Lyr/Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside

Subject: LYR REQ. Bonnie Tyneside
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 05 Mar 98 - 01:35 AM

I have the tune to this, courtesy of a Scottish Music Midi site. It sounds like it should have lyrics. Any clues please?

Regards John

Subject: Bonnie Tyneside
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 07 May 98 - 06:58 PM

Have been listening to a MIDI file, which sounds like it should have lyrics? Is this so? The tune came from one of the Scottish music collections on the WEB.

Failing that (and if it isn't heresy) can we please have some history or geography so that one of us might compose them?

Regards John

Subject: RE: Bonnie Tyneside
From: JB3
Date: 10 May 98 - 06:16 AM

John, I'm not familiar with the tune, but for some information about the Tyneside region, have you caught any of the thread: What is a Geordie?

Subject: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: DeeAnn
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:32 AM

I've just e-mailed the lyrics for *Bonnie Tyneside* to the digitrad. For those who asked about Geordie's, here's some history: A Geordie is a native of Tyneside. Geordie also refers to anything related to Tyneside, its people or the dialect spoken there. Tyneside is located in the northeast of England from South Shields and Gateshead in the south, to Berwick in the north. The midi file is listed on the web as a Scottish waltz. A music notation arrangement by Seth Austen can be found in the music book, "You Can Teach Yourself Dulcimer." For more information about Tyneside and Geordie check these sites: http://www.geordiepride.demon.co.uk/recitations.htm http://www.tyneside.com

DeeAnn

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 02 May 00 - 11:32 AM

where is the midi? CB

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: GUEST,Barry T
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:17 PM

The midi is over here on Lesley Nelson's site

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 02 May 00 - 03:50 PM

ok.... now where did the lyrics go... please post...

Conrad

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: GUEST
Date: 02 May 00 - 10:20 PM

DeeAnn:

As Conrad is probably suggesting, the best way of posting lyrics -or any other relevant information- is to put them on the appropriate thread here in the Forum.  By all means send them straight to the DT as well, but be aware that, given the enormous scope of the project and the relatively few people who are actually involved in processing material for it, your contribution may never be included in the database proper.  If, on the other hand, you put it here -ideally in the thread you originally started, rather than in a new one on the same subject (repeated threads tend to confuse things) then it will be available straight away to anybody who wants it and who is either able to work out how to search the Forum -provided you have given your thread a name that actually describes what it is about- or who can get somebody else to do it for them.

Please don't think that this is a criticism: it isn't.  Your contribution will certainly be welcome, and valued.  Just make sure that we all know it's there, and can find it!

With best wishes,

Malcolm

P.S. If you have any doubts about formatting lyrics for display on the Forum or the Database, consult Joe Offer's cumulative FAQ thread, which is (I hope)  here.

P.P.S. If you do decide to post the lyrics on the Forum, I should do it on this thread!

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: Margaret\W
Date: 03 May 00 - 05:38 AM

Nice to have the words and tune in one place for once - thank you. The tune has long been used for Spanish waltzes here in North Northumberland.

One small thing, though: Geordies are only found along the banks of the Tyne fron Wylam in the East to the mouth of the river. Anyone away from the river banks is firstly of their own grayne (clan is the Scottish equivalent) and secondly a Northumbrian, but never a Geordie. This may sound nitpicking but to some of us it makes all the difference in the world!

Best wishes, Margaret

Subject: DTADD: Bonnie Tyneside
From: DeeAnn
Date: 04 May 00 - 03:34 PM

BONNIE TYNESIDE
A Scottish Waltz
(Songwriter Unknown)

As I came in by Tyneside
Where gently flows the rolling tide,
A fair pretty maid passed by my side;
And her looks did me ensnare.

She took me to her father's home,
So bashfully as I went in,
Say's he, "Young man you're far from home
On bonnie Tyneside."

Well I sat down, her folks to please
They treated me to wine and cheese,
And children gathered round my knees;
It was a blithesome sight.

But nine o'clock began to strike
And the plowmen lads began to spit,
Say's I to myself, "It's time to flit
From bonnie Tyneside."

It's myself arose up to my feet
I bid them all a fine goodnight
And asked the road to Mains O'Gicht
And the fair maid to convoy.

She's shown me past the barn door,
And oh but my poor heart was sore,
To part with her and meet no more
On bonnie Tyneside.

But in the spring came back again,
And on her finger place a ring,
And home with me then she did come,
From bonnie Tyneside.

