| |
| OH 1 did ye ever hear o’ brave Earl Bran’? | |
| Ay lally, o lilly lally! | |
| He courted the king’s daughter of fair England, | |
| All i’ the night sae early. | |
| |
| She was scarcely fifteen years of age | 5 |
| Till sae boldly she came to his bedside. | |
| |
| ‘O Earl Bran’, fain wad I see | |
| A pack of hounds let loose on the lea.’ | |
| |
| ‘O lady, I have no steeds but one, | |
| And thou shalt ride, and I will run.’ | 10 |
| |
| ‘O Earl Bran’, my father has two, | |
| And thou shall have the best o’ them a’.’ | |
| |
| They have ridden o’er moss and moor, | |
| And they met neither rich nor poor. | |
| |
| Until they met with old Carl Hood; | 15 |
| He comes for ill, but never for good. | |
| |
| ‘Earl Bran’, if ye love me, | |
| Seize this old carl, and gar him die.’ | |
| |
| ‘O lady fair, it wad be sair, | |
| To slay an old man that has grey hair. | 20 |
| |
| ‘O lady fair, I’ll no do sae, | |
| I’ll gie him a pound and let him gae.’ | |
| |
| ‘O where hae ye ridden this lee lang day? | |
| O where hae ye stolen this lady away?’ | |
| |
| I have not ridden this lee lang day, | 25 |
| Nor yet have I stolen this lady away. | |
| |
| ‘She is my only, my sick sister, | |
| Whom I have brought from Winchester.’ | |
| |
| ‘If she be sick, and like to dead, | |
| Why wears she the ribbon sae red? | 30 |
| |
| ‘If she be sick, and like to die, | |
| Then why wears she the gold on high?’ | |
| |
| When he came to this lady’s gate, | |
| Sae rudely as he rapped at it. | |
| |
| ‘O where’s the lady o’ this ha’?’ | 35 |
| ‘She’s out with her maids to play at the ba’.’ | |
| |
| ‘Ha, ha, ha! ye are a’ mista’en: | |
| Gae count your maidens o’er again. | |
| |
| The father armed fifteen of his best men, | |
| To bring his daughter back again. | 40 |
| |
| O’er her left shoulder the lady looked then: | |
| ‘O Earl Bran’, we both are tane.’ | |
| |
| ‘If they come on me ane by ane, | |
| Ye may stand by and see them slain. | |
| |
| ‘But if they come on me one and all, | 45 |
| Ye may stand by and see me fall.’ | |
| |
| They have come on him ane by ane, | |
| And he has killed them all but ane. | |
| |
| And that ane came behind his back, | |
| And he’s gi’en him a deadly whack. | 50 |
| |
| But for a’ sae wounded as Earl Bran’ was, | |
| He has set his lady on her horse. | |
| |
| They rode till they came to the water o’ Doune, | |
| And then he alighted to wash his wounds. | |
| |
| ‘O Earl Bran’, I see your heart’s blood!’ | 55 |
| ‘’Tis but the gleat o’ my scarlet hood.’ | |
| |
| They rode till they came to his mother’s gate | |
| And sae rudely as he rapped at it. | |
| |
| ‘O my son’s slain, my son’s put down, | |
| And a’ for the sake of an English loun.’ | 60 |
| |
| ‘O say not sae, my dear mother, | |
| But marry her to my youngest brother. | |
| |
| ‘This has not been the death o’ ane, | |
| But it’s been that o’ fair seventeen.’ | |
