May Colvin- Bell Robertson (Aber) 1906 Greig A
[From "Last leaves of traditional ballads and ballad airs," Alexander Keith - 1925; Also Gavin Greig, Folk-Song of the North-East; and The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection by Patrick N. Shuldham-Shaw, Emily B. Lyle.
R. Matteson 2018]
May Colvin- recited by Bell Robertson of New Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire 1906 Greig A, as learned from her grandmother from whom her mother learned it. Keith dates this late 1700s.
1. O heard ye o' a bloody knight
Lives in the west countrie?
He has betrayed eight ladies fair,
An' he's drooned them in the sea.
2. He has come to May Colvin,
She was her father’s heir,
She was the beauty o’ them a'
I solemnly declare.
3. He said: "I am a Baron Knight,
Has lands thirty and three,
An' ye'se be lady o’ them a’,
Fair May, and ye’ll gae wi’ me."
4. "O haud your tongue noo, good Sir John,
I pray let me alane,
For unless I get my parent’s consent,
It's wi’ you I daurna gang."
5. "Your parents' leave ye soon shall have,
To this they will agree,
For I have swoen a solemn oath
Fair May, that ye'se go wi' me."
6. Out o' his arm he pulled a charm
"And he stuck it in her sleeve,”
And he's made her to go wi' him
Without her parents’ leave.
7. Five hundred pounds o' good red gold
She took wi' her along,
The swiftest steed her father had,
She took to ride upon.
8. So privately they went away
There was none to hear or see,
Till they cam to yon fatal end
That they call Beenie an' by.
9. The fatal rocks were tall an' steep,
There was none to hear her cry.
"Light doon, light doon noo, May Colvin,
Light doon an' speak to me,
For here I drooned eight ladies fair,
An' the ninth ane ye maun be."
10. 'Is this your bowers an' lofty towers
So costly, rich, an' gay?
Or is it for my gold," she said,
"Ye're to tak my life away?"
11. "Cast aff," he said, 'your gown o silk
So costly, rich, an' grand,
It is too costly an' too fine
To rot on the sea sand.
12. "Cast aff," he said, "your Holland smock,
It's bordered wi' the lawn,
It is too costly an' too fine
To rot on the sea stran'."
13. “Her jewels fine she then put aff,
And thus she made her moan,
Have mercy on a virgin young,
I pray you, good Sir John."
14. “But turn ye roon noo, good Sir John,
About your back to me,
For it not comely for a man,
A naked woman to see."
15. Then as Sir John he turned him roon,
She's thrown him in the sea,
Said, " Lie ye there, ye traitor false,
For ye thought to slay me.
Although ye stripped me to the skin,
Ye'se get your clothes fae me."
Her jewels fine she then put on,
So costly, rich, an' brave,
Her steed on then she mounts hersel,
So weel as she did behave.
17. Fan she was on o her milk-white steed,
He was both swift an' free,
She lighted at her father's yetts
Before the clock struck three.
18. She called for the stable-groom,
He was her waiting-man,
As soon's he heard that lady's voice,
He cam wi hat in han'.
19. Then oot it spak the pretty parrot,
An' she said, "Fair May Colvin,
O what did ye wi' good Sir John,
That gaed oot wi you yestreen."
20. "O hold your tongue, ye pretty parrot;
An ye talk no more to me,
Your cage it is o timmer fine,
But o' red gowd it sall be.
21. Then first she tauld her mother dear
O' the deed that she had done,
An' then she tauld her father dear
Concerning false Sir John.
22. So privately they went away,
By the dawning o' the day,
Till they came to yon fatal end
That ye call Beenie an' by.
23. Up they hae taken him, false Sir John,
To yonder pleasant green,
An' there they buried false Sir John,
For fear he had been seen.