The Bonnie Lass o the Hie Toun End
THE WYLIE WIFE OF THE HIE TOUN HIE—C
[_]
Communicated, February, 1873, by Mr David Louden, of
Morham, Haddington, as recited by Mrs Richard Dodds,
Morham, Loanhead, “aged over seventy.”
1
In Edinburgh, on a summer evening,
Our gentlemen sat drinking wine,
And every one to the window went,
To view the ladies, they went so fine.
2
They drank the wine, and they spilt the beer,
So merrily as the reel went round,
And a' the healths that was drucken there
Was to the bonnie lass o the hie toun end.
3
Up then spoke a young squire's son,
And as he spoke it all alone;
‘Oh, I would give a guinea of gold,
And so would I a pint of wine,
And I would make them their licence free
That would welcome this bonnie lassie in.’
4
The ostler's wife, on hearin this,
So nimbly down the stairs she ran,
And the first toun's-body that she met
Was the bonnie lass o the hie toun end.
5
‘Mistress, ye maun gang wi me
And get a cup o oor claret wine;
It's new come oer the ragin sea,
Awat it is baith gude and fine.’
6
‘To gang wi you I daurna stay,
My mither's wearyin for me in;
I am so beautiful and fine
I am a prey to all young men.’
7
Wi sattin slippers on her feet,
So nimbly up the stair she ran,
And wha so ready as this young squire
To welcome the bonny lassie in.
8
He['s] taen her by the milk-white hand,
He's gently led her through the room,
And aye she sighed, and aye she said,
It would be a pity to do me wrong.
9
‘Now, since you've taken your will o me,
I pray, kind sir, tell me your name;’
‘Oh yes, my dear, indeed,’ he said
‘But it's more than I ever did to one.
10
‘I am a squire and a squire's son,
My faither has fifty ploughs o land,
And I'm a man in the militrie,
And I must away and rank up my men.
11
‘And Jamie Lumsdaine is my name,
From the North Countrie, love, I really came.’
12
About a twelvemonth after that,
He sent a letter owre the main,
And muckle writin was therein,
To the bonnie lass o the hie toun end.
13
About a twelvemonth after that,
He himsel cam owre the main;
He made her Duchess o Douglas Dale,
And to him she's had a fine young son.
