English and Scottish ballads Author:Francis James Child Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LAY THE BENT TO THE BONNY BROOM. From Durfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy, iv. 129, with the title A Riddle wittily expounded. The same in Jamieson's Popular B... more »allads, ii. 155, and in The Borderer's Table Book, vii. 83. A fragment of this ballad, called The Three Sisters, is printed in Gilbert's Ancient Christmas Carols, (2d ed.) p. 65, and has a different burden. It begins There were three sisters fair and bright, Jennifer gentle and JRosemaree, And they three loved one valiant knight, As the dew flies over the mulberry tree. There was a lady in the North-country, Lay the lent to the bonny broom, And she had lovely daughters three, Fa, la la la, fa, la la la ra re. There was a knight of noble worth, Which also lived at the North. The knight, of courage stout and brave, A wife he did desire to have. He knocked at the lady's gate, One evening when it was late. The eldest sister let him in, And pinn'd the door with a silver pin. w 9. youngest. The second sister, she made his bed, And laid soft pillows under his head. The youngest [sister] that same night, She went to bed to this young knight. And in the morning when it was day, w These words unto him she did say. " Now you have had your will," quoth she, " I pray, Sir Knight, you marry me." This young brave knight to her reply'd. " Thy suit, fair maid, shall not be deny'd, 20 " If thou canst answer me questions three, This very day will I marry thee." " Kind sir, in love, 0 then," quoth she, " Tell me what your three questions be." " 0 what is longer than the way ? 25 Or what is deeper than the sea ? " Or what is louder than a horn ? Or what is sharper than a thorn ? " Or what is greener than the grass ? Or what is worse than a woman was ? " so...« less