My love was once a bonny lad (The flowers of Edinburgh) (Joseph Haydn)
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- (Posted 2020-03-01) CPDL #57310:
- Editor: Christopher Shaw (submitted 2020-03-01). Score information: A4, 2 pages, 60 kB Copyright: CC BY SA
- Edition notes: Please click on the link for preview/playback/PDF download. Separate violin part provided.
General Information
Title: My love was once a bonny lad (The flowers of Edinburgh)
Composer: Joseph Haydn
Lyricist: Anon
Number of voices: 1v Voicing: Solo high
Genre: Secular, Folksong
Language: English
Instruments: Keyboard, violin
First published: 1792 in A selection of Original Scots Songs
Description: Hob. XXXIa.90. Fakesong from the Celtic tweelight
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
My love was once a bonny lad,
He was the flower of a' his kin;
The absence of his bonny face
Has rent my tender heart in twain;
I day nor night find no delight,
In silent tears I still complain;
And exclaim 'gainst those my rival foes,
That hae ta'en from me my darling swain.
Despair and anguish fill my breast
Since I have lost my blooming rose;
I sigh and moan, while others rest,
His absence yields me no repose.
To seek my love I'll range and rove
Thro' ev'ry grove and distant plain:
Thus I'll ne'er cease, but spend my days
To hear tidings from my darling swain.