Analysis of Love Gregor; Or, The Lass Of Lochroyan

Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)



'O wha will shoe my fu' fair foot?
And wha will glove my hand?
And wha will lace my middle jimp,
Wi' the new-made London band?

'And wha will kaim my yellow hair,
Wi' the new made silver kaim?
And wha will father my young son,
Till Love Gregor come hame?'

'Your father will shoe your fu' fair foot,
Your mother will glove your hand;
Your sister will lace your middle jimp
Wi' the new-made London band.

'Your brother will kaim your yellow hair,
Wi' the new made silver kaim;
And the king of heaven will father your bairn,
Till Love Gregor come haim.'

'But I will get a bonny boat,
And I will sail the sea,
For I maun gang to Love Gregor,
Since he canno come hame to me.'

O she has gotten a bonny boat,
And sailld the sa't sea fame;
She langd to see her ain true-love,
Since he could no come hame.

'O row your boat, my mariners,
And bring me to the land,
For yonder I see my love's castle,
Close by the sa't sea strand.'

She has ta'en her young son in her arms,
And to the door she's gone,
And lang she's knocked and sair she ca'd,
But answer got she none.

'O open the door, Love Gregor,' she says,
'O open, and let me in;
For the wind blaws thro' my yellow hair,
And the rain draps o'er my chin.'

'Awa, awa, ye ill woman,
You'r nae come here for good;
You'r but some witch, or wile warlock,
Or mer-maid of the flood.'

'I am neither a witch nor a wile warlock,
Nor mer-maid of the sea,
I am Fair Annie of Rough Royal;
O open the door to me.'

'Gin ye be Annie of Rough Royal--
And I trust ye are not she--
Now tell me some of the love-tokens
That past between you and me.'

'O dinna you mind now, Love Gregor,
When we sat at the wine,
How we changed the rings frae our fingers?
And I can show thee thine.

'O yours was good, and good enough,
But ay the best was mine;
For yours was o' the good red goud,
But mine o' the diamonds fine.

'But open the door now, Love Gregor,
O open the door I pray,
For your young son that is in my arms
Will be dead ere it be day.'

'Awa, awa, ye ill woman,
For here ye shanno win in;
Gae drown ye in the raging sea,
Or hang on the gallows-pin.'

When the cock had crawn, and day did dawn,
And the sun began to peep,
Then up he rose him, Love Gregor,
And sair, sair did he weep.

'O I dreamd a dream, my mother dear,
The thoughts o' it gars me greet,
That Fair Annie of Rough Royal
Lay cauld dead at my feet.'

'Gin it be for Annie of Rough Royal
That ye make a' this din,
She stood a' last night at this door,
But I trow she wan no in.'

'O wae betide ye, ill woman,
An ill dead may ye die!
That ye woudno open the door to her,
Nor yet woud waken me.'

O he has gone down to yon shore-side,
As fast as he could fare;
He saw Fair Annie in her boat,
But the wind it tossd her sair.

And 'Hey, Annie!' and 'How, Annie!
O Annie, winna ye bide?'
But ay the mair that he cried 'Annie,'
The braider grew the tide.

And 'Hey, Annie!' and 'How, Annie!
Dear Annie, speak to me!'
But ay the louder he cried 'Annie,'
The louder roard the sea.

The wind blew loud, the sea grew rough,
And dashd the boat on shore;
Fair Annie floats on the raging sea,
But her young son rose no more.

Love Gregor tare his yellow hair,
And made a heavy moan;
Fair Annie's corpse lay at his feet,
But his bonny young son was gone.

O cherry, cherry was her cheek,
And gowden was her hair,
But clay cold were her rosey lips,
Nae spark of life was there,

And first he's kissd her cherry cheek,
And neist he's kissed her chin;
And saftly pressd her rosey lips,
But there was nae breath within.

'O wae betide my cruel mother,
And an ill dead may she die!
For she turnd my true-love frae my door,
When she came sae far to me.'


Scheme abcB dEfe abcB dEfx ghih gexe jbkb lmaf xndn Fxox ohkh khxh ipjp qpap irlr Fnhn mcic xsks kntn fuih vdgd Hvhv Hhhh qtht dxsm odwd onwn iuth
Poetic Form Quatrain  (79%)
Metre 11111111 011111 01111101 1011101 01111101 1011101 01110111 111011 110111111 1101111 110111101 1011101 110111101 1011101 00111011011 111011 11110101 011101 11111110 1111111 111100101 0101111 11110111 111111 11111100 011101 110111110 1101111 1111011001 010111 01110111 110111 1100111011 1100110 101111101 00111011 111110 1111111 11111111 111101 1110011011 111101 111101110 1100111 111101110 0111111 111110110 1101101 11111110 111101 1110111010 011111 11110101 110111 11110111 1110101 110011110 1100111 111111011 1111111 111110 111110 11100101 1110101 101110111 0010111 11111110 011111 111011101 0111111 11101110 111111 1111101110 111011 11011111 1111110 11011110 111111 111100110 111101 111111111 111111 11110001 1011101 01100110 110111 110111110 01101 01100110 110111 110101110 010101 01110111 010111 110110101 1011111 11011101 010101 1111111 11101111 11010101 01101 11100101 111111 01110101 011101 0110101 1111101 110111010 0111111 111111111 1111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 3,501
Words 759
Sentences 40
Stanzas 28
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 112
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 95
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

3:45 min read
84

Andrew Lang

Andrew Richard Lang FRS CBE was a British scientist and crystallographer. more…

All Andrew Lang poems | Andrew Lang Books

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    "Love Gregor; Or, The Lass Of Lochroyan" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2801/love-gregor%3B-or%2C-the-lass-of-lochroyan>.

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