Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

The Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord

Scottish Song By James Scott Skinner

The Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord is a traditional Scottish tune written by James Scott Skinner in 1884.

The "Bonnie Lass" referred to in the song was the late Wilhelmina (Mina) Bell whom Skinner had met in Aberdeen in 1884.

On a gravestone in Fetteresso Cemetery, Stonehaven, Scotland, is the inscription: "In loving memory of Mina Bell, who died 8th June, 1938, aged 72 years, immortalised in James Scott Skinner's masterpiece The Bonnie Lass o' Bon-Accord."


Related Scottish Country Dances

The Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord

The Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord By J Scott Skinner

The Bonnie Lass o'Bon-Accord,
Looks lang owre the bar o' the Dee,
An' the Bonnie Lass o' Bon-Accord
Comes hame wi' the tear in her e'e.
An there's never a wind but blaws to her gate
Some brisk braw carle come to woo;
But wi' neither the kilt nor the coat will she mate,
For her heart's wi' the jacket o' blue.

Her auld faither girns at the ingle side
"It's the Lowland squire ye maun wed,
An' ye to the kirk in a coach shall ride,
An' in velvet an' silk ye'll be cled,
An' on siller ware ye shall dine at the board,
An' the diamonds shall shine on your broo'-"
But the Bonnie Lass o' Bon-Accord
Still sighs for the jacket o' blue.

Her mither looks up frae her spinning wheel
"Ye maun lie on the bed that ye mak,
Ye're owre hard to please or your head's in a creel
It's the Hielant laird ye should tak',
Wi'his philabeg an' his lang broadsword,
An' his kilt o' the scarlet hue-"
But the Bonnie Lass o' Bon-Accord
Sets her heart on the jacket o' blue.

Up speaks her sister, sae cankered an lean
"The menfolk are a' blin' or daft
To craze their heads for twa saucy een,
An' a round face, silly an' saft;
But ye'll sink or swim if ye'll no tak the ford,
An' ye'll drink o' the browst that ye brew"
An' there's mony a lass in Bon-Accord
Cries Rue on the jacket o' blue.

The Bonnie Lass o' Bon-Accord
Turns round wi' the fire in her e'e
"The carle, an' the clerk, an' the squire an' the lord,
I wish they were droon'd in the Dee;
An' the siller hoard, an' the lang broadsword,
An' the diamonds that shine on the broo
Tak' them a' for ae blink frae Bon-Accord
O' the ship wi' the jacket o' blue."

The Bonnie Lass o' Bon-Accord
Gangs doon to the bar o' the Dee
But the Bonnie Lass o' Bon-Accord
Comes hame wi' the smile in her e'e
An she's missed at morn frae the bed an' the board,
An' they harry the haill toon thro';
But the Bonnie Lass o' Bon-Accord
Is aff wi' the jacket o' blue.


The Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord Song Video

The Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord Song - Information Video
Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord

Here Lies The Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord



The Online Scots Dictionary Translate Scots To English.
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Text from this original The Bonnie Lass O' Bon Accord article on Wikisource.
Image copyright Alexander Nasmyth [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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