Pretty Little Dear

DESCRIPTION: The singer decides it's time to wed. He meets a girl in London who has him spend a fortune for food and drink. He is beaten and sentenced to prison when a man says his girl is a thief. Now out of jail, he warns others against pretty ladies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 119)
LONG DESCRIPTION: The singer decides it's time to wed. He visits the Quadrant in London where he falls for a girl. They kiss and they go for a walk. She says she's hungry and wolfs a huge meal, and thirsty and drinks herself drunk. They meet a man who beats him because he is pals with the girl who had stolen his watch and ring. He complains to the magistrate who sentences him and the girl to six months hard labor. Now he is out of prison and says "I'll court a lass that's homely." He warns others against pretty ladies.
KEYWORDS: courting warning prison theft drink food humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig/Duncan7 1328, "Pretty Little Dear" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7146
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 119, "A Pretty Little Dear" ("One morning very early a strange thought came in my head"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 11(3155), Firth b.34(241), Harding B 25(63), "[A][The] Pretty Little Dear"; Firth b.25(333), "My Pretty Little Dear"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh Cruel" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 119)
cf. "The Black Velvet Band (I)" (theme: man imprisoned, woman thief)
cf. "The Half Crown Song" (theme: the date that eats and drinks unbelievable quantities)
cf. "Bill Morgan and His Gal" (theme: the date that eats and drinks unbelievable quantities)
NOTES [66 words]: Greig/Duncan7 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 119 is the basis for the description.
"The Half Crown Song" cross-reference is a Flanagan Brothers song not indexed yet. - BS
There was another nineteenth century popular song called "Pretty Little Dear" (e.g. in Dime-Song-Book #24, p. 30). It is clearly not the same; it is a story of a Black man rejected by a "yellow gal." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: GrD71328

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