May Colvin, or, False Sir John- (Scot) 1827 Motherwell
[From the 1827 book, "Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern: With an Historical Introd. and Notes" edited by William Motherwell. This is Child's Cc version-- collated with Herd's version.
R. Matteson 2018]
MAY COLVIN, OR FALSE SIR JOHN.
This ballad is given from a copy obtained from recitation, collated with another copy to be found in the Edinburgh collection, 1776.
False Sir John a wooing came,
To a maid of beauty fair;
May Colvin was the lady's name,
Her father's only heir.
He's courted her butt, and he's courted her ben,
And he's courted her into the ha',
Till once he got this lady's consent
To mount and ride awa'.
She's gane to her father's coffers
Where all his money lay;
And she's taken the red, and she's left the white,
And so lightly as she tripped away.
She's gane down to her father's stable
Where all his steeds did stand;
And she's taken the best, and she's left the warst,
That was in her father's land.
He rode on, and she rode on,
They rode a lang simmer's day,
Until they came to a broad river,
An arm of a lonesome sea.
"Loup off the steed," says false Sir John;
"Your bridal bed you see;
For it's seven king's daughters I have drowned
And the eighth I'll out make with thee.
"Cast off, cast off your silks so fine,
And lay them on a stone,
For they are o'er good and o'er costly
To rot in the salt sea foam.
"Cast off, cast off your holland smock,
And lay it on this stone,
For it's too fine and o'er costly
To rot in the salt sea foam."
"O turn you about, thou false Sir John,
And look to the leaf o' the tree;
For it never became a gentleman
A naked woman to see."
He's turned himself straight round about,
To look to the leaf o' the tree;
She's twined her arms about his waist,
And thrown him into the sea.
"O hold a grip of me, May Colvin,
For fear that I should drown;
I'll take you hame to your father's gates,
And safely I'll set you down."
"O lie you there, thou false Sir John,
O lie you there," said she,
"For you lie not in a caulder bed
Than the ane you intended for me."
So she went on her father's steed,
As swift as she could flee;
And she came hame to her father's gates
At the breaking of the day.
Up then spake the pretty parrot:
"May Colvin, where have you been?
What has become of false Sir John,
That wooed you so late yestreen?
Up then spake the pretty parrot,
In the bonnie cage where it lay:
"O what hae ye done with the false Sir John,
That he behind you doth stay?
"He wooed you butt, he wooed you ben,
He wooed you into the ha',
Until he got your own consent
For to mount and gang awa'."
"O hold your tongue, my pretty parrot,
Lay not the blame upon me;
Your cage will be made of the beaten gold
And the spakes of ivorie."
Up then spake the king himself,
In the chamber where he lay:
"Oh! what ails the pretty parrot,
That prattles so long ere day."
"It was a cat cam to my cage door;
I thought 'twould have worried me;
And I was calling on fair May Colvin
To take the cat from me."