Origins: My Bonnie Maureen - Stewart Ross

Subject: Origins: My Bonnie Maureen - Stewart Ross
From: GUEST,Rossey
Date: 31 Aug 25 - 12:59 AM

Hi all, I already have a thread on the origins of this song written in 1971, but something bizarre has happened.   I love this song, own all the rights to it, and it means a lot to me for sentimental reasons - and also is sold hundreds of thousands when Daniel O'Donnell was a big seller (though his version was a bit dirgey and had a couple of lyric changes). There are several Scottish and Irish recordings of it.

My father Stewart Ross 1929-1993 from Inverness, Scotland wrote it for my brother's then fiancee called Maureen.. whom I have special memories of..
I have press cuttings, interviews, recordings umpteen sources to verify the writing of it.. but bizarrely I have just found a page with no reason behind it.. no website.. just a page with my father's lyrics and some foreign guy's name on it. No method of contact, no explanation.. just my father's lyrics.   Does anybody have a clue as to why this would be?   It is copyright fraud.. but why? I am deeply worried that this person may be setting up some kind of fraud to claim jump. but I cant work it out.   It s heart breaking for me to see someone else's name on my father's lyrics. I have spent decades protecting the song as I love it, and feel really depressed. The lyrics are on Mudcat, but not official lyrics sites.   Anybody out there got a clue as to why this would have happened? How can a single page appear, with lyrics and no connected website?   I might try Google and a DCMA takedown, but that could take months.   

My Bonnie Maureen
Words and Music by Stewart Ross (C) 1971 MCPS/PRS etc.

Though I'm far from the highlands,
the hill and the glen –
Still in my fancy, my thoughts turn again.
for there lives a lassie, the fairest I've seen,
she is so lovely – my Bonnie Maureen.

Off in the twilight, at the close of the day,
sadly in fancy my memories stray.
To the land I was born in, a land fresh and clean
and the lassie who lives there, my Bonnie Maureen.

Beautiful maiden of far distant shore,
will I return and see you once more.
Oh – how I long for, what might have been,
lass of the highlands my Bonnie Maureen.

I hope and I pray, that my dreams will come true.
And one day I'll walk through the heather with you.
And there in the church in the valley so green –
we will join hands forever my Bonnie Maureen.

Beautiful maiden of far distant shore,
will I return and see you once more.
Oh – how I long for, what might have been,
lass of the highlands my bonnie Maureen.
We will join hands forever my bonnie Maureen

Subject: RE: Origins: My Bonnie Maureen - Stewart Ross
From: GUEST,Peter Cripps
Date: 01 Sep 25 - 05:14 AM

A great song! We first came across this song when we were looking for something for a resident of one of the Care Homes we visit regularly. We found a Youtube video of Ronnie Ross singing it, and Alan very kindly sent us the dots and words in 2016. We have performed it ever since!

Subject: RE: Origins: My Bonnie Maureen - Stewart Ross
From: GUEST,Rossey
Date: 01 Sep 25 - 11:18 AM

Peter, I am devastated someone in Norway has put down that they wrote it on their web page.   An actual impossibility.. what happened was the the digital distributor put down composed by on youtube.. missing out author..   It's correctly labelled with credits for both on Apple and other sources,   I can't immediately =get at the person to get him legally as he's in Norway. All I can do it try and limit the damage and get links disabled before spurious information gets picked up by AI, and it creates a false history.   There is no way this song could go wrong. it means so much to me.   I went into physical shock and was shaking when I saw it. I was considering suicide.   Maureen was a lovely lady who I have fond childhood memories of. Also the song means the world to me. There's a difference between making a mistake over the origins of a song (some may think it's Irish, when it's Scottish), and deliberately fraudulently trying to claim authorship, when it's impossible. I don't want to name the person or page, or that will show up on Google. I was just so shocked and upset that I took it here.
https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/1034030/all