Continuing the ballad of Bonny Jane. This continues on from Part 2 which if you missed can be found here http://blantyreproject.com/2013/06/06/bothwells-bonny-jane-part-2-of-4/
Bothwell’s Bonny Jane Part 3
Then, bonny Jane, thy spirits sunk ;
Fill’d was thy heart with strange alarms ! —
” Now thou art mine!” exclaim’d the monk,
And clasp’d her in his ruffian arms!
” Know, yonder bark must bear thee straight, ”
Where Blantyre owns my gay control :
” There Love and Joy to greet thee wait, ”
There Pleasure crowns for thee her bowl. ”
Long have I loved thee, bonny Jane,
” Long breathed to thee my secret vow ! ”
Gone then, sweet maid ! — nay, strife is vain ;
” Not heaven itself can save thee now !”
The damsel shrieked, and would have fled,
When lo ! his poniard press’d her throat ! —
” One cry, and ’tis your last!” — he said,
And bore her fainting tow’rds the boat.
The moon shone bright ; the winds were chain’d ;
The boatman swiftly plied his oar;
But ere the river’s midst was gain’d,
The tempest-fiend was heard to roar.
Rain fell in sheets ; high swell’d the Clyde ;
Blue flam’d the lightning’s blasting brand ! —
” Oh ! lighten the bark !” the boatman cried,
” Or hope no more to reach the strand.
” E’en now we stand on danger’s brink ! ”
E’en now the boat half fill’d I see ! o
” Oh ! lighten it soon, or else we sink ! ”
Oh y lighten it of . . . . your gay la-die !” —
With shrieks the maid his counsel hears ;
But vain are now her prayers and cries,
Who cared not for her father’s tears,
Who felt not for her father s sighs *.
Fear conquer’d love ! — In wild despair
The abbot view’d the watery grave,
Then seized his victim’s golden hair,
And plunged her in the foaming wave !
Blantyre Project Comments: You’re probably getting the feeling that things have turned nasty for Bonny Jane! You would be right! It doesn’t read well for the Blantyre monk. No Edgar there to greet here, the monk turns on Jane, proclaiming his OWN love for her and grasping her in his “ruffian arms”. Alarmed even more when the monk says there is a boat (bark) to take her to Blantyre where the Monk is in charge. She would be terrified when the monk states if she doesnt love him, then not even heaven can save her! The monk takes a small knife and puts it to her throat , she faints and falls into the boat. Seems like the monk had somebody to help him. The ballad refers next to the boatman who starts rowing with them back to the Priory, across the Clyde. However, a storm is brewing, waves are swellling and lightning strikes the boat, damaging it! The boatman warns the monk to lighten the boat or they will all go down and at the height of panic when the boat half fills with water, suggest to the monk , the boat is lightened by removing the Bonny Jane. She shrieks in terror and the monk dumps her into the water , holding her hair underneath!! This isnt the end of the story, there is one more part. Want to know more?