The Bonny Swans - Loreena McKennitt

A farmer there lived in the north country

A hey ho and me bonny-o

And he had daughters one, two, three

The swans swim so bonny-o

These daughters they walked by the river’s brim

A hey ho and me bonny-o

The eldest pushed the youngest in

The swans swim so bonny-o

Oh sister, oh sister, pray lend me your hand

A hey ho and me bonny-o

And I will give you house and land

The swans swim so bonny-o

I’ll give you neither hand nor glove

A hey ho and me bonny-o

Unless you give me your own true love

The swans swim so bonny-o

Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam

A hey ho and me bonny-o

Until she came to a miller’s dam

The swans swim so bonny-o

The miller’s daughter, dressed in red

A hey ho and me bonny-o

She went for some water to make her bread

The swans swim so bonny-o

O father, o daddy, here swims a swan

A hey ho and me bonny-o

It’s very like a gentle woman

The swans swim so bonny-o

They laid her on the bank to dry

A hey ho and me bonny-o

There came a harper passing by

The swans swim so bonny-o

He made harp pins of her fingers fair

A hey ho and me bonny-o

He made harp strings of her golden hair

The swans swim so bonny-o

He made a harp of her breast bone

A hey ho and me bonny-o

And straight it began to play alone

The swans swim so bonny-o

He brought it to her father’s hall

A hey ho and me bonny-o

And there was the court assembled all

The swans swim so bonny-o

He laid the harp upon the stone

A hey ho and me bonny-o

And straight it began to play alone

The swans swim so bonny-o

There does sit my father, the King

A hey ho and me bonny-o

And yonder sits my mother the Queen

The swans swim so bonny-o

And there does sit my brother Hugh

A hey ho and me bonny-o

And by him William, sweet and true

The swans swim so bonny-o

And there does sit my false sister Anne

A hey ho and me bonny-o

Who drowned me for the sake of a man

The swans swim so bonny-o