Jamie Douglas
JAMIE DOUGLAS—D
[_]
Kinloch MSS, I, 107: “West-Country version.”
1
I fell sick, and very, very sick,
Sick I was, and like to dee;
A friend o mine cam frae the west,
A friend o mine came me to see,
And the black told it to my gude lord
He was oure lang in the chamber wi me.
[OMITTED]
2
‘Come doun the stair, Jamie Douglas,
Come doun and drink wine wi me;
I'll set ye on a chair of gold,
And not ae farthing will it cost thee.’
3
‘Whan cockle-shells turn siller bells,
And fishes flee frae tree to tree,
Whan frost and snaw turn fire-beams,
I'll come doun and drink wine wi thee.’
[OMITTED]
4
‘What ails ye at your young son James,
That sits upo the nurse's knee?
I'm sure he never did ye no harm,
If it war na for the nurse or me.
5
‘What care I for you, Jamie Douglas?
Not a small pin I value thee;
For my father he is the Earl of York,
And of that my mither's the gay ladie;
They will send fourscore of his soldiers bold
For to tak me hame to my ain countrie.’
[OMITTED]
6
Whan I was set in my coach and six,
Taking fareweel o my babies three,
‘I beg your father's grace to be kind,
For your face again I'll never see.’
[OMITTED]
7
As I was walking up London streets,
My father was coming to meet me,
Wi trumpets sounding on every side;
But that was na music at a' for me.
8
‘Hold your tongue, my dochter dear,
And of your weeping let abee;
A bill o divorcement I'll send to him,
A far better match I'll get for thee.’
9
‘Hold your tongue, my father dear,
And with your folly let abee;
There'll never man sleep in my twa arms,
Sin my gude lord has forsaken me.’
[OMITTED]
10
As I was sitting at my bouer-window,
What a blythe sicht did I see!
I saw four score of his soldiers bold,
And I wishd that they were coming for me.
11
Out bespeaks the foremost man,
And what a weel-spoken man was he!
‘If the Marquis o Douglas's lady be within,
You'll bid her come doun and speak to me.’
12
It's out bespak my auld father then,
I wat an angry man was he;
‘Ye may gang back the road ye cam,
For her face again ye'll never see.’
13
‘Hold your tongue, my father dear,
And with your folly let abee;
For I'll ga back, and I'll ne'er return;
Do ye think I love you as weel as he?’
14
As I cam in by the Orange gate,
What a blythe sicht did I see!
I saw Jamie Douglas coming me to meet,
And at his foot war his babies three.
15
‘Ga fetch, ga fetch a bottle of wine,
That I may drink to my gay ladie;’
She took the cup into her hand,
But her bonnie heart it broke in three.
