Clandestine - The Cruel Sister lyrics
rate meA farmer lived in the North Country,<br />
Hey ho, bonny-o,<br />
He had daughters one, two, three.<br />
One was as bright as is the sun,<br />
And coal black grew another one.<br />
A knight came riding to the farmer's door,<br />
He'd travelled far to be their wooer.<br />
He courted one with gloves and rings,<br />
He loved the other above all things.<br />
Oh sister, won't you walk with me,<br />
The swans they swim so bonny-o.<br />
And see the ships sail on the sea?<br />
And as they passed the river's brim,<br />
The eldest pushed the youngest in.<br />
Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,<br />
Crying, "Sister, reach to me your hand!"<br />
I'll give you neither hand nor glove,<br />
'Less you give me your own true love.<br />
The miller's daughter, dressed in red,<br />
Went for some water to bake some bread.<br />
Oh, Father, Father, here swims a swan,<br />
The river carries her body on.<br />
They laid her on the bank to dry,<br />
There came a minstrel passing by.<br />
He made pins of her fingers fair,<br />
And he made strings of her golden hair.<br />
He made a harp out of her breastbone,<br />
The sound of which would melt a heart of stone.<br />
He took it to her father's hall<br />
The family there assembled all.<br />
He placed the harp upon a stone<br />
And it began to play alone.<br />
The first string sang a doleful sound:<br />
The younger sister, she is drowned.<br />
The second string the minstrel tried,<br />
And terror seized the black-haired bride.<br />
The third string played beneath her bones,<br />
And surely now her tears will flow.
