Peggy-O - where is this from?
B.P. Taylor
>Hi Folks! I just discovered this newsgroup, and was very happy about it. I
>would be enormously interested and grateful for any information or pointers
>that anyone can provide concerning the history of the song Peggy-O. (You
>know, done by Dylan, S&G, Grateful Dead, others.)
>
>I'm interested in knowing about related or similar folk songs, bygone
>versions of the lyrics, and other artists who have recorded it.
I downloaded the following lyrics to this song from Gopher a while ago. It
came up in a search for Dylan lyrics but doesn't match any Dylan
performance I've ever heard. Can anyone identify where this comes from?
Pretty Peggy-O
(Traditional)
As we rowed up to Fennario,
As we rowed up to Fennario,
Our captain fell in love
With a lady like a dove
And he called her by name, Pretty Peggy-O.
Come steppin' down the stairs Pretty Peggy-O
Come steppin' down the stairs Pretty Peggy-O
Come steppin' down the stairs, holding back your yellow hair
In the hand ???????????? , William-O.
Will you marry me Pretty Peggy-O?
Will you marry me Pretty Peggy-O?
If you will marry me, I will set your cities free
And free all the people of the area-O.
I would marry you sweet William-O,
I would marry you sweet William-O,
I would marry you but your guineas are too few,
And I fear my mama would be angry-O.
What would your mama think Pretty Peggy-O
What would your mama think Pretty Peggy-O
What would your mama think if she heard my guineas clink
Saw me riding at the head of my soldiers-O.
If ever I return Pretty Peggy-O
If ever I return Pretty Peggy-O
If ever I return, all your cities I will burn
Destroy all the people in the area-O.
Come steppin' down the stairs Pretty Peggy-O
Come steppin' down the stairs Pretty Peggy-O
Come steppin' down the stairs, holding back your yellow hair
Bid a last farewell to your William-O.
Sweet William he is dead Pretty Peggy-O
Sweet William he is dead Pretty Peggy-O
Sweet William he is dead and he died for a maid
and he spent the loot he had in the country-O.
As we rowed up to Fennario,
As we rowed up to Fennario,
Our captain fell in love
With a lady like a dove
And he called her by name, Pretty Peggy-O.
--
Ben Taylor
(b.p.t...@ncl.ac.uk)
Ron Mura
I don't know where this exact variation comes from; there are
countless versions of this song. In terms of Dylan performance, the
closest would be his July, 1988, concert in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
That version is noted by the reference to "Sweet William" instead of
"The Captain" in all verses except the first and last (which is a
repeat of the first). Dylan's recorded version, on his 1962 first
album, doesn't make reference to Sweet William at all.
In the 1988 performance, Dylan sings verses 3, 4, 5, and 6 exactly as
above. Verse 7 is very close. In the first and last verses, Dylan
sings "as we marched down" instead of "as we rowed up." The last line
of the next-to-last verse is sung as "He's buried in (the) Louisiana
country-O."
--
- Ron Mura, Boston, Massachusetts rm...@world.std.com
Joe Bethancourt
: shmo...@aol.com (Shmogger) wrote:
: >Hi Folks! I just discovered this newsgroup, and was very happy about it. I
: >would be enormously interested and grateful for any information or pointers
: >that anyone can provide concerning the history of the song Peggy-O. (You
: >know, done by Dylan, S&G, Grateful Dead, others.)
: >
: >I'm interested in knowing about related or similar folk songs, bygone
: >versions of the lyrics, and other artists who have recorded it.
: I downloaded the following lyrics to this song from Gopher a while ago. It
: came up in a search for Dylan lyrics but doesn't match any Dylan
: performance I've ever heard. Can anyone identify where this comes from?
: Pretty Peggy-O
: (Traditional)
: As we rowed up to Fennario,
: As we rowed up to Fennario,
: Our captain fell in love
: With a lady like a dove
: And he called her by name, Pretty Peggy-O.
: Come steppin' down the stairs Pretty Peggy-O
: Come steppin' down the stairs Pretty Peggy-O
: Come steppin' down the stairs, holding back your yellow hair
: In the hand ???????????? , William-O.
last line is: "Bid a long farewell to your mammy-o"
: Will you marry me Pretty Peggy-O?
--
lock...@indirect.com PO Box 35190 Locksley Plot Systems
White Tree Productions Phoenix, AZ 85069 USA CyberMongol Ltd
"Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
at best it will break your heart, at worst, get you dead."
Hap Freiberg
The album also had "Greenback Dollar" on it. I wish I
still had the album. Sigh.
Hap
--
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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Omnia Extares >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Kyle Grieser
>>
>> Pretty Peggy-O
>> (Traditional)
[ lyrics deleted ]
I've only heard the Grateful Dead do this tune, but this sounds like it's
pretty close to what they use for lyrics... if Jerry remembers them that
day :-)
-yuf
Jerry Malloy x3337
>came up in a search for Dylan lyrics but doesn't match any Dylan
>performance I've ever heard. Can anyone identify where this comes from?
>
>
>Pretty Peggy-O
>(Traditional)
>
This is the version performed by Jerry Garcia with the Grateful Dead, et. al.
I've also seen the title listed as "Fennario". Hope this helps.
