| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (1863–1944). The Oxford Book of Ballads. 1910. |
| |
| 176. Bessie Bell and Mary Gray |
| |
| |
I
O BESSIE BELL and Mary Gray, | |
| They war twa bonnie lasses; | |
| They biggit a bower on yon burn-brae, | |
| And theekit it o’er wi’ rashes. | |
| |
II
They theekit it o’er wi’ rashes green, | 5 |
| They theekit it o’er wi’ heather; | |
| But the pest cam frae the burrows-town, | |
| And slew them baith thegither. | |
| |
III
They thought to lye in Methven kirkyard, | |
| Amang their noble kin; | 10 |
| But they maun lye in Stronach haugh, | |
| To bick forenent the sin. | |
| |
IV
And Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, | |
| They war twa bonnie lasses; | |
| They biggit a bower on yon burn-brae, | 15 |
| And theekit it o’er wi’ rashes. | |
| | | GLOSS: biggit] built. theekit] thatched. haugh] water-mead. biek] bask. sin] sun. |
|
| |
|
|
|
