Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 275, ed. 1803.
Communicated "by Mr. Hamilton, music-seller, Edinburgh,
with whose mother it had been a favorite.
| 1 |
'Twas on a night, an evening bright,
When the dew began to fa,
Lady Margaret was walking up and down,
Looking oer her castle wa. |
| 2 |
She looked east and she looked west,
To see what she could spy,
When a gallant knight came in her sight,
And to the gate drew nigh. |
| 3 |
'You seem to be no gentleman,
You wear your boots so wide;
But you seem to be some cunning hunter,
You wear the horn so syde.' |
| 4 |
'I am no cunning hunter,' he said,
'Nor neer intend to be;
But I am come to this castle
To seek the love of thee.
And if you do not grant me love,
This night for thee I'll die.' |
| 5 |
'If you should die for me, sir knight,
There's few for you will meane;
For mony a better has died for me,
Whose graves are growing green. |
| 6 |
['But ye maun read my riddle,' she said,
'And answer my questions three;
And but ye read them right,' she said,
'Gae stretch ye out and die.] |
| 7 |
'Now what is the flower, the ae first flower,
Springs either on moor or dale?
And what is the bird, the bonnie bonnie bird,
Sings on the evening gale?' |
| 8 |
'The primrose is the ae first flower
Springs either on moor or dale,
And the thristlecock is the bonniest bird
Sings on the evening gale.' |
| 9 |
['But what's the little coin,' she said,
'Wald buy my castle bound?
And what's the little boat,' she said,
'Can sail the world all round?'] |
| 10 |
'O hey, how mony small pennies
Make thrice three thousand pound?
Or hey, how mony salt fishes
Swim a' the salt sea round?' |
| 11 |
'I think you maun be my match,' she said,
'My match and something mair;
You are the first eer got the grant
Of love frae my father's heir. |
| 12 |
'My father was lord of nine castles,
My mother lady of three;
My father was lord of nine castles,
And there's nane to heir but me. |
| 13 |
'And round about a' thae castles
You may baith plow and saw,
And on the fifteenth day of May
The meadows they will maw.' |
| 14 |
'O hald your tongue, Lady Margaret,' he said,
'For loud I hear you lie;
Your father was lord of nine castles,
Your mother was lady of three;
Your father was lord of nine castles,
But ye fa heir to but three. |
| 15 |
'And round about a' thae castles
You may baith plow and saw,
But on the fifteenth day of May
The meadows will not maw. |
| 16 |
'I am your brother Willie,' he said,
'I trow ye ken na me;
I came to humble your haughty heart,
Has gard sae mony die.' |
| 17 |
'If ye be my brother Willie,' she said,
'As I trow weel ye be,
This night I'll neither eat nor drink,
But gae alang wi thee.' |
| 18 |
'O hold your tongue, Lady Margaret,' he said,
'Again I hear you lie;
For ye've unwashen hands and ye've unwashen feet,
To gae to clay wi me. |
| 19 |
'For the wee worms are my bedfellows,
And cauld clay is my sheets,
And when the stormy winds do blow,
My body lies and sleeps.' |
