Lily of the West, The [Laws P29]

DESCRIPTION: The singer courts (Mary/Flora), only to see her courting another man. He stabs the other man to death. He is taken and sentenced, all the while saying that he loves the Lily of the West despite her betrayal
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1842 (Journal of the Champion)
KEYWORDS: homicide jealousy betrayal trial
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North,South,West)) Ireland US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (24 citations):
Laws P29, "The Lily of the West"
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "FLORA, THE LILY OF THE WEST"
Baring-Gould/Sheppard-SongsOfTheWest2ndEd, #58, "Flora the Lily of the West" (1 text, 2 tunes; the text has been bowdlerized)
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 132-133, "The Lily of the West" (1 text plus reference to 1 more)
Randolph 145, "The Lily of the West" (3 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
High-OldOldFolkSongs, pp. 13-14, "The Lillie of the West" (1 text)
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 49, "The Lily of the West" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 267, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, with little of the plot remaining)
Chappell-FolkSongsOfRoanokeAndTheAlbermarle 113, "The Lily of the West" (1 fragment)
Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 85, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 148, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, p. 135, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife/Fife-CowboyAndWesternSongs 54, "Lily of the West" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Huntington-TheGam-MoreSongsWhalemenSang, pp. 219-220, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H578, pp. 416-417, "Flora, The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Graham-Joe-Holmes-SongsMusicTraditionsOfAnUlsterman 40, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-SongsTheWhalemenSang, pp. 133-136, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-IrishStreetBallads 93, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 473-474, "The Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SongsAndBalladsFromNovaScotia 42, "Lily of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #1256 & #1257, p. 86, "The Lily of the West" (3 references)
Dime-Song-Book #5/72, p. 48 and #5/64, p. 48, "The Lily of the West" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 225, "Lily Of The West" (1 text)
DT 507, FLORAWST*
Roud #957
RECORDINGS:
Mr. and Mrs. Freeman Bennett, "The Lily of the West" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
W. Guy Bruce, "The Lily of the West" (on FolkVisions1)
Carmen McCord Hicks, "Handsome Mary (Lily of the West)" (Piotr-Archive #477, recorded 01/29/2023)
Evelyn Rumsey, "The Lily of the West" (on OldTrad1, FireMtns2)
Evelyn & Douston Ramsey, "The Lily of the West" (on FarMtns2)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 19(104), "The Lily of the West," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 b.9(276), 2806 c.15(122), 2806 b.11(137), Harding B 19(15), "The Lily of the West"
LOCSinging, as107800, "The Lily of the West," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as107780, sb20280a, as107790, "The Lily of the West"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(87a), "Flora The Lily of the West," Poet's Box? (Dundee), c. 1880-1900
SAME TUNE:
Caroline Of Edinburgh Town (per broadsides Bodleian LOCSinging as107800, LOCSinging as107780, LOCSinging sb20280a)
NOTES [60 words]: OLochlainn-IrishStreetBallads 93 ends happily: "I then did stand my trial, and boldly I did plead, A flaw was in my indictment found and that soon had me freed."
Broadside LOCSinging as107800: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LP29

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