The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie

The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie (Roud # 545) is a Scottish folk song about a thwarted romance between a soldier and a woman.

Like many folk songs, the authorship is unattributed, there is no strict version of the lyrics, and it is often referred to by its opening line "There once was a troop o' Irish dragoons".

Of the many versions, one of the most intricate is: There once was a troop o' Irish dragoons Cam marching doon through Fyvie-o And the captain's fa'en in love wi' a very bonnie lass And her name it was ca'd pretty Peggy-o

Green grow the birks on bonnie Ythanside And low lie the lowlands of Fyvie-o The captain's name was Ned and he died for a maid He died for the bonnie lass of Fyvie-o The song is about the unrequited love of a captain of Irish dragoons for a beautiful Scottish girl in Fyvie.

Some sources claim that the original song suggests the region of Fife (as the "Fair Maid of Fife"), but the references to the River Ythan, Aberdeen and other locations near Fyvie like Gight, confirm that the original song was set in Fyvie, Scotland.

Over time, the name of Fyvie also got corrupted, and phonetically similar permutations like "Fennario", "Fernario", "Finario", "Fidio", "Ivory" or "Ireo" were placed in its stead to fit the metre and rhyme.

The 1960s folk music movement saw "Peggy-O" become a common song in many concerts owing to its clear melody and lilting rhyme.

[7] Many Scottish recordings made by James Madison Carpenter between 1929 and 1934, including one of the Aberdeenshire singer Bell Duncan (1849-1934),[8] can be heard on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website.

The Southern American version of the song was arranged for the harmonica by Bob Dylan on his eponymous debut album in 1962, under the title "Pretty Peggy-O".

Dylan began playing the song live again in the 90s, using the lyrics and melody of the Grateful Dead version.

Simon and Garfunkel sing the variant of the song where the captain threatens to burn the city down if his advances are refused.

The Grateful Dead have variously arranged and sung this song on 265 known occasions between 1973 and 1995, using Fen-nar-io and Fi-dio as the name of the place depending on metre constraints.