- published: 09 Feb 2007
- views: 490444
Coordinates: 55°53′45″N 3°15′27″W / 55.895956°N 3.257439°W / 55.895956; -3.257439
Bonaly is an area on the south-western outskirts of Edinburgh and the northern slopes of the Pentland Hills, lying within the Parish of Colinton. It is a mix of mainly post-war housing, woodland, pasture-land and heather moorland. Bonaly Burn has its sources in the hills above Bonaly and flows towards Oxgangs, where it becomes the Braid Burn. The Edinburgh City Bypass passes through Bonaly.
The name Bonaly may be derived from the Gaelic Bonnáth Linne (meaning “the pool at the bottom ford”) or from Bànáth Linne (meaning “the pool at the white ford”). An alternative suggestion is that the derivation is from the Gaelic Bonn-aill (meaning "the foot of the rocks or cliff").
The placename has appeared in many different forms and spellings. Early variations include Banale in 1438,Bonala in 1538 and Bonally in 1531. Other variations include Bonala, Bonalay, Boneyley, Bonnalay, Bonailie and Bonaley.
In Timothy Pont's detailed 1654 map of Scotland, it appears as a small settlement close to the Pentland Hills, labelled Bonely, and also appears on the Map of the Three Lothians in 1773 as Bonilie.
Lucy went down on a farm, tried to milk a cow,
Though she tried she couldn't get the hang of it somehow.
The farmer looked at Lucy and murmured with a frown,
"Well you just hang on tightly, gal, and she'll jump up and down."
Chorus:
Oh, gather in the mushrooms, put 'em in a pot,
Pop 'em in the oven an serve 'em piping ho-ot.
To make herself more beautiful she thought she'd bathe in milk,
She said, "I'll have a bathful," to her milkman Jackie Wilke.
He said, "Do you want it pasturized before I pour it in?"
She said, "No, I'll be happy if it comes up to my chin."
Chorus
The farmer called at Lucy one dark and stormy night,
She said, "You are too old for me because your hair is white."
He looked into her eyes and then he knew he'd have to tell her,
"There's snow upon the roof but there's a fire in the cellar!"
Chorus
She took him in the kitchen, she was his turtle dove,
And then she started cooking dumplings on the stove.
She wore a low cut dress, oh it was as green as clover,
He jumped with glee 'cause he could see her dumplings boiling over.
Chorus
She said, "You give me half a crown I will read your palm,"
And then she saw his love line went half way up his arm.
So now she's changed her prices, although she's just as willing,
It's big fat men at two pound ten and little boys a shilling.
Oh, gather in the mushrooms, put 'em in a pot,
Pop 'em in the oven and serve 'em piping hot,
We're gonna gather in the mushrooms, put 'em in a pot,