Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (1863–1944). The Oxford Book of Ballads. 1910.
2020. Bonnie Annie
T
He had a fair lady and one only dochter.
O she was fair! O dear, she was bonnie!
A ship’s captain courted her to be his honey.
‘Ye’ll steal your father’s gowd, and your mother’s money,
And I’ll make ye a lady in Ireland bonnie.’
She’s stown her father’s gowd, and her mother’s money,
But she was never a lady in Ireland bonnie.
They hadna sail’d far till the young thing cried ‘Woman!’
‘What can a woman do, love, I will do for ye.
‘Lay about, steer about, lay our ship cannie,
Do all ye can to save my dear Annie.’
‘There’s fey folk in our ship, she winna sail for me,
There’s fey folk in our ship, she winna sail [ony].’
They’ve castin’ black bullets twice six and forty,
And ae the black bullet fell on bonnie Annie.
‘Ye’ll tak me in your arms twa, lo, lift me cannie,
Throw me out owre-board, your ain dear Annie.’
He has ta’en her in his arms twa, lo, lifted her cannie,
He has laid her on a bed of down, his ain dear Annie.
‘What can a woman do, love, I’ll do for ye:’
‘Muckle can a woman do, ye canna do for me.’
‘Lay about, steer about, lay our ship cannie,
Do all ye can to save my dear Annie.’
‘I’ve laid about, steer’d about, laid about cannie,
Our ship’s on a sand-bank, she winna sail [ony]—
‘Ye’ll take her in your arms twa, lo, lift her cannie,
And throw her out owre-board, your ain dear Annie.’
He has ta’en her in his arms twa, lo, lifted her cannie,
He has thrown her out owre-board, his ain dear Annie.
[The corse it did float, the ship it did follow]
Until that they came to the high banks o’ Yarrow.
‘O I’d bury my love on the high banks o’ Yarrow,
But the wood it is dear, and the planks they are narrow.’
He made his love a coffin o’ the gowd sae yellow,
And buried his bonnie love doun in a sea valley.
cannie] gently.fey] destined to die.Yarrow] ? Jarrow.