Mary Hamilton (Child 173K)

Queen Mary had four serving-maids,
As braw as braw could be,
But ane o them has fa’n wi bairn,
And for it she maun die.

But whan the babie it was born,
A troubled woman was she;
She rowed it up in a handkerchief,
And flang it in the sea.

Out then spoke a bonnie wee burd,
And it spak sharp and keen:
‘O what did ye do wi your wee babie,
Ye had in your arms yestreen?’

‘O I tyed it up in a napkin,
And flang it in the sea;
I bade it sink, I bade it soom,
‘Twad get nae mair o me.’

Out and spak King Henrie,
And an angry man was he:
‘A’for the drowning o that wee babe
High hanged ye shall be.’

‘I’ll no put on a goun o black,
Nor yet a goun o green,
But I’ll put on a goun o gowd,
To glance in young men’s een.

‘O gin ye meet my father or mother,
Ye may tell them frae me,
’Twas for the sake o a wee wee bairn
That I came here to die.

‘Yestreen four Maries made Queen Mary’s bed,
This nicht there’ll be but three,
A Mary Beaton, a Mary Seaton,
A Mary Carmichael, and me.

‘O what will my three brithers say,
When they come hame frae see,
When they see three locks o my yellow hair
Hinging under a gallows-tree!’