AnonymousWill Y Drowned in Yarrow
¶DOWN in yon garden sweet and gayWhere bonnie grows the lily,I heard a fair maid sighing say,'My wish be wi' sweet Willie!
¶'Willie's rare, and Willie's fair,And Willie's wondrous bonny;And Willie hecht1 to marry meGin e'er he married ony.
¶'O gentle wind, that bloweth south,From where my Love repaireth,Convey a kiss frae his dear mouthAnd tell me how he fareth![499]'O tell sweet Willie to come dounAnd hear the mavis singing,And see the birds on ilka bushAnd leaves around them hinging.
p. 499¶'The lav'rock 2 there, wi' her white breastAnd gentle throat sae narrow;There's sport eneuch for gentlemen.On Leader haughs 3 and Yarrow.
¶'O Leader haughs are wide and braidAnd Yarrow haughs are bonny;There Willie hecht to marry meIf e'er he married ony.
¶'But Willie's gone, whom I thought on,And does not hear me weeping;Draws many a tear frae true love's e'eWhen other maids are sleeping.
¶'Yestreen I made my bed fu' braid,The night I'll mak' it narrow,For a' the live-lang winter nightI lie twined o' my marrow.*
¶'O came ye by yon water-side?Pou'd you the rose or lily?Or came you by yon meadow green,Or saw you my sweet Willie?'
¶She sought him up, she sought him down,She sought him braid and narrow;Syne, in the cleaving of a craig,She found him drown'd in Yarrow!