The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Edited by Francis James Child. |
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 | The English and Scottish Popular Ballads |  |
242
THE COBLE O CARGILL
THE COBLE O CARGILL
[_]
‘The Coble o Cargill,’ Motherwell's MS., p. 80; ‘The Weary Coble o Cargill,’ Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 230. Communicated to Motherwell by William George, tenant in Cambus Michael, Perthshire, who took it from the recitation of an old woman.
359
1
David Drummond's destinie,Gude man o appearance o Cargill;
I wat his blude rins in the flude,
Sae sair against his parents' will.
2
She was the lass o Balathy toun,And he the butler o Stobhall,
And mony a time she wauked late
To bore the coble o Cargill.
3
His bed was made in Kercock ha,Of gude clean sheets and of [the] hay;
He wudna rest ae nicht therein,
But on the prude waters he wud gae.
4
His bed was made in Balathy toun,Of the clean sheets and of the strae;
But I wat it was far better made
Into the bottom o bonnie Tay.
5
She bored the coble in seven pairts,I wat her heart might hae been fu sair;
For there she got the bonnie lad lost
Wi the curly locks and the yellow hair.
6
He put his foot into the boat,He little thocht o ony ill;
But before that he was mid-waters,
The weary coble began to fill.
7
‘Woe be to the lass o Balathy toun,I wat an ill death may she die!
For she bored the coble in seven pairts,
And let the waters perish me.
8
‘Oh, help, oh help, I can get nane,Nae help o man can to me come!’
This was about his dying words,
When he was choaked up to the chin.
9
‘Gae tell my father and my motherIt was naebody did me this ill;
I was a-going my ain errands,
Lost at the coble o bonnie Cargill.’
10
She bored the boat in seven pairts,I wat she bored it wi gude will;
And there they got the bonnie lad's corpse,
In the kirk-shot o bonnie Cargill.
11
Oh a' the keys o bonnie StobhaI wat they at his belt did hing;
But a' the keys of bonnie Stobha
They now ly low into the stream.
12
A braver page into his ageNeer set a foot upon the plain;
His father to his mother said,
‘Oh, sae soon as we've wanted him!
360
13
‘I wat they had mair luve than thisWhen they were young and at the scule;
But for his sake she wauked late,
And bored the coble o bonnie Cargill.’
14
‘There's neer a clean sark gae on my back,Nor yet a kame gae in my hair;
There's neither coal nor candle-licht
Shall shine in my bouir for evir mair.
15
‘At kirk nor market I'se neer be at,Nor yet a blythe blink in my ee;
There's neer a ane shall say to anither,
That's the lassie gard the young man die.
16
‘Between the yates o bonnie StobhaAnd the kirk-style o bonnie Cargill,
There is mony a man and mother's son
That was at my love's burial.’
| The English and Scottish Popular Ballads | |