| Description | 6. Bonny Prince Charlie (or Cam[e] ye by Athol) first appeared in the musical publication A Border Garland in c. 1819, with the title ‘Charlie’ to a melody by Niel Gow junior, who also most probably provided its musical setting. Like ‘The Lament of Flora McDonald’ it appeared in several miscellaneous song sheets during the 1820s and ‘30s, and was included in The Border Garland (1828). Its popularity, undoubtedly due to the combination of its jaunty melody and Hogg’s rousing call-to-arms, then encouraged Hogg to include it in Songs by the Ettrick Shepherd in 1831, even though he noted that ‘There can be no dispute that it is one of my worst’. |
