[A composite volume : containing The ballads and songs of Ayrshire ...

i
:
;
!
!
—!
THE LAIBD
CHANGUE.
Then Changue his twa-han'd falchion wheels
Around the ring he kept them,
Till heads frae half a score o' deils
Sae manfully he swept them.
But one remain'd, a gruesome fiend,
And hot and hard he press'd him ;
But though the outmost ring he gain'd,*
Changue soon and snodly dressed him.
For closing fast, at arms-length,
Wi' steeket gauntlet Changue drew
Ae stroke wi' sic prodigious strength
The deil's harns fi-ae the pan flew
Thus Changue was master of the field,
Till dawn'd the morning light,
And then his wond'ring eyes beheld
A sad and woful sight
There Riever Rab and a'
Lay reft o' heads and breath
And the spear stuck fast in Father Grub,
Wha's eyes were seal'd in death
his men
The foregoing excellent ballad is by Mr Hari-ison, bookseller, Edinburgh,
who lived for some years in Ayrshire.
It was written in illustration
of the tradition of the Laird of Cliangue's encounter with
the enemy of mankind, of which some notice is taken in the notes on
KirJcdamdie Fair in the First Series. It would seem that there were
two Lairds of Changue distinguished for their personal prowess—the
one at a much earlier period than the other. The circular appearances
on the spot, where the alleged conflict took place, are by no means
modern remains.
* Tradition affirms that the " great enemy" did hreak through the largest
or outside ring, and a corresponding break in the circle is shown—but, before
he could break the inner one, victory had declared for Changue
115