"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond", or simply "Loch Lomond" for short, is a well-known traditional Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 song (Roud

Roud Folk Song Index

The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...

 No. 9598). It was first published in 1841

1841 in music

- Events :*Robert Schumann writes two symphonies: Symphony No. 1 in Bb, opus 38 , and Symphony No. 4 in D-minor, opus 120...

 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland.

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...

 is a large Scottish loch

Loch

Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...

 located between the traditional counties of Dunbartonshire

Dunbartonshire

Dunbartonshire or the County of Dumbarton is a lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Until 1975 it was a county used as a primary unit of local government with its county town and administrative centre at the town...

 and Stirlingshire

Stirlingshire

Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a registration county of Scotland, based around Stirling, the former county town. It borders Perthshire to the north, Clackmannanshire and West Lothian to the east, Lanarkshire to the south, and Dunbartonshire to the south-west.Until 1975 it was a county...

. The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond is often the final piece of music played during an evening of revelry (a disco or dinner, etc.) in Scotland, a phenomenon not seen in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Andrew Lang

About 1876, the Scottish poet and folklorist Andrew Lang

Andrew Lang

Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...

 wrote a poem based on the song titled "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond". The title sometimes has the date "1746" appended—the year of the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie

Charles Edward Stuart

Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...

's rebellion and the hanging of some of his captured supporters. Lang's poem begins:

There's an ending o' the dance, and fair Morag's safe in France,

And the Clans they hae paid the lawing,

Morag—great one in Gaelic—referred to Bonnie Prince Charlie, who fled to France after his forces were defeated. Lawing means reckoning in Scottish dialect. The poem continues:

And the wuddy has her ain, and we twa are left alane,

Free o' Carlisle gaol in the dawing.

Wuddy means gallows, according to Lang's own notes on the poem; dawing is dawn. The poem continues with the song's well-known chorus, then explains why the narrator and his true love will never meet again:

For my love's heart brake in twa, when she kenned the Cause's fa',

And she sleeps where there's never nane shall waken

The poem's narrator vows to take violent revenge on the English:

While there's heather on the hill shall my vengeance ne'er be still,

While a bush hides the glint o' a gun, lad;

Wi' the men o' Sergeant Môr shall I work to pay the score,

Till I wither on the wuddy in the sun, lad!

"Sergeant Môr" is John Du Cameron

John Du Cameron

John Du Cameron was a Scottish sergeant in the French army who came back to Scotland to support Bonny Prince Charlie in The 'Forty-Five'. When the rebellion failed he took to the hills with a band of renegades and fought on until he was captured and hanged in 1753. Because of his large size he was...

, a supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie who continued fighting as an outlaw until he was hanged in 1753.

Lyrics

By yon bonnie banks an' by yon bonnie braes

Whaur the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond

Whaur me an' my true love will ne-er meet again (alternate: Where me and my true love were ever lak/wont tae gae)

On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomon'.

Chorus:

O ye'll tak' the high road, and Ah'll tak' the low (road)

And Ah'll be in Scotlan' afore ye

Fir me an' my true love will ne-er meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomon'.

'Twas there that we perted in yon shady glen

On the steep, steep sides o' Ben Lomon'

Whaur in (soft) purple hue, the hielan hills we view

An' the moon comin' oot in the gloamin’.

Chorus

The wee birdies sing an' the wild flouers spring

An' in sunshine the waters are sleeping

But the broken heart, it kens nae second spring again

Tho' the waeful may cease frae their greetin'. (alternate: Tho' the world knows not how we are grieving)

Chorus

Interpretation

There are many theories about the meaning of the song. One interpretation is that it is attributed to a Jacobite

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

 Highlander

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

 who was captured after the 1745 rising. The English played games with the Jacobites, and said that one of them could live and one would die. This is sung by the one who was sentenced to die, the low road referred to being the passage to the underworld. Some believe that this version is written to a lover who lived near the loch.

A related interpretation holds that a professional soldier and a volunteer were captured by the English in one of the small wars between the countries in the couple hundred years prior to 1746. Volunteers could accept parole, a release contingent on the volunteer's refusal to rejoin the fighting, but regulars could not and so could face execution. The volunteer would take the high road that linked London and Edinburgh while the soul of the executed regular would return along the "low road" and would get back to Scotland first.

Another interpretation is that the song is sung by the lover of a captured rebel set to be executed in London following a show trial. The heads of the executed rebels were then set upon pikes and exhibited in all of the towns between London and Glasgow in a procession along the "high road" (the most important road), while the relatives of the rebels walked back along the "low road" (the ordinary road travelled by peasants and commoners).

