THE QUEEN'S MARIE.
Marie Hamilton's to the kirk gane,
Wi' ribbons on her hair;
The king thought mair o' Marie Hamilton,
Than ony that were there.
Marie Hamilton's to the kirk gane,
Wi' ribbons on her breast;
The king thought mair o' Marie Hamilton,
Than he listen'd to the priest.
Marie Hamilton's to the kirk gane,
Wi' gluves upon her hands;
The king thought mair o' Marie Hamilton,
Than the queen and a' her lands.
She hadna been about the king's court
A month, but barely one,
Till she was beloved by a' the king's court,
And the king the only man.
She hadna been about the king's court
A month, but barely three,
Till frae the king's court Marie Hamilton,
Marie Hamilton durst na be.
The king is to the Abbey gane,
To pu' the Abbey tree,
To scale the babe frae Marie's heart;
But the thing it wadna be.
O she has row'd it in her apron,
And set it on the sea,—
"Gae sink ye, or swim ye, bonny babe,
"Ye'se get na mair o' me."
Word is to the kitchen gane,
And word is to the ha',
And word is to the noble room,
Amang the ladyes a',
That Marie Hamilton's brought-to-bed,
And the bonny babe's mist and awa.
Scarcely had she lain down again,
And scarcely fa'n asleep,
When up then started our gude queen,
Just at her bed-feet;
Saying—"Marie Hamilton, where's your babe?
"For I'm sure I heard it greet."
"O no, O no, my noble queen!
"Think no such thing to be;
"'Twas but a stitch into my side,
"And sair it troubles me."
"Get up, get up, Marie Hamilton;
"Get up, and follow me;
"For I am going to Edinburgh town,
"A rich wedding for to see."
O slowly, slowly, raise she up,
And slowly put she on;
And slowly rode she out the way,
Wi' mony a weary groan.
The queen was clad in scarlet,
Her merry maids all in green;
And every town that they cam to,
They took Marie for the queen.
"Ride hooly, hooly, gentlemen,
"Ride hooly now wi' me!
"For never, I am sure, a wearier burd
"Rade in your cumpanie."
But little wist Marie Hamilton,
When she rade on the brown,
That she was ga'en to Edinburgh town,
And a' to be put down.
"Why weep ye so, ye burgess wives,
"Why look ye so on me?
"O, I am going to Edinburgh town,
"A rich wedding for to see."
When she gaed up the tolbooth stairs,
The corks frae her heels did flee;
And lang or e'er she cam down again,
She was condemned to die.
When she cam to the Netherbow port,
She laughed loud laughters three;
But when she cam to the gallows foot,
The tears blinded her e'e.
"Yestreen the queen had four Maries,
"The night she'll hae but three;
"There was Marie Seaton, and Marie Beaton,
"And Marie Carmichael, and me.
"O, often have I dress'd my queen,
"And put gold upon her hair;
"But now I've gotten for my reward,
"The gallows to be my share;
"Often have I dress'd my queen,
"And often made her bed;
"But now I've gotten for my reward
"The gallows tree to tread.
"I charge ye all, ye mariners,
"When ye sail ower the faem,
"Let neither my father nor mother get wit,
"But that I'm coming hame.
"I charge ye all, ye mariners,
"That sail upon the sea,
"Let neither my father nor mother get wit
"This dog's death I'm to die.
"For if my father and mother got wit,
"And my bold brethren three,
"O, mickle wad be the gude red blude,
"This day wad be spilt for me!
"O little did my mother ken,
"The day she cradled me,
"The lands I was to travel in,
"Or the death I was to die!"
NOTES
ON
THE QUEEN'S MARIE.
When she cam to the Netherbow port.—P. [93], v. 1.
The Netherbow port was the gate which divided the city of Edinburgh from the suburb, called the Canongate. It had towers and a spire, which formed a fine termination to the view from the Cross. The gate was pulled down, in one of those fits of rage for indiscriminate destruction, with which the magistrates of a corporation are sometimes visited.
