There Was a Rich Merchant- Greig-Duncan c.1907
Also known by the longer title, There Was a Rich Merchant that Lived in Strathdinah, and Bonnie Annie, this version appears in The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection: Volume 6 and in Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads by Alexander Keith in 1925. Since I have no access to these collections, so there are no details on the source or exact date at this time. It appears that song was covered by Ewan MacColl and appears in his 1965 songbook.
The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection from northeast Scotland, was the work of the schoolmaster and musician, Gavin Greig (1856–1914), and the minister James Bruce Duncan (1848-1917). The project began in 1902 and was completed between then and the First World War.[1] A selection of the songs was published in 1925 under the title Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs collected in Aberdeenshire by the Late Gavin Greig.
There Was a Rich Merchant that Lived in Strathdinah
There was a rich merchant
Wha lived in Strathdinah,
And he had ae dochter
Whose name it was Annie.
There was a rich merchant
Wha cam' frae Dumbarton,
And he's got this bonnie lassie
Big, big wi' bairn.
"Ye'll tak' ship wi' me
And ye'll be my honey;
What more could a woman do
Than I'll do for ye?"
"O captain, tak' gold,
O captain, tak' money,
And steer for dry land
For the sake of my honey".
"How can I tak' gold,
How can I tak' money?
There's fey folk on my ship,
She winna sail for me."
"Tak' me by the fingers
And lift me up heely,
And throw rne owre board
And hae nae pity on me."
He's ta'en her by the fingers
And did lift her up heely,
And thrown her owre board
Though she was his ain dearie.
Her goon it was wide
And her pettycoat narrow,
And she swam afore them
Till they cam' to Yarrow.
His love she was there
When they ca'd to dry land,
And her lyin' deid
On the saut-sea strand.
Her baby was born
And lying at her feet,
For the loss of his bonnie love
Sair did he greet.
He's caused mak' a kist
O' the gowd sae yellow,
And they a' three sleep
I' the braes o' Yarrow.