Jolly Plowboy, The (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy) [Laws M24]

DESCRIPTION: A plowboy and a rich girl fall in love. When the girl's father finds out, he sends a press gang for the boy. The girl dresses in men's clothes and rows out to her lover's ship. She bribes the captain to return her lover
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1808 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 12(155))
KEYWORDS: love pressgang cross-dressing reprieve
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland,England(Lond,South,West)) Ireland
REFERENCES (25 citations):
Laws M24, "The Jolly Plowboy (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy)"
Ford-VagabondSongsAndBalladsOfScotland, pp. 284-286, "The Jolly Plowbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #117, pp. 1-2, "The Jolly Ploughboy" (1 text)
Greig/Duncan1 170, "The Jolly Ploughboy" (14 texts, 13 tunes)
Leather-FolkLoreOfHerefordshire, pp. 208-209, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Gl 49, "Bonny Labouring Boy" (1 text)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Bk 5, "Pretty Ploughing Boy" (1 text)
OShaughnessy-YellowbellyBalladsPart2 38, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Palmer-EnglishCountrySongbook, #94, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Palmer-FolkSongsCollectedBy-Ralph-VaughanWilliams, #102, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #73, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 103, "Little Plowing Boy" (1 text plus a fragment)
Chappell-FolkSongsOfRoanokeAndTheAlbermarle 71, "The Little Plowing Boy" (1 text)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 59, "The Simple Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-TheCrystalSpring 140, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, pp. 233-234, "The Jolly Plowboy" (1 text)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H105, pp. 331-332, "The Jolly Plowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior-TraditionalSongsOfNovaScotia, pp. 176-178, "The Jolly Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 224-225, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-FolkSongsFromNewfoundland 46, "The Simple Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 45, "The Jolly Ploughboy" (1 text)
Finger-FrontierBallads, pp. 2-3, "(O, Jock the jolly plow boy" (1 fragment, 1 tune, possibly this)
Quiller-Couch-OxfordBookOfBallads 167, "The Simple Ploughboy" (1 text)
DT 584, JOLLPLOW (BRSKLIVE -- listed as Laws A15, but this is impossible; it appears to be this song with some odd verses about the boy being wounded)
ADDITIONAL: Leslie Shepard, _The Broadside Ballad_, Legacy Books, 1962, 1978, p. 151, "The Pretty Plough Boy" (reproduction of a broadside page with "The Pretty Plough Boy," "The Spotted Cow," and "Canadian Boat Song")
Roud #186
RECORDINGS:
Daisy Chapman, "The Jolly Ploughboy" (on SCDChapman01)
Harry Cox, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (on Voice02)
Mrs. Mary Ann Galpin, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (on PeacockCDROM)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 12(155), "The Pretty Plough Boy," Burbage and Stretton (Nottingham), 1797-1807; also Harding B 11(3164), Firth c.12(288), Harding B 11(1400), 2806 c.17(335)[some words illegible], Firth b.25(108), Harding B 12(135), "The Pretty Plough Boy"; Harding B 25(1506)[almost entirely illegible], "Plough Boy"; Johnson Ballads 1403, Johnson Ballads 1450, "[The] Pretty Ploughboy"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cawsand Bay" (plot)
cf. "Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser)" [Laws N6]
cf. "Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany)" [Laws N7]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Poor Ploughboy
The Hills o' Traquair
NOTES [36 words]: Bunting (Edward Bunting, The Ancient Music of Ireland (Mineola, 2000 (reprint of 1840 Dublin edition)), #23, "The Jolly Ploughman") only prints a first verse; it shares three lines with many versions of this song. - BS
Last updated in version 5.0
File: LM24

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