May Colvin- James Mason (Aber) c.1930 Carpenter
[From James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/5/3/A, p. 09093, there's another James Mason (also Masson) from Stonehaven who is an informant for Carpenter.
R. Matteson 2018]
May Colvin - sung by James Mason of 4 Dawson's Building, Stonehaven, Scotland about 1930
1 Fause Sir John his a wooin' gaen,
Tae a maiden o' beauty rare;
May Colvin it was that lady's name
Her father's only heir.
2 He's courted her but[t], he's courted her ben,
An' he's courted her enti the hall,
Until he's gotten this lady's consent
It's for ti mount and ride awa'.
3 She's gaen enti her father's coffrum[1],
It's where his money lies,
She's taen the red and left the white,
And lightly she has tripped awa'.
4. She's gaen enti her father's stable,
It's just where a' his stablings stands,
She's taen the best an' left the worst,
That was enti her father's lands.
5. It's he's rode on, an' she's rode on
They rode a lang, lang summer's day;
Until they came tae a a broad river,
An erum o' the lonesome sea.
6. Loup off your steed, May Colvin,
Your bridal bed you see;
It's seven king's daughters I ha'e droont here
An' the eighth one I'll mak o' thee.
7 "Cast aff, cast aff, yer silks sae fine,
An' lay them on the stane,
They are too fine an' costilee
For to rot i' the saut-sea fame.
7 "Cast aff, cast off, yer hollin' smock,
An' lay them on the stane,
They are too fine an' costilee
For to rot i' the saut-sea fame.
8 "It's tern ye roon, ye Fause Sir John,
An' view the green leaves on the tree,
For it disna become a single man
A naked woman ti see."
9 He's tarned himself richt an' roon aboot,
Ti view the green leaves far off the trees;
An' she's taen him in her ain arms twa
An' thrown him headlong in the sea.
10 "It's haud yer grip, May Colvin," he cries,
For fear that I should droon."
"Ye lie nae in a colder bed,
Nor the een ye intended for me."
11 She's looped on her father's steed,
As fast as she could flee,
She's reached her father's lofty tower
By the dawning o the day.
12 It's up and speaks the pretty parrot
In the cage where it does lie,
"O what's become of auld Sir John
That he behind thee death na stay?"
13 "It's haud yer tongue, ye pretty parrot,
An lay not the blame on me;
An' yer cage shall be made o the beaten gowd,
An' the spakes o' ivory."
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1. coffers