Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago

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Four Maries / The Four Marys / Mary Mild / Mary Hamilton (Child No. 173) - Sung by George Inglis Fraser of Strichen, Aberdeenshire. Recorded by Prof. Kenneth S. Goldstein in December 1959.

Song transcription to be corrected:

Yestreen the queen had four Maries;
This nicht she's only three;
They were Mary Seaton, and Mary Beaton,
An' Mary Carmichael an me.

Oh, little did my mither think,
When first she cradled me.
That I would dee sae far frae hame,
Or hang on a gallows tree!

They'll tie a napkin roun' my een,
An' they'll no let me see tae dee;
An' they'll ne'er let me on to my father an' mither,
But I'm awa' o'er the sea.

I wish I could lie in our aine kirkyard,
Aneath the auld yew tree;
Where ye pu'd the gowans and thread the rowans
My brothers, my sisters an' me.

But little I'll care for a nameless grave
When I'm home In eternity;
So I'll pray that the faith o' the de'ein' thief
By grace may be granted tae me.

Last nicht there were four Marys,
This nicht there'll be but three;
There was Mary Beaton, an' Mary Seaton,
An' Mary Carmichael, an' me.