Tony Rose - Young Hunting lyrics

As she was a-walking all alone And down in a leafy wood She has heard the sound of a bridle reins; And she hoped that it might be for good. "Come down, come down, you fine young man, You're welcome home to me, To my cosy bed and the charcoal red And the candles that burns so free." "Oh I can't come down and I won't come down And nor I come into your arms at all For a finer girl than ten of you Is a-waiting beneath the town wall." "Oh well, a finer girl than ten of me I wonder now how that might be? For a finer girl than ten of me I'm sure that you never didn't see." Then and he has leaned him across his saddle Oh for a kiss before they did part, And she has taken a keen, long knife And she's stabbed him to the heart. Saying, "Lie there, lie there, you fine young man, Until the flesh it rots from your bones And that finer girl than ten of me Can weary waiting alone." But as she walked up on the high highway She's spied a little bird up in the tree, Saying, "Oh how could you k** that fine young man As he was a-kissing of thee?" "Come down, come down, you pretty little bird And sit upon my right knee, And your cage shall be made of the glittering gold And the spokes of the best ivory." "I can't come down and I won't come down Nor sit upon your right knee, For as you did serve that fine young man I know that you would serve me." "Oh, then I wish I had my bended bow And my arrow close to my knee. I would fire a dart that would pierce your heart As you sit there a-pipin' on that tree." "Ah, but you've not got your bended bow And nor your arrows close to your knee. So I'll fly across the sea to that young man's home And tell them what I did see." So she's gone back to her own house And she's crossed the threshold with a moan, And she has taken that fine young man And she's walled him behind the stones. And she has kept that fine young man For full three-quarters of a year Till a heavy smell began to spread And it filled her heart with fear. So she's called unto the servant girl And this to her did she say: "There is a fine and a young man in my room And but it's time that he was away." So the one of them's took him by the shoulders, And the other one's took him by the feet And they've thrown his body in the River Clyde And that run so clear and so sweet. And they had not crossed a rig of land, A rig and barely one, Before they saw his old father come a-riding All along. "Oh where you've been, my gay lady? And where have you been so late? For we've come a-seeking for my only son Who used to visit your gates." And there came a-seeking for this fine young man A-many lords and many knights. And there came a-weeping for this fine young man Full a-many's the lady bright. And now the ladies turned them around and about And they made such a mournful sound, Saying, "We greatly fear that your son is dead And he lies neath the water and drowned." "So, who will dive from either bank For gold and for fee?" And the young men dived from either bank But his body they could not see. Then up and speaks that pretty little bird A-sitting up high in the tree, Saying, "Oh, cease your diving, you divers bold, For I'd have you to listen to me." "And I'd have you to cease your day diving And to dive all into the night. For under the water where his body lies The candles they burn so bright." So the divers ceased their day diving And they dived all into the night. And under the water where his body lay, The candles they burned so bright. And they have raised his body up From out the deepest part, And they've seen the wound deep into his chest And the turf all across his heart. And when his father did see this dreadful wound He made such a mournful sound, Saying, "Oh, who has k**ed my only son Who used to follow my hounds?" Then up and speaks the pretty little bird, Saying, "What needs all this din? For it was his light leman took his life And then threw his body in." "Oh, blame not me," the lady says, "For it was the servant girl." So they built a fire of the oak and ash And they put that servant girl in. But the fire wouldn't take upon her cheek And the fire wouldn't take upon her chin, And nor would it take upon her hair For she was free from the sin. And when the servant girl touched the clay cold corpse, A drop it never bled. But when the lady laid a hand upon it The ground was soon covered with red. So they've taken out the servant girl And they've put the lady in. And the fire it reached a ruddy red, And all because of her sin. And the fire took fast upon her cheek, And the fire took fast upon her chin, And it sang in the points of her yellow hair, And 'twas all because of her sin.