Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Ye Banks And Braes O' Bonnie Doon

jig

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on January 5th 2007 by nicholas.

This tune has been added to 33 tunebooks.

Also known as The Foggy Dew.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

X: 1
T: Ye Banks And Braes O' Bonnie Doon
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmaj
D|:G2 G AGA|BdB AGA|BAG GED|DEG A2 D|
G2 G AGA|BdB AGA|BAG GED|1 DEF G2 D:|2 DEF G2 B||
|:d2 e dBG|d2 e dBG|dBG dBG|edB A2 d|
G2 G AGA|BdB AGA|BAG GED|1DEF G2 B:|2 DEF G2||

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments
Ye Banks And Braes O' Bonnie Doon sheetmusic
Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Ye Banks And Braes O' Bonnie Doon

I picked up this tune as a jig on a Jimmy Shand album and have tried to reproduce his version here. It is actually the tune of a Burns song beginning with these words, which is sung in slowish 3/4 time, so it is a fine waltz tune.
As such, it would go thus:

X:1
T:Ye Banks And Braes O' Bonnie Doon
M:3/4
L:1/8
R:Waltz
K:G Major

|D2||:G4 G2|A2 G2 A2|B2 d2 B2|A2 G2 A2|
B3 A G2|G2 E2 D2|D2 E2 G2|A4 D2|G4 G2|
A2 G2 A2|B2 d2 B2|A2 G2 A2|B3 A G2|
G2 E2 D2|D2 E2 G2|1 G4 D2:|2 G4 B2||

||:d4 e2|d2 B2 G2|d4 e2|d2 B2 G2|d2 B2 G2|
d2 B2 G2|e3 d cB|A4 BA| G4 G2|A2 G2 A2|
B2 d2 B2|A2 G2 A2|B3 A G2|G2 E2 D2|
D2 E2 F2|1G4 B2:|2 G4 ||

# Posted on January 5th 2007 by nicholas

I was actually going to post this as a waltz last month, but completely forgot about it. It seems played a bit differently in Cape Breton.

# Posted on January 5th 2007 by slainte

So slainte, you've done the work already, where's the results?

# Posted on January 5th 2007 by ceolachan

I would guess you could still post it afresh here on site, rather than just as a footnote to this JIG?! You could always then link to the related tunes, as you usually do... ;-) I look forward to the submission...

# Posted on January 5th 2007 by ceolachan

Well, the version I picked up from Jennifer Wrigley and Simon Thoumire's budget CD is virtually the same as the one nicholas put above. I can't remember how the Cape Breton version goes.

# Posted on January 6th 2007 by slainte

it's a lovely wee jig...
i could learn to like it.

# Posted on January 6th 2007 by saxwhistle

Jig my arse - listen to the song. Have any of you ever heard it sung ?

# Posted on January 7th 2007 by Kenny

One of us is going to have to add the waltz here. I think I have a Cape Breton recording of it. I'll check...

# Posted on January 7th 2007 by ceolachan

"The Banks Of Doon" - Song.

Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair:
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary, fu' o' care!
Thou'll break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons through the flowering thorn:
Thou minds me o' departed joys,
Departed - never to return!

Oft hae I roved by bonny Doon
To see the rose and woodbine twine;
And ilka bird sang o' its luve,
And fondly sae did I o' mine.
Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose,
Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree:
And my fause luver stole my rose,
But, ah! he left the thorn wi' me.

# Posted on January 8th 2007 by nicholas

The above is the second of two similar poems Robert Burns wrote under the heading "The Banks Of Doon", and the one which is sung to the 3/4 tune I've submitted above in ABC's.

My Burns book contains a note prefacing the poems:

"This song illustrates a genuine experience. The heroine, a lovely and accomplished woman, the daughter of a gentleman of some fortune in Ayrshire, was deserted by her lover, the son of a wealthy landed proprietor, after she had borne a son to him."

I don't know if this was written by Burns or an editor.

# Posted on January 8th 2007 by nicholas

I should have mentioned, each part of the waltz tune is sung once, not twice, if being used to sing the song.

# Posted on January 8th 2007 by nicholas

It's also the tune to 'The Foggy Dew' - which sounds suspiciously similar to Bonnie Doon. Don't know which came first, though.

# Posted on January 11th 2007 by bc_box_player

Slight Variation

Instead of the D E F# G endings, try E D E G instead. I'm not saying it's better, but different in an interesting way because then there are no F#s at all.

# Posted on January 11th 2007 by muspc

Re: Slight Variation

...and also no C's, it seems, making this tune pentatonic, which inclines me favour muspc's variation before even playing this one. Also, there's no high G, which means that I should keep this tune in mind should I ever break the middle finger of my left hand.

# Posted on January 11th 2007 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious

Right!!!! - I am sorry bc but this is not the tune to The Foggy Dew! They are very different tunes and thanks to your adding of "The Foggy Dew" into the other names section they are going to be permenanty linked - poo poo to you!!

Anyway - were you serious when you said you didn't know which tune came first. Ye Banks and Braes is a Robert Burns song. That kinda predates a song about a 20th century Irish squabble by a few centuries.

Anyway rant over.

# Posted on February 26th 2007 by No Cause For Alarm

Not a member yet? Sign up!

forgotten your password?

Frequently Asked Questions

Enter your email address to have your password sent to you.