Swan it Swims Sae Bonnie- C. MacAllister (Aber) 1962
[From Travellers' Songs from England and Scotland by Ewan Maccoll, Peggy Seeger, 1977. Although attributed to Christina MacAllister the same text was sent by Seeger and MacColl to Bronson before c. 1965 which he included in "Traditional Tunes" under the title of ['The Two Sisters'] by Mrs. Kelby of Aberdeen who is certainly the wife or relative of Willie Kelby. Since the ending was missing MacColl gave an additional ending which he attributed to "Willie Kelby and Mr White" who could be John (Jock) Whyte or kin to him.
It's highly unlikely that Mrs. Kelby and MacAllister would have exactly the same text and melody so there's a mistake of attribution which could have come about from two similar versions. Why MacColl didn't even mention Mrs. Kelby's identical version is a mystery. Some of MacColl's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2018]
The text type of this ballad is in Bronson's D-group, but the tune type is his A-category. The cadences, however, are not generally in keeping with the A-group types.
Swan it Swims Sae Bonnie, O, sung by Christina MacAllister of Aberdeenshire, collected by Ewan Maccoll, Peggy Seeger in 1962.
1. I says to my dear sister, are ye comin' for to walk?
A-ee, a-O, and sae bonny O
And it's I'll show you wonders before we go back
And the swan it swims so bonny O.
2. Put your foot on like a marble stone
A-ee, a-O, and so bonny O
And it's I'll show you wonders before we go home
And the swan it swims so bonny O.
3. But miller, O miller, come dry up your dam
A-ee, -O, and so bonny O,
For I see a maid all white like a swan
And the swan it swims so bonny O.
4. But the miller he quickly, he dried up the dam,
And he took out the maid all white like a swan.
5. He took out the maid and he hung her up to dry,
And there were three fiddlers passin' by.
6.There was one of them that took three lengths o' her hair
Ayee, O an' sae bonnie, O;
There was anither of them took her breast bone,
And the swan it swims sae bonnie, O.
There to make a fiddle-head to play a tune upon,
And the swan it swims sae bonnie, O.
7. But those three fiddlers was playing gaun along
Until they come to the castle so high.
8. But fiddlers sweet fiddlers and let them be goin'
Out then it speaks her father the king
Ayee O an' sae bonnie, O;
And out then it speaks her father, says to Jean
And the swan it swims sae bonnie, O.
Note: From Willie Kelby and a Mr White, on a different occasion, we obtained an almost identical text until verse 8. Their text concluded thus:
8 There sits my father the king,
There sits my mother the queen
9. There sits my false sister Jean
Who drowned me against the stream.