23 When mass was sung, and all bells rung,
And all men boune for bed,
The good lord and his fair lady
Were in their chamber laid.
24 But poor Annie and her seven sons
Was in a room hard by,
And as she lay she sighed and wept,
And thus began to cry:
25 'O were my sons transformed to cats,
To speel this castle wa,
And I mysell a red blood-hound
That I might worry them a'!'
26 The bride she overhearing all,
And sair she rued her fate:
'Awauk, awauk, my lord,' she said,
'Awauk, for well you may;
For there's a woman in this gate
That will go mad ere day.
27 'I fear she is a leman of thine,
And a leman meek and mild;
Get up and pack her down the stairs,
Tho the woods were neer sae wild.'
28 'O yes, she is a leman of mine,
And a leman meek and kind,
And I will not pack her down the stairs,
For a' the gear that's thine.'
29 'O wha's your father, Ann?' she says,
'Or wha's your mother dear?
Or wha's your sister, Ann?' she says,
'Or brother? let me hear.'
30 'King Easter he's my father dear,
The Queen my mother was;
John Armstrang, in the west-airt lands,
My eldest brother is.'
31 'Then I'm your sister, Ann,' she says,
'And I'm a full sister to thee;
You were stolen awa when very young,
By the same lord's treacherie.
32 'I've seven ships upon the sea,
All loaded to the brim,
And five of them I'll give to thee,
And twa shall carry me hame.