J
Motherwell’s MS., p. 135; from the recitation of Widow Nicol, of Paisley.
1The Earl of Aboyne has up to London gone,And all his nobles with him,And three broad letters he sent into his loveHe would wed another woman in London.2She has turned the honey month about,To see if he was coming,And lang three miles ere he came to the townShe heard his bridle ringing.3She’s went down unto the close and she’s taen him from his horse,Says, Ye’re welcome home from London!‘If I be as welcome, dear Peggy, as you say,Come kiss me for my coming.4‘Come kiss me, come kiss me, dear Peggy,’ he said,‘Come kiss me for my coming,For tomorrow should have been my wedding-dayHad I tarried any longer in London.’5She has turned herself round about,And she was an angry woman:‘If tomorrow should have been your wedding-day,You may kiss with your sweethearts in London.’6‘Go saddle me my steed,’ he said,‘Saddle and make him ready;For I must away to the bonny Bog of Keith,For to visit the Marquis of Huntley.’7‘Go ask him, go ask, dear Thomas,’ she said,‘Go ask if he’ll take me with him;’‘I’ve asked him once, and I’ll ask him no more,For ye’ll never ride a mile in his company.’8‘Go make to me my bed,’ she said,‘Make it soft and narrow;For since my true lover has slighted me so,I will die for him ere morrow.’9She has called her waiting-man,And Jean her gentlewoman:‘Go bring to me a glass of red wine,For I’m as sick as any woman.’10The bed it was not made nor well laid down,Nor yet the curtains drawn on,Till stays and gown and all did burst,And it’s alace for bonny Peggy Irvine!11The Earl of Aboyne was not at the Bog of Keith,Nor met wi the Marquis of Huntley,Till three broad letters were sent after himThat his pretty Peggy Irvine had left him.12He gave such a rap on the table where he satIt made all the room for to tremble:‘I would rather I had lost all the rents of AboyneThan have lost my pretty Peggy Irvine.’
1The Earl of Aboyne has up to London gone,And all his nobles with him,And three broad letters he sent into his loveHe would wed another woman in London.2She has turned the honey month about,To see if he was coming,And lang three miles ere he came to the townShe heard his bridle ringing.3She’s went down unto the close and she’s taen him from his horse,Says, Ye’re welcome home from London!‘If I be as welcome, dear Peggy, as you say,Come kiss me for my coming.4‘Come kiss me, come kiss me, dear Peggy,’ he said,‘Come kiss me for my coming,For tomorrow should have been my wedding-dayHad I tarried any longer in London.’5She has turned herself round about,And she was an angry woman:‘If tomorrow should have been your wedding-day,You may kiss with your sweethearts in London.’6‘Go saddle me my steed,’ he said,‘Saddle and make him ready;For I must away to the bonny Bog of Keith,For to visit the Marquis of Huntley.’7‘Go ask him, go ask, dear Thomas,’ she said,‘Go ask if he’ll take me with him;’‘I’ve asked him once, and I’ll ask him no more,For ye’ll never ride a mile in his company.’8‘Go make to me my bed,’ she said,‘Make it soft and narrow;For since my true lover has slighted me so,I will die for him ere morrow.’9She has called her waiting-man,And Jean her gentlewoman:‘Go bring to me a glass of red wine,For I’m as sick as any woman.’10The bed it was not made nor well laid down,Nor yet the curtains drawn on,Till stays and gown and all did burst,And it’s alace for bonny Peggy Irvine!11The Earl of Aboyne was not at the Bog of Keith,Nor met wi the Marquis of Huntley,Till three broad letters were sent after himThat his pretty Peggy Irvine had left him.12He gave such a rap on the table where he satIt made all the room for to tremble:‘I would rather I had lost all the rents of AboyneThan have lost my pretty Peggy Irvine.’
1The Earl of Aboyne has up to London gone,And all his nobles with him,And three broad letters he sent into his loveHe would wed another woman in London.
1
The Earl of Aboyne has up to London gone,
And all his nobles with him,
And three broad letters he sent into his love
He would wed another woman in London.
2She has turned the honey month about,To see if he was coming,And lang three miles ere he came to the townShe heard his bridle ringing.
2
She has turned the honey month about,
To see if he was coming,
And lang three miles ere he came to the town
She heard his bridle ringing.
