Ed de Moel

Child Ballads - Lyrics

Child 204
Jamie Douglas
Version I

Motherwell'a Manuscript, p. 500; from Mrs. Notman.

Narrative

1   'O waly, waly up yon bank!
And waly, waly down yon brae!
And waly, waly by yon burn-bank,
Where me and my lord wont to gae!
2   'A gentleman of good account,
A friend of mine, came to visit me,
And Blackly whispered in my lord's ears
He was too long in chamber with me.
3   'When my father came to hear 't,
I wot an angry man was he;
He sent five score of his soldiers bright
To take me safe to my own countrie.
4   'Up in the mornin when I arose,
My bonnie palace for to lea,
And when I came to my lord's door,
The neer a word he would speak to me.
5   'Come down, come down, O Jamie Douglas,
And drink the Orange wine with me;
I'll set thee in a chair of gold,
That neer a penny it cost thee.'
6   'When sea and sand turns foreign land,
And mussels grow on every tree,
When cockle-shells turn silver bells,
I'll drink the Orange wine with thee.'
7   'Wae be to you, Blackly,' she said,
'Aye and an ill death may you die!
You are the first, and I hope the last,
That eer made my lord lichtly me.'
8   'Fare ye weel then, Jamie Douglas!
I value you as little as you do me;
The Earl of Mar is my father dear,
And I soon will see my own countrie.
9   'Ye thought that I was like yoursell,
And loving each ane I did see;
But here I swear, by the day I die,
I never loved a man but thee.
10   'Fare ye weel, my servants all!
And you, my bonny children three!
God grant your father grace to be kind
Till I see you safe in my own countrie.'
11   'As I came into Edinburgh toune,
With trumpets sounding my father met me;
But no mirth nor musick sounds in my ear,
Since the Earl of March has forsaken me.'
12   'O hold your tongue, my daughter dear,
And of your weeping let abee;
I'll send a bill of divorce to the Earl of March,
And get a better lord for thee.'
13   'Hold your tongue, my father dear,
And of your folly let abee;
No other lord shall lye in my arms,
Since the Earl of March has forsaken me.
14   'An I had known what I know now,
I'd never crossed the water o Tay,
But stayed still at Atholl's gates;
He would have made me his lady gay.'
15   When she came to her father's lands,
The tenants a' came her to see;
Never a word she could speak to them,
But the buttons off her clothes did flee.
16   'The linnet is a bonnie bird,
And aften flees far frae its nest;
So all the warld may plainly see
They're far awa that I luve best.'

This page most recently updated on 06-Mar-2011, 16:43:37.
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