P. 436, II, 14, III, 381 b. ‘Tell my mother I am married,’ etc.: so in
the beautiful Roumanian ‘Miorita,’ Alecsandri, p. 3.
438. #A b.# ‘The Two Brothers,’ Walks near Edinburgh, by Margaret
Warrender, 1890, p. 60. Given to Lady John Scott many years ago by
Campbell Riddell, brother of Sir James Riddell of Ardnamurchan.
1
There were two brothers in the north,
Lord William and Lord John,
And they would try a wrestling match,
So to the fields they’ve gone, gone, gone,
So to the fields they’ve gone.
2
They wrestled up, they wrestled down,
Till Lord John fell on the ground.
And a knife into Lord William’s pocket
Gave him a deadly wound.
3
‘Oh take me on your back, dear William,’ he said,
‘And carry me to the burnie clear,
And wash my wound sae deep and dark,
Maybe’t will bleed nae mair.’
4
He took him up upon his back,
An carried him to the burnie clear,
But aye the mair he washed his wound
It aye did bleed the mair.
5
‘Oh take me on your back, dear William,’ he said,
‘And carry me to the kirkyard fair,
And dig a grave sae deep and dark,
And lay my body there.’
6
‘But what shall I say to my father dear
When he says, Willie, what’s become of John?’
‘Oh tell him I am gone to Greenock town,
To buy him a puncheon of rum.’
7
‘And what shall I say to my sister dear
When she says, Willie, what’s become of John?’
‘Oh tell her I’ve gone to London town
To buy her a marriage-gown.’
8
‘But what shall I say to my grandmother dear
When she says, Willie, what’s become of John?’
‘Oh tell her I’m in the kirkyard dark,
And that I’m dead and gone.’