186
16. Sheath and Knife
8 'O Willie. O Willie. what makes thee in pain?'
‘I have lost a sheath and knife that I'll never see again.'
For we'll never, etc.
‘I have lost a sheath and knife that I'll never see again.'
For we'll never, etc.
9 'There is ships o your father's sailing on the sea
That will bring as good a sheath and a knife unto thee.'
That will bring as good a sheath and a knife unto thee.'
10 'There is ships o my father's sailing on the sea,
But sic a sheath and a knife they can never bring to me.'
Now we'll never, etc.
But sic a sheath and a knife they can never bring to me.'
Now we'll never, etc.
B
Sharpe's Ballad Book, ed. by D. Laing, p. 159: Sir Walter Scott, from his recollection of a nursery-maid's singing.
1 Ae lady has whispered the other,
The broom grows bonnie, the broom grows fair
Lady Margaret's wi bairn to Sir Richard, her brother.
And we daur na gae doun to the broom nae mair
The broom grows bonnie, the broom grows fair
Lady Margaret's wi bairn to Sir Richard, her brother.
And we daur na gae doun to the broom nae mair
*****
2 'And when ye hear me loud, loud cry,
O bend your bow, let your arrow fly.
And I daur na, etc.
O bend your bow, let your arrow fly.
And I daur na, etc.
3 'But when ye see me lying still,
O then you may come and greet your fill.'
O then you may come and greet your fill.'
*****
4 'It's I hae broken my little pen-knife
That I loed dearer than my life.'
And I daur na, etc.
That I loed dearer than my life.'
And I daur na, etc.
*****
5 'It's no for the knife that my tears doun run,
But it's a' for the case that my knife was kept in.'
But it's a' for the case that my knife was kept in.'
C
Johnson's Museum, No 461.
1 It's whispered in parlour, it's whispered in ha,
The broom blooms bonie, the broom blooms fair
Lady Marget's wi child amang our ladies a'.
And she dare na gae down to the broom nae mair
The broom blooms bonie, the broom blooms fair
Lady Marget's wi child amang our ladies a'.
And she dare na gae down to the broom nae mair
2 One lady whisperd unto another
Lady Marget's wi child to Sir Richard, her brother.
Lady Marget's wi child to Sir Richard, her brother.
*****
3 'O when that you hear my loud loud cry,
Then bend your bow and let your arrows fly.
For I dare na,' etc.
Then bend your bow and let your arrows fly.
For I dare na,' etc.
D
Notes and Queries, 1st Series, V, 345, communicated by E. F. Rimbault.
1 Ae king's dochter said to anither,
Broom blooms bonnie an grows sae fair
We'll gae ride like sister and brither.
But we'll never gae down to the broom nae mair
Broom blooms bonnie an grows sae fair
We'll gae ride like sister and brither.
But we'll never gae down to the broom nae mair
- b. Motherwell's printed copy has these variations:
- 11. It is talked, it is talked; a variation found in the MS.
- 31. O when … loud, loud cry.
- 32. an arrow frae thy bow.
- 41, cauld and dead.
- 51. loud, loud cry.
- 61. has houkit.
- 62. babie.
- 71. came hame.
- 72, dancing mang them a': this variation also in the MS.
- 91, 101. There are.
- "I have heard the 'Broom blooms bonnie' sung by our poor old nursery-maid as often as I have
