The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie

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The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie is a Scottish folk song about a thwarted romance between a soldier and a girl. Like many folk songs, the authorship is unattributed, there is no strict version of the lyrics, and it is often referred to by its opening line There once was a troop o' Irish dragoons. The song is also known by a variety of other names, the most common of them being Peggy-O.

Peggy-O rendition audio samples Icon of loudspeaker
Simon and Garfunkel version (24 seconds)

Contents

[edit] Lyrics

Of the many versions, one of the most intricate is:

There once was a troop of Irish dragoons
Come marching down thru Fyvie-o
And the captain feel in love with a very bonnie lass
And the name she was called was pretty Peggy-o

There's many a bonnie lass in the glen of Auchterlass
There's many a bonnie lass in Garioch-o
There's many a bonnie Jean in the streets of Aberdeen
But the flower of them all lives in Fyvie-o

O come down the stairs, Pretty Peggy, my dear
Come down the stairs, Pretty Peggy-o
Come down the stairs, comb back your yellow hair
Bid a long farewell to your mammy-o

It's braw, aye it's braw, a captain's lady for to be
And it's braw to be a captain's lady-o
It's braw to ride around and to follow the camp
And to ride when your captain he is ready-o

O I'll give you ribbons, love, and I'll give you rings
I'll give you a necklace of amber-o
I'll give you a silken petticoat with flounces to the knee
If you'll convey me doon to your chamber-o

What would your mother think if she heard the guineas clink
And saw the haut-boys marching all before you o
O little would she think gin she heard the guineas clink
If I followed a soldier laddie-o

I never did intend a soldier's lady for to be
A soldier shall never enjoy me-o
I never did intend to gae tae a foreign land
And I will never marry a soldier-o

I'll drink nae more o your claret wine
I'll drink nae more o your glasses-o
Tomorrow is the day when we maun ride away
So farewell tae your Fyvie lasses-o

The colonel he cried, mount, boys, mount, boys, mount
The captain, he cried, tarry-o
O tarry yet a while, just another day or twa
Til I see if the bonnie lass will marry-o

Twas in the early morning, when we marched awa
And O but the captain he was sorry-o
The drums they did beat o'er the bonnie braes o' Gight
And the band played the bonnie lass of Fyvie-o

Long ere we came to the Howe of Auchterlass
We had our captain to carry-o
And long ere we won into the streets of Aberdeen
We had our captain to bury-o

Green grow the birks on bonnie Ythanside
And low lie the lowlands of Fyvie-o
The captain's name was Ned and he died for a maid
He died for the bonnie lass of Fyvie-o

[edit] Meaning

The song is about the unrequited love of a captain of Irish dragoons for a beautiful Scottish girl in Fyvie. The narration is in the third person, through the voice of a member of the captain's soldiers. The captain promises the girl material comfort and happiness, but the girl however, refuses the captain's advances saying she would not marry a foreigner or a soldier. The captain subsequently leaves Fyvie. In two different variations of the song, he threatens to burn the city(ies) if his offer is rejected, or alternately save the city if his offer is accepted. He later dies of a broken heart, or battle wounds, or probably both.

Several variations on this theme is present. The soldier also proposes marriage in some versions. Some versions have the girl declare her love for the soldier, but only to be stopped short by a reluctant mother.

You're the one that I adore, Sweet Willy-o,
You're the one that I adore, Sweet Willy-o,
But your fortune is too low,
And I fear my mother would be angry-o.

[edit] Geographical and historical allusions

It is just possible that the song refers to the time of capture of the Fyvie Castle by Montrose's Royalist army in 1644. (A large part of this army was Irish, but they were not dragoons.) [1] However, it is probably better not to read strong historical associations into the song. The song is set in Fyvie, a small city with a historic castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Some sources claim that the original song suggests the region of Fife (as the Fair Maid of Fife), but the references to River Ythan, Aberdeen and other locations near Fyvie like Gight, confirm that the original song was set in Fyvie, Scotland.

[edit] Variants across time and space

The oldest known version of the Scottish ballad is called "The Bonnie Lass O' Fyvie" [2]. Another early transcribed version is given under the title Bonnie Barbara-O [3]. An early English version Handsome Polly-O is also present, though in slightly different settings. Another English version is called Pretty Peggy of Derby. The song probably travelled with Scottish immigrants to America [4]. It is recorded in the classic English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians by Cecil Sharp [5]. Variants of the song refer to the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. A Dixie version of the song makes the final resting place of the captain to be Louisiana.

The last two stanzas from the Bob Dylan version is typical of such Americanized forms, and goes as follows:

The lieutenant he has gone
The lieutenant he has gone
The lieutenant he has gone, Pretty Peggy-O
The lieutenant he has gone
Long gone
He's a-riding down in Texas with the rodeo.

Well, our captain he is dead
Our captain he is dead
Our captain he is dead, Pretty Peggy-O
Well, our captain he is dead
Died for a maid
He's buried somewheres in Louisiana-O.

