Flower of Corby Mill, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer sets out to praise the Flower of Corby Mill. He describes meeting her on his was to Butler's Fair. At the fair, he and his friends drink deep and toast the girl. He refuses to name her lest her parents be angry, but she is a mill worker.
AUTHOR: William Brownlee (source: Tunney-WhereSongsDoThunder)
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: beauty drink
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H612, pp. 242-243, "The Flower of Corby Mill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-WhereSongsDoThunder, pp. 176-178, "The Flower of Corby Mill" (1 text)
McBride-FlowerOfDunaffHillAndMoreTradSongsInnishowen 30, "The Flower of Corby's Mill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton/Maguire-ComeDayGoDayGodSendSunday 26, pp. 67-68,114,167, "The Maid of Colehill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2928
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Charming Sweet Girl That I Love" (theme: hidden name)
NOTES [118 words]: Tunney-WhereSongsDoThunder: "Corby Mill was almost certainly situated on the Clough River and was built in 1789 by Ben Shaw."
While the place names are changed Morton/Maguire-ComeDayGoDayGodSendSunday notes "this song is obviously a close relation to that given the title of 'The Flower of Corby Mill." In the last verse of Morton/Maguire-ComeDayGoDayGodSendSunday "she says herself she'll marry me."
Other hidden name songs include "The Flower of Benbrada," "The Lovely Banks of Mourne," "The Santa Fe Trail," "Ar Eirinn Ni Neosfainn Ce hi (For Ireland I Will Not Tell Whom She Is)," "The Pride of Kilkee," "Drihaureen O Mo Chree (Little Brother of My Heart)," [and] "The Charming Sweet Girl That I Love." - BS
Last updated in version 3.2
File: HHH612
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
The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.