J. F. Campbell Collection > Minstrelsy of the Scottish border > Volume 1

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 283
O up then spak him mettled John Hall,
(Frae the Laigh Tiviotdale was he)
" If it should cost my life this very night,
" 111 gae to the Tolbooth door wi** thee."
" Be of gude cheir, now, Archie, lad !
*' Be of gude cheir, now, dear billie !
" Work thou within, and we without,
" And the morn thou'se dine at Ca'field wi** me.""
O Jockie Hall stepp*'d to the door.
And he bended low back his knee ;
And he made the bolts, the door hang on,
Loup frae the wa"* right wantonlie.
He took the prisoner on his back,
And down the Tolbooth stair cam he ;
The black mare stood ready at the door,
I wot a foot ne^er stirred she.
They laid the links out owre her neck,
And that was her gold twist to be ;*
And they cam doun thro'' Dumfries toun,
And wow but they cam speedilie.
* The Gold Twist means the small gilded chains drawn across
the chest of a war-horse, as a part of his caparison.