Mary o' the Dee (Mary's Dream) [Laws K20]

DESCRIPTION: Mary falls asleep thinking of Sandy. His ghost appears to her, bidding her to stop weeping; his body lies at the bottom of the sea and he is at rest. He warns her that they will soon meet. The cock crows and the ghost vanishes
AUTHOR: John Lowe
EARLIEST DATE: 1798 (The Vocal Magazine)
KEYWORDS: dream ghost separation death drowning
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE) Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (19 citations):
Laws K20, "Mary o' the Dee (Mary's Dream)"
Whitelaw-BookOfScottishSong, pp. 151-152, "Mary's Dream" (1 text)
Greig/Duncan2 339, "Mary's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 83, "Mary o' the Dee (Mary's Dream)" (1 text)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H54, pp. 144-145, "Mary's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune -- the latter added by Sam Henry)
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 147, "Mary o' the Dee" (1 text)
Chappell-FolkSongsOfRoanokeAndTheAlbermarle 40, "Mary and Sandy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 707,"Mary, Weep No More for Me" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #68, "Mary's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wolfe/Boswell-FolkSongsOfMiddleTennessee 28, pp. 50-51, "Mary's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck-FolkloreOfMaine, pp. 102-103, "Mary's Dream" (1 text)
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, pp. 180-181, "Mary's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 246-248, "Mary's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-FolksongsFromSouthernNewBrunswick 65, "Mary's Vision" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, pp. 214-215, "Young Sandy" (1 text); pp. 306-307, "Mary's Dream" (1 text) (a fragment of "Young Sandy" is on p. 155 in the 1919 edition)
Forget-Me-Not-Songster, p. 168, "Mary's Dream" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan, p. 481, "Mary's Dream" (source notes only)
DT 562, MARYDREM
ADDITIONAL: James Johnson, Editor, _The Scots Musical Museum_ [1853 edition], volume I, #37, p. 38, "Mary's Dream" (1 short text, 1 tune, plus a "new set")
ST LK20 (Full)
Roud #713
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(191b), "Mary's Dream" ("The moon had clim'd the highest hill"), T. Birt (London), 1833-1841; also Firth b.27(534), 2806 c.17(266), Firth b.27(240), Firth b.27(407), Harding B 11(2368), Harding B 11(2369), Harding B 25(1230), Firth b.25(18), Harding B 11(1875), 2806 c.14(49), 2806 c.14(166), Harding B 15(189a), "Mary's Dream"
LOCSinging, as108650, "Mary's Dream," L. & J. L. Appley (New York), 19C
Murray, Mu23-y1:056, "Mary's Dream," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(075), "Mary's Dream," James Lindsay (Glasgow), c.1875
NOTES [143 words]: Although traditionally considered a Scots song (there is a version in Scots dialect, possibly by Allan Cunningham), and often found is Scottish song collections, its grip on Scottish tradition is weak -- I wouldn't be surprised if most are ultimately derived from the Scots Musical Museum. There are a number of printed versions, but traditional collections are mostly from North America. The author, John Lowe, emigrated to the American colonies shortly before the Revolutionary War, and the song was written in what later became the U.S. - RBW
The commentary for NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(075) for "Mary's Dream": "The lyrics for this ballad were written in 1772 by John Lowe. Lowe was tutor to the McGhie family, and wrote the song for Mary, one of the daughters. She had been engaged to a surgeon named Alexander (Sandy) Miller who was lost at sea." - BS
Last updated in version 6.5
File: LK20

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