Pleasant and Delightful

DESCRIPTION: On a "pleasant and delightful" midsummer's morn, a sailor bids farewell to his true love. She gives him a token, and begs to come along with him. He forbids it, but promises that they will be wed "if ever I return again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1841 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(276))
KEYWORDS: love farewell ring separation
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Greig/Duncan1 64, "The Sailor and His True Love" (12 texts, 10 tunes)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Wt 466, "Sailor and His True Love" (1 text)
Dallas-TheCruelWars-100SoldiersSongs, pp. 64-65, "Pleasant and Delightful" (1 text, 1 tune)
Palmer-OxfordBookOfSeaSongs 82, "Pleasant and Delightful" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PLESDELT*
Roud #660
RECORDINGS:
Sam Larner, "Happy and Delightful" (on SLarner02)
Cyril Poacher, "A Sailor and His True Love" (on Voice02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(276), "The Sailor and his Truelove" ("As a young sailor and his truelove one morning in May"), J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840; also Firth c.12(147), Harding B 17(266b), "Sailor and his Truelove"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell, Charming Nancy [Laws K14]" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Bold Privateer" [Laws O32] (meter)
cf. "The Soldier and the Sailor" (meter)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Mary Ann
Charming Mary Ann
NOTES [126 words]: This song shares many similarities with "Farewell, Charming Nancy" [Laws K14]; it is not impossible that they have a common ancestor. But the degree of difference is now so large that, until an intermediate version shows up, I must regard them as separate.
The song plays a small but significant role in Terry Pratchett's novel I Shall Wear Midnight, the fourth Tiffany Aching book (which, despite being a Discworld book, is more a romance than a comedy. Pratchett also has a tendency to refer obliquely to folk songs, but this is one of the rare cases where he quotes the song text, and does so without parody. I don't know if it was because he knew he was dying and wanted to be more serious, or if it is coincidence, but it is definitely unusual). - RBW
Last updated in version 6.2
File: DTplesde

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