“Taken down from the recitation of an idiot boy in Wishaw;”
Kinloch’s Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 170.
1
‘I am gaing awa, Jeanie,
I am gaing awa;
I am gaing ayont the saut seas,
I’m gaing sae far awa.’
2
‘What will ye buy to me, Jamie?
What will ye buy to me?’
‘I’ll buy to you a silken plaid,
And send it wi vanitie.’
3
‘That’s na love at a’, Jamie,
That’s na love at a’;
All I want is love for love,
And that’s the best ava.
4
‘Whan will ye marry me, Jamie?
Whan will ye marry me?
Will ye tak me to your countrie,
Or will ye marry me?’
5
‘How can I marry thee, Jeanie?
How can I marry thee,
Whan I’ve a wife and bairns three?
Twa wad na weill agree.’
6
‘Wae be to your fause tongue, Jamie,
Wae be to your fause tongue;
Ye promised for to marry me,
And has a wife at hame!
7
‘But if your wife wad dee, Jamie,
And sae your bairns three,
Wad ye tak me to your countrie,
Or wad ye marry me?
8
‘But sin they’re all alive, Jamie,
But sin they’re all alive,
We’ll tak a glass in ilka hand,
And drink, Weill may they thrive!’
9
‘If my wife wad dee, Jeanie,
And sae my bairns three,
I wad tak ye to my ain countrie,
And married we wad be.’
10
‘O an your head war sair, Jamie,
O an your head war sair,
I’d tak the napkin frae my neck
And tie doun your yellow hair.’
11
‘I hae na wife at a’, Jeanie,
I hae na wife at a’;
I hae neither wife nor bairns three;
I said it to try thee.’
12
‘Licht are ye to loup, Jamie,
Licht are ye to loup;
Licht are ye to loup the dyke,
Whan I maun wale a slap.’
13
‘Licht am I to loup, Jeanie,
Licht am I to loup;
But the hiest dyke that we come to
I’ll turn and tak you up.
14
‘Blair in Athol is mine, Jeanie,
Blair in Athol is mine;
Bonnie Dunkel is whare I dwell,
And the boats o Garry’s mine.
15
‘Huntingtower is mine, Jeanie,
Huntingtower is mine,
Huntingtower, and bonnie Belford,
And a’ Balquhither’s mine.’
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