Seven Pretty Sisters- Anon (Ayr) 1833 Picken
[Fragment from "Traditionary Stories of Old Families," by Andrew Picken, 1833, I, 289 in the chapter, "Three Maids of Loudon." I assume the stanzas would have been sung in Coningham, in the county of Ayr.
R. Matteson 2018]
“Seven Pretty Sisters"
Seven pretty sisters dwelt in a bower,
With a hey-down, and a ho-down
And they twined the silk, and they workd the flower.
Sing a hey-down and a ho-down
And they began for seven years' wark,
With a hey-down and a ho-down
All for to make their dear loves a sark.
With a hey down and a ho-down
O three long years were passd and gone,
With a hey-down and a ho-down
And they had not finishd a sleeve but one.
With a hey down and a ho-down
'O we'll to the woods, and we'll pull a rose,'
With a hey-down and a ho-down
And up they sprang all at this propose.
With a hey down and a ho-down