There Was a Lord in Edinburgh- Clark (ON) pre1965
[From: A Family Heritage: The Story and Songs of LaRena Clark by Edith Fowke, Jay Rahn, LaRena LeBarr Clark. LaRena Clark sang There Was a Lord in Edinburgh in 1965 on her Topic album A Canadian Garland: Folksongs from the Province of Ontario. Fowke made a tape recording of "There Was a Lord in Edinburgh" by Mrs. Gordon Clark, Richmond, November, 1961.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
There Was a Lord in Edinburgh- Sung by LaRena Clark (ON) pre1965
1. There was a lord in the Edinburgh,
And he had one only son,
Courted a girl in the lower countree,
Till he thought he had her won.
He got consent from old and young,
From father and mother likewise,
Till, "Oh," she cried, "I am undone,"
With the salt tears in her eyes.
2. She wrote her love a letter,
And she sealed it with her hand,
That on her wedding day she would
Be wed to another man.
He wrote her back an answer,
And he sealed it with a ring,
That on her wedding day she would
Put on a suit of green.
3. "A suit of the same I will put on;
For your wedding I'll prepare,
And I'll wed you, my gay lady,
In spite of all that's there!
4. Then he rode east and he rode west,
And he rode all around.
He rode till he'd got one hundred men,
All for the Highlands bound.
He seated them, he placed them
All in the streets of Brock,
And then away to the wedding house
This gentleman did walk.
5. They welcomed him both old and young
And asked him how he'd spent the day,
And if he'd seen those Highland troops
Who'd just rode out that way.
He laughed at them, he scorn-ed them,
And unto them did say,
"It might have been some Highlanders
Who'd just rode out for play."
6. He filled up a glass of the new malt wine,
And he tossed it round and round,
Saying, "Happy, happy is the man
Who now they call the groom,
"But happier, happier will be the man
Who shall enjoy the bride,
For if anyone loved her as I do,
He'd take her from his side."
7. Up stepped the groom all in a rage,
And an angry groom was he,
Saying, "If for fighting here you came
I'm the man that will fight thee."
"It's not for fighting here I've came;
Good fellowship I'll show.
One single kiss from the bonny bride,
And away from here I'll go."
8. He took her by the lily-white hand
And by the grass-green sleeve,
And he led her straight from the company;
Of the company asked no leave.
Yonder she rides close by his side,
Dressed up like any queen.
She's guarded by one hundred men
All dressed right up in green.
9. ”Come all young men both far and near,
A warning take by me,
And don't be tricked as I have been
All on your wedding day."