The Rantin Laddie (Child 240D)

‘Aft hae I played at the cards and the dice,
It was a’ for the sake o my laddie,
But noo I sit i my father’s kitchie-neuk,
Singing ba to a bonnie bastard babbie.

‘Whar will I get a bonnie boy sae kin
As will carry a letter cannie,
That will rin on to the gates o the Boyne,
Gie the letter to my rantin laddie?’

‘Here am I, a bonnie boy sae kin,
As will carry a letter cannie,
That will rin on to the gates o the Boyne,
Gie the letter to your rantin laddie.’

‘When ye come to the gates o the Boyne,
An low doon on yon cassie,
Ye’ll tak aff your hat an ye’ll mak a low bow,
Gie the letter to my rantin laddie.’

‘When ye come to the gates o the Boyne,
Ye’ll see lords an nobles monie;
But ye’ll ken him among them a’,
He’s my bonnie, bonnie rantin laddie.’

‘Is your bonnie love a laird or a lord,
Or is he a cadie,
That ye call him so very often by name
Your bonnie rantin laddie?’

‘My love’s neither a laird nor a lord,
Nor is he a cadie,
But he is yerl o a’ the Boyne,
An he is my bonnie rantin laddie.’

When he read a line or two,
He smilëd eer sae bonnie;
But lang ere he cam to the end
The tears cam trinklin monie.

‘Whar will I find fifty noble lords,
An as monie gay ladies,