Kinloch Manuscripts, V, S55, in the handwriting of Mr. Kinloch.
| 1 |
There was a shepherd's dochter
Kept sheep upon yon hill,
And by cam a gay braw gentleman,
And wad hae had his will. |
| 2 |
He took her by the milk-white hand,
And laid her on the ground,
And whan he got his will o her
He lift her up again. |
| 3 |
'O syne ye've got your will o me,
Your will o me ye've taen,
'Tis all I ask o you, kind sir,
Is to tell to me your name.' |
| 4 |
'Sometimes they call me Jack,' he said,
'Sometimes they call me John,
But whan I am in the king's court,
My name is Wilfu Will.' |
| 5 |
Then he loup on his milk-white steed,
And straught away he rade,
And she did kilt her petticoats,
And after him she gaed. |
| 6 |
He never was sae kind as say,
O lassie, will ye ride?
Nor ever had she the courage to say,
O laddie, will ye bide! |
| 7 |
Until they cam to a wan water,
Which was called Clyde,
And then he turned about his horse,
Said, Lassie, will ye ride? |
| 8 |
'I learned it in my father's hall,
I learned it for my weel,
That whan I come to deep water,
I can swim as it were an eel. |
| 9 |
'I learned it in my mother's bower,
I learned it for my better,
That whan I come to broad water,
I can swim like ony otter.' |
| 10 |
He plunged his steed into the ford,
And straught way thro he rade,
And she set in her lilly feet,
And thro the water wade. |
| 11 |
And whan she cam to the king's court,
She tirled on the pin,
And wha sae ready's the king himsel
To let the fair maid in? |
| 12 |
'What is your will wi me, fair maid?
What is your will wi me?'
'There is a man into your court
This day has robbed me.' |
| 13 |
'O has he taen your gold,' he said,
'Or has he taen your fee?
Or has he stown your maidenhead,
The flower of your bodye?' |
| 14 |
'He has na taen my gold, kind sir,
Nor as little has he taen my fee,
But he has taen my maidenhead,
The flower of my bodye.' |
| 15 |
'O gif he be a married man,
High hangit shall he be,
But gif he be a bachelor,
His body I'll grant thee.' |
| 16 |
'Sometimes they call him Jack,' she said,
'Sometimes they call him John,
But whan he's in the king's court,
His name is Sweet William.' |
| 17 |
'There's not a William in a' my court,
Never a one but three,
And one of them is the Queen's brother;
I wad laugh gif it war he.' |
| 18 |
The king called on his merry men,
By thirty and by three;
Sweet Willie, wha used to be foremost man,
Was the hindmost a' but three. |
| 19 |
O he cam cripple, and he cam blind,
Cam twa-fald oer a tree:
'O be he cripple, or be he blind,
This very same man is he.' |
| 20 |
'O whether will ye marry the bonny may,
Or hang on the gallows-tree?'
'O I will rather marry the bonny may,
Afore that I do die.' |
| 21 |
But he took out a purse of gold,
Weel locked in a glove:
'O tak ye that, my bonny may,
And seek anither love.' |
| 22 |
'O I will hae none o your gold,' she says,
'Nor as little ony of your fee,
But I will hae your ain body,
The king has granted me.' |
| 23 |
O he took out a purse of gold,
A purse of gold and store;
'O tak ye that, fair may,' he said,
'Frae me ye'll neer get mair.' |
| 24 |
'O haud your tongue, young man,' she says,
'And I pray you let me be;
For I will hae your ain body,
The king has granted me.' |
| 25 |
He mounted her on a bonny bay horse,
Himsel on the silver grey;
He drew his bonnet out oer his een,
He whipt and rade away. |
| 26 |
O whan they cam to yon nettle bush,
The nettles they war spread:
'O an my mither war but here,' she says,
'These nettles she wad sued.' |
| 27 |
'O an I had drank the wan water
Whan I did drink the wine,
That eer a shepherd's dochter
Should hae been a love o mine!' |
| 28 |
'O may be I'm a shepherd's dochter,
And may be I am nane;
But you might hae ridden on your ways,
And hae let me alane.' |
| 29 |
O whan they cam unto yon mill,
She heard the mill clap:
. . . . .
. . . . . |
| 30 |
'Clap on, clap on, thou bonny mill,
Weel may thou, I say,
For mony a time thou's filled my pock
Wi baith oat-meal and grey.' |
| 31 |
'O an I had drank the wan water
Whan I did drink the wine,
That eer a shepherd's dochter
Should hae been a love o mine!' |
| 32 |
'O may be I'm a shepherd's dochter,
And may be I am nane;
But you might hae ridden on your ways,
And hae let me alane. |
| 33 |
'But yet I think a fitter match
Could scarcely gang thegither
Than the King of France's auld dochter
And the Queen of Scotland's brither.' |