It captures some of the romantic

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

 spirit of the lost cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie

Charles Edward Stuart

Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...

.

Another interpretation of the 'Low Road' is that it refers to the traditional underground route taken by the 'fairies' or 'little people' who were reputed to transport the soul of a dead Scot who died in a foreign land - in this case, England - back to his homeland to rest in peace.

Arrangements and recordings

"Loch Lomond" has been arranged and recorded by many composers and performers over the years, in styles ranging from traditional Scottish folk to barbershop

Barbershop music

Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era , is a style of a cappella, or unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture...

 to rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

.

• In 1921, the English
  England
  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
  
   composer Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
  
  , a keen collector and arranger of English folk music, arranged "Loch Lomond" as a part song
  Part song
  A part song is a form of choral music which consists of a secular song which has been written or arranged for several vocal parts, commonly SATB choir, but also for an all-male or all-female ensemble...
  
   for an unaccompanied four-part male voice choir with baritone
  Baritone
  Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
  
   solo.
• At his 1938 Carnegie Hall
  Carnegie Hall
  Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
  
   Concert, Benny Goodman
  Benny Goodman
  Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
  
   swung this song with Martha Tilton
  Martha Tilton
  Martha Tilton was an American popular singer, best-known for her 1939 recording of "And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman. She was sometimes introduced as The Liltin' Miss Tilton.Tilton and her family lived in Texas and Kansas, relocating to Los Angeles when she was seven years old...
  
   singing. The audience demanded an encore so heartily that, none being ready, Goodman announced that Tilton would be back later with another song.
• In 1957, Bill Haley & His Comets
  Bill Haley & His Comets
  Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
  
   recorded a popular rock and roll version retitled "Rock Lomond".
• Noted concert band composer Frank Ticheli composed a song called "Loch Lomond," based on the original, in 2002.
• The song is featured in the 1946 film, The Green Years
  The Green Years (film)
  The Green Years is a 1946 American comedy-drama film featuring Charles Coburn, Tom Drake, Hume Cronyn, Gladys Cooper, Dean Stockwell, and Jessica Tandy, based on A. J. Cronin's novel of the same title...
  
  , based on the novel of the same title by Scots author, A. J. Cronin
  A. J. Cronin
  Archibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known works are Hatter's Castle, The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years, all of which were adapted to film. He also created the Dr...
  
  .
• "Loch Lomond" was featured on the American television program The Lawrence Welk Show
  The Lawrence Welk Show
  The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...
  
  in 1972, in which it was sung by Jack Imel
  Jack Imel
  Lawrence Jack Imel is an American singer, dancer, musician, and television producer who is best known for his work on The Lawrence Welk Show....
  
  , Bobby Burgess
  Bobby Burgess
  Robert Wilkie "Bobby" Burgess is an American dancer and singer. As a child he was an original Mouseketeer and later in life a regular on the The Lawrence Welk Show.-Early life:...
  
  , Mary Lou Metzger
  Mary Lou Metzger
  Mary Lou Metzger is an American singer and dancer best known as a cast member on The Lawrence Welk Show....
  
   and Cissy King
  Cissy King
  Cissy King is an American-born singer and dancer best known as a featured performer on The Lawrence Welk Show television program.Her father was a geologist employed by an oil company...
  
  .
• The Australian hard rock group AC/DC
  AC/DC
  AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
  
  , whose members have Scottish origins and roots, released an instrumental version of the song titled "Fling Thing" on the B-side of the "Jailbreak
  Jailbreak (AC/DC song)
  "Jailbreak" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the ninth and final track of their third Australian album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, released in September 1976...
  
  " single in 1976. They also performed it live as "Bonny
  Bonny (song)
  "Bonny" is an instrumental performed by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, based on the traditional Scottish ballad The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond...
  
  ", in which the band plays the music while the crowd sings the verse.
• The progressive rock band Marillion
  Marillion
  Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
  
   played the song with their former singer "Fish
  Fish (singer)
  Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of Marillion.-Biography:...
  
  " in the 80's, as part of a medley called 'Margaret' which also featured another traditional song, Marie's Wedding (usually played as a encore at Scottish shows). A live version can be found on B'Sides Themselves
  B'Sides Themselves
  B'Sides Themselves is a compilation of single B-sides by the rock band Marillion released on CD only in January 1988. This was the first time that those B-sides were made available in the then still relatively new Compact Disc format...
  
