The Twa Brithers

Two pretty boys were goin' tae the school
 And one evening coming home
 Says William to John, Can you throw a stone
 Or can you play at a ball, a ball, or can you play at a ball
 Says John to William, I canna' throw a stone
 Little can I play at a ball
 But if you'll go down to a merry green woods
 I'll try you a wrestlin' fall, a fall, I'll try you a wrestlin'
 fall
 So they went down tae a merry green woods
 Beneath the spreadin' bough
 The little penknife fell out of William's coat
 And gave John his deadly wound, wound, and gave John his deadly
 wound
 Ah, now you'll take off your white Holland shirt
 And teer it frae gore tae gore
 And you will bind my deadly wounds
 That they might bleed no more, no more, that they might bleed no
 more
 So he's ta'en off his white Holland shirt
 And he's torn it frae gore tae gore
 And though he's bound his deadly wounds
 Ah, they bled ten times more, more, they bled ten times more
 Ah but what shall I tell to your father dear
 This night when I go home
 Tell him I'm away to a London school
 And a good scholar I'll come home, home, a good scholar I'll come
 home
 Ah but what shall I tell to your sister dear
 This night when I go home
 Tell her I'm away to a London school
 And the good books I'll bring home, home, the good books I'll bring
 home
 Ah but what shall I tell to your sweetheart dear
 This night when I go home
 Tell her I'm dead and in the grave laid
 And the grass is growin' green, green, the grass is growin' green
 Ah but what shall I tell to your stepmother dear
 This night when I go home
 Tell her I'm dead and in the grave laid
 For she prayed I might never come home, home, she prayed I might
 never come home