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Bonnie George Campbell/Bonnie James Campbell/James Campbell
Fiddle Tune/Old-time Song; Ballad
Note: The song melody is related to the fiddle tune, Cumberland Gap. This is a different song than:
GEORGE CAMPBELL- Gibb Todd
Gibb Todd, on Connected, Lochshore CDLDL 1292, 1999. The notes say it is a traditional Texas version. Gibb Todd writes he got the song from a recording by Martin Simpson, which is an instrumental.
George Campbell lived in Texas with his mother and his wife
George Campbell lived in Texas with his mother and his wife
Two little children, they lead a hard hard life.
ARTIST: Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Listen: Bascom Lamar Lunsford- Bonnie George Campbell
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes;
DATE: Originated 1500s in Scotland.
RECORDING INFO: Bonnie George Campbell
Rm - Cumberland Gap
Thomas, Jean / Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky, Oak, Sof (1964/1939), p 38
Boni, Margaret Bradford (ed.) / Fireside Book of Folk Songs, Simon & Schuster, Bk (1947), p 24 [1824ca]
Scottish Song Book for Contralto, Bayley & Ferguson, Sof (1910s?), p 63 (Hie Upon Hielands and Laigh Upon Tay)
Beers, Evelyne Anderson. Gentle Art, Prestige International INT 13053, LP (196?), trk# A.05a
Beers, Evelyne Anderson. Gentle Art, Prestige International INT 13053, LP (196?), trk# A.05b
Gordon, Joe; Folk Four. Gay Gordon, HMV CLP 1379, LP (195?), trk# B.04
Lunsford, Bascom Lamar. Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Smithsonian SF 40082, CD (1996), trk# 7a [1949/03/25]
McEwan, Rory and Alex. Buchan, Norman (ed.) / 101 Scottish Songs, Collins, poc (1962), p 17
Redpath, Jean. Love Is Teasin', PHC 1111, LP (1984), trk# B.03
RECORDING INFO: Bonnie James Campbell [Ch 210]
Fiddle Fever. Fiddle Fever, Flying Fish FF 247, LP (1981), trk# A.06a
Proffitt, Frank. Frank Proffitt of Reese, North Carolina, Folk Legacy FSA 001, Cas (1962), trk# A.04
Riddle, Almeda. Abrahams, Roger D.(ed.) / A Singer and Her Songs. Almeda Riddle's Book o, Louisiana State U. Press, Bk (1970), P 58 [1964-67] (War Song)
Strachan, Mary. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey O.(ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwes, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p103/# 41 [1930s]
Tabor, June. Echo of Hooves, Topic TSCD 543, CD (2003), trk# 1
OTHER NAMES: "Hie Upon Hielands and Laigh Upon Tay," "Bonnie James Campbell"
RELATED TO: "Cumberland Gap" "James Campbell"
SOURCES: Folk Index; Mudcat
NOTES: According to Bascom Lamar Lunsford: "This is a text of 'Bonny George Campbell' as sung in the southern Appalachian region. Very seldom you hear it except in terms of a fiddle tune called 'Cumberland Gap.' The slower tune 'Bonny George Campbell'..."
The song is alternately titled "Bonnie James Campbell" or "James Campbell." A version titled "James Campbell" is from Frank Proffitt, traditional singer from Reese, North Carolina, accompanied with his home-made fretless banjo. You can hear Profitt's version on Ballads and Songs of Tradition from the Folk-Legacy Archives CD-1005.
JAMES CAMPBELL- From Frank Profitt, Folk Legacy
Listen: Frank Profitt- James Campbell
Booted and spurred and bridled rode he,
A plume in his saddle and a sword at his knee.
Back come his saddle, all bloody to see,
Back come the steed but never come he.
A-ridin' in the Highlands, steep was the way,
Ridin' in the Lowlands, hard by the Tay.
Out come his mother, with feet all so fair,
Out come his sweetheart, a'reivin' of her hair.
