Earl Mar’s Daughter
It was intill a pleasant time,
Upon a simmer’s day,
The noble Earl of Mar’s daughter
Went forth to sport and play.
And as she played and sported
Below a green aik tree,
There she saw a sprightly doo
Set on a branch sae hie.
“O Coo-my-doo, my love sae true,
If ye’ll come doun to me,
Ye’se hae a cage o’ gude red goud
Instead o’ simple tree.
“I’ll tak’ ye hame and pet ye weel,
Within my bower and ha’;
I’ll gar ye shine as fair a bird
As ony o’ them a’!”
And she had nae these words weel spoke,
Nor yet these words weel said,
Till Coo-my-doo flew frae the branch,
And lighted on her head.
Then she has brought this pretty bird
Hame to her bower and ha’,
And made him shine as fair a bird
As ony o’ them a’.
When day was gane, and night was come,
About the evening-tide,
This lady spied a bonny youth
Stand straight up by her side.
“Now whence come ye, young man,” she said,
“To put me into fear?
My door was bolted right secure,
And what way cam’ ye here?”
“O haud your tongue, my lady fair,
Lat a’ your folly be;
Mind ye not o’ your turtle-doo
Ye coax’d from aff the tree?”
“O wha are ye, young man?” she said,
“What country come ye frae?”
“I flew across the sea,” he said,
“’Twas but this verra day.
“My mither is a queen,” he says,
Likewise of magic skill;
’Twas she that turned me in a doo,
To fly where’er I will.
“And it was but this verra day
That I cam’ ower the sea:
I loved you at a single look;
With you I’ll live and dee.”
“O Coo-my-doo, my love sae true,
Nae mair frae me ye’se gae.”
“That’s never my intent, my love;
As ye said, it shall be sae.”
There he has lived in bower wi’ her,
For six lang years and ane;
Till sax young sons to him she bare,
And the seventh she’s brought hame.
But aye, as soon’s a child was born,
He carried them away,
And brought them to his mither’s care,
As fast as he could fly.
Thus he has stay’d in bower wi’ her
For seven lang years and mair;
Till there cam’ a lord o’ hie renown
To court that lady fair.
But still his proffer she refused,
And a’ his presents too;
Says, “I’m content to live alane
Wi’ my bird Coo-my-doo!”
Her father sware an angry oath,
He sware it wi’ ill-will:
“To-morrow, ere I eat or drink,
That bird I’ll surely kill.”
The bird was sitting in his cage,
And heard what he did say;
He jumped upon the window-sill:
“’Tis time I was away.”
Then Coo-my-doo took flight and flew
Beyond the raging sea,
And lighted at his mither’s castle,
Upon a tower sae hie.
The Queen his mither was walking out,
To see what she could see,
And there she saw her darling son
Set on the tower sae hie.
“Get dancers here to dance,” she said,
“And minstrels for to play;
For here’s my dear son Florentine
Come back wi’ me to stay.”
“Get nae dancers to dance, mither,
Nor minstrels for to play;
For the mither o’ my seven sons,
The morn’s her wedding day.”
“Now tell me, dear son Florentine,
O tell, and tell me true;
Tell me this day, without delay,
What sall I do for you?”
“Instead of dancers to dance, mither,
Or minstrels for to play,
Turn four-and-twenty well-wight men,
Like storks, in feathers gray;
“My seven sons in seven swans,
Aboon their heads to flee;
And I myself a gay gos-hawk,
A bird o’ high degree.”
Then, sighing, said the Queen to hersell,
“That thing’s too high for me!”
But she applied to an auld woman,
Who had mair skill than she.
Instead o’ dancers to dance a dance,
Or minstrels for to play,
Were four-and-twenty well-wight men
Turn’d birds o’ feathers gray;
Her seven sons in seven swans,
Aboon their heads to flee;
And he himsell a gay gos-hawk,
A bird o’ high degree.
This flook o’ birds took flight and flew
Beyond the raging sea;
They landed near the Earl Mar’s castle,
Took shelter in every tree.
They were a flock o’ pretty birds,
Right wondrous to be seen;
The weddin’eers they looked at them
Whilst walking on the green.
These birds flew up frae bush and tree,
And, lighted on the ha’;
And, when the wedding-train cam’ forth,
Flew down amang them a’.
The storks they seized the boldest men,
That they could not fight or flee;
The swans they bound the bridegroom fast
Unto a green aik tree.
They flew around the bride-maidens,
Around the bride’s own head;
And, wi’ the twinkling o’ an ee,
The bride and they were fled.
There’s ancient men at weddings been
For eighty years or more;
But siccan a curious wedding-day
They never saw before.
For naething could the company do,
Nor naething could they say;
But they saw a flock o’ pretty birds
That took their bride away.
Old Ballad.