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MART HAMILTON. 121 |
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That travel on dry land; Let na wit to my father or mother
But I am coming hame. 0 little did my mother think,
First time she cradled me, What land I was to travel on,
Or what death I would die. 0 little did my mother think,
First time she tied my head, What land I was to tread upon,
Or whare I would win my bread. Yestreen Queen Mary had four Maries;
This night she'll hae but three; She had Mary Seaton, and Mary Beaton,
And Mary Carmichael, and me. Yestreen I wush Queen Mary's feet,
And bore her till her bed; This day she's given me my reward,
The gallows tree to tread. Cast aff, cast aff my gown," she said, " But let my petticoat be; And tye a napkin on my face,
For that gallows I downa see." By and cam the King himsell,
Look'd up wi' a pitiful ee: " Come down, come down, Mary Hamilton;
This day thou wilt dine with me." " Hold your tongue, my sovereign liege,
And let your folly be; An ye had had a mind to save my life,
Ye should na hae shamed me here! "
" The copy of the ballad from which the above extract is given, begins with this verse:
" There were three ladies, they lived in a bower.
And 0'but they were fair; The youngest o' them is to the King's court,
To learn some unco lair." |
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