BONNIE BAIRNS
KATE RUSBY
DADGAD tuning
D= 000200
C= 032030
G= 550000
D C
A lady walked in yon wild wood,
G D
Beneath the holly tree,
D C
It was there she saw two bonnie bairns,
G D
There running at her knee.
D C
And the first she pulled a red, red rose,
G D
With hands as soft as silk,
D C
And the next she pulled a lily pale,
G D
With hands more white than milk.
D C
“Why do you pull the red, red rose,
G D
And why the lily white?”
D C
“We need them at the seat of grace,
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For the soul of thee tonight.”
D C
“Oh bide with me you bonnie bairns,
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I’ll dress you rich and fine,
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And for all the blackbirds in the woods,
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You’ll eat white bread and wine."
D C
The stars were shooting to and fro,
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But the thorns she did abhor,
D C
As the lady followed the bonnie bairns,
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For three long hours and more.
D C
“Where do you dwell you bonnie bairns,
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I’m woe and weary grown”,
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“We live where woe it never comes,
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In a land to flesh unknown.”
D C
They came unto a tree of beech,
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Two names carved in the bark,
D C
“Do you see your name carved here lady,
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The other lies in the dark.”
D C
And she wept in vain and she wept full sore,
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For her love laid in the ground,
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And she wept until the stars gave way,
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’Til the dawn it brought no sound.