Classic Poem

Earl Douglas, than wham never knight
Had valour moe ne courtesie,
Yet he 's now blamet be a' the land
For lightlying o his gay lady.

‘Go, little page, and tell your lord,
Gin he will cum and dine wi me,
I 'll set him on a seat of gold,
I 'll serve him on my bended knee.’

The little page gaed up the stair:
‘Lord Douglas, dyne wi your lady;
She 'll set ye on a seat of gold,
And serve ye on her bended knee.’

‘When cockle-shells turn siller bells,
When mussels grow on ilka tree,
When frost and snow sall warm us a',
Then I sall dyne wi my ladie.’

‘Now wae betide ye, black Fastness,
Ay and an ill dead met ye die!
Ye was the first and the foremost man
Wha parted my true lord and me.’