> Folk Music > Songs > The Fair Flower of Northumberland
The Fair Flower of Northumberland
[
Roud 25
; Child 9
; G/D 6:1149
; Ballad Index C009
; DT FAIRFLWR
, FAIRFLR2
; Mudcat 21493
; trad.]
J. Collingwood Bruce, John Stokoe: Northumbrian Minstrelsy Alexander Keith: Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs James Kinsley: The Oxford Book of Ballads
The Exiles sang The Fair Flower of Northumberland in 1967 on their Topic album The Hale and the Hanged. A.L. Lloyd and Gordon McCulloch noted:
This good old song has been on the go for the best part of four hundred years, perhaps longer. In 1597, Thomas Deloney, the ‘balleting silk-weaver’ and forefather of the novel published his rambling Pleasant History of Jack of Newbery, a tale half-prose, half-verse concerning a famous Berkshire cloth-maker, John Winchcomb, whose house was, for the period, a huge factory. Deloney imagines Henry VIII visiting the factory, with its two hundred looms, and hearing the girls singing The Fair Flower of Northumberland as they worked—“two of them singing the ditty and all the rest bearing the burden”. The song lasted better in Scotland than in England, and early in the twentieth century, Gavin Greig obtained a version from a Kininmonth woman, which is the basis of the version given here.
Sara Grey with Ed Trickett on chorus sang Fair Flower of Northumberland in 1970 on their eponymous Folk-Legacy album Sara Grey with Ed Trickett. Caroline Paton noted:
Thomas Deloney’s novel Pleasant History of John Winchcomb, or Jack of Newberry (1597) contains the first published text of this ballad; there it is sung by a group of maidens, “two of them singing the Ditty, and all the rest bearing the burden”. Several major collections from the 19th century printed the song (such as Kinloch, Buchan, and Motherwell), and it became the ninth entry in Francis James Child’s English and Scottish Popular Ballads. No longer common in oral tradition, this ballad apparently never crossed over to America.
Versions have been found in both England and Scotland, though the piece is hardly flattering to the latter. Indeed, Bertrand Bronson calls it a “libel on the Scottish race“ and adds, “Scots singers contrived to give it a twist that flattered their nation’s sexual vanity, but the compliment still keeps an ugly side”. Sara’s version is comparatively mild in this regard. By contrast, Deloney’s text concludes: “All you faire maidens be warned by me, / Scots were never true, nor never will be.”
This is the earliest known ballad with an internal refrain, according to David Fowler, and even more interesting is the way that the refrain plays a direct role in the story. Sara’s version of The Two Sisters also shares this rare characteristic.
Sara’s version, learned from Dick Gaughan (who sings it on No More Forever, Trailer 2072), is very close to that found in Gavin Greig’s Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs (1925). Other recordings include the Exiles, The Hale and the Hanged, Topic 12T164.
Dick Gaughan sang The Fair Flower of Northumberland in 1972 on his Trailer album No More Forever. He noted on his now defunct website:
I learned this from Gordon MacCulloch. He recorded it with the Exiles on their Topic recording The Hale and the Hanged. The guitar was tuned DADGBE, standard tuning with the 6th string dropped to ‘D’.
Mirk sang Flower of Northumberland on their 1979 album Moddan’s Bower.
Ewan MacColl sang Fair Flower of Northumberland in 1982 on his and Peggy Seeger’s Blackthorne album Blood & Roses Volume 2. He noted:
The earliest text of this popular ballad is to be found under the title of The Maiden’s Song in Deloney’s The Pleasant Historie of John Winchcomb, in his younger years called Jack of Newberie. Thomas Deloney, the balleting silk weaver of Norwich, entered Jack of Newberie in the Stations Register on 7 March 1596-7. He has The Maiden’s Song sung by women cardroom workers “who for the most part were very faire and comely creatures and were all attired alike from top to toe. Then (after due reverence) the maidens in dulcet manner chaunted out this song, two of them singing the Ditty and all the rest bearing the burden./rdquo,
Martin Simpson played the tune of The Fair Flower of Northumberland in 1984 on the Dambuster anthology Buttons & Bows and on his 1989 CD Leaves of Life.
Maureen Jelks sang Flo’er o’ Northumberland in 1988 on her Dunkeld album First Time Ever.
