"O where ha you been, Lord Randal, my son?
And where ha you been, my
handsome young man?"
"I ha been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed
soon,
For I'm wearied wi hunting, and fain wad lie down."
"An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son?
And wha met ye there, my
handsome young man?"
"O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed
soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down."
...........................
""What d'ye leave to your mother, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave to
your mother, my handsome young man?"
"Four and twenty milk kye; mother, mak
my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down."
........................
"What d'ye leave to your true-love, Lord Randal, my son?
What d'ye leave
to your true-love, my handsome young man?"
"I leave her hell and fire; mother
mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down."
Scottish Ballads
These poems are among a group of anonymous songs that were probably written between 1200 and 1700 in Northern England and Scotland. Their origins are a bit controversial; scholars can't agree on how they were composed, or how old individual ballads are. Most were not written down until the eighteenth and even nineteenth centuries.
Ballads with a * include musical notation.
The Broomfield Hill
The Cruel Mother
*The Cruel Sister
Eppie Morrie
Lady Isabel and the
Elf-Knight
Lord
Randal
Sir Patrick
Spence
*TamLin
*The Three Ravens
Thomas Rhymr
The Twa Magicians
*The Unquiet Grave
The Wee Wee Man
*The Wife of Usher's Well
Another Ballad
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