| 1 |
O heard ye of a bloody knight,
Lived in the south country?
For he has betrayed eight ladies fair
And drowned them in the sea. |
| 2 |
Then next he went to May Collin,
She was her father's heir,
The greatest beauty in the land,
I solemnly declare. |
| 3 |
'I am a knight of wealth and might,
Of townlands twenty-three;
And you'll be lady of them all,
If you will go with me.' |
| 4 |
'Excuse me, then, Sir John,' she says;
'To wed I am too young;
Without I have my parents' leave,
With you I darena gang.' |
| 5 |
'Your parents' leave you soon shall have,
In that they will agree;
For I have made a solemn vow
This night you'll go with me.' |
| 6 |
From below his arm he pulled a charm,
And stuck it in her sleeve,
And he has made her go with him,
Without her parents' leave. |
| 7 |
Of gold and silver she has got
With her twelve hundred pound,
And the swiftest steed her father had
She has taen to ride upon. |
| 8 |
So privily they went along,
They made no stop or stay,
Till they came to the fatal place
That they call Bunion Bay. |
| 9 |
It being in a lonely place,
And no house there was nigh,
The fatal rocks were long and steep,
And none could hear her cry. |
| 10 |
'Light down,' he said, 'Fair May Collin,
Light down and speak with me,
For here I've drowned eight ladies fair,
And the ninth one you shall be.' |
| 11 |
'Is this your bowers and lofty towers,
So beautiful and gay?
Or is it for my gold,' she said,
'You take my life away?' |
| 12 |
'Strip off,' he says, 'Thy jewels fine,
So costly and so brave,
For they are too costly and too fine
To throw in the sea wave.' |
| 13 |
'Take all I have my life to save,
O good Sir John, I pray;
Let it neer be said you killed a maid
Upon her wedding day.' |
| 14 |
'Strip off,' he says, 'Thy Holland smock,
That's bordered with the lawn,
For it's too costly and too fine
To rot in the sea sand.' |
| 15 |
'O turn about, Sir John,' she said,
'Your back about to me,
For it never was comely for a man
A naked woman to see.' |
| 16 |
But as he turned him round about,
She threw him in the sea,
Saying, 'Lie you there, you false Sir John,
Where you thought to lay me. |
| 17 |
'O lie you there, you traitor false,
Where you thought to lay me,
For though you stripped me to the skin,
Your clothes you've got with thee.' |
| 18 |
Her jewels fine she did put on,
So costly, rich and brave,
And then with speed she mounts his steed,
So well she did behave. |
| 19 |
That lady fair being void of fear,
Her steed being swift and free,
And she has reached her father's gate
Before the clock struck three. |
| 20 |
Then first she called the stable groom,
He was her waiting man;
Soon as he heard his lady's voice
He stood with cap in hand. |
| 21 |
'Where have you been, fair May Collin?
Who owns this dapple grey?'
'It is a found one,' she replied,
'That I got on the way.' |
| 22 |
Then out bespoke the wily parrot
Unto fair May Collin:
'What have you done with false Sir John,
That went with you yestreen?' |
| 23 |
'O hold your tongue, my pretty parrot,
And talk no more to me,
And where you had a meal a day
O now you shall have three.' |
| 24 |
Then up bespoke her father dear,
From his chamber where he lay:
'What aileth thee, my pretty Poll,
That you chat so long or day?' |
| 25 |
The cat she came to my cage-door,
The thief I could not see,
And I called to fair May Collin,
To take the cat from me.' |
| 26 |
Then first she told her father dear
The deed that she had done,
And next she told her mother dear
Concerning false Sir John. |
| 27 |
'If this be true, fair May Collin,
That you have told to me,
Before I either eat or drink
This false Sir John I'll see.' |
| 28 |
Away they went with one consent,
At dawning of the day,
Until they came to Carline Sands,
And there his body lay. |
| 29 |
His body tall, by that great fall,
By the waves tossed to and fro,
The diamond ring that he had on
Was broke in pieces two. |
| 30 |
And they have taken up his corpse
To yonder pleasant green,
And there they have buried false Sir John,
For fear he should be seen. |
