The Bonny Bows o London
THE TWA SISTERS—O
[_]
a. Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii, 128.
b. Traditional Ballad Airs, edited by W. Christie, i, 42.
1
There were twa sisters in a bower,
Hey wi the gay and the grinding
And ae king's son has courted them baith.
At the bonny bonny bows o London
2
He courted the youngest wi broach and ring,
He courted the eldest wi some other thing.
3
It fell ance upon a day
The eldest to the youngest did say,
4
‘Will ye gae to yon Tweed mill-dam,
And see our father's ships come to land?’
5
They baith stood up upon a stane,
The eldest dang the youngest in.
6
She swimmed up, sae did she down,
Till she came to the Tweed mill-dam.
7
The miller's servant he came out,
And saw the lady floating about.
8
‘O master, master, set your mill,
There is a fish, or a milk-white swan.’
9
They could not ken her yellow hair,
[For] the scales o gowd that were laid there.
10
They could not ken her fingers sae white,
The rings o gowd they were sae bright.
11
They could not ken her middle sae jimp,
The stays o gowd were so well laced.
12
They could not ken her foot sae fair,
The shoes o gowd they were so rare.
13
Her father's fiddler he came by,
Upstarted her ghaist before his eye.
14
‘Ye'll take a lock o my yellow hair,
Ye'll make a string to your fiddle there.
15
‘Ye'll take a lith o my little finger bane,
And ye'll make a pin to your fiddle then.’
16
He's taen a lock o her yellow hair,
And made a string to his fiddle there.
17
He's taen a lith o her little finger bane,
And he's made a pin to his fiddle then.
18
The firstand spring the fiddle did play,
Said, ‘Ye'll drown my sister, as she's dune me.’
