Oh Lily, Dear Lily

DESCRIPTION: "My foot is in the stirrup, My bridle's in my hand, I'll go court another And marry if I can. Oh Lily, oh Lily, my Lily fare you well. I'm sorry to leave you, For I love you so well." "So fare you well, (Molly), I'll bid you adieu, I'm ruined forever..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920
KEYWORDS: love separation floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 731, "Oh Lily, Dear Lily" (2 short texts, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 139, "Sweet Lily" (1 text)
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 1, "Sweet Lily" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Charles W. Joyner, "The Repertory of Nancy Jones as a Mirror of Culture in Scotland County," Vol. XXI, No. 3 (Sep 1973), p. 92, "They say I drink Victor, my money is my own" (1 text, about "Sweet Lily")
Roud #7583
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. ""The Wagoner's Lad" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell, Sweet Mary" (floating lyrics)
cf. "My Foot Is in the Stirrup"
NOTES [73 words]: I don't think there is a single line in Randolph's texts that is not paralleled elsewhere. But he treats this as a separate song, and he collected it, so I follow his lead. Similarly the longer version in Brown; the editors give notes about all the various parallels. The possibility must be admitted, however, that this is a worn-down form of something else -- or even that Randolph's two versions, and Brown's one, are separate pieces. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.1
File: R731

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