Is it related to "Black Velvet Band," Pavane - or am I all wet?
-Joe Offer-

---

Here are the lyrics from ingeb.org:

The Maid With the Bonny Brown Hair

As once I roved out very early
To view the green meadows in Spring
It was down by the side of a river
I heard a fair damsel did sing
And I stood in completest amazement
I gazed on that maiden so fair
She appeared to me brighter than Venus
That maid with the bonny brown hair.

2. Her eyes they did shine like the diamonds
Her cheeks like the red rose in June,
Her skin was as white as the lily,
And her breath had the rarest perfume;
And a dress of the best speckled velvet
This charming wee lass she did wear,
And chains of bright gold and pure silver
Were twined in her bonny brown hair.

3. For a long while we courted together,
Till at last we named the wedding day
And one day while conversing together
Very kindly to me she did say:
"O, it's I have another far kinder
My land and my fortune to share,
So farewell to you now, and forever,"
Said the maid with the bonny brown hair.

4. And once I went over the ocean,
Being bound for the proud land of Spain,
Some singing and dancing for pleasure,
But I had a heart full of pain;
And as the ship sailed down the river
I espied my old sweetheart so fair,
Quite content in the arms of another
Was the maid with the bonny brown hair.

5. So farewell to my friends and relations,
Perchance I shall see you no more,
And when I'm in far distant nations
Sure I'll sigh for my dear native shore;
When I'm in some far distant nation
My land and my fortune to share
I hope I'll get someone more kinder
Than the maid with the bonny brown hair.

---

Note: These exact words appear in Colm O Lochlainn's Irish Street Ballads, published in 1935.
There's a nice recording in the CD titled All Under the Sun, by Steve Tilston and Maggie Boyle.

---

Click to play

---

Here's the entry on the song from the Traditional Ballad Index, which cites only the two versions in Sam Henry's Songs of the People:

Maid with the Bonny Brown Hair, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a beautiful maiden, "brighter than Venus." He courts her; at last they set a wedding day. But she breaks off the engagement; she has "another more kinder." He laments; he or she or both set out for another country
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (JIFSS)
KEYWORDS: love rejection emigration beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H43, p. 394, "The Maid with the Bonny Brown Hair"; H575, pp. 394-395, "The Maid with the Bonny Brown Hair" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
OLochlainn-IrishStreetBallads 6, "The Maid With the Bonny Brown Hair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-UlsterSongsAndBalladsOfTheTownAndCountry, pp. 39-40, "The Maid with the Bonny Brown Hair" (1 text)
Roud #3032
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lough Erin's Shore (I)" (tune)
cf. "The Bonnie Wee Lass of the Glen" (tune)
cf. "Erin's Green Shore" [Laws Q27] (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lass with the Bonny Brown Hair
File: HHH024

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.