Wexford Girl, The (The Oxford, Lexington, or Knoxville Girl; The Cruel Miller; etc.) [Laws P35]

DESCRIPTION: The singer invites the girl for a walk. They discuss their wedding. Then he takes up a club (knife) and attacks her. She begs him to spare her life. He beats (stabs) her to death and throws her in the river. (He has visions of hell.) He is hanged.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1796 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.17(216); c.1700 (broadside, Bodleian Antiq. c. E.9(125))
KEYWORDS: wedding river homicide trial execution
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(Lond,South)) Ireland
REFERENCES (60 citations):
Laws P35, "The Wexford Girl (The Oxford, Lexington, or Knoxville Girl; The Cruel Miller; etc.)" (Laws gives three broadside texts on pp. 104-112 of ABFBB)
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "MILLER'S APPRENTICE, THE"
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #137, pp. 1-2, "The Butcher Boy"; #179, p. 2, ("Mary, my dear Mary") (2 texts)
Greig/Duncan2 200, "The Butcher's Boy" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
Porter/Gower-Jeannie-Robertson-EmergentSingerTransformativeVoice #68, p. 236-238, "The Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune, incorrectly labelled as Laws P24 based on the title)
Williams-Wiltshire-WSRO Gl 44, "Ferry Hinskey Town" (1 text)
Palmer-EnglishCountrySongbook, #57, "Hanged I Shall Be" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hamer-GarnersGay, pp. 40-41, "The Wexford Murder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud/Bishop-NewPenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs #129, "The Oxford Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 133-136, "The Oxford Girl" (2 texts)
Randolph 150, "The Noel Girl" (7 texts plus 3 excerpts and 2 fragments, 5 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen-OzarkFolksongs-Abridged, pp. 108-111, "The Noel Girl" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 150A)
High-OldOldFolkSongs, pp. 40-41, "The Wax-Ward Girl" (1 text)
Rainey/Pinkston-SongsOfTheOzarkFolk, pp. 20-21, "Expert Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Riddle-ASingerAndHerSongs, pp. 65-67, "The Oxford Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 104, "The Murdered Girl" (8 texts, 2 tunes, but Laws assigns the B text to "The Banks of the Ohio" and omits the others. It would appear that Eddy's A and C texts belong here)
Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan 19, "The Knoxville Girl" (2 texts)
Neely/Spargo-TalesAndSongsOfSouthernIllinois, p. 150, "The Waxford Girl" (1 short text)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 65, "The Lexington Murder" (3 texts plus 6 excerpts, 1 fragment, and mention of 3 more)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 65, "The Lexington Murder" (3 texts plus 4 excerpts, 7 tunes)
Chappell-FolkSongsOfRoanokeAndTheAlbermarle 63, "Nell Cropsey, III" (1 text, which despite its title does not mention Cropsey and appears to be simply a version of this song with perhaps some mixture with "Banks of the Ohio")
Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #180, "The Wexford Girl" 2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text and tune being "The Banks of the Ohio" [Laws F5] and the "B" text "The Wexford Girl (The Oxford, Lexington, or Knoxville Girl; The Cruel Miller; etc.)" [Laws P35])
Hudson-FolksongsOfMississippi 30, pp. 141-143, "The Wexford Girl" (1 text)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, pp. 81-83, "The Oxford Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-2ed, pp. 64-65, "The Oxford Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abernethy-SinginTexas, pp. 54-55, "The Waco Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax/Lomax-OurSingingCountry, "The Lexington Murder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-ASongCatcherInSouthernMountains, pp. 159-164, "The Wexford Girl; Hanged I Shall Be; The Prentice Boy" (3 texts, which despite the collective title are all called "Knoxville Girl"; 1 tune on p. 402)
Shellans-FolkSongsOfTheBlueRidgeMountains, pp. 68-69, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune, probably this but with some curious variants which hint at recomposition)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol1, pp. 73-74, "The Knoxville Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol2, pp. 16-17, "Knoxville Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brewster-BalladsAndSongsOfIndiana 36, "The Wexford Girl (The Cruel Miller)" (1 text)
