"Babylon" or "The Bonnie Banks o Fordie" is

Child ballad The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...

14, Roud 27.

Synopsis

An outlaw comes upon three sisters in the woods. He threatens each one in turn to make her marry him. The first two refuse and are killed. The third threatens him with her brother or brothers. He asks after them and discovers that he is the brother. He commits suicide.

Parallels

Forms of this ballad are known throughout all of Scandinavia (" Töres döttrar i Wänge").

Recordings

Traditional recordings

Betsy Miller of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

sang a traditional version of the song, presumably learnt from her Scottish family or community, with her famous son

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

on the 1960 album ''A Garland Of Scots Folksong;'' only three other Scottish recordings were made. Helen Hartness Fladers recorded several traditional versions in the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and

Kenneth Peacock Kenneth Howard Peacock (7 April 1922 – 22 November 2000) was a Canadian ethnomusicologist, composer, and pianist. He was a leading authority in Canadian enthnomusicology, and his research and publications in that field had a profound impact on t ...

recorded two Canadian versions (1951 and 1960).

Popular recordings

Following are some of the notable recordings of the ballad, including the artists, titles, albums, and years:

In Art

The artist Charles Hodge Mackie contributed the woodblock illustration ''By the Bonnie Banks o' Fordie'' to ''The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal, The Book of Winter'', published by Patrick Geddes and Colleagues in 1896. He had painted an oil on board sketch of this subject while in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the summer of 1894. The woodblock composition was subsequently worked up as an oil painting which was exhibited at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

in 1897.Clark, Pat (2016), ''People, Places & Piazzas: The Life & Art of Charles H. Mackie'', Sansom & Company, Bristol, p. 41, pl. 9 & 16,

References

External links

''Bonny Farday''
an American variant
''The Bonnie Banks o Fordie''
with music and commentary Child Ballads Sororicide in fiction Fiction about suicide Murder ballads Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown {{Folk-song-stub