When she came before the king,
She knelit lowly on her knee.
"O what's the matter, May Margaret?
And what need's a' this courtesie?"
"A boon, a boon, my noble liege,25
A boon, a boon, I beg o' thee!
And the first boon that I come to crave
Is to grant me the life o' young Logie."
"O na, O na, May Margaret,
Forsooth, and so it mauna be;30
For a' the gowd o' fair Scotland
Shall not save the life o' young Logie."
But she has stown the king's redding kaim,
Likewise the queen her wedding knife;
And sent the tokens to Carmichael,35
To cause young Logie get his life.
She sent him a purse o' the red gowd,
Another o' the white monie;
She sent him a pistol for each hand,
And bade him shoot when he gat free.40
When he came to the Tolbooth stair,
There he let his volley flee;
It made the king in his chamber start,
E'en in the bed where he might be.
"Gae out, gae out, my merrymen a',45
And bid Carmichael come speak to me;
For I'll lay my life the pledge o' that,
That yon's the shot o' young Logie."
When Carmichael came before the king,
He fell low down upon his knee;50
The very first word that the king spake
Was,—"Where's the laird of young Logie?"
Carmichael turn'd him round about,
(I wot the tear blinded his e'e,)—
"There came a token frae your grace55
Has ta'en away the laird frae me."