Paul James

Lyrics

Will you go to the rolling of the stones
The tossing of the ball?
Or will you go and see pretty Susie
Dance among them all

Susie charmed the birds from the sky
The fish from out of the bay
And when she lay in her true lovers arms
There was content to stay

They had not danced but one single dance
Not half the floor around
When the sword that hung by her brother’s side
Gave him a fatal wound

They picked him up, they carried him along
They laid him there on the ground
And there he lay ‘til the break of the day
He made not a single sound

Will you drink of the blood
The white wine and the red
Or will you go and see pretty Susie
When that I am dead.

Will you go to the rolling of the stones
The tossing of the ball?
Or will you go and see pretty Susie
Dance among them all

Susie charmed the birds from the sky
The fish from out of the bay
And when she lay in her true lovers arms
There was content to stay

They had not danced but one single dance
Not half the floor around
When the sword that hung by her brother’s side
Gave him a fatal wound

They picked him up, they carried him along
They laid him there on the ground
And there he lay ‘til the break of the day
He made not a single sound

Will you drink of the blood
The white wine and the red
Or will you go and see pretty Susie
When that I am dead.

From Child’s ballads.
The story is said to be based on an incident in 1589 that occurred near Edinburgh. One of the Somervilles accidentally shot and killed his brother.