> Norma Waterson > Songs > Bonaparte's Lament
> Eliza Carthy > Songs > Bonaparte's Lament

Bonaparte's Lament / Boney's Defeat

[ Roud 349 ; Ballad Index E096 ; trad.]

Cecil Sharp collected Boney's Defeat in May 1917 from from Mrs. Townsley and Mrs. Wilson in Kentucky. He published it in English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians.

Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson sang Bonaparte's Lament “from the EFDSS Appalachian compilation Dear Companion” in 2010 on their Topic CD Gift.

Lyrics

Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson sing Bonaparte's Lament

O, Boney has gone to the wars of old fighting,
Gone to the place where he takes no delight in.
There he may sit down, and tell scenes of sinners
Whilst forlorn he does mourn on the Isles of Saint Helena.

Louisa does weep for her husband's departed
And she dreams when she sleeps and she wakes broken-hearted.
Not a friend to console or even those who might be with her,
Still she mourns when she thinks on the Isles of Saint Helena.

The rude rushing waves all around the shores a-washing,
Great bellows heaves and the wild rocks a-dashing.
You may look to the moon and to the great Mount Diana,
With his eyes over the waves that's around Saint Helena.

No more in Saint Cloud he will be seen in such splendour,
I'll go on with the crowd at the great Alexander
For the young King of Rome and for the Prince of Guyana
Says he'll bring his father home from the Isles of Saint Helena.