I’ve cried so many tears, ‘tis enough to fill the sea
For my bonny Johnny Johnstone has gone to Lockerbie
My honor bound beau, don your jack, steel your hands
And heed your Lord’s call to join the other riding clans
From the glens of Annandale to the rolling Debatable Lands
Come the Armstrongs and the Scotts to join us at Dryfe Sands
He tipped his bonnet proudly, atop his gallant roan
And I pray you’ll return to me, my bonny Johnny Johnstone
For I can’t endure this world alone
Without my bonny Johnny Johnstone

___

The Lord Maxwell defied King James in fifteen eighty-four
Then the Laird’s brother cut down Cranston and Lammie at Crawfordmoor
But the fuse was lit to the fiery feud when they burned down Lochwood Tower
They took as prisoner the Lord of Annandale who died bereft of power
John Maxwell became the Warden of the West, his favor being restored
But not James Johnstone, the dead Laird’s son, whose honor was deplored
In less than ten, the feud began again, with Johnstone thievery
But a Crichton of Sanquhar trod him down and hung him from a tree

___

Fi Ti El On
And cut ‘em to the bone
We will reive and rend
Till we put an end
To Clan Johnstone

___

Well, Willy Johnstone escaped the Crichtons and raised a powerful band
And back they went to Annandale and reived the entire land
Douglas, Kirkpatrick, Crichton, and Stuart flocked to Maxwell’s side
But Johnstone, Scott, Eliot, Armstrong, and Graham, were saddled up to ride
They surprised a force at Lochmaben Church and avenged Lochwood’s razing
In the Kirk they trapped Robert Maxwell and set the Church ablazing
And young Johnny Johnstone who left his wife Mary crying in the dale
Has joined his kin in Annandale to face the army of Clan Maxwell

___

Fi Ta Ru El
Through strath and through dale
We will reive and rend
Till we put an end
To Clan Maxwell

___

The Johnstone’s took the higher ground between the Dryfe and Annan
The Maxwell clans were two thousand strong and bristling to a man
Johnny and some cousins rode like hares before the hounds
Like howling fiends, the Maxwells screamed, and were led to the lower grounds
Up the hill, young Johnny flew, to join his kinsmen kept in hold
Just in time to turn and see the terrible scene unfold
From every side Johnstone men descended with lance, sword, and knife
And in that savage slaughtering field, young Johnny lost his life

___

Fi Ta Ru El
Through strath and through dale
We will reive and rend
Till we put an end
To Clan Maxwell

___

And sometimes Mary will return to place flowers where Johnny fell
She somehow always knew her love would not survive that day of hell
The terrible Johnstone Maxwell feud, that was fought in Annandale
For while Johnny was a bonny Johnstone, his mother was a Maxwell

___

I’ve cried so many tears, ‘tis enough to fill the sea
For my bonny Johnny Johnstone has gone to Lockerbie
My honor bound beau, don your jack, steel your hands
And heed your Lord’s call to join the other riding clans
From the glens of Annandale to the rolling Debatable Lands
Come the Armstrongs and the Scotts to join us at Dryfe Sands
He tipped his bonnet proudly, atop his gallant roan
And I pray you’ll return to me, my bonny Johnny Johnstone
For I can’t endure this world alone
Without my bonny Johnny Johnstone