Book of Old English Ballads, A

<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"></SPAN></p> <h2> Waly, Waly, Love be Bonny </h2> <p>A SCOTTISH SONG<br/></p> <p>O waly, waly up the bank,<br/> And waly, waly down the brae,<br/> And waly, waly yon burn side,<br/> Where I and my love were wont to gae.<br/> I leant my back unto an aik,<br/> I thought it was a trusty tree;<br/> But first it bow'd, and syne it brak,<br/> Sae my true love did lichtly me.<br/> <br/> O waly, waly, but gin love be bonny,<br/> A little time while it is new;<br/> But when its auld, it waxeth cauld,<br/> And fades awa' like morning dew.<br/> O wherfore shuld I busk my head?<br/> Or wherfore shuld I kame my hair?<br/> For my true love has me forsook,<br/> And says he'll never loe me mair.<br/> <br/> Now Arthur-Seat sall be my bed,<br/> The sheets shall neir be prest by me:<br/> Saint Anton's well sall be my drink,<br/> Since my true love has forsaken me.<br/> Marti'mas wind, when wilt thou blaw,<br/> And shake the green leaves aff the tree?<br/> O gentle death, when wilt thou cum?<br/> For of my life I am wear�e.<br/> <br/> 'Tis not the frost that freezes fell,<br/> Nor blawing snaws inclemenc�e;<br/> 'Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry,<br/> But my love's heart grown cauld to me.<br/> Whan we came in by Glasgow town,<br/> We were a comely sight to see;<br/> My love was clad in black velvet,<br/> And I myself in cramas�e.<br/> <br/> But had I wist, before I kist,<br/> That love had been sae ill to win,<br/> I had lockt my heart in a case of gowd,<br/> And pinnd it with a siller pin.<br/> And, oh! that my young babe were born,<br/> And set upon the nurse's knee,<br/> And I myself were dead and gane!<br/> And the green grass growing over me.<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />