Then out spoke the young scullion boy,
Said, "Here am I, a caddie;
I will run on to bonny Aboyne
Wi' the letter to your rantin' laddie."40
"Now when ye come to bonny Deeside,
Where woods are green and bonny,
Then will ye see the Earl o' Aboyne,
Among the bushes mony.
"And when ye come to the lands o' Aboyne,45
Where all around is bonny,
Ye'll take your hat into your hand,
Gie this letter to my rantin' laddie."
When he came near the banks of Dee,
The birks were blooming bonny,50
And there he saw the Earl o' Aboyne
Among the bushes mony.
"Where are ye going, my bonny boy,
Where are ye going, my caddie?"
"I am going to the Castle o' Aboyne55
Wi' a letter to the rantin' laddie."
"See yonder is the castle there,
My young and handsome caddie,
And I myself am the Earl o' Aboyne,
Tho they ca' me the rantin' laddie."60
"O pardon, my lord, if I've done wrong;
Forgive a simple caddie;
O pardon, pardon, Earl o' Aboyne,
I said but what she bade me."
"Ye've done no wrong, my bonny boy,65
Ye've done no wrong, my caddie;"
Wi' hat in hand he bowed low,
Gave the letter to the rantin' laddie.
When young Aboyne looked the letter on,
O but he blinkit bonny;70
But ere he read four lines on end,
The tears came trickling mony.