Lady Mary (The Sad Song)

DESCRIPTION: "He came from his palace grand And he came to my cottage door... But I was nothing to him, Though he was the world to me." She desperately loved him; now he is dead, but she has no excuse for mourning. She wonders if, in heaven, he will still ignore her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (collected by Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: death love beauty
FOUND IN: US(Ao,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol2, pp. 77-79, "Palace Grand" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 698, "The Sad Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen-OzarkFolksongs-Abridged, pp. 522-524, "The Sad Song" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 698)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, pp. 202-203, "Lady Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LADYMARY*
Roud #6358
RECORDINGS:
Bud Skidmore, "The Sad Song" (Columbia 15761-D, 1932)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "We Met, 'Twas In a Crowd"
NOTES [70 words]: This has been quite popular in the folk revival; it appears that most if not all of these versions derive from the May Kennedy McCord collected by Randolph and Hunter; she also gave it to Evelyn Beers. Bush's printing also derives from McCord. Thus although there are a few other versions of the song known (from Owens and Sandburg), if you've heard this song, the version you know almost certainly comes from McCord. - RBW
Last updated in version 3.5
File: R698

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