“Little Maggie”

Description

Singer laments Maggie's drinking and straying ("Over yonder stands little Maggie... She's a drinking away her troubles and a-courting some other man"). He praises her beauty extravagantly, saying she was made to be his, but plans to leave town.

Notes

Although this shares several verses with "Darling Corey", it leaves out the latter song's central theme of moonshining; that, a different tune, and several divergent verses lead me to call this a different song. - PJS

Roud, of course, lumps them. I agree with Paul.

The notes to USWarnerColl01 note that this is widely recorded but rarely collected in the field; they speculate that its popularity derives from one or another old time country recording. This seems likely, with the first Grayson and Whitter version being the obvious candidate. - RBW

Cross references

• cf. "Darling Corey" (words)

Recordings

• Frank Bode, "Little Maggie" (on FBode1)
• [G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Little Maggie With a Dram Glass In Her Hand" Victor V-40135, 1929; Bluebird B-7072, 1937; rec. 1928)
• J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers [or Wade Mainer], "Little Maggie" (Bluebird B-7201, 1937)
• Wade Mainer, Zeke Morris & Steve Ledford, "Little Maggie" (Bluebird B-7201/Montgomery Ward M-7309, 1937; on GoingDown)
• Ivor Melton & band, "Little Maggie"
• New Lost City Ramblers, "Little Maggie" (on NLCR16)
• Frank Proffitt, "Little Maggie (on USWarnerColl01)
• The Stanley Brothers, "Little Maggie" (Rich-R-Tone 423, rec. c. late 1947)

References

1. Cambiaire, pp. 23-25, "Hustling Gamblers" (1 text, very long and with so much floating material that it could be linked with several songs, but "Little Maggie" seems to be the largest and most distinct part)
2. MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 102-104, "Hustling Gamblers" (1 text, from the same informant as Cambiaire, though apparently taken down independently and with some small difference, many of them orthographic)
3. Shellans, p. 11, "Little Maggie" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 48, "Little Maggie" (1 text, 1 tune)
5. Darling-NAS, p. 277, "Little Maggie" (1 text)
6. Silber-FSWB, p. 193, "Little Maggie" (1 text)
7. DT, LILMAGGI*
8. Roud #5723
9. BI, CSW048