The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #79811   Message #1451448
Posted By: Roberto
04-Apr-05 - 04:00 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Binnorie (from Elizabeth Stewart, #10)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE SWAN SWIMS SO BONNIE O (Lucy Stewart)
Yes, the Folkways lp (now available on cd) by Lucy Stewart dedicated to the Child Ballads has a beautiful recording of this ballad, and there is a booklet with the texts.

Here is Lucy Stewart's:

THE SWAN SWIMS SO BONNIE O
Lucy Stewart, Traditional singer from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, volume 1, Child Ballads, Folkways FG 3519, 1961

Oh, there were twa sisters lived in this place
Heigh ho, my nannie O
Een was fair an' the ither was deen
An' the swan swims so bonnie-O

Oh dear sister, dear sister, wid you take a walk
Heigh ho, my nannie O
Wid ye take a walk down by the miller's dam?
An' the swan swims so bonnie-O

Dear sister, dear sister, put you your foot on yon marble stone
Heigh ho, my nannie O
An' so slyly as she pushed her in
An' the swan swims so bonnie-O

Dear sister, dear sister, lend me your hand
Heigh ho, my nannie O
An' I will gie ye my gowd an' my land
An' the swan swims so bonnie-O

Oh I didna come here for to lend you my hand
Heigh ho, my nannie O
I come here for to see you drown
An' the swan swims so bonnie-O

Noo, the millert had a daughter an' she bein' the maid
Heigh ho, my nannie O
She came down for some water for to bake
An' the swan swims so bonnie-O

Dear father, dear father, swims in your milldam
Heigh ho, my nannie O
Either a maid or a white milk swan
An' the swan swims so bonnie-O

(…)

The king's three harpers, they been passin' by
Heigh ho, my nannie O
They've ta'en three locks o' her bonnie yellow hair
An' the swan swims so bonnie-O.

The verse omitted, that Lucy doesn't actuallt sing in the Folkways recording, is the one with the miller who "took a click and he clicked her out".

Matthew Edwards is helping me a lot with this transcription, that I think we're going to post soon. R