“The Bonnie Blue Flag”

Description

"We are a band of brothers, and native to the soil, Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil... Hurrah for the bonny blue flag that bears the single star." The states which joined the Confederacy are chronicled and praised

Supplemental text

Bonnie Blue Flag, The
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***

From sheet music published 1861 by A. E. Blackmar & Bro.
Title page inscribed
  To ALBERT G. PIKE, Esq., the Poet-Lawyer of Arkansas
                       THE
                 BONNIE BLUE FLAG
            A SOUTHERN PATRIOTIC SONG
Written, Arranged, and Sung at his "Personation Concerts,"
                        BY
                  HARRY MACARTHY,
              THE ARKANSAS COMEDIAN
          Author of "Origin of the Stars and Bars,"
                    "The Volunteer"
                    "Missouri"

We are a band of brothers, And native to the soil,
Fighting for our Liberty, With treasure, blood, and toil;*
And when our rights were threaten'd, The cry rose near and far,
Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag, that bears a Single Star!

CHORUS
Hurrah! Hurrah! for Southern rights Hurrah!
Hurrah! for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a Single Star!

2d VERSE
As long as the Union was faithful to her trust,
Like friends and like bretheren (sic.) kind were we and just;
But now when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar,
We hoist on high the Bonnie Blue flag that bears a Single Star.
         CHORUS. Hurrah!&c.

3rd V.
First, gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand;
Then came Alabama, who took her by the hand;
Next, quickly, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida;
All rais'd on high the Bonnie Blue flag that bears a Single Star.
         CHORUS. Hurrah!&c.

4th V.
Ye men of valor, gather round the Banner of the Right,
Texas and fair Louisiana, join us in the fight;
Davis, our loved President, and Stephens, Statesmen rare,
Now rally round the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a Single Star.
         CHORUS. Hurrah!&c.

5th V.
And here's to brave Virginia! The Old Dominion State
With the young Confederacy at length has link'd her fate;
Impell'd by her example, now other States prepare
To hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a Single Star.
         CHORUS. Hurrah!&c.

6th V.
Then cheer, boys, raise a joyous shout,
For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out;
And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given
The Single Star of the Bonnie Blue Flag has grown to be Eleven.
         CHORUS. Hurrah!&c.

7th V.
Then here's to our Confederacy, strong we are and brave,
Like patriots of old, we'll fight our heritage to save;
And rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer,
So cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a Single Star.

      CHORUS.
Hurrah! Hurrah! for Southern rights, Hurrah!
Hurrah! for the Bonnie Blue Flag has gain'd th'Eleventh Star!


* This line often sung
  "Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil."

Notes

This song, written by an immigrant Irishman very early in the Civil War (Belden has a note that Fitz-Grald credits the words to Annie Chambers Ketchum, with Harry McCarthy supplying the tune, but almost all sources credit the song to McCarthy), refers to the first Confederate flag, later succeeded by the "Stars and Bars."

The order the states are mentioned is roughly the order in which they left the Union. South Carolina was first, obviously, followed by the various states of the Deep South (Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida; Louisiana and Texas took slightly longer because of their remote location). It was not until after the attack on Fort Sumter that the border states of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and (last of all) North Carolina seceded.

Jefferson Davis was, of course, the first and only President of the Confederacy, and Alexander Stephens its Vice President.

Krythe's notes on this song contain several errors. The captain of the _Alabama_ was not "Admiral Symmes" but Captain (later Admiral) Raphael Semmes, and General Wickham's first name was not William but Williams (with an s).

Harry McCarthy was only 27 when he wrote this song, but managed to avoid Confederate service as a British citizen. What's more, he fled to the North once the outlook for the Confederacy turned bad enough. He never wrote anything else of note, either. - RBW

Same tune

• The Southern Girl's Reply (True to the Gray) (File: Wa156)
• The Homespun Dress (File: R215)
• The Northern Bonnie Blue Flag (File: SBoA218)
• The Counties of Arkansas (File: R876)
• Gathering Song (by Annie Chambers Ketchum) (War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy, pp. 329-330)

Cross references

• cf. "The Irish Jaunting Car" (tune& meter)
• cf. "The Homespun Dress" (tune & meter)
• cf. "The Northern Bonnie Blue Flag" (tune & meter)
• cf. "The Southern Girl's Reply (True to the Gray)" (tune & meter)
• cf. "Counties of Arkansas" (tune & meter)

Recordings

• Mary C. Mann, "Bonnie Blue Flag" (AFS A-488, 1926)
• Old South Quartette, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (Cyl.: Edison Amberol 389, 2175, 1909)

References

1. Belden, pp. 357-359, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text)
2. Randolph 214, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. BrownIII 379, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text plus mention of 1 more probably from the same informant)
4. RJackson-19CPop, pp. 34-38, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
5. Scott-BoA, p. 220, "The Bonny Blue Flag (Southern)" (1 partial text, tune referenced)
6. Silber-CivWar, pp. 52-53, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
7. Hill-CivWar, p. 210, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text)
8. Krythe 8, pp. 133-141, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
9. Darling-NAS, pp. 349-350, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text)
10. DT, BONBLUE*
11. ST R214 (Full)
12. Roud #4769
13. BI, R214