Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
Sae dauntingly gaed he
He played a tune and he danced it aroon'
Alow the gallows tree
Fareweel, ye dungeons dark and strang
Fareweel, fareweel, said he
MacPherson's time will no' be lang
Alow the gallows tree
It was by a woman's treacherous hand
That I was condemned tae dee
Aboon a ledge at a windae she stood
And a blanket she threw o'er me
Untie these bands frae aff o' my hands
And gie tae me my sword
There's no a man in a' Scotland
But I'll brave him at his word
There's some come here tae see me hang
And some tae buy my fiddle
But afore that I dae part wi' her
I'd brak' her through the middle
He took his fiddle into both of his hands
And he brak' it o'er a stone
Said, Nae ither hands shall play on thee
When I am deid and gane
Ach, little did my mother think
When first she cradled me
That I would turn a roving boy
And die on the gallows tree
The reprieve it was coming o'er the Brig o' Banff
Tae set MacPherson free
But they put the knock tae a quarter past four
And they hanged him tae the tree
