According to Sousa scholar Paul Bierley, Sousa often remarked that the old Scottish ballad Annie Laurie was the most beautiful of all folk songs. In 1883 he wrote the march Bonnie Annie Laurie based on this favorite folk song. In 1880 Sousa became the fourteenth leader of the United States Marine Band, and this was undoubtedly one of the marches that he composed during this period. Highlighted and enhanced in this march-style setting, this wonderful melody never sounded better.