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> Tony Rose > Songs > The Bonny Light Horseman
> Eliza Carthy > Songs > Bonny Light Horseman / Michael Turner's Waltz

The Bonny Light Horseman

[ Roud 1185 ; Ballad Index HHH122a ; trad.]

The Bonny Light Horseman is a lament from the Napoleonic Wars. Mary Ann Carolan sang it on her Topic album Songs from the Irish Tradition. Sean Corcoran commented in the sleeve notes:

This English song was circulated on ballad sheets in Ireland and became quite popular. Versions have been found in Wexford (Stanford-Petrie No. 779), and the P.J. McCall Collection in the National Library in Dublin, in Galway (sung by Sean O Conaire) and in Antrim (Sam Henry, Songs of the People, No. 122). It was sung to two distinct airs—a Southern and a Northern/Western. Mrs Carolan sings the Southern air while the Galway tune is the same as Henry's version A, although Sean O Conaire sings it in the highly decorated sean nos style of Connemara. When first recorded in 1970 Mrs. Carolan sang this song in a much faster tempo.

Lal and Norma Waterson sang Bonny Light Horseman on their 1977 album A True Hearted Girl. This recording was also included in the Watersons' 1992 CD re-release For Pence and Spicy Ale and on the English folk anthology And We'll All Have Tea.

Lesley Nelson comments:

Sam Henry noted the tune is probably over four hundred years old and is of Irish origin because it used the old Irish gapped scale (which did not use the fourth and seventh notes of the modern scale). According to William Barrett the song appeared frequently in England after 1790 on broadsides printed in London, Birmingham and Preston. There are several variants of the tune. The song, also known as Broken Hearted I Wander, had widespread popularity during the Napoleonic Wars.

Planxty recorded Bonny Light Horseman in 1979 for their album After the Break.

Lisa Null sang Bonny Light Horseman in 1980 on her and Bill Shute's LP American Primitive. Peter Bellamy and Claudia Schmidt sang chorus vocals.

Nic Jones sang The Bonny Light Horseman in 1980 at the Sidmouth International Festival. This recording was included in 2004 on the 2 CD anthology Folk Festival Sidmouth. Tony Rose learned the song from Nic Jones when they were working together in Bandoggs. He recorded it in 1982 for his album Poor Fellows and again in 1999 for Bare Bones.

Eliza Carthy and Nancy Kerr also recorded this song—followed by Michael Turner's Waltz—for their CD Shape of Scrape. This track has been reissued on their compilation On Reflection and on the anthology Troubadours of British Folk Vol. 3. An alternate take of this recording can be found on the 1995 Mrs Casey Records compilation Evolving Tradition. Eliza Carthy commented in original album's sleeve notes:

This is an Irish version of Bonny Light Horseman, learned from Norma Waterson, and originally from Mary Ann Carolan.

And Nancy Kerr wrote:

Michael Turner's Waltz comes from the Sussex Tune Book, and is about Michael Turner, clerk of the parish and fiddle player.

In fact, Michael Turner's Waltz is the trio from Mozart's Deutscher Tanz KV 536 no. 2, published in 1788. See also the Mudcat Café thread Origins: Michael Turner's Waltz.

Lyrics

Lal and Norma Waterson sing The Bonny Light Horseman

Well now Bonaparte, he has commanded his troops for to stand
And he levelled up his cannon all over the land;
Yes he levelled his cannon, the whole victory to gain,
And he slew my light horseman returning from Spain.

Chorus (after each verse):

Broken-hearted I wander all for my true lover,
He's a bonny light horseman, in the war has been slain

All ye wives', sweethearts' and widows' attention I pray,
For me heart it is broken and it's fading away.
I'm a maid so distracted, broken-hearted I wander
For my bonny light horseman in the war has been slain.

You should see my light horseman on a cold winter's day,
With his red and rosy cheeks and his curly black hair.
He's mounted on horseback, the whole victory to gain,
And he's over the battlefield for honour and fame.

Now if I had have had the wings of an eagle I'd fly
To my bonny light horseman and there I'd lie by,
And with me little fluttering wings I would build up me nest.
Oh my bonny light horseman you're the boy I love best.

Note: Eliza Carthy sings nearly the same words but has swapped verses two and three which fits the narrative better.

Planxty sing The Bonny Light Horseman

Ye wise maids and widows, pray listen to me,
To this sad tale I rehearse unto thee:
A maid in distress who will now be a rover,
She relies on King George for the loss of her lover.

Chorus (after each verse):

Broken-hearted I'll wander, broken-hearted I'll remain,
For my bonny light horseman, in the wars he was slain.

Three years and six months since he left England's shore,
My bonny light horseman, will I ne'er see him more?
He's mounted on horseback, so gallant and gay,
And among the whole regiment respected was he.

When Boney commanded his armies to stand,
He levelled his cannon right over the land,
He levelled his cannons, his victory to gain
And he slew my light horseman on the way coming hame.

The dove she laments for her mate as she flies;
Oh where, tell me where is my darling? she cries,
And where in this world is there one to compare,
With my bonny light horseman who was slain in the war?

Tony Rose sings The Bonny Light Horseman

Oh, when Boney commanded all his troops for to stand,
He's levelled his cannon all over the land,
He's levelled his cannon for the victory to gain,
And he slew my light horseman from the wars coming home.

Chorus (after each verse):

Broken-hearted I'll wander for the loss of my lover,
He's the bonny light horseman, in the wars he was slain.

Oh, if I was a small bird and had wings to fly,
I'd fly o'er the salt sea where my true love he do lie.
And with these fond wings, oh I'd beat on his grave,
I'd kiss the fond lips that lie cold in the clay.

Now the dove she laments for her mate as she flies;
Where, tell me where is my true love? she cries,
And where in this wide world is there one to compare,
To my bonny light horseman who was slain in the war?

(repeat first verse)

Acknowledgements

Transcribed from Lal & Norma Waterson's singing by Garry Gillard.
The Planxty version was taken from the Digital Tradition.