This is not the same as the older traditional tune "Bonnie Prince Charlie", also in this section. After the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden (April 15, 1746) and his escape back to France, with the aid of Flora MacDonald, there were still many who hoped that he would return some day. This song expressing that sentiment was written by Carolina Oliphant (Lady Nairne) (1766 – 1845). Different versions of the lyrics exist. These words seem to be Lady Nairne's own: they are taken from an 1869 edition of her songs. Written well after the events it commemorates (Charles Edward Stuart died in 1788), it is not a genuine Jacobite song. It is like many other songs that were composed in the late 18th or early 19th centuries, but were passed off as contemporary products of the Jacobite risings. I learned this from the Clancy Brothers recording.     Return to "Bonnie Charlie"