The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #1458   Message #4980
Posted By: Murray@saltspring.com
08-May-97 - 04:06 AM
Thread Name: Origin: Fyvio / Fenario / The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie
Subject: RE: Info on
Fenario is the main U.S. version, and it comes from the Scots one, "The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie". This itself is a localisation of an English song, "Pretty Peggy of Derby". Anyhow, beware the Clancy/Makem version, with misunderstood place-names & such ("Maid of Fife-E-O", I think). Beware the version in the DT as well--it's pretty close to the way Jean Redpath sang it, but again as so often it seems transcribed from a record without complete understanding of the text, so you've got a very queer word in stanza 10: "The drums they did beat a merry brassel- geicht". What is sung is actually closer to [my version] "The drums they did beat on the bonnie braes o' Gight" -- pronounced "Gicht" by the way, ch as in German -- which is another place in the North-East. Contact me by e-mail about this if you like.