Willy O Winsbury

     F               C    G
The king has been a prisoner,
        Am      G        F
And a prisoner long in Spain,
      C     Am     Em
And Willie of the Winsbury
          F               C         F
Has lain long with his daughter at home.

       F                             C       G
"What ails you, what ails you, my daughter Janet,
          Am      G        F
That you look so pale and wan?
      C       Am       Em
Oh, have you had any sore sickness
    F         C              F
Or yet been sleeping with a man?"

        F                 C      G
"No, I have not had any sore sickness,
    Am         G              F
Nor yet been sleeping with a man.
       C      Am       Em
But it is for you, my father dear,
       F    C          F
For biding so long in Spain."

       F                  C            G
"Cast off, cast off your berry-brown gown,
           Am    G         F
And stand naked upon the stone,
     C      Am      Em
That I may know you by your shape,
    F        C         F
If you be a maiden or none."

     F                   C          G
And she's cast off her berry-brown gown
           Am    G         F
And stood naked upon the stone
     C         Am            Em
Her apron was low and her haunches were round,
     F        C        F
Her skin was pale and wan.

      F                       C         G
"Oh, was it with a lord or a duke or a knight,
      Am     G         F
Or a man of birth and fame,
    C          Am         Em
Or was it with one of my serving men
        F      C           F
Who's lately come out of Spain?"

         F                        C         G
"No, it wasn't with a lord or a duke or a knight,
       Am      G         F
Nor a man of birth and fame,
       C         Am        Em
But it was with Willie of Winsbury,
        F         C     F
I could bide no longer alone."

         F                      C         G
Now the king has called on his merry men all,
    Am     G      F
By thirty and by three,
        C            Am        Em
Says, "Fetch me this Willie of Winsbury,
     F      C       F
For hanged he shall be."

[- Instrumental verse -]

      F               C      G
But when he came the king before,
        Am       G          F
He was clad all in the red silk.
     C        Am       Em
His hair was like the golden strands,
     F            C           F
His skin was as white as the milk.

         F              C        G
And "It is no wonder," said the king,
           Am         G           F
"That my daughter's love you did win.
       C        Am         Em
For if I were a woman, as I am a man,
      F        C            F
My bedfellow you would have been."

     F                  C        G
"Oh will you marry my daughter Janet,
        Am       G          F
By the truth of your right hand?
     C        Am       Em
Oh, will you marry my daughter Janet?
       F           C           F
I'll make you the lord of my land."

     F                        C       G
"Oh yes, I will marry your daughter Janet.
        Am      G         F
By the truth of my right hand.
     C           Am          Em
Why yes, I will marry your daughter Janet,
         F            C           F
But I'll not be the lord of your land."

           F                C          G
And he's mounted her on a milk-white steed,
      Am           G     F
And himself on a dapple grey.
        C             Am     Em
He has made her the lady of as much land
              F          C             F
As she shall ride on a warm summer's day.