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The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond

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"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond"
"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond"

"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" (or "Loch Lomond") is a traditional Scottish folk song (Roud No. 9598).[1][2] Its origins are thought to date to the Jacobite rising of 1745.

Loch Lomond is the largest Scottish loch. In Scots, "bonnie" means "fair" or "beautiful".[3]

Lyrics

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By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond,
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

Chorus:
O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye,
But me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

'Twas there that we parted, in yon shady glen,
On the steep, steep side o' Ben Lomond,
Where in soft purple hue, the highland hills we view,
And the moon coming out in the gloaming.
(Chorus)

The wee birdies sing and the wildflowers spring,
And in sunshine the waters are sleeping.
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again,
Though the waeful may cease frae their grieving.
(Chorus)

Interpretation

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View of Loch Lomond, December 2005

The song has often been dated to 1746, and it has long been associated with the Jacobite rebellion. In December 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie retreated to Scotland, and the lyrics have been interpreted as a lament of the march.[4] One of the soldiers rues his sacrifice for the king.[5] In Celtic mythology, the "low road" was a fairy route back to a soldier's home country when he is killed abroad.[6]

Another common interpretation is that the chorus are the final words spoken by one of the Jacobite rebels prior to his execution.[7] He sees his lover at the gallows and tells her they will meet again in Scotland, albeit by different routes.[8] Ironically, the song became one of a handful of folk signifiers for British unity as the nation expanded its empire.[9]

Lady John Scott was often credited as the composer of "Loch Lomond", but she only transcribed the melody and lyrics after hearing it sung by a boy in the Edinburgh streets.[10] The actual composer is unknown. Precedents for it have been found in several other folk songs, such as the Danish/Faroese tune "The King Captured a Mermaid" (Dankonning lod gribe en havfrue fin).[11] "Loch Lomond" along with "The Oak and the Ash" also bear a resemblance to "Godesses", a tune in John Playford's 1651 compilation The Dancing Master.[12][13]

There are also similar turns of phrase in "The Bonniest Lass In A' The World" and "Robin Cushie".[2][10]

Variants

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An 1849 broadside called "Flora's Lament for Her Charlie" largely parallels the lyrics of "Loch Lomond". Flora MacDonald was a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and she was imprisoned for helping Charles escape his pursuers.[14]

The song is often misattributed to Scottish poet and folklorist Andrew Lang. In 1876, he wrote a poem called "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond, 1746".[15]

THERE's an ending o' the dance, and fair Morag's safe in France,
And the Clans they hae paid the lawing,
And the wuddy has her ain, and we twa are left alane,
Free o' Carlisle gaol in the dawing.

So ye'll tak the high road, and I'll tak the laigh road,
An' I'll be in Scotland before ye:
But me and my true love will never meet again,
By the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

For my love's heart brake in twa, when she kenned the Cause's fa',
And she sleeps where there's never nane shall waken,
Where the glen lies a' in wrack, wi' the houses toom and black,
And her father's ha's forsaken.

While there's heather on the hill shall my vengeance ne'er be still,
While a bush hides the glint o' a gun, lad;
Wi' the men o' Sergeant Môr shall I work to pay the score,
Till I wither on the wuddy in the sun, lad!

So ye'll tak the high road, and I'll tak the laigh road,
An' I'll be in Scotland before ye:
But me and my true love will never meet again,
By the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.

"Wuddy" is a euphemism for a noose.[15] "Morag" refers to Bonnie Prince Charlie who was defeated in 1746.[16] "Sergeant Môr" is John Du Cameron, a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie who continued fighting as an outlaw until he was captured and hanged in 1753. Several Scots terms are used like "lawing" (reckoning) and "dawing" (dawn).[17]

The Irish variant of the song is called "Red Is the Rose" and is sung with the same melody but different (although similarly themed) lyrics.[18] It was popularized by Irish folk musician Tommy Makem. Even though many people mistakenly believe that Makem wrote "Red Is the Rose", it is a traditional Irish folk song.[19][20]

Legacy

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"Loch Lomond" has been arranged and recorded by many composers and performers over the years, in several genres ranging from traditional Scottish folk to barbershop to rock and roll.[2]

[edit]
Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond, sung by Marie Narelle.

