Bonny Gilderoy/Bonny Gilderoy

BONNY

GILDEROY.

Gilderoy Was a bonny boy,
⁠had roses in his shoon,
His stockings were of silken soy,
⁠wi’ garters hanging down:
It was, I ween, a comely fight,
⁠to see sae trim a boy!
He was my jo, and heart’s delight,
⁠my hansome Gilderoy.

Oh! sic two charming een he had,
⁠a breath as sweet as rose!
He never wore a Highland plaid,
⁠but costly silken cl thes:
He gain’d the luve of ladies gay,
⁠nane e’er to him was coy;
Ah! wae is me! I mourn the day,
⁠for my dear Gilderoy.

My Gilderoy and I were born
⁠baith in (illegible text) together,
We, scant were seven years before
⁠we ’gan to luve each ther: ,
Our daddies and our mammies they
⁠were fill’d wi' meikie joy,
To think upon the bridal day
⁠’twixt me and Gilderoy.

For Gilderoy that lave of mine,
⁠gude faith, I freely bought,
A wedding-sark of holland fine,
⁠wi’ silken flow’rs wrought;
And he gied me a wedding ring,
⁠which I receiv’d with joy;
Nae lad nor lassie e’er could sing
⁠like me and Gilderoy.

Wi’ meikle joy we spent our prime,
⁠till we were baith sixteen,
And aft we past the langsome time
⁠amang the leaves fae green:
Aft on the banks we’d sit us there,
⁠and sweetly kiss and toy;
Wi’ garlands gay he’d deck my hair,
⁠my handsome Gilderoy.

Oh! that he still had been content
⁠wi’ me to lead a life;
But, ah! his manfu’ heart was bent
⁠to stir in fates of strife:
And he in many a vent’rous deed,
⁠his courage bauld wad try;
And now this gars my heart to bleed
⁠for my dear Gilderoy.

And when of me his leave he took,
⁠the tears they wat mine ee;
I gave tull him a parting look,
⁠"My bennison gang wi’ thee!
Gud-speed thee weel, mine ain dear heart,
⁠for gane is ail my joy;
My heart is rent sith we maun part,
⁠my handsome Gilderoy.

Mv Gilderoy, baith far and near,
⁠was fear’d in ev’ry town,
And bauldly bare awa’ the gear
⁠of many a lawland lonn;
Nane e’er durst meet him man to man,
⁠he was sae brave a boy;
At length wi’ numbers he was tane,
⁠my winsome Gilderoy.

The Queen of Scots possessed nought
⁠that my love let me want;
For cow and ewe he brought to me,
⁠and e’en when they were scant:
All these did honestly possess,
⁠he never did annoy,
Who never fail’d to pay their cess
⁠to my love Gilderoy.

Waeworth the loun that made the laws,
⁠to hang a man for gear;
To reave of life for ox or ass,
⁠for sheep, or horse, or mare:
Had not their laws been made sae strick
⁠I ne’er had lost my joy;
Wi’ sorrow near had wat my cheek
⁠for my dear Gilderoy.

Giff Gilderoy had done amiss,
⁠he might hae banish’d been;
Ah! what fair cruelty is this,
⁠to hang sic handsome men!
To hang the flow’r o’ Scottish land,
⁠sae sweet and fair a boy;
Nae lady had sae white a hand
⁠as thee, my Gilderoy.

Of Gilderoy sae ’fraid they were,
⁠they bound bim very slrong;
Tull Edinburgh they led him there,
⁠and on a gallows hung;
They hung him high aboon the rest,
⁠he was sae trim a boy;
There dy'd the youth whom I lo'ed best,
⁠my handsome Gilderoy.

Thus having yielded up his breath,
⁠I bare his corpse away;
Wi’ tears that trickled for his death,
⁠I washt his comely clay;
And sicker in a grave sae deep
⁠I laid the dear-l ’ed boy:
And now for ever maun I weep,
⁠my winesome Gilderoy.