Bonnie Annie

Bonnie Annie
There was a rich lord, and he lived in Forfar,
He had a fair lady, and one only dochter.
Child has 3 (A to C) versions of Bonnie Annie.
Bronson has 18 traditional tunes for the ballad.

[ A | B | C ]
Try this [ LINK ] to traditional versions from the archives.

A. ‘Bonnie Annie,’ Kinloch’s Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 123.
B. ‘The High Banks o Yarrow,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 652.
C. Collected by Rev. S. Baring-Gould in South Devon. a. From an old man at Bradstone. b. From a young man at Dartmoor. c. From an old man at Holne.

Version A.[ HOME ] [ Numbered List ]
Kinloch’s Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 123.

1 There was a rich lord, and he lived in Forfar,
He had a fair lady, and one only dochter.

2 O she was fair, O dear, she was bonnie!
A ship’s captain courted her to be his honey.

3 There cam a ship’s captain out owre the sea sailing,
He courted this young thing till he got her wi bairn.

4 ‘Ye’ll steal your father’s gowd, and your mother’s money,
And I’ll mak ye a lady in Ireland bonnie.’

5 She’s stown her father’s gowd, and her mother’s money,
But she was never a lady in Ireland bonnie.

* * * * *

6 ‘There’s fey fowk in our ship, she winna sail for me,
There’s fey fowk in our ship, she winna sail for me.’

7 They’ve casten black bullets twice six and forty,
And ae the black bullet fell on bonnie Annie.

8 ‘Ye’ll tak me in your arms twa, lo, lift me cannie,
Throw me out owre board, your ain dear Annie.’

9 He has tane her in his arms twa, lo, lifted her cannie,
He has laid her on a bed of down, his ain dear Annie.

10 ‘What can a woman do, love, I’ll do for ye;’
‘Muckle can a woman do, ye canna do for me.’

11 ‘Lay about, steer about, lay our ship cannie,
Do all ye can to save my dear Annie.’

12 ‘I’ve laid about, steerd about, laid about cannie,
But all I can do, she winna sail for me.

13 ‘Ye’ll tak her in your arms twa, lo, lift her cannie,
And throw her out owre board, your ain dear Annie.’

14 He has tane her in his arms twa, lo, lifted her cannie,
He has thrown her out owre board, his ain dear Annie.

15 As the ship sailed, bonnie Annie she swam,
And she was at Ireland as soon as them.

16 He made his love a coffin of the gowd sae yellow,
And buried his bonnie love doun in a sea valley.

Version B[ TOP ]
Motherwell’s MS., p. 652. From the singing of a boy, Henry French, Ayr.

1 Down in Dumbarton there wonnd a rich merchant,
Down in Dumbarton there wond a rich merchant,
And he had nae family but ae only dochter.
Sing fal lal de deedle, fal lal de deedle lair, O a day

2 There cam a rich squire, intending to woo her,
He wooed her until he had got her wi babie.

3 ‘Oh what shall I do! oh what shall come o me!
Baith father and mither will think naething o me.’

4 ‘Gae up to your father, bring down gowd and money,
And I’ll take ye ower to a braw Irish ladie.’

5 She gade to her father, brought down gowd and money,
And she’s awa ower to a braw Irish ladie.

6 She hadna sailed far till the young thing cried ‘Women!’
‘What women can do, my dear, I’ll do for you.’

7 ‘O haud your tongue, foolish man, dinna talk vainly,
For ye never kent what a woman driet for you.

8 ‘Gae wash your hands in the cauld spring water,
And dry them on a towel a’ giltit wi silver.

9 ‘And tak me by the middle, and lift me up saftlie,
And throw me ower shipboard, baith me and my babie.’

10 He took her by the middle, and lifted her saftly,
And threw her ower shipboard, baith her and her babie.

11 Sometimes she did sink, sometimes she did float it,
Until that she cam to the high banks o Yarrow.

12 ‘O captain tak gowd, O sailors tak money,
And launch out your sma boat till I sail for my honey.’

13 ‘How can I tak gowd, how can I tak money?
My ship’s on a sand bank, she winna sail for me.’

