Binnorrie

Child #10

               Am                 G
There were two sisters lived in a bower,
             Am
     Lay the bent to the bonnie broom;
             Dm                 G
There came a knight to be their wooer,
     Am                G       Am
     By the bonnie milldams o' Binnorrie.


He wooed the elder wi' glove and ring,
But he loved the younger o'er all things.

"Oh, sister dear, let's we walk out,
And watch the ships go sail about."

And as they walked along the brim,
The elder pushed her sister in.

"Oh, sister dear, lend me your hand,
And you shall have my house and land."

"I'll neither lend you hand nor glove,
But I shall have your own true love."

A minstrel walked along the strand,
And saw the maiden float to land.

He's made a harp o' her breast-bone,
Whose sound would melt a heart of stone.

He's ta'en three locks o' her golden hair,
And with them strung his harp so rare.

Then off he went to the high king's hall,
To harp the sister's wedding-ball.

But when he laid it on the stone,
The harp began to sing alone.

The first string made a doleful sound,
"The bride her younger sister drowned."

In grief and pain, the next string cried,
"In terror sits the black-haired bride."

The third string sang both loud and low,
"And surely now her tears will flow."


See also "Cruel Sister" sung by Pentangle