Hey trollie lollie, love is jollie,
A quhile, quhil itt is new
Quhen it is old, it grows full cold,
Wae worth the love untrue.
Never having had access to the MS., we may be permitted to remark that the phraseology of the burlesque is not exactly that of the reign of Queen Mary" (Scottish Ballads and Songs, 1868, vol. ii. p. 49.)
Allan Ramsay was the first to publish the song, and he marked it as ancient.
"When cockle shells turn silver bells,
When wine drieps red frae ilka tree,
When frost and snaw will warm us a'
Then I'll cum down and dine wi' thee,"
is the fourth stanza of Jamie Douglas, printed by John Finlay, in his Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads (vol. ii.)]
O waly[382] waly up the bank,
And waly waly down the brae,
And waly waly yon burn side,
Where I and my love wer wont to gae.
I leant my back unto an aik, 5
I thought it was a trusty tree;
But first it bow'd, and syne it brak,
Sae my true love did lichtly me.
O waly, waly, gin love be bonny,
A little time while it is new; 10
But when its auld, it waxeth cauld,
And fades awa' like morning dew.
O wherfore shuld I busk my head?
Or wherfore shuld I kame my hair?
For my true love has me forsook, 15
And says he'll never loe me mair.