Johnny Faa
17th Century
Child Ballad 200
The gipsies cam tae our lord's yett,
And oh! but they sang bonny,
They sang sae sweet and sae complete
That doon cam oor fair lady;
When she cam tripping doon the stair,
And a' her maids before her,
As soon as they saw here weel-faured face,
They coost the glamour ower her,
'Sae take frae me, this gay mantle,
And bring tae me a plaidie,
For if kith and kin and a handsworn,
I'll follow the gypsy laddy;
Yestreen I lay in a weel made bed,
And my guid lord beside me;
This nicht I'll lie in a tenant's barn,
What ever may betide me,
Come tae your bed, says Johnny Faa,
Come tae your bed, my deary,
For I vow and swear by the hilt o' my sword,
Your lord shall nae mair come near ye,
"I'll go tae bed my Johnny Faa,
And I'll go tae bed tae my deary,
For I vow and swear by what passed yestreen,
My lord shall nae mair come near me.
I'll mak a hap tae my Johnny Faa,
I'll mak a hap tae my deary,
And he'll get a' that it gaes round,
And my lord shall nae mair come near me,
And when our lord came hame at e'en,
And speired for his fair lady,
The tane she cried and the ither replied,
"She's awa wi the gypsy laddy.
Gae saddle tae me my black, black steed,
Gae saddle and mak him ready;
Before that I either eat or sleep,
I'll gae seek my fair lady.
He wandered heigh, he wandered laigh,
He wandered late and early,
Until he cam to that wan water,
And spied his fair lady.
O there were fifteen weelmade men,
Although they were na bonny,
And they hangit a' in a raw,
For the Earl o' Castle's lady.
DayPoems Poem No. 2531
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/2531.html">Johnny Faa by Anonymous</a>
The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor
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