The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

Wi’ their fans into their hand,
Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come sailing to the strand!
And lang, lang may the maidens sit
Wi’ their gowd kames in their hair,
A-waiting for their ain dear loves!
For them they’ll see nae mair.
Half-owre, half-owre to Aberdour,
’Tis fifty fathoms deep;
And there lies good Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet!
‘Sir Patrick Spens’
And she has kilted her green kirtle
A little abune her knee;
And she has braided her yellow hair
A little abune her bree.
‘Tam Lin’ st. 5
‘But what I ken this night, Tam Lin,
Gin I had kent yestreen,
I wad ta’en out thy heart o’ flesh,
And put in a heart o’ stane.’
‘Tam Lin’ st. 50
She’s mounted on her milk-white steed,
She’s ta’en true Thomas up behind.
‘Thomas the Rhymer’ st. 8
‘And see ye not yon braid, braid road,
That lies across the lily leven?
That is the Path of Wickedness,
Though some call it the Road to Heaven.’
‘Thomas the Rhymer’ st. 12
It was mirk, mirk night, there was nae starlight,
They waded thro’ red blude to the knee;
For a’ the blude that’s shed on the earth
Rins through the springs o’ that countrie.
‘Thomas the Rhymer’ st. 16
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
They were as black as they might be.
The one of them said to his make,
‘Where shall we our breakfast take?’
‘The Three Ravens’