Sweet Country Life, A

DESCRIPTION: The singer prefers "a sweet country life" to the "lofty high towers" of towns and cities. He prefers homespun to robes and fine dresses, bird songs to fiddles, flutes and spinnets. "Country lasses ... never do forsake your own country employment"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1778 (Boardman)
KEYWORDS: home clothes farming music nonballad bird
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "SWEET COUNTRY LIFE, A"
Lyle-Andrew-CrawfurdsCollectionVolume1 62, "Lord Eglinton's Song" (1 text)
Reeves/Sharp-TheIdiomOfThePeople, p. 235, "A Sweet Country Life" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Timothy Boardman, Log-Book of Timothy Boardman Kept on Board the Privateer Oliver Cromwell in 1778" (Albany, 1885 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 85, "A Country Song" (1 text)
A.M. Wakefield, "Foundation Stones of English Music," in Murray's Magazine (London, 1888 ("Digitized by Google"), Vol. IV, pp. 384-385, "A Sweet Country Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2406
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Country Life" (theme)
cf. "The Country Life" (II) (theme)
NOTES [24 words]: Wakefield's text and tune are from Miss L.E. Broadwood; she took them down from her uncle, Mr. John Broadwood, probably around 1840 [p. 383]. - BS
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LyCr162

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