My Bonny Cuckoo
| TYPE | 3 - Complex Melody |
| TOPIC | Jacobite |
| TUNE STRUCTURE | 8 bars |
| VERSE STRUCTURE | 2v 4l + 2l ch |
| TIME SIGNATURE | 68 |
| KEY SIGNATURE | ♭♭ |
| TONAL CENTRE | B- |
| INCIPIT | GABBAGEDB,DDE |
| GENRE | Ballad |
| TEXT SOURCE | Bunting Notebooks. Special Collections, QUB Library. MS 4.13 (1796-1809) no.2 |
| TUNE SOURCE | Bunting Notebooks. Special Collections, QUB Library. MS 4.12 (1796-1843) no.203 |
| FIRST LINE | My bonny cuckoo, I tell you true |
| NOTATED INCIPIT | |
| Two settings of the melody (one with words) are given here. This is an abridged setting of the melody found under the title of 'Cuckoo' in the Neals' Collection of the most Celebrated Irish Tunes (Dublin, 1724). | |
My Bonny CuckooMy bonny cuckoo, I tell you trueThat through the groves I'll rove with you;I'll rove with you until the spring,And then my cuckoo shall sweetly sing.Cuckoo, sing girls, let no one tellUntil I settle my seasons well.The ash and the hazel shall mourning say,My bonny cuckoo, don't go away;Don't go away, but tarry here,And make the season last all the year.Cuckoo, sing girls, let no one tellUntil I settle my seasons well.