BONNY PORTMORE. AKA and see "Peggy Levin," "Peggi Ni Leavan," "Peggy na Leavien." Irish, Slow Air (3/4 or 3/8 time). D Mixolydian (O Boyle): D Dorian (Darley & McCall): E Mixolydian (O'Sullivan/Bunting). Standard. One part (O'Boyle): AB (Darley & McCall): ABC (O'Sullivan/Bunting). The Irish collector Edward Bunting (1840) found the tune a favorite air in County Antrim around the area of Ballinderry. He states:
**
Portmore, an old residence of the O'Neill's, stood on the
banks of Lough Beg, a small and shallow, but picturesque,
sheet of water adjoining Lough Neagh. The ivy-clad ruins
of the old church still stand on a neighbouring eminence,
which in summer forms a promontory, and in winter is
surrounded by the waters of the lake. On the plantation of
this part of the country in 1611, Portmore became the property
of Lord Conway, who built a manison here, of which there are
still some traces. (O Boyle states Conway built the castle on the
ruins of a more ancient fortress in 1664, but that it was neglected
after his death and finally, in 1761, most of the buildings were removed.)
This was a favourite retreat of Doctor JeremyTaylor, when Bishop
of Dromore; and the tree under which he used to sit, to hear this
melody sung by the peasantry was pointed out until some years
ago. (O Boyle states this oak was referred to as the 'ornament tree',
some fourteen yards in circumference, which was blown down in
1760 and sold for lumber). The air is probably as old as the time of
the O'Neill's in Ballinderry, to whose declining fortunes there would
appear to be an allusion in the first stanza of the English words, which
are still sung with it:
Bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more my heart warms.
But if I had you now, as I had once before,
All the gold in all England would not buy you, Portmore!
**
O'Sullivan (1983) notes that nothing is known of the Peggy Leavan of the alternate title, whose name is misspelt in Irish, and whose name in English would by Peggy or Margaret Levinge. Sources for notated versions: MS of Mr. A Lowe (Fairview, Ireland) which contains many tunes by piper Hugh O'Beirne (Mohill, Co. Leitrim), 1846 [Darley & McCall]; either the harper Arthur O'Neill or Ulster harper Daniel Black at Glenoak, 1796 (the former is cited in Bunting's MS, the latter in his 1840 volume) [Bunting]. Darley & McCall (The Darley & McCall Collection of Traditional Irish Music), 1914; No. 53, pg. 23 (appears as "Peggy Levin"). Ó Boyle (The Irish Song Tradition), 1976; pg. 50. O'Sullivan/Bunting (Bunting's Ancient Music of Ireland), 1983; No. 109, pgs. 156-157.
BOYNE WATER, THE [1] (Briseadh na Bóinne). AKA and see "As Vanquished Erin," "The Battle of the Boyne Water," "Bayne Water" (W.Va.), "Barbara Allan" (Pa.), "The Bottom of the Punch Bowl," "Boyne Water Quickstep," "Cameronian Rant," "The Cavalcade of the Boyne," "Come Kiss Wi' Me, Come Clap Wi' Me," "Findlay," "King William's March," "Lass If I Come Near You," "Leading/Driving the Calves," "Leading the Calves in the Pasture," "Native Swords," "One Pleasant Morning Beside the Glen," "Playing Amang the Rashes," "Praises of Limerick," "The Rashes," "Rosc Catha na Mumhan," "Sheila Ni Gowna," "Song of the Volunteers," "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation," "To Look for My Calves I Sent My Child," "The Wee German Lairdie" "Wha the Deil Hae We Gotten For a King," "When the King Came O'er the Water." Irish, Air or March (4/4 time). A Dorian (Breathnach, O'Neill, Perlman, Roche): E Minor (Joyce). Standard. AB (most versions): AA'BB (Breathnach). The name Boyne itself is derived from the name of the goddess Boinn, literally 'cow-white', "a name well suited to a pastoral people whose wealth was chiefly in cattle" (Matthews, 1972). The name of the tune, however, commemorates the Battle of the Boyne (named for the Boyne River in County Meath, eastern Ireland, though the battle itself was fought three miles west of Drogheda), fought July 1st, 1690, in which the English monarch King William III defeated the Irish forces under King James II. "It has always been, and still is, very popular among the Orangemen of Ulster (for it dashed the hopes of the Irish for religious freedom and the Stuarts for Kingship). The ballad follows the historical accounts of the battle correctly enough. The air is well known in the south (of Ireland) also, where it is commonly called Sebladh na n-gamhan, 'Leading the Calves,' A good setting is given by Bunting in his second collection: the Munster and Connaught versions are given by Petrie in his Ancient Music of Ireland, vol. II, p. 12. I print it here as I learned it in my youth from the singing of the people of Limerick, not indeed to 'The Boyne Water' of Ulster, but to other words (given below). My setting differs only slightly from that of Bunting; and it is nearly the same as I heard it played some years ago by a band on a 12th of July in Warrenpoint" (Joyce).
