Three Sisters- Agnes Lyle- Kilbarchan 1825 Child D
[Not title by Motherwell is supplied so 'There Were Three Sisters" or "Three Sisters" seem to be the best guess since "Baby Lon" is not mentioned or "The Boonie Banks." Agnes Lyle, who lived in Kilbarchan, a textile center, was the collector William Motherwell's most prolific singer, she performed, and Motherwell recorded, twenty-two songs, some of them with tunes.
[Three Sisters] No title given- Child Version D
Motherwell's MS., p. 174. From the recitation of Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan, July 27, 1825.
1 THERE were three sisters, they lived in a bower,
Sing Anna, sing Margaret, sing Marjorie
The youngest o them was the fairest flower.
And the dew goes thro the wood, gay ladie
2 The oldest of them she's to the wood gane,
To seek a braw leaf and to bring it hame.
3 There she met with an outlyer bold,
Lies many long nights in the woods so cold.
4 'Istow a maid, or istow a wife?
Wiltow twinn with thy maidenhead, or thy sweet life? '
5 'O kind sir, if I hae't at my will,
I'll twinn with my life, keep my maidenhead still,
6 He's taen out his we pen-knife,
He's twinned thi s young lady of her sweet life
7 He wiped his knife along the dew;
But the more he wiped, the redder it grew.
8 The second of them she's to the wood gane,
To seek her old sister, and to bring her hame.
9 There she met with an outlyer bold,
Lies many long nights in the woods so cold.
10 'Istow a maid, or istow a wife?
Wiltow twinn with thy maidenhead, or thy sweet life?'
11 'O kind sir, if I hae't at my will,
I'll twinn with my life, keep my maidenhead still.'
12 He's taen out his we pen-knife,
He's twinned this young lady of her sweet life.
13 He wiped his knife along the dew;
But the more he wiped, the redder it grew.
14 The yonngest of them she's to the wood gane,
To seek her two sisters, and to bring them hame.
15 There she met with an outlyer bold,
Lies many long nights in the woods so cold.
16 'Istow a maid, or istow a wife?
Wiltow twinn with thy maidenhead, or thy sweet life?'
17 'If my three brethren they were here,
Such questions as these thou durst nae speer.'
18 'Pray, what may thy three brethren he,
That I durst na mak so bold with thee?'
19 'The eldest o them is a minister bred,
He teaches the people from evil to good.
20 'The second o them is a ploughman good,
He ploughs the land for his livelihood.
21 'The youngest of them is an oatlyer bold,
Lies many a long night ire the woods so cold.'
22 He stuck his knife then into the ground,
He took a long race, let himself fall on.