The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Edited by Francis James Child. |
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 | The English and Scottish Popular Ballads |  |
174
The Clerk's Twa Sons o Owsenford
THE CLERK'S TWA SONS O OWSENFORD—A
[_]
Kinloch MSS, V, 403, in the handwriting of James Chambers, as sung to his maternal grandmother, Janet Grieve, seventy years before, by an old woman, a Miss Ann Gray, of Neidpath Castle, Peeblesshire; January 1, 1829.
1
O I will sing to you a sang,But oh my heart is sair!
The clerk's twa sons in Owsenford
Has to learn some unco lair.
175
2
They hadna been in fair ParishA twelvemonth an a day,
Till the clerk's twa sons o Owsenford
Wi the mayor's twa daughters lay.
3
O word's gaen to the mighty mayor,As he saild on the sea,
That the clerk's twa sons o Owsenford
Wi his twa daughters lay.
4
‘If they hae lain wi my twa daughters,Meg an Marjorie,
The morn, or I taste meat or drink,
They shall be hangit hie.’
5
O word's gaen to the clerk himself,As he sat drinkin wine,
That his twa sons in fair Parish
Were bound in prison strong.
6
Then up and spak the clerk's ladye,And she spak powrfully:
‘O tak with ye a purse of gold,
Or take with ye three,
And if ye canna get William,
Bring Andrew hame to me.’
7
‘O lye ye here for owsen, dear sons,Or lie ye here for kye?
Or what is it that ye lie for,
Sae sair bound as ye lie?’
8
‘We lie not here for owsen, dear father,Nor yet lie here for kye,
But it's for a little o dear bought love
Sae sair bound as we lie.’
9
O he's gane to the mighty mayor,And he spoke powerfully:
‘Will ye grant me my twa sons' lives,
Either for gold or fee?
Or will ye be sae gude a man
As grant them baith to me?’
10
‘I'll no grant ye yere twa sons' lives,Neither for gold or fee,
Nor will I be sae gude a man
As gie them back to thee;
Before the morn at twelve o'clock
Ye'll see them hangit hie.’
11
Up an spak his twa daughters,An they spak powrfully:
‘Will ye grant us our twa loves' lives,
Either for gold or fee?
Or will ye be sae gude a man
As grant them baith to me.’
12
‘I'll no grant ye yere twa loves' lives,Neither for gold or fee,
Nor will I be sae gude a man
As grant their lives to thee;
Before the morn at twelve o'clock
Ye'll see them hangit hie.’
13
O he's taen out these proper youths,And hangd them on a tree,
And he's bidden the clerk o Owsenford
Gang hame to his ladie.
14
His lady sits on yon castle-wa,Beholding dale an doun,
An there she saw her ain gude lord
Come walkin to the toun.
15
‘Ye're welcome, welcome, my ain gude lord,Ye're welcome hame to me;
But where away are my twa sons?
Ye should hae brought them wi ye.’
16
‘It's I've putten them to a deeper lair,An to a higher schule;
Yere ain twa sons ill no be here
Till the hallow days o Yule.’
17
‘O sorrow, sorrow come mak my bed,An dool come lay me doon!
For I'll neither eat nor drink,
Nor set a fit on ground.’
| The English and Scottish Popular Ballads | |