6
From below his arm he pulled a charm,
And stuck it in her sleeve,
And he has made her go with him,
Without her parents' leave.
7
Of gold and silver she has got
With her twelve hundred pound,
And the swiftest steed her father had
She has taen to ride upon.
8
So privily they went along,
They made no stop or stay,
Till they came to the fatal place
That they call Bunion Bay.
9
It being in a lonely place,
And no house there was nigh,
The fatal rocks were long and steep,
And none could hear her cry.
10
'Light down,' he said, 'fair May Collin,
Light down and speak with me,
For here I've drowned eight ladies fair,
And the ninth one you shall be.'
11
'Is this your bowers and lofty towers,
So beautiful and gay?
Or is it for my gold,' she said,
'You take my life away?'
12
'Strip off,' he says, 'thy jewels fine,
So costly and so brave,
For they are too costly and too fine
To throw in the sea wave.'
13
'Take all I have my life to save,
O good Sir John, I pray;
Let it neer be said you killed a maid
Upon her wedding day.'
14
'Strip off,' he says, 'thy Holland smock,
That's bordered with the lawn,
For it's too costly and too fine
To rot in the sea sand.'
15
'O turn about, Sir John,' she said,
'Your back about to me,
For it never was comely for a man
A naked woman to see.'