Communicated by Dr. Thomas Davidson, from his own
recollection; Aberdeenshire.
| 1 |
There was a shepherd's daughter,
Kept flocks on yonder hill,
And by there cam a courteous knight,
Wud fain and hae his will.
* * * * * |
| 2 |
'Some do ca me Jock,' he said,
'And some do ca me John,
But when I do ride i the king's high court,
Gulelmus is my name.'
* * * * * |
| 3 |
And when she came to the kinges court
She tirled at the pin,
And wha was there but the king himsel,
To lat this fair maid in! |
| 4 |
'Now Christ you save, my lord,' she said,
'Now Christ you save and see;
There is a knicht into your court
This day has robbed me. |
| 5 |
'He's na robbed me o my silken purse,
Nor o my white money,
But he's robbed me o my maidenheid,
The flower o my bodie.' |
| 6 |
'O gin he be a single man,
Weel married sall ye be,
But an he be a married man,
He's hang upon a tree.' |
| 7 |
Then he called up his merry men a',
By one, by two, and by three,
And William should a been the first,
But the hindmost man was he. |
| 8 |
And he cam hirplin on a stick,
And blin upon an ee,
But sighand said that gay ladie,
That same man robbed me.
* * * * * |
| 9 |
'Gin I had drunk the wan water,
When I did drink the wine,
A cairdman's daughter
Should never be a true-love o mine.' |
| 10 |
'Maybe I'm a cairdman's daughter,
And maybe I am nane;
But when ye did come to good green wood,
Ye sud hae latten me alane.' |
| 11 |
She set upon a milk-white steed,
An himsel on a dapple grey,
An she had as much lan in fair Scotlan
'S ye cud ride in a lang simmer's day. |
