They thought King James and a' his men Had won the house wi' bow and spear; It was but twenty Scots and ten, That put a thousand in sic a stear! Wi' coulters, and wi' forehammers, We garr'd the bars bang merrilie, Until we cam' to the inner prison, Where Willie o' Kinmont he did lie. And when we cam' to the lower prison, Where Willie o' Kinmont he did lie,-- "O sleep ye, wake ye, Kinmont Willie, Upon the morn that thou's to die?" "O I sleep saft, and I wake aft; It's lang since sleeping was fley'd frae me; Gie my service back to my wife and bairns, And a' gude fellows that spier for me." Then Red Rowan has hente him up, The starkest man in Teviotdale,-- "Abide, abide now, Red Rowan, Till of my Lord Scroope I tak' farewell. "Farewell, farewell, my gude Lord Scroope! My gude Lord Scroope, farewell!" he cried: "I'll pay you for my lodging maill, When first we meet on the Border side." Then shoulder high, with shout and cry, We bore him doun the ladder lang; At every stride Red Rowan made, I wot the Kinmont's aims played clang "O mony a time," quo' Kinmont Willie, "I have ridden horse baith wild and wood; But a rougher beast than Red Rowan I ween my legs have ne'er bestrode. "And mony a time," quo' Kinmont Willie, I've pricked a horse out oure the furs; But since the day I backed a steed, I never wore sic cumbrous spurs." We scarce had won the Staneshaw-bank, When a' the Carlisle bells were rung, And a thousand men on horse and foot Cam' wi' the keen Lord Scroope along.