Classic Poem

Young Beichan, he was a noble lord
And a peer of high degree;
He hath taken ship at London Town,
For that Christ's Tomb he would see.

He sailed west, and he sailed east
Till he came to Galilee,
Where he was cast in prison strong
And handled cruelly.

Now in that prison there grew a tree,
Was wondrous tall and strong;
He as gyved by the middle to 't,
That his life might not be long.

The Turk he had a daughter fair,
Ne'er fairer did man see,
She's stolen the keys of the prison house door,
Young Beichan to set free.

"O, gin a lady would borrow me,
At her stirrup-foot I would run.
Or gin a widow would borrow me,
I would swear to be her son.

"Or gin a virgin would borrow me,
I would wed her with a ring,
I'd give her halls, I'd give her bowers,
I'd love her above all thing.'

O barefoot, barefoot gaed she but,
And barefoot came she ben,
It was not for want of hosen and shoon,
But for fear of making din.

And when she saw him, Young Beichan,
Her heart was wondrous sair:
For the mice but and the bold ratons
Had eaten his yellow hair.

She gave him a shaver for his beard,
A comber for his hair,
Five hundred pound in his pocket:
To spend and not to spare.

"Go, set your foot on good shipboard,
And haste to your ain countrie,
And before three years are come and gone
Well married we shall be.'

He had not been in his ain countrie
A twelvemonth till an end,
But he must marry an earl's daughter,
Or else lose all his land.

"Ochone alas!' says Young Beichan,
"I know not what to dee:
For I cannot win to Burd Isbel,
And she cannot come to me.'

O, it fell once about that time,
Burd Isbel lay asleep;
And up there starts the Billie Blin
That slept at her bed-feet.

"O waken, waken, Burd Isbel!
How can ye sleep so sound,
When this is Beichan's wedding day,
All upon English ground?

"Now do ye to your mother's bower,
Think neither sin nor shame,
But take ye two of your mother's maries
To keep ye from all blame.

"Then dress yourself in red scarlett,
And your maries in dainty green;
And put a girdle about your middle,
Were fit for any queen.

"Then gang ye down by yon sea-side,
And down by the sea-strand,
So bonny will the Holland boats
Come rowing to your hand.

"Then set your milk-white foot abroad
And cry: "Hail ye, Domine!"
And I shall be the steerer o't
To row you o'er the sea.'

She came full soon to Young Beichan's gate,
And heard the fiddlers play;
Then well she kenned from all she heard
It was his wedding day.

She's putten her hand in her pocket,
And taken out guineas three.
Hey, take ye that, ye proud porter,
Bid the bridegroom speak to me!'

O, when that he came up the stair,
He louted to the knee:
"Won up, won up, ye proud porter,
And what meaneth this courtesy?'

"O, I have been porter at these gates,
It's thirty years and three;
But's there's a lady at them now:
Her like I ne'er did see.

"For she is dressed in red scarlett,
Her maries dressed in green;
And she's a girdle about her middle
Were fit for any queen.

"On every finger she has a ring,
And on the mid-finger three;
And there's as much gold about her brow
Would buy an earldom for me.'

Then up it starts him, Young Beichan,
And he swears by Our Ladie:
"It can be none but Burd Isbel,
Come o'er the flood to me!'

O, quickly ran he down the stairs,
Of fifteen made but three;
He's taken Burd Isbel in his arms
And kissed her tenderly.

"O, have ye forgotten, Young Beichan,
The vow you made to me,
When I took you out of the prison strong
And helped you o'er the sea?

"O, have ye taken another bride,
And have ye forgotten me,
Though I stole the keys of the prison door,
And gave you liberty?'

She looked over her left shoulder
To hide the tear in her ee:
"Now fare thee well, dear love,' she says,
"And I'll think no more on thee.'

"Take home our daughter, madam,' he says,
"With all my lands for fee;
For I must marry my first true love
That gave me liberty.'

"Is this a custom of your house,
Or the fashion of your town:
To marry a maid on a May morning
And send her back ere noon?'