“The Girl I Left Behind (I)”

Description

Two lovers promise to be faithful. He then sets out on a voyage. Before they can be reunited, one or the other proves unfaithful. (In Laws's "A" texts, the man marries a Scottish girl and his love dies of a broken heart; in "B" texts, the girl is untrue)

Notes

In addition to this ballad form, there is a song with this title (indexed as "The Girl I Left Behind Me (lyric)"). As the two have cross-fertilized (often, e.g., sharing the latter's tune "Brighton Camp"), the reader is advised to check both songs for completeness. - RBW

Same tune

  • The Girl I Left Behind Me (by Thomas Davis) (Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 471-472)

Cross references

Broadsides

  • Bodleian, Firth b.26(187), "Margaret Walker" ("My parents raised me tenderly having no child but me"), S. Russell (Birmingham), 1840-1851; also Firth b.25(478), "Margaret Walker"; Firth c.26(280), "Girl I Left Behind"; Harding B 11(2237), Firth c.14(210), "The Lover's Lament" or "The Girl I Left Behind Me"
  • Murray, Mu23-y1:050, "The Girl I Left Behind Me," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C, with the unhappy ending left off
  • NLScotland, L.C.1270(015), "The Girl I Left Behind Me" ("Now for America I am bound, Against my inclination"), unknown, c. 1880, with the unhappy ending left off

Recordings

  • Jules [Verne] Allen, "The Gal I Left Behind" (Victor V-40022, 1929; on WhenIWas2)
  • Clint Howard et al, "Maggie Walker Blues" (on Ashley02, WatsonAshley01)
  • Dock Boggs, "Peggy Walker" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1)
  • [G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "I've Always Been a Rambler" (Gennett, unissued, 1928) (Victor V-40324, 1928; on GraysonWhitter01, LostProv1, ConstSor1)
  • Harry Jackson, "The Gal I Left Behind" (on HJackson1)
  • Billie Maxwell, "The Arizona Girl I Left Behind" (Victor V-40188, 1930; on MakeMe)
  • Pleaz Mobley, "My Parents Raised Me Tenderly" (AFS; on LC12)
  • Spencer Moore, "The Girl I Left Behind" (on LomaxCD1700, LomaxCD1702)
  • New Lost City Ramblers, "I've Always Been a Rambler" (on NLCR13, NLCRCD2)

References

  1. Laws P1A/B "The Girl I Left Behind"
  2. Belden, pp. 198-200, "Peggy Walker" (3 texts)
  3. Randolph 283, "The Girl I Left Behind" (4 texts, 1 tune. Laws assigns Randolph's A text to P1A and B, C, and D to P1B)
  4. Randolph/Cohen, pp. 101-104, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 64A)
  5. Randolph-Legman I, pp. 434-440, "The Girl I Left Behind" (5 texts, 1 tune)
  6. BrownII 145, "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (5 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 1 more. Laws lists the "A" and B" texts as P1A and "C," "D," "F," and "G" as P1B)
  7. Chappell-FSRA 79, "My Parents Reared Me Tenderly" (1 text)
  8. Doerflinger, pp. 305-206, "The Maid I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  9. Wyman-Brockway I, p. 76, "Peggy Walker" (1 text, 1 tune)
  10. FSCatskills 39, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  11. SharpAp 96, "My Parents Treated Me Tenderly" (6 texts, 6 tunes)
  12. Cambiaire, pp. 47-49, "The Girl I Left on New River" (1 text)
  13. SHenry H188, p. 401, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  14. Warner 148, "My Parents Raised Me Tenderly" (1 text, 1 tune)
  15. Gardner/Chickering 28, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
  16. Dean, p. 10, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text)
  17. Peacock, pp. 449-452, "The Girl I Left Behind" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
  18. Creighton-Maritime, pp. 76-77, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  19. Creighton-SNewBrunswick 47, "Peggy Walker" (1 text, 1 tune)
  20. Leach-Labrador 134, "Jennie Ferguson" (1 text, 1 tune); 138, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  21. Manny/Wilson 70, "the Girl I Left Behind (Janey Ferguson)" (1 text, 1 tune)
  22. Ryan/Small, p. 134, "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (1 text, a single stanza probably of a version rewritten for seal-hunting, but with only four lines, it can hardly be separated from the main song)
  23. McNeil-SFB1, pp. 106-109, "The Broken-hearted Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
  24. Meredith/Anderson, p. 50, "The Rich Old Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
  25. Lomax-FSNA 165, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  26. Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 38, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  27. Fife-Cowboy/West 62, "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (2 texts, 1 tune, with the "A" text, although mixed and westernized, probably belonging here and the "B" text being the lyric piece); 63, "My Parents Raised Me Tenderly" (1 text, 1 tune)
  28. Ohrlin-HBT 84, "The Girl I Left in Missouri" (1 text, 1 tune)
  29. JHCox 85, "My Parents Reared Me Tenderly" (1 text)
  30. SHenry H188, pp. 401-402, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  31. Ord, pp. 45-47, "I'll Ne'er Forget the Parting" (1 text, 1 tune)
  32. MacSeegTrav 65, "The Girl I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
  33. Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 202-203, "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
  34. Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 16-17, "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
  35. Silber-FSWB, p. 114, "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (1 text)
  36. DT 338, GIRLEFT (GIRLEFT2* -- perhaps a mixed version, with the text of Laws P1 and the tune of the playparty?) GIRLLFT6*
  37. Roud #262
  38. BI, LP01

About

Author: unknown
Earliest date: before 1852 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(187))
Found in: US(Ap,MA,MW,Ro,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland) Ireland Australia