Classic Poem

O Mary Hamilton to the kirk is gane
Wi' ribbons in her hair;
An' the king thocht mair o' Marie
Then onie that were there.

Mary Hamilton 's to the preaching gane
Wi' ribbons on her breast;
An' the king thocht mair o' Marie
Than he thocht o' the priest.

Syne word is thro' the palace gane,
I heard it tauld yestreen,
The king loes Mary Hamilton
Mair than he loes his queen.

A sad tale thro' the town is gaen,
A sad tale on the morrow:
Oh Mary Hamilton has born a babe
And slain it in her sorrow.

And down then cam the auld queen,
Goud tassels tie her hair:
What did ye wi' the wee wee bairn
That I heard greet sae sair?

There ne'er was a bairn into my room,
An' as little designs to be;
'T was but a stitch o' my sair side
Cam owre my fair bodie.

Rise up now, Marie, quo' the queen,
Rise up, an' come wi' me,
For we maun ride to Holyrood
A gay wedding to see.

The queen was drest in scarlet fine,
Her maidens all in green;
An' every town that they cam thro'
Took Marie for the queen.

But little wist Marie Hamilton
As she rode oure the lea
That she was gaun to Edinbro' town
Her doom to hear and dree.

When she cam to the Netherbow Port
She laughed loud laughters three;
But when she reached the gallows-tree
The tears blinded her e'e.

Yestreen the queen had four Maries,
The nicht she'll hae but three;
There's Marie Seaton, an' Marie Beaton,
An' Marie Carmichael, an' me.

Oh aften have I dressed my queen
An' put gowd in her hair;
The gallows-tree is my reward
An' shame maun be my share.

Oh aften hae I dressed my queen
An' saft, saft made her bed;
An' now I've got for my reward
The gallows-tree to tread.

There's a health to all gallant sailors
That sail upon the sea:
Oh never let on to my father and mither
The death that I maun dee.

An' I charge ye, all ye mariners,
When ye sail owre the main,
Let neither my father nor mither know
But that I'm comin hame.

Oh little did my mither ken,
That day she cradled me,
What lands I was to tread in
Or what death I should dee.