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The bonnie, bonnie banks


Cyrus Cassidy #45437

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This song is rather famous to Scots, but it has a deep personal meaning to me.  You see, my family comes from Loch Lomond.  I've been there, and walked the bonnie, bonnie banks with Mrs. Cassidy.  It was the honeymoon we never had, and it was after she painfully endured my law enforcement career (which left me with PTSD, but scarred her probably worse).  The entire time, it felt like I was finally home.

 

A lot of people are confused by the lyrics.  In Scottish mythology, if a Scotsman dies while away from Scotland, their soul is immediately transported back to Scotland via the underworld.  Hence, "the low road."  

 

The backdrop of this song is that two Scottish soldiers were captured by the English.  One was to be executed, the other released to warn others about the pitfalls of fighting against English rule.  Hence, one would return to Scotland via the low road, and the other by the high road (i.e. walking, here in the living world).  The one who was to die was leaving behind his lover, whom he "would never meet again on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond."  

 

It seems like anyone involved in Scottish music does a rendition of this song, but nothing compares to Ella Roberts' version.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb8AGuD2uOI

 

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2 hours ago, ShadowCatcher said:

Been there a number of times - it's a bonnie loch!

 

 

 

Hey pard, have you ever seen the little island just next to Inveruglas?  There are castle ruins on the island you can barely see due to the overgrowth.  It's a family castle, destroyed by Cromwell in the mid-1600s.  

 

Are you one of my clansmen?  Loch sloìdh!

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22 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

Hey pard, have you ever seen the little island just next to Inveruglas?  There are castle ruins on the island you can barely see due to the overgrowth.  It's a family castle, destroyed by Cromwell in the mid-1600s.  

 

Are you one of my clansmen?  Loch sloìdh!

Hi pard,

 

'fraid not, more a member of the Auld Alliance.

 

Lived on and off in the UK for years, love the ares near Glen Coe and Skye, and have driven and seen a lot of Scotland.

 

Alas, I've not seen this castle ruin, but it's worth looking for the next time.

 

Stay well,

 

Shadow Catcher

 

 

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