Mary Hamilton    (video)

 

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1. Word is to the kitchen gone, and word is to the Hall,

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    and word is up to Madam the Queen, and that's the worst of all :

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    That Mary Hamilton has borne a babe to the highest Stuart of all.

 

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2. Oh, rise, arise Mary Hamilton, arise and tell to me !

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    What thou hast done with thy wee babe,

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    I saw and heard weep by thee ?

 

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3. I put him in a tiny boat and cast him out to sea,

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    that he might sink or he might swim, but he'd never come back to me.

 

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5. Oh, rise, arise, Mary Hamilton, arise and come with me,

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    there is a wedding in Glasgow town, this night we'll go and see.

 

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6. She put not on her robes of black, nor her robes of brown,

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    but she put on her robes of white to ride into Glasgow town.

 

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7. And as she rode into Glasgow town the city for to see,

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    the bailiff's wife and the provost's wife cried alack and alas for thee.

 

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8. Oh, you need not weep for me she cried, you need not weep for me,

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    for had I not slain my own wee babe, this death I would not dee.

 

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9. Oh, little did my mother think when first she cradled me,

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    the lands I was to travel in, and the death I was to dee.

 

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10. Last night I washed the Queen's feet and put the gold in her hair,

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    and the only reward I find for this, the gallows to be my share.

 

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11. Cast off, cast off my gown she cried, but let my petticoat be,

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    and tie a napkin round my face, the gallows I would not see.

 

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12. Then by them come the king himself, looked up with a pitiful eye,

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    come down come down Mary Hamillton, tonight you will dine with me.

 

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13. Oh, hold your tongue my sovereign liege, and let your folly be,

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    for if you'd a mind to save my life you'd never have shamed me here.

 

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14. Last night there were four Marys, tonight there'll be but three,

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    it was Mary Beaton and Mary Seton

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    and Mary Carmichael and me.

 

 

(orig. = capo 4th)    (Joan Baez)