And first he’s kissd her cherry cheek,
And neist he’s kissed her chin;
And saftly pressd her rosey lips,
But there was nae breath within.

“O wae betide my cruel mother,
And an ill dead may she die! 
For she turnd my true-love frae my door,
When she came sae far to me.”

Ballad:  The Queen’s Marie

(Child, vi., Border Minstrelsy.)

Marie Hamilton’s to the kirk gane,
Wi ribbons in her hair;
The king thought mair o Marie Hamilton,
Than ony that were there.

Marie Hamilton’s to the kirk gane,
Wi ribbons on her breast;
The king thought mair o Marie Hamilton,
Than he listend to the priest.

Marie Hamilton’s to the kirk gane,
Wi gloves upon her hands;
The king thought mair o Marie Hamilton,
Than the queen and a’ her lands.

She hadna been about the king’s court
A month, but barely one,
Till she was beloved by a’ the king’s court,
And the king the only man.

She hadna been about the king’s court
A month, but barely three,
Till frae the king’s court Marie Hamilton,
Marie Hamilton durst na be.

The king is to the Abbey gane,
To pu the Abbey tree,
To scale the babe frae Marie’s heart;
But the thing it wadna be.

O she has rowd it in her apron,
And set it on the sea: 
“Gae sink ye, or swim ye, bonny babe,
Ye’s get na mair o me.”

Word is to the kitchen gane,
And word is to the ha,
And word is to the noble room,
Amang the ladyes a’,
That Marie Hamilton’s brought to bed,
And the bonny babe’s mist and awa.

Scarcely had she lain down again,
And scarcely faen asleep,
When up then started our gude queen,
Just at her bed-feet,
Saying “Marie Hamilton, where’s your babe? 
For I am sure I heard it greet.”

“O no, O no, my noble queen! 
Think no such thing to be! 
’Twas but a stitch into my side,
And sair it troubles me.”

“Get up, get up, Marie Hamilton,
Get up, and follow me,
For I am going to Edinburgh town,
A rich wedding for to see.”

O slowly, slowly raise she up,
And slowly put she on;
And slowly rode she out the way,
Wi mony a weary groan.

The queen was clad in scarlet,
Her merry maids all in green;
And every town that they cam to,
They took Marie for the queen.

“Ride hooly, hooly, gentlemen,
Ride hooly now wi’ me! 
For never, I am sure, a wearier burd
Rade in your cumpanie.”

But little wist Marie Hamilton,
When she rade on the brown,
That she was ga’en to Edinburgh town,
And a’ to be put down.

“Why weep ye so, ye burgess-wives,
Why look ye so on me? 
O, I am going to Edinburgh town,
A rich wedding for to see!”

When she gaed up the Tolbooth stairs,
The corks frae her heels did flee;
And lang or eer she cam down again,
She was condemned to die.