Lord Maxwell's Goodnight
Language: English
"Adieu, Madame, my mother dear, but and my sisters three, O! Adieu, fair Robert of Orchardstane, my heart is wae for thee, O! Adieu the lily and the rose, the primrose fair to see, O! Adieu, my ladye and only joy, for I may not stay with thee, O! Tho' I hae slain the Lord Johnstone what care I for his feid', O! My noble mind their wrath disdains, he was my father's deid, O! Both night and day I labor'd oft of him avenged to be, O! But now I've got what lang I sought, and I may not stay with thee, O!" Then he tuik off a gay gold ring, thereat hung signets three, O! "Hae, tak thee that mine ain dear thing, and still hae mind o' me, O! But if thou take another lord ere I come ower the sea, O! His life is but a three days lease, tho' I may not stay wi' thee, O!" The wind was fair, the ship was clear, that good lord went away, O! And most part of his friends were there to give him a fair convey, O! They drank the wine, they didna spair, e'en in that gude lord's sight, O! Sae now he's o'er the floods sae grey, and Lord Maxwell's ta'en his goodnight, O!
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882 - 1961), "Lord Maxwell's Goodnight", 1912 [ baritone and strings ], revised 1947 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 219