Anna Lee (The Finished Letter)

DESCRIPTION: "I have written him a letter Telling him that he is free"; she wrote it when she heard that he had been "out riding With that saucy Anna Lee." But the girl regrets her words; she concludes "I'll tell him I still love him If he'll court Miss Lee no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety; Randolph reports that this copy was written in 1873)
KEYWORDS: love courting betrayal separation rejection
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, p. 213, "The Finished Letter" (2 texts)
Randolph 775, "Anna Lee" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 6, "Anna Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 143, "Annie Lee" (1 text plus an excerpt from 1 more)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 143, "Annie Lee" (1 excerpt, 1 tune)
Neely/Spargo-TalesAndSongsOfSouthernIllinois, pp. 231-233, "I Have Finished Him a Letter" (1 text)
Rorrer-RamblingBlues-LifeAndSongsOfCharliePoole, p. 82, "Jealous Mary" (1 text)
Roud #474
RECORDINGS:
Dale Borusky, "Saucy Analee" (Fragmentary recitation: Piotr-Archive #559, recorded 04/18/2023)
Dana Borusky, "Saucy Analee" (Piotr-Archive #574, recorded 05/05/2023)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Jealous Mary" (Columbia15342-D, 1928; on CPoole04)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ella Lea" (lyrics)
File: R775

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