"O WHERE are ye gaun?"
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
I'm gaun to the schule,"
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
"What is that upon your back?"
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"Atweel it is my bukes,"
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
"What's that ye've got in your arm?"
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"Atweel it is my peat," 1
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
"Wha's aucht thae sheep?"
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"They're mine and my mother's,"
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
"How mony o' them are mine?"
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"A' they that hae blue tails,"
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
"I wiss ye were on yon tree,"
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"And a guid ladder under me,"
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
"And the ladder for to break."
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"And you for to fa' down,"
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
"I wiss ye were in yon sea,"
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"And a guid bottom under me,"
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
"And the bottom for to break,"
Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"And ye to be drownèd,"
Quo' the wee boy, and still be stude. 1
81:1 Chambers, Popular Rhymes of Scotland.
82:1 A contribution to the schoolmaster's stock of fuel.
83:1 Motherwell gives the above, in his Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern, as a nursery tale of Galloway, and a specimen of a class of compositions of great antiquity, representing the Enemy of man in the endeavour to confound some poor mortal with puzzling questions.