Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 267; from the recitation of Miss
Nancy Hamilton and Mrs. Gentles, January, 1825.
| 1 |
There lives a knight into the north,
And he had daughters three;
The ane of them was a barber's wife,
The other a gay ladie. |
| 2 |
And the youngest of them is to Scotland gane,
The queen's Mary to be,
And a' that they could say or do,
Forbidden she woudna be. |
| 3 |
The prince's bed it was sae saft,
The spices they were sae fine,
That out of it she couldna lye
While she was scarse fifteen. |
| 4 |
She's gane to the garden gay
To pu of the savin tree;
But for a' that she could say or do,
The babie it would not die. |
| 5 |
She's rowed it in her handkerchief,
She threw it in the sea;
Says, Sink ye, swim ye, my bonnie babe!
For ye'll get nae mair of me. |
| 6 |
Queen Mary came tripping down the stair,
Wi the gold strings in her hair:
'O whare's the little babie,' she says,
'That I heard greet sae sair?' |
| 7 |
'O hold your tongue, Queen Mary, my dame,
Let all those words go free!
It was mysell wi a fit o the sair colic,
I was sick just like to die.' |
| 8 |
'O hold your tongue, Mary Hamilton,
Let all those words go free!
O where is the little babie
That I heard weep by thee?' |
| 9 |
'I rowed it in my handkerchief,
And threw it in the sea;
I bade it sink, I bade it swim,
It would get nae mair o me.' |
| 10 |
'O wae be to thee, Marie Hamilton,
And an ill deid may you die!
For if ye had saved the babie's life
It might hae been an honour to thee. |
| 11 |
'Busk ye, busk ye, Marie Hamilton,
O busk ye to be a bride!
For I am going to Edinburgh toun,
Your gay wedding to bide. |
| 12 |
'You must not put on your robes of black,
Nor yet your robes of brown;
But you must put on your yellow gold stuffs,
To shine thro Edinburgh town.' |
| 13 |
'I will not put on my robes of black,
Nor yet my robes of brown;
But I will put on my yellow gold stuffs,
To shine thro Edinburgh town,' |
| 14 |
As she went up the Parliament Close,
A riding on her horse,
There she saw many a cobler's lady,
Sat greeting at the cross. |
| 15 |
'O what means a' this greeting?
I'm sure its nae for me;
For I'm come this day to Edinburgh town
Weel wedded for to be.' |
| 16 |
When she gaed up the Parliament stair,
She gied loud lauchters three;
But ere that she came down again,
She was condemned to die. |
| 17 |
'O little did my mother think,
The day she prinned my gown,
That I was to come sae far frae hame
To be hangid in Edinburgh town. |
| 18 |
'O what'll my poor father think,
As he comes thro the town,
To see the face of his Molly fair
Hanging on the gallows-pin! |
| 19 |
'Here's a health to the marineres,
That plough the raging main!
Let neither my mother nor father know
But I'm coming hame again! |
| 20 |
'Here's a health to the sailors,
That sail upon the sea!
Let neither my mother nor father ken
That I came here to die! |
| 21 |
'Yestreen the queen had four Maries,
This night she'll hae but three;
There was Mary Beaton, and Mary Seaton,
And Mary Carmichael, and me.' |
| 22 |
'O hald your tongue, Mary Hamilton,
Let all those words go free!
This night eer ye be hanged
Ye shall gang hame wi me.' |
| 23 |
'O hald your tongue, Queen Mary, my dame,
Let all those words go free!
For since I have come to Edinburgh toun,
It's hanged I shall be,
And it shall neer be said that in your court
I was condemned to die.' |
