"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond", or simply "Loch Lomond" for short, is a well-known traditional Scottish song first published in 1841 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland. The song prominently features Loch Lomond, the largest Scottishloch, located between the council areas of West Dunbartonshire, Stirling and Argyll and Bute. In Scots, "bonnie" means "pretty", often in reference to a female. The original composer is unknown, as is definitive information on any traditional lyrics.
Lyrics
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 a'fore 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 mooncoming 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
Historian Murray G. H. Pittock writes that the song "is a Jacobite adaption of an eighteenth-century erotic song, with the lover dying for his king, and taking only the 'low road' of death back to Scotland." It is one of many poems and songs that emerged from Jacobite political culture in Scotland.
About 1876, the Scottish poet and folklorist Andrew Lang wrote a poem based on the song titled "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond". The title sometimes has the date "1746" appended—the year of the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion and the hanging of some of his captured supporters. Lang's poem begins: Morag—great one in Gaelic—referred to Bonnie Prince Charlie, who fled to France after his forces were defeated. Lawing means reckoning in Scots. The poem continues: Wuddy means hangman's rope, according to Lang's own notes on the poem; dawing is dawn. The poem continues with the song's well-known chorus, then explains why the narrator and his true love will never meet again: The poem's narrator vows to take violent revenge on the English: "Sergeant Môr" is John Du Cameron, a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie who continued fighting as an outlaw until he was hanged in 1753.
Arrangements and recordings
"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. Ralph Vaughan Williams made an arrangement for baritone solo and unaccompanied male choir in 1921. It has been recorded several times, notably by the tenorIan Partridge and the London Madrigal Singers for EMI in 1970. Scottish folk-rock band Runrig have made the song their unofficial anthem, closing their concerts with a rendition for over 25 years. They also had a top ten hit with a re-recorded version in 2007, released for BBC Children in Need. Two verses of the song and the chorus are now a favourite anthem of the supporters of the Scotland rugby team at Murrayfield. 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. In rock n roll, AC/DC, the Mudmen, and Scottish-Canadian punk band The Real McKenzies have recorded versions of "Loch Lomond", and the bandQuadriga Consort have, like Runrig, performed it as the final song at concerts. Bill Haley & His Comets recorded it in 1957 for the albumRockin' the Oldies, but never made it onto the album. It was eventually released by Decca as "Rock Lomond" in August 1958 on the album Rockin' the Joint. The Irish variant of the song is called "Red Is the Rose" and is sung with the same melody but different lyrics. 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. The melody was adopted by Cologne band Höhner in their song "Mer ston zo dir FC Kölle", the Anthem of 1. FC Köln. The song is sung by the fans before each home game. Mark Knopfler has performed an instrumental version live, usually as an intro to his song "What It Is". In the 1955 Disney animated classic Lady and the Tramp, one of its characters, Jock, a Scottish terrier, renders his own version of "The Bonny Banks Of Loch Lomond" when collecting his bones "in the back yard".
Jazz
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 1 recording of "Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond." A notable big band version of "Loch Lomond," arranged byClaude 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. Jazz singer Maxine Sullivan, for whom it was a career-defining hit, recorded it at least 14 times:
