A       E         A
Oh, Johnny rose on a May morning,
                             D
Called for water to wash his hands,
          A      D      A
Saying “Bring to me my two grey dogs,
                  E      D
That lie bound in iron bands.”
      E
When Johnny’s mother she heard of this,
      D         A         E
She wrung her hands full sore,
       A       D       A   D
Says “Johnny, for your venison
         E          D     E
To the green woods do not go.”

[Verse 2]
           A          E           A
“For there are seven foresters in Esslemont,
                        D
And this you know full well,
     A           D     A
For one small drop of your heart’s blood
                        E        D
They would ride to the gates of Hell.”
              E
“Oh, there’s many men are my friends, Mother,
        D         A      E
Though many more are my foe.
       A       D         A       D
And betide me well or betide me ill,
    E      D      E
A-hunting I will go.”

[Verse 3]
    A          E          A
So Johnny has taken his good bent bow,
                   D
His arrows one by one,
     A            D   A
And he’s away to Monymusk
                   E        D
For to bring the dun deer down.

[Instrumental]
E
D   A  E    
A D A  D
E  D   E

[Verse 4]
    A          E          A
Oh, Johnny shot and the dun deer rose,
                         D
He’s wounded her in the side.
      A                 D       A
And between the water and the woods,
               E       D
The two dogs laid her pride.
          E
And they ate so much of the venison,
       D       A            E
They drank so much of the blood,
       A     D       A       D
That Johnny and his two grey dogs
         E          D            E
Fell asleep as if they had been dead.

[Verse 5]
    A          E     A
And by there came a sly old man,
                    D
A silly old man was he,
     A           D     A
And he’s away to Esslemont
                E        D
For to tell on young Johnny.
       E
“As I came in by Monymusk,
     D     A         E
And down among yon scrogs,
         A      D         A       D
It was there I spied the bonniest youth
        E           D       E
Lying sleeping between two dogs.”

[Verse 6]
          A        E       A
“And the buttons that were on his coat
                     D
Were of the gold so good,
         A                  D         A
And the two grey dogs that he lay between,
                         E          D
Their mouths they were died with blood.”
     E
And up and spoke the first forester,
        D        A        E
He was headsman over them all,
        A     D          A      D
“Can this be Johnny of Brady’s Lea?
   E      D       E
Unto him we will crawl.”

[Verse 7]
          A         E             A
And the very first shot that the foresters fired,
                        D
It wounded him in the thigh,
     A           D           A
The very next shot that the foresters fired,
                     E         D
His heart’s blood blinded his eye.
     E
Then up woke Johnny from out of his sleep,
    D     A      E
An angry man was he.
              A      D        A        D
He says “The wildest wolf in all this wood
       E            D      E
Would not have done so by me.”

[Verse 8]
           A         E       A
And he’s leaned his back against an oak,
                     D
His foot against a stone,
     A       D          A
And he has fired on the seven foresters,
                  E       D
He’s killed them all but one.
     E
And he’s broken seven of this man’s ribs,
     D           A     E
His arm and his collarbone,
     A      D         A       D
And he has set him on to his horse,
     E         D       E
To bring the tidings home.

[Verse 9]
N.C.
Johnny’s good bent bow is broke,
N.C.
And his two grey dogs are slain,
N.C.
And his body lies in Monymusk,
N.C.
And his hunting days are done.