This is the title song of the CD Maureen Jelks did recently on the Tradition Bearers label, and a good song it is. I think the lyrics below are the version Jelks sings - but I can't understand her singing very well and the CD booklet doesn't have lyrics.
Can anybody post related songs or earlier versions, background information, and the like?
-Joe Offer-

Eence Upon a Time

Eence upon a time,
When I was young and bonnie,
Eence I had a bonnie lad,
But noo I hae nae ony.

When I was cook aboot the hoose,
And he was bit a laddie,
I gied him a' my breid an' ale
To be my bairnie's daddie.

My mistress oft times says to me,
And wed weel I ken she's richt-o,
That I maun be safe in the hoose,
More Afore 'twas candlelicht-o.

But Johnny took me for his ain,
And I was weel contented,
But noo those nichts are past and gaen,
It's oft times I've repented.

Noo Johnny he is long since gaen,
And thinks of me nae mair-o,
And I maim maun seek another lad,
To faither Johnny's bairn-o.

But dinna you think, my bonny lad,
That I am mad about ye,
For I can dae wi' a man,
And I can dae withoot ye.

So lasses all, tak' heed of me,
When the threshing time it fa's-o,
Be sure ye gaither in the grain,
And not the chaff that blaws-o.

For when I was cook aboot the hoose,
And he was bit a laddie,
I gied him a' my breid an' ale
To be my bairnie's daddie.

from The Scottish Folksinger (Norman Buchan & Peter Hall)

Original version (verses 1, 5, 7) from the singing of Jeannie Robertson. Additional verses by Ray Fisher

---

(corrections made as pointed out by Scotus below) - the wrong words I had were scanning errors, compounded by hasty proofreading.)

---

Click to play