Wandering Girl, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer's lover has deserted her and their baby. She'll go home but knows she'll be turned away by her mother. "She'll tell me to wander as I've wandered before." She warns girls not to trust young men.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1829 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.18(104))
KEYWORDS: sex desertion floatingverses baby mother youth
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #1691
RECORDINGS:
Freda Palmer, "The Wandering Girl" (on Voice10)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(104), "The Wandering Girl" ("Once I loved a young man as dear as my life"), T. Batchelar (London), 1817-1828; also Harding B 11(4028), Harding B 25(1998), Harding B 11(4027), "[The] Wandering Girl"; Harding B 25(1996), Harding B 11(244), Harding B 11(245), "The Wandering Girl" or "The Bud of Rose"
NOTES [68 words]: The Bodleian broadsides have the girl turned away by her father as well as her mother.
Floating lines may include "Once I loved a young man as dear as my life He oftentimes told me he'd make me his wife," "Once I was as fair as the bud of a Rose And now I'm as pale as the Lilly [sic] that grows" and "They'll kiss you and court you and swear they'll be true And the very next moment they'll bid you adieu." - BS
File: RcTWaGir

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography