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SHEATH AND KNIFE 2 There was a sister and her brother The sun gaes tae your tower there with Wha maist and tightly loved each other God give we had never been sib O sister we'll gang tae the broom Where dear sister I would lay thee doon Brother alas would ye dae sae Sooner would my deith gang tae Oh the folk they talk through ither The lassie's wi' bairn tae her brother Oh brother ye hae done me ill We will both burn on yon hill We'll gang tae my feither's stable And tak twa horses stood and evil She's up on the white horse he's on the black With his yew tree bow slung fast his neck They had nae rode a mile but ain When her pains they did come on I would gi' all my feither's land If I had a midwife at my command We'll gang tae yon hill sae hi' And tak your bow and arrows wi' When you hear me lood lood cry Then bend your bow and let me die When he heard her lood lood cry He bent his bow and let her die When he came to her beside The babe was born, the lady died Then he's ta'en up his young young son And bore him tae a milk-woman He's git himself ae wonderful si'er We'll never gand tae the broom nae mair Oh mether I hae tint my knife I lo'ed it better than my life But I hae tint a better thing That bonnie sheath my knife was in Is there nae a cutler an tae Fife That could mak tae thee a better knife There's nae a cutler in all the land That could mak sac a knife tae my command ----------------------------------------------- Child #16 Roud-3960 recorded by Ewan MacColl on "Black And White" (1984) "This spectacular incest ballad, with its hair-raising denouement and its dramatic poetic devices, is an outstanding example of the genre. Ewan loved the traditional ballads above all forms of folksong - the economy of language, the stark dramatic form, the presentation of the conflicts in society as seen through the eyes of individuals who are at the mercy of social pressures." Glossary: gaes tae goes to wha maist who most gif if sib siblings gang tae the broom make love dae sae do so my deith gang tae go to my death through ither together wi' bairn with child ain one gang go nae mair no more tint lost lo'ed loved sic such @Scottish @incest @murder @baby @death @sex filename[ SHTHKNF2 MJ |
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