Cruel Was the Press Gang

DESCRIPTION: "Oh! cruel was the press-gang That took my love from me; Oh! cruel was the little ship That took him out to sea; And cruel was the splinter-board That took away his leg; Now he is forced to fiddle-scrape And I am forced to beg."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose)
KEYWORDS: husband wife pressgang injury begging disability
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #196, p. 137, "(Oh! cruel was the press-gang)"
Roud #V1839
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(204), "The Answer to Oh! Cruel" ("Oh! cruel were my parents as tore my love from me "), unknown, n.d.
NOTES [23 words]: Although I haven't met this in any traditional collections, it sounds so traditional that I decided to risk including it in the Index. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: BGMG196

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