"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond", or "Loch Lomond" for short, is a Scottish song (Roud No. 9598).[1] The song prominently features Loch Lomond, the largest Scottish loch. In Scots, "bonnie" means "fair" or "beautiful".[2]
Chorus:O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,And I'll be in Scotland afore ye,But me and my true love will never meet again,On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.
'Twas there that we parted, in yon shady glen,On the steep, steep side o' Ben Lomond,Where in soft purple hue, the highland hills we view,And the moon coming out in the gloaming.
Chorus
The wee birdies sing and the wildflowers spring,And in sunshine the waters are sleeping.But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again,Though the waeful may cease frae their grieving.
Chorus
Historian Murray G. H. Pittock writes that the song "is a Jacobite adaptation of an eighteenth-century erotic song, with the lover dying for his king, and taking only the 'low road' of death back to Scotland."[3] It is one of many poems and songs that emerged from Jacobite political culture in Scotland.[3] It has been said that there are melodic phrases within the music which are similar to phrases in the song The Bonniest Lass In A' The World.[4] It has been described as a folksong.[5]
About 1876, the Scottish poet and folklorist Andrew Lang wrote a poem based on the song titled "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond".[6] [7] The title sometimes has the date "1746" appended[8] [9] —the year of the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion and the hanging of some of his captured supporters. Lang's poem begins
Morag—great one in Gaelic—referred to Bonnie Prince Charlie, who fled to France after his forces were defeated.[10] Lawing means reckoning in Scots. The poem continues:
Wuddy means hangman's rope, according to Lang's own notes on the poem; dawing is dawn.[11] The poem continues with the song's well-known chorus, then explains why the narrator and his true love will never meet again:
The poem's narrator vows to take violent revenge on the English:
"Sergeant Môr" is John Du Cameron, a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie who continued fighting as an outlaw until he was captured and hanged in 1753.[11]
The Irish variant of the song is called "Red Is the Rose" and is sung with the same melody but different (although similarly themed) lyrics.[12] It was popularized by Irish folk musician Tommy Makem. Even though many people mistakenly believe that Makem wrote "Red Is the Rose", it is a traditional Irish folk song.[13] [14]
"Loch Lomond" has been arranged and recorded by many composers and performers over the years, in several genres ranging from traditional Scottish folk to barbershop to rock and roll.
Runrig released a cover version of "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" titled "Loch Lomond" in 1982.[15] The song received significant airplay on Scottish and English radio, including on Radio 1, by the disc jockeys Simon Bates and Terry Wogan.[16] Based on data from the music streaming service Spotify, The Scotsman ranked "Loch Lomond" as one of the top five Runrig songs of all time.[17] The song has been described by the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame as a "rocking anthem"[18] [19] and by The Herald as one of Runrig's best known songs.[20] The song is the anthem of the German football team FC Köln; its supporters sing a song to the tune of "Loch Lomond" before each match the club plays.[21] [22] It is also regularly played as the last song at Scottish weddings.[23] [24] A remix was recorded in 2007 with 50,000 Scotland national football team supporters for the BBC's Children in Need fundraiser in Scotland.[25] [26] "Loch Lomond" reached a peak position of number 86 on the UK Singles Chart.[27] The 2007 version peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Charts[27] and number 1 on the Scottish Singles Charts.[28]
Ralph Vaughan Williams made an arrangement for baritone solo and unaccompanied male choir in 1921. It has been recorded several times, notably by the tenor Ian Partridge and the London Madrigal Singers for EMI in 1970.[29]
Chinese singer-songwriter Li Jian used the melody with Mandarin lyrics of a similar theme in his self-titled 2015 album.
Australian rock band AC/DC covered this song, titled "Fling Thing", as the B-side to their single "Jailbreak". They also covered it (as "Bonny") in Glasgow on the collector's edition of their 1992 album AC/DC Live. "Fling Thing" was later remastered and released on the compilation album Backtracks.
The Jazz Discography, an online index of studio recordings, live recordings, and broadcast transcriptions of jazz – as of May 22, 2019 – lists 106 recordings of "Loch Lomond" and one recording of "Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond".
A notable big band version of "Loch Lomond", arranged by Claude Thornhill, was recorded in a live performance on January 16, 1938, by the Benny Goodman and His Orchestra on the album, The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert, on January 16, 1938, featuring Martha Tilton on vocals (Columbia SL 160).
Jazz singer Maxine Sullivan, for whom it was a career-defining hit, recorded it at least 14 times:
The song is frequently used in TV and movies to convey a sense of Scottish story setting and/or character identity.
In Our Gang Follies of 1938, an American short musical film by Hal Roach, Annabelle Logan sings a rendition of "Loch Lomond" at the local talent show.[30] The song features in the 1940 American musical It's a Date.[31]
In the 1945 Sherlock Holmes film Pursuit to Algiers, starring Basil Rathbone, Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) sings a rendition of "Loch Lomond" accompanied by Sheila Woodbury (Marjorie Riordan) on the piano.[32]
In the 1955 Disney animated classic Lady and the Tramp, one of its characters, Jock, a Scottish terrier, sings his own version of "The Bonnie Banks Of Loch Lomond" when he buries a new bone "in [his] bonnie, bonnie bank in the back yard".
In the 1958 Tom and Jerry short Robin Hoodwinked, Nibbles sings the first half of the chorus of "Loch Lomond".[33] [34]
The song is heard in the 1963 Disney film The Three Lives of Thomasina.
The Marcia Blane music class is heard singing the song in the background in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
A recording of a Scotsman singing the song in captivity during the First World War featured in the 2007 BBC documentary How the Edwardians Spoke.
In the children's cartoon, Animaniacs, it is heard in "Ups and Downs" as Wakko and Dr. Scratchansniff ride the elevator.[35] It is also heard in the Animaniacs feature film Wakko's Wish.
In the 2021 film A Castle for Christmas it is sung by the cast during a pub scene.
In the American TV series The Simpsons, Groundskeeper Willie whistles the melody in the episode "Lard of the Dance".
In the Hal Roach short comedy film Tit for Tat, Stan Laurel sings a verse of this song after Oliver Hardy declares in a verbal altercation with his neighbor that he will take the "high road" and walk away.
In Smallville Season 7 Episode 19, the tune is featured under the title "The Birks of St Kilde." It is played by a grandfather clock and later by Lex Luthor on the piano as he quotes alternative plot-important lyrics: "On the shores of St Kilde, birks sway in the wind from the left to the right again."
In the 2000 movie Prince of Central Park J.J. Somerled, played the song in keyboard while Jerry Orbach as a businessman, sang the song.
In The Office Season 8 Episode 20 "Welcome Party" Andy sings an excerpt from the song.