Barbara James writes: "Can anybody help me and tell me something about 'My
Bonnie is Over the Ocean' or 'My Bonnie lies over the Ocean'? The song is
quite popular in Germany and people want to know how old it is, who made it,
where was it invented: in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales or where? There
is an entry in James J Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, but I cannot
believe that it is only about 100 years old and was written in America.
Thanks for any help."

Ed Cray writes: "James Fuld is highly regarded, particularly in legal
circles, on questions of origins. While I have not reserached the origins of
the ditty ('song' seems too noble a term), I can say that it is widely used
as vehicle for bawdy songs in much of the Anglophone world. To wallow
further in the mudhole, see the index of my The Erotic Muse. If the book is
not available to you, let me know privately. I will help you as best I can -
backchannel". 

The song (ballad?) is included (as 'words and music anon', three stanzas),
along with other 44 favourites, in 'Songs of England', a volume of the
award-wining [six-volume] series arranged by Margery Hargest Jones and
published by Boosey & Hawkes. 'Songs of England'. The other volumes in the
series are 'Songs of Christmas' plus four volumes of national songs (Wales,
Scotland, Ireland, and the Americas), which indicates that Boosey & Hawkes
see that the 'ballad' may not only be described as an English ditty (to echo
E Cray), but also a 'song of England'. 

The term 'bonnie' sounds to me like very much 'North Country' - and I would
think from the North-Sea coast (and perhaps Northumberland, rather than
Durham or Yorkshire), rather than the Irish-Sea coast? (Cf the
Northumberland folksong '(Canny at night), Bonnie at morn'. I would think
that the lyrics refer to the same period as 'The Leaving of Liverpool'. But
unlike that Lancashire folksong (ballad?), with its 'pledge of loyalty
bravely facing the prospect of seven years apart', as B Luxon writes, this
would be from the perspective of the one who remains in England. Luxon
writes re: 'The Leaving of Liverpool': "In the days of the great clipper
ships, the usual term of apprenticeship or indenture was seven years.
Pressured by economic necessity, thousands of young men left their families
and sweethearts to seek their fortunes on the sea".

But then, the song may well be of American origin [perhaps sung by an
English emigrant]. As M Hargest Jones writes in her preface: "The national
songs of England have a rich and varied heritage"; and, learning that J Fuld
is 'highly regarded' in 'legal circles', I suppose the earliest [recorded]
version must indeed be American. 

With best wishes,
J L Speranza, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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