“If I do gang to Broomfield Hills
A maid I’ll not return;
But if I stay from Broomfield Hills,
I’ll be a maid mis-sworn.”
Then out it speaks an auld witch wife,
Sat in the bower aboon:
“O ye shall gang to Broomfield Hills,
Ye shall not stay at hame.
“But when ye gang to Broomfield Hills,
Walk nine times round and round;
Down below a bonny burn bank,
Ye’ll find your love sleeping sound.
“Ye’ll pu the bloom frae off the broom,
Strew’t at his head and feet,
And aye the thicker that ye do strew,
The sounder he will sleep.
“The broach that is on your napkin,
Put it on his breast bane,
To let him know, when he does wake,
That’s true love’s come and gane.
“The rings that are on your fingers,
Lay them down on a stane,
To let him know, when he does wake,
That’s true love’s come and gane.
“And when he hae your work all done,
Ye’ll gang to a bush o’ broom,
And then you’ll hear what he will say,
When he sees ye are gane.”
When she came to Broomfield Hills,
She walked it nine times round,
And down below yon burn bank,
She found him sleeping sound.
She pu’d the bloom frae off the broom,
Strew’d it at ’s head and feet,
And aye the thicker that she strewd,
The sounder he did sleep.
The broach that was on her napkin,
She put it on his breast-bane,
To let him know, when he did wake,
His love was come and gane.