He's followed her up and he followed her down   And into the room where she lay   She hadn't the strength for to flee from his arms   Nor the tongue for to answer him nay      "Rise up, rise up, my pretty Polly   Rise up and go with me   And I will take you to North Scotland   And there you'll married be      Go fetch you a bag of your father's gold   And some of your mother's fee   And two fine horses out of the stable   Where there stands thirty and three"      So she's lit upon her nimble-going brown   He's mounted the dapple-gray   And when they came to North Scotland   'Twas just three hours 'til day      "Light you down, light you down, my pretty Polly   Light you down, I say to thee   For six kings' daughters have I drowned here   And the seventh will surely be thee      And pull off, pull off your fine gay clothes   And hang them on yonder tree   For they are too fine and they cost too much   To rot in the salt lake sea"      "Well, then you take a sickle and you cut down the nettles   That grow so close to the brim   For I fear they'll tangle my long yellow hair   And they'll tear my lily-white skin"      So then he took a sickle and he cut down the nettles   That grow so close to the brim   And she's picked him up so skillfully   And she's pushed the false knight in      "Lie there, lie there, my false young man   Lie there in the room of me   For six kings' daughters have you drowned here   And the seventh has drowned thee"      So she's lit upon her nimble-going brown   And she's lead the dapple-gray   And when she came to her father's door   'Twas just three hours 'til day      "Hush up, hush up, my pretty Polly bird   And don't you tell tales on me   Your cage will be made of the very beaten gold   And the door of the best ivory"      But then up spoke a fine young man   In the chamber where he lay   "What's the matter, what's the matter with my pretty Polly bird?   You're talking so long before day"      "Oh There's two black cats at my caging door   And my life they will betray   And I'm just calling for my pretty Polly   To drive those cats away"      He followed her up and he followed her down   And into the room where she lay   She hadn't the strength for to flee from his arms   Nor the tongue for to answer him nay