As we rode out to Fennario1
As we rode out to Fennario
Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove
And he called her by name pretty Peggy-O
Will you marry me, pretty Peggy-O?
Will you marry me, pretty Peggy-O?
If you will marry me, I will set your cities free.
And free all the ladies in the area-O
I would marry you, sweet William-O?
I would marry you, sweet William-O?
I would marry you, but your guineas are too few
And I feel my mother would be angry-O
What would your mother think, pretty Peggy-O?
What would your mother think, pretty Peggy-O?
What would your mother think when she hears the guineas clink?
And saw me marching at the head of my soldiers-O
If ever I return, pretty Peggy-O
If ever I return, pretty Peggy-O
If ever I return, all your cities I will burn
Destroy all the ladies in the area-O
Come stepping down the stairs, pretty Peggy-O
Come stepping down the stairs, pretty Peggy-O
Come stepping down the stairs, combing back your yellow hair
And bid a last farewell to young Willie-O
Sweet William he is dead, pretty Peggy-O
Sweet William he is dead, pretty Peggy-O
Sweet William he is dead, and he died for a maid
And he’s buried in the Louisiana country-O
Words and music: traditional
See note under “Dire Wolf” for more on this place name.
Recorded on Dozin’ at the Knick (October 1996).
First performance: December 10, 1973, at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Often called “Fennario,” this song has a very long lineage. According to the Joan Baez Songook, Joan recorded it on her 1962 LP, In Concert Vol. 2. “Cecil Sharp discovered several versions of this ballad in the Southern Appalachians on his collecting trips during the first World War, though it seems to have disappeared from American tradition since that time. It is still extremely popular in Scotland as ‘The Bonnie Lass o’ Fyvie-O’ and was earlier known in England as ‘Pretty Peggy of Derby.’ ”
There are precedents for calling the tune “Peggy-O,” however: Simon and Garfunkel recorded it under that title; Bob Dylan’s first album calls it “Pretty Peggy-O”; and one of the most respected volumes of folk song lyrics, The Folksinger’s Wordbook by Irwin and Fred Silber, lists the song as “Peggy–O.” (Jackson: Goin’ Down the Road) 94