"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond", or "Loch Lomond" for short, is a Scottish song (Roud No. 9598). [1] [2] The song prominently features Loch Lomond, the largest Scottish loch, located between the council areas of West Dunbartonshire, Stirling and Argyll and Bute. In Scots, "bonnie" means "attractive", "beloved", or "dear". [3]
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
Historian Murray G. H. Pittock writes that the song "is a Jacobite adaptation of an eighteenth-century erotic song, with the lover dying for his king, and taking only the 'low road' of death back to Scotland." [4] It is one of many poems and songs that emerged from Jacobite political culture in Scotland. [4]
About 1876, the Scottish poet and folklorist Andrew Lang wrote a poem based on the song titled "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond". [5] [6] The title sometimes has the date "1746" appended [7] [8] —the year of the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion and the hanging of some of his captured supporters. Lang's poem begins
There's an ending o' the dance, and fair Morag's safe in France,
And the Clans they hae paid the lawing,
Morag—great one in Gaelic—referred to Bonnie Prince Charlie, who fled to France after his forces were defeated. [9] Lawing means reckoning in Scots. The poem continues:
And the wuddy has her ain, and we twa are left alane,
Free o' Carlisle gaol in the dawing.
Wuddy means hangman's rope, according to Lang's own notes on the poem; dawing is dawn. [10] The poem continues with the song's well-known chorus, then explains why the narrator and his true love will never meet again:
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
The poem's narrator vows to take violent revenge on the English:
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!
"Sergeant Môr" is John Du Cameron, a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie who continued fighting as an outlaw until he was hanged in 1753. [10]
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. [11] 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. [12] [13]
"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]
Ralph Vaughan Williams made an arrangement for baritone solo and unaccompanied male choir in 1921. It has been recorded several times, notably by the tenor Ian Partridge and the London Madrigal Singers for EMI in 1970. [14]
Scottish folk-rock band Runrig have made the song their unofficial anthem, closing their concerts with a rendition for over 25 years. Two verses of the song and the chorus are now a favourite anthem of the supporters of the Scotland rugby team and also of the Tartan Army, the supporters of the Scotland football team, and as such are fixtures including at the respective teams' home games at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh and Hampden Park in Glasgow. One re-recorded version in 2007 for BBC Children in Need that featured both Runrig and the Tartan Army peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart and number one in Scotland. [15] [16] In April 2022, their recording was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales and streams exceeding 200,000 units. [17] Possibly taking a cue from Runrig, and sung at a faster marching pace, the original sad lament is enthusiastically bellowed out by thousands of Scots to celebrate a score and to spur on the team. [18]
Chinese singer-songwriter Li Jian used the melody [19] with Mandarin lyrics of a similar theme in his self-titled 2015 album.
Australian rock band AC/DC covered this song, titled "Fling Thing", as the B-side to their single "Jailbreak". They also covered it (as "Bonny") in Glasgow on the collector's edition of their 1992 album AC/DC Live . "Fling Thing" was later remastered and released on the compilation album Backtracks .
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:
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. [21]
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.
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".
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. [22]
In the children's cartoon, Animaniacs , it is heard in "Ups and Downs" as Wakko and Dr. Scratchansniff ride the elevator. [23] [ citation needed ] It is also heard in the Animaniacs feature film Wakko's Wish .
In the 2021 film A Castle for Christmas it is sung by the cast during a pub scene.
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.
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands. Traditionally forming part of the boundary between the counties of Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire, Loch Lomond is split between the council areas of Stirling, Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire. Its southern shores are about 23 kilometres (14 mi) northwest of the centre of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The Loch forms part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park which was established in 2002.
Bonnie Dundee is the title of a poem and a song written by Walter Scott in 1825 in honour of John Graham, 7th Laird of Claverhouse, who was created 1st Viscount Dundee in November 1688, then in 1689 led a Jacobite rising in which he died, becoming a Jacobite hero.
"Auld Lang Syne" is a popular Scottish song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve/Hogmanay. By extension, it is also often heard at funerals, graduations, and as a farewell or ending to other occasions; for instance, many branches of the Scouting movement use it to close jamborees and other functions.
Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included brothers and songwriters Rory MacDonald and Calum MacDonald (percussion). The line-up during most of the 1980s and 1990s also included Donnie Munro (vocals), Malcolm Jones (guitar), Iain Bayne (drums), and Pete Wishart (keyboards). Munro left the band in 1997 to pursue a career in politics and was replaced by Bruce Guthro. Wishart left in 2001, also to pursue a career in politics, and was replaced by Brian Hurren. The band released fourteen studio albums, with a number of their songs sung in Scottish Gaelic.
Ben Lomond, 974 metres (3,196 ft), is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Memorial Park and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, property of the National Trust for Scotland.
"The Skye Boat Song" is a late 19th-century Scottish song adaptation of a Gaelic song composed c.1782 by William Ross, entitled Cuachag nan Craobh. In the original song, the composer laments to a cuckoo that his unrequited love, Lady Marion Ross, is rejecting him. The 19th century English lyrics instead evoked the journey of Prince Charles Edward Stuart from Benbecula to the Isle of Skye as he evaded capture by government soldiers after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
"The Three Ravens" is an English folk ballad, printed in the song book Melismata compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611, but it is perhaps older than that. Newer versions were recorded right up through the 19th century. Francis James Child recorded several versions in his Child Ballads.
Thomas Makem was an Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, tin whistle, low whistle, guitar, bodhrán and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone. He was sometimes known as "The Bard of Armagh" and "The Godfather of Irish Music".
"The Parting Glass" is a Scottish traditional song, often sung at the end of a gathering of friends. It has also long been sung in Ireland, where it remains popular and has strongly influenced how it is often sung today. It was purportedly the most popular parting song sung in Scotland before Robert Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne".
"The Hundred Pipers" is a Scottish song and jig attributed to Carolina Nairne, Lady Nairne and popularised from 1852 onwards. It takes as its themes events during and after the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie is a Scottish folk song about a thwarted romance between a soldier and a girl. Like many folk songs, the authorship is unattributed, there is no strict version of the lyrics, and it is often referred to by its opening line "There once was a troop o' Irish dragoons". The song is also known by a variety of other names, the most common of them being "Peggy-O", "Fennario", and "The Maid of Fife".
John Strachan (1875–1958) was a Scottish farmer and Traditional singer of Bothy Ballads including several old and influential versions of the famous Child Ballads. He had a huge repertoire of traditional songs, and was recorded by the likes of James Madison Carpenter, Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson.
"Wild Mountain Thyme" is a Scottish/Irish folk song. The lyrics and melody are a variant of the song "The Braes of Balquhither" by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill (1774–1810) and Scottish composer Robert Archibald Smith (1780–1829), but were adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake (1885–1971) into "Wild Mountain Thyme" and first recorded by his family in the 1950s.
Loch Lomond may refer to:
"One Great Thing" is the third single from Scottish band Big Country's 1986 album, The Seer. The composition of the song and in particular the guitar solo appears to feature similar melody from the chorus of Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond. After the somewhat disappointing chart performance of the band's previous single "The Teacher", the song reached No. 19 in the UK Singles Chart.
Children in Need 2007 was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for Children in Need. It culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One on the evening of Friday 16 November, through to the morning of Saturday 17 November. The broadcast was hosted by Terry Wogan and Fearne Cotton, joined by other guest presenters throughout the night. The voice over reading out hourly totals was Alan Dedicoat. The event broke all previous records with a total of £19,089,771 raised by the closing minute. The show's average audience was 9.56 million, a huge amount higher than the previous year's event.
Strathyre is a district and settlement in the Stirling local government district of Scotland. It forms the south-eastern part of the parish of Balquhidder and was, prior to the 1973 reorganisation of local government, part of Perthshire. It is within the bounds of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. In Gaelic, the district is Srath Eadhair and the village is An t-Iomaire Riabhach or an t-Iomaire Fada.
John Du Cameron was a Scottish Sergeant in the French Royal Army who came back to Scotland to fight for Prince Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite rising of 1745. When the rebellion failed he took to the hills with a band of renegades and fought on until he was captured and hanged in 1753. He is better known by the name of Sergent Mòr.
"Bonnie Charlie", also commonly known as "Will ye no come back again?", is a Scots poem by Carolina Oliphant, set to a traditional Scottish folk tune. As in several of the author's poems, its theme is the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising of 1745, which ended at the Battle of Culloden. Written well after the events it commemorates, it is not a genuine Jacobite song, like many other songs that were "composed in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but ... passed off as contemporary products of the Jacobite risings."
Frances Mary Colquhoun was a Scottish writer.
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
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