Part 1 / Book 1 — 11. The Wee Wee Man

I As I was walking mine alane Atween a water and a wa’, There I spied a wee wee man, And he was the least that ere I saw. II His legs were scant a shathmont’s[109] length, And thick and thimber[110] was his thie[111]; Atween his brows there was a span, And atween his shoulders there was three. III He’s ta’en and flung a meikle stane, And he flang ’t as far as I could see; Though I had been a Wallace wight I couldna liften ’t to my knee. IV ‘O wee wee man, but ye be strang! O tell me where your dwelling be?’ ‘My dwelling’s down by yon bonny bower; Fair lady, come wi’ me and see.’ V On we lap[112], and awa’ we rade, Till we came to yon bonny green; We lighted down to bait our steed, And out there came a lady sheen[113]; VI Wi’ four and twenty at her back A’ comely clad in glisterin’ green; Tho’ the King of Scotland had been there, The warst o’ them might ha’ been his queen. VII On we lap, and awa’ we rade, Till we came to a bonny ha’; The roof was o’ the beaten gowd, And the floor was o’ the cristal a’. VIII When we came to the stair-foot, Ladies were dancing jimp[114] and sma’, But in the twinkling of an eie My wee wee man was clean awa’. IX Out gat the lights, on came the mist, Ladies nor mannie mair cou’d I see: I turn’d about, and gae a look Just at the foot o’ Benachie.