Lyrics Willie o' Winsbury (Willy o' Winsbury) - Deborah Stokol

The king has been a prisoner
And a prisoner long in Spain
And Willie of the Winsbury
Has lain with the king's daughter at home

What ails you, what ails you, my daughter, Jane?
Why do you look so pale and wan?
Oh, have you had any sore sicknesses
Or yet been sleeping with a man?

I have not had any sore sicknesses
Nor yet been sleeping with a man
It is for you, my father dear
For biding so long in Spain

Cast off, cast off your berry-brown gown!
You stand naked upon the stone
So I may know you by your form
If you be a maiden or no

And she cast off her berry, berry-brown gown
She stood naked upon the stone
Her apron was low, and her haunches were round
Her face was as white as a ghost

Oh, was it with a lord or a duke or a knight
Or a man of birth and fame?
Or was it with one of my serving men
That's so lately come out of Spain?

No, it wasn't with a lord nor a duke nor a knight
Nor a man of birth and fame
But it was with Willie of Winsbury
I could bide no longer alone

And the king has called on his merry men all
By thirty and by three
Says, Fetch me this Willie of Winsbury
For hanged he now shall be!

But when he came the king before
He was clad all in red silk
His hair was like the strands of gold
His skin was as white as the milk

And it's no wonder, said the king
That my daughter's love you did win
For if I were a woman as I am a man
My bedfellow you would have been

And will you marry my daughter, Jane
By the truth of your right hand?
Oh, will you marry my daughter, Jane
I will make you the lord of the land!

Oh yes, I will marry your daughter, Jane
By the truth of my right hand
Why, yes, I will marry your daughter, Jane
But I'll not be the lord of the land!

And he lifted her on a milk-white steed
And himself on a dapple grey
He has made her the lady of as much land
As she shall ride on a long summer's day