas up behind;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And aye, whene'er her bridle rang, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The steed gaed swifter than the wind. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "O they rade on, and farther on, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "The steed gaed swifter than the wind; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Until they reach'd a desert wide,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And living land was left behind. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"Light down, light down now, true Thomas, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And lean your head upon my knee; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Abide ye there a little space, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And I will show you ferlies three.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"O see ye not yon narrow road, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "So thick beset wi' thorns and briers? ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "That is the Path of Righteousness, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Though after it but few inquires. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"And see ye not yon braid, braid road,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "That lies across the lily leven? ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "That is the Path of Wickedness, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Though some call it the Road to Heaven. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"And see ye not yon bonny road ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "That winds about the fernie brae?", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "That is the Road to fair Elfland, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Where thou and I this night maun gae. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"But, Thomas, ye sall haud your tongue, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Whatever ye may hear or see; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For speak ye word in Elfyn-land,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Ye'll ne'er win back to your ain countrie.\"", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "O they rade on, and farther on, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And they waded rivers abune the knee; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And they saw neither sun nor moon, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "But they heard the roaring of the sea.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "It was mirk, mirk night, there was nae starlight, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "They waded thro' red blude to the knee; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "For a' the blude that's shed on the earth ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Rins through the springs o' that countrie. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Syne they came to a garden green,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And she pu'd an apple frae a tree: ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"Take this for thy wages, true Thomas; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "It will give thee the tongue that can never lee.\" ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"My tongue is my ain,\" true Thomas he said; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2DQ", "", "\"A gudely gift ye wad gie to me!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "I neither dought to buy or sell ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "At fair or tryst where I might be. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"I dought neither speak to prince or peer, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Nor ask of grace from fair ladye!\"— ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0DQ", "", "\"Now haud thy peace, Thomas,\" she said,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2DQ", "", "\"For as I say, so must it be.\" ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "He has gotten a coat of the even cloth, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And a pair o' shoon of the velvet green; ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And till seven years were gane and past, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "True Thomas on earth was never seen.", "") ?>
Poet("Anonymous", "c. 1700") ?>
PoemEnd() ?>