The Lochmaben Harper
No: 192; variant: 192B
- HARD ye tell of the silly blind harper?
Long he lived in Lochmaben town;
He's away to fair Carlisle,
To steal King Henry's Wanton Brown.
Sing, Fadle didle dodle didle
Sing, Fadle didle fadle doo
- He has mounted his auld gray mare,
And ridden oer both hills and mire,
Till he came to fair Carlisle town,
And askd for stabling to his mare.
- 'Harp on, harp on, thou silly blind harper,
'Some of thy harping let us hear;'
'By my sooth,' says the silly blind harper,
'I would rather hae stabling to my mare.'
- The king looked oer his left shoulder
And called to his stable-groom:
'Gae stable up the harper's mare,
And just beyond the Wanton Brown.'
- Ay he carped, and ay he harped,
Till a' the lords gaed thro the floor;
But and the musick was sae sweet
The groom forgot the key o the stable-door.
- Ay he harped, and ay he carped,
Till a' the lords fell fast asleep,
And, like a fause deceiver as he was,
He quickly down the stair did creep.
- He pulld a colt-halter out o his hoe,
On purpose as I shall to you tell;
He sliped it oer the Wanton's nose,
And tyed it to his gray mare's tail.
- 'My blessing light upon my wife!
I think she be a daily flower;
She told me to ken my ain gray mare
When eer I felt her by the ewer.'
- 'Harp on, harp on, thou silly blind harper,
Some of thy harping let us hear:'
'Oh and alas!' says the silly blind harper,
'Oh and alas that eer I came here!
- 'For in Scotland I lost a good brown foal,
And in England a good gray mare,
. . . . .
. . . . .
- 'Harp on, harp on, thou silly blind harper,
Some of thy harping let us hear,
And thy brown foal shall be well payed,
And thou's hae a far better gray mare.'
- Ay he harped, and ay he carped,
And some of his harping he let them hear,
And his brown foal it was well payed,
And he got a better gray mare.
- His mare's away to Lochmaben,
Wi mony a nicker and mony a sneer;
His wife cry's, Rise up, you lazy lass,
Let in your master and his mare.
- The lazy lass was loth to rise;
She looked through a little hole;
'By my troth,' crys the lazy lass,
'Our mare has brought a bonie foal.'
- 'Rise up, rise up, thou lazy lass,
And, een as the sun it shines sae clear,
I'll wager my life against a groat
The foal was better than ever the mare.'