Submitted by DA
05-02-2000

---

Tune: http://www.contemplator.com/tunebook/england.htm

---

also:

Click to play

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: DeeAnn
Date: 04 May 00 - 04:17 PM

My apologies folks! As a newbie I am having a devil of a time posting the Bonnie Tyneside lyrics. Even after reading the various FAQ's and letters of advice, I remain confused. It seems that when I typed the lyrics into the body of my message and hit submit, the only thing that appeared on the forum was the title. Please forgive my obvious ignorance! Hopefully in a day or two I'll have the smart's to do this correctly.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 04 May 00 - 04:48 PM

you can send them to me for posting- [e-mail]

make sure you have not interrupted a html tag...

Conrad

Subject: Lyr Add: BONNIE TYNESIDE
From: Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 04 May 00 - 09:10 PM

here it is- lurking in the html- some bad tags

BONNIE TYNESIDE (Songwriter and source unknown)

As I came in by Tyneside,
Where gently flows the rolling tide,
A fair pretty maid passed by my side;
And her looks did me ensnare.

She's taken me to her father's home
So bashfully, as I went in,
Says he, "Young man you're far from home, on bonnie Tyneside".
Well I sat down her folks to please,

They treated me to bread and cheese,
And the children gathered round my knees;
It was a blithesome sight.
But nine o'clock began to strike

And the plowing lads began to spit,
Says I to myself, "It's time to flit;
Away from bonnie Tyneside".
It's myself arose up to my feet,

I bid them all a fine goodnight,
Then asked the road to Mains O'Gicht;
And the fair maid to convoy.
She's shown me past the barn door,

And oh but my poor heart was sore,
To part with her and meet no more;
On bonnie Tyneside.
But in the spring came back again,

And on her finger placed a ring,
And home with me then she did come;
From bonnie Tyneside.

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 04 May 00 - 09:40 PM

DeeAnn:

Our thanks are due to Conrad for sorting that out!   Basically, you have put in extra .html symbols that prevented browsers from displaying your text: When you begin an instruction with a <  you must close it with a >  before putting in another <  -otherwise everything gets very confused.   If you right-click on the page where you tried to submit the lyrics and select "Show Source", you'll see the underlying .html code.  If you need more advice, any of us would be happy to help.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 05 May 00 - 07:37 AM

I would be interested in a source for this. I have not found it in any of the early works... Conrad

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: DeeAnn
Date: 09 May 00 - 12:51 AM

My thanks to everyone who helped pull my blunders together to get the lyrics posted. I had a feeling that my problem was html related, since I'm not familiar enough with it to put it to proper use. I'm terribly embarassed to say that I found the lyrics on one of the lyric web sites while searching into the wee hours one night. I failed to bookmark or even write down the source before exiting and have lost the original copy that I printed. I keep hoping that I will find it again so that I can post the source. I would ordinarily note the source, but was so desperately searching for this song, and was so excited that I found it, that I completely forgot. I think it was in a Scottish lyric site that I followed in a link from another site. When I find it again, I will certainly post it here. Once again, thanks to everyone for your advice and help! DeeAnn

Subject: RE: Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside-Geordie
From: DeeAnn
Date: 10 May 00 - 12:22 AM

Hooray I found it! You can get the original lyrics and midi file for Bonnie Tyneside at Alan Sim's Traditional Lyrics and Midi Files site at the following URL:

http://members.xoom.com/grannyalan/

Subject: Tune Add: yes, it's legal
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 03 Mar 05 - 04:51 PM

Just now I send Joe Offer a MIDI of a lovely parlour tune called "Bonnie Tyneside." (The Tyne is a river in NE England.) It's already on the net, but I forgot, so what the heck.

I added a very simple bass line to the tune so pianists can see what the chords are. It's simpler than what I play, but if you improvise, you know what hard work it is to recapture what you just did.

The song is actually in AABA form, but I added another AB set so you can hear some harmony notes that add interest.

There are two places where an Em chord is followed by an E. "Is this legal?" you may ask. Yes it is. It's not common, but it's amazing what a difference it makes. Play it, and you are suddenly in the 19th century.

I don't know anything about the tune's history, but you can start reading about Tyneside by following this link:

http://www.thenortheast.fsnet.co.uk/GeordieOrigins.htm

The song is in 3/4 time with two pickup notes (eighth notes).Here are the chords, starting with the first full measure:

D-- D--* A-- A-- Bm-- Em-- E-- A--

D-- D--* A-- A-- Bm-Em D-- A-- D--

D-- (for 4 measures)Bm-- Em-- E-- A--

D-- D--* A-- A-- Bm-Em D-- A-- D--

The measures with * have the notes D-F#-G. When the melody plays G, avoid striking the highest string on a guitar, which is an F#. F# against G is simply too discordant, I feel.

Let me know if you like it. If you don't like it, don't let me know.

