190. Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead.
P. 4. I am now able to give the unprinted copy, referred
to in the Border Minstrelsy, in which the Elliots
take the place assigned in the other version to the
Scotts. This I do by the assistance of Mr Macmath,
the present possessor of the manuscript, which was formerly
among the papers of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe.
The hand “is a good and careful one of about the beginning
of this century, with a slight shake in it, and
probably that of a person advanced in life.” Be it observed
that the title, in this case, is ‘Jamie Telfer in
the Fair Dodhead,’ signifying, according to Scottish
usage, that Telfer was tenant simply, whereas ‘of’
would make him proprietor.
Hogg, writing to Sir W. Scott (Letters, vol. i, No 44),
says that ‘Jamie Telfer,’ as printed in the Minstrelsy,
differs in many particulars from his mother’s way of
giving it. Mrs Hogg’s version may very likely have
been a third copy.
In this version, Telfer, after the loosing of his nolt
and the ranshakling of his house, runs eight miles to
Branxholm, to seek aid of Buccleugh, who refers him
to Martin Elliot, to whom, and not to himself, Buccleugh
affirms, Telfer has paid blackmail. Telfer, as in
the other version, runs up the water-gate to Coultart
Cleugh, and invokes the help of Jock Grieve, who sets
him on a bonny black to take the fray to Catlock Hill,
as in the other version again. Catlock Hill Mr R. B.
Armstrong considers to be probably Catlie Hill, marked
in Blaeu’s map as near Braidlie. It was occupied by
an Elliot in 1541. At Catlock Hill Martin’s Hab sets
Telfer on a bonny black to take the fray to Prickenhaugh,
a place which, Mr Armstrong observes, is put in
Blaeu’s map near Larriston. Auld Martin Elliot is at
Prickenhaugh, and he orders Simmy, his son, to be summoned,
and the water-side to be warned, including the
Currers and Willie o Gorrenberry, who in the other version,
st. 27, are warned as owing fealty to Scott; but
an Archibald Elliot is described as “in Gorrenberrie” in
1541,[121] and Will Elliot of Gorrombye was concerned
in the rescue of Kinmont Willie in 1596, Sim Elliot
takes the lead in the pursuit of the marauders which
Willie Scott has in the other version, and like him is
killed. Martin Elliot of Braidley had among his sons,
in 1580, a Sym, an Arche, and a Hob,[121] and was, during
a portion of the second half of the sixteenth century,
says Mr Armstrong, perhaps the most important
person of his name.[122] This Martin Elliot would fit very
well into our ballad, but that he should be described as
of Prickenhaugh, not of Braidley, raises a difficulty.
Braidley, at the junction of the Braidley burn with the
Hermitage water, is well placed for our purposes;
Prickenhaugh, down by the Liddel water, seems rather
remote.
5, 582. See more as to Dodhead in The Saturday
Review, May 20, 1893, p. 543.
Jamie Telfer in the Fair Dodhead.
1
It fell about the Martinmas,
When steads were fed wi corn and hay,
The Captain of Bewcastle said to his lads,
We’ll into Tiviotdale and seek a prey.
2
The first ae guide that they met with
Was high up in Hardhaugh swire,
The second guide that they met with
Was laigh down in Borthick water.
3
‘What tidings, what tidings, my bonny guide?’
‘Nae tidings, nae tidings I hae to thee;
But if ye’ll gae to the Fair Dodhead
Mony a cow’s calf I’ll let ye see.’
4
When they came to the Fair Dodhead,
Right hastily they clam the peel,
They loosd the nolt out, ane and a’,
And ranshakled the house right weel.
5
Now Jamie’s heart it was right sair,
The tear ay rowing in his eye;
He pled wi the Captain to hae his gear,
Or else revengëd he would be.
6
Bat the Captain turnd himsel about,
Said, Man, there’s naething in thy house
But an auld sword without a scabbard,
That scarcely now would fell a mouse.
7
The moon was up and the sun was down,
’Twas the gryming of a new-fa’n snaw;
Jamie Telfer has run eight miles barefoot
Between Dodhead and Branxholm Ha.
8
And when he came to Branxholm Ha
He shouted loud and cry’d well he,
Till up bespake then auld Buccleugh,
‘Whae’s this that brings the fray to me?’
9
‘It’s I, Jamie Telfer i the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be;
There’s naething left i the Fair Dodhead
But only wife and children three.’
