Lament of a Young Damsel- Macqueen (Ayr) c.1825
[From: Andrew Crawfurd's collection of ballads and songs- Volume 2, page 83 by Emily B. Lyle, Scottish Text Society - 1996.
This ballad was collected by Elizabeth "Bethia" Macqueen (also Mcqueen, b. 1806 in County Down) of Kilbirne, Ayrshire, Scotland and given to Crawfurd probably by her brother Thomas MacQueen, a poet who was paid by Crawfurd and also Motherwell to collect ballads. She married Robert Orr in Kilbirne in 1828 and eventually came to the US when she died in 1880 in Utah.
This excellent version may have been edited for Crawfurd. Thomas, her brother, was collecting ballad in Aryshire for Crawfurd. The title is not local :)
R. Matteson 2016]
The Lament of a Young Damsel for her Marriage to a Young Boy- from Elizabeth Macqueen, C. 1828
1 O father deir faither what's this ye'v dune
Ye'v marriet me to a man that's far owr young
For his aige it is twall and I am scarce fiftene
And my bonnie lad's lang a growing
2 O faither deir faither gin ye wad think it fit
To send him to the college anither yeir yit
I'd tye a grein ribban aw around his hat
To let the girls ken he is marryit
3 Or faither[1] dear faither gin ye wad agree
To put a cott and waistcott an breiks upon me,
I wad cut aff the yellow hair that grows on my brow
An I'll gae to the college wi him
4. O dochter deir dochter I'v dune ye nae wrang
I'v marryit you to an Earl's only son
An whan his father dees he will be air o aw
And your bonnie lad daily growan.
5. But whan he was thirtene he was a marryit man
Whan he was fourtene he fatherit his auld son
Whan he was fifteen his grave was growan green
And that put an end to his growing
6. O the trees thay are hie and the leaves thay ar green
The days are awa that I hae aften seen
The cauld winter nichts that I maun lye my lane
And my bonnie laddie's far far fae me
1. originally "father" without the "i'