Susie Allan sang Flo’er o Northumberland on her 1998 album Tipsy Courting. She noted:
I learned this song while roguing tatties near Oldmeldrum, listening over and over to Maureen Jelks’ singing because I loved the story of this young girl’s fall and her mother’s welcome back home.
Jock Duncan sang The Flower o’ Northumberland in 2001 on his Sleepytown album Tae the Green Woods Gaen. Ronnie Cairns notes:
Jock: A Kinninmonth lass sent this sang to Gavin Greig in 1898 from the singing o’ an octogenarian relative. Francis Child had a version tae. It’s fine al’ sang.
Originating in England in the early 1600s, these days it’s a much loved song throughout Scotland. Once summarised dryly (but accurately) in an American folk magazine as
Girl meets boy,
Girl saves boy,
Girl runs off with boy,
Boy dumps girl,
Girl doesn’t die!
Sheena Wellington sang The Fair Flooer o Northumberland on her 2003 Greentrax album Hamely Fare. She noted:
The earliest printed version of this ballad is in 1597 in Deloney’s Pleasant History of John Winchcomb. Francis James Child published seven full and fairly varied texts in Vol. 1 of The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. The contrast between the outraged father and understanding mother is a joy. I suspect she had a fond memory of her own beguiling! I learned this from the great singer Maureen Jelks of Dundee.
Lori Watson and Rule of Three sang Floor o Northumberland in 2009 on their CD Pleasure’s Coin.
Jim Reid sang Flower of Northumberland in 1984 on his Springthyme album I Saw the Wild Geese Flee. He noted:
A concise version of this popular ballad of the fair flower of Northumberland who falls in love with a prisoner and helps him gain his freedom, and escape over the border to Scotland.
Lizzie Higgins sang Flower of Northumberland on an digital download bonus track of her 1985 Lismor album What a Voice.
Rachel Unthank & The Winterset—then still with Jackie Oates—sang The Fair Flower of Northumberland in 2005 on their CD Cruel Sister. She commented:
Presumably set in the times when the Scottish and Northumbrian borders were full of warring clans and families (including border reivers the Unthanks), this song tells of a young Northumbrian girl deceived by a duplicitous Scotsman. I was inspired to learn this song as a young North Eastern girl living in Glasgow, as it tickled me some what! Scotland had the last laugh though as ironically, I unwittingly learnt the Scottish version before I discovered the Northumbrian equivalent. I found the words in 100 Folk Songs and New Songs by Alasdair Clayre.
Jackie Oates recorded The Flower of Northumberland in the following year for her eponymous first album Jackie Oates.
Stanley Robertson sang The Fair Flower o Northumberland on his posthumous 2009 Elphinstone Institute anthology The College Boy. He noted:
I like that ballad. I’ve taught aboot ten classes it, but I very seldom sing it masel. Ma mother loved Border Ballads, ken; she sang a lot o them. She used to sing Tamlin and she sang the whole thing. I’ve taught it so often, but I probably have different words fae fit ye’ll see in a book. And ma mither aye says, “If a lassie maks a mistake they niver let her forget it”. The only thing she’s getting teilt is, “Ah, but ye’re an easy mark. Yer love wis easily won”. And everybody’s tellin her; she’s nae getting aff fae naebody, poor lassie! Cause she wis only a quinie and aabody’s cryin her aa the Scottish whores under the sun! What a shame!
… and Thomas A. McKean and Sara Reith added:
The Fair Flower was first published in around 1597, making it one of the earliest ballads, but it is not known to have appeared in broadside form. Despite this, it has been popular in the folk revival and the Carpenter collection contains an interesting variant of the tune, sung by Alexander Campbell.
Rosaleen Gregory sang The Fair Flower of Northumberland in 2013 on her second album of Child ballads, Serpent’s Knee. She noted:
Leman and paramour both mean ‘sweetheart’, but the tone is one of disapproval.
The Spiers Family sang Fair Flower of Northumberland in ca 2012 on their album Plenty Brass and a Bonny Lass. They noted:
Emma [Spiers] learned her version of this 17th century ballad from the singing of Gordon McCulloch. It’s the story of a naïve young English girl being taken advantage of by a Scotsman.
