Traditional Scottish Songs
- My Bonnie Mary

Also called "The Silver Tassie", Robert Burns said that the first half stanza of this Jacobite song was an old one but the rest was written by himself. It is sung to a tune called "The Secret Kiss".


My Bonnie Mary

Go fetch to me a pint o' wine,
And fill it in a silver tassie;
That I may drink, before I go,
A service to my bonnie lassie.
The boat rocks at the Pier o' Leith,
Fu' loud the wind blaws frae the Ferry;
The ship rides by the Berwick-law,
And I maun leave my bonnie Mary.

The trumpets sound, the banners fly,
The glittering spears are ranked ready;
The shouts o' war are heard afar,
The battle closes deep and bloody.
It's not the roar o' sea or shore,
Wad make me langer wish to tarry;
Nor shouts o' war that's heard afar -
It's leaving thee, my bonnie Maryl

Meaning of unusual words:
tassie=goblet
Fu'=full
Ferry=Queensferry on the river Forth
maun=must

Return to the Index of Traditional Scottish Songs



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