General Wolfe

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, General Wolfe to his men did say, 'Come, come my boys, To yon blue mountain that stands so high...." "The very first volley the French fired at us, They wounded our general on his left breast." The dying Wolfe recalls his exploits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (Hill, Wiltshire Folk Songs and Carols)
KEYWORDS: battle death Canada soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 13, 1759 - Battle of Quebec. Wolfe and Montcalm killed.
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "BOLD GENERAL WOLFE"
Williams-FolkSongsOfTheUpperThames, pp. 162-163, "Bold General Wolfe" (1 text) (also Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Ox 193, "Bold General Wolff")
Purslow-MarrowBones, p. 4, "Bold General Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #4, "General Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume-CanadasStoryInSong, pp. 50-51, "General Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cologne/Morrison-WiltshireFolkSongs, pp. 6-7, "The Taking of Quebec" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dallas-TheCruelWars-100SoldiersSongs, pp. 120-122, "Bold General Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BRAVWLF3*
Roud #624
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Ralph, "General Wolfe" (on Ontario1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2156), "Death of General Wolfe," unknown, n.d.; same broadside as 2806 c.16(156)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Brave Wolfe" (subject)
NOTES [129 words]: This ballad veers curiously between truth and fancy. Wolfe did not lead his men up a mountain -- but he *did* lead them up a high cliff to the Plains of Abraham, where the Battle of Quebec was fought. The bullet which mortally wounded him was not fired in the first volley (since he had already taken two other wounds), but it did hit him in the breast. And he had indeed been in the army for 16 years when he died at the age of 32.
For full historical notes, see "Brave Wolfe."
Spaeth mentions a song, "The Death of General Wolfe" (not the same as "Brave Wolfe") published in 1775 -- but I don't know if that is the same as this song. - RBW
Fowke describes "The Death of the Brave General Wolfe" as an alternate title for "Brave Wolfe" [Laws A1] rather than this song. - PJS
Last updated in version 6.8
File: FMB050

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