Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy

Subject: Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy
From: AmyLove
Date: 22 Jul 16 - 10:24 PM

Lyrics found here.

BONNY IRISH BOY

His name I love to mention, in Ireland he was born,
I loved him very dearly but alas, from me he's gone;
He's gone to America, he promised to send for me,
But the face of my Bonny Irish Boy I can no longer see.

I engaged my passage to New York, and on arriving there
To seek and find my Irish boy I quickly did prepare;
I searched New York and Providence and Boston all in vain,
But the face of my bonny Irish boy was nowhere to be seen.

I went to Philadelphia and from there to Baltimore;
I searched the State of Maryland, I searched it o'er and o'er;
I prayed that I might find him wherever he might be,
But the face of my bonny Irish boy I nowhere there could see.

One night as I lay on my bed I dreamt I was his bride,
And sitting on the Blue Bell Hill and he sat by my side,
A-gathering of primroses, like the happy days of yore;
I awoke quite broken-hearted in the city of Baltimore.

Early then next morning a knock came to my door;
I heard his voice, I knew it was the lad I did adore,
I hurried up to let him in, I never felt such joy
As when I fell into the arms of my bonny Irish boy.

Farewell to Londonderry, I ne'er shall see you more,
Ah, many a pleasant night we spent along the sweet Lone Moor;
Our pockets light, our hearts were good, and we longing to be free,
And talking of a happy home in the land of Liberty.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Jul 16 - 11:18 PM

Good song, Amy. I don't think it has been posted here, but it is indexed here as appearing in Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs
As edited by Robert L. Wright
And published by Bowling Green University Popular Press 1975
ISBN# 0-87972-104-9

with these notes: MY BONNY IRISH BOY*       397
"His name I love to mention, in Ireland he was born,"
Source: Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, vol. 2, 560-561, 562-563, (two separate songs by this name). Variant A appears also in Irish Com-All-Ye's. Sec alsoJAl-'L, 67 (1954), 123-136. Ballads and the Songs of Newfoundland contains a version much like B but includes a reference to the young lady going to Boston, where she dies.

Subject: ADD Version: My Bonny Irish Boy
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jul 16 - 01:35 AM

Kenneth Peacock has two versions in his Songs of the Newfoundland Outports

Here's Variant A

MY BONNY IRISH BOY

His name I love to mention, in Ireland he was born,
I loved him very dearly, but alas, from me he's gone;
He's gone to Americay, and he promised to send for me,
But the face of my bonny young Irish boy I can no longer see.

It was in Londonderry, that city of note and fame,
Where first my bonny young Irish boy a-courting to me came;
He told me pleasant stories and said his bride I'd be,
But the face of my bonny young Irish boy I can no longer see.

I engaged my passage for New York, and on arriving there,
To seek and find my Irish boy I quickly did prepare;
I searched New York and Providence and Boston all around,
But the face of my bonny Irish boy was nowhere to be found.

I went to Philadelphia, and from there to Baltimore,
I searched the state of Maryland, I searched it o'er and o'er;
I pray that I might find him wherever he might be,
But the face of my bonny young Irish boy I could no longer see.

One night as I lay in my bed, I dreamt I was his bride,
A-sitting on the blue-bell hill, and he sat by my side;
A-gathering of primroses as we did in days of yore,
I awoke quite broken-hearted in the city of Baltimore.

And early the next morning, a knock came to my door,
I heard his voice, I knew it was the lad I did adore;
I hurried up to let him in, I never felt such joy,
And then I fell into the arms of my bonny young Irish boy.

Now that we are married he never shall go to sea,
He knows I love him dearly, and I'm sure that he loves me;
My first sweet son is called for him, is my heart's delight and joy,
He's the picture of his father, he's a bonny young Irish boy.

Farewell to Londonderry, that city I'll see no more,
Where many's a pleasant night we spent around the sweet lone moor;
Our pockets were light, our hearts were good, we longed to be free,
And talked about a happy home in the land of liberty.

Collected by Kenneth Peacock in 1952 from Philip J Foley [1905-1982] of Tilting, NL, and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.560-561, by The National Museum Of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

Also available at GEST: http://www.wtv-zone.com/phyrst/audio/nfld/17/irishboy.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jul 16 - 01:47 AM

There's a song titled "Bonny Irish Boy" by an artist named Margo here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoODs7ak1g

And a live performance by Margo O'Donnell (I think it's the same Margo, but older):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcL_Ts2AZQs

It's the same song, but quite a different version. It starts out, "His name I will not mention..."

---

And Steeleye Span also recorded a song titled "Bonny Irish Boy" that's quite different:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DalqAlHntsE

"they would not let me tarry with my bonny Irish boy"

Is this another version of the same song? I don't think so, but Reinhard on Mainly Norfolk thinks it is.

