Geordie
No: 209; variant: 209H
- 'WILL ye go to the Hielans, my bonny lad?
Will ye go to the Hielans, Geordie?
Though ye tak the high road and I tak the low,
I will be in the Hielans afore ye.'
- He hadna been in the high Hielans
A month but barely twa, O,
Till he was laid in Prison strong,
For hunting the king's deer and rae, O.
- 'O where will I get a bonny, bonny boy,
That will run my errand cannie,
And gae quickly on to the bonny Bog o Gight,
Wi a letter to my lady?'
- 'O here am I, a bonny, bonny boy,
That will run your errand cannie,
And will gae on to the bonny Bog o Gight,
Wi a letter to your lady.'
- When she did get this broad letter,
A licht, licht laugh gae she, O;
But before she read it to an end
The saut tear was in her ee, O.
- 'O has he robbd? or has he stown?
Or has he kille:d ony?
Or what is the ill that he has done,
That he's gaun to be hangd sae shortly?'
- 'He hasna robbd, ha hasna stown,
He hasna kille:d ony;
But he has hunted the king's deer and rae,
And he willl be hange:d shortly.'
- 'Come saddle to me the bonny brown steed,
For the black never rade sae bonny,
And I will gae on to Edinboro town
To borrow the life o my Geordie.'
- The first water-side that she cam to,
The boatman wasna ready;
She gae anither skipper half-a-crown,
To boat her oer the ferry.
- When she cam on to Edinboro town,
The poor stood thick and mony;
She dealt them money roun and roun,
Bade them pray for the life o her Geordie.
- When she gaed up the tolbooth-stair,
She saw there nobles mony,
And ilka noble stood hat on head,
But hat in hand stood Geordie.
- Then out it spak an English lord,
And vow, but he spake bonny!
'If ye pay down ten thousand crouns,
Ye'll get the life o your Geordie.'
- Some gae her marks, some gae her crouns,
Some gae her guineas rarely,
Till she paid down ten thousand crouns,
And she got the life o her Geordie.
- Then out it spak an Irish lord,
O wae befa his body!
'It's a pity the knicht didna lose his head,
That I micht hae gotten his lady.'
- But out it spak the lady hersel,
And vow, but she spak bonny!
'The pock-marks are on your Irish face,
You could not compare wi my Geordie!'
- When she was in the saddle set,
And on ahint her Geordie,
The bird on the bush neer sang sae sweet,
As she sung to her love Geordie.
- 'First I was mistress o bonny Auchindown,
And I was lady o a' Carnie,
But now I have come to the bonny Bog o Gight,
The wife o my true-love Geordie.
- If I were in the high Hielans,
I would hear the white kye lowing;
But I'd rather be on the bonny banks o Spey,
To see the fish-boaties rowing.'