Dying Cowgirl, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer goes west as a youth. Once there, he turns to a life of cattle rustling (perhaps chasing strays?). One night, in a storm, he finds a cowgirl helpless on the ground. She says she will meet the singer in heaven, and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (recording, Gene Autry)
KEYWORDS: cowboy death parting love
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
McNeil-SouthernFolkBalladsVol1, pp. 146-147, "The Dying Cowgirl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DYCOWGRL*
Roud #4775
RECORDINGS:
Gene Autry, "The Dying Cowgirl" (Conqueror 8193, 1933)
NOTES [48 words]: McNeil believes -- with justice -- that the Florida text cited here (collected from Louise Sanders of Perry, Florida) is incomplete, but can find no other texts. One may speculate that the girl was fatally wounded while trying to protect her herd from the singer's band of rustlers. - RBW
File: MN1146

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