5
“But had I paper, pen, and ink,
Afore that it were day,
I yet might get a letter wrate,
And sent to Johnnie Hay.
“And gin I had a bonuie boy,
To help me in my need,
That he might rin to bonnie Dundee,
Aud come again wi’ speed.”
And they ha’e gotten a bonnie boy,
Their errand for to gang;
And bade him run to bonuie Dundee,
And nae to tarry lang.
The boy he ran o’er muir and dale
As fast as he could flee;
And e’er the sun was twa hours hight,
The boy was at Dundee.
Whan Johnnie lookit the letter ou,
A hearty laugh leuch he;
But ere he read it till an end,
The tear blinded his e’e.
“O wha is this, or what is that,
Has stown my love frae me?
Although he were my ae brither,
An ill deed sall he dee.
“Gae, saddle to me the black,” he says:
“Gae, saddle to me the brown;
Gae, saddle to mo the swiftest steed,
That ever rade frae the town.”
