Long, Long Ago!

DESCRIPTION: "Tell me the tales that to me were so dear, Long long ago, long ago; Sing me the songs I delighted to hear... Now you are come my grief is removed...." The singer welcomes back (his?) long-lost love; he doubted her fidelity, but he rejoices to see her
AUTHOR: Thomas Haynes Bayly
EARLIEST DATE: 1844
KEYWORDS: love separation reunion
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Jackson-PopularSongsOfNineteenthCenturyAmerica, pp. 119-120, "Long, Long Ago!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-TheGam-MoreSongsWhalemenSang, p.293, "Long Long Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, pp. 278-279, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Heart-Songs, p. 435, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dime-Song-Book #10, p. 16, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text)
Jolly-Miller-Songster-5thEd, #51, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 256, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text)
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, p. 338, "Long, Long Ago!"
Harbin-Parodology, #317, p. 77, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rodeheaver-SociabilitySongs, p. 23, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
National-4HClubSongBook, p. 21, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST RJ19119 (Full)
Roud #4921
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:019, "Long, Long Ago," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(145), "Long, Long, Ago," unknown, c.1870
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gone Long Ago" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Romeo and Juliet ("Come, now, and listen to my tale of woe, Of Romeo and Juliet") (Harbin-Parodology, #29, p. 14)
Long, Long Ago [a labor version] ("Where is the freedom which once we possessed, Long, long ago, long, long ago?") (Foner, p. 162)
NOTES [74 words]: Bayly made his name as a composer of sentimental tunes, but this is surely his best-known (although "Gaily the Troubadour" had a vogue a century or more ago). The exact date of composition is unknown; the earliest dated printing is from 1844, but copies are known to have been in circulation when Bayly died in 1839 (Spaeth says 1829). The best guess is that it originally appeared c. 1836.
The author's original title was "The Long Ago." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: RJ19119

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