We Met, 'Twas in a Crowd

DESCRIPTION: "We met, 'twas in a crowd, and I thought he would shun me." The singer meets an old lover; they say little, but both are clearly moved. She, the rich girl, could not marry him because of her mother's opposition; both are now wed to others
AUTHOR: Thomas Haynes Bayly (source: Scott, who spells the name "Bayley")
EARLIEST DATE: 1858 (Journal of the Pavilion); said to have been from "Songs of the Boudoir"; 19C (Wolf)
KEYWORDS: love separation reunion mother husband wife
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H638, p. 431, "We Met, 'Twas In a Crowd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 251-252, "We Met Twas in a Crowd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-TheGam-MoreSongsWhalemenSang, pp. 207-208, "We Met, 'Twas in a Crowd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-EnglishSongBook, pp. 94-95, "We Met" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #2519, p. 170, "We Met" (1 reference)
ADDITIONAL: Reginald Nettel, _Seven Centuries of Popular Song_, Phoenix House, 1956, p. 163, "(no title)" (1 text)
Roud #2066
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lady Mary (The Sad Song)"
NOTES [64 words]: This reminds me very much of "Lady Mary (The Sad Song)," though the form and the details are very different. There is also something of the feeling of Dickens here; see the ending of Great Expectations.
This is reported by Sam Henry to be quite popular, and is mentioned in John Masefield's "The Bird of Dawning." I will admit to some surprise; the song is distinctly flowery. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: HHH638

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