Take Care,
peridot
>I downloaded the following lyrics to this song from Gopher a while ago. It
>came up in a search for Dylan lyrics but doesn't match any Dylan
>performance I've ever heard. Can anyone identify where this comes from?
>
>
>Pretty Peggy-O
I have a Dylan songbook that contains this song. The book is
_Bob Dylan Himself His Words/His Music_, NY:Music Corporation
of America, 1965. Notes about 'Pretty Peggy-O' say "As Recorded
by BOB DYLAN on Columbia Records" and "Arrangement of Music and
New Lyric by BOB DYLAN" and "Copyright MCMLXII, MCMLXV by DUCHESS
MUSIC CORPORATION, a subsidiary of MUSIC CORPORATION OF AMERICA."
Lyrics as follow:
Spoken: Been around this whole country, but I never yet found Fenario
Well as we marched down,
As we marched down,
Well as we marched down to Fenario
Well our captain fell in love
With a lady like a dove
Her name that she had was Pretty Peggy-O
Well what will your mother say,
What will your mother say,
What will your mother say, pretty Peggy-O,
What will your mother say,
'T she know'd you're goin' away,
You're never, never, never comin' back, ei-o.
Come a'runnin' down your stairs,
Come a'runnin' down your stairs,
Come a'runnin' down your stairs, pretty Peggy-O
Come a'runnin' down your stairs,
Combin' back your yellow hair,
You're the prettiest darn girl I ever seen-i-o.
The Lieutenant, he has gone,
The Lieutenant, he has gone,
The Lieutenant, he has gone, pretty Peggy-O,
The Lieutenant, he has gone
Long gone,
He's a-ridin' down to Texas with the rodeo.
Well, our captain, he is dead,
Our captain, he is dead,
Our captain, he is dead, pretty Peggy-O,
Well, our captain, he is dead,
Died for a maid,
He's buried somewhere in Lou'siana, oh.
--
WaltzPrint
called Irish and Scottish, but the earliest version I know of (which was
recorded by Ewan MacColl) is called "The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie-O." The
first few words run something like this:
There was a troop o' Irish dragoon
Cam' marchin' doon through Fyvie-O.
The captain's fallen in love with very bonnie lass,
And the name she was called was pretty Peggy-o.
The story is the same as in the American versions ("Fennario," "Pretty
Peggy-O," and all those): Captain falls in love, girl rejects him, etc.,
but ends a little differently:
It's lang ere we won tae auld Meldrum toon
We had our captain to carry-O,
And lang ere we won tae bonnie Abedeen,
We had our captain to bury-O.
O green grow the birks upon bonny Ythanside,
And low lie the lowlands of Fyvie-O.
Our captain's name was Ned, and he died for a maid,
He died for hte chambermaid of Fyvie-O.
Ojai Matt
(WaltzPrint) writes:
I do believe that this tune is Scots-Irish. It is probably a story from
the days of the clans trying to fight of invasion. Most of the celtic
groups that have recorded this song(The Dubliners,The Clancy Brothers &
Tommy Makem,The Irish Rovers etc.) all sing pretty much the same words and
music. The american version is different in words and tune.
dick greenhaus
The usual tune for Bonny Lass o' Fyvie dates back to at least the late
18th century, where it was calld "the Landlady of France". It was also
used for " The Constitution and the Gurriere" and its pro-British parody
"the Chesapeake and the Shannon"
It's all in the Digital Tradition.
Abby Sale
Wa> The song "Pretty Peggy-O" originated in the British Isles. I've heard
Wa> it called Irish and Scottish, but the earliest version I know of (which
Wa> was recorded by Ewan MacColl) is called "The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie-O."
It's also been collected in Ireland and there's an English version
called the "Bonnie Lass of Derby-o." Since all of the other numerous
place-names are Scottish & the language is clearly "Scotch" and not
Irish or English, even in the English version, it's almost certainly a
Scottish song.
Was very wide spread in the Northeast.
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Abby Sale | ...!ucf-cs!alfred!animece!Abby.Sale
Orlando, FL | FIDOnet: 1:363/137.0 (407) 834-6090
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John Kruiniger, Mailing from AgResearch Invermay
> called Irish and Scottish, but the earliest version I know of (which was
> recorded by Ewan MacColl) is called "The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie-O." The
> first few words run something like this:
>
> There was a troop o' Irish dragoon
I have the song on a Corries album (there's more verses than are listed in
this post). I think it's great.
John Kruiniger.
ao...@delphi.com
A rendition called "The Bonnie Streets of Fyvie-O" is on a
Chad Mitchell Trio album. I don't know which but I could have a look
if you are interested. E-mail me at 76640...@compuserve.com.
Andrew Okun
GeneS5
>> A rendition called "The Bonnie Streets of Fyvie-O" is on a
Chad Mitchell Trio album. I don't know which but I could have a look
if you are interested.
has it's origins from the ballad The Bonnie Lass Of Fyvio-- a Scots
derived narrative.
Jean Redpath recorded a wonderful version on her 1st album:
"Skippin' Barefoot Through The Heather"., on Vanguard. (Out of print) and
many people like Judy Collins and even Dylan have recorded other
variations.
A neat song in almost any version.
Gene Shay
Terry Thero
You're right Gene, it is a neat song. I believe I have and old Joan Baez
album from the mid to late sixties with the song 'Fennario' on it. Great
stuff! Just great!
CU
twthero
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