Blue Bells of Scotland (1) (The)

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Theme code Index	1H756 3411
Also known as	Blue Bells, Blue Bells of Challon
Composer/Core Source
Region	England, Scotland
Genre/Style	English, Morris, Scottish
Meter/Rhythm	Air/Lament/Listening Piece, Country Dance, Strathspey
Key/Tonic of	G
Accidental	1 sharp
Mode	Ionian (Major)
Time signature	4/4
History
Structure	AABB
Editor/Compiler	Biography:James S. Kerr
Book/Manuscript title	Book:Merry Melodies vol. 4
Tune and/or Page number	No. 96, p. 13
Year of publication/Date of MS	c. 1880's
Artist
Title of recording
Record label/Catalogue nr.
Year recorded
Media
Score ()

BLUE BELLS OF SCOTLAND [1]. AKA and see "Blue Bells," "Blue Bells of Challon." Scottish, Strathspey; English, Air and Morris Dance Tune. England; Northumberland, Cotswolds, Shropshire. G Major (Ashman, Hall & Stafford, Kerr, Mallinson): D Major (Bacon, Trim/Hardy). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Hall & Stafford): AAB, x6 (Mallinson): AABB (Ashman, Kerr). The composition has wide currency throughout England and Scotland in dance and song forms. It appears with regularity in fiddler's manuscripts on both sides of the Atlantic from the very beginning of the 19th century. "Blue Bells of Scotland" is often credited to the singer Mrs. Jordon (by Walker, 1924, for one), whose real name was Dorthea Bland. The Irish born actress and singer (who was also the mistress of William Duke of Clarence, later King William IV) introduced it to the stage and did much to popularize it, and she took credit for for attaching the lyric to a melody she called her own composition. This is in dispute, however, for some find it to be a derivation of the original melody. The lyrics were originally written by Ann MacVicar Grant, Mrs. Grant of Laggan, the wife of a minister who supported her family after his death with publications of her poetry.

The morris dance version is from the Adderbury, Oxfordshire, area of England's Cotswolds. Dancers sing at the beginning of the dance:

Oh where and oh where has my highland laddie/lassie gone? (x2).

A Northumbrian version is arranged as a duet by editor W.J. Stafford in the Charlton Memorial Tune Book. The melody proved popular as an air and many songs were set to the tune. One, "John Bull and Bonapart" from the Napoleonic period, gives a sense of the British feelings of vulnerability and defiance in the face of the threat of invasion, while at the same time managing to ridicule the opponent.

Source for notated version: a c. 1837-1840 MS by John Moore, Shropshire musician [Ashman].

Printed sources: Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 23b, p. 5. Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; p. 7. Hall & Stafford (Charlton Memorial Tune Book), 1974; p. 52. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 4; No. 96, p. 13 (appears as "Blue Bells"). Mallinson (Mally's Cotswold Morris Book), vol. 1, 1988; No. 18, p. 14. Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 25.

X:1
T:The Blue Bells of Scotland [1]
M:C
L:1/8
R:Strathspey
S:Kerr - Merry Melodies, vol. 4, No. 96  (c. 1880's)
Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion
K:G
d | g<g f>e d2 (e/f/g) | B<B c>A G3d | g<g f>e d2 (e/f/g) | B<B c>A G3 :|
|: d | B>G B>d g2 e>g | f>d f/e/d/^c/ d2 e>f | g<g f>e d2 (e/f/g) | B<B c>A G3 :||