Lord John- Motherwell c.1825 Child I
[From Motherwell's MS., 1825 and after. A folio, almost entirely in Motherwell's hand, containing, besides some pieces not indexed, 228 indexed ballads. Most of these are from the West of Scotland, but not a few were given Motherwell by Buchan and are duplicates of copies which occur in Buchan's MSS. In the possession of Mr Malcolm Colquhoun Thomson, Glasgow.]
Lord John- Version I; Child 68 Young Hunting
Motherwell Manuscript, p. 189.
1 'Come down, come down, thou bonnie bird,
Sit low upon my hand,
And thy cage shall be o the beaten gowd,
And not of hazel wand.'
2 'O woe, O woe be to thee, lady,
And an ill death may thou die!
For the way thou guided good Lord John,
Soon, soon would thou guide me.'
3 'Go bend to me my bow,' she said,
'And set it to my ee,
And I will gar that bonnie bird
Come quickly down to me.'
4 'Before thou bend thy bow, lady,
And set it to thy ee,
O I will be at yon far forest,
Telling ill tales on thee.'