Harris MS., No 8, fol. 12 b: originally from Jannie Scott, an old nurse in Perthshire, about 1790.
1 'I beg you bide at hame, Margaret,
An sew your silken seam;
If ye waur in the wide Hielands,
Ye wald be owre far frae hame.'
2 'I winna bide at hame,' she said,
'Nor sew my silken seam;
For if I waur in the wide Hielands,
I wald no be owre far frae hame.'
3 'My steed sall drink the blude-red wine,
An you the water wan;
I'll mak you sigh, an say, alace,
That ever I loed a man!'
4 'Though your steed does drink the blude-red wine,
An me the water wan,
Yet will I sing, an merry be,
That ever I loed a man.'
5 'My hounds shall eat the bread o wheat,
An you the bread o bran;
I'll mak you sigh, an say, alace,
That ever you loed Lord John!'
6 'Though your hounds do eat the bread o wheat,
An me the bread o bran,
Yet will I sing, an merrie be,
That ever I loed Lord John.'
7 He turned aboot his high horse head,
An awa he was boun to ride;
She kilted up her green clieden,
An after him she gaed.
8 Whan they cam to that water
Whilk a' man ca the Clyde,
He turned aboot his high horse head,
Said, Ladie, will you ride?
9 'I learnt it in my mother's bour,
I wish I had learnt it weel,
That I could swim this wan water
As weel as fish or eel.'