The Swan Swims Bonnie O- (Scot) 1827, Child P
[No informant or location given probably Glasgow. From Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 245. I don't have access to Motherwell's manuscript titled "The Twa Sisters" which is Child Pa. Child Pb is a single verse with music in the Appendix (see below). Note that the last line of the stanza is repeated.
This refrain was given by Scott in 1802 from an Irish source.
R. Matteson 2014, 2018]
Child 10- The Twa Sisters, Version P
a. 'The Twa Sisters,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 245.
b. 'The Swan swims bonnie O,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xx. 1827
Pa. "The Twa Sisters" from Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 245.
1 There were twa ladies in a bower,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
The old was black and the young ane fair.
And the swan swims bonnie O
2 Once it happened on a day
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
The auld ane to the young did say,
And the swan swims bonnie O
3 The auld ane to the young did say,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
'Will you gae to the green and play?'
And the swan swims bonnie O
4 'O sister, sister, I daurna gang,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
For fear I file my silver shoon.'
And the swan swims bonnie O
5 It was not to the green they gaed,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
But it was to the water of Tweed.
And the swan swims bonnie O
6 She bowed her back and she's taen her on,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
And she's tumbled her in Tweed mill-dam.
And the swan swims bonnie O
7 'O sister, O sister, O tak my hand,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
And I'll mak you heir of a' my land.'
And the swan swims bonnie O
8 'O sister, O sister, I'll no take your hand,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
And I'll be heir of a' your land.'
And the swan swims bonnie O
9 'O sister, O sister, O tak my thumb,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
And I'll give you my true-love John.'
And the swan swims bonnie O
10 'O sister, O sister, I'll no tak your thumb,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
And I will get your true-love John.'
And the swan swims bonnie O
11 Aye she swattered and aye she swam,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
Until she came to the mouth of the dam.
And the swan swims bonnie O
12 The miller's daughter went out to Tweed,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
To get some water to bake her bread.
And the swan swims bonnie O
13 In again she quickly ran:
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
'Here's a lady or a swan in our mill-dam.'
And the swan swims bonnie O
14 Out went the miller and his man
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
And took the lady out of the dam.
And the swan swims bonnie O
15 They laid her on the brae to dry;
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
Her father's fiddler then rode by.
And the swan swims bonnie O
16 When he this lady did come near,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
Her ghost to him then did appear.
And the swan swims bonnie O
17 'When you go to my father the king,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
You'll tell him to burn my sister Jean.
And the swan swims bonnie O
18 'When you go to my father's gate,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
You'll play a spring for fair Ellen's sake.
And the swan swims bonnie O
19 'You'll tak three links of my yellow hair,
Hey my bonnie Nannie O
And play a spring for evermair.'
And the swan swims bonnie O
--------------------
P. b. This stanza only:
There livd twa sisters in a bower,
Hey my bonnie Annie O
There cam a lover them to woo.
And the swan swims bonnie O,
And the swan swims bonnie
_____________________
From: Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern: with an historical Introduction and Notes by William Motherwell 1827; collected by Andrew Blaikie, Paisley.
Appendix
XX. THE SWAN SWIMS BONNIE O.
[music]
This ballad frequently goes under the title of The cruel Sister, or that of The Mill dams of Binnorie; various versions of it exist. Of one set the musick is now given; commencing thus:
There liv'd twa sisters in a bower,
Hey my bonnie Annie O,
There cam a lover them to woo,
And the Swan swims bonnie O.
And the swan swims bonnie O.