McKennitt blends world-music with folk, Celtic and exotic Mediterranean sounds using instruments such as the hurdy gurdy, kanoun, uilleann pipes, Turkish clarinet, bouzouki and nyckelharpa alongside traditional instruments like guitar, drums and bass and the harp, piano and accordion, the three instruments she plays.
Born in Morden, Manitoba, Canada in February 17, 1957, Loreena moved to Stratford, Ontario, Canada in 1981, where she still resides. She has acted and sung in, and composed music for, Stratford Festival of Canada productions ranging from The Tempest (1982) to The Merchant Of Venice (2001).
Her recording career began in 1985 with the album Elemental. In the fledgling years of her label Quinlan Road, Loreena ran its operations from her kitchen table, selling recordings by mail order and producing her own concert tours across the country. Quinlan Road's catalogue is currently distributed around the world by Warner Music (US), Universal Music (Canada and other territories including Italy and Spain) and a number of independents including Keltia Music (France) and SPV (Germany).
Bonny Portmore
Loreena McKennitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day
Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away.
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep
Saying, "Where will we shelter or shall we sleep?"
For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down
And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground.
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the Lords of Old England would not purchase Portmore.
In Loreena McKennitt's song "Bonny Portmore," the lyrics express deep sorrow for the destruction of the "ornament tree" on the shore of Portmore. The tree had been standing there for a very long time, but then the boats from Antrim came and took it away. The singer is lamenting the loss of this tree and is imagining having it back, knowing that even the lords of Old England wouldn't be able to buy it. The second verse is even sadder, as the birds living in the forest are left without shelter or sleep since the oak and the ash trees have also been cut down. The walls of Portmore have also been destroyed, and this adds to the overall sense of destruction and emptiness the singer is feeling.
Overall, the song is a lament for the destruction of nature and the loss of natural beauty. The tree, the birds, and the walls are all personified in their grief and sadness. At the same time, the song is also a reminder of how humans can exploit and destroy nature for their own purposes, often without regard for the consequences. The somber tone and slow, mournful melody reinforce the sadness expressed in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see
I am deeply remorseful to witness the tragedy that has struck you, Portmore.
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree
It pains me to see your decorative tree being destroyed so miserably.
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day
It had been standing on your shore for countless long days.
Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away.
Until the long boats from Antrim came and took it away from you.
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
Portmore, you look so beautiful and magnificent just where you are.
And the more I think on you the more I think long
The more I think about you, the longer I wish to stay.
If I had you now as I had once before
If I had you with me as I had before.
All the lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore.
Even if all the noble lords of Old England came forward to buy Portmore, I wouldn't sell it.
All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep
The birds in the forest are mourning and shedding tears.
Saying, "Where will we shelter or shall we sleep?"
Asking, 'Where will we find shelter or rest now?'
For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down
The Oak and the Ash trees have been all cut down.
And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground.
The walls of Portmore have been brought down to the ground.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: - DP, CARSTEN HEUSMANN, JAN-ERIC KOHRS, MICHAEL SOLTAU, FRANK PETERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Gavin St. Clair The Defining Moment
@Darkly Devine ,
In the first film, you had a Frenchman play a Scots ( Lambert as Conor MacLeod ) and a Scotsman play a Spaniard ( Sean Connery as Ramirez ) !
The series was a far better improvement with Adrian Paul who:
1) Is actually Scots
And
2) Is a bona fide martial artist in the art of Choy Li Fit as well as Hung Gar.
Plus studied for many years prior to taking the role as a personal interest of his various sword fighting styles.
With that to say....even the writing had a chance to be consistent with character development.
By far...
The series was way BETTER.
So he did all his fight scenes
Colonel Marcellus
"Bonny Portmore" is an Irish traditional folk song which laments the demise of Ireland's old oak forests, specifically The Great Oak of Portmore, which fell in a windstorm in 1760 and was subsequently used for shipbuilding and other purposes.
Blondecat Aus
thank you for this info. I was wondering what the song was about.
Paige Moore
Thank You for adding this bit of info, I was going to do it if no one else had. It is such a poignant song that even those who don’t know the history of the song should at least pick up on the sadness of the event. Unfortunately, humans didn’t learn from “this woeful destruction”, we continue to destroy indiscriminately. 😪
Removil Mata
Thank you for this man. Trully.
Removil Mata
@Paige Moore Thank you.
Sandra Saverio
@marcellusTheGreen Thank you for your explanation without which i woudn't understand the song. Hope people learn to leave trees and animals live in peace and stop destruction of nature.
Aaron Coffman
I have loved this song since I first heard it but was unclear on certain lyrics. Thank you for them. Even without understanding all the lyrics the song is powerful and soulful and this was absolutely breathtaking
Richard Pawlyszyn
This song gives me chills. Such emotion.
Justin McKernan
“There can be only one”, this is exactly the kind of song I want to play at my funeral. If I’ll remember that is
Gibby483
So soulful, deep, haunting and temporal. It's hard to describe the feelings that it stirs.