She's gane to the garden gay
To pu' of the savin tree;
But for a' that she could say or do,15
The babie it would not die.
She's rowed it in her handkerchief,
She threw it in the sea:
Says,—"Sink ye, swim ye, my bonnie babe,
For ye'll get nae mair of me."20
Queen Mary came tripping down the stair,
Wi' the gold strings in her hair:
"O whare's the little babie," she says,
"That I heard greet sae sair?"
"O hald your tongue, Queen Mary, my dame,25
Let all those words go free;
It was mysell wi' a fit o' the sair colic,
I was sick just like to die."
"O hald your tongue, Mary Hamilton,
Let all those words go free;30
O where is the little babie
That I heard weep by thee?"
"I rowed it in my handkerchief,
And threw it in the sea;
I bade it sink, I bade it swim,35
It would get nae mair o' me."
"O wae be to thee, Mary Hamilton,
And an ill deid may you die;
For if you had saved the babie's life,
It might hae been an honour to thee.40
"Busk ye, busk ye, Mary Hamilton,
O busk ye to be a bride;
For I am going to Edinburgh town
Your gay wedding to bide.