Hi,

From James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/3/J, p. 06898. Cf. Alexander Stephens' version.

The Elfin Knight - from Robert Nicol, Aberdeenshire [who knew this fifty-one years ago before it was collected c. 1869]

[He:]
"As I went over yon bonnie high hill,
Where every rose grew bonnie an' thyme,
I met a fair maid her name it was Nell,
She longed to be a true lover o' mine.

"Ye will mak' to me a cambric shirt,
Withoot any stitchin or yet needle work,

"Ye will wash it in yonder well,
Where dew never dropped, nor rain never fell,

"Ye will bleach it on yonder green,
Where gerse[grass] never grew nor wind never blew,
Before ye can be a truelover o' mine

"Ye will dry it up on yonder thorn,
Where bud never blossom sin Adam was born,

[She]
"Questions three ye've asked me
An' for as monny mair ye'll answer tee me,

"Ye will ploo me an acre o' Land,
Atween the saut seas an' the sea sand,

"It's ye will harrow it wi' a ram's horn,
An' sow it a' over wi' one pill o' corn,

"Ye maun cut it wi' a cock's feather
An' bind it up wi' the sting o' an ather,

"Ye will thack it in yonder sea,
Bring back that which is dry tee me,

"Fan [when] ye have finished . . ."

* * * *

Richie