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Bonnie Woodha
(Traditional)

Song Lyric as sung by Dick Gaughan

Doun by yon green bushes by Calder's clear stream
Whaur me an my Annie oftimes we hae been
The hours swiftly passed an happy were we
It was little she thocht that a sodger A'd be

Sae fare thee weill, Annie, for A must away
My country calls on me an A must obey
But if heaven protects me an A dae return
A will sport wi my Annie by Calder's clear burn

On the 20th of August our regiment was lost
An a shot from the enemy our lines came across
Struck me in the foreheid an the blude it ran doun
An A reeled an A staggered an fell tae the ground

Come here cries the captain come here wi great speed
For A fear by yon bullet Young Dunsmore's near deid
They caad for the whisky an the water sae free
An they turnt me all over my wounds for to see

If my Annie was here, she would bind up my wounds
One kiss from her sweet mouth would staunch aa the stounds
But if heaven protects me an I do return
A will sport wi you Annie by Calder's clear burn

An it's when A am weary an think on langsyne
When A was a young man an warked doun the mine
The tears start tae trickle an doun they do faa
Like the dew on the gowans in Bonnie Woodhaa

Song Notes

Learned from the singing of Geordie Hamilton, an ex-miner from Kirkintilloch and regular inhabitant of the notorious Sandy Bell's Bar in its heyday in the late 1960s. One of those songs which straddles English and Scots without ever really making its mind up which language it's in. The correct Scots pronunciation of "Calder" is "Cawder" and "Woodhaa" (or "Woodhall") is "Widhaw".

Help with language and pronunciation in the General Guide to Scots

Recorded by Dick Gaughan

Also recorded by

 

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Related pages on other sites

The following links are to other websites and I am not responsible for what you might find there. Sites do change without warning and it is impossible for me to keep checking that links go where they should.

Song Archive

Lyrics and music for songs sung by Dick Gaughan

Gaughan Website
Song Archive
Song Index B
Bonnie Woodha