The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Edited by Francis James Child. |
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The English and Scottish Popular Ballads | ||
WILLIE O WINSBURY—B
[OMITTED]1
‘What aileth ye, my dochter Dysmill,Ye look sae pale and wan?
Hae ye had ony sair sickness,
Or ill luve wi a man?
2
‘Cast aff, cast aff your bony brown goun,And lay't down on the stane,
And I sall tell ye ay or no
Ye hae layn wi a man.’
3
She has taen aff her bony brown gown,She has laid it on the stane;
Her waist was big, her side was round,
Her fair colour was gane.
4
‘Now is it to a man of micht,Or to a man of mean?
Or is it to the ranke robber
That robs upon the main?’
5
‘O it's nor to a man of micht,Nor to a man of mean;
But it's to Willie Winchberrie,
That came frae France and Spain.’
6
The king he's turnd him round about,An angry man was he:
‘Gar bring to me your fals leman,
Wha sall high hanged be.’
7
Then Dysmill turnd her round about,The tear blinded her ee:
‘Gin ye begin to hang, father,
Ye maun begin wi mee.’
8
When Willie he cam to the king,His coat was o the silk;
His hair was like the thread o gowd,
His skin white as the milk.
9
‘Ne wonder, ne wonder,’ quoth the king,‘My dochter shoud like ye;
Gin ye were a woman, as ye're a man,
My bedfellow ye sould be.
10
‘Now will ye marry my dochter Dysmill,By the truth o your right hand?
Now will ye marry my dochter Dysmill,
And be a lord o the land?’
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads | ||