History & Politics
Willie Macintosh (Child 183)
From The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, ed. F. J. Child (1882–98)
‘Turn, Willie Macintosh,
Turn, I bid you;
Gin ye burn Auchindown,
Huntly will head you.’
‘Head me or hang me,
That canna fley me;
I’ll burn Auchendown,
Ere the life lea me.’
Coming down Deeside,
In a clear morning,
Auchindown was in flame,
Ere the cock-crawing.
But coming oer Cairn Croom,
And looking down, man,
I saw Willie Macintosh
Burn Auchindown, man.
‘Bonny Willie Macintosh,
Whare left ye your men?’
‘I left them in the Stapler,
But they’ll never come hame.’
‘Bonny Willie Macintosh,
Whare now is your men?’
‘I left them in the Stapler,
Sleeping in their sheen.’
Cite this poem
MLA
Traditional Ballads (Child collection). “Willie Macintosh (Child 183).” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/child-ballads/586/.
Chicago
Traditional Ballads (Child collection). “Willie Macintosh (Child 183).” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/child-ballads/586/.
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