Young Les Darcy

DESCRIPTION: The singer notes that everyone wants to roam. One who falls victim to this is boxer Les Darcy, who wants "to fight at the Golden Gate." (He goes to the U.S. and died), leaving his family to mourn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: fight Australia death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1895 - Birth of Les Darcy
May 24, 1917 - Death of Les Darcy in Memphis, Tennessee
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson-FolkSongsOfAustralia, pp. 75-76, "Young Les Darcy" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Les Darcy" (plot, subject)
NOTES [112 words]: Les Darcy was an Australian boxer of whom great things were expected. He did not live long, and so his major bouts were few, but the Australians made him one of their great heroes. When he died in 1917, the Americans gave the cause of death as pneumonia; Australians claim he was poisoned.
Two songs about Darcy are found in the tradition; this one, more literary, has eight lines per stanza and begins "We all get a craving to roam, Far from home, o'er the foam...." The other, based on "Way Down in Tennessee," begins, "In Maitland cemet'ry (or "Way down in Tennessee") lies poor Les Darcy...." For more on Darcy, see the notes to that song, indexed as "Les Darcy." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.0
File: MA075

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