Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 97.
| 1 |
'Where have you been, my long lost lover,
This seven long years and more?'
'I've been seeking gold for thee, my love,
And riches of great store. |
| 2 |
'Now I'm come for the vows you promised me,
You promised me long ago;'
'My former vows you must forgive,
For I'm a wedded wife.' |
| 3 |
'I might have been married to a king's daughter,
Far, far ayont the sea;
But I refused the crown of gold,
And it's all for the love of thee.' |
| 4 |
'If you might have married a king's daughter,
Yourself you have to blame;
For I'm married to a ship's-carpenter,
And to him I have a son. |
| 5 |
'Have you any place to put me in,
If I with you should gang?'
'I've seven brave ships upon the sea,
All laden to the brim. |
| 6 |
'I'll build my love a bridge of steel,
All for to help her oer;
Likewise webs of silk down by her side,
To keep my love from the cold.' |
| 7 |
She took her eldest son into her arms,
And sweetly did him kiss:
'My blessing go with you, and your father too,
For little does he know of this.' |
| 8 |
As they were walking up the street,
Most beautiful for to Behold,
He cast a glamour oer her face,
And it shone like the brightest gold. |
| 9 |
As they were walking along the sea-side,
Where his gallant ship lay in,
So ready was the chair of gold
To welcome this lady in. |
| 10 |
They had not sailed a league, a league,
A league but scarsely three,
Till altered grew his countenance,
And raging grew the sea. |
| 11 |
When they came to yon sea-side,
She set her down to rest;
It's then she spied his cloven foot,
Most bitterly she wept. |
| 12 |
'O is it for gold that you do weep?
Or is it for fear?
Or is it for the man you left behind
When that you did come here?' |
| 13 |
'It is not for gold that I do weep,
O no, nor yet for fear;
But it is for the man I left behind
When that I did come here. |
| 14 |
'O what a bright, bright hill is yon,
That shines so clear to see?'
'O it is the hill of heaven,' he said
'Where you shall never be.' |
| 15 |
'O what a black, dark hill is yon,
That looks so dark to me?'
'O it is the hill of hell,' he said,
'Where you and I shall be. |
| 16 |
'Would you wish to see the fishes swim
In the bottom of the sea,
Or wish to see the leaves grow green
On the banks of Italy?' |
| 17 |
'I hope I'll never see the fishes swim
On the bottom of the sea,
But I hope to see the leaves grow green
On the banks of Italy.' |
| 18 |
He took her up to the topmast high,
To see what she could see;
He sunk the ship in a flash of fire,
To the bottom of the sea. |
