The Fause Knight and the Wee Boy

Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales, by George Douglas, [1901], at sacred-texts.com

THE FAUSE KNIGHT AND THE WEE BOY. ¹

"O WHERE are ye gaun?"
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
I'm gaun to the schule,"
  Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.

p. 82

"What is that upon your back?"
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"Atweel it is my bukes,"
  Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.

"What's that ye've got in your arm?"
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"Atweel it is my peat," ¹
  Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.

"Wha's aucht thae sheep?"
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"They're mine and my mother's,"
  Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.

"How mony o' them are mine?"
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"A' they that hae blue tails,"
  Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.

"I wiss ye were on yon tree,"
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"And a guid ladder under me,"
  Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.

"And the ladder for to break."
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"And you for to fa' down,"
  Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.

p. 83

"I wiss ye were in yon sea,"
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"And a guid bottom under me,"
  Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.

"And the bottom for to break,"
  Quo' the fause knight upon the road;
"And ye to be drownèd,"
  Quo' the wee boy, and still be stude. ¹

Footnotes

81:1 Chambers, Popular Rhymes of Scotland.

82:1 A contribution to the schoolmaster's stock of fuel.

83:1 Motherwell gives the above, in his Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern, as a nursery tale of Galloway, and a specimen of a class of compositions of great antiquity, representing the Enemy of man in the endeavour to confound some poor mortal with puzzling questions.