Tales of the Olden

Time

She sends you the heart within her breast;
And what would you have mair?
And at the fourth kirk o' fair Scotland,
She bids you wait for her there."

"Come hither, all my merry young men!
And drink the good red wine;
For we must on towards fair England
To free my love frae pine."

The funeral came into fair Scotland,
And they gart the bells be rung;
And when it came to the second kirk,
They gart the mass be sung.

And when it came to the third kirk,
They dealt gold for her sake;
And when it came to the fourth kirk,
Her love was waiting thereat.

At the fourth kirk in fair Scotland
Stood spearmen in a row;

And up and started her ain true love,
The chieftain over them a'.

"Set down, set down the bier," he says,
"Till I look upon the dead;

The last time that I saw her face,

Its color was warm and red."

He stripped the sheet from aff her face

A little below the chin;

The lady then she open'd her eyes,

And looked full on him.

"O give me a shive o' your bread, love,
O give me a cup o' your wine!
Long have I fasted for your sake,

And now I fain would dine.

"Gae hame, gae hame, my seven brothers,
Gae hame and blaw the horn!

And ye may say that ye sought my skaith,
And that I hae gi'en you
the scorn.

"I cam' na here to bonny Scotland
To lie down in the clay;

But I cam' here to bonny Scotland
To wear the silks sae gay!

"I cam' na here to bonny Scotland
Amang the dead to rest;

But I cam' here to bonny Scotland
To the man that I lo'e best!"

OLD BALLAD

Tales

of the

Olden

Time

Tales of the Olden

Time

Earl Mar's Daughter

It was intill a pleasant time,
Upon a simmer's day,

The noble Earl of Mar's daughter

Went forth to sport and play.

And as she played and sported
Below a green aik tree,
There she saw a sprightly doo
Set on a branch sae hie.

And she had nae these words weel spoke,
Nor yet these words weel said,
Till Coo-my-doo flew frae the branch,
And lighted on her head.

Then she has brought this pretty bird
Hame to her bower and ha',

And made him shine as fair a bird

When day was gane, and night was come,

About the evening-tide,

This lady spied a bonny youth

Stand straight up by her side.

"Now whence come ye, young man,” she said,

"To put me into fear?

My door was bolted right secure,

66

And what way cam' ye here?"

"O haud your tongue, my lady fair,

Lat a' your folly be;

Mind ye not o' your turtle-doo

Ye coax'd from aff the tree?"

"O wha are ye, young man?" she said,

"My mither is a queen," he says, Likewise of magic skill;

"Twas she that turned me in a doo, To fly where'er I will.

"And it was but this verra day

That I cam' ower the sea:

I loved you at a single look;
With you I'll live and dee."

Tales

of the

Olden

Time

Tales of the Olden

Time

"O Coo-my-doo, my love sae true,
Nae mair frae me ye'se gae."
"That's never my intent, my love;
As ye said, it shall be sae."

There he has lived in bower wi' her,
For six lang years and ane;

Till sax young sons to him she bare,
And the seventh she's brought hame.

But aye, as soon's a child was born,
He carried them away,

And brought them to his mither's care,
As fast as he could fly.

Thus he has stay'd in bower wi' her
For seven lang years and mair;
Till there cam' a lord o' hie renown
To court that lady fair.

But still his proffer she refused,
And a' his presents too;
Says, "I'm content to live alane
Wi' my bird Coo-my-doo!"

Her father sware an angry oath,
He sware it wi' ill-will:
"To-morrow, ere I eat or drink,
That bird I'll surely kill."