  , recorded at Edinburgh Playhouse in December 1983.
• The melody is used at the beginning of the song "El Hijo del Blues" from the 1994 self-titled album
  Mägo de Oz (album)
  Mägo de Oz was Mägo de Oz's debut album, released in 1994. It was edited and re-released in 1999.-Track listing:#"T'esnucaré Contra'l Bidé" - 3:51#"El Lago" - 4:29#"Rock Kaki Rock" - 3:14#"Gerdundula" cover of Status Quo] - 1:51...
  
   by Spanish folk metal
  Folk metal
  Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
  
   group Mägo de Oz
  Mägo de Oz
  Mägo de Oz is a Spanish folk/heavy metal band from Begoña, Madrid formed in mid-1988 by drummer Txus di Fellatio. In 1992, the band were finalists in the Villa de Madrid contest. Then, they went onto achieve great success in Spain, and in 1995, were declared Revolution Rock Band...
  
  .
• Scottish folk-rock band Runrig
  Runrig
  Runrig are a Scottish Celtic rock group formed in Skye, in 1973 under the name 'The Run Rig Dance Band'. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The current line-up also includes longtime members Malcolm Jones, Iain Bayne, and more...
  
   have made the song their unofficial anthem, closing their concerts with a rendition for over 25 years. They also had a top ten hit with a re-recorded version in 2007, released for BBC Children in Need, hitting number 9 in the whole of the UK and number 1 in Scotland.
• Canadian punk band Real McKenzies
  Real McKenzies
  The Real McKenzies is a North American Celtic punk band founded in 1992 and based in Vancouver, British Columbia.In addition to writing and performing original music, Real McKenzies perform traditional Scottish songs, giving them a new punk-influenced sound...
  
   recorded their own version of "Loch Lomond" on their 1995 debut album The Real McKenzies
  Real McKenzies (album)
  -Track listing:#"Scots Wha' Ha'e"#"Loch Lomond"#"Raise Yer Glass"#"Skye Boat Song"#"Sawney Beane Clan"#"Outta Scotch"#"Scottish and Proud"#"Kilt"#"Pliers"#"My Bonnie"-Trivia:...
  
  in their own Scottish-influenced Celtic punk styling.
• The lyrics are parodied by Tenacious D
  Tenacious D
  Tenacious D is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. Composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Black and lead guitarist and vocalist Kyle Gass, the band has released two albums – Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny...
  
   at the end of their song "Wonderboy".
• The lead singer of American group The Fray
  The Fray
  -Literature:*Fray, a phenomenon in Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People*Fray , a comic book series by Joss Whedon**Melaka Fray, titular character of the comic book series-Music:*"Fray", a song from the album 14 Shades of Grey by Staind...
  
   has also been known to do the chorus at gigs in Edinburgh while supporting The Feeling
  The Feeling
  The Feeling are a BRIT award-nominated English pop band from West Sussex and London. The band categorise their music as "pop".Following a limited release of their first single "Fill My Little World" in late 2005, the band entered the UK Singles Chart at #7 with their first full release "Sewn" in...
  
  , and most recently their gig in Glasgow in October 2007. The reason for this appears to be that his grandfather is Scottish.
• Dan Zanes
  Dan Zanes
  Dan Zanes was a member of the popular 1980s band The Del Fuegos and is currently the front man of the Grammy-winning group Dan Zanes and Friends.-History:...
  
  ' album "Catch That Train" features a version of the song in which he splits the vocal credits with Natalie Merchant
  Natalie Merchant
  Natalie Anne Merchant is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993.-Early life:...
  
  .
• The film the Last King of Scotland
  The Last King of Scotland (film)
  The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 British drama film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name, adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, and directed by Kevin Macdonald...
  
  features the song sung by the Nyzonga Singers.
• Serbian band Orthodox Celts
  Orthodox Celts
  Orthodox Celts is a Serbian band which plays Irish folk music combined with rock elements. Despite their unusual sound the band is one of the top acts of the Serbian rock scene and has influenced several younger bands, most notably Tir na n'Og and Irish Stew of Sindidun.The band started their...
  
   recorded a version which featured Serbian actress Ana Sofrenović, released on their album The Celts Strike Again
  The Celts Strike Again
  The Celts Strike Again is the second studio album by the Serbian Irish folk/Celtic rock band Orthodox Celts released in 1997. Besides covers of traditional Irish songs, the album features two songs written by the members of the band, "Drinking Song" and "Blue"....
  
  .
• The song is featured in the track "A Very British Tribute" on the Royal Celebration album by the band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
  Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
  The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. It was formed on 2 July 1971 at Holyrood, Edinburgh, by the amalgamation of the 3rd Carabiniers The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) (SCOTS DG) is a cavalry regiment of...
  
   and the Band of the Coldstream Guards.
• The series Smallville
  Smallville
  Smallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
  
  used the tune for a non-existent folk song called "The Birks of Saint Kilda" played by a clock as a clue for finding a relic that activated a piece of alien technology.
• The science fiction television programme "Farscape
  Farscape
  Farscape is an Australian-American science fiction television series filmed in Australia and produced originally for the Nine Network. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment...
  
