"Bonny Portmore" is an
Irish traditionalfolk song which laments the demise of
Ireland's old
oak forests, specifically the Great Oak of Portmore or the Portmore Ornament Tree, which fell in a windstorm in 1760 and was subsequently used for
shipbuilding and other purposes.
Background
In 1664 an extensive castle was erected at Portmore, near
Portmore Lough,
County Antrim by
Lord Conway, on the site of a more ancient fortress. It contained accommodation for two troops of horse.[1] The site fell into neglect after Conway's death in 1683, and the buildings removed around 1760. The old oak is believed to have stood on the estate of Portmore Castle.
The melody of this song was first published 1840 in
Edward Bunting's Ancient Music of Ireland and was collected from the playing of Ulster harper Daniel Black in 1796.[2] The tune is also known as "Margaret Lavin". The air is probably as old as the time of the O'Neill's of Ballinderry, who, due to declining fortunes were forced to sell the property to Lord Conway. The first verse appears to make reference to this sale.[3]
A Scottish version laments the loss of a lover left behind at Portmore, which
William Tait identifies with (
St. Fillans).[4] (There is also a Portmore Loch in the
Scottish Borders). While attributed to Donald Cameron,
Burns biographer Alan Cunningham believes it comes from the north of Ireland.[5]Peter Buchan published a version which formed the basis of Burns' "My Heart's in the Highlands".[5][6]
Lyrics
As with most folk songs, there are many variations. This is one version. The first verse can be used as a refrain, or repeated at the end.
O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day
Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away.
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore.
All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep
Saying, "Where shall we shelter or where shall we sleep?"
For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down
And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground.
Loreena McKennitt performed this song on her 1991 album The Visit, and it was subsequently used in the film Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994). A new version of the song was recorded by
Laura Creamer for the 1995 episode "Homeland" of Highlander: The Series. Laura Creamer's version was re-used in the episodes "Dramatic Licence" (1996), "Armageddon" (1997) and the series' final episode, "Not To Be" (1997).
In 2000 the song was used in the film Highlander: Endgame, this time recorded by Jennifer McNeil.
The song was used also as credits song in the film Kill the Irishman.
Dan Gibson along with Michael Maxwel released the album Emerald Forest: A Celtic Sanctuary which contain an instrumental version of Bonny Portmore mixed with natural birds sound.
Canadian folk singer
Eileen McGann recorded this song on her 1995 album Journeys.
Spanish orchestral group
Ensemble XXI recorded this song for their album Retratos del Mar(Portraits of the Sea), by Eugenia Boix (2006).
"Bonny Portmore" was covered by
Laura Marling and
Jonathan Wilson for AMC's Revolutionary War drama Turn. The song played over the ending montage of Episode 105 "Epiphany" and will be available on the show's original soundtrack.
In 2014,
The Rails (
James Walbourne and
Kami Thompson) released the album Fair Warning, on which their acoustic cover of "Bonnie Portmore" is the opening track.
Bartlett, Jon. Three-Quarter Times: The Newsletter of the Vancouver Folk Song Society, Vol XXIII, No. 8: 29 November 1993 and Vol XXIII, No. 4: 27 May 1998.