Recordings & Info 210. Bonnie James Campbell
[Several traditional versions have been collected in the US:
Listen: Bascom Lamar Lunsford- Bonnie George Campbell
Listen: Frank Profitt- James Campbell
For texts: see US and Canada Versions.
R. Matteson 2012]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
4) Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
5) Folk Index
6) Verse about the McDonalds:
7) Mainly Norfolk (lyrics and info)
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 338: Bonnie James Campbell ( Listings)
Alternate Titles
Bonnie George Campbell
Bonnie Johnnie Campbell
James Campbell
Willie Campbell
Traditional Ballad Index: Bonnie George Campbell [Child 210]
DESCRIPTION: Bonnie George Campbell sets out on his horse. The horse comes home, but he does not: "High upon Hielands and low upon Tay, Bonnie George Campbell rade oot on a day; Saddled and bridled and gallant rade he; Hame cam his guid horse but never cam he"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1807
KEYWORDS: death horse
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord)) US(Ap,NE,SE)
REFERENCES: (19 citations)
Child 210, "Bonnie James Campbell" (4 texts)
Bronson 210, "Bonnie James Campbell" (5 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 279-284, "Bonnie George Campbell" (2 text plus a printed version and a composite reconstruction, 1 traditional plus one printed tune) {The "C" reprint is Bronson's #1, the traditional tune "D" is Bronson's #23}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 237-238, "Bonnie James Campbell" (1 badly damaged fragment)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 31-311, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text, with a peculiar final verse probably not traditional and edited by Ford)
Davis-More 35, pp. 267-269, "Bonnie James Campbell" (1 text)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 25-26, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, p. 560, "Bonnie James Campbell" (2 texts)
OBB 96, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
Warner 106, "James Campbell" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 57, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 162+335, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 34, pp. 126-127, "Bonnie James Campbell" (1 text) (There are 2 texts)
Hodgart, p. 145, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
TBB 18, "Bonnie James (George) Campbell" (2 texts)
HarvClass-EP1, p. 27, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
DT 210, GEORCAMP* GEORCMP2*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #50, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 25, #4 (1977), p, 21, "Bonnie James Campbell" (1 text, 1 tune, from Frank Proffitt)
Roud #338
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Caudill Hurst & Carolyn Margaret Hurst, "Bonnie George Campbell" (on JThomas01)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Bonnie George Campbell" (on BLLunsford01) {Bronson's #2}
Frank Proffitt, "James Campbell" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
JOHN CHARLES THOMAS SINGS BONNIE GEORGE CAMPBELL 1943 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOOOMf0qfbs
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cumberland Gap" (tune)
cf. "The Killin' in the Gap"(Stevie Allen) (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bonnie Johnnie Campbell
NOTES: Although several names have been suggested as the original hero of this ballad, the details suggested in the song are so few that none can be viewed as more than a possibility. There were, after all, many casualties in the long conflict between the MacDonalds and the Campbells -- including the very first Campbell known to history, Collin Campbell, ambushed at the String of Lorne in 1296 (see Thomson: Oliver Thomson, _The Great Feud: The Campbells & The Macdonalds_, Sutton Publishing, 2000, p. 3).
