This is aboot jellisay atween twa sisters. The young een wis bonnier than the aulder een, an they baith funcied the same loon. Nae doot yi can guess fit een he funcied.
Well, in the days fan this sang wis screeved, it wis a richt insult for the younger sister tae be mairried first, so the aulder een taen action tae mak sure that didna happen.
Note
This is ane o the earliest ballads in print (1656) and versions o't were collected a ower the country. It wis affa popular in Scandinavia as weel, wi versions fae Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Faroes.
Ballad: The Swan Swims Sae Bonnie (The Twa Sisters – Child 10) Singer: Iona Fyfe
Main Tune – based on versions A, B, and H in the Greig-Duncan Collection
Alternative – based on versions K, L, and M in the Greig-Duncan Collection
There’s nae a richt or wrang tune for these aul sangs, an ye’ll jalouse that the same tune can be used for a puckle o different ballads. If ye listen tae the recordin o Jimmy Broon, fa wis 90 year aul fan it wis made, he uses the weel kent tune fae The Bonnie Lass O Fyvie, an it wirks jist fine tae cairry the story.