Lyr Req: Bring Back My Bonnie

Subject: Bring Back My Bonnie
From: GUEST,ronaldo
Date: 24 Dec 01 - 03:30 PM

This familiar old tune popped up as part of the background music to an Irish movie (called Agnes Brown)I was watching on TV yesterday. The melody was played hauntingly slowly and made a brand new impression on me. I was wondering if anyone knows the origin of the tune and maybe some of the verses? By the way, the movie was a bit of a tear jerker but generally very enjoyable.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bring Back My Bonnie
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 24 Dec 01 - 03:58 PM

See this previous discussion for the little concrete information we were able to find at the time (and some wild guesses):  'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean' History?

The song doesn't seem to be much older than the mid 19th century.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bring Back My Bonnie
From: GUEST,PaulM
Date: 24 Dec 01 - 04:05 PM

Is mid 19th century old enough to be folk?

I always quote this song when I say that the Beatles invented folk-rock :-)

Paul

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bring Back My Bonnie
From: Louie Roy
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 02:06 PM

My song book lists this song My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean as a Scotch Song Dated 1880 and the original words as such
MY BONNIE LIES OVER THE OCEAN
MY BONNIE LIES OVER THE SEA
MY BONNIE LIES OVER THE OCEAN
O! BRING BACK MY BONNIE TO ME
CHORUS
BRING BACK, BRING BACK,O!
BRING BACK MY BONNIE TO ME TO ME
BRING BACK O! BRING BACK
O! BRING BACK MY BONNIE TO ME

LAST NIGHT AS I LAY ON MY PILLOW
LAST NIGHT AS I LAY ON MY BED
LAST NIGHT AS I LAY ON MY PILLOW
I DREAMT THAT MY BONNIE WAS DEAD
CHORUS
THE WINDS HAVE BLOWN OVER THE OCEAN
THE WINDS HAVE BLOWN OVER THE SEA
THE WINDS HAVE BLOWN OVER THE OCEANS
AND BROUGHT BACK MY BONNIE TO ME
CHORUS
I DON'T HAVE THE AUTHOR

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bring Back My Bonnie
From: Susan of DT
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 03:53 PM

a more complete version is right here in the Digital Tradition

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bring Back My Bonnie
From: breezy
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 03:57 PM

is Guest Paul the left-handed bass player?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bring Back My Bonnie
From: toadfrog
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 06:21 PM

For what it is worth: I don't find Watersons' liner notes an invariably reliable source, but according to them it appears to be a later version of this song, another version of which is on Watersons' "For Pence and Spicy Ale" (Antilles Records, 1975). The notes, ostensibly by A.L. Lloyd, state

"Barney: A stage song favoured [sic] by Irish comedians from the 1860's on. During the 1880's, apparently on American University campuses, close-harmony groups remade it into the better-known - and even more preposterous - My Bonny lies over the ocean Watersons had this from Bob Davenport who learnt it from a Frank Quinn 78."

The strange orthogrophy ("favoured") seems to be popular among Brits.

Subject: Lyr Add: BARNEY (sung by the Watersons)
From: toadfrog
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 06:56 PM

Watersons sing:

BARNEY

(Author unknown)

Oh he's gone and I'm now sad and lonely
He has left me to cross the blue sea
But I know that he thinks of me only
And he'll soon be returning to me.

Oh 'is eyes they were filled with devotion,
As me husband 'e said he would be,
Blow gently ye winds of the ocean
And bring back my Barney to me.

If at night as I lie on my pillow
The wild winds they moan and they sigh
And I think of each an-g-ry billow
And I watch every cloud o'er the Sky.

My bosom is filled with emotion
As I see my love over the Sea
Blow gently ye winds of the ocean
And bring back my Barney to me.

He has left me his fortune to better
And I know that he left for my sake
Soon I'll be receiving a letter,
If not, soon my poor heart will break

But to think that he'll soon be returning,
To his beauteous dear island and me,
Blow gently ye winds of the ocean
And bring back my Barney to me.

Last night as I lay on my pillow
Last night as I lay on my bed
Last night as I lay on my pillow
I dreamed my poor Barney was dead.

My bosom is filled with emotion
As I see my love over the Sea
Blow gently ye winds of the ocean
And bring back my Barney to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Bring Back My Bonnie
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 25 Dec 01 - 09:41 PM

Favoured is correct usage in most English-speaking countries, though not of course in the USA, where the sleevenotes in question were not written.  The Lloyd quote (genuine, not ostensive) appears twice in the earlier thread I linked to.  Further discussion would probably be best conducted there.