John Thomson and the Turk
No: 266; variant: 266B
- O cam ye in by the House o Rodes,
Or cam ye there away?
Or have [ye] seen Johne Tamson?
They say his wife has run away.
- 'O what wad ye do, Johne Tamson,
Gin ye had me as I hae thee?'
'I wad tak ye to the gude green-wood,
And gar your ain hand weil the tree.'
- Johne Tamson peeped and poorly spake
Untill he did his ain men see;
'O by my sooth,' quo Johne Tamson,
'Methinks I see a coming tree.'
- And they hae hanged that grim Soudan,
For a' his mirth and meikle pride,
And sae hae they that ill woman,
Upon a scrogg-bush him beside.