14 The captain took gowd, the sailors took money,
And they launchd out their sma boat till he sailed for his honey.

15 ‘Mak my love a coffin o the gowd sae yellow,
Whar the wood it is dear, and the planks they are narrow,
And bury my love on the high banks o Yarrow.’

16 They made her a coffin o the gowd sae yellow,
And buried her deep on the high banks o Yarrow.

Version C[ TOP ]
The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has recently found this ballad in South Devon. a. Taken down from a man of above eighty years at Bradstone. b. From a young man at Dartmoor. c. From an old man at Holne.

1 ’T was of a sea-captain came oer the salt billow,
He courted a maiden down by the green willow:
‘O take of your father his gold and his treasure,
O take of your mother her fee without measure.’

2 ‘I’ll take of my father his gold and his treasure,
I’ll take of my mother her fee without measure:’
She has come with the captain unto the seaside, O,
‘We’ll sail to lands foreign upon the blue tide, O!’

3 And when she had sailed today and tomorrow,
She was beating her hands, she was crying in sorrow;
And when she had sailed the days were not many,
The sails were outspread, but of miles made not any.

4 And when she had sailed today and tomorrow,
She was beating her hands, she was crying in sorrow;
And when she had sailed not many a mile, O,
The maid was delivered of a beautiful child, O.

5. . . . . .

6 ‘O take a white napkin, about my head bind it!
O take a white napkin, about my feet wind it!
Alack! I must sink, both me and my baby,
Alack! I must sink in the deep salten water.

7 ‘O captain, O captain, here’s fifty gold crown, O,
I pray thee to bear me and turn the ship round, O;
O captain, O captain, here’s fifty gold pound, O,
If thou wilt but set me upon the green ground, O.’

8 ‘O never, O never! the wind it blows stronger,
O never, O never! the time it grows longer;
And better it were that thy baby and thou, O,
Should drown than the crew of the vessel, I vow, O.’

9 ‘O get me a boat that is narrow and thin, O,
And set me and my little baby therein, O:’
‘O no, it were better that thy baby and thou, O,
Should drown than the crew of the vessel, I vow, O.’

10 They got a white napkin, about her head bound it,
They got a white napkin, about her feet wound it;
They cast her then overboard, baby and she, O,
Together to sink in the cruel salt sea, O.

11 The moon it was shining, the tide it was running;
O what in the wake of the vessel was swimming?
‘O see, boys! O see how she floats on the water!
O see, boys! O see! the undutiful daughter!

12 ‘Why swim in the moonlight, upon the sea swaying?
O what art thou seeking? for what art thou praying?’
‘O captain, O captain, I float on the water;
For the sea giveth up the undutiful daughter.

13 ‘O take of my father the gold and the treasure,
O take of my mother her fee without measure;
O make me a coffin of gold that is yellow,
And bury me under the banks of green willow!’

14 ‘I will make thee a coffin of gold that is yellow,
I’ll bury thee under the banks of green willow;
I’ll bury thee there as becometh a lady,
I’ll bury thee there, both thou and thy baby.’

15 The sails they were spread, and the wind it was blowing,
The sea was so salt, and the tide it was flowing;
They steered for the land, and they reachd the shore, O,
But the corpse of the maiden had reachd there before, O.

A. Printed by Kinloch in four-line stanzas.
161. coffin off the Goats of Yerrow.

B. 16. Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. xcix, 146, gives the stanza thus:
They made his love a coffin of the gowd sae yellow,
They made his love a coffin of the gowd sae yellow,
And they buried her deep on the high banks of Yarrow.
Sing fal lal, de deedle, fal lal, de deedle lair, Oh a Day!

C. b. 11,2. There was a sea-captain came to the seaside, O,
He courted a damsel and got her in trouble.
133. coffin of the deepest stoll yellow.
154. But the mother and baby had got there before, O.

c. 1 ’T is of a sea-captain, down by the green willow,
He courted a damsel and brought her in trouble;
When gone her mother’s good will and all her father’s money,
She fled across the wide sea along with her Johnny.

2 They had not been sailing the miles they were many
Before she was delivered of a beautiful baby:
‘O tie up my head! O and tie it up easy,
And throw me overboard, both me and my baby!’

3 She floated on the waves, and she floated so easy,
That they took her on board again, both she and her baby.
(The rest forgotten.)


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