Lyrics:

“O mother, go and make my bed,
Spread me the milk white sheets,
That I might go and lay down so low
For to see whether I could sleep.”

“Mother, go and tell now,
Go tell your brother's son,
Your true love's sick and she's going to die.
She will die before you can come.”

The first few miles this little boy walked
And the next few miles he ran.
When he came to the broad water's side
He bent his back and he swam.

When he came to the high front door
They were all sat down to meat.
“Well if you knew why I have come to you
Not a single bite more could you eat.”

“Your high castle walls they're not falling down,
Nor are they overthrown.
Your true love's sick and she's going to die,
She will die before you can come.”

Then he said to the little boy,
“Bring me the milk white steed,
That I might go kiss her cherry cherry cheeks
That once they were so sweet.”

The rose and the briar they grew all together
Till they could get no higher.
They grew and they tied a true lover's knot
And the rose wrapped around the sweet briar.