Glasgow Peggie
GLASGOW PEGGIE—A
[_]
Sharpe's Ballad Book, No XV, p. 40.
Sharpe has made a few slight
changes in the text, besides regulating the spelling.
The ballad is now given as it stands in the original
copy.
1
‘As I cam in by boney Glassgow town,
The Highland troops were a' before me,
And the bon[ey]est lass that ere I saw,
She lives in Glassgow, tha ca her Peggy.
2
‘I wad gie my boney black horse,
So wad I my good gray nagie,
If I were a hundred miles in the North,
And nan wee me but my boney Peggy.’
3
Up then spoke her father dear,
Dear vow! but he was wondrous sorey;
‘Weel may yea steel a cow or a ewe,
But ye darna steel my boney Peggy.’
4
Up then spoke her mother dear,
Dear vow! but she spoke wondrious sorey;
‘Now, since I've brought ye up this length,
Wod ye gang awa wee a Highland fellow?’
5
He set her on his boney black horse,
He set himsel on his good gray nagy;
They have riden over hill[s] and dales,
Now he is awa wee his boney Peggy.
6
They are riden or hills and dales,
They have riden or mountains maney,
Untill that thay com to a low, low glen,
And there he's lain down wee his boney Peggy.
7
Up then spoke the Earll o Argyle,
Dear vow! bet he spoke wondrous sorry;
‘The bonniest lass in a' Scotland
Is af an awa wi [a] Highland fellow!’
8
There bed was of the boney green grass,
There blankets was o the hay sa boney;
He falded his philabeg below her head,
Now he's lawing down wee his boney Peggy.
9
Up then spoke the boney Lawland lass,
And oh, but she spoke wondrous sorry;
‘A's warruant my mother would hae a gae soir heart
To see me lian here wi you, my Willie!’
10
‘In my father's house there's feather-beds,
Feather-beds an blankets many;
The're a' mine, an the'll shoon be thine,
An what needs your mother be sae sorry, Peggie?
11
‘Dinna you see yon nine score o kye,
Feding on yon hill sae boney?
The're a' mine, an the'll shoon be thine,
An what needs your mother be sorry, Peggie?
12
‘Dinna you see yon nine score o sheep,
Feeding on yon brae sae bonny?
The're a' mine, an the'll shoon be thine,
An what needs your mother be sorry for you?
13
‘Dinna you see yon bonny white house,
Shining on yon brae sae bonny?
An I am the earl o the Isle o Sky,
And surely my Peggie will be calle[d] a lady.’
