Cruel Sister

There lived a lady by the North Sea shore
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
Two daughters were the babes she bore
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As one grew bright as is the sun
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
So coal-black grew the elder one
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A knight came riding to the lady's door
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
He traveled far to be their wooer
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He courted one with gloves and rings
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
But he loved the other above all things
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Oh, sister will you go with me
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
To watch the ships sail on the sea?
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She took her sister by the hand
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
And led her down to the North Sea strand
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And as they stood on the windy shore
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
The dark girl threw her sister over
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Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
Cryin', "Sister, reach to me your hand"
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Oh sister, sister, let me live
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
And all that's mine I'll surely give
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Your own true love that I'll have and more
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
But thou shalt never come ashore
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And there she floated like a swan
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
The salt sea bore her body on
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Two minstrels walked along the strand
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
And saw the maiden float to land
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They've made a harp of her breastbone
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
Whose sound would melt a heart of stone
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They took three locks of her yellow hair
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
And with them strung the harp so rare
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They went into her father's hall
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
To play the harp before them all
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But as they laid it on a stone
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
The harp began to play alone
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The first string sang a doleful sound
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
The bride her younger sister drowned
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The second string as that they tried
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
In terror sits the black-haired bride
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The third string sang beneath their bow
Lay the bent to the Bonnie broom
And surely now her tears will flow
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