***
Samuel Bayard (1981) believes "Boyne Water" was composed in the seventeenth century, and thinks it has always been more of a vocal air rather than an instrumental tune. As witnessed by the myriad of titles in the beginning of this entry, it has been a popular air in the British Isles and, as Bayard states, "altogether, the forms suggest that it has undergone a long traditional development." He believes the second half may have been the original tune, with the first half being fashioned out of elements from earlier strains. Bronson discerns the origins of the whole tune family in a Scottish melody found in the Skene Manuscript of c. 1615. Flood (1913) dates the tune from c. 1645, long before the famous battle, though how he arrived at this date is obscure. Cowdery (1990) believes it may be from a reference to a melody published by Petrie (1855), called "To Seed for the Lambs I Have Sent My Child," in which the latter writer declared, "in its superior purity of expression, and in its passionate depth of feeling, affords intrinsic evidence of an original intention, and consequent priority of antiquity, which will not be found in that which I consider to be the derived from of it called 'The Boyne Water.'" O'Neill (1913) concludes the same Gaelic airs printed by Petrie are early antecedents of "Boyne Water," Nos. 1529 ("A Long mo Gamain" {To look for my calves I sent my child"}) and 1530 ("An Tuainirc na nGainna". Breathnach (1985), in CRE II (No. 124), gives a polka setting and remarks it was used for the last figure of the Clare polka set, and says that "Rosc Catha na Mumhan" (The Munster War-Cry) is sung to this air.
***
However old it actually is in oral tradition, Bayard (1991) finds the earliest printed appearances of the tune in William Graham's Lute Book of 1694 (as "Playing Amang the Rashes") and in D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy (where it appears as an untitled air). The melody remained in popular usage throughout the British Isles for well over two hundred years. Robert Burns set three songs to it in Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, and it was the vehicle for the Scots songs "The Wee, Wee German Lairdie" and "Andro and His Cutty Gun" (the latter from Alan Ramsay's 1740 edition of the Tea-Table Miscellany). In Ireland, Sir Thomas Moore used the melody for his c. 1825 song "As Vanquished Erin." The air was widespread in American usage, often heard as the tune the popular song "Barbara Allan" was sung to, which fact has been noted by several writers (Bayard, Cowdery, Cazden). It is, for example, identified by Cowdery (1990) as one of four tunes which carry the tale of "(Bonny) Barbara Allen" (the second strain of both Joyce's version and Bunting's "To seek for the Lambs..." is the portion of the Irish tune which corresponds to the America "Barbara Allen"). As "The Battle of the Boyne" it was included in a Philadelphia chapbook of 1805, and, under the title "The Buoying Water," as an instrumental piece in the 1790 Whittier Perkins Book (Cazden, et al, 1982). According to Bronner (1987), it was used for an 1815 hit American blackface minstrel song by Micah Hawkins called "The Siege of Plattsburgh" or "Backside Albany." Cazden prints it with the Catskill Mountain (N.Y.)-collected song "A Shantyman's Life," which he states can be found in most collections of lumber camp songs. O'Neill (1913) lists "Boyne Water" as one of the "splendid martial airs" of Irish music.
***
The political connotations of "The Boyne Water" long remained attached to the melody, even after it was imported to North America. Bayard (1981) relates that the mere playing of the tune in the presence of Catholic Irish in western Pennsylvania "could bring on a mass attack," and repeats the Fayette County story of an old Irishman digging potatoes in the garden while his wife followed along beside him picking the up in a sack. She absent-mindedly began singing the air, upon which he turned around and, incensed, brained her with one blow of his spade. In fact, Pennsylvania fifers declined to play the tune for Bayard at gatherings, fearing to destroy the harmony of the group with "political pieces." Sources for notated versions: George Strosnider (Greene County), Hiram Horner (Westmoreland County), Mrs. Sarah Armstrong (Westmoreland County) {All Southwestern Pa.} [Bayard]; flute and whistle player Micko Russell, 1969 (Doolin, Co. Clare, Ireland) [Breathnach]; Sterling Baker (b. mid-1940's, Morell, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island; now resident of Montague) [Perlman]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 317A-D, pgs. 271-273. Breathnach (CRE II), 1976; No. 124, pg. 66. Gow (Beauties), 1819. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 151 and No. 377, pgs. 183-184. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 204 & No. 260, pg. 45. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 208. Roche Collection, 1982; pg. 8, Vol. I, No. 4.
T:Boyne Water [1]
L:1/8
M:C
S:Joyce - Old Irish Folk Music
K:E Minor
ED|B,2 B2 B>cdB|AGFE D2 E>F|G2 FE BAGF|(E3D) B,2 E>D|B,2 B2 B>cdB|
AGFE D2 EF|G2 FE B>AGF|E4 E2||E>F|A2B2d2 e>f|e>d cB A3A|B2e2 e>def|
(e3d B2) Bc|dcde d2 cB|A>GFE D2 EF|G2 FE B>A GF|E4E2||
CA' HAWKIE (THROUGH THE WATER). AKA and see "Drive Hakky," "Lord Elphinston." Scottish, English; Strathspey, Reel and/or Air (2/4 time). England, Northumberland. B Flat Major & G Minor (Bruce & Stokoe): A Minor (Athole, Kerr). Standard. AB (Bruce & Stokoe ): AABBCCDD (Kerr).
