[157. The Brown Girl]
I
‘I am as brown as brown can be,
My eyes as black as a sloe;
I am as brisk as a nightingale,
And as wild as any doe.
II
‘My love has sent me a love-letter,
Not far from yonder town,
That he could not fancy me,
Because I was so brown.
III
‘I sent him his letter back again,
For his love I valu’d not,
Whether that he could fancy me
Or whether he could not.
IV
‘He sent me his letter back again,
That he lay sick to death,
That I might then go speedily
To give him up his faith.’