Bonny at morn
Language: Scottish (Scots)
The sheep's in the [meadow]1,
The [kye's]2 in the corn,
Thou's [ower lang]3 in thy bed,
Bonny at morn,
Canny at night,
Thou's [ower lang]3 in thy bed,
Bonny at morn.
The bird's in the [bush]4,
The trout's in the burn;
Thou [hinderest]5 thy mother
In many a turn.
Canny at night,
Bonny at morn,
Thou's ower lang in thy bed,
Bonny at morn.
We're all laid idle
Wi' keeping the bairn,
[The lass wi' net learn,
The lad wi' net work]6.
Canny at night,
Bonny at morn,
Thou's ower lang in thy bed,
Bonny at morn.
View original text (without footnotes)
2 Banks: "cow's"
3 Banks: "overlong"
4 Banks, Britten: "nest"
5 Banks, Britten: "hinders"
6 Banks: "The lad will not work/ and the lass will not learn"; Britten: "The lad winnot work/ And the lass winnot lairn"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Virginia Knight
Confirmed with Littell's Living Age, Volume 198, page 376.
1 Britten: "meadows"2 Banks: "cow's"
3 Banks: "overlong"
4 Banks, Britten: "nest"
5 Banks, Britten: "hinders"
6 Banks: "The lad will not work/ and the lass will not learn"; Britten: "The lad winnot work/ And the lass winnot lairn"
Text Authorship:
- from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Bonny at Morn" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Don Banks (1923 - 1980), "Bonny at Morn", 1953 [ voice and piano or strings ], from Five North Country Folk Songs, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Bonny at morn", 1976 [ voice and harp ], from 8 Folk Song Arrangements, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ernest Bristow Farrar (1885 - 1918), "Bonny at morn", op. 28 no. 1, published 1927 [ voice and piano ], from North Country Folk Tunes, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Beau le matin", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Niedlich am Morgen", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Virginia Knight
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 23
Word count: 107