3She’s went down unto the close and she’s taen him from his horse,Says, Ye’re welcome home from London!‘If I be as welcome, dear Peggy, as you say,Come kiss me for my coming.
3
She’s went down unto the close and she’s taen him from his horse,
Says, Ye’re welcome home from London!
‘If I be as welcome, dear Peggy, as you say,
Come kiss me for my coming.
4‘Come kiss me, come kiss me, dear Peggy,’ he said,‘Come kiss me for my coming,For tomorrow should have been my wedding-dayHad I tarried any longer in London.’
4
‘Come kiss me, come kiss me, dear Peggy,’ he said,
‘Come kiss me for my coming,
For tomorrow should have been my wedding-day
Had I tarried any longer in London.’
5She has turned herself round about,And she was an angry woman:‘If tomorrow should have been your wedding-day,You may kiss with your sweethearts in London.’
5
She has turned herself round about,
And she was an angry woman:
‘If tomorrow should have been your wedding-day,
You may kiss with your sweethearts in London.’
6‘Go saddle me my steed,’ he said,‘Saddle and make him ready;For I must away to the bonny Bog of Keith,For to visit the Marquis of Huntley.’
6
‘Go saddle me my steed,’ he said,
‘Saddle and make him ready;
For I must away to the bonny Bog of Keith,
For to visit the Marquis of Huntley.’
7‘Go ask him, go ask, dear Thomas,’ she said,‘Go ask if he’ll take me with him;’‘I’ve asked him once, and I’ll ask him no more,For ye’ll never ride a mile in his company.’
7
‘Go ask him, go ask, dear Thomas,’ she said,
‘Go ask if he’ll take me with him;’
‘I’ve asked him once, and I’ll ask him no more,
For ye’ll never ride a mile in his company.’
8‘Go make to me my bed,’ she said,‘Make it soft and narrow;For since my true lover has slighted me so,I will die for him ere morrow.’
8
‘Go make to me my bed,’ she said,
‘Make it soft and narrow;
For since my true lover has slighted me so,
I will die for him ere morrow.’
9She has called her waiting-man,And Jean her gentlewoman:‘Go bring to me a glass of red wine,For I’m as sick as any woman.’
9
She has called her waiting-man,
And Jean her gentlewoman:
‘Go bring to me a glass of red wine,
For I’m as sick as any woman.’
10The bed it was not made nor well laid down,Nor yet the curtains drawn on,Till stays and gown and all did burst,And it’s alace for bonny Peggy Irvine!
10
The bed it was not made nor well laid down,
Nor yet the curtains drawn on,
Till stays and gown and all did burst,
And it’s alace for bonny Peggy Irvine!
11The Earl of Aboyne was not at the Bog of Keith,Nor met wi the Marquis of Huntley,Till three broad letters were sent after himThat his pretty Peggy Irvine had left him.
11
The Earl of Aboyne was not at the Bog of Keith,
Nor met wi the Marquis of Huntley,
Till three broad letters were sent after him
That his pretty Peggy Irvine had left him.
12He gave such a rap on the table where he satIt made all the room for to tremble:‘I would rather I had lost all the rents of AboyneThan have lost my pretty Peggy Irvine.’
12
He gave such a rap on the table where he sat
It made all the room for to tremble:
‘I would rather I had lost all the rents of Aboyne
Than have lost my pretty Peggy Irvine.’
Communicated by Mr Alexander Laing; from the recitation of Miss Fanny Walker, of Mount Pleasant, near Newburgh-on-Tay.
1The Earl o Aboyne is awa to Lunnon gane,An he’s taen Joannan wi him,An it ill be Yule ere he come again;But he micht hae taen his bonnie Peggie Ewan.2Cook-maidens all, be ready at my call,Hae a’ your pats an pans a-reekin;For the finest o flowrs, gae through your bowrs,For the Earl o Aboyne ‘s a comin.
1The Earl o Aboyne is awa to Lunnon gane,An he’s taen Joannan wi him,An it ill be Yule ere he come again;But he micht hae taen his bonnie Peggie Ewan.2Cook-maidens all, be ready at my call,Hae a’ your pats an pans a-reekin;For the finest o flowrs, gae through your bowrs,For the Earl o Aboyne ‘s a comin.
1The Earl o Aboyne is awa to Lunnon gane,An he’s taen Joannan wi him,An it ill be Yule ere he come again;But he micht hae taen his bonnie Peggie Ewan.
