Willie Owinsbury chords by Anais Mitchell

Tuning: Standard EBGDAE

Difficulty: Novice

Capo 5

C          G        D
The king has been a prisoner
       C       D          C
And a prisoner long in Spain
     G     C  G    Em
And Willie O the Winsbury
         C              D       C
Has lain long with his daughter Jane.

What ails you, what ails you, my daughter Jane
Why you look so pale and wan?
Have you had any ill sickness
Or yet been sleeping with a man?

I have not had any ill sickness
Nor yet been sleeping with a man
It is for you my father dear
For biding so long in Spain.

Cast off, cast off, your robe and gown
Stand naked on the stone
That I may know you by your shape
If you be a maiden or none.

And she’s cast off the robe and gown
Stood naked on the stone
her apron was tight and her waist was round
Her face was pale and wan.

And was it with a lord or a gentleman
Or a man of wealth and fame
Or was it with one of my serving men
While I was a prisoner in Spain?

No it wasn’t with a lord or a gentleman
Or a man of wealth and fame
It was with Willie o Winsbury
I could cry no longer alone.

And the king has called his serving men
By one by two and by three
Saying, Where is this Willie o Winsbury?
For hanged he shall be.

And when they came before the king
By one, by two and by three
Willie should have been the first of them
But the last of them was he.

And Willie O the Winsbury
All dressed out in red silk
His hair hung like the strands of gold
His breast was white as milk.

No wonder, no wonder, the king he said,
That my daughter’s love you did win
If I were a woman as I am a man
In my own bed you would have been.

And will you marry my daughter Jane
By the faith of your right hand?
And I’ll make you the lord of my serving men
I’ll make you the heir of my land.

Oh yes, I’ll marry your daughter Jane
By the faith of my right hand.
But I’ll not be the lord of any men,
I’ll not be the heir to your land.

And he raised her up on a milk-white steed
Himself on a dapple grey
He has made her the lady of as much land
As she can ride in a long summer’s day.

THE END!