Two versions in the DT, but I didn't find any details in the Forum.
One DT Version:
THE BONNY BUNCH OF ROSES-O
By the borders of the ocean
One morning in the month of June,
To view those war-like songsters
Hear their merry notes and sweet-lie tunes
I overheard a female talking
She seemed to be in grief and woe
Conversing with young Bonaparte
Concerning the bonny bunch of roses-o.
When next I saw Napoleon,
Down on his bended knees was he,
Asking the pardon of his mother,
Who granted it most mournfully.
He says, "I'll take an army
And through tremenjous dangers I will go.
In spite of all the universe
I'll conquer the bonny bunch of roses-o."
"No, Son, don't talk so venturesome,
For England has the hearts of oak.
There's England, Ireland, and Scotland -
Their unity has ne'er been broke.
O Son, think on your father's fate,
On the Isle of St. Helene his body lies low,
And you will soon follow after.
Beware of the bonny bunch of roses-o."
Then he took one hundred thousand men,
And kings likewise to bear his train.
He was so well provided for
He thought to sweep this earth alone.
But when he arrived in Moscow,
He was overpowered by the driven snow.
When Moscow was a-blazing, there
He lost his bonny bunch of roses-o.
"O Mother, now believe me,
For I am on my dying bed.
If I had lived I would have been clever,
But now I droop my weary head.
And when my body lies mouldering,
And weeping willows o'er me grow,
The deeds of great Napoleon
Will sting the bonny bunch of roses-o"
From Traditional American Songs, Warner and Warner
Collected from John Galusha, 1941
Note: Napoleon of this song is the Emperor's son by his second
marriage. The Bonny Bunch of Roses is England, Ireland and
Scotland RG
DT #392
Laws J5
@war
filename[ BONBUNCH
TUNE FILE: BONBUNCH
CLICK TO PLAY
RG
And the Traditional Ballad Index entry:Bonny Bunch of Roses, The [Laws J5]
DESCRIPTION: Young Napoleon promises his mother that he will capture "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (Great Britain). She warns him of his father's disaster in Russia and of the strength of the British. They sorrowfully prepare for the lad's death.
AUTHOR: George Brown (source: RoudBishop)
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes); c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Napoleon dialog family political war Russia
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1805 - Battle of Trafalgar ends Napoleon's hopes of invading Britain
1811 - Birth of Napoleon Francis Joseph Charles Bonaparte (Napoleon II)
1812-1813 - Napoleon's Russian Campaign
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon forced into exile
1821 - Death of Napoleon I
July 22, 1832 - Death of Napoleon II
FOUND IN: US(MA,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(Lond,North,South),Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (29 citations):
Laws J5, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses"
Greig #94, pp. 1-2, "The Bonnie Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 155, "The Bonnie Bunch o' Roses" (6 texts, 6 tunes)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 84, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 68, "Bonny Bunch of Roses O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 3, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 105-107, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 202-203, "Bonny Bunch of Roses, O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 391, "Bonny Bunch of Roses O" (1 text)
RoudBishop #2, "Bonny Bunch of Roses O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 200, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 207-209, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 16, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 32B, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses, O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 184, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 17-18, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
Graham/Holmes 7, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 301-302, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 85, "The Bonnie Bunch of Roses" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Reeves-Circle 14, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
Browne-Hampshire, pp. 29-31, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 988-989, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 72, "The Bonnie Bunch of Roses" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
O'Conor, p. 127, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
Behan, #8, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
DallasCruel, pp. 132-134. "The Bonnie Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 392, BONBUNCH* BONBUNC2
ADDITIONAL: Richard Hayward, Ireland Calling (Glasgow,n.d.), pp. 18-19, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (text, music and reference to Regal Zonophone recording [probably Regal Zono MR-2830 recorded ca. May 1938])
_Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 22, #1 (1973), p, 15, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses-O" (1 text, 1 tune, the Seamus Ennis version)
Roud #664
RECORDINGS:
Everett Bennett, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Sam Larner, "Bonny Bunch of Roses" (on SLarner01)
Tom Murphy and Minnie Murphy, "The Bonnie Bunch Of Roses" (on ITMA/CapeShoreNL)
Cyril Poacher, "The Bonny Bunch O' Roses" (on Voice08)
Ernest Poole, "Bonny Bunch of Roses" (on MUNFLA/Leach)
Anthony Power, "The Bonny Bunch Of Roses" (on ITMA/CapeShoreNL)
Brigid Tunney, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(403), "The Bonny Bunch of Roses, O!" ("By the dangers of the ocean"), J. Harkness (Preston) , 1840-1866; also 2806 c.16(296), Harding B 16(31d), Harding B 11(404), Harding B 11(406), Harding B 11(405), "Bonny Bunch of Roses, O"; Harding B 17(350a), Harding B 11(18), Firth b.25(245), Harding B 11(4381), "Young Napoleon" or "The Bonny Bunch of Roses"; Firth b.27(457/458) View 1 of 4, "Bonny Bunch of Roses"; Firth b.27(8), "Young Napoleon"
LOCSinging, as109240, "Young Napoleon" or "The Bonny Bunch of Roses," Taylor's Song Mart (London), 19C
Murray, Mu23-y1:115, "Bonny Bunch of Roses," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The New Bunch of Loughero" (theme)
SAME TUNE:
The Bunch of Rushes, O! (per broadsides Bodleian Harding B 17(350a), Bodleian Harding B 11(18), Bodleian Harding B 11(4381))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bold Blucher
NOTES [130 words]: Zimmermann: "The bunch of roses is usually said to symbolize England, Scotland, and Ireland, or the red coats of the English soldiers. In a ballad printed both in England and in Ireland, 'The Grand Conversation on Napoleon', we find the lines: 'The bunch of roses did advance And boldly entered into France,' alluding to Napoleon's enemies after Waterloo."
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001))
The probable recording date and id for Hayward's record is provided by Bill Dean-Myatt, MPhil. compiler of the Scottish National Discography. - BS
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