Tripping Over the Lea [Laws P19]

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a pretty girl on a (May) morning. (Even though she is very young,) he seduces her, then tells her he has no interest in marriage. She is left alone to await the birth of her baby.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: seduction pregnancy abandonment age
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws P19, "Tripping Over the Lea"
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "SHADY GREEN TREE, THE"
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H794, pp. 385-386, "Under the Shade of a Bonny Green Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-MoreIrishStreetBallads 10, "The Bonny Green Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride-FlowerOfDunaffHillAndMoreTradSongsInnishowen 12, "The Bonnie Green Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacColl/Seeger-TravellersSongsFromEnglandAndScotland 69, "The Bonnie Green Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 501, AEMAYMRN
Roud #2512
RECORDINGS:
Louis Killen, "One May Morning" (on BirdBush2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Willie Archer (The Banks of the Bann)" (plot)
cf. "I'm a Day too Young" (plot)
NOTES [36 words]: Steve Gardham appears to treat both "I'm a Day too Young" and "Tripping Over the Lea" as Laws P19, but Laws and Roud seem to split them. The plots are obviously quite similar, so it might be best to look under both. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LP19

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