The Baron o' Brackley (2)
1. Doon Dee-side came Inveray, a-whistlin' and playin'
And he drew rein at Brackley ere the day was dawnin',
"Oh, are ye there, Brackley? Proud Gordon, come doon:
There's a sword at your threshold mair sharp than ye ain!"
2. "Now rise up, John Gordon!" his lady did cry,
"For here is bold Inveray stealin' your kye!"
"How can I go, lady, and win them again,
When I have but one sword to Inveray's ten?"
3. "Now rise up, my maidens, take rock and take fan:
How blest had I been had I married a man!
Oh, rise up, my maidens, take spear and take sword -
Go milk the cows, Brackley, and I will be lord!"
4. So Brackley arose, put his helm on his head,
Put his hand on his sword, on his thigh, on his steed:
And he said as he bent for to kiss his proud dame,
"There's a Gordon rides out here will never ride hame!"
5. Now there rode with bold Inveray thirty and three
But wi' Gordon was none but his brother and he:
Oh, twa gallant Gordons did never sword draw,
But against three and thirty, wae's me, what are twa?
6. With sword and wi' dagger they fell on them rude,
Till the twa gallant Gordons lay bathed in their blude:
Fae the banks o' the Dee to the mouth o' the Tay
The Gordons mourn for them and curse Inveray.
7. "Oh, come ye by Brackley, and come ye by there,
Was the young widow weepin' and tearin' her hair?"
"Oh, I come by Brackley, and looked in and oh,
There was mirth, there was laughter but nothin' awa'.
8. Oh, there sat the lady, as blithe as a bride,
Like a bridegroom bold Inveray sat by her side,
And she feasted him there as she ne'er feasted Lord,
Wi' the blood o' her husband still wet on his sword.
9. In her bedroom she kept him till morning grew grey,
Then through the woods o' Brackley she showed him the way.
"Well you see yon green hill that the sun's shining on?
That's the hill of Glentanner: one kiss and be gone."
10. There's grief in the cottage, there's grief in the ha'
For the twa gallant Gordons who're dead and awa'
Tae the bush comes the spring, and the floo'er tae the plain,
But the good and the brave, they'll come never again.
- learnt from the singing of Jack Whyte, resident at the Springfield
Folk Club, Brighton, 1966. This incident supposedly occurred
7 September 1666, though Child thinks it is likely conflated
with an incident of 1592. JB
Child #203
JB
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!