The Song Book No. 4/Auld Robin Gray
For other versions of this work, see Auld Robin Gray ('When the sheep are in the fauld, and the kye a' at hame').
AULD ROBIN GRAY.
When the sheep are in the fauld, and the kye at hame,
And a' the world to sleep are gane;
The waes o' my heart fa' in showers frae my e'e,
While my gudeman lies sound by me.
Young Jamie lo'ed me weel and he sought me for his bride;
But saving a crown he had naething beside!
To mak the crown a pound, my Jamie gaed to sea;
And the crown and the pound were baith for me.
And a' the world to sleep are gane;
The waes o' my heart fa' in showers frae my e'e,
While my gudeman lies sound by me.
Young Jamie lo'ed me weel and he sought me for his bride;
But saving a crown he had naething beside!
To mak the crown a pound, my Jamie gaed to sea;
And the crown and the pound were baith for me.
He hadna been gane a week but only twa,
When my father brake his arm, and our cow was stown awa',
My mother she fell sick, and my Jamie at the sea
And auld Robin Gray came a-courting to me.
My fathre couldna work, and my mother doughtna spin;
⟨I⟩ toil'd day and night, but their bread I couldna win;
Auld Rob maintained them baith, and wi' tears in his e'e,
Said, Jenny, for their sakes, O marry me!
When my father brake his arm, and our cow was stown awa',
My mother she fell sick, and my Jamie at the sea
And auld Robin Gray came a-courting to me.
My fathre couldna work, and my mother doughtna spin;
⟨I⟩ toil'd day and night, but their bread I couldna win;
Auld Rob maintained them baith, and wi' tears in his e'e,
Said, Jenny, for their sakes, O marry me!
My heart it said nay—I look'd for Jamie back;
But the wind it blew high, and the ship it was a wrack,
The ship it was a wrack, why didna Jenny dee?
Oh! why was I spared to cry, Wae's me!
My father urged sair; my mither didna speak,
She look'd in my face till my heart was like to break,
So they gied him my hand, thoʻ my heart was at the sea,
Now auld Robin Gray is gudeman to me.
But the wind it blew high, and the ship it was a wrack,
The ship it was a wrack, why didna Jenny dee?
Oh! why was I spared to cry, Wae's me!
My father urged sair; my mither didna speak,
She look'd in my face till my heart was like to break,
So they gied him my hand, thoʻ my heart was at the sea,
Now auld Robin Gray is gudeman to me.
I hadna been a wife a week but only four,
When sitting sae mournfully ae night at the door,
I saw my Jamie's wraith, for I couldna think it he,
Till he said, I'm come back, love, to marry thee,
O sair did we greet, and muckle did we say;
We took but ae kiss, and we tore ourselves away.
I wished I were dead; but I'm no like to dee,
Oh! why do I live to say, Wae's me!
When sitting sae mournfully ae night at the door,
I saw my Jamie's wraith, for I couldna think it he,
Till he said, I'm come back, love, to marry thee,
O sair did we greet, and muckle did we say;
We took but ae kiss, and we tore ourselves away.
I wished I were dead; but I'm no like to dee,
Oh! why do I live to say, Wae's me!
I gang like a ghaist, and I carena to spin;
I darena think on Jamie, for that would be a sin.
But I'll do my best a gudewife to be,
For auld Robin Gray is kind to me,
'Nae langer she wept—her tears were a spent—
Despair it was come, and she thought it content;
She thought it content, but her cheek it grew pale,
And she dropp'd like a lily broke down by the hail.
I darena think on Jamie, for that would be a sin.
But I'll do my best a gudewife to be,
For auld Robin Gray is kind to me,
'Nae langer she wept—her tears were a spent—
Despair it was come, and she thought it content;
She thought it content, but her cheek it grew pale,
And she dropp'd like a lily broke down by the hail.