THE BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN

When Boney commanded his armies to stand
He levelled his cannon right over the land,
He levelled his cannon his victory to gain,
And he slew my light horseman on the way coming home.

CHORUS
Broken-hearted I'll wander, broken-hearted I'll remain
Since my Bonny Light Horseman in the wars he has been slain.

If I was a small bird and had wings and could fly
I would fly o'er the salt sea where my love does lie,
And with my fond wings I would beat o'er his grave
And kiss the pale lips that lie cold in the clay.

The dove she laments for her mate as she flies,
Oh, where, tell me where is my darling, she cries,
And where in this world is there one to compare
With my bonny Light Horseman who was killed in the war.

[handwritten] A beauty of a song and a beauty of an air make a heart breaking whole.

[Note from Niall MacDonagh: My mother sang this song on As I Roved Out, the Peter Kennedy/Seamus Ennis series on BBC. Somewhere there is a 78 of her singing it.. I suspect in my brother's attic.