Scott's Minstrelsy, II, 117, ed. 1802. Ed. 1830, III, 263.
Partly from the recitation of Miss Christian Rutherford.
| 1 |
Cospatrick has sent oer the faem,
Cospatrick brought his ladye hame. |
| 2 |
And fourscore ships have come her wi,
The ladye by the grenewood tree. |
| 3 |
There were twal and twal wi baken bread,
And twal and twal wi gowd sae reid: |
| 4 |
And twal and twal wi bouted flour,
And twal and twal wi the paramour. |
| 5 |
Sweet Willy was a widow's son,
And at her stirrup he did run. |
| 6 |
And she was clad in the finest pall,
But aye she let the tears down fall. |
| 7 |
'O is your saddle set awrye?
Or rides your steed for you owre high? |
| 8 |
'Or are you mourning in your tide
That you suld be Cospatrick's bride?' |
| 9 |
'I am not mourning at this tide
That I suld be Cospatrick's bride; |
| 10 |
'But I am sorrowing in my mood
That I suld leave my mother good. |
| 11 |
'But, gentle boy, come tell to me,
What is the custom of thy countrye?' |
| 12 |
'The custom thereof, my dame,' he says,
'Will ill a gentle laydye please. |
| 13 |
'Seven king's daughters has our lord wedded,
And seven king's daughters has our lord bedded; |
| 14 |
'But he's cutted their breasts frae their breast bane,
And sent them mourning hame again. |
| 15 |
'Yet, gin you're sure that you're a maid,
Ye may gae safely to his bed; |
| 16 |
'But gif o that ye be na sure,
Then hire some damsell o your bour.' |
| 17 |
The ladye's calld her bour-maiden,
That waiting was into her train; |
| 18 |
'Five thousand merks I will gie thee,
To sleep this night with my lord for me.' |
| 19 |
When bells were rung, and mass was sayne,
And a' men unto bed were gane, |
| 20 |
Cospatrick and the bonny maid,
Into ae chamber they were laid. |
| 21 |
'Now, speak to me, blankets, and speak to me, bed,
And speak, thou sheet, inchanted web; |
| 22 |
'And speak up, my bonny brown sword, that winna lie,
Is this a true maiden that lies by me?' |
| 23 |
'It is not a maid that you hae wedded,
But it is a maid that you hae bedded. |
| 24 |
'It is a liel maiden that lies by thee,
But not the maiden that it should be.' |
| 25 |
O wrathfully he left the bed,
And wrathfully his claiths on did. |
| 26 |
And he has taen him thro the ha,
And on his mother he did ca. |
| 27 |
'I am the most unhappy man
That ever was in christen land! |
| 28 |
'I courted a maiden meik and mild,
And I hae gotten naething but a woman wi child.' |
| 29 |
'O stay, my son, into this ha,
And sport ye wi your merrymen a'; |
| 30 |
'And I will to the secret bour,
To see how it fares wi your paramour.' |
| 31 |
The carline she was stark and sture;
She aff the hinges dang the dure. |
| 32 |
'O is your bairn to laird or loun?
Or is it to your father's groom?' |
| 33 |
'O hear me, mother, on my knee,
Till my sad story I tell to thee. |
| 34 |
'O we were sisters, sisters seven,
We were the fairest under heaven. |
| 35 |
'It fell on a summer's afternoon,
When a' our toilsome task was done, |
| 36 |
'We cast the kavils us amang,
To see which suld to the grene-wood gang. |
| 37 |
'O hon, alas! for I was youngest,
And aye my wierd it was the hardest. |
| 38 |
'The kavil it on me did fa,
Whilk was the cause of a' my woe. |
| 39 |
'For to the grene-wood I maun gae,
To pu the red rose and the slae; |
| 40 |
'To pu the red rose and the thyme,
To deck my mother's bour and mine. |
| 41 |
'I hadna pu'd a flower but ane,
When by there came a gallant hende, |
| 42 |
'Wi high-colld hose and laigh-colld shoon,
And he seemd to be sum king's son. |
| 43 |
'And be I maid or be I nae,
He kept me there till the close o day. |
| 44 |
'And be I maid or be I nane,
He kept me there till the day was done. |
| 45 |
'He gae me a lock o his yellow hair,
And bade me keep it ever mair. |
| 46 |
'He gae me a carknet o bonny beads,
And bade me keep it against my needs. |
| 47 |
'He gae to me a gay gold ring,
And bade me keep it abune a' thing.' |
| 48 |
'What did ye wi the tokens rare
That ye gat frae theat gallant there?' |
| 49 |
'O bring that coffer unto me,
And a' the tokens ye sall see.' |
| 50 |
'Now stay, daughter, your bour within,
While I gae parley wi my son.' |
| 51 |
O she has taen her thro the ha,
And on her son began to ca. |
| 52 |
'What did you wi the bonny beads
I bade ye keep against your needs? |
| 53 |
'What did you wi the gay gowd ring
I bade ye keep abune a' thing?' |
| 54 |
'I gae them a' to a ladye gay
I met in grene-wood on a day. |
| 55 |
'But I wad gie a' my halls and tours,
I had that ladye within my bours. |
| 56 |
'But I wad gie my very life,
I had that ladye to my wife.' |
| 57 |
'Now keep, my son, your ha's and tours;
Ye have that bright burd in your bours. |
| 58 |
'And keep, my son, your very life;
Ye have that ladye to your wife.' |
| 59 |
Now or a month was cum and gane,
The ladye bore a bonny son. |
| 60 |
And 'twas weel written on his breast-bane,
'Cospatrick is my father's name.' |
| 61 |
'O rowe my ladye in satin and silk,
And wash my son in the morning milk.' |
