For that slender body was full o' soul,

And the will is mair than shape; As the skipper saw when they cleared the berg,

And he heard her quarter scrape.

Quo the skipper: "Ye are a lady fair,

And a princess grand to see; But ye are a woman, and a man wad sail

To hell in yer company."

She liftit a pale and a queenly face; Her een flashed, and syne they

swam.

"And what for no to heaven?" she says,

And she turned awa' frae him.

But she took na her han' frae the good ship's helm,

Until the day did daw; And the skipper he spak, but what he said

It was said atween them twa.

And then the good ship, she lay to,
With the land far on the lee;
And up came the king upo' the
deck,

Wi' wan face and bluidshot ee.

The skipper he louted to the king:

"Gae wa', gae wa'," said the king. Said the king, like a prince, "I was a' wrang,

Put on this ruby ring."

And the wind blew lowne, and the stars cam oot,

And the ship turned to the shore; And, afore the sun was up again, They saw Scotland ance more.

That day the ship hung at the pierheid,

And the king he stept on the land. "Skipper, kneel down," the king he said,

"Hoo daur ye afore me stand?"

The skipper he louted on his knee,
The king his blade he drew:
Said the king, "How daured ye con-
tre me?

I'm aboard my ain ship noo.

"I canna mak ye a king," said he, For the Lord alone can do that; And besides ye took it intil yer ain han',

And crooned yersel' sae pat!

"But wi' what ye will I redeem my ring;

For ance I am at your beck. And first, as ye loutit Skipper o' Doon,

Rise up Yerlo' Quarterdeck."

The skipper he rose and looked at the king

In his een for all his croon; Said the skipper, "Here is yer grace's ring,

And yer daughter is my boon."

The reid blude sprang into the king's face,

A wrathful man to see: "The rascal loon abuses our grace; Gae hang him upon yon tree."

But the skipper he sprang aboard his ship,

And he drew his biting blade; And he struck the chain that held her fast,

But the iron was ower weel made.

And the king he blew a whistle loud; And tramp, tramp, down the pier,

Cam' twenty riders on twenty steeds, Clankin' wi' spur and spear.

"He saved your life!" cried the lady fair;

"His life ye daurna spill!" "Will ye come atween me and my hate?"

Quo the lady, "And that I will!".

And on cam the knights wi' spur and spear,

For they heard the iron ring. "Gin ye care na for yer father's

grace,

Mind ye that I am the king."

"I kneel to my father for his grace, Right lowly on my knee;

But I stand and look the king in the face,

For the skipper is king o' me."

While loud huzzas ran up the roof

Till the lamps did rock o'erhead, And holly-boughs from rafters hung Dropped down their berries red,

He little thought on Plymouth Hoe, With every rising tide,

How the wave washed in his sailor lads,

And laid them side by side.

There stepped a stranger to the board:
"Now, stranger, who be ye?"
He looked to right, he looked to left,
And "Rest you merry," quoth he;

"For you did not see the brig go down,
Or ever a storm had blown;
For you did not see the white wave

Straight to the Mayor he took his way:

"Good Master Mayor," quoth he, "I am a mercer of London town, And owner of vessels three,

"But for your rock of dark renown, I had five to track the main.' "You are one of many," the old Mayor said,

"That on the rock complain.

"An ill rock, mercer! your words ring right,

Well with my thoughts they chime, For my two sons to the world to come It sent before their time."