Plains of Waterloo (VI), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of her love, a soldier. She describes his beauty. He fights in the peninsular war. He dies at Salamanca and Waterloo. She describes his last messages, then says she will remain faithful until her own death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: battle soldier death Napoleon
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 22, 1812 - Battle of Salamanca
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #79, pp. 2-3, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text)
Greig/Duncan1 152, "The Plains of Waterloo" (8 texts, 7 tunes)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H15, p. 87, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan-TheAgeOfRevolution-1776-1815 191, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2853
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(49), "The Battle of Waterloo" ("On the 16th day of June, my boys, in Flanders where we lay"), unknown, no date; also Johnson Ballads 2338[many illegible lines; "Written by two soldiers of the Highland Brigade"], "The Battle of Waterloo"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Waterloo
NOTES [95 words]: The Sam Henry version of this song seems to conflate the battles of Salamanca and Waterloo; the hero is fighting at the first when he dies at the second. Either the song has been strangely damaged in transmission (and it shows no other signs of damage), or it was written by someone with no real understanding of the Napoleonic Wars. My guess is the latter; I suspect this was written well after its alleged date. - RBW
Harding B 11(3020)Greig/Duncan1 152C verse 1 belongs to "The Plains of Waterloo (VIII)"; the other two verses belong to "The Plains of Waterloo (V)." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: HHH015

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