368
NOTES TO CANTO FOURTH.
4.
He hew'd him kipples, he hew'd him bawks,
Wi' mickle moil and haste;
Syne speer'd the elf in the knock that bade,
"Wha's hacking here sae fast?"
He hew'd him kipples, he hew'd him bawks,
Wi' mickle moil and haste;
Syne speer'd the elf in the knock that bade,
"Wha's hacking here sae fast?"
5.
Syne up and spak the weiest elf,
Crean'd as an immert sma:
"It's here is come a christian man;—
I'll fley him or be ga."
Syne up and spak the weiest elf,
Crean'd as an immert sma:
"It's here is come a christian man;—
I'll fley him or be ga."
6.
It's up syne started the firsten elf,
And glowr'd about sae grim:
"It's we'll awa' to the husbande's house,
And hald a court on him.
It's up syne started the firsten elf,
And glowr'd about sae grim:
"It's we'll awa' to the husbande's house,
And hald a court on him.
7.
"Here hews he down baith skugg and shaw,
And wirks us skaith and scorn:
His huswife he shall gie to me;
They's rue the day they were born!"
"Here hews he down baith skugg and shaw,
And wirks us skaith and scorn:
His huswife he shall gie to me;
They's rue the day they were born!"
8.
The elfen a' i'the knock that were
Gaed dancing in a string;
They nighed near the husband's house;—
Sae lang their tails did hing.
The elfen a' i'the knock that were
Gaed dancing in a string;
They nighed near the husband's house;—
Sae lang their tails did hing.
9.
The hound he yowls i' the yard;
The herd toots in his horn;
The earn scraichs, and the cock craws,
As the husbande had gi'en him his corn.[1]
The hound he yowls i' the yard;
The herd toots in his horn;
The earn scraichs, and the cock craws,
As the husbande had gi'en him his corn.[1]
- ↑ This singular quatrain stands thus in the original:"Hunden hand giör i gaarden;
Hiorden tudè i sit horn;
Œrnen skriger, og hanen galer,
Som bonden hafdè gifvet sit korn."
