Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

282 MINSTRELSY OF
" thone.'— ' Orthone!' quod the knight, ' the servyce of a
** clerke is lytell profyte for thee. He will putte thee to moche
" payiie if thou beleve hym. I pray thee leave hym, and come
*' and serve me ; and I shall give thee goode thanke.' Or-
" thone was redy to aunswere, for he was inamours with the
*' knyghte, and sayde, ' Woldest thou fayne have my servyce ?'
" —' Yea, truly,' quod the knyghte, ' so thou do no hurte to
" any persone in this house.'
—
' No more I will do,' quod Or-
" thone, ' for I have no power to do any other yvell, but to
** awake thee out of thy slepe, or some other.' ' Well,' quod
" the knyght, ' do as I tell thee, and we shall soone agree, and
" leave the yvill clerke, for there is no good thyug in him, but
" toput theetopayne; therefore, come and serve me.'—
'Well,'
" quod Orthone, ' and sythe thou wilt have me, we are agreed.'
" So this spyrite Orthone loved so the knight, that often-
" tymes he wold come and vysyte him, -while he lay in his
" bedde aslepe, and outher pull him by the eare, or els stryke
' at his charabre dore or windowe. And, whan the knyght
*' awoke, than he wolde saye, ' Orthone, lat me slepe.'
" * Nay,' quod Orthone, ' that I will nat do, tyll I have shew-
" ed thee such tydinges as are fallen a-late.' The ladye, the
*' knyghtes wyfe, wolde be sore afrayed, that her heer wald
" stand up, and hyde herself under the clothes. Than the
" knyght wolde saye, ' Why, what tidynges hast thou brought
" me?'—Quod Ortlione, ' I am come out of England, or out
" of Hungry, or some other place, and yesterday I came hens,
*' and such things are fallen, or such other. So thus the Lord
" of Corasse knewe, by Orthone, every thing that was done
" in any part of the worlde. And in this case he contynued
" a fyve yere, and could not kepe his own counsayle, but at
" last discovered it to the Earl of Foiz. I shall shewe you
*' howe.
" The firste yere, the Lord of Corr.ssc came on a day to Or-
*' tayse, to the Erie of Foiz, and sayd to him, ' Sir, such things
" are done in England, or in Scotland, or in Almange, or in any
" other countrey.' And ever the Erie of Foiz found his saye-
" ing true, and had great marveyle how he shulde know such
" things so shortly. And, on a tymc, the Erie of Foiz exami-
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