1
The Earl o Aboyne is awa to Lunnon gane,
An he’s taen Joannan wi him,
An it ill be Yule ere he come again;
But he micht hae taen his bonnie Peggie Ewan.
2Cook-maidens all, be ready at my call,Hae a’ your pats an pans a-reekin;For the finest o flowrs, gae through your bowrs,For the Earl o Aboyne ‘s a comin.
2
Cook-maidens all, be ready at my call,
Hae a’ your pats an pans a-reekin;
For the finest o flowrs, gae through your bowrs,
For the Earl o Aboyne ‘s a comin.
L
Motherwell’s Note-Book, p. 54. “An old woman (native of Banfshire) sings ‘The Earl of Aboyne,’ beginning:”
The Lord Aboyn’s to London gone,And his hail court wi him;Better he had staid at hame,Or taen his lady wi him.
The Lord Aboyn’s to London gone,And his hail court wi him;Better he had staid at hame,Or taen his lady wi him.
The Lord Aboyn’s to London gone,And his hail court wi him;Better he had staid at hame,Or taen his lady wi him.
The Lord Aboyn’s to London gone,
And his hail court wi him;
Better he had staid at hame,
Or taen his lady wi him.
A.
33.Perhapsbretlher a:not understood by me in either case.clearmay beclean.
202. keping.Glossed“meeting”in a note, but the line is not intelligible to me, and does not seem to be consistent with what follows.
B. a.
93. herbs sweet air.Robertson, New Deeside Guide, printsherbs sweet an fair.
126.Robertson printsony langer.
b.
1.The Earl o Aboyne he’s courteous an kind,He’s kind to every woman,An he has left the castle o AboyneAn gane to dwell in Lunan;An sair was the heart his lady had,Because she wan na wi him.2.As she was walking in her garden green,Alang wi her gentlewoman,There was a letter brocht to herThat her lord was wed in London.
1.The Earl o Aboyne he’s courteous an kind,He’s kind to every woman,An he has left the castle o AboyneAn gane to dwell in Lunan;An sair was the heart his lady had,Because she wan na wi him.2.As she was walking in her garden green,Alang wi her gentlewoman,There was a letter brocht to herThat her lord was wed in London.
1.The Earl o Aboyne he’s courteous an kind,He’s kind to every woman,An he has left the castle o AboyneAn gane to dwell in Lunan;An sair was the heart his lady had,Because she wan na wi him.
1.
The Earl o Aboyne he’s courteous an kind,
He’s kind to every woman,
An he has left the castle o Aboyne
An gane to dwell in Lunan;
An sair was the heart his lady had,
Because she wan na wi him.
2.As she was walking in her garden green,Alang wi her gentlewoman,There was a letter brocht to herThat her lord was wed in London.
2.
As she was walking in her garden green,
Alang wi her gentlewoman,
There was a letter brocht to her
That her lord was wed in London.
3.Wanting.
42. saw twa bonny boys.
44. bring ye.
51. ye lady.
52. For the Earl o.
53,4.Wanting.
61. allwanting.
64, 84, 96. EarlforLord.
7, 82,3, 92–5, 10, 111,2.Wanting.
91. maidens.
115. Gae bring me a pint o the gude red wine.
122. Says, Ye’re welcome hame.
123. welcome, he cried, as.
125. wad hae been.
126. only langer.
131. her about wi a scornfu.
133. suld hae been his.
134. He may kiss his miss in.
141. My merry men a’.
142. I’m wae at heart for.
143. The nicht we’ll licht.
144. An the morn tak.
15, 161,2, 174, 182.Wanting.
181. My merry men a’ now turn.
191. near to bonny Aboyne.
193. the tollin.
amay have been derived from a printed copy, andblearned from the same.
C.
The latter half of the Skene MS. is very carelessly copied. Here, as in other places, stanzas are not separated, lines are improperly divided, and there are omissions which are in no way indicated.
13. man hin | Before to,etc.
D.
44. yonder’s?Butyondermay==yonder are.
144. She speed.
G.
7, 8are2, 3in the MS.
H.
74. streeket.MS.,perhaps, struket.
I.
11, 34. ofis of later insertion.
63. came hame,originally; hameis erased andto townwritten above.
J.
21.I do not understandturned the honey month.
31. taen from him.
33. as you say:originally writtenhe says.
71. himstruck out after the secondask.