Green Mossy Banks of the Lea, The [Laws O15]

DESCRIPTION: The young man, driven by "curiosity," roams the world. In Ireland he falls in love with a girl at first sight. He gains her father's approval by saying that he is rich. The two are married, and the American lad settles down on the banks of the Lea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1835 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(498))
KEYWORDS: rambling love courting marriage
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,Ro) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(West)) Ireland
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Laws O15, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea"
Butterworth/Dawney-PloughboysGlory, pp. 18-19, "Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Mi 585, "American Stranger" (1 text)
Cologne/Morrison-WiltshireFolkSongs, pp. 18-19, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #27, "Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads 98, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
OCroinin/Cronin-TheSongsOfElizabethCronin 164, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lee" (2 texts)
Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 31, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan 70, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, short and full of odd distortions, e.g. the girl is "beautified" rather than "beautiful")
Hubbard-BalladsAndSongsFromUtah, #39, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 523-524, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 600, "The Sweet Mossy Banks of the Wey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-FolkBalladsSongsOfLowerLabradorCoast 24, "American Stranger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best-ComeAndIWillSingYou 47, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 47, "Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-TheGam-MoreSongsWhalemenSang, pp. 221-223, "On the Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster, p. 205, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lee" (1 text)
DT 477, MOSSYLEA MOSSYLE2
Roud #987
RECORDINGS:
Jim Keeping, "The Sweet Mossy Banks of the Wey" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lee" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
Pat Maloney, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Tony Wales, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (on TWales1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(498), "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea," G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also Harding B 11(2224), Firth c.18(95), Harding B 11(1426), Firth c.18(86), Firth b.27(321), Johnson Ballads 1227, Johnson Ballads 1400, Harding B 11(1423), Harding B 11(1424), Harding B 11(1427), Harding B 11(1429), Harding B 11(1425), Harding B 11(1640), Firth b.26(65), Harding B 11(4030), Harding B 11(1430), Firth b.25(300), Johnson Ballads 341, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea"; Harding B 26(232), Harding B 26(231), "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lee"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Miss Green" (tune)
File: LO15

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