Exceptional sleuthing Rossey. The entire article (from 1911), "About Some Auld Sangs," by "W." is enlightening and worth reading. It partly relies on a column by Gavin Grieg.

Here is the 1840 text, which Lady Scott denied she'd written, "Published by Paterson & Roy, 27 George Street, Edinburgh":


                   "BONNIE LOCH LOMAN."

By yon bonnie banks and yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines sweet on Loch Loman,
Where we hae past sae mony happy days,
On the bonnie bonnie banks o' Loch Loman!

Chorus —
O', ye'll tak' the hie road, and I'll tak' the low road
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye —
But trouble it is there, and mony hearts are sair,
On the bonnie bonnie banks o' Loch Loman.

We'll meet where we parted, in yon shady glen,
On the steep, steep side o' Ben Loman,
When, in purple hue, the hieland hills we view,
An' the moon looks out frae the gloamin'.

Still fair is the scene, but ah! how changed
Are the hopes we fondly cherish'd,
Like a watery gleam — like a mornin' dream —
On Culloden field they perish'd.

Ah, mony that met and freely did rove,
Now 'mang the bracken are hidin,'
An' men, guid an' true, are hunted frae view,
An' exile or death are abidin'!

Wi' his fair youthfu' face, an' his native grace,
His plaidie in the breeze wavin' lightly,
His buckles shinin' clear, his very sight did cheer,
Oh, handsome were the looks o' Prince Charlie.

Oh, brave Charlie Stewart! dear to the true heart!
Wha could refuse thee protection?
Like the weeping birch on the wild hill side,
How gracefu' he luiked in dejection!

The wild flowers spring, an' the wee birdies sing,
An' in sunshine the waters are sleepin';
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring,
Yet resigned we may be tho' we're greetin'.


Grieg is cited as being certain that the anonymous song ("By a lady") circulated earlier in manuscript.

But if so, before 1840 it could have been known to only a relative handful of people.

W. helpfully notes that "Its latest form, that in use by singers now,
consists of verses 1, 2, and 7, with the chorus after each" and with trivial verbal changes. (And the song certainly benefits from the editing.)


Presumably the air was essentially the modern one, which Christie's closely approximates.