H
Motherwell's MS., p. 277, from Marjory Johnston, servant to W. Parker, manufacturer, Paisley.
* * * * *
1 'Turn back, turn back, O Burd Alone,
For the water's both broad and long:'
First she went into the shoulders,
And sine unto the chin.
2 'How far is it to your hall, Lord John?
How far is it? I pray of thee:'
'The nearest way unto my hall
Is thirty miles and three.
3 'Turn back, turn back, O Burd Alone,
Ye'll sink before ye win owre:'
'I am too big with bairn,' she says,
'To sink or I win owre.'
4 'Turn back, turn back, O Burd Alone,
Turn back, I pray of thee;
For I've got a wife and seven bairns,
I like far better than thee.'
5 And then spak a wild parrot,
Sat high upon the tree:
'Gang on, gang on, O Burd Alone,
[He likes nane better nor thee.]
6 'For Lord John has neither wife nor bairns,
He likes better than thee,
And the nearest way to Lord John's hall
Is only short miles three.'
7 When she was come to Lord John's hall,
Lords, knights and ladies braw
Was there to welcome them hame;
But the bravest in the ha,
She waited at Lord John's back,
Serving the tables a'.