Elizabeth Grant: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch

Elizabeth Grant

“Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch” as printed in The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850).

Elizabeth Grant: Collected Lyrics Text 1 1850 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Scottish Minstrel (First Series), a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Roy's wife of Aldivalloch,

Roy's wife of Aldivalloch,

Wat ye how she cheated me,

As I came o'er the braes o' Balloch?

Verse 2

She vow'd, she swore, she wad be mine,

She said she lo'ed me best of ony;

But oh! the fickle faithless quean,

She's ta'en the carle and left her Johnnie.

Roy's wife, &c.

Verse 3

O, she was a canty quean,

And weel could dance the Highland walloch;

How happy I, had she been mine,

Or I'd been Roy of Aldivalloch.

Roy's wife, &c.

Verse 4

Her hair sae fair, her een sae clear,

Her wee bit mou, sae sweet and bonnie;

To me she ever will be dear,

Though she's for ever left her Johnnie,

Roy's wife, &c.

Verse 5

But Roy's aulder thriee than I,

Perhaps his days will no be mony:

Syne, when the earle's dead an' gane,

She then may turn her thoughts on Johnnie.

Roy's wife, &c.

Credits

Written by Elizabeth Grant

Words by Elizabeth Grant. Historical text published in The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Scottish Minstrel (First Series) (1850), “Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch”

Every contribution in this 1850 anthology predates modern copyright terms; any contributor died more than 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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