Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Swan Sweems sae Bonnie-O / The Swan Swims So Bonnie, O / The Cruel Sister / The Two Sisters / Bow Down / There Lived An Old Lord / Binnorie / Minorie /The Twa Sisters (Child No. 10) - Sung by Johnnie Whyte, a Traveller at Laurencekirk, Angus, Scotland. He learned the song from his mother. Recorded by Dr. Linda Williamson on November 13, 1976.
The original recording can be listened to here:
tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/33039?l=en
Compare this to a more complete text sung by his father Jock Whyte who was recorded by Hamish Henderson in 1953: youtube.com/watch?v=FGMju9Zo0RI
A biography of Linda Williamson along with many further sound recordings can be found here:
tobarandualchais.co.uk/person/4291?l=en
Linda Williamson's thesis on Scottish Traveller singing can be read here, it is well worth your time if you are interested in Johnnie Whyte's song repertoire: era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/8223
If you're interested I put together a composite of the Whyte and Stewart Traveller family version of the song, I cherry picked my favourite lines from all the various singers who'd been recorded singing it:
youtube.com/post/Ugkx_xh1PqMEzXbbjG2wYRO3AVOkvqWBWCxV
Song transcription:
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, are you going for a walk,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And I'll show you wonderies before we turn home,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, we'll go for a walk,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
If you show me that wonderie before we turn home,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, put your foot on the marble stone,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And I'll show you the wonderie before we turn home,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, I put my foot on the marble stone,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
But sly she throwed her-ie against the stream,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, will you catch my handie?
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And I'll make you mistress of all my father's land,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Sometime she sunk now, other time she swum,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
Till last she came to the millerie's dam,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
The millerie's maid now was out for some waterie,
He-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
I spy a maiden or a white milk swan,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear millerie, dear millerie, will you dry up your dam,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
Then he did took her-ie and hang her out to dry,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
There was three fiddleries passing by
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And one o' them he took the locks of her hair-ie,
For to make some fiddle stringies
The other one he took her middle finger-ie
For-ie to make some fiddle pinies
And the other one took her breast bone
For to make a fiddle that would play a tune its lone
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Then the three fiddleries they went on their way,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
Till last they came to the high castle wall-ie
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
(Now this is what the fiddle is supposed to say:)
There goes now my father the King
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And likewise now my mother the Queen,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
There now sits my false sister Jean,
[1st refrain omited]
Who slyly throwed me against the stream,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Linda Williamson asks if there was anything mentioned of a punishment for the bad sister in the song which Johnnie Whyte says is implied but the song doesn't have it. His father did have a verse about the punishment that has been lost.
Betsy Whyte says that her version has two verses about True Lover John which Johnnie didn't sing. Johnnie says he's never heard those verses in his life. Linda then asks why one sister drowns the other to which Johnnie replies the 2nd oldest sister was jealous of the oldest inheriting all their father's land. "I'll make you mistress of all my father's land" he explains, that's why she threw her into the stream.
Swan Sweems sae Bonnie-O / The Swan Swims So Bonnie, O / The Cruel Sister / The Two Sisters / Bow Down / There Lived An Old Lord / Binnorie / Minorie /The Twa Sisters (Child No. 10) - Sung by Johnnie Whyte, a Traveller at Laurencekirk, Angus, Scotland. He learned the song from his mother. Recorded by Dr. Linda Williamson on November 13, 1976.
The original recording can be listened to here:
tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/33039?l=en
Compare this to a more complete text sung by his father Jock Whyte who was recorded by Hamish Henderson in 1953: youtube.com/watch?v=FGMju9Zo0RI
A biography of Linda Williamson along with many further sound recordings can be found here:
tobarandualchais.co.uk/person/4291?l=en
Linda Williamson's thesis on Scottish Traveller singing can be read here, it is well worth your time if you are interested in Johnnie Whyte's song repertoire: era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/8223
If you're interested I put together a composite of the Whyte and Stewart Traveller family version of the song, I cherry picked my favourite lines from all the various singers who'd been recorded singing it:
youtube.com/post/Ugkx_xh1PqMEzXbbjG2wYRO3AVOkvqWBWCxV
Song transcription:
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, are you going for a walk,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And I'll show you wonderies before we turn home,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, we'll go for a walk,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
If you show me that wonderie before we turn home,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, put your foot on the marble stone,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And I'll show you the wonderie before we turn home,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, I put my foot on the marble stone,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
But sly she throwed her-ie against the stream,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear sisterie, dear sisterie, will you catch my handie?
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And I'll make you mistress of all my father's land,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Sometime she sunk now, other time she swum,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
Till last she came to the millerie's dam,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
The millerie's maid now was out for some waterie,
He-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
I spy a maiden or a white milk swan,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Dear millerie, dear millerie, will you dry up your dam,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
Then he did took her-ie and hang her out to dry,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
There was three fiddleries passing by
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And one o' them he took the locks of her hair-ie,
For to make some fiddle stringies
The other one he took her middle finger-ie
For-ie to make some fiddle pinies
And the other one took her breast bone
For to make a fiddle that would play a tune its lone
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Then the three fiddleries they went on their way,
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
Till last they came to the high castle wall-ie
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
(Now this is what the fiddle is supposed to say:)
There goes now my father the King
Hy-ie-o, sae bonnie-o;
And likewise now my mother the Queen,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
There now sits my false sister Jean,
[1st refrain omited]
Who slyly throwed me against the stream,
And the swan 'at sweems sae bonnie-o.
Linda Williamson asks if there was anything mentioned of a punishment for the bad sister in the song which Johnnie Whyte says is implied but the song doesn't have it. His father did have a verse about the punishment that has been lost.
Betsy Whyte says that her version has two verses about True Lover John which Johnnie didn't sing. Johnnie says he's never heard those verses in his life. Linda then asks why one sister drowns the other to which Johnnie replies the 2nd oldest sister was jealous of the oldest inheriting all their father's land. "I'll make you mistress of all my father's land" he explains, that's why she threw her into the stream.
