Traditional: Collected Lyrics
54 / 291
Public-domain lyrics

Bonnie Ann

Traditional

“Bonnie Ann” as printed in The Book of Scottish Song (1843).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 54 1843 · historical text
Public domainScottish songFolk
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Book of Scottish Song, edited by Alexander Whitelaw, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

I doutna whiles but I could wale

A lass wi' mair o' gowd and lan';

But no a lass in a' the vale

I lo'e sae weel as bonnie Ann.

Her een sae sparklin' and sae blue,

Aye speak o' mirth and love to me;

An' then her sweet wee rosy mou'—

Just for ae kiss what wad I gi'e?

Her daddie 's aye apreachin' o't

That she's ower young as yet, ye ken;

But guidness guide us! that 's a faut

That ilka day an' hour maun men'.

She's seen the flowers o' saxteen springs,

Hersel' the sweetest flower o' a'!

An' a' thing on her guidin' hings

In barn and byre, in house and ha'.

O' saxty nowt she's aye the rule;

O' sheep and kye twa hunder fu',

Then whar, I'se like to ken, the fule

Wad threip she's no a woman nou?

But I maun bide, as weil's I may,

To please her daddie, honest man!

Though sair I lang for that blythe day

When I'm to wed my bonnie Ann.

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. Historical text published in The Book of Scottish Song (1843); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Book of Scottish Song (1843), edited by Alexander Whitelaw, “Bonnie Ann”

Every contribution in this 1843 anthology predates modern copyright terms by more than a century; any contributor died at least 130 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide (life+70 terms expired no later than 2020).

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 2026-10-12. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
Keep tracing

More from Traditional: Collected Lyrics.

01A good old SongPublic-domain lyrics02I canna be fashedPublic-domain lyrics03It's weel it's nae waurPublic-domain lyrics04'Twas na her bonnie blue e'ePublic-domain lyrics