Alasdair Roberts sang The Flower of Northumberland on his, Amble Skuse and David McGuinness’ 2018 CD What News. They noted:
Alasdair learnt this ballad from his late father Alan, who can be heard singing the song on a compilation LP from Folk Treff 77 in Pforzheim, (West) Germany. According to Child, the earliest copy of this ballad is introduced as The Maiden’s Song in Deloney’s Pleasant History of John Winchcomb, in his Younger Yeares called Jacke of Newberie, a book written as early as 1597. Child finds ‘interesting agreements’ between the song and certain Polish, Scandinavian and German ballads.
The Alt sang Flower of Northumberland on their 2022 album Day Is Come.
Lyrics
Sara Grey sings Fair Flower of Northumberland
The provost’s aye daughter was makin’ her lane,
O but her love, ’twas easy won,
And she heard a Scots prisoner a-makin’ his mane,
And she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
“It’s o, gin the lassie would borrow a key,”
O but her love, ’twas easy won,
“And I’d mak’ her a lady of high degree
If she’d loose me out of this prison strang.”
O she’a gane ben to her faither’s bed-stock.
O but her love, ’twas easy won,
And she’s stolen the keys for many a braw lock,
And she’s loosed him out of hie prison strang.
O she’s gane ben to her faither’s stable,
O but her love, ’twas easy won,
And she’s ta’en a horse that’s both fleet and able,
To carry them ben tae bonny Scotland.
As they were a-riding across the Scots moor,
He said: “O but her love, ’twas easy won.
Get doon frae my horse, you’re a brazenfaced whore.
Although you’re the flower of Northumberland.
“It’s I have a wife in my ain country,
O but her love, ’twas easy won.
And I cannae do nothing with a lassie like thee,
So go get ye back to Northumberland.”
“It’s cook in your kitchen I surely will be,”
O but her love ’twas easy won,
“And I’ll serve your lady most reverently,
For I dare nae go back to Northumberland.”
“It’s cook in my kitchen ye cannae well be,”
O but her love, ’twas easy won,
“For my lady, she winnae hae servants like thee,
So go get ye back to Northumberland.”
But laith was he the lassie tae tyne,
He said: “O but her love, ’twas easy won.”
So he’s hired an old horse and he’s fee’d an old man
To carry her hame to Northumberland.
But when she gaed in, her father did froon,
And said: “O but her love, ’twas easy won,
To be a Scots whore, and you ’re fifteen years old,
And you’re the fair flower of Northumberland.”
But when she gaed in, her mother did smile,
And said: “O but her love, ’twas easy won,
You’re nae the first that the Scots have beguiled,
And you’re still the fair flower of Northumberland.”
“For ye winnae want bread and ye winnae want wine,
O but her love, ’twas easy won,
“And ye winnae want silver to buy a man,
And you’re still the fair flower of Northumberland.”
Dick Gaughan sings The Fair Flower of Northumberland
The provost’s ae dochter wis walkin her lane,
O but her luve it wis easy won,
Whan she spied a Scots prisoner makin his mane
An she wis the flouer of Northumberlan.
“O, gin a lassie wad borrow mem
O gin her luve it wis easy won,
A wad mak her a ladie o heich degree
Gin she’d lowse me out frae my prison sae strang.”
Sae it’s she’s dune her doun tae her faither’s guid stocks,
O but her luve it wis easy won,
An she’s stolen the best keys thair for mony’s the brave lock,
For tae lowse him out frae his prison sae strang.
An it’s she’s dune her doun tae her faither’s guid stables,
O but her luve it wis easy won,
An she’s stolen the best horse that wis baith fleet an able
For tae cairry thaim owre tae bonnie Scotlan.
Bit as thae were ridin across thon Scots muirs he cried,
“O but yer luve it wis easy won.
Get ye doun frae my horse, ye’re a brazen-faced hour,
Altho ye’re the flouer o Northumberlan.”
“It’s cook in yer kitchen A shairly will be,
Altho my luve it wis easy won,
For A cannae gae back tae my ain countrie,
Altho A’m the flouer o Northumberlan.”
“It’s cook in my kitchen ye cannae weill be,
O but yer luve it wis easy won,
For my ladie she winnae hae sairvants like ye
An ye’ll need tae gae hame tae Northumberlan.”
“For A hae a wife in my ain countrie,
O but yer luve it was easy won,
An A cannae dae naethin wi a lassie like ye,
An ye’ll need tae gae back tae Northumberlan.”
An, sae laith wis he thon lassie tae tine,
O but her luve it wis easy won,
He’s hiret an auld horse an he’s hiret an auld man
Tae cairry her hame tae Northumberlan.
