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Broadside ballad entitled 'A Song, Innerleithen Well'

Transcription

A SONG,

INNERLEITHEN WELL.

TUNE?THE BLAEBERRIES.

O FAIR Innerleithen, and the River Tweed,
Whose beauty by nature, all art doth exceed,
Of this pleasing village, there's many heard tell,
And so have come here, to drink of our Well.

The air it is pleasant, and nature seems gay,
The Lark and the Linnet do welcome the May ;   
When the hawthorn blooms and sends forth a sweet smell,
Just then is the season to drink of our. Well.

Come all you my patients who wish to have health,
A blessing more precious than riches or wealth,
Come drink of the water, it will you revive,
And though you seem dying will keep you alive.

To people half blind it their sight doth restore,
It cures the king's evil, and heals every sore ;
And dropsical waters it quickly doth quell.
And likewise the cholic is cur'd at our Well !
        
It braces the nerves, and the weak it makes strong,
Gives health to the sickly, makes old folks look young :
A wind in the stomach, it too will dispel,
And those who want purges, apply to our Well.

Those who are melancholy, their hearts it will cheer ;
It makes barren women fine children to bear ;
It cureth the scurvy, the itch, and the seal ;
And many more cures are perform'd by our Well.

Fine gentlemen often to it do repair,
To drink the cold water, and breathe the fresh air ;
And likewise fair ladies, whose charms doth excel,
They oft, to improve, do come to our Well,

The Mineral Well, it is under the care
Of our noble master the Earl of Traquair,
Who greatly rejoices when he does hear tell,
Of the numberless cures that's perform'd by his Well.

May health blaw around it to all who do come,
May all the diseased in health return home ;
So that every patient his neighbour may tell,
If you do want health, you may go to the Well.

In my humble station, I do not envy
The greatest of Princesses under the sky :
Might I choose my lot, I the truth you will tell,
My scanty maintenance I'd pick at the Well.

W. Reid, Printer, Leith.

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Probable period of publication: 1840-1860   shelfmark: L.C.Fol.74(047)
Broadside ballad entitled 'A Song, Innerleithen Well'
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