The Twa Brothers

Two pretty boys were goin' tae the schoolAnd one evening coming homeSays William to John, Can you throw a stoneOr can you play at a ball, a ball, or can you play at a ballSays John to William, I canna' throw a stoneLittle can I play at a ballBut if you'll go down to a merry green woodsI'll try you a wrestlin' fall, a fall, I'll try you a wrestlinfallSo they went down tae a merry green woodsBeneath the spreadin' boughThe little penknife fell out of William's coatAnd gave John his deadly wound, wound, and gave John his deadlywoundAh, now you'll take off your white Holland shirtAnd teer it frae gore tae goreAnd you will bind my deadly woundsThat they might bleed no more, no more, that they might bleed nomoreSo he's ta'en off his white Holland shirtAnd he's torn it frae gore tae goreAnd though he's bound his deadly woundsAh, they bled ten times more, more, they bled ten times moreAh but what shall I tell to your father dearThis night when I go homeTell him I'm away to a London schoolAnd a good scholar I'll come home, home, a good scholar I'll comehomeAh but what shall I tell to your sister dearThis night when I go homeTell her I'm away to a London schoolAnd the good books I'll bring home, home, the good books I'll bringhomeAh but what shall I tell to your sweetheart dearThis night when I go homeTell her I'm dead and in the grave laidAnd the grass is growin' green, green, the grass is growin' greenAh but what shall I tell to your stepmother dearThis night when I go homeTell her I'm dead and in the grave laidFor she prayed I might never come home, home, she prayed I mightnever come home