B
Skene MS., p. 55; taken down in the North of Scotland, 1802–3.
1
‘Oft have I playd at the cards an the dyce,
The war so very enticin;
But this is a sad an a sorrowfu seat,
To see my apron risin.
2
‘Oft hae I playd at the cards an the dice
For love of my [rantin] laddie;
But now I man sit in my father’s kitchie-nouk,
A rokkin o my baby.
3
‘But gin I had ane o my father’s servans,
For he has so mony,
That wad gae to the wood o Glentanner,
Wi a letter to the rantin laddie!’
4
‘Here am I, ane o your father’s servans,
For he has sae mony,
That will gae to the wood o Glentanner,
Wi a letter to the rantin laddie.’
5
‘Fan ye gae to Aboyne,
To the woods o Glentanner sae bonny,
Wi your hat in your hand gie a bow to the ground,
In the presence o the rantin laddie.’
6
Fan he gaed to Aboyne,
To the woods o Glentanner sae bonny,
Wi his hat in his hand he gied a bow to the ground,
In the presence of the rantin laddie.
7
Fan he looked the letter on
Sae loud as he was laughin!
But or he read it to an end
The tears they cam down rappin.
8
‘O fa is this or fa is that
Has been so ill to my Maggie ?
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
9
‘But ye gett four-and-twenty milk white steeds,
Wi an car . . . . .
An as mony gay ladies to ride them on,
To gae an bring hame my Maggie.
10
‘Ye get four-an-twenty bonny brown steeds,
Wi an car o an ome,
An as mony knights to ride them on,
To gae an bring hame my Maggie.’
11
Ye lasses a’, far ever ye be,
An ye match wi ony o our Deeside laddies,
Ye’ll happy be, ye’l happy be,
For they are frank an kind.