WALY, WALY
                ----------
         Scottish Traditional, 17th Cent.
         ('The Oxford Book of English Verse' 1250-1900)

        O waly, waly, up the bank, 
          And waly, waly, doun the brae, 
        And waly, waly, yon burn-side, 
          Where I and my Love were wont to gae! 
        I lean'd my back unto an aik,         
          I thocht it was a trustie tree; 
        But first it bow'd and syne it brak --
          Sae my true love did lichtlie me. 
             
        O waly, waly, gin love be bonnie 
          A little time while it is new!  
        But when 'tis auld it waxeth cauld, 
          And fades awa' like a morning dew. 
        O wherefore should I busk my heid, 
          Or wherefore should I kame my hair? 
        For my true Love has me forsook,  
          And says he'll never lo'e me mair. 
             
        Now Arthur's Seat sall be my bed, 
          The sheets sall ne'er be 'filed by me; 
        Saint Anton's well sall be my drink; 
          Since my true Love has forsaken me.  
        Marti'mas wind, when wilt thou blaw, 
          And shake the green leaves aff the tree? 
        O gentle Death, when wilt thou come? 
          For of my life I am wearìe. 
             
        'Tis not the frost, that freezes fell,  
          Nor blawing snaw's inclemencie, 
        'Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry; 
          But my Love's heart grown cauld to me. 
        When we cam in by Glasgow toun, 
          We were a comely sicht to see;  
        My Love was clad in the black velvèt, 
          And I mysel in cramasie. 
             
        But had I wist, before I kist, 
          That love had been sae ill to win, 
        I had lock'd my heart in a case o' gowd,  
          And pinn'd it wi' a siller pin. 
        And O! if my young babe were born, 
          And set upon the nurse's knee; 
        And I mysel were dead and gane, 
          And the green grass growing over me!  
             
                 --oOo--

        aff      : off
        aik      : oak
        Arthur's Seat : Bare, lava outcrop close by Edinburgh
        auld     : old
        awa'     : away
        blaw     : blow
        brae     : hill-slope
        burn     : rivulet, small creek
        cauld    : cold
        cramasie : crimson
        doun     : down
        'filed   : defiled
        gin      : when, since (pr. like 'gin' of 'begin')
        gowd     : gold
        heid     : head
        lichtlie : disparage, trifle with
        lo'e     : love
        Marti'mas: Martinmass i.e. depth of winter
        sae      : so
        Saint Anton's Well : Holy spring on Arthur's Seat
        sall     : shall
        sic      : such
        sicht    : sight
        siller   : silver
        snaw     : snow
        syne     : then, since
        thocht   : thought
        toun     : town
        waxeth   : grows, becomes
        wist     : known
        yon      : that ... over there.

Pete Turk   <Pete@ragtag.demon.co.uk> ICQ# 11981084
RFA President and Moonshadow
--
May your doorstep ever be dirty.
-- Romany blessing