23. Then bespake the hye steward, That is of hye degree; Saith, 'Ladie gay, you are in close, Wether ye fighte or flee.'
24. Lord Hamleton drem'd in his dream, In Carvall where he laye, His halle were all of fyre, His ladie slayne or daye.
25. 'Busk and bowne, my mery men all, Even and go ye with me; For I drem'd that my hall was on fyre, My lady slayne or day.'
26. He buskt him and bown'd hym, And like a worthi knighte; And when he saw his hall burning, His harte was no dele lighte.
27. He sett a trumpett till his mouth, He blew as it ples'd his grace; Twenty score of Hamlentons Was light aboute the place.
28. 'Had I knowne as much yesternighte As I do to-daye, Captaine Care and all his men Should not have gone so quite.
29. 'Fye upon the, Captaine Care, And all thy blody bande! Thou haste slayne my lady gay, More wurth then all thy lande.
30. 'If thou had ought eny ill will,' he saith, 'Thou shoulde have taken my lyffe, And have saved my children thre, All and my lovesome wyffe.'
[Annotations: Burden.1: 'to-towe' = too-too. 8.2: 'bande,' bond, compact. 8.4: 'ere,' plough. 11.1: 'pestilett,' pistolet. 14.4: 'eare,' and 18.4 'ayre,' both = heir. 25.1: 'Busk and bowne,' make ready. 26.4:'no dele,' in no way. Cf. _somedele_, etc. 28.4: 'quite,' acquitted, unpunished. 30.1: 'ought,' owed.]
+The Text+ is taken from Percy's _Reliques_ (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar ballad, which substitutes a Sir Andrew Wood for the hero. The version of this ballad printed in most collections is that of Scott's _Minstrelsy_, Sir Patrick Spens being the spelling adopted.[1] Scott compounded his ballad of two manuscript copies and a few verses from recitation, but the result is of unnecessary length.
[Footnote 1: Coleridge, however, wrote of the 'grand old ballad of Sir Patrick Spence.']
+The Story.+--Much labour has been expended upon the question whether this ballad has an historical basis or not. From Percy's ballad--the present text--we can gather that Sir Patrick Spence was chosen by the king to convey something of value to a certain destination; and later versions tell us that the ship is bound for Norway, the object of the voyage being either to bring home the king of Norway's daughter, or the Scottish king's daughter, or to take out the Scottish king's daughter to be queen in Norway. The last variation can be supported by history, Margaret, daughter of Alexander III. of Scotland, being married in 1281 to Erik, king of Norway. Many of the knights and nobles who accompanied her to Norway were drowned on the voyage home.