“The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond”, or “Loch Lomond” for short, is a well- known traditional Scottish song first published in 1841 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland. The song prominently features Loch Lomond, the largest Scottish loch or lake located north of Glasgow on the Highland/Lowland divide. In the Scots language bonnie means pretty and has a double meaning in reference to the singer’s lover and the beauty of the loch. While the song’s theme is the sadness of parting with one’s lover it has a political undertone as well. It is a Jacobite adaption of an eighteenth century song, with the lover dying for his King, and taking the “low road” of death back to Scotland. This is one of many poems and songs that emerged from the Jacobite movement in Scotland in the 1700’s. The Jacobites had hoped to restore the Catholic Stuarts to the British throne but were finally crushed at the Battle of Culloden. The original composer is unknown, as is any information on any possible traditional lyrics. The Scots of my Mother’s generation all had a song that they considered theirs and shared with others at parties and family functions. This was my Mother’s song, thus the dedication. Of note also is that my Father grew up on the loch and knew it well and to this day I still have family there.