Old Betty Larkin (Betsy Larkin, You Stole My Pard, Steal Partners, Stole My Partner)

DESCRIPTION: "Hop around, skip around, old Betty Larkin (x3), and also my dear darlin.'" "Steal, steal, old Betty Larkin...." ""You take mine, and I'll take another...." "Needles in a haystack, old Betty Larkin."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting abandonment playparty dancing nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ritchie-FolkSongsOfTheSouthernAppalachians, p. 15, "Old Betty Larkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 586, "You Stole My Pard" (1 fragment)
Roud #7404 and 7673
NOTES [58 words]: Randolph's is only a two-stanza fragment: "You stole my pard to my dislike (x3), And also my dear darlin'." "I'll have her back or fight all night (x3), And also my dear darlin'." It may be a separate piece (Roud separates them). But that key line about the "dear darlin'" seems to me to link his text with the Ritchie Family "Betty Larkin" texts. - RBW
File: R586

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