MacPherson's Lament

I
'Fareweel, ye dungeons dark and strang,
Fareweel, fareweel,' said he;
'MacPherson's time will no' be lang
Alow the gallows tree.'
-- Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed he,
He played a tune and he danced it aroon',
Alow the gallows tree.

II
'It was by a woman's treacherous hand
That I was condemned tae dee;
Aboon a ledge at a windae she stood,
And a blanket she threw o'er me.

III
'Untie these bands frae aff o' my hands,
And gie tae me my sword:
There's no a man in a' Scotland,
But I'll brave him at his word.

IV
'There's some come here tae see me hang,
And some tae buy my fiddle;
But afore that I dae part wi' her,
I'd brak' her through the middle.'

V
He took his fiddle into both of his hands,
And he brak' it o'er a stone;
Said, 'Nae ither hands shall play on thee
When I am deid and gane.

VI
'Ach, little did my mother think,
When first she cradled me,
That I would turn a roving boy
And die on the gallows tree.'

VII
The reprieve it was coming o'er the Brig o' Banff
Tae set MacPherson free;
But they put the knock tae a quarter past four,
And they hanged him tae the tree.
-- Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed he,
He played a tune and he danced it aroon',
Alow the gallows tree.

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