10
‘Gae seek your succour frae Martin Elliot,
For succour ye’s get nane frae me;
Gae seek your succour where ye paid blackmail,
For, man, ye never paid money to me.’
11
Jamie he’s turnd him round about,
And ay the tear blinded his eye:
‘I’se never pay mail to Scott again,
Nor the Fair Dodhead I’ll ever see.’
12
Now Jamie is up the water-gate,
Een as fast as he can drie,
Till he came to the Coultart Cleugh,
And there he shouted and cry’d weel he.
13
Then up bespake him auld Jock Grieve,
‘Whae’s this that bring[s] the fray to me?’
‘It’s I, Jamie Telfer i the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be.
14
‘There’s naething left i the Fair Dodhead
But only wife and children three,
And sax poor calves stand i the sta,
A’ routing loud for their minnie.’
15
‘Alack, wae’s me!’ co auld Jock Grieve,
‘Alack, alack, and wae is me!
For ye was married t’ the auld sister,
And I t’ the younges[t] o the three.’
16
Then he’s taen out a bonny black,
It was weel fed wi corn and hay,
And set Jamie Telfer on his back,
To the Catlock hill to take the fray.
17
When he came to the Catlock hill,
He shouted loud and cry’d weel he;
‘Whae’s that, whae’s that?’ co Martin’s Hab,
‘Whae’s this that brings the fray to me?’
18
‘It’s I, Jamie Telfer i the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be;
There’s neathing left i the Fair Dodhead
But only wife and children three.’
19
‘Alack, wae’s me!’ co Martin’s Hab,
‘Alack, awae, my heart is sair!
I never came bye the Fair Dodhead
That ever I faund thy basket bare.’
20
Then he’s taen out a bonny black,
It was weel fed wi corn and hay,
And set Jamie Telfer on his back
To the Pricken haugh to take the fray.
21
When he came to the Pricken haugh,
He shouted loud and cry’d weel he;
Up then bespake auld Martin Elliot,
‘Whae’s this that brings the fray to me?’
22
‘It’s I, Jamie Telfer i the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be;
There’s naething left i the Fair Dodhead
But only wife and children three.’
23
‘Ever alack!’ can Martin say,
‘And ay my heart is sair for thee!
But fy, gar ca on Simmy my son,
And see that he come hastily.
24
‘Fy, gar warn the water-side,
Gar warn it soon and hastily;
Them that winna ride for Telfer’s kye,
Let them never look i the face o me.
25
‘Gar warn the water, braid and wide,
And warn the Currers i the shaw;
When ye come in at the Hermitage slack,
Warn doughty Willie o Gorrenberry.’
26
The gear was driven the Frostily up,
From the Frostily into the plain;
When Simmie lookëd him afore,
He saw the kye right fast driving.
27
‘Whae drives the kye,’ then Simmy can say,
‘To make an outspeckle o me?’
‘It’s I, the Captain o Bewcastle, Simmy,
I winna lain my name frae thee.’
28
‘O will ye let the gear gae back?
Or will ye do ony thing for me?’
‘I winna let the gear gae back,
Nor naething, Simmy, I’ll do for the[e].
29
‘But I’ll drive Jamie Telfer’s kye
In spite o Jamie Telfer’s teeth and thee;’
‘Then by my sooth,’ can Simmy say,
‘I’ll ware my dame’s calfskin on thee.
30
‘Fa on them, lads!’ can Simmy say,
‘Fy, fa on them cruelly!
For or they win to the Ritter ford
Mony toom saddle there shall be.’
31
But Simmy was striken oer the head,
And thro the napskape it is gane,
And Moscrop made a dolefull rage
When Simmy on the ground lay slain.
32
‘Fy, lay on them!’ co Martin Elliot,
‘Fy, lay on them cruelly!
For ere they win to the Kershop ford
Mony toom saddle there shall be.’
33
John o Biggam he was slain,
And John o Barlow, as I heard say,
And fifteen o the Captain’s men
Lay bleeding on the ground that day.
34
The Captain was shot through the head,
And also through the left ba-stane;
Tho he had livd this hundred years,
He’d neer been loed by woman again.
35
The word is gane unto his bride,
Een in the bower where she lay,
That her good lord was in ’s enemy’s land
Since into Tiviotdale he led the way.
36
‘I loord a had a winding sheed
And helpd to put it oer his head,
Or he’d been taen in ’s enemy’s lands,
Since he oer Liddle his men did lead.’