The meadow's all a'fallin' and the sheep is unshorn,
The house is a-leakin' and the baby's unborn,
But bonny James Campbell nowhere could be seen,
For back come the saddle but never come he.
Booted and spurred and bridled rode he,
A plume in his saddle and a sword at his knee.
Home come the saddle all bloody to see,
Home come the steed but never come he.
The ballad originated in England and it is a "lament for one James Campbell, who died in the battle of Glenlivet on October 3, 1594." Here are the Child lyrics:
Bonnie James Campbell- Child #210
High upon Hielands and low upon Tay
Bonnie James Campbell rode oot on a day
Saddled and bridled, sae gallant rode he
On cam' his guid horse, but never came he
Saddled and bridled and booted rode he,
A plume tae his helmet, a sword at his knee
But toom came his saddle and bluidy tae see
Hame cam' his guid horse, but never came he
Doon cam' his auld mither greetin' fu' sair
Oot cam' his bonnie wife rivin' her hair
The meadow lies green the corn is unshorn
And bonnie James Campbell will never return
Sadder and sadder, the heart o' mine breakin'
Over and over I hear the wind keenin'
BONNIE GEORGE CAMPBELL- 1901 from Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland. Ed., with notes, by R. Ford edited by Robert Ford
High upon Hielands, and laich upon Tay,
Bonnie George Campbell rade out on a day;
Saddled and bridled, and gallant rade he;
Hame cam' his gude horse, but never cam' he.
Doun cam' his mither dear, greetin' fu' sair,
Out cam' his bonnie bride, riving her hair;
The meadow lies green, and the corn is unshorn,
But bonnie George Campbell will never return.
Saddled and bridled, and booted rade he,
A plume in his helmet, a sword at his knee;
But toom cam' the saddle, all bloody to see;
Hame cam' his gude horse, but never cam' he.
Where is he lying, ye winds, will ye say?
Is he drowned in the Tummel, or lost in the Tay?
Oh, vain are our wailings, in vain our despair;
Bonnie George Campbell we'll never see mair.
Recovered in part from tradition by John Finlay, the author of Wallace, an abridgment of the above was printed by Motherwell in his Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern, who suggests that it might be the lament for some adherent of the house of Argyll who fell at the battle of Glenlivet, in October, 1594. Maidment, on the other hand, believed it to allude to the murder of Campbell of Cawdor, by one of his adherents, in 1591. The first two stanzas are undoubtedly ancient, but the third and fourth are evidently of modern origin. The last, indeed, with neither rhyme nor reason in it, is geneially printed to read:—
"Where is he lying, tell me but where,
Is he drowned in the Yarrow, or lost in the Qnair!
0 vain are thy waitings, the echoes reply,
Bonnie George Campbell, ye'll see him nae mair."
The case being as stated, I have dared, by a Blight alteration, to give it both rhyme and geographical consistency. I hope I may not be blamed. Brief almost to a fault is this, yet a beautiful and suggestive ballad.
BONNY GEORGE CAMPBELL (Child 210) Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Listen: Bascom Lamar Lunsford- Bonnie George Campbell
"This is a text of 'Bonny George Campbell' as sung in the southern Appalachian region. Very seldom you hear it except in terms of a fiddle tune called 'Cumberland Gap.' The slower tune 'Bonny George Campbell'..."
[Fiddle]
High upon highlands, low upon Tay,
Bonny George Campbell rode out on one day.
All saddled, all bridled, and booted rode he
And home came the saddle but never came he.
My barn is to build. My baby's unborn.
My Bonny George Campbell will never return.
Well high upon highlands, low upon Tay,
Bonny George Campbell rode out on one day.
[Fiddle]
All saddled, all bridled and booted rode he,
But home came the saddle and never came he.
Home came the saddle all bloody to see,
And home came the good horse, but never came he.
"Now, of course, the mountain boys speed it up, play it on a higher pitch, and use it for a country dance tune 'Cumberland Gap.'"
[Plays version of Cumberland Gap]
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