<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=346035" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Johnny Armstrong (original)</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">Sum speiks of lords, sum speiks of lairds,<br>And siclyke men of hie degrie;<br>Of a gentleman I sing a sang,<br>Sumtyme calld Laird of Giluockie.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The king he wrytes a laving letter,<br>With his ain hand see tenderly:<br>And he hath sent it to Johnnie Armstrang,<br>To cum and speik with him speidily.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Eliots and Armstrangs did convene,<br>They were a gallant company:<br>'We'ill ryde and meit our lawful king,<br>And bring him safe to Gilnockiel'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Make kinnen(1) and capon ready, then,<br>And venison in great plenty;<br>We'ill welcome hame our royal king;<br>I hope he'ill dyne at Gilnockiel'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">They ran their horse on the Langum howm(2)<br>And brake their speirs with mekle main;<br>The ladys lukit free their loft-windows,<br>'God bring our men weil back again!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">When Johnnie came before the king,<br>With all his men see brave to see,<br>The King he movit his bonnet to him;<br>He weind he was a king as well as he.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'May I find grace, my sovereign liege,<br>Grace for my loyal men and me?<br>For my name it is Johnnie Armstrang,<br>And subject of yours, my liege,' said he.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Away, away, thou traytor, strang!<br>Out of my sicht thou mayst sune be!<br>I grantit nevir a traytors lyfe,<br>And now I'll not begin with thee.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Grant me my lyfe, my liege, my king,<br>And a bony gift I will give to thee:<br>Full four-and-twenty milk-whyt steids.<br>Were a' foald in a yeir to me.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'I'll gie thee all these milk-whyt steids,<br>that prance and nicher at a speir,<br>With as mekle gude Inglis gilt<br>As four of their braid backs dow beir.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Away, away, thou traytor strang!<br>Out o' my sicht thou mayst sune be!<br>I grantit nevir a traytors Iyfe,<br>And now I'll not begin with thee.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Grant me my lyfe, my liege, my king,<br>And a bony gift I'll gie to thee;<br>Gude four-and-twenty ganging mills,<br>That gang throw a' the yeir to me.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'These four-and-twenty mills complete<br>Sall gang for thee throw all the yeir,<br>And as mekle of gude reid wheit<br>As all their trappers dow to bear.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Away, away, thou traytor, strang!<br>Out of my sicht thou mayst sune be!<br>I grantit nevir a traytors lyfe,<br>And now I'll not begin with thee.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Grant me my lyfe, my liege, my king,<br>And a great gift I'll gie to thee;<br>Bauld four-and-twenty sisters sons,<br>Sall for the fecht, tho all sould flee.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Away, away, thou traytor, strang!<br>Out of my sicht thou mayst sune be!<br>I grantit nevir a traytors lyfe,<br>And now I'll not begin with thee.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Grant me my lyfe, my liege, my king,<br>And a brave gift I'll gie to thee;<br>All betwene heir and Newcastle town<br>Sall pay chair yeirly rent to thee.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Away, away, thou traytor, strang!<br>Out of my sicht thou mayst sune be!<br>I grantit nevir a traytors lyfe,<br>And now I'll not begin with thee.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Ye lied, ye lied, now, king,' he says,<br>'Althocht a king and prince ye be,<br>For I luid naithing in all my lyfe,<br>I dare well say it, but honesty;</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'But a fat horse, and a fair woman,<br>Twa bony dogs to kill a deir:<br>But Ingland suld half found me meil and malt,<br>Gif I had livd this hundred yeir!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Scho suld half found me meil and malt,<br>And beif and mutton in all plentie;<br>But neir a Scots wyfe could half said<br>That eir I skaithd her a pure flie.(3)</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'To seik het water beneth cauld yce,<br>Surely it is a great folie;<br>I half asked grace at a graceless face,<br>But there is nane for my men and me.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'But had I kend, or I came free hame,<br>How thou unkynd wadst bene to me,<br>I wad half kept the border-syde,<br>In spyte of all they force and thee.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Wist Englands king that I was tane,<br>O gin a blyth man wald he be!<br>For anes I slew his sisters son,<br>And on his breist-bane brak a tree.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">John wore a girdle about his midle,<br>Imbroidered owre with burning gold,<br>Bespangled with the same mettle,<br>Maist beautiful! was to behold.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Ther hang nine targets at Johnnies hat,<br>And ilk an worth three hundred pound:<br>'What wants that knave that a king suld haif,<br>But the sword of honour and the crown!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'O whair get thou these targets, Johnnie,<br>That blink see brawly abune thy brie?'<br>'I get them in the field fechting,<br>Wher, cruel king, thou durst not be.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Had I my horse, and my harness gude,<br>And ryding as I wont to be,<br>It sould half bene tald this hundred yeir<br>The meiting of my king and me.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'God be withee, Kirsty, my brither,<br>Lang live thou Laird of Mangertoun!<br>Lang mayst thou live on the border-syde<br>Or thou se thy brither ryde up and doun.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'And God be withee, Kirsty, my son,<br>Whair thou sits on thy nurses knee!<br>But and thou live this hundred yeir,<br>Thy fathers better thoult never be.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Farweil, my bonny Gilnock-Hall,<br>Whair on Esk-syde thou standest stout!<br>Gif I had lived but seven yeirs mair,<br>I wad haff gilt thee round about.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">John murdred was at Carlinrigg,<br>And all his galant companie,<br>But Scotlands heart was never sae wae,<br>To see sae mony brave men die.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Because they savd their country deir<br>Frae Englishmen; nane were sae bauld,<br>Whyle Johnnie livd on the border-syde,<br>Nane of them durst cum neir his hald.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Anonymous+Olde+English">Anonymous Olde English</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=346035" data-title="Johnny Armstrong (original) de Anonymous Olde English" data-description="Sum speiks of lords, sum speiks of lairds, And siclyke men of hie degrie; Of a gentleman I sing a sang, Sumtyme calld Laird of Giluockie. The king he wrytes a laving letter, With his ain hand see tenderly: And he hath sent it to Johnnie Armstrang..."></div> </div> </div>

solid border dashed border dotted border double border groove border ridge border inset border outset border no border blue green red purple cyan gold silver black