Marie Narelle recorded "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" for Edison Gold Moulded Records. She sang the song with an orchestra, and her performance was released in August 1906 as cylinder 9325.[21]

Australian rock band AC/DC recorded a version of the song as "Fling Thing" and released it as the B-side to their 1976 single "Jailbreak".[22] The song underscored the band's Scottish ancestry, and they played it at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow during the recording of their 1978 live album If You Want Blood You've Got It.[23] On their 1992 album AC/DC Live, the cover is simply listed as "Bonny". "Fling Thing" was later remastered and released on the 2009 box set Backtracks.

Rod Stewart's "Rhythm of My Heart" (1991) reworks the tune's melody into the chorus, turning "On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond" into "Where the ocean meets the sky I'll be sailing".[24] The song was written by Marc Jordan and John Capek and first recorded by René Shuman in 1986.

Runrig

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"Loch Lomond"
Single by Runrig
B-side"Tuireadh Iain Ruaidh"
ReleasedDecember 1982[25]
StudioCastlesound Studios, Edinburgh[26]
Length4:27
LabelRidge
Songwriter(s)Traditional
Producer(s)Chris Rainbow
Runrig singles chronology
"Loch Lomond"
(1982) 		"Dance Called America"
(1984)

Scottish celtic rock band Runrig recorded "Loch Lomond" for their 1979 album The Highland Connection. Despite being three albums into their career in 1982, Runrig had never released a single.[27] They decided to re-record "Loch Lomond" at Castlesound Studios in Edinburgh and make it their debut single release.[28] It was released by Ridge Records in December 1982 and received moderate airplay.[29][30] The single peaked at #86 on the UK Singles Chart on January 8, 1983.[31][32] It remains one of their best known songs.[33]

In 2007, Runrig re-recorded "Loch Lomond" with 50,000 members of the Tartan Army, the supporters of the Scotland national football team. The recording was part of the BBC's Children in Need fundraiser.[34][35] The single was released as "Loch Lomond (Hampden Remix)" and was a commercial success. It debuted at #1 on the Scottish Singles Chart and #9 in the UK.[31][32] The single was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry.[36]

"Loch Lomond" is also the anthem of FC Köln, and their fans sing it before each match.[37][38][39]

"Loch Lomond"
Performed by Southern Aire of the United States Air Force Reserve Band
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Jazz

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The Jazz Discography, an online index of studio recordings, live recordings, and broadcast transcriptions of jazz – as of May 22, 2019 – lists 106 recordings of "Loch Lomond" and one recording of "Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond".

A notable big band version of "Loch Lomond", arranged by Claude Thornhill, was recorded in a live performance on January 16, 1938, by the Benny Goodman and His Orchestra on the album, The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert, on January 16, 1938, featuring Martha Tilton on vocals (Columbia SL 160).

Jazz singer Maxine Sullivan, for whom it was a career-defining hit, recorded it at least 14 times, first on August 6, 1937 (matrix 21472-1; Vocalion-OKeh 364). Her last recording was a live performance at the Fujitsu-Concord Jazz Festival in Tokyo, on September 28, 1986, with the Scott Hamilton Quintet.[40]

Classical music

[edit]

Ferdinand Thieriot wrote a symphonic fantasy on the tune in 1868.[41]

In 1921, Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged "Loch Lomond" for baritone solo and male choir.[42] It has been recorded several times, notably by the tenor Ian Partridge and the London Madrigal Singers for EMI in 1970.[43]

TV and film

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The song is frequently used in TV and movies to convey a sense of Scottish story setting and/or character identity.

In Our Gang Follies of 1938, an American short musical film by Hal Roach, Annabelle Logan sings a rendition of "Loch Lomond" at the local talent show.[44] The song features in the 1940 American musical It's a Date.[45]

In the 1945 Sherlock Holmes film Pursuit to Algiers, starring Basil Rathbone, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) sings a rendition of "Loch Lomond" accompanied by Sheila Woodbury (Marjorie Riordan) on the piano.[46]

In the 1955 Disney animated classic Lady and the Tramp, one of its characters, Jock, a Scottish terrier, sings his own version of "The Bonnie Banks Of Loch Lomond" when he buries a new bone "in [his] bonnie, bonnie bank in the back yard".[47]

In the 1958 Tom and Jerry short Robin Hoodwinked, Nibbles sings the first half of the chorus of "Loch Lomond".[48][49]

The song is heard in the 1963 Disney film The Three Lives of Thomasina.

