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As I Came in by Yon Castle Wall

Ellen Mitchell sang As I Came in by Yon Castle Wall on her and Kevin Mitchell’s 2001 Musical Traditions anthology Have a Drop Mair.

Lucy Farrell sang As I Came in by Yon Castle Wall on the Furrow Collective’s 2018 album Fathoms. They noted:

One late night at Rod and Danny Stradling’s house, during the Stroud Singing Weekend, Rod played Lucy a recording of this song by the Glaswegian singer Ellen Mitchell. In her notes from her 2001 joint CD release with Kevin Mitchell on the fantastic Musical Traditions label, Have a Drop Mair, Ellen says that she learnt the song from Don Martin, a founder member of the group The Clutha. The song is now generally considered to be the work of Robert Burns, although it doesn’t bear his name in the Scots Musical Museum (1792), its first known printing. The first verse of the song, however, features in Burns’ manuscripts along with the note: “This is a very popular Ayrshire song”.

Lyrics

Ellen Mitchell sings As I Came in by Yon Castle Wall

As I came in by yon castle wa
And doon by yon garden green,
It was there I spied a bonny bonny lass
But the flower borders were us between.

And such a bonny lassie she was
As ever my eyes had seen.
“Five hundred pounds would I give
Tae have such a bonny bride as ye.”

“Oh tae have such a bonny bride as me,
Young man you’re sairly mista’en.
Gin you were the king o’ all Scotland
I would disdain to be your queen.”

“Oh talk not so very high bonny lass,
Oh talk not so very, very high,
For the man at the fair that would sell,
He mun learn frae the man that would buy.”

“Ah but I mean to climb a far higher tree
And herry a far richer nest.”
“Ach tak this advice frae me my bonny lass
Humility would serve ye best.”

Lucy Farrell sings As I Came in by Yon Castle Wall

As I came in by yon castle wall
And down by yon garden green,
It was there I spied a bonny lass
But the flower borders were us between.

And such a bonny lassie she was
As ever my eyes had seen.
“Five hundred pounds would I give
To have such a bonny bride as thee.”

“Oh to have such a bonny bride as me,
Young man you’re sorely mista’en.
If you were the king o’ all Scotland
I’d disdain to be your queen.”

“Oh talk not so very high, bonny lass,
Oh talk not so very, very high,
For the man at the fair that would sell,
He must learn from the man that would buy.”

“Ah but I mean to climb a far higher tree
And herry a far richer nest.”
“Oh take this advice from me my bonny lass
Humility would serve you best.”