Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 214.
| 1 |
'O are ye my father? Or are ye my mother?
Or are ye my brother John?
Or are ye James Herries, my first true-love,
Come back to Scotland again?' |
| 2 |
'I am not your father, I am not your mother,
Nor am I your brother John;
But I'm James Herries, your first true-love,
Come back to Scotland again.' |
| 3 |
'Awa, awa, ye former lovers,
Had far awa frae me!
For now I am another man's wife
Ye'll neer see joy o me.' |
| 4 |
'Had I kent that ere I came here,
I neer had come to thee;
For I might hae married the king's daughter,
Sae fain she woud had me. |
| 5 |
'I despised the crown o gold,
The yellow silk also,
And I am come to my true-love,
But with me she'll not go.' |
| 6 |
'My husband he is a carpenter,
Makes his bread on dry land,
And I hae born him a young son;
Wi you I will not gang.' |
| 7 |
'You must forsake your dear husband,
Your little young son also,
Wi me to sail the raging seas,
Where the stormy winds do blow.' |
| 8 |
'O what hae you to keep me wi,
If I should with you go,
If I'd forsake my dear husband,
My little young son also?' |
| 9 |
'See ye not yon seven pretty ships?
The eighth brought me to land,
With merchandize and mariners,
And wealth in every hand.' |
| 10 |
She turnd her round upon the shore
Her love's ships to behold;
Their topmasts and their mainyards
Were coverd oer wi gold. |
| 11 |
Then she's gane to her little young son,
And kissd him cheek and chin;
Sae has she to her sleeping husband,
And dune the same to him. |
| 12 |
'O sleep ye, wake ye, my husband?
I wish ye wake in time!
I woudna for ten thousand pounds
This night ye knew my mind.' |
| 13 |
She's drawn the slippers on her feet,
Were coverd oer wi gold,
Well lined within wi velvet fine,
To had her frae the cold. |
| 14 |
She hadna sailed upon the sea
A league but barely three
Till she minded on her dear husband,
Her little young son tee. |
| 15 |
'O gin I were at land again,
At land where I woud be,
The woman neer shoud bear the son
Shoud gar me sail the sea.' |
| 16 |
'O hold your tongue, my sprightly flower,
Let a' your mourning be;
I'll show you how the liles grow
On the banks o Italy.' |
| 17 |
She hadna sailed on the sea
A day but barely ane
Till the thoughts o grief came in her mind,
And she langd for to be hame. |
| 18 |
'O gentle death, come cut my breath,
I may be dead ere morn!
I may be buried in Scottish ground,
Where I was bred and born!' |
| 19 |
'O hold your tongue, my lily leesome thing,
Let a' your mourning be;
But for a while we'll stay at Rose Isle,
Then see a far countrie. |
| 20 |
Ye'se neer be buried in Scottish ground,
Nor land ye's nae mair see;
I brought you away to punish you
For the breaking your vows to me. |
| 21 |
'I said ye shoud see the lilies grow
On the banks o Italy;
But I'll let you see the fishes swim,
In the bottom o the sea.' |
| 22 |
He reached his hand to the topmast,
Made a' the sails gae down,
And in the twinkling o an ee
Baith ship and crew did drown. |
| 23 |
The fatal flight o this wretched maid
Did reach her ain countrie;
Her husband then distracted ran,
And this lament made he: |
| 24 |
'O wae be to the ship, the ship,
And wae be to the sea,
And wae be to the mariners
Took Jeanie Douglas frae me! |
| 25 |
'O bonny, bonny was my love,
A pleasure to behold;
The very hair o my love's head
Was like the threads o gold. |
| 26 |
'O bonny was her cheek, her cheek,
And bonny was her chin,
And bonny was the bride she was,
The day she was made mine!' |
