Dearest Mary

DESCRIPTION: "Oh dearest Mary, take pity on me, I'm doing all I can to gain my liberty." Only slavery can part them. The hounds follow as he flees. "The queen, she standed on the shore... Saying, 'Leave that land of slavery and come across the line.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1943 (Helen Creighton collection)
KEYWORDS: slave escape freedom royalty
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Pottie/Ellis-FolksongsOfTheMaritimes, pp. 36-37, "Dearest Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #31157
NOTES [82 words]: Creighton's informant William Riley said that this was the song of a black slave who was to be sold away from his wife, and he and she escaped north to Canada. Pottie/Ellis-FolksongsOfTheMaritimes therefore conjecture that "The Queen" who calls them was Queen Victoria. Obviously possible -- but Riley's text is so short that I think we must admit at least the possibility that this is a Catholic song, and that the crossing the singer makes is death, and the Queen is the Queen of Heaven. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: PoEll036

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