The Cruel Mother
No: 20; variant: 20L
- A LADY lookd out at a castle wa,
Fine flowers in the valley
She saw twa bonnie babes playing at the ba.
And the green leaves they grow rarely
- 'O my bonnie babes, an ye were mine,
I would cleed ye i the scarlet sae fine.
- 'I'd lay ye saft in beds o down,
And watch ye morning, night and noon.'
- 'O mither dear, when we were thine,
Ye didna cleed us i the scarlet sae fine.
- 'But ye took out yere little pen-knife,
And parted us frae our sweet life.
- 'Ye howkit a hole aneath the moon,
And there ye laid our bodies down.
- 'Ye happit the hole wi mossy stanes,
And there ye left our wee bit banes.
- 'But ye ken weel, O mither dear,
Ye never cam that gate for fear.'
- 'Seven lang years ye'll ring the bell,
And see sic sights as ye darna tell.'