Herd's Manuscript, I, 213; stanzas 7-10, II, 219.
| 1 |
A' the boys of merry Linkim
War playing at the ba,
An up it stands him sweet Sir Hugh,
The flower amang them a'. |
| 2 |
He keppit the ba than wi his foot,
And catchd it wi his knee,
And even in at the Jew's window
He gart the bonny ba flee. |
| 3 |
'Cast out the ba to me, fair maid,
Cast out the ba to me!'
'Ah never a bit of it,' she says,
'Till ye come up to me. |
| 4 |
'Come up, sweet Hugh, come up, dear Hugh,
Come up and get the ba'!'
'I winna come up, I mayna come [up],
Without my bonny boys a'.' |
| 5 |
'Come up, sweet Hugh, come up, dear Hugh,
Come up and speak to me!'
'I mayna come up, I winna come up,
Without my bonny boys three.' |
| 6 |
She's taen her to the Jew's garden,
Where the grass grew lang and green,
She's pu'd an apple reid and white,
To wyle the bonny boy in. |
| 7 |
She's wyl'd him in thro ae chamber,
She's wyl'd him in thro twa,
She's wyl'd him till her ain chamber,
The flower out owr them a'. |
| 8 |
She's laid him on a dressin-board,
Whare she did often dine;
She stack a penknife to his heart,
And dressd him like a swine. |
| 9 |
She rowd him in a cake of lead,
Bade him lie still and sleep;
She threw him i the Jew's draw-well,
'Twas fifty fathom deep. |
| 10 |
Whan bells was rung, and mass was sung,
An a' man bound to bed,
Every lady got hame her son,
But sweet Sir Hugh was dead. |
