Sheath and Knife

Child  #16  5:45  V, OM, BP & Whistle.

 A heart-breaking tale of illicit love. Is it only the arrival of the baby that forces the issue? Broom, whose bright golden flowering bushes cover Scottish hills and moors, has a strong link with sex in this and other ballads, including (for example) “Hind Horn” and, of course, “The Broom of Cowdenknows”,  #6 on this CD.  Broom is not to be confused with gorse, which is equally golden and prolific and grows in similar areas, but is, alas, extremely prickly. By the way, “Hind Horn” is on my second Child ballad CD, Serpent’s Knee.

Gang doon = go down; ony mair = any more.

It is talked the world all over,
The broom blooms bonnie and says it is fair,
That the king’s dochter goes with child to her brither,
And we’ll never gang doon to the broom ony mair.

He’s taen his sister doon to her father’s deer park.
The broom blooms bonnie, etc.
Wi’ his yew-tree bow and arrows fast slung to his back,
And she’ll never gang doon, etc.

“Now when that ye hear me gie a loud cry,
The broom blooms, etc.
Shoot frae thy bow an arrow and there let me lye,
And we’ll never gang doon, etc.”

“And when that ye see I am lying dead,
The broom blooms, etc.
Then ye’ll put me in a grave, wi’ a turf at my head,
And I’ll never gang doon, etc.”

Now when he heard her gie a loud cry,
The broom blooms, etc.
His silver arrow frae his bow he suddenly let fly,
Now they’ll never gang doon, etc.

He has made a grave that was lang and was deep,
The broom blooms, etc.
And he has buried his sister, wi’ her babe at her feet,
And they’ll never gang doon, etc.

And when he came to his father’s court hall,
The broom blooms, etc.
There was music and minstrels and dancing and all,
But they’ll never gang doon, etc.

“O, Willie, O Willie, what makes thee in pain?”
The broom blooms, etc.
“I have lost a sheath and knife that I’ll never see again,
For we’ll never gang doon, etc.”

“There are ships of your father’s sailing on the sea,
The broom blooms, etc.
That will bring as good a sheath and a knife unto thee,
But ye’ll never gang doon, etc.”

“There are ships of my father’s sailing on the sea,
The broom blooms, etc.
But sic a sheath and a knife they can never bring to me,
Now we’ll never gang doon, etc.”