Cameric Sark- Alexander Brown (Moray) c.1870 Carpenter
[My title. From James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/3/J, p. 06902
R. Matteson 2018]
Cameric Sark- sung by Alexander Brown of Anchor Cottage, Land street, Rothes (Moray) Scotland. Heard about sixty years ago.
As I was a walkin' early one day,
Where every rose sprung bonnie an' thyme,
It's there I met a bonnie fair may,
An' fain wid she be a true lover o' mine.
True lover o' mine, true lover o' mine
An' fain wid she be a true lover o' mine.
Ye'll mak unto me a cameric sark
withoot ony stichin' nor yet needle waurk,
Syne since ye've asked this question o me,
Where every rose sprung bonnie an' thyme,
But I've got something to speir at ye,
Afore ye can be a true lover o mine.
Ye'll ploo unto me an acre o land
Atween the saut sea an' the strand,
Ye'll ploo it all ower wi' a ram’s horn,
And saw [sow] it all ower wi' a seed o corn,
"We'll cut it all doon wi' a peacock's fether,
An' ye'll bind it up wi' the sting o an ather [adder].
So when ye've finished all yer waurk
Ye'll come unto me, an' ye’ll get yer sark,