***
Ca' Hawkie, ca' Hawkie,
Ca' Hawkie through the water,
Hawkie is a sweir beast,
And Hawkie winna wade the water.
Hawkie is a bonny cow,
Though she's loth to wade the water;
While she waits the work'll stand,
So ca' Hawkie through the water. (Bruce & Stokoe)
***
Bruce & Stokoe (Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; pg. 121. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 2; No. 70, pg. 10. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 54. Philo FI 2018, "Jean Carignan Plays the Music of Coleman, Morrison & Skinner" (played as a reel).
T:Ca' Hawkie Through the Water
T:Lord Elphinston
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Reel or Strathspey
B:The Athole Collection
K:Aminor
a|g<e e>d c>de>a|g<e e<d c<A A>a|g<e e>d c>de>g|e<a a>^g a<A A:|
B|c2 c>e d2d>e|c2 c>e d>BG>B|c2 c>e d2 d>f|e<a a>^g a<A A>B|
c2 c>e d2 d>e|c2 c>e d>BG>B|c>ec>e d<gd<g|e<a a>^g aAA||
|:c|G<E E>D C>DE>A|G<E E>D C<A, A,>A|G<E E>D C>DE>G|
E<A A>^G A>A, A:|
B,|C2 C>E D2 D>E|C2 C>E D>B,G,>B,|C2 C>E D2 D>F|
E<A A>^G A<A, A,>B|c>ec>e d>ed>e|c>ec>e d>BG>B|
c>ec>e d>gd>g|e<a a>^g a<AA||
T:Ca' Hawkie Through the Water
L:1/8
M:2/4
S: Bruce & Stokoe - Northumbrian Minstrelsy
K:G Minor
B2 Bd|c2 ce|B2 Bd|(c/B/)(A/G/) FA|BB Bd|c2 ce|dg g^f|
gG GG||fd dB|cd e2|fd dB|cA AF|fd dB|cd ee|(dg) g^f|gG GG||
DANIEL OF THE SUN [2] (Dónall na Gréine). AKA and see "The Leg of Duck," "The Bonny Highlander," "The Bottle of Brandy," "Bucky Highlander," "Bully for you," "Daniel Drunk," "From the Court to the Cottage," "Girls of the West", "I gave to my Nelly," "The Leg of the Duck," "Nelly's Jig," "O my Dear Judy," "O My Dear Father Pity your Daughter," "Petticoat Loose," "Potatoes and Butter," "She is/She's the girl that can do it," "Sonny/Sunny Dan," "Thady/Tady you Gander," "Teddy you Gander," "'Tis sweet to think," "The Western Jig," "You May Talk as You Please." Irish, Double Jig or Air. G Major. Standard. AB. Some similarities to version #1. Source Micho Russell indicated the Gaelic title of the song translated literally as "Daniel of the Stroke," referring to someone with sunstroke. It was a fairy tune, said Micho, and told the story of a man who lived in a small thatched house by the side of the road. The man became very ill, but was able to rise and happened to go out to the road one night where he met a stranger who inquired after his health. The man replied that he was indeed very sick, "and I cannot get better." The stranger said that if he was able to play this tune until morning he should be allright, and proceeded to lilt a tune which was listened to very carefully. Upon returning to his dwelling, the man practised the tune on his old tin whistle, and sure enough, by morning's light his sickness was gone. Breathnach (1976) prints the beginning of the song:
**
Comaion is frolic chuir Artúr a bhailis
Ar Dhónall na Gréine;
Má chuala sibh a thréithe
Go gcaithfeadh sé seachtain ag ól I dtíi leanna
'S ná titfeadh néal air,
B'annamh dith céille air.
**
Arthur Wallace put an obligation and a frolic
On Dhónall na Gréine;
If you heard of his traits,
That he would spend a week drinking in an ale house
And that gloom would never fall on him,
And that folly was a rarity with him (Literal translation by Paul de Grae).
**
The song appears in Seán Ó Dálaigh's Poets and Poetry of Munster (1849), though not usually sung to the version Breathnach gives. Breathnach says it is apparently in praise of Dhónall na Gréine, though "it is a complete pretence." He remarks that in districts in which Irish was formerly spoken a common lilt survives, which goes "Dónall ar meisce is a bhean ag ól uisce is na leanaí ag béicigh, na leanaí ag béicigh" (Donall drunk and his wife drinking water and the children roaring, and the children roaring). English ditties to the tune go by the title "From the Court to the Cottage," "Girls of the West," "I gave to my Nelly," "Thady you Gander," and "Tis sweet to think." Source for notated version: flute and whistle player Micko Russell, 1967 (Doolin, Co. Clare, Ireland) [Breathnach]. Breathnach (CRE II), 1976; No. 10, pg. 7. Russell (The Piper's Chair), 1989; pg. 7.