Wednesday 8 April 2009
Tune of the Day: Bobby Shafto
North East English folk song
Bobby Shafto's gone to sea,
Silver buckles on his knee;
He'll come back and marry me,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
Bobby Shafto's bright and fair,
Panning out his yellow hair;
He's my love for evermair,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
Robert Shafto (sometimes spelt “Shaftoe”), an 18th Century British Member of Parliament, appears to be the likeliest subject of this famous nursery rhyme. The song is said to relate the story of how he broke the heart of Bridget Belasyse of Brancepeth Castle, County Durham, when he married Anne Duncombe of Duncombe Park in Yorkshire.