In an interesting twist, it seems likely that this song was known to relatively upper-class southerners in the Civil War era. Shelby Foote, _The Civil War: A Narrative (Volume I: Fort Sumter to Perryville)_ (Random House, 1958), p. 131 quotes a South Carolina lady's description of an early visit from Robert E. Lee to her area: "Preux chevalier, booted and bridled and gallant rode he, but so far his bonnie face has only brought us ill luck." - RBW
Child Collection Index; Child Ballad 210: Bonnie James Campbell
Child-- Artist--- Title--- Album--- Year--- Length--- Have
210 Alex Beaton Bonnie George Campbell In the Scottish Tradition 1994 3:03 Yes
210 Alex Campbell Bonnie James Campbell Traditional Ballads of Scotland 1977 1:54 Yes
210 Art Rosenbaum Bonnie James Campbell Art Rosenbaum & Al Murphy 1972 2:08 Yes
210 Bascom Lamar Lunsford Bonny George Campbell The Library of Congress No
210 Bascom Lamar Lunsford Bonny George Campbell Ballads, Banjo Tunes and Sacred Songs of Western North Carolina 1996 2:08 Yes
210 Battlefield Band Blistered Fingers + The Cumbernauld Perennials + The Keep Left Sign + Taking the Soup + Bonnie George Campbell + Mo Dhachaidh + The Loch Ness Monster Quiet Days 1992 8:49 Yes
210 Bobby Eaglesham Bonnie George Campbell Weather the Storm 1982 3:06 Yes
210 Brian Johnstone Bonny George Campbell Music Whaur I'm Frae - Songs O' the Scots-Anglo Border, Vol. 2 2003 No
210 Brian Peters & Gordon Tyrrall Bonny George Campbell Clear the Road 1996 4:17 Yes
210 Carilyn Vice Bonnie George Campbell Better Times Are Coming 2003 3:17 Yes
210 Claymore Bonnie George Campbell Giants Forever 1997 7:04 Yes
210 Dave Fredrickson George Campbell Songs of the West 1961 2:33 Yes
210 David Coe & Frances Cunningham Bonnie James Campbell My Own House 2005 No
210 Duncan McFarlane & Anne Brivonese Bonny George Campbell Name 2008 No
210 Duncan Williamson Bonny George Campbell Jim Carroll & Pat Mackenzie Collection No
210 Duncan Williamson Bonny George Campbell Travellers' Tales Vol 1 - Songs, Stories & Ballads from Scottish Travellers 2005 No
210 Duncan Williamson Bonnie George Campbell John Howson Collection 1970-1995 No
210 Elle Osborne Bonnie George Campbell So Slowly Slowly She Got Up 2011 3:52 Yes
210 Evelyne Beers Bonnie George Campbell The Gentle Art 1972 No
210 Fiddle Fever Daybreak in the Mountains (Bonnie James Campbell + Wild Rose of the Mountain + Kitchen Girl) The Best of Fiddle Fever 1992 No
210 Florida The Cape John Waltz + Bonny George Campbell Florida 2005 No
210 Frank Proffitt Bonnie James Campbell Traditional Songs and Ballads of Appalachia 1962 1:26 Yes
210 Frank Proffitt Bonny James Campbell Bolamkin - Frank Proffitt - 1 1987 No
210 Frank Proffitt Bonny James Campbell Ballads and Songs of Tradition 2000 1:25 Yes
210 Frank Proffitt James Campbell The Warner Collection, Vol. 1 - Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still 2000 1:01 Yes
210 Gibb Todd George Campbell Connected 1992 2:29 Yes
210 Gryphon Sir Gavin Grimbold Gryphon 2004 No
210 Gryphon Sir Gavin Grimbold Gryphon + Midnight Mushrumps 1996 2:50 Yes
210 Gryphon Sir Gavin Grimbold Glastonbury Carol 2003 2:51 Yes
210 Gryphon Sir Gavin Grimbold Crossing the Styles - The Transatlantic Anthology 2005 2:47 Yes
210 Holly Tannen George Campbell Invocation 1983 2:25 Yes
210 Jean Redpath Bonnie George Campbell Love Is Teasin' 1984 2:37 Yes
210 Joe Gordon Folk Four Bonnie George Campbell Joe Gordon Folk Four 2010 No
