BROOM O' THE COWDENKNOWES
There was a troop o' merry gentlemen,
Cam' ridin' between twa knowes,
An' there heard the voice o' a fair bonnie lass,
In the valley, milkin' her yowes.
There's yin o' them has lighted aff his horse,
An' tied it tae a tree,
An' he has gane tae yon yowe-bucht,
Tae see what it might be.
Singin', "O, the broom , the bonnie, bonnie broom,
The broom o' the Cowdenknowes;
Fain wad I be in the nairth country,
Tendin' my faither's yowes."
He's ta'en her by her milk-white hand,
An' by her green gown-sleeve,
An' led her intae a misty bough,
An' speired o' her nae leave.
Sayin, "I've been nairth, an' I've south,
An' I've ridden o'er the downs,
But the bonniest lass that e'er I've seen
Is right here in Cowdenknowes."
O, the broom...
When fifteen weeks had past an' gane,
Fu' fifteen weeks an' three,
This maid grew thick aboot the waist,
An' she longed for his twinklin' ee.
It fell on a day, on a bonnie simmer's day,
As she wauked the hills sae high,
Anither troop o' fine gentlemen
Cam' ridin' o'er the lea.
Singin', O, the broom...
Yin o' them, he stopped an' he said,
"Wha got the babe by thee?"
Weel, first she blushed, but syne she said,
"I hae a fine man at hame."
"Oh, ye lie, ye lie, my bonnie bonnie may!
Aloud I hear ye lie!
Dinna ye mind the bonnie simmer nicht
I lay in the yowe-bucht wi' thee?"
O, the broom...
He's lighted aff his milk-white steed,
An' set this fair maid on,
"Noo ca' your herds, good lady," he said;
"Ye'll ne'er see them again.
"For I am the laird o' Knottingham,
Wi' fifty ploos an' three,
An' let your faither cam' after your sheep,
For tonight my bride ye'll be."
Singin', O, the broom...
