Annotation:Bonny at Morn

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BONNY AT MORN. English, Air (6/4 time). England, Northumberland. G Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB.

The sheep's in the meadow,
The kye's in the corn,
Thou's ower land in they bed
Bonny at morn.
Canny at night,
Bonny at morn,
Thou's ower lang in thy bed,
Bonny at morn. .... (John Bell)

"The song 'Bonny at Morn' gives us a pretty picture of family life. The baby awakes a little too early, but the big lad and the big lass are loath to rise; hence the interjaculatory phrases 'Thou's ower lang in thy bed' in the midst of the song" (Stokoe).

The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes, published c. 1800 and the tune was entered into the c. 1812 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician John Bell [1] (1773-1864).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Bruce & Stokoe (Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; pp. 88-89.

Recorded sources:

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