Bit whan she got thair her faither did froun an said,
“O but yer luve it was easy won,
Tae gang wi a Scotsman whan ye’re barely saxteen,
An ye were the flouer o Northumberlan.”
Bit whan she gaed ben her mither did smile an said
“O but yer luve it was easy won
But ye’re no the first that thon Scots has beguilet
An ye’re walcome back hame tae Northumberlan.”
“For ye winnae want breid an ye winnae want wine,
O but yer luve it was easy won,
An ye winnae want siller tae buy a man wi
An ye’re aye the fair flouer o Northumberlan.”
Ewan MacColl sings Fair Flower of Northumberland
The provost’s ae dochter was walking her lane,
A young lassie’s love whiles is easy won,
She heard a poor prisoner making his mane,
And she was the fair flower of Northumberland.
“Gif ony lady would borrow me,
Oot into this prison strang,
I would mak’ her a lady o’ high degree
For I’m a great lord in fair Scotland.”
She is awa’ to her faither’s bed-stock,
A young lassie’s love whiles is easy won,
And she’s lifted the keys to fit mony a braw lock
And she’s lowsed him oot o’ yon prison sträng.
She’s done her doon to her faither’s stable,
A young lassie’s love whiles is easy won,
And she’s ta’en oot a steed baith swift and able
To carry them baith to fair Scotland.
They rid till they cam’ tae Crawford Moor,
A young lassie’s love whiles is easy won,
“Get aff o’ my horse, ye brazen-faced whore,
Get ye awa’ back to Northumberland,”
“O pity, O pity, O pity,” she cried,
“O that my love was so easy won!
Have pity on me as I had upon thee
When I lowsed ye oot o’ yon prison strang.”
“How can I hae ony pity on thee,
Why was your love so easy won?
When I hae a wife and bairnies three
And they’re dearer to me than Northumberland.”
“A cook in your kitchen I will be,
O that my love was so easy won;
I’ll serve your lady maist constantly
For I daurna gang back to Northumberland.”
“A cook in my kitchen ye never shall be
Why was your love so easy won?
I winna hae ony sic servants as thee,
Get ye awa’ back to Northumberland.”
O laith was the lassie to part wi’ him,
A young lassie’s love whiles is easy won;
But he hired an auld horse and he fee’d an auld man,
To carry her back to Northumberland.
When she cam’ her faither before,
A young lassie’s love whiles is easy won;
She’s doon on her knees and she louted low
Though she was the fair flower of Northumberland.
“O dochter, O dochter, why was ye sae bold,
Why was your love sae easy won?
To be a Scot’s whore and just fifteen year auld,
And ye the fair flower of Northumberland.”
Her mither she spoke and she gied a wee smile,
“O that her love was sae easy won.
She’s no’ the first that the Scots hae beguiled
And she’s still the fair flower o’ Northumberland.”
Jim Reid sings The Fair Flower of Northumberland
A maid went by the prison door,
Maids with whiles is easy won,
And she spied a prisoner a-standin there
A-wishing he was in fair Scotland.
It’s, “Oh fair maid wad ye pity me?”
Maids with whiles is easy won,
“Wad ye steal the key and let me gang free?
And I’ll mak ye my lady in fair Scotland.”
She went untae her faither’s stable,
Maids with whiles is easy won,
And she’s stolen the steed that wis baith fleet and able,
Tae cairry them on tae fair Scotland.
And when they cam untae a moss,
Maids with whiles is easy won,
He’s bad her licht aff her faither’s best horse,
And return again tae Northumberland.
And when she cam tae her faither’s ha,
Maids with whiles is easy won,
She’s looted her low amangst them aa,
Although she’s the flooer o Northumberland.
Then up spoke her faither and he spoke bold,
Maids with whiles is easy won,
“How could ye dae so at fifteen years old
And you the flooer o Northumberland.”
Then up spoke her mother she spoke wi a smile,
“Maids with whiles is easy won;
O ye’re no the first one that he has beguiled,
And ye’re welcome back hame tae Northumberland.”
Susie Allan sings Flo’er o Northumberland
A provost’s daughter was walking her lane,
O but her love it was easy won,
When she heard an auld prisoner making his mane,
Aye and she was the flo’er o Northumberland.
