finelythreadedsky:

29 (25b) Cum peteret dulces audax Leandros amores et fessus tumidis iam premeretur aquis, sic miser instantes affatus dicitur undas: ‘parcite dum propero, mergite dum redeo.’ALT
When bold Leander was looking for his sweetheart And he was pressed by rushing waters The poor man spoke, telling the waiting streams: ‘Spare me as I’m going, sink me as I come back.’ALT
He's ridden o'er high, high hill And he's down yon dowie den And the rushing the Clyde water Would have feared five hundred men "O roaring Clyde, you roar so loud Your streams are wondrous strong Make me a wreck as I come back And spare me as I'm going."ALT

Classical Literature and Folk Ballads

Martial, De Spectaculis 29/25b /// Clyde’s Waters (Child Ballad 216, Roud 91)

me when I’m a bowling pin: spare me as you’re going, strike me when you come back