Strong Poison

from the Guinea Pig Zero Literary Corner

"Where gat ye your dinner, Lord Rendal, my son?

Where gat ye your dinner, my handsome young man?"

"O I dined with my sweetheart, Mother, make my bed soon,

For I'm sick to the heart and I fain wad lie down."

"Oh that was strong poison, Lord Rendal, my son,

O that was strong poison, my handsome young man,"

"O yes, I am poisoned, Mother; make my bed soon,

For I'm sick to the heart, and I fain wad lie down."

-- an old ballad, as quoted in the novel Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (1938 )