Page:The Kiss and its History.djvu/106

92 I weired ye to a fiery beast,

And relieved sall ye never be,

Till Kempion, the king's son,

Cum to the crag, and thrice kiss thee."

O meikle dolour did she dree,

And aye the salt seas o'er she swam;

And far mair dolour did she dree

On Estmere crags, when she them clamb.

And aye she cried for Kempion,

Gin he would but come to her hand.

At last Kempion hears her voice, and straightway rows towards the foot of the mountain:

Out of my stythe I winna rise,

Till Kempion, the king's son,

Cum to the crag, and thrice kiss me;

implores the snake; but Kempion dares not. The snake coils in and out, and the mountain is aflame; at last Kempion summons all his courage:

He's louted him o'er the lofty crag,

And he has given her kisses three;

Awa she gaed, and again she cam,

The loveliest ladye e'er could be!

The same subject is found in the ballads of other countries. In the Danish Jomfruen i ormeham the young maiden has been changed into a little snake, compelled to