The Fiddler’s Companion

© 1996-2008 Andrew Kuntz

_______________________________

HOME       ALPHABETICAL FILES        REFERENCES

[COMMENT1] [COMMENT2] 

BONN - BONNY

[COMMENT3] 

 

Notation Note: The tunes below are recorded in what is called “abc notation.” They can easily be converted to standard musical notation via highlighting with your cursor starting at “X:1” through to the end of the abc’s, then “cutting-and-pasting” the highlighted notation into one of the many abc conversion programs available, or at concertina.net’s incredibly handy “ABC Convert-A-Matic” at

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html 

 

**Please note that the abc’s in the Fiddler’s Companion work fine in most abc conversion programs. For example, I use abc2win and abcNavigator 2 with no problems whatsoever with direct cut-and-pasting. However, due to an anomaly of the html, pasting the abc’s into the concertina.net converter results in double-spacing. For concertina.net’s conversion program to work you must remove the spaces between all the lines of abc notation after pasting, so that they are single-spaced, with no intervening blank lines. This being done, the F/C abc’s will convert to standard notation nicely. Or, get a copy of abcNavigator 2 – its well worth it.   [AK]

 

 

[COMMENT4] 

BONN DEIC-PINGINE. AKA and see "The Tenpenny Bit."

           

BONN LEAT-REAL. AKA and see "The Threepenny Bit."

           

BONNAIN BUI, AN. AKA – “Bonnan Buidhe.” See note for "An Noinin Connachtach," a related tune.

           

BONNAN BUIDHE, AN. AKA and see "The Yellow Bittern."

           

BONNE-FEMME NOËL, LA (Noёl’s Wife). French-Canadian, Reel. G Major. Standard.AAAAABBB. Hart & Sandell (2001) say the tune comes from fiddler Lucien Mirandette (1924-1993), from St-Cutbert in the Lanaudière region. The tune is irregular: the first part is two measures of 6/4 time, repeated, while the second is in 4/4 time. Hart & Sandell (Dance ce Soir), 2001; No. 61, pg. 95. Les frères Labri – “Quand l’vent vire de côté” (1993).

                          

BONNE VALSE, LA. See "Grand Mamou Blues."

           

BONNELL'S QUICKSTEP. AKA ‑ "Bonnell's March," "Virginia Quickstep," "The Dancing Mustang," "Major Crichton's Delight" (Eng.), "Davy Knicknack" (Eng.), "Hoe Cake." American, Quickstep or March. USA, southwestern Pa. G Major. Standard. AABB. The tune is international in origin, according to Bayard (1981), in Britain and Europe, but in Pennsylvania it is known as a tune for fife and drum bands. The Pennsylvania versions are named for a renowned fifer from Geene County named "Doc" Bonnell. Bayard found two Flemish versions, and says Dutch authority Florimond van Duyse considered it a fife or flagolet tune dating to the latter 18th or beginning 19th century. Sources for notated versions: Bayard's 'A' version is from the Hoge MS; various other versions ('B'‑'H') were collected from southwestern Pa. fifers and fiddlers. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 210, pgs. 165‑167.

           

BONNET MAKERS OF DUNDEE, THE. AKA and see “Corby and the Pyett,” “Sweet Molly [2].” Scottish, Reel or Strathspey. Glen finds the earliest printing of the tune in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection. However, Paul Cranford says it appeared earlier in James Oswald’s Caledonian Pocket Companion (1743-48) under the title “The Corby and the Pyett” (The Raven and the Magpie”). Aird (1782) and Kerr (1887) print it as “Sweet Molly.” The melody appears in the music manuscripts of Long Island, New York, painter and fiddler William Sydney Mount (1807-1868) on a page dated May 8th, 1845, along with the tunes “Cameronian Rant” and “Mathewson’s Hornpipe.” Bremner (Scots Reels), c. 1757; pg. 46.

