Barney McCoy

DESCRIPTION: "I am going far away, Nora darling... It will break my heart in two Which I fondly give to you, And no other is so loving, kind, and true." He is going away on a ship to seek his fortune; she stays to care for her mother. They do not expect to meet again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1879 (Journal from the A Hicks)
KEYWORDS: love separation emigration family parting
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So) Australia Ireland
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Randolph 776, "Barney McCoy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 113, "Barney McCoy" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 113, "Barney McCoy" (1 excerpt, 1 tune)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, pp. 157-159, "Nora Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-2ed, p. 89, "Norah Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
ArkansasWoodchopper, pp. 48-49, "Barney McCoy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown-FolkSongsOfAustraliaVol2, pp. 103-105, "Barney McCoy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 302-303, "Norah Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland, p. 134, "Barney McCoy" (1 text)
Wolford-ThePlayPartyInIndiana, pp. 75-76=Wolford/Richmond/Tillson-PlayPartyInIndiana, pp. 145-146, "Nora Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 41, "Barney McCoy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster, p. 210, "Barney McCoy" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan, p. 477, "Barney McCoi" (source notes only)
ST R776 (Full)
Roud #2094
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink], "Barney McCoy" (Champion 15897 [may also have been issued as by West Virginia Rail Splitter]/Supertone 9569, 1929)
Uncle Eck Dunford [w. Ernest Stoneman], "Barney McCoy" (Victor 20938, 1927)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Barney McCoy" (Challenge 152/Challenge 309/Gennett 3381/Herwin 75528, 1926-1927; rec. 1926)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1881 15663, "Barney McCoy", T. Harms & Co. (New York), sm1881 15663; also sm1882 14475, sm1882 12650, "Barney McCoy" or "I'm Going Far Away Norah Darling" (tune)
NOTES [151 words]: Everything about this song says Ireland -- except the references; I have been unable to locate a single guaranteed-traditional Irish text. There is a copyright claim from 1881, but the song is evidently older. - RBW
Might it have been "stage-Irish," American-composed? - PJS
Possible, though it's an above-average job in that case. And note the lack of a happy ending. - RBW
O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland not only provides an Irish claim but an indeterminate and possibly happy ending
"I am going far away, Norah, darling, And the ship is now anchored at the bay, And before to-morrow you will hear the signal gun, So be ready--it will carry us away." - BS
Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster, in addition to having "Barney McCoy" on p. 210, has on pp. 89-90 another "Norah Darling" song, which looks like it might be a riff on this but never mentions Barney. Similarly Dime-Song-Book #32, p. 37. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: R776

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