"Here come three kings, three by three,
To court your daughter merrily;
Can we have a lodging," etc.
"Wake, my daughter, do not sleep—
Here come three kings, and they shall take;
They shall have a lodging, they shall have a lodging,
They shall have a lodging here to-night."
(To the kings)—
"Here is my daughter safe and sound,
And in her pocket five hundred pound,
And on her finger a plain gold ring,
And she is fit to walk with the king."
(The daughter goes with the kings; but they are villains in disguise: they rob her, push her back to her mother, and sing)—
"Here is your daughter not safe and sound,
And in her pocket not five hundred pound,
And on her finger no plain gold ring,
And she's not fit to walk with the king."
(The mother pursues the kings, and tries to catch and beat them).
Charlestown, W. Va.
No. 3.
Here Comes a Duke.
This rhyme is only a later development of the same game. The suitor is now made to address himself directly to his mistress, and the mercenary character of the previous transaction is replaced by coquetry. Our New England song loses nothing by comparison with the pretty Scotch.