Poem by Anonymous

Carlisle Yetts

WHITE was the rose in his gay bonnet,
  As he faulded me in his broached plaidie,
His hand whilk clasped the truth luve,
  O it was ay in battle ready!
His long, long hair in yellow hanks
  Waved o’er his cheeks sae sweet and ruddie;
But now they wave o’er Carlisle yetts
  In dripping ringlets clotting bloodie.

My father’s blood ’s in that flower-tap,
  My brother’s in that hare-bell’s blossom,
This white rose was steeped in my luve’s blood,
  An’ I ’ll ay wear it in my bosom.

*        *        *        *        *

When I came first by merry Carlisle,
  Was ne’er a town sae sweetly seeming;
The White Rose flaunted owre the wall,
  The thristled banners far were streaming!
When I came next by merry Carlisle,
  O sad, sad seemed the town an’ eerie!
The auld, auld men came out an’ wept,
  “O maiden, come ye to seek yere dearie?”

*        *        *        *        *

There ’s ae drop o’ blude atween my breasts,
  An’ twa in my links o’ hair sae yellow;
The tane I ’ll ne’er wash, an’ the tither ne’er kame,
  But I ’ll sit an’ pray aneath the willow.
Wae, wae upon that cruel heart,
  Wae, wae upon that hand sae bloodie,
Which feasts in our richest Scottish blude,
  An’ makes sae mony a doleful widow.

1. The Banks o’ Glaizart
2. Fare Ye Weel, My Auld Wife
3. Kitty of Coleraine
4. King Cormac’s Crown
5. Gathering of Atholl

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