Inglis Collection of printed music > Printed music > Songs of Scotland prior to Burns

FAIR HELEN OF KIRKCONNELL. 259
Yet God hath given to me a mind,
The which to thee shall prove as kind
As any one that thou shalt find
Of high or low degree.
Yet, nevertheless, I am content,
And ne'er a whit my love repent,
But think my time it was weel spent,
Though I disdained be.
The shall'est water makes maist din,
The deepest pool the deadest lin,
The richest man least truth within,
Though he disdained be.
Helen fair, without compare,
1 '11 wear a garland of thy hair,
Shall cover me for evermair,
Until the day I die.
O Helen sweet and maist complete,
My captive spirit 's at thy feet,
Thinks thou still fit thus for to treat
Thy prisoner with cruelty ?
O Helen brave ! this still I crave,
On thy poor slave some pity have,
And do him save, that 's near his grave,
And dies for love of thee ! 1
Odd as the idea is, one coidd almost suppose that these verses
were intended to express the feelings of the unsuccessful lover
while pressing his suit.
1 [Sinclair's] Stat Ace. Scot, xiii. 275.