Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/399
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
OLD VALE OF WHITE HOUSE BALLAD.
381
xiv.
"Tell, oh! tell me, dear Olaff—my child,
Why so pale is thy cheek, and thine eyes so wild?"
"Tell, oh! tell me, dear Olaff—my child,
Why so pale is thy cheek, and thine eyes so wild?"
xv.
"And should not my cheek wear the paleness of death?
The Court of the Erl-King I've seen on the heath."
"And should not my cheek wear the paleness of death?
The Court of the Erl-King I've seen on the heath."
xvi.
"And oh! tell me," she said, "my heart's only pride,
What, what shall I say to thy sorrowing bride?"
"And oh! tell me," she said, "my heart's only pride,
What, what shall I say to thy sorrowing bride?"
xvii.
"Say her Olaff is gone to the dark pine wood,
To try his staunch sleuth-hound, and charger good."
"Say her Olaff is gone to the dark pine wood,
To try his staunch sleuth-hound, and charger good."
xviii.
The day it is dawning—red blusheth the east,
The bride and the bridal-train come to the feast.
The day it is dawning—red blusheth the east,
The bride and the bridal-train come to the feast.
xix.
They drink the gold mead, and they drink the red wine,
"But where is Sir Olaff—dear bridegroom of mine?"
They drink the gold mead, and they drink the red wine,
"But where is Sir Olaff—dear bridegroom of mine?"
xx.
"He is gone, he is gone to the dark pine wood,
To try his staunch sleuth-hound, and charger good!"
"He is gone, he is gone to the dark pine wood,
To try his staunch sleuth-hound, and charger good!"
xxi.
But the faltering young bride drew the curtain red,
And there lay Sir Olaff, cold, pallid, and dead!
But the faltering young bride drew the curtain red,
And there lay Sir Olaff, cold, pallid, and dead!
Old Vale of White Horse Ballad.
The following ballad is one of the popular songs of the peasantry in the locality to which it refers—in the county of Berkshire. It was taken down from the mouth of an old man in the neighbourhood. The old Vale of the White Horse was the scene of the Battle of Ashdown, between the Saxons and Danes.
I courted a fair maid for many a long day,
I hated all those who against her did say;
But now she's rewarded me for all my pain,
She has given herself to another.
I hated all those who against her did say;
But now she's rewarded me for all my pain,
She has given herself to another.