Sir James the Rose

Oh have you heard Sir James the Rose
The young heir of Loch Laggan
For he has killed a gallant squire
And his friends are out to take him

He's gone to the House of Marr
The Nurse there did befriend him
And he has gone upon his knees
And begged for her to hide him

‘Where're you going Sir James? she said
‘Where now are you riding?
‘Oh I am bound for a foreign land
But now I'm under hiding

Chorus
Where shall I go?
Where shall I run?
Where shall I go for to hide me?
For I have killed a gallant squire
And they're seeking for to slay me
Then he's turned him right and round about
And rolled him in the bracken
And he has gone to take a sleep
In the lowlands of Loch Laggan

He had not well gone out of sight
Nor was he past Milstrethen
When four and twenty belted knights
Came riding o'er the leathen

‘Oh have you seen Sir James the Rose
The young heir of Loch Laggan
For he has killed a gallant squire
And we're sent out to take him

Chorus

‘You'll see the bank above the mill
In the lowlands of Loch Laggan
And there you'll find Sir James the Rose
Sleeping in the bracken

‘You must not wake him out of sleep
Nor yet must you afright him
Just run a dart right through his heart
And through the body pierce him

They sought the bank above the mill
In the lowlands of Loch Laggan
And there they found Sir James the Rose
Sleeping in the bracken

Chorus

Then up and spake Sir John the Graeme
Who had the charge a-keeping
‘It'll never be said, dear gentleman
We killed him while he's sleeping

They seized his broadsword and his targe
And closely him surrounded, And when he woke out of his sleep
His senses were confounded

Now they have taken out his heart
And stuck it on a spear
They took it to the House of Marr
And gave it to his dear

Chorus