37
There was a man in our company,
And his name was Willie Wudëspurs:
‘There is a house in the Stanegarside,
If any man will ride with us.’
38
When they came to the Stanegarside,
They bangd wi trees and brake the door,
They loosd the kye out, ane and a’,
And set them furth our lads before.
39
There was an auld wif ayont the fire,
A wee bit o the Captain’s kin:
‘Whae loo[s]es out the Captain’s kye,
And sae mony o the Captain’s men wi[t]hin?’
40
‘I, Willie Wudëspurs, let out the kye,
I winna lain my name frae thee,
And I’ll loose out the Captain’s kye
In spite o the Captain’s teeth and thee.’
41
Now on they came to the Fair Dodhead,
They were a welcome sight to see,
And instead of his ain ten milk-kye
Jamie Telfer’s gotten thirty and three.
195. Lord Maxwell’s Last Goodnight.
P. 34 b, 525 a. B. The ballad has no title in the
Glenriddell MS. The table of contents was the work
of a copyist.
196. The Fire of Frendraught.
P. 39 b. Thirteen stanzas of C are given, in the
course of an article on The Burning of the House of
Frendraucht, in the Aberdeen Magazine, 1832, II, 561.
P. 44. A a. Collation with Sharpe’s MS. and with
another copy of the same pieces in “North Country
Ballads,” Miscellanea Curiosa, Abbotsford Library.
41. Well, turn.
125. were.
154. Let Rothiemay may ly, may ly. But Rothiemay
lie, written under, probably as an emendation
by Sharpe (not in Scott).
164. Turn in Scott, an easy misreading of Twin.
261. Ahon. With a few slight differences of spelling.
we in 92 is a misprint for he.
IV, 522 a. The Satyr begins:
O world of woes, O grief of griefs, to see
This damned den wher sure brave sp’rits did dye.
197. James Grant.
These verses occur in a manuscript collection of C.
K. Sharpe’s (“second collection”), with slight verbal
differences. They are written in long lines not divided
into stanzas. Sir W. Scott remarks, Sharpe’s Ballad
Book, 1880, p. 145, “I conceive Ballindalloch, being
admitted by Grant, set upon him, and that there should
be asterisks between the fourth line [the second stanza]
and those which follow.”
11. Away, away now, James the Grant.
12. You’ll.
13. For Ballendalloch is at your gate.
21,4. Badendalloch.
22. Nor I.
23. Set up my gat both.
24. And let.
31. James the.
34. no get so.
43. he get but one mile in the highland hill.
44. defy the.
198. Bonny John Seton.
P. 52. A. Found in a MS. of Charles Kirkpatrick
Sharpe, and in “North Country Ballads,” Miscellanea
Curiosa, Abbotsford Library (another copy of the same
pieces), with the following variations.
Sharpe. 13. The Southeron lords to.
21. And bonny: Pitmedden, and always.
22. bald.
24. And the.
34. Sat on.
52. Cried, Brave soldiers.
55. my steed back.
56. But let me never see thee.
63. And his.
74. That dang Pitmedden’s middle in three.
81,2. rade.
83. But bonny John Seton of Pitmedden.
91. Then up it came a.
92. from Drimmorow.
93. Says, There thou lies.
94. ride thee thorow.
101. Craigyvar (always): man.
102. your fiddle.
103. land.
121. They’ve taken.
144. ring.
151. For cannons roars: summer’s.
152. Like thunder.
154. cannons fair.
Scott (also).—31. lands.
None of the readings in Aytoun given in the notes at
p. 53 were derived from Sharpe’s copy except
A 83, and all of them may now be dropped.
199. The Bonnie House o Airlie.
P. 56. In a small MS. volume with the title “Songs”
on the cover, entirely in Sharpe’s handwriting. A a
is found at p. 24 (with some variations, undoubtedly
arbitrary) prefaced with these words: “This song [referring
to a copy presently to be given], like most
others, would suffer amendment: here follows a copy
somewhat improved. I have availed myself of a fragment
in a former page of this work, and introduced a
stanza [9] marked *, picked up in Perthshire.” Had
A a been known to be an “improved” copy, it would
not have been made so prominent.
The fragment (of slight value) was “from the recitation
of Miss Oliphant of Gask, now Mrs Nairn”
(afterwards Lady Nairne). It is (p. 21)—disregarding
things misunderstood or avowedly added:
‘Come down, come down, my lady Ogilvie,
Come down, and tell us your dower:’
‘It’s east and west yon wan water side,
And it’s down by the banks of the Airly.
