Inglis Collection of printed music > Printed music > Songs of Scotland adapted to their appropriate melodies > Volume 1

BUSK YE, BUSK YE.
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Where gat ye that win - some mar - row? I gat her where I daur - na weel be seen,
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Pu'-ing the birks on the brae9 o' Yar - row
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Melody for the first line of the third verse.
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Lang maun she weep, lang, lang maun she weep.
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Weep not, weep not, my bonnie, bonnie bride,
Weep not, weep not, my winsome marrow ;
Nor let thy heart lament to leave
Pu'ing the birks on the braes o' Yarrow.
Why does she weep, thy bonnie, bonnie bride ?
Why does she weep, thy winsome marrow ?
And why daur ye nae mair weel be seen,
Pu'ing the birks on the braes o' Yarrow ?
Lang maun she weep, lang, lang maun she weep,
Lang maun she weep wi' dule and sorrow,
And lang maun I nae mair weel be seen,
Pu'ing the birks on the braes o' Yarrow ;
For she has tint her lover, lover dear,
Her lover dear, the cause o' sorrow ;
And I hae slain the comeliest swain,
That e'er pu'ed birks on the braes o' Yarrow.
Fair was thy love, fair, fair indeed thy love !
In flowery bands thou didst him fetter ;
Though he was fair, and well beloved again,
Than me he did not love thee better.
Busk ye then, busk, my bonnie, bonnie bride,
Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow,
Busk ye, and lo'e me on the banks o' the Tweed,
And think nae mair o' the braes o' Yarrow.
" Busk te, busk te." The melody was formerly called " The braes o' Yarrow." In a MS. book of tunes in
tablature for the Lyra-viol, which belonged to the celebrated Dr. John Leyden, there is a tune called " The lady's
goune," which seems to be an old and simple set of " The braes o' Yarrow." That MS. was sent to the editor of
the present work, in 1844, with permission to translate and transcribe it. The transcript he made of it is in-
tended for the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh. In the Orpheus Caledonius, 1725-33, there is a
set of " Busk ye," which does not exhibit the wrong accentuation found in more modern versions, where the accent
is painfully thrown upon the word "ye" in the first line. In the present edition that set has been restored, and
the air now agrees in accent with the wordj. The verses here given are from a beautiful ballad written by
William Hamilton of Bangour, who died in 1754, aged fifty. The ballad consists of thirty stanzas, and was
first printed in Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany. Eight of these stanzas have been selected on this occasion.
These contain the essential parts of the story. The whole of the ballad will be given in an Appendix to this
work. The first three lines belong to an ancient ballad, now lost.