O first he sang a merry song,
And syne he sang a grave;
And syne he picked his feathers grey,
To her the letter gave.
"Have there a letter from Lord William;
He says he's sent ye three;
He canna wait your love langer,
But for your sake he'll die."
"Gae bid him bake his bridal bread,
And brew his bridal ale;
And I shall meet him in Mary's Kirk,
Lang, lang ere it be stale."
The lady's gane to her chamber,
And a moanfu' woman was she;
As gin[#] she had taken a sudden brash[#]
And were about to die.
[#] if
[#] illness.
"A boon, a boon, my father dear,
A boon I beg of thee!"
"Ask not that haughty Scottish lord,
For him ye ne'er shall see.
But for your honest asking else,
Weel granted it shall be."
"Then, gin I die in Southern land,
In Scotland gar[#] bury me.
[#] cause
And the first kirk that ye come to,
Ye's gar the mass be sung;
And the next kirk that ye come to
Ye's gar the bells be rung.
And when ye come to St Mary's Kirk,
Ye's tarry there till night."
And so her father pledged his word,
And so his promise plight.
She has ta'en her to her bigly bower
As fast as she could fare;
And she has drank a sleepy draught,
That she had mixed wi' care.
And pale, pale grew her rosy cheek,
That was sae bright of blee,[#]
And she seemed to be as surely dead
As any one could be.
[#] bloom.
Then spake her cruel step-minnie,[#]
"Tak ye the burning lead,
And drap a drap on her bosome,
To try if she be dead."
[#] mother.
They took a drap o' boiling lead,
They drapped it on her breast;
"Alas! alas!" her father cried,
"She's dead without the priest."
She neither chattered with her teeth,
Nor shivered with her chin;
"Alas! alas!" her father cried,
"There is nae breath within."
Then up arose her seven brethren,
And hewed to her a bier;
They hewed it frae the solid aik,[#]
Laid it o'er wi' silver clear.
[#] oak.