Lily of the Lake

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes the beauties of Lake Champlain, then the beauty of fair Mary, who glides on its waters. He sits down by her, proposes to her; she accepts with a blinding smile -- "She is the lovely Mary, the Lily of the Lake."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: courting love beauty
FOUND IN: US(MA)
Roud #25982
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Lily of the Lake" (on PeteSeeger29)
NOTES [63 words]: This was only collected from tradition once, but it was from Yankee John Galusha, and that's good enough for me. - PJS
Other collections are now known, but only a few.
MidwestFolklore, Ivan H. Watson, "Folk Singing on Beaver Island," Volume 2, Number 4 (Winter 1952), p. 248, mentions a piece called "The Lily of the Lake," but I have no way of knowing if it's the same song. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: RcLotL

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