Texicans: "Will Ye Come to the Bower?"

[Texas Star]

Fellow Texans, I know that our country's band played, "Will Ye Come to the Bower?" as they advanced on the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto. Or was it, "The Yellow Rose of Texas", about a "high yellow" slave girl? Maybe both; the two songs certainly figured in the Revolution.

But I have never heard, "Will Ye Come to the Bower?" or seen the lyrics. Has anyone got a link to hear it, or can you show the words? I'm pretty sure it's so old that it's not in copyright. I don't think copyright even existed then.

 

[keith44spl]

Maybe..........

Luke Kelly Come To The Bower (Early Version) - YouTube


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpHiURKkY0Q



.

 

[Straightshooter2]

I did find this.

http://bkb.whybark.com/songbook/txt/will_ye_come_to.txt

It's apparently a song mostly about Ireland although there is a mention of a Loch (Scottish spelling) in it and in the Irish it's spelled Lough. However that could also be a modern day change. From one of the lines it seems to be about Irish freedom since it mentions shaking off the fetters but they could well have used the tune and changed the words to make it about Texas independence.

And here is a midi of the song:
http://bkb.whybark.com/songbook/midi/will_you%20_come_to_the_bower.mid

CW

 

[Texas Star]

I understand that it was considered a somewhat "bawdy" song. May have used this music with changed words.

It is a danged shame that every Texas school kid isn't being taught about this, but I suppose it might offend some groups today, and PC rules...

I haven't seen Alamo Day mentioned much lately, either. (Mar. 6, 1836, the day that fortress fell to the Mexicans.)

 

[Double-O-Dave]

Wow! Thanks for posting this. I am very familiar with "The Yellow Rose", but wasn't at all familiar with the "Bower" song. Either song, or both - I bet it scared the Hell out of Santa Anna and his guys. Viva la Texas! Remember the Alamo!

Regards,

Dave

 

[Popeye77]

Yellow Rose was written after the battle. It refers to the Spanish girl they sent to Santa Anna's camp to keep him occupied. While they advanced. Or so the legend goes.

 

[Old TexMex]

Many, many Texians were of Irish descent. The early spanish land grantees were Irish Catholic, selected by the Spanish Throne as a sort of buffer between the Spanish speaking Mexican populace and the U.S. with its Protestant English speakers.
Quite possible that "Will ye come to the bower", an Irish folk song, was sung by a fair few. Youtube has a rendition by Luke Kelly.
There were a fair few As well who had not music, but bloody murder in mind, what with the slaughter in Bexar, Goliad,old San Patricio of the, many supporters of the Constitution of 1824 that Santa Ana had so flagrantly violated.

 

[jgh4445]

When I hear "The Yellow Rose of Texas" ( one of my all time favorite songs by the way) I think of the old TV show "The Gray Ghost" Some beautiful 1860 Armys used on that set. Always liked that show.

 

[SW_shooter]

I might be a transplant but I don't hear the similarity of the Irish brogue and the Texas drawl. The Mrs is from FTW and she doesn't sound Irish even when she's been drinking. ;-)

 

[armadillo]

The real Yellow Rose of Texas was a free mulato girl named Emily - she may have gotten the name Morgan from Morgan's Point near the battlefield. She was kidnapped by the Mexican army and was distracting Santa Ana in his tent when the Texicans attacked. She is a hero of the revolution!

When you visit tha Alamo the Emily Morgan Hotel is across the street - their logo is a yellow rose.

 

[Popeye77]

The real Yellow Rose of Texas was a free mulato girl named Emily - she may have gotten the name Morgan from Morgan's Point near the battlefield. She was kidnapped by the Mexican army and was distracting Santa Ana in his tent when the Texicans attacked. She is a hero of the revolution!

When you visit tha Alamo the Emily Morgan Hotel is across the street - their logo is a yellow rose.

Aaah, I was sorta close but a little off. Been a few years since Texas History class.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Texas Star]

The Emily Morgan thing is new to me, and I did take Texas History through high school and took History and Lore of the Southwest in college.

Didn't know that any girl was "distracting" Santa Anna. Thought he was just taking a siesta. Interesting, if true.

The way I heard it or read it, the Yellow Rose was a mostly white (high yellow) mulatto girl who lived in Galveston. She'd have been about one-eighth black. but I don't know how she came to fame.

I don't know of any Spaniards at San Jacinto, on either side. Could have been some. Too often, I hear people referred to as "Spanish" who are really Mexicans, El Salvadorans, etc. Often, they are pure Indios, no Spanish blood at all.

Apart from the SHOT show, I have met just two Spaniards, I think. One was from Madrid and one from Valencia. The latter was blonde, and both were quite hot.

Oh, wait: I swear this is a true story. I did know one other, a man. He was the fiance of a woman who was the daughter of a very wealthy woman whose estate I protected in north Dallas. The daughter, not too well educated and with a narcotics problem (she later died of an overdose) came to me one day and asked me the difference between a Spaniard and a Mexican. She was dead serious, despite being engaged to a Spaniard.

I explained that Spaniards are European, which seemed to startle her. Her fiance came from so far south in Spain that he could probably have gotten a binocular and looked out over the sea to North Africa on a clear day.

 

[roarindan]

I, being from the north,(NY) had heard that the Texans won the battle cause they snuck up on Santa ANNA while his camp was at their noon siesta.

 

[Onomea]

I like that "Will ye come to the bower" song. That is powerful.

 

[ChuckS1]

The only thing I remember is that the punch line was "...the Texan got up, yelled "Remember the Alamo!" and threw out the Mexican".

 

[Old TexMex]

I, being from the north,(NY) had heard that the Texans won the battle cause they snuck up on Santa ANNA while his camp was at their noon siesta.

You heard about right, the Mexican force was actually worn out from the long march, and pretty sick of the whole affair. Santa Anna was taking his ease after a morning of swatting mosquitos and whatever else the yellow rose distracted him with. The soldiers were just swatting mosquitos. Houstons troops were "extremely motivated".
Reports show in 20 minutes 700Mexican troops KIA, 750 captured, the battle of San Jac was over.
this is on the monument At San Jacinto:

"Measured by its results, San Jacinto was one of the decisive battles of the world. The freedom of Texas from Mexico won here led to annexation and to the Mexican War, resulting in the acquisition by the United States of the States of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma. Almost one-third of the present area of the American nation, nearly a million square miles of territory, changed sovereignty."
Good read:
The Battle of San Jacinto

 

[Harrison]

I, being from the north,(NY) had heard that the Texans won the battle cause they snuck up on Santa ANNA while his camp was at their noon siesta.

According to all the Texas History I have been taught or read, there was no sneaking on the part of the Texas Army. In fact, there may have been some fifes and drums setting the pace. The Mexican Army was just plain asleep and did not have outposts or a proper guard posted.

 

[captorquewrench]

I am a native Texan.

I learned "Will You Come to the Bow'r?" while in school and thought the song was so, so much better than "Yellow Rose of Texas"

 

[Texas Star]

I am a native Texan.

I learned "Will You Come to the Bow'r?" while in school and thought the song was so, so much better than "Yellow Rose of Texas"

Well, is it the song in the video here? Do you have the words?

BTW, I immigrated here from the USA when I was about four.

 

[swilli41]

Well, I'm a native Texan, born in '41, and I just heard the Bower song for the first time. I was glad to learn about it. As for the Yellow Rose, I wish Mitch Miller had pronounced Rio Grande correctly. It's been bugging me since the song came out. I learned about Emily Morgan early in life, but not in school. That sort of thing was just not taught in the '50s.