‘Had my lord Ogilvie been at hame,
As he was wi King Charlie,
There durst nae a Campbel in a’ Argyle
Avowd to the plundering o Airly.’
‘Come down, come down, ye lady fair,
Come down, and kiss me fairly:’
‘I wunna come down, ye fause Argyle,
If ye sudna leave a standing stane in Airly.
The unimproved copy, p. 22, is as follows.
1
It fell on a day, and a bonny summer day,
When corn grew green and yellow,
That there fell out a great dispute
Between Argyll and Airly.
2
Argyll has raisd an hundred men,
An hundred men, and so many,
And he is away by the back of Dunkeld
For to plunder the bonny house of Airly.
3
Lady Margaret looks oer her bower-window,
And O but she looks weary!
And there she spied the great Argyll,
Coming to plunder the bonny house of Airly.
4
‘Come down, come down, Lady Margret,’ he said,
‘Come down, and kiss me fairly:’
‘O I will not kiss the great Argyll,
If he should not leave a standing stone in Airly.’
5
He hath taken her by the left shoulder,
Says, Lady, where lyes thy dowry?
‘It’s up and it’s down by the bonny bank-side,
Amongst the planting of Airly.’
6
They have sought it up, they have sought it down,
They have sought it both late and early,
And they have found it in the bonny plumb-tree
That shines on the bowling-green of Airly.
7
He hath taken her by the middle so small,
And O but she lookd weary!
He hath laid her down by the bonny burn-side
Till he hath plunderd the bonny house of Airly.
8
‘If my good lord were at home this night,
As he is with Prince Charly,
Nouther you nor no Scottish lord
Durst have set a foot on the bowling-green of Airly.
9
‘Ten bonny sons I have born unto him,
And the eleventh neer saw his daddy;
Although I had an hundred more,
I would give them all to Prince Charly.’
58 c. This is one of the pieces contained in “The
Old Lady’s Collection,” No 1. The differences from
Skene (save spelling) are as follows:
31. ore castell-waa.
33. an his three hundred men.
41,2. Come doun the stare, Lady Airly, he says,
an kiss me fairly.
44. Altho ye live no.
52. An tell fare layes yer.
72. An he leed.
102 (72). his.
103 (73). An tho.
104 (74). I wad gie them a’.
200. The Gypsy Laddie.
P. 66. B a. A copy of this version in C. K. Sharpe’s
papers, “written from recitation in Nithisdale, November,
1814,” shows that improvements had been introduced
by two hands, one of them Sharpe’s, neither of
them the writer’s. The changes are of no radical importance;
simply of the familiar kind which almost
every editor has, for some reason, felt himself called
upon to make. It may be thought that they are no
more worth indicating than they were worth making,
but it has been an object in this book to give things
exactly as they were delivered. The original readings
are as follows.
11. C for Cassilis throughout.
13, so.
14. Till.
24. cast.
31. to wanting.
32,3, give.
34. rings of her fingers.
41,2. you.
43. hilt of.
44, 94, 164. no more.
61,3. Jackie.
73, 83. farmer’s barn.
83, 113. most.
84. crae.
91,2. O wanting.
103, 111, 143. on water.
111. Many a time have.
174. mother bore me.
183. And wanting.
73.
L
Communicated to the Journal of The Gypsy Society, II,
85, by Mr John Sampson, from the dictation of Lias Robinson,
a Gypsy. A translation into Gypsy, by Robinson and
his brothers, is given at p. 84 of the same.
1
A band of gypsies, all in a road,
All so black and brawny, oh
Away come a lady all dressed in silk,
To follow the roving gypsies, oh
The gypsies, oh!
The gypsies, oh!
To follow the roving gypsies, oh!
2
Her husband came home at ten o’clock of night,
And asked for his lady fair;
The servant informed him very soon
She had gone with the roving gypsies.
3
‘Saddle to me my bonny gray mare,
Saddle to me my pony;
I will go where the green grass grow,
To find out the roving gypsies.
4
‘Last night she slept in a fair feather-bed,
And blankets by bonins;
Tonight she sleeps in a cold shed-barn,
Through following the roving gypsies.
5
‘Why did you leave your houses and your lands?
Why did you leave your babies?
Why did you leave your decent married man,
To follow the roving gypsies?’
6
‘What cares I for my houses and my lands?
