“Busk Busk Bonnie Lassie” (or “Bonnie Glenshee”) is a scottis traditional song great favourite with Scots Travellers, from an old Perthshire tune, with little concrete information about it . The lyrics inserts in the common theme of the girls who would like to follow their love enlisted as a soldier (or sailor) disguised as a man to stay beside him, but they are dissuaded to remain at home. MacColl and Seeger included “Busk,Busk, Bonnie Lassie” (“Bonnie Glen Shee”) in Travellers Songs from England and Scotland, 1977, as sung by Charlotte Higgins. They say: “This piece does not appear in any of the major Scots collections. It is a kind of mirror-image of ‘O No, No’, a song of the ‘Lisbon / banks of the Nile’ genre, in which a girl’s plea that she should be allowed to accompany her lover to war is rejected on the grounds that her beauty would fade and her colour stain when exposed to the frost and rain of the highlands.” (from Charlotte Higgins see more)
Here the boy invites his girlfriend to a last romantic walk (probably a love meeting with exchange of votes) for Glen Isla before leaving the war.
Shona Anderson & Terry Dey
The Corries — Busk Busk Bonnie Lassie
I Do you see yon high hills (1) All covered with snow They hae pairted mony’s a true love And they’ll soon pairt us twa Chorus Busk, busk, bonny lassie And come alang wi me And I’ll tak ye tae Glen Isla Near bonny Glen Shee II Do you see yon (bonny) shepherds, As they walk alang Wi their plaidies pulled aboot them And their sheep they graze on III Do you see yon (bonny) sodjers As they all march alang Wi their muskets on their shouders And their broadswords hinging doon IV Do you see yon high hills All covered with snow They hae pairted mony’s a true love And they’ll soon pairt us twa |
English translation Cattia Salto I Do you see yon high hills All covered with snow They have parted many’s a true love And they’ll soon part us two Chorus Get ready get ready bonny lassie And come along with me And I’ll take you to Glen Isla Near bonny Glen Shee II Do you see yon shepherds, As they walk along With their plaidies pulled about them And their sheep they graze on III Do you see yon sodjers As they all march along With their muskets on their shouders And their broadswords hinging down IV Do you see yon high hills All covered with snow They have parted many’s a true love And they’ll soon pairt us two |
NOTES
1) or bonny highland
The Bloody Fields of Flanders
The pipe march version comes from the World War I arranged by John MacLellan (Pipe Major of the 8th Argylls), Hamish Henderson had the chance to hear it during the Second World War at Anzio and in 1960 he added a text entitled “The Freedom Come-All-Ye” by tranforming it into an anti-war song.
A Trip
https://outnaboutinscotland.com/2014/11/24/glen-isla-monamenach/
LINK
http://sangstories.webs.com/bonnyglenshee.htm
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/81881/16
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/10596/1
http://tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/65221/1
http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/871.html
https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/id/4991
http://www.schoolofpiping.com/articles/flanders.pdf
