Young Waters
About Yule, when the wind blew cule,And the round tables began,O there is come to our King’s courtMony a well-favor’d man.
The Queen luikt owre the castle-wa’Beheld baith dale and down,And there she saw Young WatersCome riding to the town.
His footmen they did rin before,His horsemen rade behind;Ane mantel of the burning gowdDid keip him frae the wind.
Gowden-graith’d his horse before,And siller-shod behind;The horse Young Waters rade uponWas fleeter than the wind.
Out then spak’ a wylie lord,Unto the Queen said he:‘O tell me wha’s the fairest faceRides in the company?’--
‘I’ve sene lord, and I’ve sene laird,And knights of high degree,Bot a fairer face than Young Waters’Mine eyne did never see.’
Out then spake the jealous King,And an angry man was he:‘O if he had bin twice as fair,You micht have excepted me.’
‘You’re neither laird nor lord,’ she says,‘But the King that wears the crown;There is not a knight in fair ScotlandBut to thee maun bow down.’
For a’ that she cou’d do or say,Appeas’d he wad nae bee,But for the words which she had said,Young Waters he maun dee.
They hae ta’en Young Waters,And put fetters to his feet;They hae ta’en Young Waters, andThrown him in dungeon deep.
‘Aft have I ridden thro’ Stirling town,In the wind but and the weet;But I neir rade thro’ Stirling townWi’ fetters at my feet.
‘Aft have I ridden thro’ Stirling town,In the wind but and the rain;But I neir rade thro’ Stirling townNeir to return again.’
They hae ta’en to the heiding-hillHis young son in his craddle;And they hae ta’en to the heiding-hillHis horse but and his saddle.
They hae ta’en to the heiding-hillHis lady fair to see;And for the words the Queen had spokeYoung Waters he did dee.
Words in this poem
- yule n.
- Christmas or Christmastide; the feast of the Nativity of our Savior. [OE. yol, ýol, AS. geól; akin to geóla December or January, Icel. jol Yule, Ylir the name of a winter month, Sw. jul Christmas, Dan. juul, Goth. jiuleis November]
- graith n.
- Furniture; apparatus or accouterments for work, traveling, war, etc. Jamieson.
- laird n.
- A lord; a landholder, esp. one who holds land directly of the crown. [See Lord.]
- eyne n.
- Plural of eye; obsolete, or used only in poetry.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- dungeon n.
- A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
- weet v. i.
- To know; to wit. Tyndale. [See Wit to know.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Young Waters is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #44593; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Arthur Quiller-Couch, Young Waters, in The Oxford Book of Ballads (before 1800), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44593, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/oxford-ballads/young-waters.html, id L08431.
Form and metre
Young Waters is 56 lines in 14 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A cule · beganA · court · manA
- 2 -A-A wa · downA · waters · townA
- 3 -A-A before · behindA · gowd · windA
- 4 -A-A before · behindA · upon · windA
- 6 -A-A laird · degreeA · waters · seeA
- 7 -A-A king · heA · fair · meA
- 8 -A-A says · crownA · scotland · downA
- 9 -A-A say · beeA · said · deeA
- 11 ABAB townA · weetB · townA · feetB
- 12 ABAB townA · rainB · townA · againB
- 13 ABAB hillA · craddleB · hillA · saddleB
- 14 -A-A hill · seeA · spoke · deeA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| About Yule, when the wind blew cule, | 9 | ········· |
| And the round tables began, | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| O there is come to our King’s court | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Mony a well-favor’d man. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| The Queen luikt owre the castle-wa’ | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beheld baith dale and down, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| And there she saw Young Waters | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Come riding to the town. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| His footmen they did rin before, | 8 | ········ |
| His horsemen rade behind; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ane mantel of the burning gowd | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Did keip him frae the wind. | 6 | ······ |
| Gowden-graith’d his horse before, | 7 | /˘····· |
| And siller-shod behind; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The horse Young Waters rade upon | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Was fleeter than the wind. | 6 | ······ |
| Out then spak’ a wylie lord, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Unto the Queen said he: | 6 | ······ |
| ‘O tell me wha’s the fairest face | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Rides in the company?’-- | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| ‘I’ve sene lord, and I’ve sene laird, | 7 | ······· |
| And knights of high degree, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Bot a fairer face than Young Waters’ | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Mine eyne did never see.’ | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Out then spake the jealous King, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And an angry man was he: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| ‘O if he had bin twice as fair, | 8 | ········ |
| You micht have excepted me.’ | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| ‘You’re neither laird nor lord,’ she says, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| ‘But the King that wears the crown; | 7 | ······· |
| There is not a knight in fair Scotland | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But to thee maun bow down.’ | 6 | ······ |
| For a’ that she cou’d do or say, | 8 | ········ |
| Appeas’d he wad nae bee, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| But for the words which she had said, | 8 | ········ |
| Young Waters he maun dee. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They hae ta’en Young Waters, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And put fetters to his feet; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| They hae ta’en Young Waters, and | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thrown him in dungeon deep. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ‘Aft have I ridden thro’ Stirling town, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| In the wind but and the weet; | 7 | ······· |
| But I neir rade thro’ Stirling town | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wi’ fetters at my feet. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| ‘Aft have I ridden thro’ Stirling town, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| In the wind but and the rain; | 7 | ······· |
| But I neir rade thro’ Stirling town | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Neir to return again.’ | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| They hae ta’en to the heiding-hill | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His young son in his craddle; | 7 | ······· |
| And they hae ta’en to the heiding-hill | 9 | ······/˘· |
| His horse but and his saddle. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| They hae ta’en to the heiding-hill | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His lady fair to see; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And for the words the Queen had spoke | 8 | ········ |
| Young Waters he did dee. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 2
Arthur Quiller-Couch's notes to The Oxford Book of Ballads (1910; Project Gutenberg #44593).
- Stanza 4, line 1 graith’d = harnessed.
- Stanza 13, line 1 heiding-hill = beheading mound.
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.