"Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" is an old Scottish ballad dating from 1785 or earlier. It is Child Ballad

Child Ballads

The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century...

 #46. It is known by a number of titles, including "Lord Roslin's Daughter" and "The Laird of Rosslyn's Daughter".

Synopsis

Versions differ, but generally a captain meets a lady walking in the woods or through an estate. Sometimes he takes her to where he is staying. In all variants, she says she will not marry or sleep with him without his answering riddles. She asks them. He answers them all, and they are married and/or he takes her to bed.

Motifs

The ingenious suitor who can answer every riddle, or nonplus the heroine, is not as common as the clever maid, but occurs quite frequently in folklore.

Recordings

• In 1964, Canadian Folk duo Ian and Sylvia
  Ian and Sylvia
  Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959, married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975.-Early lives:...
  
   recorded this ballad as "Captain Woodstock's Courtship"; their version is from a Nova Scotia collection by Folklorist Helen Creighton.
• Tim Hart
  Tim Hart
  Tim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
  
   and Maddy Prior
  Maddy Prior
  Maddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
  
   recorded the ballad in 1968 on Folk Songs of Old England Vol. 2.
• The Great Big Sea
  Great Big Sea
  Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
  
   song "Captain Wedderburn" on their Turn album is based on this ballad.
• In 2007 Cara Luft
  Cara Luft
  Cara Luft is a singer-songwriter and founding member of the Canadian folk trio, The Wailin' Jennys. She returned to her solo career in 2004.2009 October Cara Luft play a tour in Europe...
  
   recorded the song "Lord roslyn's daughter" on the album "The Light Fantastic".
• Bellowhead
  Bellowhead
  Bellowhead are an English contemporary folk band originally brought together by John Spiers and Jon Boden. The eleven-piece band plays traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide diversity of musical styles and influences...
  
   recorded a version on their 2010 album Hedonism
  Hedonism (album)
  -Track listing:Bonus track - Personnel :*Jon Boden - lead vocals , fiddle, saw*Benji Kirkpatrick - guitar, bouzouki, mandolin*John Spiers - melodeon, anglo-concertina*Andy Mellon - trumpet*Justin Thurgur - trombone...
  
  .

Lyrics

The Laird of Rosslyn's daughter

Walked through the wood her lane.

And by came Captain Wedderburn,

A soldier of the king.

He said unto his serving man,

Were't not against the law,

I would take her to my own bed

And lay her next the wall.

I'm walking here my lane, says she,

Among my father's trees,

And you may let me walk my lane,

Kind sir, now, if you please.

The supper bell it will be rung

And I'll be missed awa',

So I'll not lie in your bed

At neither stock nor wall.

Then said the pretty lady,

I pray tell me your name.

My name is Captain Wedderburn,

A soldier of the king.

Though your father and all his men were here,

I would take you from them all,

I would take you to my own bed

And lay you next the wall.

O hold away from me,

Kind sir, I pray you let me be,

For I'll not lie in your bed

Till I get dishes three.

Three dishes for my supper,

Though I eat none at all,

Before I lie in your bed

At either stock or wall.

I must have to my supper

A chicken without a bone,

And I must have to my supper

A cherry without stone,

And I must have to my supper

A bird without a gall,

Before I lie in your bed

At either stock or wall.

The chicken when it's in the shell

I'm sure it has no bone,

And when the cherry's in the bloom

I wat it has no stone.

The dove she is a gentle bird,

She flies without a gall,

And we'll both lie in one bed

And you'll lie next the wall.

O hold away from me, kind sir,

And do not me perplex,

For I'll not lie in your bed

Till you answer questions six.

Six questions you must answer me,

And that is four and twa,

Before I lie in your bed

At either stock or wall.

O what is greener than the grass,

What's higher than the trees,

O what is worse than a woman's wish,

What's deeper than the seas,

What bird crows first, what tree buds first,

What first on them does fall,

Before I lie in your bed

At either stock or wall.

Death is greener than the grass,

Heaven's higher than the trees,

The devil's worse than woman's wish,

Hell's deeper than the seas,

The cock crows first, the cedar buds first,

Dew first on them does fall,

And we'll both lie in one bed,

And you'll lie next the wall.

Little did this lady think,

That morning when she raise,

It was to be the very last

Of all her maiden days,

For now she's Captain Wedderburn's wife,

A man she never saw,

And now they lie in one bed,

And she lies next the wall.

External links

• Quoted Text: Captain Wedderburns's Courtship