X:1

T:Bonnet Makers of Dundee

M:2/4

L:1/8

S:William Sydney Mount Manuscripts, on a page dated May 8th, 1845

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G Minor

G/g/ (g/4a/4.g/4.^f/4 g=f/d/ | f/>g/ a/g/ f/^e/f/c/ | d/g/ (g/4a/4).g/4.^f/4 g=f/d/ |

c/>d/f/A/ (3.G/.G/.G/G | G/g/ (g/4a/4.g/4.^f/4 g=f/d/ | f/>g/ a/g/ f/=e/f/c/ |

d/g/ (g/4a/4).g/4.^f/4 g=f/d/ | c/>d/f/A/ (3.G/.G/.G/G |: (3A/A/A/A/G/ F/G/B/c/ |

(3d/d/d/d/c/ d/f/g/a/ | f/d/c/A/ F/G/A/c/ | d/f/c/A/ (3G/G/G/G :|

X:2

T:Bonnet Makers of Dundee, The

M:C

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Bremner – Scots Reels (c. 1757)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:E Minor

E(ee)f “tr”e2 dB | defd eBdA | B(ee)f “tr”e2 dB | ABdF E/E/E E2 :|

|: F/F/F F?E DEFA | B/B/B B>A Bdef | dBAF D>EFA | BdAF E/E/E E2 :|

           

BONNET TRIMMED IN BLUE. AKA and see "Jacket Trimmed in Blue."

           

BONNETS O' BLUE [1]. English, Morris Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Major (Mallinson): F Major (Bacon). Standard. AABB, AABB, AACC, AACC, AA. From the village of Bledington, Gloucestershire, in England's Cotswolds. Bacon notes there is some doubt about the modality of the tune: Cecil Sharpe collected it in 1909 from Charles Benfield who played it with flattened 7th in the third measure of the 'A' part and the 7th measure of the 'B' part, however, around 1924, when collected by Dr. Kenworthy Schofield from the same informant, the 7th was consistently flattened. The tune is not the same as "Bonnets So Blue."

***

Charles Benfield, Bledington.

The portrait (by artist A. van Anrooy) depicts Charles Benfield, the fiddler for the Bledington morris men in the second half of the 19th century. Benfield started out by playing the pipe and tabor, instruments he had ‘inherited’ from the renowned Sherbourne and Northleach musician Jim ‘the laddie’ Simpson, who had succumbed to an overdose of alcohol in 1856. The fiddler became a key figure in the Bledington morris tradition, eventually leading the “junior side” of dancers born in the 1860’s, men who survived to pass on their tradition to larger audiences when collectors visited in the 1930’s.

***

Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; pg. 85. Mallinson (Mally’s Cotswold Morris Book), 1988, Vol. 2; No. 43, pg. 21.

      

BONNETS O' BLUE [2]. AKA and see "Bonnets So Blue."

           


BONNETS SO BLUE. AKA ‑ "Bonnets o' Blue [2]." English; Country and Morris Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Major (Carlin, Mallinson, Wade): D Major (Karpeles, Kennedy & Raven): C Major (Bacon, Barnes). Standard tuning. AB (Carlin): AAB (Raven, Wade): ABC (Barnes, Sharp): AABC (Karpeles & Kennedy): ABCBC (Bacon, Mallinson). The Cotswold morris version is from the village Bucknell, Oxfordshire, area of England (a similar tune was collected in Brackley, Northampton) area of England, where it is a solo jig dance. Wade's version is from the North West (England) morris tradition and is used for either polka or single step. The author of “English Folk-Song and Dance” found the melody in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Churt and Thursley in Surrey), who used, in his younger days, to play the fiddle at village dances. He learned his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond, who died around 1870, and who had been the village fiddler before him. The conclusion was that “Bonnets of Blue” and similar old country dance tunes survived in the tradition (at least in southwest Surrey) well into the second half of the 19th century. Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; pgs. 107 & 124. Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; pg. 36 (#46). Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 41. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol.1, 1951; No. 96, pg. 47. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 2; No. 312, pg. 34 (appears as "Bonnets o' Blue"). Mallinson (Mally’s Cotswold Morris Book), 1988, Vol. 2; No. 38, pg. 19. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 103. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909/1994; pg. 7. Wade (Mally’s North West Morris Book), 1988; pg. 9. EMI/Harvest 7243 8 29861 2 6, Ashley Hutchings et al - "Son of Morris On" (1976/1994).

