beath of be la Beauti By George Muirhead. 109 

 x. 



And the men o' the Merse around him ran, 



Wi' their lang spears glentin' gay ; 

 Grim Wedderburn wi' fury wild 



Rushed on to the bluidy fray. 

 XI. 

 The fray was sharp and soon was past, 



And some faces there lay pale, 

 And the herd-boy stood on the hill aghast , 



At the slaughterin' in the dale. 



XIT. 

 Their weapons guid were stained wi the blind 



0' the wairden and his men ; 

 Grim Home hewed off young Bawtie's head, 



And left his bonk i' the fen ! 

 XIII. 

 They stripped the knight o' his broidered vest, 



Eke his helmet and his mail ; 

 Syne they shroudless laid him doon to his resi , 



Where strife shall nae mair assail. 

 XIV. 

 Then light and gay the Homes returned, 



Wi' brave Bawtie's head on a spear ! 

 Whilk their chieftain tied to his saddle bow, 



By its lang, lang flowing hair ! 



XV. 



And they've set his head on the towerin' wa's 



O' the castle o' Home sae high, 

 To moulder there i' the sun and wind, 



Till mony lang years gae bye ! 



XVI. 

 The leddies o' France may wail and mourn, 



May wail and mourn fu' sair, 

 For the bonny Bawtie's lang brown locks, 



They'll ne'er see waving mair! "* 



*A lady of the Wedderburn Family has informed me that the hair 

 of De la Beaute was preserved in the "Comity Kist," at Wedder- 

 burn Castle, until the early years of this century, when it was burned. 

 She was told this by the person who destroyed the hair. Dr Anderson, of 

 the Antiquarian Museum, Edinburgh, has suggested to me that the " Comity 

 Kist" would be the chest in which were kept papers relating to the Com- 

 mittee of the shire of Berwick, which, in former times, attended to the 

 duties of the present Commissioners of Supply. 



