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
9
'And sin ye've taen the turn in hand,
See that ye do it right,
And ilka chimly o the house,
That they be dearly dight.'
10
O a' the day she washd and wrang,
And a' the night she buik,
And she's awa to her chamber,
To gie her young son suck.
11
'Come here, come here, my eldest son,
And see what ye may see;
For yonder comes your father dear,
Your mother-in-law side be.'
12
She's taen a cake o the best bread,
A bottle o the best wine,
And a' the keys upon her arm,
And to the yates she's gaen.
13
'Ye are welcome hame, gay lady,' she said,
'And ay ye are welcome hame;
And sae is a' the gentlewomen
That's wi you ridden and gane.
14
'You are welcome hame, gay lord' she said,
'And ay ye are welcome hame;
And sae is a' the gentlemen
That's wi you ridden and gane.'
15
She saird them up, she saird them down,
She saird them till and frae;
But when she went behind their backs,
The tear did blind her ee.
16
Whan day was gane, and night was come,
And a' man boun to bed,
The bridegroom and the bonny bride
In their chamber was laid.
17
Burd Helen and her seven sons
Lay in a bower near by;
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
18
'If my seven sons were seven grey ratts,
To rin frae wa to wa,
And I mysel a good grey cat,
I would bite their back a-twa.
19
'If my seven sons were seven grey hares,
And them to rin a race,
And I mysel a good greyhound,
I would gie them a chace.'
20
Up and spak the bonny bride,
In chamber where she lay:
'There is a lady in this bower,
She will gae mad or day.'
21
'Lye still, lye still, my bonny bride,
Lye still and tak a sleep;
It's but ane o my wine puncheons;
Nae langer wad it keep.'
22
'King Henry was my father dear,
Queen Catherine was my mother,
Lady Anne she was my sister dear,
And Frederick was my brother.
23
'And whan I was six years of age,
They ca'd me Mary Mild;
I was stown frae my father's yate,
Whan I was but a child.'
24
Then up and spak the bonny bride,
By her lord as she lay:
'Lye down, lye down, my dear sister,
There's nae ill done for me.
25
'O seven ships conveyd me here,
And seven came oer the main;
And four o them shall stay wi you,
And three convey me hame.
26
'But when I gae hame to my father's house,
They will laugh me to scorn,
To come awa a wedded wife,
Gae hame a maid the morn.'
C
Motherwell's manuscript, p. 351, from the recitation of
Janet Holmes, an old woman in Kilbarchan, who derived the
ballad from her mother; July 18, 1825.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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