The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 2 (of 5)
General
The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 2 (of 5)
Ballads, English -- England -- Texts; Ballads, Scots -- Scotland -- Texts
13
'Sheep will die in cots, mither,
And owsen die in byre;
And what's this warld's wealth to me,
An I get na my heart's desire?
14
'Whare will I get a bonny boy,
That wad fain win hose and shoon,
That will rin to Fair Annie's bower,
Wi the lei light o the moon?
15
'Ye'll tell her to come to Willie's weddin,
The morn at twal at noon;
Ye'll tell her to come to Willie's weddin,
The heir o Duplin town.
16
'She manna put on the black, the black,
Nor yet the dowie brown,
But the scarlet sae red, and the kerches sae white,
And her bonny locks hangin down.'
17
He is on to Annie's bower,
And tirled at the pin,
And wha was sae ready as Annie hersel
To open and let him in.
18
'Ye are bidden come to Willie's weddin,
The morn at twal at noon;
Ye are bidden come to Willie's weddin,
The heir of Duplin town.
19
'Ye manna put on the black, the black,
Nor yet the dowie brown,
But the scarlet sae red, and the kerches sae white,
And your bonny locks hangin down.'
20
'It's I will come to Willie's weddin,
The morn at twal at noon;
It's I will come to Willie's weddin,
But I rather the mass had been mine.
21
'Maidens, to my bower come,
And lay gold on my hair;
And whare ye laid ae plait before,
Ye'll now lay ten times mair.
22
'Taylors, to my bower come,
And mak to me a weed;
And smiths, unto my stable come,
And shoe to me a steed.'
23
At every tate o Annie's horse mane
There hang a silver bell,
And there came a wind out frae the south,
Which made them a' to knell.
24
And whan she came to Mary-kirk,
And sat down in the deas,
The light that came frae Fair Annie
Enlightend a' the place.
25
But up and stands the nut-brown bride,
Just at her father's knee:
'O wha is this, my father dear,
That blinks in Willie's ee?'
'O this is Willie's first true-love,
Before he loved thee.'
26
'If that be Willie's first true-love,
He might hae latten me be;
She has as much gold on ae finger
As I'll wear till I die.
27
'O whare got ye that water, Annie,
That washes you sae white?'
'I got it in my mither's wambe,
Whare ye'll neer get the like.
28
'For ye've been washd in Dunny's well,
And dried on Dunny's dyke,
And a' the water in the sea
Will never wash ye white.'
29
Willie's taen a rose out o his hat,
Laid it in Annie's lap:
. . . . . . .
'Hae, wear it for my sake.'
30
'Tak up and wear your rose, Willie,
And wear't wi mickle care;
For the woman sall never bear a son
That will make my heart sae sair.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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