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