It's fare ye weel, my servants all, And you, my bonnie children three, That put strife between my good lord and me. When I came in through Edinburgh town, "Hold your tongue, my daughter dear, Than all the lords in the north countrie." When she came to her father's land, "The linnet is a bonnie bird, And aften flees far frae its nest; So all the world may plainly see They're far awa that I love best!" N She looked out at her father's window, There came a soldier to the gate, Bid her come down and speak to me. "O come away, my lady fair, Come away, now, alang with me; WALY, WALY, UP THE BANK. This ballad is founded upon, and mainly extracted from the preceding. It bears upon it the marks of a masterhand in popular poetry, and first appeared in Allan Ramsay's "Tea-Table Miscellany" with the signature of "Z,” shewing that it was of an antiquity unknown to the Editor. O, WALY, waly up the bank, And waly, waly down the brae, O waly, waly, but love is bonnie And says he 'll never love me mair. Now Arthur's Seat shall be my bed, me, St Anton's well shall be my drink, Since my true love has forsaken me. 'Tis not the frost that freezes fell, Nor blawing snaw's inclemencie, me. When we came in by Glasgow toun We were a comely sicht to see; * Arthur's Seat, the picturesque and romantic hill that overlooks Edinburgh, and forms part of the chase or park which surrounds the ancient palace of Holyrood. St Anthony's well is a small spring on the side of the hill, which takes its name from a hermitage that it formerly supplied with water. "Pressed:" filed or defiled in the original. But had I wist before I kist That love had been sae ill to win, LADY MARY ANN. "I have extracted these beautiful stanzas from Johnson's 'Poetical Museum.' They are worthy of being better known-a circumstance which may lead to a discovery of the persons whom they celebrate."-Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads, vol. i. Edin. 1808. The stanza are certainly beautiful, and it is probable they may refer to some of the Dundonald family. The thrifty habits of one lady of that noble house, at least, have already been commemorated in some wretched stuff, still preserved by tradition in Paisley : "My lady Dundonald sits singing and spinning, And it weel sets me for to wear a gude cloak, O LADY MARY ANN looks o'er the castle wa', She saw three bonnie boys playing at the ba', The youngest he was the flower among them a'; My bonnie laddie's young, but he's growin' yet. * "For a maid again I'll never be: " is the reading in Allan Ramsay's version; but one less pathetic, less beautiful, and less delicate than the line as amended from the recitation of an "old nurse," and which is now most commonly, and very properly, adopted. O father, O father, an' ye think it fit, Lady Mary Ann was a flower in the dew, Young Charlie Cochran was the sprout of an aik, Bonnie and blooming and straight was its make, The sun took delight to shine for its sake; And it will be the brag o' the forest yet. The summer is gane when the leaves they were green, And the days are awa' that we hae seen, But far better days I trust will come again; For my bonnie laddie's young, but he 's growin' yet. |