Nic Jones - Annan Water

'Annan Water' from Nic Jones' album 'Ballads and Songs', released in 1970.

Nic wrote in the album notes: "Annan Water is not such a well-known ballad. I have altered and simplified it considerably. The original verses may be found tucked inconspicuously away in an appendix of volume 4 of the Child Ballads. The tune used is an adaption of The Brisk Young Lively Lad, found in The Folk Song Journals."

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Lyrics:

Oh Annan Water's wondrous deep
And my love Annie's wondrous bonny
I'm loath that she should wet her feet
Because I love her best of any.

Go saddle to me the bonny grey mare
Go saddle her soon and make her ready
For I must cross that river tonight
And all to see my bonnie lady.

And woe betide you Annan Water
At nights you are a gloomy river,
And over you I'll build a bridge
That never more true love may sever.

And he has ridden o'er field and fell
O'er moor and moss and many a mire
His spurs of steel were sore to bide
And from the mare's feet flew the fire.

The mare flew on o'er moor and moss
But when she'd wan the Annan Water
She couldn't have ridden a furlong more
Had a thousand whips been laid upon her.

And woe betide you Annan Water
At nights you are a gloomy river,
And over you I'll build a bridge
That never more true love may sever.

Oh boatman come put off your boat
Put off your boat for golden money
For I must cross that stream tonight
Or never more I'll see my Annie.

The sides are steep the waters deep
From bank to brae the water's pouring
And your bonny grey mare she sweats for fear
She stands to hear the water roaring.

And woe betide you Annan Water
At nights you are a gloomy river,
And over you I'll build a bridge
That never more true love may sever.

And he has tried to swim that stream
And he swam on both strong and steady
But the river was broad and strength did fail
And he never saw his bonny lady.

Oh woe betide the willow wand
And woe betide the bush of brier
For it broke beneath her true love's hand
When strength did fail and limbs did tire.

And woe betide you Annan Water
At nights you are a gloomy river,
And over you I'll build a bridge
That never more true love may sever.

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All credit goes to Nic Jones. I only put the music and images together for promotion, so Youtube can enjoy this great artist. For more of his fantastic music, consider buying his albums to support Nic Jones (who can no longer perform). I upload some of his songs from the albums that have only been released on vinyl. These are no longer available, and as far as I know there are no plans to release them on CD. For the albums that were released on CD, see www.nicjones.net or www.molliemusicrecords.co.uk.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk
• folk music
• guitar
• fingerpicking
• nic jones
• annan water
• english
• folk song
• folk revival
• ballad
• child ballads
• ballads and songs
• mollie music

[oscar6418]

any chance of putting up " The Outlandish Knight" from the Ballads and Songs album?...Cheers

[wrongwayup]

@oscar6418 I'll see what I can do :)

[t4texas]

Simply brilliant. I can't imagine a better version. One of the most brilliant song performances I believe I've ever heard.

[wrongwayup]

@t4texas I agree. It's really impressive how Nic managed to get so much out of what is essentially a fairly simple song.

[TheSmilingPony]

Thank you so much for putting this up. It's a travesty that this album hasn't been released on CD. It's absolutely brilliant!  I saw Nic perform this one. It was - and is - just lovely.

[mscocorosie]

@thekingshand82

Gay people aren't the only ones that cry. Soldiers do too.

[thekingshand82]

Cant help but shed a tear every time.... and im not even gay!

[einhverfr]

Nic Jones is clearly a master. The only thing I noted when going to the Child version was not only it was much more complex but it had one or two subtleties lost in Jones' version. The big one being that the horse sweats for fear because she hears the water-kelpie roaring. It's not the water, but rather the otherworldly spirits which drown the unwary which are active.

[Teddyb1939]

What a clown I must have been ! I used to have this lovely album & more or less gave it away with some other good stuff, If we knew then what we know now. This was always one of my favourite tracks by the magic Nic Jones. The guitar work is almost minimal in content. Just lovely.

[wrongwayup]

@willzer808 It's magnificent :P

[willzer808]

@wrongwayup i love them both, i am in agreement with you now, i love this song dearly now

[TheShinobidog]

awesome! love the john wesley harding version on Trad Ar Jones also!