"I am your brother Willie," he said,
"I trow ye ken na me;
"I came to humble your haughty heart,
"Has gar'd sae mony die."

"If ye be my brother Willie," she said,
"As I trow weel ye be,
"This night I'll neither eat nor drink,
"But gae alang wi' thee."

"O hold your tongue, lady Margaret," he said.
"Again I hear you lie;
"For ye've unwashen hands, and ye've unwashen feet,[B]
"To gae to clay wi' me.

"For the wee worms are my bedfellows,
"And cauld clay is my sheets;
"And when the stormy winds do blow,
"My body lies and sleeps."

[Footnote A: _Syde_--Long or low.]

[Footnote B: _Unwashen hands and unwashen feet_--Alluding to the custom
of washing and dressing dead bodies.]



THE ORIGINAL BALLAD OF THE BROOM OF COWDENKNOWS.