The Marcia Blane music class is heard singing the song in the background in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

A recording of a Scotsman singing the song in captivity during the First World War featured in the 2007 BBC documentary How the Edwardians Spoke.[50]

In the children's cartoon, Animaniacs, it is heard in "Ups and Downs" as Wakko and Dr. Scratchansniff ride the elevator.[51][citation needed] It is also heard in the Animaniacs feature film Wakko's Wish.

In the American TV series The Simpsons, Groundskeeper Willie whistles the melody in the episode "Lard of the Dance".

In the Hal Roach short comedy film Tit for Tat, Stan Laurel sings a verse of this song after Oliver Hardy declares in a verbal altercation with his neighbor that he will take the "high road" and walk away.

In Smallville Season 7 Episode 19, the tune is featured under the title "The Birks of St Kilde." It is played by a grandfather clock and later by Lex Luthor on the piano as he quotes alternative plot-important lyrics: "On the shores of St Kilde, birks sway in the wind from the left to the right again."

In the 2000 movie Prince of Central Park J.J. Somerled, played the song in keyboard while Jerry Orbach as a businessman, sang the song.

In The Office Season 8 Episode 20 "Welcome Party" Andy sings an excerpt from the song.

References

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  1. ^ "Loch Lomond", The Traditional Ballad Index. Edited by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Fuld, James Jeffrey. The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. Crown, 1966. 336–7.
  3. ^ "Bonny adj., adv., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd.
  4. ^ Greig, John. Scots Minstrelsie: A National Monument of Scottish Song, Volume III. Edinburgh: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1892. xxv, 352.
  5. ^ Pittock, Murray. Poetry and Jacobite Politics in Eighteenth-Century Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press, 1994. 136–137.
  6. ^ Douglas, Ronald Macdonald. Scottish Lore and Folklore. Crown Publishers, 1982. 148–9.
  7. ^ "The Dark Tale of Bonnie 'Loch Lomond'", Morning Edition. July 24, 2005.
  8. ^ Ford, Robert. Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland. Alexander Gardner, 1904. 145–8.
  9. ^ Banfield, Stephen, and Ian Russell. "England (i)." Grove Music Online. 2001. Oxford University Press.
  10. ^ a b Moffat, Alfred. The Minstrelsy of Scotland: 200 Scottish songs adapted to their traditional airs. London: Augener, 1920. 34.
  11. ^ Gilchrist, Anne G. "Reviews", Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, vol. 4, no. 1, 1940. 32.
  12. ^ Gilchrist, Anne G. “Some Additional Notes on the Traditional History of Certain Ballad-Tunes in the ‘Dancing Master’ (1650).” Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, vol. 3, no. 4, 1939. 277.
  13. ^ Playford, John. The Dancing Master. London: Thomas Harper, 1651. 52.
  14. ^ "Flora's Lament for Her Charlie", The Word on the Street. National Library of Scotland.
  15. ^ a b Lang, Andrew. "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" in The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang, Volume I. ed. Mrs. Lang. Longmans, Green & Co., 1923. 55–56.
  16. ^ MacBean, Lachlan. The Songs and Hymns of the Scottish Highlands with translations and music and an introduction. Part II, No. 5. Edinburgh: MacLachlan & Stewart, 1888.
  17. ^ Lancashire, Ian. "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond", Representative Poetry Online. University of Toronto. 2008.
  18. ^ "Red is the Rose". Jennifer Tyson. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  19. ^ "Irish love song Red is the Rose". Irish Music Daily. Archived from the original on 11 February 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2024. Makem said he learned the song from his mother, Sarah, who was a well known singer and folk song collector from Armagh in Northern Ireland. ... A recording of Red is the Rose that was made in 1934 by Josephine Beirne and George Sweatman under the title, My Bonnie Irish Lass
  20. ^ Raymond Crooke (12 January 2009). "690. Red is the Rose (Traditional Irish)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2013.[unreliable source]
