Little Maud

DESCRIPTION: As the singer sleeps on some lumber, a policeman awakes and arrests him. He says he has lost his pocketbook and money, his crops are damaged, and he doesn't have a cent to his name. Chorus: "Little Maud, little Maud/She's the dearest darling of all"
AUTHOR: Words: Thomas B. Albrich / Music: J. P. Webster
EARLIEST DATE: 1871 (The Little Fraud Songster)
KEYWORDS: captivity poverty love prison farming police hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
GusWilliamsLeedleGermanBandSongster, p. 54, "Little Maud" (1 text, plus a text of "Little Fraud")
ShillingSongBook3, p. 10, "Little Maud" (1 text)
Harrigan-Hart-MulcaheyTwinsSongster, p. 41, "Little Maud" (1 text)
JennieHughes-DollyVardenSongster, p. 41, "Little Maud" (1 text)
JohnnyRoach-GreatSensationSongster, p. 38, "Little Maud" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: (no author listed), _The Little Fraud Songster_ Robert M. De Witt (New York), 1871, p. 4, "Little Maud" (1 text, on the page immediately following the Harrigan and Hart parody "Little Fraud")
Roud #18483
RECORDINGS:
Bela Lam & his Greene County Singers, "Little Maud" (OKeh 45177, 1928, rec. 1927; on GoingDown)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Willy, Poor Boy" (floating verses, some similarity in the tune)
SAME TUNE:
Little Fraud (by Edward Harrigan) (GusWilliamsLeedleGermanBandSongster, p. 55; Cotton-DownInACoalMineSongster, p. 57; p. 58; Harrigan-Hart-MulcaheyTwinsSongster, p. 21; JennieHughes-DollyVardenSongster, p. 31; LallaRookhSongster, p. 39) (The version on p. 54 of Sheridan-Macks-CharacterSongs appears to be a rewrite) (see also the notes to "Babies on Our Block")
NOTES [97 words]: To say that this song is disjointed would be an understatement. The verses sound like floaters, but aren't. - PJS
The original song was coherent; it seems to have lost something in oral tradition.
The parody "Little Fraud" seems to have been the first significant song written by Edward Harrigan and sung by Harrigan and Hart; this was before Harrigan met David Braham and started writing songs with him. It is of note that several of the early prints of "Little Maud" pair it with "Little Fraud"; I wonder if the parody didn't help prop up the popularity of the original song. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.2
File: RcLitMau

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