The book of British ballads . prints it, but gives alsothese fragments of a more ancient composition, entitled Johnie of Braidisbank:— u Johnie rose up on a May morning,Called for water to wash his hands; And hes awa to Braidisbanks,To ding the dun deer down. Johnie lookit east, and Johnie lookit west,And its lang before the sun ; And there did lie spy the dun deer lie,Beneath a bush of brume. Johnie shot, and the dun deer lap,And hes wounded her in the side; Out then spake his sisters son, And the neist will lay her pride. They ve eaten sae mickle o the gude venison,And theyve drunken saemuck
The book of British ballads . prints it, but gives alsothese fragments of a more ancient composition, entitled Johnie of Braidisbank:— u Johnie rose up on a May morning,Called for water to wash his hands; And hes awa to Braidisbanks,To ding the dun deer down. Johnie lookit east, and Johnie lookit west,And its lang before the sun ; And there did lie spy the dun deer lie,Beneath a bush of brume. Johnie shot, and the dun deer lap,And hes wounded her in the side; Out then spake his sisters son, And the neist will lay her pride. They ve eaten sae mickle o the gude venison,And theyve drunken saemuckleo the blude; That theyve fallen into as sound a sleep,As gif that they were dead. Its doun, and its doun, and its doun, doun,And its doun amang the scroggs ; And there ye 11 espy twa bonny boys lie,Asleep amang their dogs. Theyve waukened Johnie out o his sleep,And hes drawn to him his coat; My fingers five save me alive,And a stout heart fail me not! Mr. Motherwell gives also the music to which the old ballad was sung :-. And Mr. Motherwell suggests the introduction of the following beautiful stanza(preserved by Mr. Finlay), after the nineteenth stanza in the printed copy. It is, as * Another tradition, according to Motherwell, assigns Braid, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh,to have been the scene of the woful hunting;— and, writes Mr. Cunningham, Breadeslee,near Lochmaben, has been pointed out as the more probable residence of the hero of the song;and the scenery in the neighbourhood, and the traditions of the country, countenance the suppo-sition. 223 he justly remarks, so descriptive of the languor of approaching death, that it issurprising Sir Walter Scott should have omitted to adopt it :— Theres no a bird in a this forest Will do as mickle for me,As dip its wing in the wan water, And straik it on my ee bree. Another copy has been printed by Robert Chambers—Scottish Ballads—partlytaken from the ballads of Scott and Motherwell, and partly from the recitation o
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