“Adieu to Bon County”
Description
"It's a great separation my friends they have caused me." The singer says his friends will regret driving him away. He bids farewell to friends and love. He says he will ramble and seek pleasure. When money is short, he will "chop wood and get more"
Notes
The only version of this song I have seen so far is that in the Bayard collection, and it appears incomplete. Why is the singer leaving home? (Parents' opposition?) Why is there so little mention of his lost love?
I have to suspect that this is a worn-down, possibly reworked, version of something else (e.g. "Farewell, Charming Nancy") -- but I can't identify with any real probability what the original song was. It may well go back to the same ancestor as "Farewell to Old Bedford," but there has been a lot of drift in between. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "Farewell, Charming Nancy" [Laws K14] (floating lyrics)
- cf. "Farewell to Old Bedford" (floating lyrics)
References
- Lomax-ABFS, pp. 178-179, "Adieu to Bon County" (1 text, 1 tune)
- DT, ADIEUBON
- Roud #15553
- BI, LxA178