Polly Perkins of Paddington Green

DESCRIPTION: The singer describes beautiful Polly, whom he vainly loved. She teases and flirts, but declares, "The man that has me must have silver and gold." He gives up his courtship -- but later learns that she did not marry a lord but a "bow-legged conductor."
AUTHOR: Harry Clifton (source: Greig/Duncan6)
EARLIEST DATE: 1865 (referred to by Charles Dodgson); reportedly published 1856 (Greig/Duncan 6)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection money beauty
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Greig/Duncan6 1212, "Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" (3 texts)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H132, pp. 398-399, "Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Mi 680, "Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" (1 text)
Henderson-VictorianStreetBallads, p. 65, "Polly Perkins" (1 text)
Scarborough-ASongCatcherInSouthernMountains, pp. 282-288, "The Butcher Boy" (8 texts; the "E" text is a single stanza which does not belong with the usual "Butcher Boy" versions and which does mention Polly Perkins, so it might be related to this song)
Pottie/Ellis-FolksongsOfTheMaritimes, pp. 176-177, "Polly Perkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dime-Song-Book #17, pp. 30-31, "Polly Perkins, of Paddington Green" (1 text)
New-Comic-Songster, pp. 43-44, "Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PLLYPRK*
ADDITIONAL: Aline Waites & Robin Hunter, _The Illustrated Victorian Songbook_, Michael Joseph Ltd., 1984, pp. 72-75, "Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" (1 text, 1 tune, plus a plate of the color cover of the sheet music version)
Roud #430
RECORDINGS:
Tom Murphy, "The Broken-Hearted Milkman" (on ITMA/CapeShoreNL)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(314), "Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" ("I'm a broken hearted milkman, in grief I'm arrayed"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 16(206c), Harding B 11(3384), "Polly Perkins, of Paddington Green"
SAME TUNE:
Cushie Butterfield (File: DPio074)
Polly Perkins, of Washington Square ("I'm a broken-hearted butcher-boy") (Wolf-AmericanSongSheets p. 127)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Pretty Polly Perkins
Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green
NOTES [134 words]: Greig/Duncan6: "Composed by the music hall performer, Harry Clifton and published in 1856." - BS
According to Waites and Hunter, there was much dispute over whether this song or "Cushie Butterfield," with which it shares a tune, was the original. They note, however, that both use the tune of "Nightingales Sing," so one explanation is that both songs borrowed that melody. But since "Cushie Butterfield" seems to be a sort of answer to this song, others think "Polly Perkins" came first.
For background on Harry Clifton, see the notes to "The Good Ship Kangaroo."
This seems to have been very popular in its time, as the number of broadsides suggests, which perhaps makes it little surprise that Charles Dodgson ("Lewis Carroll") heard Florence Terry sing it; see his diary entry for April 7, 1865. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: HHH132

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