Chorus:
There's many a bonnie lass in the Howe of Auchterless
There's many a bonnie lass in the Garioch-o
There's many a bonnie Jean in the toon of Aberdeen
But the flower of them all lives in Fyvie, O.
O come down the stairs, Pretty Peggy, my
dear
Come down frae the stairs, Pretty Peggy-o
Come down the stairs,bind up your yellow hair
Bid a long farewell to your mammy-o.
Chorus
I never
did intend a captain's lady for to be,
I never will marry a soldier-O
I never did intend to gae tae a foreign land
And I will never marry a soldier-o.
Chorus
The colonel
he cries, mount, boys, mount,
The captain, he cries, tarry-o.
O tarry yet a while, just another day or twa,
To see if the bonnie lass will marry-o.
Chorus
Twas
in the early morning, when we marched awa,
And O but the captain he was sorry-o.
The drums they did beat a merry brasselgeicht,
And the band played the bonnie lass of Fyvie-O.
Chorus
Long
ere we came to the Howe of Auchterlass,
Our captain we had tae carry-o.
And long ere we won to the streets of Aberdeen
Our captain we had tae bury-o.
Chorus
Green
grows the grass on bonnie Ethanside
And low lie the lowlands of Fyvie-O
The captain's name was Ned and he died for a maid
He died for the bonny lass of Fyvie-O.
Chorus
Scots to English
braw = splendid
Fyvie - Fife
haut = haughty
maun = must
brasselgeicht = noisy road
birks = birch trees
The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie (Roud # 545) is a Scottish folk song about
a thwarted romance between a soldier and a girl. Like many folk
songs, the authorship is unattributed, there is no strict version
of the lyrics, and it is often referred to by its opening line There
once was a troop o' Irish dragoons. The song is also known by a
variety of other names, the most common of them being Peggy-O. [Wikipedia]