At the Mill o’ Tifty’s lived a man
In the neighbourhood o’ Fyvie
He had a lovely daughter fair
An’ they ca’d her Bonnie Annie

Her hair was fair an’ her eyes were blue
Her cheeks as red as roses
Her countenance was fair tae view
An’ they ca’d her Boonie Annie

Her bloom was like the springin’ flower
That hails the rosy mornin’
Her innocence an’ graceful mien
Her beauteous face adornin’

Lord Fyvie had a trumpeter
Whas name was Andra Lammie
And he had the airt for tae gain the hert
O’ the Mill o’ Tifty’s Annie

Lord Fyvie he rode by the door
Where lived Tifty’s Annie
And his trumpeter rode before him
Even this same Andra Lammie

Her mother cried her tae the door
Saying come here tae me my Annie
Did e’er ye see a prettier man
Than the trumpeter o’ Fyvie 

O naethin’ she said but sighin’ sair
Alas for Bonnie Annie
For she durstnae own that her hert was won
By the trumpeter o’ Fyvie

Noo at nicht when a’ went tae their bed
A’ slept fu’ sound but Annie
Love so opprest her tender breast
And love will waste her body

For love comes in at my bedside
And love will lie beyond me
Love so opprest my tender breast
And love will waste my body

Noo the first time me an’ my love met
It was in the woods o’ Fyvie
For he ca’d me mistress I said no
I was Tifty’s Bonnie Annie

My love I go tae Edinburgh toon
And for a while maun leave thee
Oh but I’ll be deid afore ye come back
In the green kirkyaird o’ Fyvie

Noo her faither struck her wondrous sore
And also did her mother
And her sisters also took their score
But woe be tae her brother

Her brother struck her wondrous sore
Wi’ cruel strokes and many
And he broke her back ower the temple stane
Aye the temple stane o’ Fyvie

Oh mother dear please make my bed
And lay my face tae Fyvie
For I will lie and I will die
For my dear Andra Lammie

Flagnote:   Agnes Smith, the Tifty’s Annie of this song, died on 19 January 1673 and is buried in the Kirkyaird of St Peter’s Kirk, Fyvie, Aberdeenshire. The miller’s daughter fell in love with Andrew Lammie, the trumpeter of Fyvie. Her father was unhappy at the relationship with the lowly trumpeter and locked her up in the mill. The Laird of Fyvie wasn’t happy either as he was attracted to the bonnie quean. The trumpeter reacted to her imprisonment by climbing to the top of Fyvie Castle and blowing his horn towards the mill. Andrew Lammie was sent abroad; today you can see a small statue of him and his horn on the top of Fyvie Castle. It is reputed that Agnes died of a broken heart. Her original headstone was replaced in 1859 with a ‘Maltese Cross’ and a small iron railing was erected. The ballad has become one of the most famous to emerge from the North-East of Scotland. One day I might even be brave enough to go further back my paternal family tree to see if there is any truth to my father’s claim that we are related to the Mill o’ Tifty’s Annie family. Sheila Stewart is one of the legendary Stewarts of Blair and is the daughter of the byous Belle Stewart. Sheila has well carried on the great singing tradition of the Stewarts and appeared last Saturday’s (17 November 2007) edition of BBC’s Scotland’s ‘Scotland’s Music’ presented by the faur-kent Scottish musician Phil Cunningham.