“O gin a young lassie would bother wi me,”
O but her love, it was easy won,
“I would mak her a day o high degree
If she’d loosen me oot o my prison sae strang.”
So the lassie’s gaed doon tae her faither’s stable,
O but her love, it was easy won,
And she’s taken a horse that was baith fleet and able
And she’s loosened him oot frae his prison sae strang.
But while they were riding across the Scotch moor,
O but her love, it was easy won,
He said: “Get doon frae my horse, you’re a brazen-faced whore,
And ye’d better gang hame tae Northumberland.”
“It’s cook in your kitchen I surely can dae,
O though my love, it was easy won,
I would wait at your kitchen and serve your lady
For I canna ging hame tae Northumberland.”
“Na cook in my kitchen ye canna weel dee,
O but your love, it was easy won,
For my wife willna hae such a lassie as ye
So ye’d better bang hame tae Northumberland.”
So laith though he was, the lassie tae tine,
O but her love, it was easy won,
He’s bought an old horse, he’s fee’d an auld man
And he’s sent her back hame tae Northumberland.
Noo when she gaed hame her faither did froon
And said: “O but your love, it was easy won,
Tae be a Scotch whore when you’re only saxteen
And you were the flo’er of Northumberland.”
But when she gaed in, her mither did smile
And said: “O but your love it was easy won,
Aye but your no’ the first that the Scots hae beguiled
And you’re aye the fair flo’er of Northumberland.”
Jock Duncan sings The Flower o’ Northumberland
A provost’s daughter was walking alone,
O but her love was easy won,
She heard a Scotch prisoner making his moan,
And she was the Flower o’ Northumberland.
“O, gin a may would borrow me,”
O but your love it was easy won,
“I wad mak ye a Lady o’ high degree,
If ye’d loose me oot o’this prison sae strong.”
Noo she’s has gane awa’ tae her father’s bedstock,
O but her love it was easy won,
She’s stolen the keys o’ mony brave locks,
An’ she’s loosed him oot o’ the prison sae strong.
She’s gaen awa’ to her father’s stable,
O but her love it was easy won,
She’s stolen a horse that was baith fleet an’ able
To carry them north to fair Scotland.
Now when they were riding across the Scotch muir,
O but your love it was easy won,
“Bit gang doon fae my horse, I can have you no more,
O you’re better back hame to Northumberland.
“It’s I’ve got a wife in my ain countrie,
O but your love it was easy won,
I canna dae naethin’ wi’ a missie like thee,
O you’re better back hame to Northumberland.”
“It’s cook in your kitchen I will be,
O for my love it was easy won,
I’ll wait at your table, and serve your lady,
For I canna gang hame to Northumberland.”
“It’s cook in my kitchen ye canna be,
O for your love it was easy won.
My lady she winna hae servants like thee,
No, you’re better back hame to Northumberland.”
Noo laith was he, the lassie tae tine,
O for her love it was easy won,
He’s gi’en her the horse and he’s hired an auld man,
He’s seen her safe hame to Northumberland.
When she went in her father did frown,
“O but your love it was easy won,
But to gang wi’ a Scots Lord when you’re only eighteen,
And you were the Flower o’ Northumberland.”
But when she gaed ben, her mother did smile,
“O but your love it was easy won,
But you’ve nae the first the Scotch hae beguiled,
You’re welcome safe hame to Northumberland.
“Ye sanna wint breid, an’ ye sanna wint wine,
O but your love it was easy won,
Ye sanna wint siller tae buy a man wi’
For your aye the Flower o’ Northumberland.”
Jackie Oates sings The Flower of Northumberland
Oh the provost’s dochter was walking aline,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
Whan she spied a Scots prisoner making his moan,
Oh and she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
And it’s, “Oh, if the lassie would borrow a key,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
I would make her a lady of high degree.”
Oh and she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
So it’s she’s gone her up to her father’s bed stock,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
And she’s stolen the keys for many a broad lock,
Oh and she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
And she’s gone her down to her father’s stable,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
And she’s taken a horse that’s both fleet and able,
Oh and she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
But as they were a-riding across the Scots moor he cried,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
“Get you down from my horse, you’re a brazen-faced whore.”
Oh and she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
“For it’s I have a wife in my own country,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
And I can’t do nothing with a lassie like thee.”
