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His name I love to mention, in Ireland he was born,
I loved him very dearly, but alas, from me he's gone;
He's gone to Americay, and he promised to send for me,
But the face of my bonny young Irish boy I can no longer see.
It was in Londonderry, that city of note and fame,
Where first my bonny young Irish boy a-courting to me came;
He told me pleasant stories and said his bride I'd be,
But the face of my bonny young Irish boy I can no longer see.
I engaged my passage for New York, and on arriving there,
To seek and find my Irish boy I quickly did prepare;
I searched New York and Providence and Boston all around,
But the face of my bonny Irish boy was nowhere to be found.
I went to Philadelphia, and from there to Baltimore,
I searched the state of Maryland, I searched it o'er and o'er;
I pray that I might find him wherever he might be,
But the face of my bonny young Irish boy I could no longer see.
One night as I lay in my bed, I dreamt I was his bride,
A-sitting on the blue-bell hill, and he sat by my side;
A-gathering of primroses as we did in days of yore,
I awoke quite broken-hearted in the city of Baltimore.
And early the next morning, a knock came to my door,
I heard his voice, I knew it was the lad I did adore;
I hurried up to let him in, I never felt such joy,
And then I fell into the arms of my bonny young Irish boy.
Now that we are married he never shall go to sea,
He knows I love him dearly, and I'm sure that he loves me;
My first sweet son is called for him, is my heart's delight and joy,
He's the picture of his father, he's a bonny young Irish boy.
Farewell to Londonderry, that city I'll see no more,
Where many's a pleasant night we spent around the sweet lone moor;
Our pockets were light, our hearts were good, we longed to be free,
And talked about a happy home in the land of liberty.
Collected in 1952 from Phillip Foley of Tilting, NL, by Ken Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.560-561, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
Oh, once I was a-courted by a bonny Irish boy,
He called me his jewel and his heart's delight and joy;
'Twas in fair Dublin city, in that place of note and fame,
Where first my bonny Irish boy a-courting of me came.
His cheeks were like the roses, his hair was of light brown,
Curled up in ringlets, to his shoulders hanging down;
His teeth shone like the ivory, his eyes were black as coal,
He breaks the heart of every girl no matter where he goes.
The fields and meadows they were green, occupied with flowers so gay,
Where me and my true love do ofttimes sport and play;
The lambs they are so merry, the birds do merrily sing,
And from my bonny Irish boy sweet kisses gives and brings.
Long years I kept his company in hopes to be his bride,
But now he's gone and leaved me to cross the ocean wide;
And I'm afraid some other fair girl my true love will enjoy,
And leave me here lamenting for my bonny Irish boy.
Now I'll pack up my clothing and in search of him I'll go,
I'll cross the wide ocean through bitter winds and snow;
And I will never marry until the day I die,
I'll die quite broken-hearted for my bonny Irish boy.
And when I'm dead and gone to rest, there's one more thing I crave,
Bring my bones to old Ireland and bury them in the clay;
And write upon my tombstone to show the passers-by,
That I died broken-hearted for my bonny Irish boy.
Collected in 1958 from Arthur Nicolle of Rocky Harbour, NL, by Ken Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.562-563, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
Kenneth Peacock commented that these two versions of My Bonny Irish Boy are not really variants; they are completely different songs. With its numerous American references and the happy ending in 'the land of liberty', version A would seem to be American in origin. It appears almost word for word in a collection of songs and ballads called Irish Come-All-Ye's by Manus O'Connor, (New York, 1901). Mr. Foley sang several Irish songs virtually identical to ones in this American collection. Presumably he used traditional Irish tunes because all his songs are of the highest musical calibre. Peacock also noted that version B is more popular in Newfoundland; He had noted it three times and heard it many more.
A variant was sung by Mr. M. Curran (b.1870) of Calvert, NL, and published as My Bonny Irish Boy in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA). A variant was also collected from Clifford Toms in 1929, and published as The Bonny Young Irish Boy, #95 in Ballads And Sea Songs Of Newfoundland, by Elisabeth Bristol Greenleaf and Grace Yarrow Mansfield (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1933; Folklore Associates, Hatboro, PA, 1968).
