The Queen in France.
an ancient scottish ballad.
PART I.
It fell upon the August month,
When landsmen bide at hame,
That our gude Queen went out to sail
Upon the saut-sea faem.
And she has ta’en the silk and gowd,
The like was never seen;
And she has ta’en the Prince Albert,
And the bauld Lord Aberdeen.
“Ye’se bide at hame, Lord Wellington:
Ye daurna gang wi’ me:
For ye hae been ance in the land o’ France,
And that’s eneuch for ye.
“Ye’se bide at hame, Sir Robert Peel,
To gather the red and the white monie;
And see that my men dinna eat me up
At Windsor wi’ their gluttonie.”
They hadna sailed a league, a league,—
A league, but barely twa,
When the lift grew dark, and the waves grew wan,
And the wind began to blaw.