Maids of Simcoe (Ontario)

DESCRIPTION: The singer urges the girls to remember the loggers while waiting at home with the farmers. He remarks sarcastically on the dangers farmers face. The boys head for (Quebec) to party, then for home. (In some texts a girl at an inn falls in love with him)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby-BalladsAndSongsOfTheShantyBoy)
KEYWORDS: logger separation
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman, pp. 241-242, "The Maids of Simcoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rickaby-BalladsAndSongsOfTheShantyBoy 16, "Ye Maidens of Ontario" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rickaby/Dykstra/Leary-PineryBoys-SongsSongcatchingInLumberjackEra 16, "Ye Maidens of Ontario" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston-FolkSongsOfCanada, pp. 76-77, "Ye Maidens of Ontario" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Doe241 (Partial)
Roud #3289
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Union Boy" (tune, floating verses)
NOTES [97 words]: There are two places in Ontario called "Simcoe." Arthur Lant, of New York (who sang the version found in Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman), thought it referred to Simcoe *county* (on the southeastern corner of Georgian Bay, and extending down to Lake Simcoe). The town of Simcoe, which is farther from the logging regions, is in Norfolk County in southern Ontario, a short distance from Lake Erie and almost due north of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Fowke reports that this song "is descended from an old English broadside, 'Ye Gentlemen of England, or The Stormy Winds Do Blow.'" - RBW
Last updated in version 4.3
File: Doe241

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