210 John Clegg & Dave Strathie Bonnie George Campbell Ayrshire Folk - Songs from the Singers of Ayr Folk Club 1973 1:47 Yes
210 John Shaw Bonny James Campbell Regional Curiosity - Songs and Tunes on Solo Mountain Dulcimer 2006 No
210 John Wright Bonnie George Campbell Ride the Rolling Sky 1993 2:21 Yes
210 June Tabor Bonnie James Campbell Always 2005 3:28 Yes
210 June Tabor Bonnie James Campbell An Echo of Hooves 2003 3:38 Yes
210 Kate Early Bonnie George Campbell Mr. Versatility's Daughter - The Musical Celebration of a Heart 2007 No
210 Killiecrankie Bonnie George Campbell The Haggis Egg 1994 2:13 Yes
210 Lesley Hale Bonnie George Campbell The Golden Bird 1969 No
210 Lynne Heraud & Pat Turner Bonny George Campbell Tickled Pink 2010 No
210 Margaret Caudill Hurst & Carolyn Margaret Hurst Bonnie George Campbell American Folk Song Festival - Jean Thomas, the Traipsin' Woman 1960 1:35 Yes
210 Martin Simpson Bonny George Campbell Leaves of Life 1989 1:38 Yes
210 Martin Simpson George Campbell Golden Vanity 1976 No
210 Max Dunbar Bonnie George Campbell Songs and Ballads of the Scottish Wars, 1290-1745 1956 1:29 Yes
210 Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club & Friends Bonnie George Campbell Gates of Gold 2008 No
210 Nic Jones Bonnie George Campbell Unearthed 2001 2:29 Yes
210 Paul Cornwall Bonnie George Campbell + The Broken Drumstick Fortune's Wheel 2005 3:43 Yes
210 Peter Ratzenbeck Bonny George Campell Saitenzauber 2002 2:06 Yes
210 Peter Ratzenbeck Bonny George Campell Outremer 1995 1:48 Yes
210 Peter Ratzenbeck Bonny George Campell Acoustically Yours 1999 2:09 Yes
210 Phil Drane Bonnie George Campbell Full Circle 2008 No
210 Pig's Ear The Rape of Glencoe + Bonny George Campbell Salted! 2000 7:02 Yes
210 Rory & Alex McEwen Bonnie George Campbell Folk Song Today - Songs and Ballads of England and Scotland 1955 1:29 Yes
210 Rory & Alex McEwen Bonny George Campbell Great Scottish Ballads 1956 1:21 Yes
210 Rory & Alex McEwen Bonnie George Campbell A Celebration of Great British Folk 2008 1:30 Yes
210 Sarah Hook Bonny George Campbell Tenpenny 2010 No
210 Shepheard, Spiers & Watson Bonnie George Campbell Over the High Hills 2012 No
210 Spælimenninir Í Hoydølum Bonny George Campbell Umaftur 1987 3:01 Yes
210 Steve Turner Bonnie George Campbell Flash Company - A Celebration of 25 Years of Fellside Records 2001 3:44 Yes
210 Steve Turner Bonnie George Campbell The Whirligig of Time 2008 3:13 Yes
210 The Joe Gordon Folk Four Bonnie George Campbell The Gay Gordon 1960 No
210 The Livingstones Bonnie George Campbell The Livingstones I Presume 1969 2:38 Yes
210 The McKassons Bonnie George Campbell Tripping Maggie 2006 2:26 Yes
210 Tracey, Munro, Tracey Bonny George Campbell + Green Cathedral Nightpiece 1987 4:45 Yes
Excerpt from The British Traditional Ballad in North America
by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
210. BONNIE JAMES CAMPBELL
Texts: Barry, Brit Bids Me, 279 / Combs, F-S Etats-Unis, 144 / Davis, FS Va / JAFL, XVIII, 294.
Local Titles: Bonnie George Campbell, Bonnie Johnnie Campbell, Willie Campbell.
Story Types: A: The story is lost in Britain as well as in America, so that we only know that Bonnie James Campbell rode out armed one day and that, although his saddled horse came home, he did not. His bride, mother, etc., went out to meet him, but he was never to return. The place was uncared for; his baby unborn.
Examples: Barry (A, B), Combs (A, B).
