The bonny bunch of roses
Anthony Power
Listen to songs, music & stories. View photos of the people & places. Meet the singers & musicians from Ship Cove, Patrick’s Cove, St Bride’s, and Branch. This interactive map of the Cape Shore is a great way to start navigating your way around the outports of this short stretch of Newfoundland’s coastline.
ExploreThe bonny bunch of roses, song (I overheard a female talking …) The lyrics of this ballad take the form of a conversation between Napoleon Bonaparte’s widow and his son. She warns her son of the danger of challenging England, Ireland, and Scotland—the bonny bunch of roses—and the folly of attacking Russia. Anthony’s version omits some of the lines that clarify the relationship of the characters, but the singer compensates by rearranging the order of the verses to create a coherent narrative. Most notably, the characters of Napoleon and his son are merged. Historically inaccurate, the song tells a tale of military expansion, of resistance met, and of the ultimate defeat of the invading forces by the opposing allies.
| ITMA Reference | 51940 |
| Creator | Power, Anthony, singing in English |
| Contributor | O'Hara, Aidan ; Goldstein, Kenneth |
| Date | 30 July 1978 |
| Publisher | Irish Traditional Music Archive |
| Location | Branch, St Mary's Bay, Newfoundland, Canada |
| Subject | Newfoundland: Song in English |
| Language | English |
| Collection | RTÉ Newfoundland Recordings |
| Type | Sound |
| Extent | 00:03:08 |
| Copyright | Performer, Kenneth Goldstein, Hugh Rowlings, and Aidan O'Hara |
| Roud Number | 664 |
| View in ITMA catalogue: | Go to catalogue |
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The emigrant from Newfoundland, song (Dear Newfoundland have I have leave you …) A typed transcript based on Aidan O'Hara's field recording, with annotations and corrections by the collector.
| Creator | O'Hara, Aidan |
| Date | [1975] |
| Publisher | Irish Traditional Music Archive |
| Location | Newfoundland, Canada |
| Subject | Newfoundland: Singing in English |
| Language | English |
| Collection | Aidan O'Hara Collection |
| Type | Text |
| Extent | 3 p. |
| Copyright | Aidan O'Hara |
| Roud Number | 26347 |
| View in ITMA catalogue: | Go to catalogue |
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The fair Fanny Moore, song (Yonder stands a cottage all deserted and alone...) This murder ballad most likely has its origins in the Irish or English broadside presses, though it is much more commonly heard in North American contexts. Newfoundland song scholar Anna Kearney Guigné speculates that the song gained “new life in the New World through its dissemination by way of oral tradition in such contexts as the lumber camps alongside such media as print and recordings” (2016:122). In other versions of this song, the wealthy suitor is named Randal and Fanny’s true love (a poor shepherd) is named Henry. In Patsy’s version of the song, the names are used interchangeably; it seems probable that this was simply a memory slip.
| ITMA Reference | 54163 |
| Creator | Judge, Patsy, singing in English |
| Contributor | O'Hara, Aidan ; Goldstein, Kenneth |
| Date | 29 July 1978 |
| Publisher | Irish Traditional Music Archive |
| Location | Coffey's Lounge, Angel's Cove, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada |
| Subject | Newfoundland: Song in English |
| Language | English |
| Collection | Aidan O'Hara Collection |
| Type | Sound |
| Extent | 00:03:12 |
| Copyright | Performer, Kenneth Goldstein, Hugh Rowlings, and Aidan O'Hara |
| Roud Number | 1001 |
| View in ITMA catalogue: | Go to catalogue |
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Gerald Campbell playing the accordion in the Roche's house.
| ITMA Reference | 255529 |
| Creator | O'Hara, Aidan |
| Date | 1975 |
| Publisher | Irish Traditional Music Archive |
| Location | Branch, St Mary's Bay, Newfoundland, Canada |
| Subject | Newfoundland: Instrumental Music |
| Collection | Aidan O'Hara Collection |
| Type | Image |
| Extent | 1 digital image |
| Copyright | Aidan O'Hara |
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![Emile Benoit, Bride and Patsy Judge, and Hugh Rowlings at the Judge's in St John's, Newfoundland / [unidentified photographer]](https://images.itma.ie/imager/images_itma_ie/NewfoundlandExhibition/255525_98a7f61c16bd472551bf72344845a6ee.jpg)
Bride (sitting) and Patsy Judge (right) with Song collector Hugh ‘Hoodie’ Rowlings (standing) and legendary Port au Port Peninsula fiddler Émile Benoît (left). The group were photographed in folklorist Kenneth Goldstein's house in St John's during the 1977 or '78 Folk Festival in Bannerman Park.
| ITMA Reference | 255525 |
| Creator | Unidentified photographer |
| Contributor | Rowlings, Hugh |
| Date | [August 1977/78] |
| Publisher | Irish Traditional Music Archive |
| Location | Kenneth Goldstein's house, St John's, Newfoundland |
| Subject | Newfoundland: Singing in English ; Newfoundland: Instrumental Music |
| Collection | Aidan O'Hara Collection |
| Type | Image |
| Extent | 1 digital image |
| Copyright | Hugh Rowlings |
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Irish Traditional Music Archive /
Taisce Cheol Dúchais Éireann
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Dublin 2
Ireland
D02 WK75
T +353 (0)1 661 9699
![Emile Benoit, Bride and Patsy Judge, and Hugh Rowlings at the Judge's in St John's, Newfoundland / [unidentified photographer]](https://images.itma.ie/imager/images_itma_ie/NewfoundlandExhibition/255525_de9811e73d1effbffc3631ee98b01780.jpg)