The king sits in Dunfermline toun
Drinking his bluid-red wine
'Whaur can i get a mariner
Tae sail seven ships of mine?'
Then up spoke a fine young man
A fine young man was he
'Sir Patrick Spence is the best mariner
That ever sailed on the sea'
The king, he's written a broad letter
And signed it wi his own hand
And sent it off to Sir Patrick Spence
Waiting there on the strand
The very first line Sir Patrick read
A little loud laugh gave he
The very last line Sir Patrick read
The salt tear blinded his ee
'O wha is it that has done this thing
And told that tale on me
I never was a mariner
And i don't intend to be'
'Late yestreen i saw the new moon
The auld moon in her arms
I fear, i fear a deadly storm
Oor ship, she will come to harm'
Rise up, rise up, my fine men aw
Oor ship, she sails in the morn,
Whether it's windy, whether it's wet
Or whether there's a deadly storm
They hadn't been sailing a league or more
A league or barely nine
When the wind and the wet, the cauld and the snow
Came blowing up behind
'O where, o where's the cabin boy
Tae take the helm in hand
While I go up to the topmast side
To see if I can spy some land'
'Come doun, come doun Sir Patrick Spence
We fear that we all must die
For in and oot o' the good ship's hull
The wind and the ocean fly'
The very first step Sir Patrick took
The water it came to his knee
And the very last step Sir Patrick took
He drount there in the sea
Many was the fine feather bed
Floating on the foam
Many was the little lord's son
That never more came home
O long may the ladies sit
Wi their fans aw in their hands
Afore they see Sir Patrick Spence
Come sailing along the strand
It's fifty miles to Aberdeen shore
It's fifty fathoms deep
And there does lie Sir Patrick Spence
Wi the little lords at his feet