1
All in the merry month of May,
When green buds they were swellin',
Young Jemmy Grove on his death-bed lay,
For love of Barbara Allen.
"Barbara Allen's Cruelty"
2
Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands,
O where hae ye been?
They hae slain the Earl of Murray,
And hae laid him on the green.
"The Bonny Earl of Murray"
3
I am a man upon the land,
I am a selkie in the sea;
When I am far and far from land,
My home it is the Sule Skerry.
"The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry"
4
Och, Johnny, I hardly knew ye!
"Johnny, I hardly knew Ye"
5
"What gat ye to your dinner, Lord Randal, my Son?
What gat ye to your dinner, my handsome young man?"
"I gat eels boil'd in broo"; mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm weary wi' hunting, and fain wald lie down."
"Lord Randal"
6
This ae nighte, this ae nighte,
—
Every nighte and alle
,
Fire and fleet and candle-lighte,
And Christe receive thy saule.
"fleet" = corruption of "flet", meaning house-room
"Lyke-Wake Dirge"
7
When captains courageous whom death could not daunt,
Did march to the siege of the city of Gaunt,
They mustered their soldiers by two and by three,
And the foremost in battle was Mary Ambree.
"Mary Ambree"
8
For in my mind, of all mankind
I love but you alone.
"The Nut Brown Maid"
9
For I must to the greenwood go
Alone, a banished man.
"The Nut Brown Maid"
10
Yestreen the Queen had four Maries,
The night she'll hae but three;
There was Marie Seaton, and Marie Beaton,
And Marie Carmichael, and me.
"The Queen's Maries"
11
Ile lay mee downe and bleed a while
And then Ile rise and fight againe.
"Sir Andrew Bartton"
12
The king sits in Dunfermline town
Drinking the blude-red wine.
"Sir Patrick Spens"
13
To Noroway, to Noroway,
To Noroway o'er the faem;
The king's daughter o' Noroway,
'Tis thou must bring her hame.
"Sir Patrick Spens"
14
I saw the new moon late yestreen
Wi' the auld moon in her arm.
"Sir Patrick Spens"
15
Half-owre, half-owre to Aberdour,
'Tis fifty fathoms deep;
And there lies good Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi' the Scots lords at his feet!
"Sir Patrick Spens"
16
She's mounted on her milk-white steed,
She's ta'en true Thomas up behind.
"Thomas the Rhymer"
17
They waded thro' red blude to the knee;
For a' the blude that's shed on the earth
Rins through the springs o' that countrie.
"Thomas the Rhymer"
18
As I was walking all alane,
I heard twa corbies making a mane:
The tane unto the tither did say,
"Where sall we gang and dine the day?"
"—In behint yon auld fail dyke
I wot there lies a new-slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there
But his hawk, his hound, and his lady fair.
"The Twa Corbies" (
corbies
ravens;
fail
turf)
19
The wind doth blow to-day, my love,
And a few small drops of rain;
I never had but one true love;
In cold grave she was lain.
I'll do as much for my true-love
As any young man may;
I'll sit and mourn all at her grave
For a twelvemonth and a day.
"The Unquiet Grave"
20
O waly, waly, gin love be bonnie
A little time while it is new!
But when 'tis auld it waxeth cauld,
And fades awa' like morning dew.
"Waly, Waly"
21
Tom Pearse, Tom Pearse, lend me your grey mare,
All along, down along, out along, lee.
For I want for to go to Widdicombe Fair,
Wi' Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davey, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawk,
Old Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all.
Old Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all.
"Widdicombe Fair"