Bendemeer's Stream

DESCRIPTION: Singer recalls the places of his childhood with nostalgia. "There's a bower of roses by Bendemeer's stream." Singer says he'll never forget it, asking "Is the nightingale singing there yet? Are the roses still bright by the calm Bendemeer?"
AUTHOR: Words: Thomas Moore (1779-1852); tune credited as "Irish folk song."
EARLIEST DATE: 1817 (published as part of "Lalla Rookh")
KEYWORDS: homesickness river nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Jolly-Miller-Songster-5thEd, #85, "Bendemeer's Stream" (1 text)
Fireside-Book-of-Folk-Songs, p. 20 (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
John Charles Thomas, "Bendemeer's Stream" (RCA Victor 15858, 1940)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mountains of Mourne" (subject, tune)
cf. "Carrigdhoun" (tune)
NOTES [48 words]: Bendemeer is a village in New South Wales.
This song, drawn from Moore's poem "Lalla Rookh," has been suggested as the basis for Percy French's "Mountains of Mourne"; the tunes are virtually identical. It seems to have once been a popular parlor song, but it has essentially vanished. - PJS
Last updated in version 6.0
File: FBFS020

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