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5 unusual facts about Bonnie Dundee


Bonnie Dundee

Bonnie Dundee is the of title of a poem and a song written by Walter Scott in 1825 in honour of John Graham, 7th Laird of Claverhouse, who was created 1st Viscount Dundee in November 1688, then in 1689 led a Jacobite rising in which he died, becoming a Jacobite hero.

From 1668 John Graham, the laird of Claverhouse was at the forefront of Royalist repression of the Covenanters, for which he was called "Bluidy Clavers" (Bloody Claverhouse) by his covenanting opponents.

The Campaign would culminate in the battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg as the Confederates called it.

John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee

The tune under the title of "Bonnie Dundee" (or "Bonny Dundee") predated Claverhouse's appointment as Viscount Dundee, and several 18th century songs under that title refer to the city of Dundee and not Claverhouse.

This first Jacobite rising was unsuccessful, but Claverhouse became a Jacobite hero, acquiring his second soubriquet "Bonnie Dundee".



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