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Word is to the kitchen gone
|
And word is to the hall,
|
And word is up to Madam the Queen
|
And that's the worst of all,
|
That Mary Hamilton's born a babe to the highest Stuart of all
|
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"Arise, arise, Mary Hamilton,
|
Arise and tell to me,
|
What thou hast done with thy wee babe
|
I saw and heard weep by thee?"
|
|
"I put him in a tiny boat,
|
And cast him out to sea,
|
That he might sink or he might swim,
|
But he'd never come back to me."
|
|
"Arise, arise, Mary Hamilton,
|
Arise and come with me;
|
There is a wedding in Glasgow town
|
This night we'll go and see."
|
|
She put not on her robes of black,
|
Nor her robes of brown,
|
But she put on robes of white,
|
To ride into Glasgow town.
|
|
And as she rode into Glasgow town,
|
The city for to see,
|
The bailiff's wife and the provost's wife
|
Cried, "Ach, and alas for thee."
|
|
"Ah, you need not weep for me," she cried
|
"You need not weep for me;
|
For had I not slain my own wee babe
|
This death I would not dee."
|
|
"Ah, little did my mother think
|
When first she cradled me,
|
The lands I was to travel in
|
And the death I was to dee."
|
|
Then by and come the King himself,
|
Looked up with a pitiful eye,
|
"Come down, come down, Mary Hamilton,
|
Tonight you'll dine with me."
|
|
"Ah, hold your tongue, my sovereign liege,
|
And let your folly be;
|
For if you'd a mind to save my life
|
You'd never have shamed me here."
|
|
"Cast off, cast off my gown," she cried,
|
"But let my petticoat be,
|
And tie a napkin 'round my face;
|
The gallows I would not see."
|
|
"Last night I washed the Queen's feet,
|
And put the gold on her hair,
|
And the only reward I find for this,
|
The gallows to be my share."
|
|
"Last night there were four Marys,
|
Tonight there'll be but three,
|
There was Mary Beaton, and Mary Seaton,
|
And Mary Carmichael, and me."
|
|
|
|
-----------------
|
Mary Hamilton
|
| Joan Baez |
