Bonny Moor Hen, The

DESCRIPTION: Hard times and "almost starving" Wardhill miners, as in the past, hunt the moorhen. "The fat man of Oakland ... lays claim to the moors," preventing the miners from hunting. An army of gamekeepers is driven off by the miners in a battle at Stanhope.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(414))
KEYWORDS: battle poaching hunting mining hardtimes bird landlord
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Graham-GeordieSongBook, pp. 34-36, "The Bonny Moor Hen" (1 text)
Roud #2944
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(414), "Bonny Moor Hen" ("You brave lads of Wardhill I pray lend an ear"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Firth c.19(39), "Bonny Moor Hen"
NOTES [221 words]: The last two verses,
Oh this bonny moor hen she's gone over the plain,
When summer returns she'll come back again,
They will tip her so neatly that no one can tell,
That ever they ruffled the bonny moor-hen
Oh this bonny moor-hen has got feathers anew,
She has many fine colours but none of them bluw
Oh the miners of Wardhill are all valiant men,
They will fight till they die for the bonny moor-hen.
are close to two verses of Hogg's Jacobite "The Bonny Moorhen,"
My bonny moorhen's gane over the main,
And it will be simmer or she come again;
But when she comes back again, some folk will ken.
Joy be wi' thee, my bonny moor hen!
My bonny moorhen has feathers enew,
She's a' fine colours, but nane o' them blue;
She's red, and she's white, and she's green, and she's gray.
My bonny moorhen, come hither away.
So, have I taken this too seriously? Is it just a parody? There is no incident about a miner's battle at Stanhope in the Times of London. On the other hand, this may have been a serious event that was beneath the Times's notice. - BS
For this conundrum, see the notes to "The Bonnie Moorhen." I think the two are separate songs, but Roud makes both his #2944. Graham-GeordieSongBook says that this goes back to 1797, when the poor of Weardale rebelled against the Bishop of Durham's attempts to prevent hunting. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BdTBoNH

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography