"O sall I kill her, nourice? Or sall I lat her be?" 70 "O kill her, kill her, Lamkin, For she ne'er was good to me."
"O scour the bason, nourice, And mak it fair and clean, For to keep this lady's heart's blood, 75 For she's come o' noble kin."
"There need nae bason, Lamkin; Lat it run through the floor; What better is the heart's blood O' the rich than o' the poor?" 80
But ere three months were at an end, Lord Wearie came again; But dowie dowie was his heart When first he came hame.
"O wha's blood is this," he says, 85 "That lies in the châmer?" "It is your lady's heart's blood; 'Tis as clear as the lamer."
"And wha's blood is this," he says, "That lies in my ha'?" 90 "It is your young son's heart's blood; 'Tis the clearest ava."
O sweetly sang the black-bird That sat upon the tree; But sairer grat Lamkin, 95 When he was condemn'd to die.
And bonny sang the mavis Out o' the thorny brake; But sairer grat the nourice, When she was tied to the stake. 100
"The present copy is given from recitation, and though it could have received additions, and perhaps improvements, from another copy, obtained from a similar source, and of equal authenticity, in his possession, the Editor did not like to use a liberty which is liable to much abuse. To some, the present set of the ballad may be valuable, as handing down both name and nickname of the revengeful builder of Prime Castle; for there can be little doubt that the epithet _Linkin_ Mr. Lambert acquired from the secrecy and address with which he insinuated himself into that notable strength. Indeed, all the names of Lammerlinkin, Lammikin, Lamkin, Lankin, Linkin, Belinkin, can easily be traced out as abbreviations of Lambert Linkin. In the present set of the ballad, Lambert Linkin and Belinkin are used indifferently, as the measure of the verse may require; in the other recited copy, to which reference has been made, it is Lammerlinkin and Lamkin; and the nobleman for whom he "built a house" is stated to be "Lord Arran." No allusion, however, is made here to the name of the owner of Prime Castle. Antiquaries, peradventure, may find it as difficult to settle the precise locality of this fortalice, as they have found it to fix the topography of Troy." Motherwell's _Minstrelsy_, p. 291.