And sit thou down; and wae, oh wae!
That ever thou was born,
For came the King o' Elfland in,
Thy leccam (body) is forlorn."
After a long conversation with his sister, the two folding doors were
burst open with tremendous violence, and in came the King of Elfland,
shouting--
"With _fi_, _fe_, _fa_, and _fum_,
I smell the blood of a Christian man,
Be he dead, be he living, with my brand
I'll clash his harns frae his harn pan."
Child Rowland drew his good claymore (_excalibar_) that never struck in
vain. A furious combat ensued, and the king was defeated; but Child
Rowland spared his life on condition that he would free his sister, Burd
Ellen, and his two brothers, who were lying in a trance in a corner of
the hall. The king then produced a small crystal phial containing a
bright red liquor, with which he anointed the lips, nostrils, ears and
finger tips of the two brothers, who thereupon awoke as from a profound
sleep, and all four returned in triumph to "merry Carlisle." The Rev.
Mr. Kirk's descriptions of the subterranean homes of the fairies and of
their social habits are just the counterparts of the fairyland of this
beautiful ballad legend.
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