The Bonnie Lass o Fyvie

On Autumn Harvest AH 005
Gordon Easton - The Last of the Clydesdales

Gordon Easton sings:

A famous song dating from Jacobite times. Fyvie was a staging post on the military route between Aberdeen and the garrison at Fort George on the Moray Firth.

This song telling of the dragoon captain who died for the love of the bonnie lass o Fyvie has been widely popular. There are over 20 versions in the Greig-Duncan Collection (GD 84) with considerable variation in text and tune. The song was collected by Cecil Sharp in the Appalachians under the title Pretty Peggy O (EFSSA 95) and Ford's 'Vagabond Songs' has a song Bonnie Barbara O localised in Derby.

The song seems certainly to belong to Fyvie in Aberdeenshire. The military fortification at Fort George is one of the largest in Europe and was built following Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at Culloden in 1746 as the ultimate defence against further Jacobite unrest.

1: Noo there cam a troop o Irish Dragoons,
And they were stationed at Fyvie O;
And the captain fell in love wi an awfa bonnie lass,
And her name she's ca'd Pretty Peggy O.

Chorus:
Noo there's mony a bonnie lass in the howe o Auchterless,
Aye there's mony a bonnie lass in the Gearie O,
Aye there's mony a bonnie Jean in the toun o Aiberdeen,
But the flooer o them aa bides in Fyvie O.

2: Noo the colonel he cried, "Mount boys, mount boys, mount."
The captain he says, "Tarry O tarry O."
Says, "Tarry yet for another day or twa,
Till we see if this bonnie lass'll marry O."

Chorus:
Noo there's mony a bonnie lass in the howe o Auchterless,
There's mony a bonnie lassie in the Gearie O,
Aye there's mony a bonnie Jean in the toun o Aiberdeen,
But the flooer o them aa bides in Fyvie O.

3: "Now I never did intend a captain's lady tae be,
I never will marry a soldier O;
Now I never did intend tae gang tae a foreign land,
So I never will marry a soldier O."

Chorus:
Noo there's mony a bonnie lass in the howe o Auchterless,
There's mony a bonnie lassie in the Gearie O,
Aye there's mony a bonnie Jean in the toun o Aiberdeen,
But the flooer o them aa bides in Fyvie O.

4: Now 'twas in the early mornin that they marched awa,
An oh but wir captain was sorry O;
The drums they did beat o'er the bonny braes o Gicht,
And the band played The Lowlands o Fyvie O.

Chorus:
Noo there's mony a bonnie lass in the howe o Auchterless,
There's mony a bonnie lass in the Gearie O,
Aye there's mony a bonnie Jean in the toun o Aiberdeen,
But the flooer o them aa lives in Fyvie O.

5: Now e'er they won the length o Auldmeldrum toun,
Oor captain we had tae cairry O;
An e'er we won the length o bonnie Aiberdeen,
Oh wir captain we had tae bury O.

Chorus:
Noo there's mony a bonnie lass in the howe o Auchterless,
There's mony a bonnie lass in the Gearie O,
There's mony a bonnie Jean in the toun o Aiberdeen,
But the flooer o them aa lies in Fyvie O.

6: So green grow the birks on bonnie Ythanside,
And low lies the Lowlands o Fyvie O;
Our captain's name was Ned and he died for a maid,
He died for the bonnie lass o Fyvie O.

Chorus:
Noo there's mony a bonnie lass in the howe o Auchterless,
There's mony a bonnie lassie in the Gearie O,
There's mony a bonnie Jean in the toun o Aiberdeen,
But the flooer o them aa lives in Fyvie O.

The Garioch, or the Gearie as it is pronounced, is the land to the west of Inverurie between Benachie and Oldmeldrum.

c p 2007 Autumn Harvest AH005
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