X:1

T:Bonnets so Blue

L:1/8

M:6/8

K:D

A|ded def|ABA ABc|dfb afd|efe e2A|ded def|ABA A2b|agf age|(d3d2):|

||e/d/|cde efe|(A3A2)d|cde efg|a3a2g|f2e d2c|B2c d2e|fgf edc|(B3B2)||A|

def def|def d2A|dfb agf|egf e2A|def def|def d2b|agf age|(d3d2)||

           

BONNIE... See also "Boanie..." (Shetland).

           

BONNY ABOYNE. Scottish. One of the 30 or so surviving compositions of Peter Milne(1824-1908), one of J. Scott Skinner’s teachers and, later, fiddling partner. Milne managed to make a living playing theater venues all over Scotland, but became addicted to opium in the drug laudanum, which he originally took as a pain-killer.  Milne ended his life in reduced circumstances, busking on the ferry that crossed the Firth of Forth.

                       

BONNIE ANGELA. New England, Reel. C major. Standard. AABB. A modern composition by Jack Perron. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; addenda.

           

BONNIE ANN [1]. Scottish, March (2/4 time). A Mixolydian. AABBCCDD. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), Vol. 2, 1988; pg. 12. 

 

BONNY ANN [2]. AKA and see "Bonny Annie [3].”

           

BONNIE ANN(IE) [1] (Áine Bhóidheach). Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard. AABB. The title appears in a list of tunes in his repertoire brought by Philip Goodman, the last professional and traditional piper in Farney, Louth, to the Feis Ceoil in Belfast in 1898 (Breathnach, 1997). It is a well-known session tune in Irish traditional music. Seán Keane says this tune, together with “Jinnie Bang the Weaver” are known as “The Longford Reels.” Keane’s recording was influential, and the tune is sometimes called “Seán Keane’s Reel, according to Sliabh Notes box player Dónal Murphy. Sources for notated versions: fiddler Seán Keane (Ireland) [Breathnach]; set dance music recorded at Na Píobairí Uilleann in the late 1980’s [Taylor]. Breathnach (CRÉ III), 1985; No. 150, pg. 70. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Blue Book), 1995; pg. 5. Treoir, 1x, 1. Claddagh Records CC17, Seán Keane ‑ "Gusty's Frolics" (1975. Learned from two uncles on Keane’s mother’s side, James Hanley and Peter Farrell). Ossian OSS CD 130, Sliabh Notes – “Along Blackwater’s Banks” (2002).

 

BONNIE ANNIE [2]. AKA ‑ "Bonnie Anne." AKA and see “Astley’s Hornpipe.” Irish, Hornpipe. G Major. Standard. AABB. Source for notated version: Chicago Police Sergeant James O’Neill, a fiddler originally from County Down and Francis O’Neill’s collaborator [O’Neill]. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 215. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1979; No. 1771, pg. 330 (appears as "Bonnie Anne"). O’Neill (Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody), 1922; 356.

X:1

T:Bonnie Annie [2]

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Hornpipe

S:O’Neill – Music of Ireland (1903), No. 1771

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

G>AB>c d>BA>G | g>fg>e d2 A>A | B>dB>G c>ec>A | B>dB>G G>FE>D |

G>AB>c d>BA>G | gfge d2 A>A | B>dB>G (3cde A>F | G2 G2 G2 z2 :|

|: d>ef>g f>af>d | g>bg>e f>af>d | d>ef>g a>fe>d | B>dB>G F>AF>D |

B>dB>G c>ec>A | f>af>d g>bg>e | d>gf>e d>cB>A | G2G2G2 z2 :|

 


BONNIE ANNIE [3]. AKA and see "Bonny Ann," "Lethen's Reel,” “Flip McGilder’s Reel,” “Follow Me Down to Carlow [1], "Follow Me Down to Carlow [2]" (jig version), "The Crooked Reel” (An Ríl Cam), "Miss Murphy [2]." Scottish, Reel. A Minor or A Dorian. Standard tuning. AB (Surenne): AAB (most versions). One of the more famous compositions by Edinburgh music teacher Daniel (or sometimes, Donald) Dow (1732‑83), originally of Kirkmichael, Perthshire, who first published it about 1775 or 1776 (the earliest it appears in print, according to John Glen {1891}). It also appears in Angus Cummings 1782 work Collection of Strathspeys or Old Highland Reels. See also Irish versions under this and alternate titles. Glen (Collection of Scottish Dance Music), 1891; pg. 23. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 22. Kennedy (Fiddler’s Tune Book, vol. 1), 1951; No. 38, pg. 19. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 54, pg. 9. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 112. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 188. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 43. Surenne (Dance Music of Scotland), 1852; pg. 114.

