Talk:Bonnie Dundee

The song melody

Hello, does anybody know what's the origin of the melody used in "Bonnie Dundee"? By its tempo and arrangement I feel that it might have been a melody of some old court dance, but I have absolutely NO information about it (it's just my intuition:)) Thus, I'd be grateful for any input:) Critto

When I looked on the web, I found that Charlotte Sainton-Dolby is named as the composer of the tune in several online sources.. On the other hand, a 19th-century sheetmusic website says the words and music are by Charles D'Albert, who may be the composer of ballet music named as Eugen d'Albert's father.

Either is possible. Although Sir Walter Scott is named as the author of "Bonnie Dundee", and he definitely wrote the original poem, I've never heard who edited and rearranged the long poem so that it could be sung.

However, another website says:

"BONNIE DUNDEE [2]. Scottish, Air and Jig. G Major (Howe, Jarman, Kerr, Miller & Perron, Sweet): A Major (Perlman). Standard. AB (Howe): AABB (most versions): AABB’ (Perlman). The tune was once known in Scotland as “The Band at a Distance,” played on the pianoforte in decreasing volume to give the impression of a unit with a band marching away in the distance. It became associated sometime around the 1840’s with Sir Walter Scott’s poem “Bonny Dundee,” and the new title stuck, probably due to the singer Miss Dolby (later Madame Sainton Dolby), according to Reginald Nettle (Sing a Song of England, 1954, pg. 203). It became well known in north Britain, says Nettle, as an accompaniment to a children’s game, and was collected to Loch Awe by Anne Gilchrist, who heard it sung by girls from Loanhead and Lossiemoutrh at Lochchan, September, 1900:" (follows some detail about local versions of it as a children's song).

According to that website, it's the same tune as for the Catholic hymn "Hail, Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star".

That seems more plausible to me (I can't speak as to the Catholic hymn) because I cannot recall ever seeing a composer's name on the songsheets that we used to sing "Bonnie Dundee" from at school - to my recollection, it was that prolific composer, "Trad."

Hope this all helps. Yonmei 23:07, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

References

Only the lyrics?

This article should contain some historical context, something about the origins, about derivatives. Currently it's just the song's lyrics, not an encyclopaedia article. Shinobu (talk) 00:19, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

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Bonny or Bonnie?

The section entitled “Bonny Dundee” and all other mention of the “older tune“ needs to be reviewed. Reference 4 says the title of the old song is also “Bonnie Dundee”. Reference 2 is ambiguous. The dictionary of national biography also has the older tune as Bonnie. Apple music has nothing under the title “BonnyDundee”. http://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/9057/90575748.23.pdf https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Graham,_John_(1649%3F-1689) References 8 and 10 do indeed use the spelling BONNY. It makes sense to distinguish the songs in that way but the references don’t agree with it. The lyrics in the article also contain the phrase “I dinner ken whaur…” dinner? seriously?

This needs someone with knowledge of Scottish folk tunes, or at least the perseverance to sort out the confusion and come up with a solution. Humphrey Tribble (talk) 05:29, 12 November 2023 (UTC)