"Hugh of Lincoln"

Vernon Hill

Ballads Weird and Wonderful (1912)

 

 

 

Full Image

Single Greeting Card (with matching Envelope)

Code: VH BWW M21 SGC
Price: US$5.00

Detail (for reference)

Reproduction on 8x12'' sheet

Code: VH BWW M21 8x12
Price: US$30.00

Reproduction on 12x18'' sheet

Code: VH BWW M21 12x18
Price: US$60.00

 

 

Hugh of Lincoln

 

   

A' the boys o' merry Lincoln

Were playing at the ba';

And wi' them was teh sweet Sir Hugh,

And he play'd o'er them a'.

 

He kick'd the ba' then wi' his foot,

And keppit it wi' his knee,

Till even in at the Jew's sindow,

He gar'd the bonny ba' flee.

 

Then out and cam the Jew's daughter:

"Will ye come in and dine?" –

"I winna come in, and I canna come in,

Without my play-feres nine.

 

"Cast out the ba' to me, fair maid,

Cast out the ba' to me!" –

"Ye ne'er shall ahe 't, my boyy Sir Hugh,

Till ye come up to me."

 

She gane unto her father's garden

As fast as she could rin,

And pu'd an apple, red and gree,

To wile the young thing in.

 

She wil'd him into ae chamber,

She wil'd him into twa;

She wil'd him into the third chamber,

And that was the warst ava.

 

And she had ta'en out a little pen-knife,

Hung low down by her gair;

She has twin'd the young thing o' his life,

A word he ne'er spak' mair.

And out and cam the thick, thick blude,

And out and cam the thin,

And out and cam the bonny heart's blude,

There was nae life left in.

 

She laid him on a dressing-board,

And dress'd him like a swine,

And laughing says: "Gae now and play

Wi' your sweet play-feres nine!"
 

She row'd him in a cake o' lead;

Bade him – "Lie still there and sleep!"

She cast him in a deep draw-well,

Was fifty fathom deep.

 

When bells were rund and mass was sung,

And a' the bairns cam hame,

When ilka lady had hame her son,

The Lady Helen had nane.

 

She row'd her mantle her about,

And sair, sair 'gan she weep,

And she ran into the Jew's castle.

When they were a' asleep.

 

"My bonny Sir Hugh, my pretty Sir Hugh!

I pray thee to me speak." –

"O lady, gae to the deep draw-well,

Gin ye your son would seek."

 

Lady Helen ran to the deep raw-well,

And knelt upon her knee:

"My bonny Sir Hugh, an ye be here,

I pray thee speak to me!" –

 

"The lead it is wondrous heavy, mother,

The well is wondrous deep;

A keen pen-knife sticks in my heart,

A word I downa speak.

 

"But lift me out o' this deep draw-well,

Put a bible at my feet,

And bury me in yon churchyard,

And I'll lie still and sleep.

 

"Gae hame, gae hame my mither dear,

Fetch me my winding-sheet;

And at the back o' merry Lincoln,

It's there we twa shall meet."

 

Now Lady Helen she's gane hame,

Made him a winding-sheet;

And at the back o' merry Lincoln

The dead corpse she did meet.

 

And a' the bells o' merry Lincoln

Without men's hands were rung;

And ne'er was such a burial

sin' Adam's days begun.