Nancy Dawson

DESCRIPTION: "There lived a lass in yonder glen, Wham auld and young did brawly ken." Nancy Dawson's parents would wed her to "the laird o Mucklegear," ancient Bauldy Lawson. She loves a young man; the wedding is set, but she flees with her love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford); the tune"Nancy Dawson" dated back at least to the 1770s
KEYWORDS: lover courting age beauty elopement abandonment
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Ford-VagabondSongsAndBalladsOfScotland, pp. 71-75, "Nancy Dawson" (1 text)
Greig/Duncan5 1028, "Nancy Dawson" (1 text)
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 718-720, "Nancy Dawson" (1 text, 1 tune; the text is not the same as that in the DESCRIPTION of this song)
Chappell/Wooldridge-OldEnglishPopularMusic II, pp. 186-187, "Nancy Dawson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6717
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John of Hazelgreen [Child 293]" (plot)
cf. "Lady Jean" (plot)
SAME TUNE:
Ye Tories all rejoice and sing Success to George our gracious King (also called "The Congress") (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 75; Rabson-SongbookOfTheAmericanRevolution, pp. 36-37)
American Liberty; or, the Sovereign Right of Thinking ("Since we're forbid to speak or write") (Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 150)
NOTES [242 words]: There is a (feeble) poem by Herbert P. Horne called "Nancy Dawson"; they are unrelated. It may be that this piece inspired that, however; at least, the name "Nancy Dawson" was well enough known that one of the ships involved in the Franklin search was named Nancy Dawson. And it can't be named after the Horne poem; Horne wasn't born until 1864.
Linscott says that "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" and "Gathering Nuts in May" use the tune "Nancy Dawson." That does not appear to be this song; though no tune seems to have been recorded, the stanza forms don't match.
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, p. 718, explains that "Nancy Dawson... was a celebrated dancer in the reign of George II" (King of Britain 1727-1760). Grant Uden and Richard Cooper, A Dictionary of British Ships and Seamen, 1980 (I use the 1981 St. Martin's Press edition), p. 122, has more detail; "Nancy Dawson" became "a popular ship name, originating from a dancer of the name (?1730-1767) who danced her way into the public heart by her rendering of the hornpipe in The Beggar's Opera. The tune became a great popular success and, the ultimate tribute, was frequently used to summon seamen for their grog ration. Hence the rum itself was often called 'Nancy Dawson.'"
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, pp. 718-720, gives a short text and tune for "Nancy Dawson," but it's a different text, so I can't prove that it is the same as this. I've indexed it even so. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: FVS071

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography