Ed de Moel

Child Ballads - Lyrics

Child 235
The Earl of Aboyne
Version E

Harris Manuscript, fol. 21 b; from the recitation of Mrs. Harris.

Narrative

1   'My maidens fair, yoursels prepare.'
2   You may weel knaw by her hair, wi the diamonds sae rare,
That the Earl of Aboyne was comin.
3   'My minstrels all, be at my call,
Haud a' your rooms a ringin,
. . . .
For the Earl of Aboyne is comin.'
4   'Tomorrow soud hae been my bonnie waddin-day,
If I had staid in London.'
5   She turned her aboot wi an angry look,
An sic an angry woman!
'Gin tomorrow soud hae been your bonnie waddin-day,
Gae back to your miss in Lunnon.'
6   For mony a day an year that lady lived in care,
An doctors wi her dealin,
Till just in a crack her very heart did brak,
An her letters went on to Lunnon.
7   There waur four-and-twenty o the noblest lords
That Lonnon could aford him,
A' clead in black frae the saidle to the hat,
To convey the corpse o Peggy Ewan.
8   'I'd rather hae lost a' the lands o Aboyne
Than lost my pretty Peggy Ewan.'

This page most recently updated on 22-Apr-2011, 18:45:59.
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