Annotation:Bannocks of Barley Meal (2)

Back to Bannocks of Barley Meal (2)

---

BANNOCKS OF BARLEY MEAL [2]. Scottish, Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. O'Farrell (c. 1805) identifies this tune as "Scotch". 'Bannocks' is a Scots word for a type of oatcake. Sir Robert Semphill describes the typical fare of a wedding feast of the period in his late 16th century work, The Blithesome Bride: "...long kail and pottage, bannocks of barley meal, good salt herring, a cup of good ale, onions, radishes, pease - boiled and raw, abundance of mouthfuls of skate, sheep's head broth, fresh ox feet, crabs, winkles, speldies [dried fish], haddocks, and broth with barley to sup till ye're fou." John, Duke of Argyll (1678-1743), a Campbell, is credited with composing the words to the Scots song "Bannocks of Barley Meal."

At the sight of Dumbarton once again,
I'll cock up my bonnet and march amain,
With my claymore hanging down to my heel,
To whang at the bannocks of barley meal.

The tune has similarities to Burk Thumoth's "Tho' for Seven Long Years" and the Irish "Munster Cloak."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: McGibbon (Scots Tunes, Book II), c. 1746; p. 34 (includes variation sets). O'Farrell (Pocket Companion), c. 1805; p. 6.

Recorded sources:

---