'--'Gien she had
been an angel,' says he, 'there wad hae been little occasion, but
the wuman stude in want o' help!'--'Gien 't had been to save her
life, ye sudna hae keepit me waitin',' says she. The lad was scaret
at that, as weel he micht, an' takin' aff 's bannet, he lowtit
laich, an' left her. But this didna shuit my leddy; she wasna to
be left afore she said gang! sae she cried him back, an' he cam,
bannet in han'; an' she leuch, an' made as gien she had been but
tryin' the smeddum o' 'im, an' thoucht him a true k-nicht. The
puir fallow pluckit up at this, an' doon he fell upo's knees, an'
oot wi' a' 'at was in 's hert,--hoo 'at he lo'ed her mair nor
tongue cud tell, an' gien she wad hae him, he wad be her slave for
ever.
"'Ye s' be that,' says she, an' leuch him to scorn. 'Gang efter
yer beggar wife,' she says; 'I'm sick o' ye.'
"He rase, an' teuk up 's bannet, an' loupit the hedge, an' gae a
blast upo' 's horn, an' gethered his men, an' steppit aboord his
boat, ower by Puffie Heid yonner, an' awa to Norrowa' ower the
faem, 'an was never hard tell o' in Scotlan' again. An' the leddy
was hauchtier, and cairried her heid heicher nor ever--maybe
to hide a scaum (slight mark of burning) she had taen, for a' her
pride.
"Sae things gaed on as afore, till at len'th the tide o' her time
was weel past the turn, an' a streak o' the snaw in her coal black
hair. For, as the auld sang says,
Her hair was like the craw,
An' her ble was like the snaw,
An' her bow bendit lip
Was like the rose hip,
An' her ee was like the licht'nin',
Glorious an' fricht'nin'.
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