Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 96; from Jean Macqucen, Large.
| 1 |
Queen Mary had four serving-maids,
As braw as braw could be,
But ane o them has fa'n wi bairn,
And for it she maun die. |
| 2 |
But whan the babie it was born,
A troubled woman was she;
She rowed it up in a handkerchief,
And flang it in the sea. |
| 3 |
Out then spoke a bonnie wee burd,
And it spak sharp and keen:
'O what did ye do wi your wee babie,
Ye had in your arms yestreen?' |
| 4 |
'O I tyed it up in a napkin,
And flang it in the sea;
I bade it sink, I bade it soom,
'Twad get nae mair o me.' |
| 5 |
Out and spak King Henrie,
And an angry man was he:
'A' for the drowning o that wee babe
High hanged ye shall be.'
* * * * * |
| 6 |
'I'll no put on a goun o black,
Nor yet a goun o green,
But I'll put on a goun o gowd,
To glance in young men's een. |
| 7 |
'O gin ye meet my father or mother,
Ye may tell them frae me,
'Twas for the sake o a wee wee bairn
That I came here to die. |
| 8 |
'Yestreen four Maries made Queen Mary's bed,
This nicht there'll be but three,
A Mary Beaton, a Mary Seaton,
A Mary Carmichael, and me. |
| 9 |
'O what will my three brithers say,
When they come hame frae see,
When they see three locks o my yellow hair
Hinging under a gallows-tree!' |
