Anonymous: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Bonnie Wood o' Craigie Lea

Anonymous

“Bonnie Wood o' Craigie Lea” as printed in The Scottish Minstrel (Second Series) (1851).

Anonymous: Collected Lyrics Text 8 1851 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Scottish Minstrel (Second Series), a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Thou bonnie wood of Craigie lea,

Thou bonnie wood of Craigie lea,

Near thee I pass'd life's early day,

And won my Mary's heart in thee.

Verse 2

The broom, the brier, the birken bush,

Bloom bonnie o'er the flow'ry lea,

And a' the sweets that ane can wish,

Frae nature's han' are strew'd on thee,

Thou bonnie wood, &c.

Verse 3

Far ben thy dark green plantin's shade,

The cushat croodles am'rouslie;

The mavis down thy buchted glade,

Gars echo ring frae every tree.

Thou bonnie wood, &c.

Verse 4

Awa', ye thoughtless, murd'ring gang,

Wha tear the nestlings ere they flee!

They'll sing you yet a canty sang,

Then, O in pity let them be!

Thou bonnie wood, &c.

Verse 5

When winter blaws in sleety show'rs

Frae aff the Norlan' hills sae hie,

He lightly skiffs thy bonnie bow'rs,

As laith to harm a flow'r in thee.

Thou bonnie wood, &c.

Verse 6

Tho' fate should drag me south the line,

Or o'er the wide Atlantic sea,

The happy hours I'll ever mind,

That I in youth hae spent in thee,

Thou bonnie wood, &c.

Credits

Written by Anonymous

Words by Anonymous. Historical text published in The Scottish Minstrel (Second Series) (1851); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Scottish Minstrel (Second Series) (1851), “Bonnie Wood o' Craigie Lea”

Every contribution in this 1851 anthology predates modern copyright terms; any contributor died more than 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-25. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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