Jessie, the Belle at the Bar

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees Jessie working at the railroad bar. He courts her. Though warned that she is fickle, he offers to wed; she accepts -- then runs off with the costly wedding dress and marries a newspaper publisher
AUTHOR: G. Ware
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Dime-Song-Book #19)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage abandonment
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(MA,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Greig/Duncan4 754, "Jessie at the Railway Bar" (2 texts)
Randolph 51, "Courting Jessie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 169, "Pretty Jessie of the Railway Bar" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, pp. 80-81, "The Trainman's Song" (1 text) (pp. 66-67 in the 1919 edition)
Spaeth-WeepSomeMoreMyLady, pp. 70-72, "(Jessie, the Belle at the Bar)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dime-Song-Book #19, p. 62-64, "Jessie, the Belle at the Bar" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan, p. 479, "Jessie at the Railway Bar" (source notes only)
Roud #3265
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(121b), "Jessie at the Railway Bar," unknown (probably Glasgow), 1884
NOTES [40 words]: The commentary for broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(121b) states "the location of the railway station in 'Jessie at the Railway Bar' occasionally varies, with one version placing the events in Moorgate station rather than Brighton station." - BS
Last updated in version 6.6
File: R051

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography