His wife was a Campbell, fair and fause,
Says “Lachlan, where hae ye been?”
“Oh! I hae been at Tobermory,
And kissed the hand o’ a Queen!”
“Oh! we maun send the Queen a stag,
And grouse for her propine,
And we’ll send her a cask o’ the usquebaugh,
And a butt o’ the red French wine!”
She has put a bomb in the clairet butt,
And eke a burning lowe,
She has sent them away wi’ her little foot-page
That cam’ frae the black Lochow.
* * * *
The morn McLean rade forth to see
The last blink o’ his Queen,
There stude her ship in the harbour gude,
Upon the water green.
But there cam’ a crash like a thunder-clap,
And a cloud on the water green.
The bonny ship in flinders flew,
And drooned was the bonny Queen.
McLean he speirit nor gude nor bad,
His skian dubh he’s ta’en,
And he’s cuttit the throat o’ that fause foot-page,
And sundered his white hausebane.
_Keith of Craigentolly_.
O KEITH o’ Craigentolly!
Ye sall live to rue the day
When ye brak the berried holly
Beside St. Andrew’s bay!
When Pitcullo’s kine
Card down to the brine,
And were drooned in the driving spray!
In the bower o’ Craigentolly
Is a wan and waefu’ bride,
Singing, _O waly_! _waly_!
Through the whole country side;
And a river to wade
For a dying maid,
And a weary way to ride!
O Keith o’ Craigentolly,
The bairn’s grave by the sea!
O Keith o’ Craigentolly,
The graves of maidens three!
And a bluidy shift,
And a sainless shrift,
For Keith o’ Craigentolly!
* * * * *
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
{11} One verse and the refrain are of 1750 or thereabouts. At Laffen,
where William, Duke of Cumberland, was defeated and nearly captured by
the Scots and Irish in the French service, Prince Charles is said to have
served as a volunteer.
{32} So Nyren tells us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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