The Laird o' Drum has a-hunting gane,
All in the morning early.
And he has spied a weel-taur'd May,
A-shearing her father's barley.
“My bonnie May, me weel-faur'd May,
It's will ve gang wi' me, O?
And will ye gang and be Leddy o' the Drum,
And leave your shearing a'-be, O?”

“I canna gang wi' you, kind sir,
Not leave my shearing a'-be, O;
For I'm ower low to be Leddy o' the Drum,
And vour Miss I scorn to be, O.
My father he is a shepherd mean,
Keeps sheep on yonder hill, O,
And ye may gang and speir at him,
I'm entirely at his will, O.”

Drum has to her father gane,
Keeping sheep on yonder hill, O:
“I've come to marry your ae dochtar,
Gin ye'll gie your goodwill, O.”
“My dochter can neither read nor write,
Nor was she bred at the school, O:
But she can work, baith oot and in,
For I've learned the girlie mysel', O.

“She'll work in your barn, and at your mill,
And brew your malt and your ale, O;
And saddle your steed in rime o' need,
And draw aff your boots hersel', O.”
“I'll learn the lassie to read and write,
And put her to the school, O;
And she'll never need to saddle my steed,
Nor draw aff my boots hersel', O.”

“But wha will bake my bridal bread,
And wha will brew my ale, O;
And wha will welcome my lowly bride,
Is mair than I can tell, O.”
Ah but four-and-twenty gentle knights
Gaed in at the yett o' Drum, O.
And there's never a one has lifted his hat
When the Leddy o' the Drum cam in, O.

Up and spake his brother John,
He says, “Ye've done us meikle wrang, O;
Ye've married a wife o' low degree,
She's a mock to a' our kin, O.
It's Peggy Coutts is a bonnie bride,
And Drum is big and gaucey;
But ye micht hae chosen a higher match
Than just a shepherd's lassie.”

Up and spake the Laird o' Drum;
He says, “I've dune ye nae wrang, O;
I've married a wife to work and win.
And ve've married ane to spend, O.
Now' the first time that I took to me a wife,
Whe was tar abune my degree, O;
And I durstna gang in to the room where she was.
But my hat below' my knee, O.”

It's twice he's kissed her cherry cheek,
And thrice her cherry chin, O.
And twenty times her comely mou'–
And “Ye're welcome, my Leddy Drum, O!”
And when a had eaten and drunken weel,
And they were bound for bed, O,
The Laird o' Drum and his Leddy fair
In ae bed they were laid, O.

“Gin ye had been o' high renown,
As ye're o' low degree, O,
We micht hae gaed down to the yett o' Drum
Amang gude companie, O.
And o' a' yon four-and-twenty knights
That gaed in at the yett o' Drum, O,
There ne'er was a one wadna lifted his hat
When the Leddy o' the Drum cam in, O.”

“I tell'd ye w'eel ere we were wed,
Ye was far abune my degree, O;
But now we're married, in ae bed laid,
I'm just as gude as ye, O.
And when you are dead, and I am dead,
And baith in ae grave laid, O.
Ere seven years are at an end,
They'll no ken your dust frae mine, O.”