I remember this as "What Put the Blood" from the Johnstons' LP (remember those?) "Ye Jacobites By Name"

WHAT PUT THE BLOOD
Traditional

Where have you been in the whole afternoon?
Son, come tell it unto me.
I've been fishing and fowling the whole day long,
It was all for me brother's treachery,
It was all for me brother's treachery.

What put the blood on your right shoulder?
Son, come tell it unto me.
'Tis the blood of a hare that I killed today,
I killed most gallantly,
I killed most gallantly

The blood of the old hare it could never be so red,
Son, come tell it unto me.
'Tis the blood of a boy that I killed today,
I killed most gallantly
I killed most gallantly

What was it came between yourself and the boy?
Son, come tell it unto me.
It was mostly over the cutting of a rod,
That never will be a tree,
That never will be a tree.

What will you do when your Daddy finds ye out?
Son, come tell it unto me.
I will put my foot on board of a ship,
And sail to a foreign country,
I will sail to a foreign country.

And what will you do with your own lovely wife?
Son, come tell it unto me.
She can put her foot on board of a ship,
And sail right after me,
And sail right after me.

What will you do with your two wee babies?
Son, come tell it unto me.
I'll give one to me father and one to me mother
For to bear them company,
For to bear them company.

And what will you do with your two race horses?
Son, come tell it unto me.
I will take their reins from over their necks
For they'll never race again for me,
They will never race again for me.

What will you do with your house and your lands?
Son, come tell it unto me.
I will lay them bare to the birds of the air,
For there's no more welcome there for me,
There'll be no more welcome there for me.

From the Johnstones "Ye Jacobites by Name"

AP |