12^3. shinning.
* * * * *
X
‘The Queen’s Maries,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,”
No 91, Abbotsford.
1
There livd a lord in the West Country,
And he had daughters three;
The youngest o them’s to the queen’s court,
To learn some courtesy.
2
She hadna been at the queen’s court
A year but and a day
Till she has fa’n as big wi child,
As big as she coud gae.
3
She’s gane into the garden
To pu the sycamore tree,
And taen the bony bairn in her arms
And thrown it in the sea.
4
She rowd it in her apron
And threw it in the sea:
‘Gae sink or soom, my bony sweet babe,
Ye’ll never get mair o me.’
5
Then in an came Queen Mary,
Wi gowd rings on her hair:
‘O Mary mild, where is the child
That I heard greet sae sair?’
6
‘It wasna a babe, my royal liege,
Last night that troubled me,
But it was a fit o sair sickness,
And I was lyken to dee.’
7
‘O hold yere tongue, Mary Hamilton,
Sae loud as I hear ye lee!
For I’ll send you to Enbro town,
The verity to see.’
8
She wadna put on the ribbons o black,
Nor yet wad she the brown,
But she wad put on the ribbons o gowd,
To gae glittring through Enbro town.
9
As she rade up the Sands o Leith,
Riding on a white horse,
O little did she think that day
To die at Enbro Corss!
10
As she rade up the Cannongate,
She leugh loud laughters three,
And mony a lord and lady said,
‘Alas for that lady!’
11
‘Ye needna say Oh, ye needna cry Eh,
Alas for that lady!
Ye’ll neer see grace in a graceless face,
As little ye’ll see in me.’
12
When she came to the Netherbow Port,
She leugh loud laughters three,
But ere she came to the gallows-foot
The tear blinded her eie;
Saying, Tye a white napkin owr my face,
For that gibbet I downa see.
13
‘O hold yere hand, Lord Justice!
O hold it a little while!
I think I see my ain true-love
Come wandring mony a mile.
14
‘O have ye brought me ony o my gowd?
Or ony o my weel-won fee?
Or are ye come to see me hangd,
Upon this gallows-tree?’
15
‘O I hae brought ye nane o yere gowd,
Nor nane o yere weel-won fee,
But I am come to see ye hangd,
And hangit ye shall be.’
16
‘O all ye men and mariners,
That sail for wealth or fame,
Let never my father or mother get wit
But what I’m coming hame.
17
‘O all ye men and mariners,
That sail upon the sea,
Let never my father or mother get wit
The death that I maun dee.
18
‘Yestreen the queen had four Maries,
The night she’ll hae but three;
There was Mary Seaton, and Mary Beaton,
And Mary Carmichael, and me.’
* * * * *
Y
‘The Queen’s Marys,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,”
No 144, Abbotsford.
1
‘Yestreen the queen had four Marys,
The night she’ll hae but three;
She had Mary Beaton, and Mary Seaton,
And Mary Carmichael, and me.
2
‘My feather was the Duke of York,
My mother a gay lady,
And I mysell a bonnie young may,
And the king fell in love we me.
3
‘The king’s kisses they were so sweet,
And his wine it was so strong,
That I became a mother
Before fifteen years old.’
4
‘O tell the truth now, Mary,
And sett this matter right;
What hae ye made o the babey
Was greeting yesternight?’
5
‘O I will tell you, madam the queen,
I winna tell a lie;
I put it in a bottomless boat
And bad it sail the sea.’
6
‘Ye lie, ye lie now, Mary,
Sae loud’s I hear you lie!
You wasnae out o the palace,
So that coud never be.’
7
‘Weel I will tell you, madam,
Though it should gar me weep;
I stabbd it we my little pen-knife,
And bad it take a sleep.’
8
When she came up the Netherbow,
She geed loud laughters three;
But when she came out o the Parliament Close
The tear blinded her ee.
9
‘O little does my feather ken
The death I am to die,
Or muckel wad be the red, red gould
Wad be payed doun for me.
10
‘O little does my mother think
The death that I am to die,
Or monie wad be the saut, saut tears
That she wad shed for me.
11
‘O never lett my brothers ken
The death that I am to die,
For muckel wad be the red, red blood
That wad be shed for me.
12
‘Aft hae I washd the king’s bonnie face,
Kaimd doun his yellow hair,
And this is a’ the reward he’s geen me,
The gallows to be my share.’
* * * * *
Z
‘The Queen’s Marie,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,”
No 90 a, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of John Leyden.
1
‘Buss ye, bonny Marie Hamilton,
Buss and gae wi me,
For ye maun gae to Edinborough,
A great wedding to see.’
2
‘Ride hooly, hooly, gentlemen,
Ride hooly now wi me,
For never, I’m sure, a wearier bride
Rode in your cumpany.’
3
Little wist Marie Hamilton,
When she rode on the brown,
That she was gawn to Edinborough,
And a’ to be put down.
4
When she came to the Council stairs,
She ga loud laughters three;
But or that she came down again
She was condemmd to dee.
5
‘O ye mariners, mariners, mariners,
When ye sail oer the faem,
Let never my father nor mother to wit
But I’m just coming hame.
6
‘Let never my father nor mother to wit,
Nor my bauld brether[en] three,
Or meckle wad be the red, red gowd
This day be gien for me.
7
‘Let never my father or mother to wit,
Nor my bauld brethren three,
Or meckle war the red, red blude
This day wad fa for me.’