And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie.
“What news, what news, my silly auld man?
With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan;
For it’s seven lang years since I saw this land,
And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie.”
“No news, no news,” doth the beggar-man say,
With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan;
“But our King’s ae daughter she’s wedded to-day,
And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie.”
“Wilt thou give to me thy begging coat?