Sweet Poll of Plymouth

DESCRIPTION: "Sweet Poll of Plymouth was my dear, When forc'd from her to go." Poll and the sailor part in sorrow. He is away for five years. By the time he returns home, "My Poll, the sweetest flower of May; Then languished, drooped, and died."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1891 (Ashton-RealSailorSongs)
KEYWORDS: sailor love separation pressgang death
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ashton-RealSailorSongs, #34, "Sweet Poll of Plymouth" (1 text)
Roud #12677
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Polly of Plymouth
NOTES [54 words]: There is an earlier song, seemingly found only in New York, called "Sweet Poll of Plymouth's Lament." They both involve sailors leaving Poll in Plymouth -- but in "Sweet Poll of Plymouth," the girl dies; in "Sweet Poll of Plymouth's Lament," William is the one who dies. So I'm tentatively splitting them. But I'm not sure. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.4
File: AshS034

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