BOBBY Shafto’s gone to sea,
Silver buckles on his knee;
He’ll come back and marry me,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
Bobby Shafto’s bright and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair;
He’s my love for evermair,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
Sung to the tune of an old sea shanty, this sounds much like a generic song sung by a sailor’s sweetheart waiting for his return, but the real Robert Shafto had nothing to do with the sea or with keeping his promises. He was born into a political family in 1732 at Whitworth, near Spennymoor in County Durham. Both his father John and his uncle Robert were Members of Parliament and Robert the younger joined them in 1760 when he won the seat of County Durham. He held the seat until 1768 when he moved south and became the MP for Downton in Wiltshire. It was during his election campaigns that his supporters started calling him Bonny Bobby Shafto in an attempt to win public favour.
Robert Shafto may have achieved political success but he was apparently notorious for his bad treatment of the women in his life. The story behind the rhyme is believed to derive from the callous ending of his long engagement to Bridget Belasyse by his sudden marriage to another woman (wealthy heiress Anne Duncombe) on 18 April 1774, the eve of their proposed wedding. Legend has it that Bridget died of a broken heart just two weeks later.
Then, during his marriage to Anne, the previously penniless MP set about the task of spending his new wife’s fortune, all the while courting various other young ladies with the promise of marriage. I guess you could see him as a Premiership footballer of his day leaving a wannabe WAG in every town. In the event, Bonny Bobby and Anne remained married until her death in July 1784. And Bobby Shafto never delivered on any of his wedding promises after that. He lived on until November 1797, just long enough to spend the rest of his wife’s cash. His body is buried in the Shafto family crypt at Whitworth Church.
While there is little doubt Robert Shafto is the subject of the rhyme, recent research now suggests Bridget Belasyse actually died of tuberculosis on 6 April 1774, nearly two weeks before Shafto married Anne Duncombe. So perhaps he was the one left broken-hearted instead. Which cheers me up a little – although he was still pretty quick off the mark with Anne.