What cares I for my babies?
What cares I for my decent married man?
I will go with the roving gypsies.’
From a small MS. volume, “Songs,” entirely in
C. K. Sharpe’s handwriting, p. 32 (corresponding to
B 11, D 6, E 7.)
Yestreen I rade yon wan water,
Wi my gude lord before me;
The day I maun pit down my bonnie fit and wade,
What ever may come oer me.
201. Bessy Bell and Mary Gray.
P. 76 a, 4th paragraph, 1st line. The date 1666 is
corrected to 1645 by Cant in his Errata.
77. In the small MS. volume, “Songs,” entirely
in C. K. Sharpe’s handwriting, p. 26, a 3 is given
“from the Catalogue of the Edinburgh Exhibition of
Pictures, 1810” as here, excepting that in the second
line the reading is (absurdly) “royal kin.”
203. The Baron of Brackley.
P. 79. Fragment from Findlay MSS, I, 209, derived
from Mrs McKenzie, Advie, Morayshire.
1
‘O are ye sleepin, baul B[r]achlie, or are ye at hame?
For the caterans are at ye, an a’ your kye ’s taen.’
2
. . . . . . . .
‘Ye’ll fling your rocks, lasses, we’ll fecht them our lane.
3
‘We’ll fecht them an fleg them, an gar them rin hame,
We’ll stand them in battle, as gin we were men.
4
‘There’s four-an-twenty milk-white kine in Glentanner free,
In the parks o Glentanner sae fain’s I wad be!’
5
He’s called on his lady to give him his gun:
‘I’m gaun oot, Katie, but I’ll never come home.’
6
She’s a’ her gates wide open flung, an she’s welcomed them in,
An she sleeps wi the villain that slew her baron.
11. Baulbachlie.
52. home originally; altered to in.
The stanzas have been arranged by the light of A.
87. D, as it stands in “The Old Lady’s Collection,”
No 25, ‘The Barron of Breachell.’
1
‘Barron of Breachell, are ye withen?
The sharp sourd is att yer gate, Breachell, will gar yer blod spine.’
2
‘The’r at yer gate, Brichell, the’r nether men nor lads,
Bat silly heard widifaus, we belted plaids.
3
‘O if I had a man,’ she says, ‘as it louks I haa nean,
He widne sit in the house an see my kay tean.
4
‘Bat, lasses, tak doun yer rokes, an we will defend,’
. . . . . . . . . .
5
‘O kiss me, d[ea]r Peggey, an gee me doun my gun,
I may well gaa out, bat I ill never come in.’
6
Out spak his brother, says, Gee me your hand,
I [ill] fight in your caus as lang as I may stan.
7
Fan the Barron of Brechell came to the closs,
A braver barron never read upon horse.
8
. . . . . . . . . .
‘I think the silly heard widdefus are groun fighten men.’
9
First they killed an, and sayn they killed tua,
An the Barron of Brichell is dead an awa.
10
They killed Sandy Gordon, Sandy Gordon of the Knok,
The miller an his three sons, that lived att Glenmuke.
11
First they killed ane, an sayn they killed tua,
An the Barron of Brichell is dead an awaa.
12
Up came Crigevar an a’ his fighten men:
‘Had I come an houre sinner, he sudna ben slain.’
13
For first they killed an, an sayn they killed tua,
An the Barron of Breachell is dead an awa.
14
‘O came ye by Brechell, lads? was ye in ther?
Saw ye Peggie Doun, raving her hear?’
15
‘We came by Breache[l], lads, we was in ther;
We saa Peggie Doun, curling her hear.
16
‘She ate we them, drank we them, bad them come in
To her haas an her bours that had slain her barron.’
17
‘Come in, gentelmen, ate an drink we me;
Tho ye have slain my barron, I ha na ill well att thee.’
18
‘O was ye att Glenmuck, lads? was ye in ther?
Saa ye Catren Gordon, raving her hear?’
19
‘We was att Gleanmuck, lads, we was in ther,
We saa Catren Gordon, ravi[n]g her hear.
20
‘We the tear in her eay,. . . . . .
Seven bearns att her foot, the eaght on her knee.
21
They killed Peater Gordon, Peater Gordon of the Knok.
The miller an his three sons, that lives att Glenmuck.
22
First they killed an, an sayn they killed twa,
An the Barron of Breachell is dead an awaa.
