“The Banks o' Doon”
Description
The singer asks how the banks of bonnie Doon can bloom "sae fresh and fair" when she is separated from her love. She pulled a rose, which her lover took while leaving her the thorn
Notes
Burns, curiously, seems to have written two versions of this poem, both coming out in 1791. The first begins, "Ye flowery banks o' bonie Doon, How can ye blume sae fair"; it is to the tune "Cambdelmore," which is in 4/4 time.
The other version, more familiar to me and seemingly more popular in tradition, opens "Ye banks and braes o' bonie Doon, How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair"; the tune is "The Caledonian Hunt's Delight," in 6/8 time. The two are nonetheless obviously the same song. - RBW
Broadsides
- NLScotland, L.C.1269(108a), "Banks of Doon," unknown, c. 1880
Recordings
- Henry Burr, "Ye Banks and Brae o' Bonnie Doon" (Columbia A339, 1909; rec. 1902)
References
- ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #55, "Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon" (1 text)
- DT, BNKSBRAE* BANKBRA2*
- Roud #13889
- BI, CTbnksbr