Subject: Lyr Add: GLASGOW PEGGY (1827)
From:
Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Oct 19 - 10:51 AM
From Ancient Scottish Ballads, Recovered from Tradition..., by by George Richie Kinloch (London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, 1827), page 174:
GLASGOW PEGGY
Is given from recitation. A paltry and imperfect copy has often been printed for the stalls, though the Editor has never seen it in any collection.
The Lawland lads think they are fine,
But the hieland lads are brisk and gaucy;*
And they are awa near Glasgow toun,
To steal awa a bonnie lassie.
“I wad gie my gude brown steed,
And sae wad I my gude grey naigie,*
That I war fifty miles frae the toun,
And name wi' me but my bonnie Peggy.”
But up then spak the auld gudman,
And vow but he spak wondrous saucie;—
“Ye may steal awa our cows and ewes,
But ye sanna get our bonnie lassie.”
“I have got cows and ewes anew,
I’ve got gowd and gear already;
Sae I dinna want your cows nor ewes,
But I will hae your bonnie Peggy.”
“I’ll follow you oure moss and muir,
I’ll follow you oure mountains many,
I’ll follow you through frost and snaw,
I’ll stay na langer wi' my daddie.”
He set her on a gude brown steed,
Himself upon a gude grey naigie;
They’re oure hills, and oure dales,
And he's awa wi' his bonnie Peggy.
As they rade out by Glasgow toun,
And doun by the hills o' Achildounie,
There they met the Earl of Hume,
And his auld son, riding bonnie.
Out bespak the Earl of Hume,
And O but he spak wondrous sorry,—
“The bonniest lass about a' Glasgow toun,
This day is awa wi' a hieland laddie.”
As they rade bye auld Drymen toun,
The lassies leuch* and lookit saucy,
That the bonniest lass they ever saw,
Sud* be riding awa wi' a hieland laddie.
They rode on through moss and muir,*
And so did they owre mountains many,
Until that they cam to yonder glen,
And she's lain doun wi' her hieland laddie.
Gude green hay was Peggy's bed,
And brakens* war her blankets bonnie;
Wi’ his tartan plaid aneath her head,
And she's lain doun wi' her hieland laddie.
“There's beds and bowsters* in my father's house,
There's sheets and blankets, and a' thing ready,
And wadna they be angry wi' me,
To see me lie sae wi' a hieland laddie.”
“Tho' there's beds and beddin in your father's house,
Sheets and blankets and a made ready;
Yet why sud they be angry wi' thee,
Though I be but a hieland laddie.
It's I hae fifty acres of land,
It's a plow’d and sawn already;
I am Donald the Lord of Skye,
And why sud na Peggy be call’d a lady?
I hae fifty gude milk kye,
A’ tied to the staws* already;
I am Donald the Lord of Skye,
And why sud na Peggy be call'd a lady?
See ye no a’ yon castles and tow’rs,
The sun sheens owre them a' sae bonnie;
I am Donald the Lord of Skye,
I think I'll mak ye as blythe as onie.
A’ that Peggy left behind
Was a cot-house and a wee kail-yardie;
Now I think she is better by far,
Than tho’ she had got a lawland lairdie.
* Gaucy—jolly.
* Naigie—nag.
* Leuch—laughed.
* Sud—should.
* Moss and muir—marsh and moor.
* Brakens—fern.
* Bowsters—bolsters.
* Staws—stalls.
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