  " used the song in part of the score.
• The Celtic rock band Off Kilter
  Off Kilter
  Off Kilter is a Celtic-rock band. Off Kilter was formed in 1997, and has been performing regularly at Epcot ever since. Their first album, Off Kilter included some traditional songs like "Dirty Old Town" and "Fields of Athenry" as well as covers of popular rock songs generally from Canadian artists...
  
   included a version on their 2005 album Kick It!.
• Mark Knopfler
  Mark Knopfler
  Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
  
   played the tune as an intro to his Scottish-inspired song "What It Is" in 2001, then in the middle of the song in 2002 and 2005.
• Canadian rock band the Mudmen
  Mudmen
  Mudmen are a Canadian rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 2000. Initially comprising vocalist Zoy Nicoles, guitarist Lonny Knapp, bassist Tommy Skilton, drummer Ryan McCaffrey and bagpipe-playing brothers Robby and Sandy Campbell...
  
   covered the song on their album The High Road released in 2009.
• The tune is used in a song sung by the Scottish terrier Jock in the Disney film Lady and the Tramp
  Lady and the Tramp
  Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
  
  .
• The tune is used by German football club 1. FC Köln
  1. FC Köln
  1. FC Köln is a German association football club based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs Kölner Ballspiel-Club 1901 and SpVgg Sülz 07....
  
   in their anthem "Mer stonn zo dir F.C. Kölle". The song is in Ripurian dialect.
• The German
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
   folk metal
  Folk metal
  Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
  
   band Suidakra
  Suidakra
  SuidAkrA is a melodic death metal band from Germany with Celtic folk influences. During their fourteen-year career, they have performed over 200 live shows for several European and Russian tours, as well as a North American tour...
  
   used Loch Lomond's melody in their 2005 song "Dead Man's Reel".
• The song is sung by Monty (Edward Norton
  Edward Norton
  Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
  
  ) and his father in Spike Lee
  Spike Lee
  Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
  
  's movie The 25th Hour
  The 25th Hour
  The 25th Hour is the 2001 debut novel by David Benioff. A film adaptation, for which Benioff wrote the screenplay, was directed by Spike Lee and released in 2002.-Plot:...
  
  .
• The song is referenced in HBO's Boardwalk Empire, Eli's friend sings "and i'll be in Scotland before ye".
• The song is played by the University of Notre Dame
  University of Notre Dame
  The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
  
   Marching Band's baritone horn section before every home game.
• The band Emily's Army covered the song, which is featured on their album Don't Be A Dick.

Other performers include: Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson

Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...

, with Harriet Wingreen on piano; John Barrowman

John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...

; The Corries

The Corries

The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. Although the group was a trio in the early days, it was as the partnership of Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne that it is best known.-Early years:...

; John McDermott

John McDermott

John McDermott may refer to:*John McDermott , American athlete*John McDermott , former Grimsby Town footballer*John McDermott , former Meath Gaelic footballer*John McDermott , British boxer...

 and the King's Singers

King's Singers

The King's Singers is a British a cappella vocal ensemble who celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2008. Their name recalls King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars in 1968. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s...

.

Media

"Red Is the Rose"

The Irish variant of the song is called "Red Is the Rose" and is sung with the same melody but different (although similarly themed) lyrics. It was popularized by Irish folk musician Tommy Makem

Tommy Makem

Thomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone...

. Even though many people mistakenly believe that Makem wrote "Red is the Rose", it is a traditional Irish folk song.

The chorus of "Red Is the Rose" is:

Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows

And fair is the lily of the valley

Clear are the waters that flow from the Boyne

River Boyne

The River Boyne is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newbury Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows towards the Northeast through County Meath to reach the Irish Sea between Mornington, County Meath and Baltray, County Louth. Salmon...

But my love is fairer than any

This version was also reworked by the Scottish Musician Alastair McDonald

Alastair McDonald

Alastair McDonald is a Scottish banjo-playing folk/jazz musician, probably most famous for his recordings of Jim MacLean's folk songs, such as The Barras and The massacre of Glencoe, but also for some humorous songs, such as the jazz comedy song Sam the skull, about a Glasgow cat.McDonald has...

, who set it by Loch Lomond, too. This chorus was:

Red is the rose, that sae bonnie and brightly grows

And white blooms the lily sae bonny

And clear is the watter that flows down Lomonds braes

But my lass is fairer than a' they (Although, some may argue whether he says "fairer" or "famer")