Over time, the name of Fyvie also got corrupted, and often nonsense words like "Fennario", "Fernario", "Finario", "Fidio", "Ivory" or "Ireo" were placed in its stead to fit the metre and rhyme [6]. As a result, the song is commonly referred to as Fennario. The 1960s folk music movement saw Peggy-O become a common song in many concerts owing to its clear melody and lilting rhyme.

[edit] Linguistics

The song was originally composed and sung in the Scots English dialect, not in the Scots language. It then made its way into mainstream English, but retains its Scottish flavour. Words like birk (for birch), lass and bonnie are typically Scots English. Some Scots influence is also present, in the form of words like brae (hill) and braw (splendid). As is typical of such cases, quite a few of the words degenerated into nonsense words (true of oral mediums like the Chinese whisper) as the song travelled over cultures, the most interesting ones probably being Ethanside for Ythanside (banks of the River Ythan), and brasselgeicht for braes o' Gight (hills of Gight).

[edit] Famous renditions

The earliest version to be recorded was by John Strachan in 1951. The Southern American version of the song was famously arranged for the harmonica by Bob Dylan on his first eponymous album in 1962, under the title Pretty Peggy-O. He started off the song with the introduction "I've been around this whole country but I never yet found Fennario". Joan Baez recorded a lyrical version under the title Fennario on her 1963 Vanguard Records album Joan Baez in Concert, Part 2.

The Corries recorded a version on their first album in 1965. Simon and Garfunkel also recorded a heavily harmonized arrangement of the song titled Peggy-O as part of their mostly traditional Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. album of 1964 and Columbia Records studio recordings of the 1960s (which was released on the box set The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964-1970) in 2001). Simon and Garfunkel sing the variant of the song where the captain threatens to burn the city down if his advances are refused. The Chad Mitchell Trio recorded a variant on their 1963 album Singin' Our Minds under the title, Bonny Streets of Fyve-io. Also, on July 19th, 2006, the bluegrass band Trampled By Turtles surprised their fans by performing Peggy-O at the 10,000 Lakes Festival.

The Grateful Dead have variously arranged and sung this song on 265 known occasions between 1973-1995, using Fen-nar-io and Fi-dio as the name of the place depending on metre constraints. The song was titled Peggy-O, and known renditions include:

Peggy-o was usually sung by Jerry Garcia using the following lyrics:

As we rode out to Fennario
As we rode out to Fennario
Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove
And he called her by name pretty Peggy-O

Will you marry me, pretty Peggy-O
Will you marry me, pretty Peggy-O
If you will marry me, I will set your cities free
And free all the ladies in the area-O

I would marry you, sweet William-O
I would marry you, sweet William-O
I would marry you, but your guineas are too few 
And I feel my mother would be angry-O

What would your mother think, pretty Peggy-O
What would your mother think, pretty Peggy-O
What would your mother think when she hears the guineas clink (1)
And saw me marching at the head of my soldiers-O

If ever I return, pretty Peggy-O
If ever I return, pretty Peggy-O
If ever I return, all your cities I will burn
Destroy all the ladies in the area-O

Come stepping down the stairs, pretty Peggy-O
Come stepping down the stairs, pretty Peggy-O
Come stepping down the stairs, combing back your yellow hair
And bid a last farewell to young Willie-O

Sweet William he is dead, pretty Peggy-O
Sweet William he is dead, pretty Peggy-O
Sweet William he is dead, and he died for a maid
And buried in the Louisiana country-O

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ (Cheyne 2002)
  2. ^ (Greig 1907 - 1911)
  3. ^ (Ford 1904)
  4. ^ (Scott 1983)
  5. ^ (Campbell & Sharp 1917)
  6. ^ (Ford 1904)

[edit] References

[edit] Books

  1. Ford, Robert (edited and annotated) (1904), Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland, pp. 122, London: Paisley, ISBN B0000CVV48
  2. Campbell, Olive Dame & Sharp, Cecil J. (1917), English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians, New York: GP, ISBN 0-19-313113-7
  3. Scott, John Anthony (1983), The Ballad of America, pp. 20, Carbondale and Edwardsville: University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-8093-1061-9

NB: ISBN s may not point to the referenced editions

[edit] Periodicals and magazines

  1. Greig, Gavin (1907 - 1911), "Folk-Songs of the North-East", Buchan Observer, Scotland
  2. Cheyne, Sandy (2002), "Lucky escape for Fyvie's bonnie lass", Leopard Magazine, Scotland, no. September 2002 [February 19, 2006]

[edit] Web

  1. Folk Songs and Allusions to Folk Songs in the Repertoire of the Grateful Dead. Josephine A. McQuail. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
  2. Grateful Dead Family Discography. www.deaddisc.com. Retrieved on February 20, 2006.
  3. Lyrics for The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie. The Mudcat Cafe. Retrieved on February 20, 2006.
  4. Annotations for The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie. The Mudcat Cafe. Retrieved on February 20, 2006.
  5. Sheet music, MP3s and lyrics for The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie. www.chivalry.com. Retrieved on February 21, 2006.
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