Kinloch Manuscripts, V, 403, in the handwriting of James
Chambers, as sung to his maternal grandmother, Janet Grieve,
seventy years before, by an old woman, a Miss Ann Gray, of
Neidpath Castle, Peeblesshire; January 1, 1829.
| 1 |
O I will sing to you a sang,
But oh my heart is sair!
The clerk's twa sons in Owsenford
Has to learn some unco lair. |
| 2 |
They hadna been in fair Parish
A twelvemonth an a day,
Till the clerk's twa sons o Owsenford
Wi the mayor's twa dauthrers lay. |
| 3 |
O word's gaen to the mighty mayor,
As he saild on the sea,
That the clerk's twa sons o Owsenford
Wi his twa daughters lay. |
| 4 |
'If they hae lain wi my twa daughters,
Meg an Marjorie,
The morn, or I taste meat or drink,
They shall be hangit hie.' |
| 5 |
O word's gaen to the clerk himself,
As he sat drinkin wine,
That his twa sons in fair Parish
Were bound in prison strong. |
| 6 |
Then up and spak the clerk's ladye,
And she spak powrfully:
'O tak with ye a purse of gold,
Or take with ye three,
And if ye canna get William,
Bring Andrew hame to me.'
* * * * * |
| 7 |
'O lye ye here for owsen, dear sons,
Or lie ye here for kye?
Or what is it that ye lie for,
Sae sair bound as ye lie?' |
| 8 |
'We lie not here for owsen, dear father,
Nor yet lie here for kye,
But it's for a little o dear bought love
Sae sair bound as we lie.' |
| 9 |
O he's gane to the mighty mayor,
And he spoke powerfully:
'Will ye grant me my twa sons' lives,
Either for gold or fee?
Or will ye be sae gude a man
As grant them baith to me?' |
| 10 |
'I'll no grant ye yere twa sons' lives,
Neither for gold or fee,
Nor will I be sae gude a man
As gie them back to thee;
Before the morn at twelve o'clock
Ye'll see them hangit hie.' |
| 11 |
Up an spak his twa daughters,
An they spak powrfully:
'Will ye grant us our twa loves' lives,
Either for gold or fee?
Or will ye be sae gude a man
As grant them baith to me.' |
| 12 |
'I'll no grant ye yere twa loves' lives,
Neither for gold or fee,
Nor will I be sae gude a man
As grant their lives to thee;
Before the morn at twelve o'clock
Ye'll see them hangit hie.' |
| 13 |
O he's taen out these proper youths,
And hangd them on a tree,
And he's bidden the clerk o Owsenford
Gang hame to his ladie. |
| 14 |
His lady sits on yon castle-wa,
Beholding dale an doun,
An there she saw her ain gude lord
Come walkin to the toun. |
| 15 |
'Ye're welcome, welcome, my ain gude lord,
Ye're welcome hame to me;
But where away are my twa sons?
Ye should hae brought them wi ye.' |
| 16 |
'It's I've putten them to a deeper lair,
An to a higher schule;
Yere ain twa sons ill no be here
Till the hallow days o Yule.' |
| 17 |
'O sorrow, sorrow come mak my bed,
An dool come lay me doon!
For I'll neither eat nor drink,
Nor set a fit on ground.' |
