Lady Margret, Lady Margret been sewing at a seam.
She looked east, she looked west
And she saw those merry green woods growing green
She saw those merry green woods.

For she kiltit up her petticoats,
It's up to them she ran;
And when she came to the merry green woods
She pulled the branches down, my dear,
She pulled the branches down.

For it's there she spied a gentleman
Coming through the wood to her side
"Oh it's who gave you leave, oh, my dear,
It's who gave you, oh, leave?"

"For it's onst I could pull those trees, those trees,
It's onst I could pull those trees.
It's onst I could pull those trees, those trees,
All without the leave of you my dear,
All without the leave of you."

For he catched her by the middle so small;
He gently laid her down.
"It's since you've got yur will of me,
Come tell to me your name, kind sir,
Come tell to me your name."

"For tomorrow it is new Halloween,
And the quality's goin' to ride;
You'll pass them by at the old mill bridge
As they go riding by, my dear,
As they go riding by.

"For the first will be is a white milk-steed,
And it's then there'll be a black;
You'll hold his head, you'll fear no ill:
He's the father of your child, my dear,
He's the father of your child.

"For the next will be
Is into a snake so large;
You'll hold his head, you'll fear no ill:
He's the father of your child, my dear,
He's the father of your child.

"For the next will be
Is into a naked man;
You'll throw your mantle all around
And cry 'You're won, my dear, you're won,
You're the father of my child.'"



abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Palmer, Roy, 1998, A Book of British Ballads, Llanerch

Notes:
Roy Palmer wrote:
As Katharine Briggs has said, this ballad, in its fuller versions, 'is a compendium of Scottish fairy beliefs', such as 'the carrying away of anyone who is unconcious of fairy ground, the transformations of mortals to fairies when they are kidnapped, the tiend to Hell, the disenchantment through various transformations, finally confirmed by the putting on of a mortal garment.' (A Dictionary of British Folk-tales, Routledge, 1970, Part A, vol 1, p 502). The ballad was mentioned in Wedderburn's Complaynt of Scotland, 1549), but the earliest printing was a fragment in Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc, which appeared in 1776. The best-known version is perhaps the one communicated by Robert Burns in 1792 to the editor of the Scots Musical Museum. The set given here was recorded [by Ailie Munro and Hamish Henderson] in Glasgow as recently as 1974 from a traveller, Betsy Johnston, who can be heard singing it on The Muckle Songs, (Tangent Records, TNGM 119/D, 1975).


Roud: 35 (Search Roud index at VWML)
Laws:
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