The Steeleye Span song seems to be close to Bonnie Labouring Boy, which I think of as a different song. (I say that with some trepidation, because I have often been proved wrong...)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 23 Jul 16 - 03:17 AM

We recorded this several times, both from Clare singers and from Irish Travellers in London.
This is the version we got from Mikey Kelleher of Quilty, Clare, along with the note I wrote for it for the Clare County Library website - Mikey's and another version can be heard here
Carroll Mackenzie Collection
Jim Carroll


First when I was courted by a bonny Irish boy,
He calls to me his true love, and his darling girl was I.
He called to me his true love, his heart's delight and joy,
And how can I forget the thought of my bonny Irish boy.

You all know Dublin city, a city of noble fame.
And there my bonny Irish boy, to court me first, he came.
His cheeks were like the rosy red, and his eyes was as black as the sloe,
He'd break the heart in any fair maid, no matter where he go.

I'm a long time in his company, and hope to be his bride.
And now he have forsaken me, and have crossed the ocean wide.
I'm afraid some other fair maid, his company will enjoy,
Which leaves me now lamenting for my bonny Irish boy.

And through all green fields and gardens where gentle flowers so gay,
There my bonny Irish boy could ramble, sport and play.
Where the blackbird and the thrushes and the larks so softly sing,
There my bonny Irish boy, some kisses he would bring.

So I'll pack up my Sunday clothes, and in search of him I'll go.
I'll travel through dear old Ireland, through rain, cold frost and snow.
And when I'm tired and weary, I will sit down and cry.
Lamenting for the day I spent, with my bonny Irish boy.

So when I'm dead, and gone to rest, there is one request I'll crave.
Bring back my bones to Ireland, and bury them in the grave.
Write it on my tombstone, for all that do pass by:
That I died quite broken hearted for my bonny Irish boy.

Conversation after the song:
Jim Carroll: Lovely. Where did you get that from Mick?
Mikey Kelleher: Oh, that's years old too, years.


"The published sets of this song fall into a number of categories.
A. A girl is courted and abandoned; she resolves to follow him;
B. She follows him, fails to find him, says she will die in exile and wishes to be buried in Ireland;
C. She finds him, but he is married, conclusion as B, above;
D. She fails to find him, goes mad and is confined to an asylum;
E. She finds him and marries him.
Nearly all the Scots' texts, including nine in the Greig / Duncan collection, are of the A type, the majority of the others are of the B or C type. There is only one recorded version from Norfolk, of the D type and just two, from Newfoundland and from a Scots Traveller with a happy ending. According to Dr Hugh Shields, the 'mad' version dates from an early nineteenth century broadside, which he said was 'a favourite with the popular press in Britain and Ireland'; this seems to have all but disappeared. Ewan MacColl, in his note to a Scots Travellers' version, says that the happy ending variation was the one favoured by Scots Travellers. Frank Kidson obviously didn't think much of the song; he notes a version taken from a Scots girl, of which he published only three verses:

'I have not thought it worth while to reprint the whole of the verses.'"

Reference:
Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection.
Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, Kenneth Peacock.
Till Doomsday in the Afternoon, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger (eds.).
Traditional Tunes, Frank Kidson.
Jim Carroll

See also
Bonny Irish Boy sung by Micheál Conway

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy
From: Reinhard
Date: 23 Jul 16 - 12:47 PM

Your're right, Joe, I mis-catalogued Steeleye Span's Bonny Irish Boy
looking only for the title not for the content. I'll move it over
to my Bonny Labouring Boy page.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jul 16 - 03:16 PM

"A Few Tunes of Good Music," by Reg Hall, documents an HMV recording studio session in London, in 1938, as part of an artist discography. The song "My Bonny Irish Boy" was recorded by Máire Ní Scolaí, accompanied by pianist Duncan Morrison, on 20 August 1938. The session included another English-language song, John Todhunter's "Aghadoe," and it is possible that the two were published as the A and B sides of a 78 RPM single by HMV.

I know of no re-issue of this 1938 recording; when Gael-Linn compiled a long-playing vinyl record of Ní Scolaí's performances, this song was omitted.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy
From: AmyLove
Date: 10 Nov 16 - 08:43 PM

Thanks to each of you for your contributions to this thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bonny Irish Boy
From: leeneia
Date: 12 Nov 16 - 11:05 AM

Joe has given a link to a video of "Margo" singing this song. It has a good tune, and I've transcribed it. If you would like a jpg, sign in as a member and PM me.

I've lost interest in posting MIDI's any more. As far as I can tell, they don't play.