See also listings at:

Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index

Alan Ng’s Irishtune.info

X:1

T:Bonnie Annie  [3]

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection  (1884)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A M inor

B/c/ | A/A/A AG EGGc | A/A/A AB cded | cBcG EGGc | A/A/A e^g aAA :|

g|e/f/g ce ecge | BGdG Bcdf | ecgc egca | gede cAAg | agea gced | cAGc EcGc |

AcGA cdea | gede cAA ||

           

BONNIE ANNIE [4]. Scottish, Clog. E Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 119. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 158.

X:1

T:Bonnie Annie [4]

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Hornpipe

S:Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:E

(g>.a) | (b>.g)(a>.f) e>gf>e | d>ef>d B>cB>A | G>Be>^d c>fa>f | e>(f/2e/4) d>fg>a |

b>ga>f e>gf>e | d>ef>d B>cB>A | G>Be>^d c>af>^d | egE :: (d>.e) | 

(f>.B)(B>.B) B>fg>a | g>ee>e e>fg>a | b>ge>g a>gf>e | d>bc>^a b>ed>e |

f>BB>B B>fg>a | g>ee>e e>fg>^a | b>fg>e d>fe>c | B2d2B2 :|

 

BONNIE ANNIE ANDERSON. Scottish, Strathspey or Schottische. D Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by Scottish fiddling giant J. Scott Skinner, first appearing in print near the end of his life in his "Cairngorum Series," No. 1 (1922). Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1986; pg. 19. A & M Records 79602 2000-2, Ashley MacIsaac - “Close to the Floor” (1992).

           

BONNY AT MORN. English, Air (6/4 time). England, Northumberland. G Minor. Standard tuning. AB.

***

The sheep's in the meadow,

The kye's in the corn,

[Thou's ower land in they bed]

Bonny at morn.

Canny at night,

Bonny at morn,

[Thou's ower lang in thy bed],

Bonny at morn. (Bruce & Stokoe).

***

"The song 'Bonny at Morn' gives us a pretty picture of family life. The baby awakes a little too early, but the big lad and the big lass are loath to rise; hence the interjaculatory phrases 'Thou's ower lang in thy bed' in the midst of the song" (Stokoe). The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes, which he published c. 1800. Bruce & Stokoe (Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; pgs. 88‑89.

X:1

T:Bonny at Morn

M:6/4

L:1/8

R:Air

S:Bruce & Stokoe – Northumbrian Minstrelsy  (1882)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G Minor

A2 | d3e dc d2G2 AB | c>B AG F2G2A2 | d3e dc d2G2A2 | c2A2F2 G4A2 |

d3e dc d2G2 AB | c3B AG F2G2A2 | GF GA Bc d2g2f2 | d2f2A2G4z2 ||

G2g2g2 G4b2 | A2f2f2F4A2 | G3A Bc d2g2f2 | d2f2A2 G4 ||

           

BONNIE BANCHORY. Scottish, Reel. A Major. Standard. AABB. The melody was first published in Skinner's Hirn Collection, and composed by Skinner for his birthplace in Scotland. Skinner directs the tune be played for the dance the Circassian Circle. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 225. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist), pg. 46. Olympic 6151, The Scottish Fiddle Festival Orchestra ‑ "Scottish Traditional Fiddle Music" (1978). Tradition 2118, Jim MacLeod & His Band ‑ "Scottish Dances: Jigs, Waltzes and Reels" (1979).

X:1

T:Bonnie Banchory

Z: John Chambers < jc@ecf-guest.mit.edu http://eddie.mit.edu/~jc/music/

M: C|

L: 1/8

R:Reel

<