9. When Jonnë came befower the king, He fell downe on his knee; 'O pardon, my soveraine leige,' he said, 'O pardon my eight score men and mee.'
10. 'Thou shalt have no pardon, thou traytor strong, For thy eight score men nor thee; For to-morrow morning by ten of the clock, Both thou and them shall hang on the gallow-tree.'
11. But Jonnë looked over his left shoulder, Good Lord, what a grevious look looked hee! Saying, 'Asking grace of a graceles face-- Why there is none for you nor me.'
12. But Jonnë had a bright sword by his side, And it was made of the mettle so free, That had not the king stept his foot aside, He had smitten his head from his faire boddë.
13. Saying, 'Fight on, my merry men all, And see that none of you be taine; For rather than men shall say we were hange'd, Let them report how we were slaine.'
14. Then, God wott, faire Eddenburrough rose, And so besett poore Jonnë rounde, That fowerscore and tenn of Jonnë's best men Lay gasping all upon the ground.
15. Then like a mad man Jonnë laide about, And like a mad man then fought hee, Untill a falce Scot came Jonnë behinde, And runn him through the faire boddee.
16. Saying, 'Fight on, my merry men all, And see that none of you be taine; For I will stand by and bleed but awhile, And then will I come and fight againe.'
17. Newes then was brought to young Jonnë Armestrong As he stood by his nurse's knee, Who vowed if ere he live'd for to be a man, O' the treacherous Scots reveng'd hee'd be.
+The Text+ was communicated to Percy by Dr. Robertson of Edinburgh, but it did not appear in the _Reliques_.
In 9.1, 'Then' is doubtless an interpolation, as are the words 'Now Douglas' in 11.1 But on the whole it is the best text of the fifteen or twenty variants.
+The Story.+--James Hogg and Sir Walter Scott referred the ballad to two different sources, the former legendary, and the latter historical. It has always been very popular in Scotland, and besides the variants there are in existence several imitations, such as the well-known poem of William Hamilton, 'Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bonny bride.' This was printed in vol. ii. of Percy's _Reliques_.
About half the known variants make the hero and heroine man and wife, the other half presenting them as unmarried lovers.