Discussion; The tale behind this ballad is unknown. Child, IV, 143 cites Motherwell's and Maidment's theories, and Barry, Brit Bids Me, 281 reconstructs the story as it stands in the known fragments.
The American texts are similar to those in Child and show a close relationship with the versions given in Smith's Scotish Minstrel, V, 42. See Barry, op. cit. 9 ^J<)i.i. for a discussion and comparison of the American and British versions, as well as a modification of some of Child's remarks.
Folk Index; Bonnie George Campbell [Ch 210]
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)
Edwards, Jay; and Robert Kelley / Coffee House Songbook, Oak, Sof (1966), p158
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/Folkways SF 40082, CD (Smi1), trk# 7a [1949/03/25]
McEwan, Rory and Alex. Buchan, Norman (ed.) / 101 Scottish Songs, Collins, poc (1962), p 17
Proffitt, Frank. Frank Proffitt of Reese, North Carolina, Folk Legacy FSA 001, Cas (1962), trk# A.04 (Bonnie James Campbell)
Redpath, Jean. Love Is Teasin', PHC 1111, LP (1984), trk# B.03
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)
Ritchie, Jean. Ritchie, Jean / Celebration of Life; Her Songs, Her Poems, Geordie, Sof (1971), p 16 (Bonnie James Campbell)
Strachan, Mary. Moore, Ethel & Chauncey (ed.) / Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, Univ. of Okla, Bk (1964), p103/# 41 [1930s] (Bonnie James Campbell)
Tabor, June. Echo of Hooves, Topic TSCD 543, CD (2003), trk# 1 (Bonnie James Campbell)
Verse about the McDonalds:
Jim McLean: The spurious verse about the McDonalds had been ringing bells for a few days so I searched through a compilation of one hundred songs I had put together in 1964 for publication by Scott Solomon. Under 'Bonnie George Campbell' I found verse 4:
Ower the howe rade MacDonald the Reid,
An tied tae his saddle was Campbell's black heid;
The blood frae its open mooth ran tae the grun'.
"Revenge!" cried MacDonald, "Revenge for my son!"
So I guess I'm the culprit for such a dreadful verse! Apologies again, I can only put it down to youthful ignorance.
---------------
Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
Bonnie George Campbell / Bonnie James Campbell
[Roud 338; Child 210; Ballad Index C210; trad.]
Nic Jones sang the Border ballad Bonny George Campbell in a BBC Radio 1 John Peel session recorded on October 14, 1975 and broadcast November 12, 1975. I don't know if this recording or another of unknown origin was included on his 2001 anthology Unearthed.
Steve Turner sang Bonnie George Campbell in 1986 on the Fellside anthology Flash Company and in 2008 on his own CD The Whirligig of Time.
June Tabor sang Bonnie James Campbell in 2003 on her album of Border ballads, An Echo of Hooves.
Lyrics
Nic Jones sings Bonny George Campbell
High upon Highlands and low upon Tay,
Bonny George Campbell he rode out on a day.
Saddled, bridled, so gallant rode he,
Home came his good horse but never came he.
Down came his mother dear with her heart filled with care,
Down came his bonny bride and she's curling her hair.
My meadow lies green and the corn is unshorn,
Bonny George Campbell he'll never return.
Saddled and bridled and booted rode he,
With a plume in his helmet and a sword by his knee.
Home came the saddle, all bloody to see,
Home came his good horse but never came he.
Steve Turner sings Bonnie George Campbell
High upon Highlands and low upon Tay,
Bonnie George Campbell rode out on a day.
Saddled and bridled and booted rode he,
Home came his good horse but never came he.
Saddled and bridled and booted rode he,
With a plume in his helmet and a sword by his knee.
Home came the saddle, all bloody to see,
Home came his good horse but never came he.
Down came his mother: She's crying full sore.
Out came his bonnie wife: She's tearing of her hair.
My meadows lie green and my corn is unshorn,
My barns they are empty And my baby's unborn.
(repeat first verse)