Oh and she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
“Oh it’s cook in your kitchen I surely will be,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
For I dare not get back toe my country.”,
Oh and she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
“Oh it’s cook in my kitchen you never shall be,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
For my lady she will not have servants like thee.”
Oh and she’s the fair flower of Northumberland.
And when she’s got back her faither did frown and said,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
“ For to be a Scot’s whore when you’re barely fifteen,
And you were the flower of Northumberland.”
But when she got back her mother did smile and said,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
“But you’re not the first lass that the Scots hav beguiled
And you’re still the flower of Northumberland.”
“For you’ll not want for bread and you’ll not want for wine,
Oh but her love it was easy won,
And you’ll nor want for silver to buy you a man,
An you’re still the flower of Northumberland.”
Stanley Robertson sings The Fair Flower o Northumberland
O the provost’s ain daughter wis walkin her lane,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
When she heard a Scotch prisoner a-makin his mane
An she’s wis the flooer o Northumberland.
“O, gin a lassie wid set me free,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
I wid mak her a lady o high degree,
If she’d lowse me oot o ma prison sae strang.”
An she’s goin up tae her faither’s bed stock,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
An she’s taen a key for tae open the lock
Tae lowse him oot o his prison sae strang.
She his gone tae her faither’s stable,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
An she’s taen a horse that wis willin an able
Tae cairry them back tae bonnie Scotland.
An as they were approachin the bonnie Scotch moor,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
“Get doon frae my horse, you’re a brazen-faced whoor,
Though ye be the flooer o Northumberland.”
“For it’s cook in yer kitchen it’s surely I’ll be,”
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
“Bit ma wife she winnae hae a lassie like ye
So ye better get back tae Northumberland.”
An as they came close tae Tyne,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
An he paid an auld man an he fed an auld horse
Tae cairry her back tae Northumberland.
When she came hame her faither did frown,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
“To be a Scot’s whore at the age o sixteen
For ye’re nae mair the flooer o Northumberland.”
An fen she came ben, her mither did smile,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
“For ye’re nae the first lassie the Scots hae beguiled
But you’re still the fair flooer o Northumberland.
“It’s go an pit on yer bonniest goon,
O but her love it was eas’ly won,
An ye’ll get yer pick o the men o the toon,
Cause ye’re still the fair flower of Northumberland.”
The Spiers Family sing Fair Flower of Northumberland
A provost’s ae dochter was waakin her lain,
O but her love it was easy won,
When she heard a Scots prisoner maakin his main,
Aye and she was the floo’er o Northumberland.
It’s o gin a lassie would borrow a key,
O gin her love it was easy won,
I wid maak her a lady o high degree
If she’d loose me oot o this prison sae strang.
So she’s gaen ben tae her faither’s bed stock,
O but her love it was easy won,
And she’s stolen the keys for many guid locks
Tae loose him oot o his prison sae strang.
Then she’s gaen ben tae her faither’s stable,
O but her love it was easy won,
And she’s stolen a steed that wis baith fleet and able
Tae cairry them on tae bonnie Scotland.
And as they were a-riding across the Scots moor,
He said, O but yer love it was easy won,
Get doon fae my horse, you’re a brazen faced whore
Tho’ ye micht be the floo’er o Northumberland.
For it’s I hae a wife in my ain country,
O but yer love it was easy won,
And I canna dae nithing wi a lassie like thee
So ye’ll need tae gae hame tae Northumberland.
It’s cook in your kitchen I surely will be,
Although my love it was easy won,
For I canna gae hame tae my ain country
Though I am the floo’er o Northumberland.
It’s cook in my kitchen ye cannae well be,
O but yer love it was easy won,
For my lady, she winna hae servants like thee
So ye’ll need tae gae hame tae Northumberland.
But laith was he the lassie tae tyne,
O but her love it was easy won,
So he’s hired an auld horse and he’s hired an auld man
And he’s sent her back hame tae Northumberland.
And when she’s gaed in, her faither did frown
And said, o but yer love it was easy won,
Tae gang wi a Scotsman when yer barely fifteen,
O and ye were the floo’er o Northumberland.
But when she’s gaed in, her mither did smile,
And said, o but yer love it was easy won.
But yer nae the first that the Scots hae beguiled
And yer welcome back hame tae Northumberland.
Ye winna want bread and ye winna want wine,
O but yer love it was easy won,
And ye winna want silver tae buy a man wi
And you’re aye the floo’er o Northumberland.