Will You Come to Abyssinia?

DESCRIPTION: "Will you come to Abyssinia, will you come? Bring your own ammunition and a gun; Mussolini will be there, firing bullets in the air, Will you come to Abyssinia, will you come?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1983 (Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling)
KEYWORDS: war soldier | gun Mussolini Abyssinia
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct 2, 1935 - Beginning of the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling, p. 57, "(Will you come to Abyssinia, will you come?)" (1 text)
Roud #5321
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll Along, Covered Wagon, Roll Along" (tune) and references there
NOTES [115 words]: Peirce lumps this with "Will You Come to Our Wee Party?," with which it shares a tune, but it seems clear to me that there is a rewrite in there somewhere, so I have split them.
By 1936, Italy controlled Eritrea and Italian Somaliland in East Africa, and Mussolini decided to invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia) to control a larger area. They conquered the area and forced out the the emperor Haile Selassie, who fled to Britain. Once Italy and Britain went to war, the British were able to blockade Italy's East African territories, and then invade; the Italians were forced out (mostly captured) by 1941. So this item must date from between 1936 and 1941, with 1940 being the most likely date. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: PKKB057B

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