You Lovers All

DESCRIPTION: The girl recalls how her father's anger "drove my love away" to North America. She steals 500 pounds from her father to buy passage across the seas. She does not know where to look, but by chance finds her love quickly; they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation father emigration marriage reunion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H525, p. 483, "You Lovers All" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1910
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Father's Servant Boy" [Laws M11] (plot)
cf. "Mullinabrone" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
North America
The Flowers of Enniskillen
NOTES [128 words]: This song is very similar to "My Father's Servant Boy," the only substantial difference between the two being that, in this song, the girl and boy sail for America separately. Even the first few words are the same. "Lumpers" would undoubtedly list them as the same song (so, e.g., Roud).
The Index, however, follows a "splitting" policy. My personal suspicion, in any case, is that "My Father's Servant Boy" is the older song, and was rewritten as a broadside to produce this. (Note the presence of a broadside version in Wright.) The kinship could, of course, be the other way -- both look like broadsides, without much softening by tradition. But "My Father's Servant Boy" seems to be slightly more widespread, giving it a slightly greater chance of being original. - RBW
File: HHH525

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