Once there was a shepherd lad, kept sheep upon the hill
An he's laid his pipe and his crook aside, and there he's slept his fill
He woke up on a riverbank on a fine May morning
And there he spied a lady swimming in the clothes that she was born in
So he raised his head from his green bed and he approached the maid
"Put on your claithes, my dear," he says, "and do not be afraid
It's fitter for a lady fair to sew a silken seam
Than to rise on a fair May morning and swim against the stream."
"Well if you'll not touch my mantle and you'll leave my claithes alane,
Then I'll give you all the money, sir, that you can carry hame."
"I'll not touch your mantle and I'll leave your claithes alane,
But I'll tak you out of the clear water, my dear, to be my ane"
And he's taen her oot o the clear water and he's rowed her in his arms
"Put on your claithes, my dear," he says, "and hide your bounteous charms."
He's put her on a milk white steed, himself upon another
And it's all along the way they rode like sister and like brother.
She rode intae her faither's gate and she's tirled at the pin,
And ready stood a porter there to let the fair maid in.
When the gates were opened, it's so nimbly she stepped in
She said, "Kind sir, you are a fool without and I'm a maid within
So fare thee weel, my modest boy, I thank you for your care
But had you done as you desired, I'd never have left you there.
I will sew no silken seam on a fine May morning.
You can bide your time till your time runs out, so take this as fair warning.
I will sew no silken seam on a fine May morning.
You can bide your time till your time runs out, so take this as fair warning."