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On the bonnie hills of Scotland where those bluebells they do grow,
There dwells a shepherd's daughter down in the lowlands low;
She watched her flock the whole night long down by the riverside,
Although her cot was low and poor she was called the village pride.
At length a man from Paisely Town a-hunting came this way,
A-hunting down those low lowlands where Mary's cottage lay;
Many's the time young Henry came a-hunting down this way,
And many's the hours spent where nights pass cares away.
Young Henry came to his own true love his heart was pressed with
woe,
Saying, "Mary, dearest Mary, far from you I must go;
For those mountain men have got us hunt and I've received command,
I must away to those low lowlands to Indian burning sand."
"Oh Henry, dearest Henry, those words do break my heart,
I wish I was your wedded wife this night before we'd part;
All for to go along with you it would be my desire,
I'll be your guide through life dressed up in man's attire."
He took her o'er to Paisely town the people wondered there,
To see so sweet a creature so beautiful and fair;
The ladies they admired her as she stood on parade,
They never thought a soldier's coat could conceal so fair a maid.
Far across the ocean young Henry got to go,
He little knew the danger that he must undergo;
Young Henry fought manfully, Mary did her best,
In stooping down to dress his wound a bullet pierced her breast.
"I fear you're deadly wounded," young Henry he did say,
"I fear you are deadly wounded, your lips are like the clay;
The first time that I saw you t'was you I did adore."
She closed her eyes no more to ride on the Indian burning shore.
With tender hearts the soldiers laid young Mary in her grave,
Side by side with Henry so gallant and so brave;
A simple cross to mark the spot where this young couple lies,
The Lord have mercy on their souls, young Henry and his bride.
Collected from John Kehoe (b.1864) of Flatrock, NL, and published in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA). Leach also collected another variant as On The Bonny Hills Of Scotland from Theresa White (b.ca.1934) of Port au Port, NL.
