Little Marlin's Race

DESCRIPTION: "There were three knights, three very golly knights, Came from the north country, To run their horses at Newmarket." At Frampton Hall, they declare none can beat Little Marlin. They place their bets; Little Marlin wins; many are upset
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania)
KEYWORDS: horse racing gambling
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shoemaker-MountainMinstrelsyOfPennsylvania, pp. 254-256, "Little Marlin's Race" (1 text)
Roud #15002
NOTES [104 words]: Everything about this screams northern English origin (e.g. it mentions York, and Frampton Hall is in Lincolnshire). The most famous Sir William Strickland (1st Baronet Strickland) was a supporter of the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil Wars and was based in the East Riding of Yorkshire; the family was important in that area for centuries. Despite that, the song it seems to be found (in this form) only in Pennsylvania. The verse structure reminds me a lot of "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard" [Child 81]. Is this a survival of some sort of political song? Possibly, but I'm too lazy to try to figure out what. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: Shoe254

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