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Tune Add: yes, it's legal
From: GUEST,Frank Lee
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 09:10 AM

I know this lyric as 'As I came in by Ythanside'. It was recorded by Patti Reid with The Spread Eagle Band, some time in the '70s I think. So far as I know there's no such place as "Ythanside', but other places with the prefix 'Ythan...' (pron 'Eyethan') e.g Ythanwells, are in Scotland. The tune for Patti's song is, for my money, a much lovelier and much less 'Kenneth McKellar' minor key tune, quite different from this.
Frank Lee

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside
From: GUEST,archie robertson
Date: 22 Jan 08 - 05:31 PM

below are the words that I can remember my father singing to a song I knew as bonnie tyneside
although he was a scot he had good reason to love the area as he was bonded (efectively sold) by his parents and could only escape his 7 years of slavery by escaping o'er the border to england
I have been a folkie all my life and have sang in clubs and bars all over the world but I have never met anyone who knows this song
can anybody help me?



Its bonnie tyneside
Where my infancy passed
Like a beatiful dream
That's too lovely to last

I'd escape to the hills
And i'd wander all day
Amongst the green braes
Where the lambs are at play

And its bonnie tyneside
I will see you no more
After long years of exile
Away from your shore

Over far foreign countries
A wanderer I've been
And far have I wandered
And much have I seen

I have stood in the land
Where the sun ever shone
But I've nare seen country
As fair as my own

A place I've loved better
Than bonnie tyneside

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: Bonnie Tyneside
From: Snuffy
Date: 23 Jan 08 - 01:13 PM

Ythanside certainly makes more sense than Tyneside for a song that is usually reckoned to be Scottish. Mains O'Gicht would also appear to place it in NE Scotland, rather than NE England. Both Gicht and Ythanside can be found in another song from that area - versions of Pretty Peggy-o contain lines such as:
The drums they did beat, on the bonnie braes of Gicht ...
and
Green grow the birks on bonnie Ythanside ...

Subject: Lyr Add: TYNESIDE
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Jan 08 - 08:38 PM

From Edinburgh and Country Croonings by James Lumsden, 1905, page 109f.

TYNESIDE.
[EAST LOTHIAN.]

THERE is a nook on Tyneside,
A little, biel', bonnie nook,
That aye to me the warld wide,
Is sadder-sweet than ony nook;
Around it tangling woodbine,
Green ivy an' eglantine,
With birks, to mak' a bower, twine
An' be Love's ain nook.

That nook on bonnie Tyneside,
That hallow'd nook I ken weel!
O never wi' as fond a tide
Did river round a shore swiel!
Safe murmurings are stirr'd there,
Sweet is the music heard there,
Rare sings the Mavis bird there,
Gloaming's fa' to peel.

Around that nook on Tyneside,
Her spirit hov'ring evermair,
Shall ward that nook on Tyneside
Wi' ne'er-ending love and care!
Within its shade we parted
Ere love was sudden thwarted
By fell Death—sae stane-hearted,
E'en Jean he wadna spare!

Subject: Lyr Add: BONNIE TYNESIDE (George Chatt)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 Jan 08 - 07:55 PM

From Miscellaneous Poems by George Chatt, 1866, page 9f:

BONNIE TYNESIDE

OH, bonnie Tyneside! I shall see it once more,
After long years of exile away from its shore;
Through far foreign countries a rambler I've been,
And much have I suffer'd, and much have I seen;
And I've lived in lands where a brighter sun shone,
Yet ne'er saw a country so fair as my own;
And I never have seen, in my wanderings wide,
A spot I loved better than bonnie Tyneside.

Oh, bonnie Tyneside! where my infancy pass'd,
Like a beautiful dream, too happy to last;
Oh, I'll see the bright hills where in childhood we strayed,
And the school green at Wall where so often we've played;
And the schoolmaster still at the village is seen,
And the school children still are at play on the green;
But the class-mates I knew they are gone far and wide,
They have wander'd away from bonnie Tyneside.

Oh, bonnie Tyneside! I come weary and worn,
How few are the friends left to greet my return!
I'll away to the hills, and I'll wander all day,
Along the green banks where the lambs are at play;
Oh, the poor silly sheep know their tracks o'er the fell!
And the bonnie wee birds have a home in the dell;
But a home and a hearth I have yet to provide,
For I am a stranger to bonnie Tyneside.

Oh, bonnie Tyneside! my darling is there;
She waits for my coming her love to declare;
Since the day that we parted she faithful has been,
Though the wide ocean lay like a barrier between;
Oh, she's fair as the morning of beautiful May,
And bright as the eve of a midsummer day;
How happy I'd be with her for my bride,
In a snug little cottage in bonnie Tyneside.