The Braes o Yarrow
No: 214; variant: 214G
- SHE kissd his mouth and she combd his hair,
As she had done before, O,
She belted him in his noble broun,
Before he went to Yarrow.
- O he's gone up yon high, [high] hill----
I wat it was with sorrow----
In a den he spied nine weal armd men,
On the bonny banks of Yarrow.
- 'I see that you are nine for one,
Which are of an unequal marrow;
As lang 's I'm able to wield my bran,
I'll fight and be your marrow.'
- O he has killed them a' but one,
Which bred to him great sorrow;
For up and rose that stubborn lord,
Made him sleep sound in Yarrow.
- 'Rise up, rise up, my daughter Ann,
Go tell your sister Sarah
She may rise up go lift her lord;
He's sleeping sound in Yarrow.'
- She's gone up yon high, high hill----
I wat it was with sorrow----
And in a den she spied nine slain men,
On the dowie banks o Yarrow.
- O she kissed his mouth, and she combd his hair,
As she had done before, O;
She drank the bleed that from him ran,
On the dowie banks o Yarrow.
- 'Take hame your oxen, tak hame your kye,
They've bred to me great sorrow;
I wish they had all now gone mad
First when they came to Yarrow.'
- 'O hold your tongue now, daughter dear,
These words to me 's great sorrow;
I'll wed you on a better lord
Than you have lost on Yarrow.'
- 'O hold your tongue now, father dear,
These words to me 's great sorrow;
A brighter O shall there never spread
Than I have lost in Yarrow.'
- This lady being big with child,
And full of lamentation,
She died unto her father's arms,
Among the stubborn nation.