The Bonny Swans

Song The Bonny Swans
Artist Loreena McKennitt
Album The Journey Begins

Lyrics

[offset:500]
[00:26.44] Music by Loreena McKennitt
[00:31.44]
[00:36.44]
[00:41.44] A farmer there lived in the north country
[00:44.62] a hey ho bonny o
[00:47.92] And he had daughters one, two, three
[00:51.30] The swans swim so bonny o
[00:55.49] These daughters they walked by the river's brim
[00:58.92] a hey ho bonny o
[01:02.35] The eldest pushed the youngest in
[01:05.77] The swans swim so bonny o
[01:09.94]
[01:16.96] Oh sister, oh sister, pray lend me your hand
[01:20.29] with a hey ho a bonny o
[01:23.64] And I will give you house and land
[01:27.02] the swans swim so bonny o
[01:31.56] I'll give you neither hand nor glove
[01:34.69] with a hey ho a bonny o
[01:38.22] Unless you give me your own true love
[01:41.40] the swans swim so bonny o
[01:45.75]
[01:59.37] Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam
[02:02.68] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[02:06.17] Until she came to a miller's dam
[02:09.45] the swans swim so bonny o
[02:13.74] The miller's daughter, dressed in red
[02:17.19] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[02:20.56] She went for some water to make some bread
[02:23.95] the swans swim so bonny o
[02:28.30]
[02:35.17] Oh father, oh daddy, here swims a swan
[02:38.54] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[02:41.74] It's very like a gentle woman
[02:45.19] the swans swim so bonny o
[02:49.39] They placed her on the bank to dry
[02:52.86] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[02:56.30] There came a harper passing by
[02:59.66] the swans swim so bonny o
[03:04.98]
[03:32.86] He made harp pins of her fingers fair
[03:36.31] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[03:39.62] He made harp strings of her golden hair
[03:43.03] the swans swim so bonny o
[03:47.23] He made a harp of her breast bone
[03:50.86] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[03:54.10] And straight it began to play alone
[03:57.52] the swans swim so bonny o
[04:02.03]
[04:08.80] He brought it to her father's hall
[04:11.89] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[04:15.24] And there was the court, assembled all
[04:18.62] the swans swim so bonny o
[04:22.98] He laid the harp upon a stone
[04:26.35] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[04:29.71] And straight it began to play alone
[04:33.08] the swans swim so bonny o
[04:37.39]
[04:51.49] And there does sit my father the King
[04:54.37] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[04:57.77] And yonder sits my mother the Queen
[05:01.19] the swans swim so bonny o
[05:05.34] And there does sit my brother Hugh
[05:08.77] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[05:12.19] And by him William, sweet and true
[05:15.61] the swans swim so bonny o
[05:19.78] And there does sit my false sister, Anne
[05:23.39] with a hey ho and a bonny o
[05:26.64] Who drowned me for the sake of a man
[05:30.11] the swans swim so bonny o
[05:36.74]
[06:49.77]
[07:08.53] END