Fause Sir John- P. Christie (Aber) 1878 Carpenter
[From: James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/8/1/B, p. 11501. The dialect is inconsistent.
R. Matteson 2018]
Fause Sir John- sung by Peter Christie of 21 Shorehead, Stonehave, Scotland. Learned from Mary Christie of Newton Hill, fifty-two years ago. Recording date not given, c. 1930. He is a relative of Mrs James Christie.
1 Fause Sir John has gane frae hame,
To view the king's dochter fair;
Six long years he's courted her
And the seventh he's ta'en her name.
2 It's ye'll tak some o' yer father's gowd.
An' some o' your mother's fee,
And twa o' the best staigs oot o the stable
Faur there stands thirty-three.
3 An' she's taen some o' her father's gowd.
An' some o' her mother's fee,
An' twa o' the best steegs oot o' the stable
Faur there stood thirty an' three.
4 She mounted on the white melk steeg,
An' he on the steeble sae gay,
Until they cam tae Lord Cumberland's water,
Three hours before it was day.
5 Licht off, licht off, your white melk steeg
An' deliver them all up to me;
For it's six pretty maidens I ha'e droont here
And the seventh one thou shalt be.
6 'Cast off, cast off, your silken goon,
And deliver them all tee me,
For it is to good an' too costly a robe
To roll a' in the saut sea.
7 'Cast off, cast off, silken stays,
An' deliver them all up to me;
For it's six pretty maidens I ha'e droont here
And the seventh one thou shalt be.
8 "If I have to cast off my silken stay,
Ye will turn your back to me,
For it disna become o' a single man
A naked woman to see."
9 He's turned himself richt roon aboot,
For ti pu the greenleaf o' the tree;
When she's taen him in her arms twa
An' thrown him in the sea.
10 He's dipped high an' he's dipped low,
An' he dipped to the side;,
"It's take my hand, ye wild woman,
An' ye shall be my bride."
11 "O lie there, lie there, ye false Sir John,
Ye lie there instead o' me;
For it's six pretty maidens ye ha'e droont here
But the seventh ane's droont thee."
12 She's mounted on her white melk steeg,
An' she rode by the licht o' the moon,
Until she came tae her father's gate
And there she's lichted doon.
13 The parrot sat in the window so high;
T o her the Parrot did say,
"Where hae you been, ye pretty fair maid
That ye've tarried so long away?"
14 "Hide weel, hide weel, my pretty parrot,
"Hide weel, hide weel, on me;
An' you shall be o the reid, reid wine,
An' your cage o' the ivory."