15 'O Rankin, O Rankin,
spare me till twelve o'clock,
And I will give you as many guineas
as you can carry on your back.'
16 'What care I for as many guineas
as seeds into a sack,
When I cannot keep my hands off
your lily-white neck?'
17 'O will I kill her, nursie,
or let her abee?'
'O kill her,' said the false nurse,
'she was never good to me.'
18 'Go scour the bason, lady,
both outside and in,
To hold your mother's heart's blood,
sprung from a noble kin.'
19 'To hold my mother's heart's blood
would make my heart full woe;
O rather kill me, Rankin,
and let my mother go.'
20 'Go scour the bason, servants,
both outside and in,
To hold your lady's heart's blood,
sprung from a noble kin.'
21 'To hold my lady's heart's blood
would make my heart full woe;
O rather kill me, Rankin,
and let my lady go.'
22 'Go scour the bason, nursy,
both outside and in,
To hold your lady's heart's blood,
sprung from a noble kin.'
23 'To hold my lady's heart's blood
would make my heart full glad;
Ram in the knife, Bold Rankin,
and gar the blood to shed.
24 'She's none of my comrades,
she's none of my kin;
Ram in the knife, Bold Rankin,
and gar the blood rin.'