All for to marry a gay ladye.
Fa la lilly.
(Then follows the description of a queen, jimp and sma, not remembered.)
Her lilly hands, sae white and sma,
Fa la lilly
Wi gouden rings were buskit braw.
Fa la lilly
“I cannot get any precise account of its subject, but it related somehow to a most magnificent marriage. The old lady who sung it died some years ago.” (Letter to Sharpe.)
“It may be the same ballad as the scrap I have, with something of a similar chorus.” (Note-Book, where the “chorus” is Fa fa lilly.)
The reference seems to be to ‘The Whummil Bore,’ No 27, I, 255.