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The Earl of Aboyne

No: 235; variant: 235G

  1. THE Earl Aboyne to London has gane, And all his nobles with him; For a' the braw ribbands he wore at his hat, He has left his lady behind him.
  2. She's called on her little foot-page, And Jean, her gentlewoman; Said, Fill to me a full pint of wine, And I'll drink it at my lord's coming.
  3. 'You're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome,' she says, 'You're welcome home from London!' 'If I be as welcome as you now say, Come kiss me, my bonnie Peggy Irvine.
  4. 'Come kiss me, come kiss me, my lady,' he says, 'Come kiss me for my coming, For the morn should hae been my wedding-day, Had I staid any longer in London.'
  5. She turned about with an angry look, Said, Woe's me for your coming! If the morn should hae been your wedding-day, Go back to your whore in London.
  6. He's called on his little foot-page, Said, Saddle both sure and swiftly, And I'l away to the Bogs o the Gay, And speak wi the Marquis o Huntly.
  7. She has called on her little foot-page, Said, See if he'll take me with him; And he shall hae nae mair cumber o me But myself and my servant-woman.
  8. 'O London streets they are too strait, They are not for a woman, And it is too low to ride in coach wi me With your humble servant-woman.'
  9. He had not been at the Bogs o the Gay, Nor yet his horse was baited, Till a boy with a letter came to his hand That his lady was lying streekit.
  10. 'O woe! O woe! O woe!' he says, 'O woe's me for my coming! I had rather lost the Bogs o the Gay Or I'd lost my bonny Peggy Irvine.
  11. 'O woe! O woe! O woe!' he said, 'O woe to the Marquis o Huntly, Gard the Earl of Aboyne prove very unkind To a good and a dutiful lady!'