  21. ^ "COMMENTS ON EDISON GOLD MOULDED RECORDS FOR AUGUST, 1906." Edison Phonograph Monthly, volume 4, no. 1. March 1906–February 1907. 8.
  22. ^ Wall, Mick. AC/DC: Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be. St. Martin's Press, 2013. 170.
  23. ^ Popoff, Martin. AC/DC at 50. Motorbooks, 2023. 50.
  24. ^ Stewart, Rod. Rod: The Autobiography. Crown, 2012. 301.
  25. ^ "New Singles". Record Business. 29 November 1982. p. 18.
  26. ^ Loch Lomond (7-inch single liner notes). Runrig. Ridge Records. 1982. RRS003.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. ^ Jenkins, Lisa Davenport (2004). Celtic Connections: "Celticism" in Scottish Music. University of Michigan. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-496-69304-7.
  28. ^ "Runrig". www.allcelticmusic.com. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  29. ^ "THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: "Loch Lomond" by Runrig". Rocking In the Norselands. 23 December 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  30. ^ "Surprise boost for Loch". The Lennox Herald. 11 February 1983. p. 12.
  31. ^ a b "RUNRIG". Official Charts. 8 January 1983. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  32. ^ a b "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart on 16/12/2007". Official Charts. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  33. ^ "Alba no more. Skye no more. Loch Lomond no more. Runrig say farewell". The Herald. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  34. ^ McNeil, Robert (2 June 2024). "Damn critics who took low road with proud purveyors of triumphalist jock rock Runrig". The Herald. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  35. ^ "Scotland fans record charity song". BBC. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  36. ^ "BRIT Certified". BPI. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  37. ^ "Why do German football fans sing the Loch Lomond tune?". BBC News. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  38. ^ Online, Record Sport (26 September 2016). "Watch FC Köln fans belt out Runrig's Loch Lomond in stunning pre-match ritual". Daily Record. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  39. ^ Healey, Derek (26 September 2016). "VIDEO: German football club adopts Runrig's Loch Lomond as their anthem". Press and Journal. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  40. ^ "Flow Sweetly, Sweet Rhythm: The Maxine Sullivan Story". By Jan Souther (pseudonym of Rev. Thomas Francis Carten, C.S.C., Alumni Chaplin, Kings College; born 1942), The Sunday Voice (magazine of the Citizens' Voice). June 15, 2008, p. D6 (accessible via Newspapers.com (subscription required))
  41. ^ De Bekker, Leander Jan. De Bekker's Music & Musicians: An Encyclopædic Dictionary of Terms and Biographies. United Kingdom, N.L. Brown, 1925. 678.
  42. ^ Vaughan Williams, Ralph. "Loch Lomond". London: Stainer & Bell, 1921.
  43. ^ The Spring Time of the Year: 16 Folk Songs arranged by Vaughan Williams. London Madrigal Singers, Christopher Bishop. His Master's Voice – HQS 1215. 1970.
  44. ^ Demoss, Robert (9 November 2008). "The Lucky Corner: Our Gang Follies of 1938". Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  45. ^ Lowe, Barry (9 February 2024). Deanna Durbin in Hollywood. McFarland. p. 187-188. ISBN 978-1-4766-5175-0.
  46. ^ Fisk, Gregory. "Pursuit to Algiers 1945 – starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce". Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson – A Tribute. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  47. ^ Lacks, Gregory. "Original Production Animation Cel of Jock from "Lady and the Tramp, 1955", Untitled Art Gallery.
  48. ^ "Robin Hoodwinked". Dr. Grob's Animation Review. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  49. ^ "Tom and Jerry "Robin Hoodwinked" Tuffy Production Cel (MGM, 1958)". Heritage Auctions. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  50. ^ How the Edwardians Spoke (TV Movie 2007) - IMDb, 6 May 2007, retrieved 23 April 2021
  51. ^ "Ups and Downs / The Brave Little Trailer / Yes, Always". B98.TV. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
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