208. Lord Derwentwater.
P. 116 b. Add at the end of the first paragraph:
Robert Patten, The History of the Rebellion in the
Year 1715, 4th ed., 1745, p. 47.
123. From “The Old Lady’s Collection,” second
part, p. 6.
J
1
The king has written a brod letter,
An sealled it our with gould,
An sent it to Lord Darnwater,
To read it if he could.
2
Whan Lord Darnwater saa the letter,
A light laughter lough he;
Bat or he read it to an end
The tear blinded his eye,
An sighan said him good Lord Darnwater,
I am near the day to dei.
3
Out spak his lady,
In child-bed wher she lay;
‘My d[ea]r Lord Darnweter, what is to becom of me,
An my young famely?’
4
‘I will leave my young famely
As well as I cane;
For I will leave to my lady
The third part of my land,
An I will live to my e[l]dest son,
The tua part of my land.
5
‘An I will live to my eldest daught[er]
Five thousand pound of gold,
An I will live to my second daughter
Three thousand pound of gold.
6
‘Ye saddel to me my littel gray horse,
That I had wont to ried;
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
7
The first stape Lord Darnwater staped,
He stumbled on a ston;
Said Lord Darnwater,
I feer I ill never come home.
8
When he came to fair London city,
An near unt[o] the toun,
‘A trater! a trater!’ said they,
‘A trator we see!’
9
‘A trater?’ said good Lord Darnwater,
‘A trator I nier could be,
Unless it was bringen three hundred men
To fight for young Jamie.’
10
But when he came to Tour Hill
Befor him came a bold man,
. . . . . . . .
With a broad aix in his hand.
11
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
‘Hear is five ginies of gold an my green velvet coat,
For to be your fee.’
12
‘Ye nobels all,
Come hear to see me die,
An ye peopell of fair Sco[t]land,
Be kind to my family.’
13
Lord Darnuater was dumed to die, to die,
Good Lord Darnwater was dumed to die.
25. sigh an.
26. am doubtful.
44, 54, 93. 3.
45. will live twice.
46, 53. 2.
52, 113. 5.
73, 91. L. D.
132. Daruan Water.
314. The Braes o Yarrow.
S
Findlay’s MSS, I, 181; The Dowie Dens o Yarrow, “from
Banffshire, through James Milne, Arbroath.”
1
There lived a lady in the South,
Ye would scarcely find her marrow;
She was courted by nine gentlemen
An a ploughman-lad frae Yarrow.
2
Ae nicht the nine sat drinkin wine
To the lass wha had nae marrow,
When the ploughman swore, tho they were a score
He wad fecht them a’ in Yarrow.
3
It’s he’s gane ower yon high, high hill,
And doon yon glen sae narrow,
An there he saw nine armëd men,
To fecht wi him in Yarrow.
4
‘There’s nine o you an I’m but ane,
An that’s an unequal marrow,
But wi this gude blade and powerfu arm
I’ll lay you low on Yarrow.’
5
It’s three he slew, and three withdrew,
And three lay dead on Yarrow,
But in behind cam her brother John,
An pierced his body thorough.
6
‘Gae hame, gae hame, you fause young man,
An tell your sister sorrow,
That her true-love John lies dead and gone
In the dowie dens o Yarrow.’
7
‘O father dear, I’ve dreamed a dream,
I’m feared it will prove sorrow;
I dreamed I was puin the heather-bells sweet
On the bonny braes o Yarrow.’
8
‘O daughter dear, your dream is read,
I’m feared it will prove sorrow;
Your true-love John lies dead and gone
In the dowie dens o Yarrow.’
9
It’s she’s gane ower yon high, high hill,
An doon yon glen sae narrow,
An there she saw her true-love John
Lyin cauld an dead on Yarrow.
10
She washed his face an combed his hair,
Wi muckle grief an sorrow,
She rowed him i the plaid she wore,
In the dowie dens o Yarrow.
11
Her hair it was three quarters lang,
The colour being yellow;
She tied it round his middle sma,
An carried him hame frae Yarrow.
12
‘O daughter dear, I pray forbear,
I’ll wed you to another marrow;
I’ll wed you to some fitter match
Than the lad that died on Yarrow.’
13
‘O father dear, you hae seven sons,
Should you wed them a’ to-morrow,
A fairer flower never grew in June
Than the lad that died on Yarrow.’
14
This lady, being six months with child
To the ploughman lad of Yarrow,
She fell into her father’s arms
An died wi grief on Yarrow.