I Wish My Granny Saw Ye

DESCRIPTION: Country lad Johnny Raw comes to town, where the girls giggle, "I wish my granny saw ye." He buys a girl a wedding dress; she laughs at him. A girl asks him to carry her baby; he consents. She disappears, and he is left to care for the child
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside Bodleian, Firth b.26(298))
KEYWORDS: clothes trick courting baby
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, pp. 395-396, "I Wish My Granny Saw Ye" (1 text)
McMorland/Scott-HerdLaddieOTheGlen, pp. 60-61, 150, "Johnny Raw" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5614
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(298)=Harding B 11(1674), "I WIsh My Granny Saw Ye," H. Such (London), 1863-1885
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(120a), "I Wish My Grannie Saw Ye," unknown, 1880-1900
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Basket of Eggs" (plot) and references there
NOTES [48 words]: Although the general theme of a country boy who falls prey to city tricks occurs throughout this song, I have to suspect it is at least somewhat composite, with the girl-and-baby theme translated bodily into a newer framework.
Thanks to Jim Dixon for pointing out broadside sources. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.3
File: Ord395B

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