The Incest Song

[Verse 1]
Word is up to the king's dear daughter
And word is spreading all over the land
That's she's been betrayed by her own dear brother
That he has chosen another fair hand

[Verse 2]
Many a man had sung of her beauty
And many a grand deed for her had been done
But within her sides she carried the child
Of her father's youngest, fairest son

[Verse 3]
"Tell to me no lies, tell to me no stories
But saddle my good horse and I'll go and see
My own true love; if your words be true ones
Then that will mean the end of me

[Verse 4]
"Brother, O brother, what lies be these ones?
They say your love to another I lose
There's a child within me of thy very own lineage
And I know it's I that thou wouldst choose"

[Verse 5]
"And have you yet told your father or mother
All that thou hast told here to me?"
And he's taken off his good braided sword
That's hanging down beside his knee

[Verse 6]
"No, I've not told no one but you, my dear one
For it's a secret between us two
And I would come home and quit all my roaming
And spend my days only waiting on you"

[Verse 7]
"Too late, too late for change, my sister
My father has chosen another fair bride"
And he's stabbed her easy and lovingly laid her
Down in her grave by the greenwood side

[Verse 8]
And when he's come home to his own wedding feasting
And his father asks why he's weeping all so
He said, "Such a bride as I've seen on this morning
Never another man shall know"