Bonny at morn | The sheep's in the meadow

Bonny at morn

Language: Scottish (Scots)

Our translations: FRE GER

The sheep's in the meadow, 
  The kye's in the corn,
Thou's ower lang in thy bed, 
  Bonny at morn,
    Canny at night,
Thou's ower lang in thy bed,
  Bonny at morn.

The bird's in the bush, 
  The trout's in the burn;
Thou hinderest 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.
    Canny at night, 
  Bonny at morn,
Thou's ower lang in thy bed,
  Bonny at morn.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• D. Banks • B. Britten

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Littell's Living Age, Volume 198, page 376.

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):

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