Yestreen the queen had four Maries,
The night she'll hae but three, &c.—P. [93]. v. 2.
The queen's Maries were four young ladies of the highest families in Scotland, who were sent to France in her train, and returned with her to Scotland. They are mentioned by Knox, in the quotation introductory to this ballad. Keith gives us their names, p. 55. "The young queen, Mary, embarked at Dunbarton for France, ... and with her went ..., and four young virgins, all of the name of Mary, viz. Livingston, Fleming, Seaton, and Beatoun." The queen's Maries are mentioned again by the same author, p. 288, and 291, in the note. Neither Mary Livingston, nor Mary Fleming, are mentioned in the ballad; nor are the Mary Hamilton, and Mary Carmichael, of the ballad mentioned by Keith. But if this corps continued to consist of young virgins, as when originally raised, it could hardly have subsisted without occasional recruits; especially if we trust our old bard, and John Knox.
The following additional notices of the queen's Maries occur, in Monteith's Translation of Buchanan's Epigrams, &c.
Page 60. Pomp of the Gods at the Marriage of Queen Mary, 29th July, 1565, a Dialogue.
Diana.
"Great father, Maries[22] five late served me,
"Were of my quire the glorious dignitie:
"With these dear five the heaven I'd regain,
"The happiness of other gods to stain;
"At my lot, Juno, Venus, were in ire,
"And stole away one——"
P. 61. Apollo.
"Fear not, Diana, I good tidings bring,
"And unto you glad oracles I sing;
"Juno commands your Maries to be married,
"And, in all state, to marriage-bed be carried."
P. 62. Jupiter.
"Five Maries thine;
"One Marie now remains of Delia's five,
"And she at wedlock o'er shortly will arrive."
P. 64. To Mary Fleming, the king's valentyn—
65. To Mary Beton, queen by lot, the day before the coronation.
Sundry Verses.
The queen's Maries are mentioned in many ballads, and the name seems to have passed into a general denomination for female attendants:
Now bear a hand, my Maries a',
And busk me brave, and make me fine.
Old Ballad.
FOOTNOTES:
[20] The name should be Livingston. "John Semple, son of Robert, Lord Semple, (by Elizabeth Carlisle, a daughter of the Lord Torthorald) was ancestor of the Semples of Beltrees. He was married to Mary, sister to William Livingston, and one of the maids of honour to Queen Mary; by whom he had Sir James Semple of Beltrees, his son and heir," &c.; afterwards ambassador to England, for King James VI. in 1599.—Crawford's History of Renfrew, p. 101.
[21] One copy bears, "Mary Miles."
[22] The queen seems to be included in this number.
[THE BONNY HYND.]
From Mr Herd's MS., where the following Note is prefixed to it—"Copied from the mouth of a Milkmaid, 1771, by W. L."
It was originally the intention of the Editor to have omitted this ballad, on account of the disagreeable nature of the subject. Upon consideration, however, it seemed a fair sample of a certain class of songs and tales, turning upon incidents the most horrible and unnatural, with which the vulgar in Scotland are greatly delighted, and of which they have current amongst them an ample store. Such, indeed, are the subjects of composition in most nations, during the early period of society; when the feelings, rude and callous, can only be affected by the strongest stimuli, and where the mind does not, as in a more refined age, recoil, disgusted, from the means by which interest has been excited. Hence incest, parricide—crimes, in fine, the foulest and most enormous, were the early themes of the Grecian muse. Whether that delicacy, which precludes the modern bard from the choice of such impressive and dreadful themes, be favourable to the higher classes of poetic composition, may perhaps be questioned; but there can be little doubt, that the more important cause of virtue and morality is advanced by this exclusion. The knowledge, that enormities are not without precedent, may promote, and even suggest, them. Hence, the publication of the Newgate Register has been prohibited by the wisdom of the legislature; having been found to encourage those very crimes, of which it recorded the punishment. Hence, too, the wise maxim of the Romans, Facinora ostendi dum puniantur, flagitia autem abscondi debent.
The ballad has a high degree of poetical merit.