watervole: (Default)
Judith Proctor ([personal profile] watervole) wrote2016-10-16 10:09 pm

Bobby Shafto

 Bobby Shafto is one of those songs that most of my generation know, without even knowing where they learnt it.


It normally has three verses, although the nursery rhyme videos for kids all seem to leave out the one about her having  a baby.

However, the
Wikipedia entry says that it was supposedly written about a girl who died for love when he came back and married someone else, and none of the versions of the song I can find include that part.  So, I've written an extra verse.

Bobby Shafto's gone to sea,
Silver buckles at his knee;
He'll come back and marry me,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
Bobby Shafto's bright and fair,
Combing out his yellow hair;
He's my ain for evermore,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
Bobby Shafto's getting a bairn,
For to dangle on his arm;
In his arm and on his knee,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!

 

Bobby Shafto's home from sea,

Wed a maid, forgotten me,
Will he love me if I die?
Bonny Bobby Shafto!

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