He put his foot into the boat,
He little thocht o' ony ill:
But before that he was mid waters,
The weary coble began to fill.
"Woe be to the lass o' Balathy toun,25
I wat an ill death may she die;
For she bored the coble in seven pairts,
And let the waters perish me!
"O help, O help I can get nane,
Nae help o' man can to me come!"30
This was about his dying words,
When he was choaked up to the chin.
"Gae tell my father and my mother,
It was naebody did me this ill;
I was a-going my ain errands,35
Lost at the coble o' bonnie Cargill."
She bored the boat in seven pairts,
I wat she bored it wi' gude will;
And there they got the bonnie lad's corpse,
In the kirk-shot o' bonnie Cargill.40
O a' the keys o' bonnie Stobha',
I wat they at his belt did hing;
But a' the keys of bonnie Stobha',
They now ly low into the stream.
A braver page into his age45
Ne'er set a foot upon the plain;
His father to his mother said,
"O sae sune as we've wanted him!
"I wat they had mair luve than this,
When they were young and at the scule;50
But for his sake she wauked late,
And bored the coble o' bonnie Cargill.