Wolfe/Boswell-FolkSongsOfMiddleTennessee, 31, pp. 55-58, "The Knoxville Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bronner/Eskin-FolksongAlivePart1 16, "Wexford Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bronner/Eskin-FolksongAlivePart2 39, "Coal Black Hair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown-VermontFolkSongsAndBallads, pp. 88-90, "Hang-ed I Shall Be" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 71, "The Miller's Apprentice, or The Oxford Tragedy" (5 texts, 5 tunes)
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 56, "Wexford City" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 634-636, "The Wexford Girl" (2 texts, 2 tunes); pp. 638-640, "The Worcester Tragedy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 115, "Waterford Town" (1 text)
Manny/Wilson-SongsOfMiramichi 98, "The Wexford Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-TheBalladBook, pp. 785-787, "The Lexington Murder" (2 texts)
Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman, pp. 288-290, "The Wexford Girl" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Friedman-Viking/PenguinBookOfFolkBallads, p. 225, "The Wexford Girl" (1 text+5 fragments of another text)
Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl 7, "The Waxford Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood-NewLostCityRamblersSongbook, pp. 150-151, "Knoxville Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-TreasuryOfSouthernFolklore, p. 737, "The Knoxville Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 327, "The Oxford Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss-AngloAmericanFolksongStyle, pp. 115-116, "Knoxville Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 90, "The Wesford Girl" (2 texts)
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol1, pp. 91--93, "The Wexford Girl"; pp. 94-96, "The Knoxville Girl" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roberts-SangBranchSettlers, #15, "The Knoxville Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacColl/Seeger-TravellersSongsFromEnglandAndScotland 75, "The Wexford Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia1, p. 265, "The Story of the Knoxville Girl" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 224, "Knoxville Girl" (1 text)
Olson-BroadsideBalladIndex, ZN1624, "Let all pretending Lovers"; ZN3196, "Young men and maidens all, give ear unto what I relate"
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Brenda Joyce Quillin, "Nell Cropsey Died -- But How?", Vol. 22, No. 2 (May 1974), pp. 51-52, "(My dear old parents brought me here)" (1 text)
DT 353, CRUELMIL* OXFRDTRG* PRETPOL2; (628), WXFRDGRL
ADDITIONAL: Harold Nestler, "Songs from the Hudson Valley" (article in _New York Folklore Quarterly_, Volume V, #2, Summer 1949), pp. 95-96, "Town of Waxford" (1 text)
Julie Henigan, "Ozark Ballads as Song and Story," article in _Missouri Folklore Society Journal_, Volume 27-28 (cover date 2005-2006, but published 2015), pp. 159-185; pp. 162-163, "The Waxwell Girl" (1 text, as sung by Roxie Phillips)
Roud #263
RECORDINGS:
Blue Sky Boys, "Story of the Knoxville Girl" (Montgomery Ward 7327, c. 1937)
Ted Chestnut, "Knoxville Girl" (Silvertone 8156 [as Jim Burke]/Supertone 9260, 1928 [possibly as Ted Chesnut])
Cope Brothers, "Knoxville Girl" (King 589, 1947)
Charlotte Decker, "The Worcester Tragedy" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Mary Delaney, "Town of Linsborough" (on IRTravellers01)
Foster & James "The Knoxville Girl" (Supertone 9260, 1928) [also issued as by Jim Burke, possibly a pseudonym for Doc Roberts]
Marie Hare, "The Wexford Lass" (on MRMHare01)
Carmen McCord Hicks, "Knoxville Girl" (Fragment: Piotr-Archive #476, recorded 01/29/2023)
John James, "Wexford Girl" (on MUNFLA/Leach)
Louisiana Lou, "The Export Girl" (Bluebird B-5424, 1934)
Asa Martin & James [Doc] Roberts "Knoxville Girl" (Conqueror 7837, 1931)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "The Knoxville Girl" (Brunswick 110/Vocalion 5121, 1927)
Arthur Nicolle, "The Wexford Girl" (on PeacockCDROM) [one verse only]
Aulton Ray, "Maxwell Girl" (Gennett 6205/Champion 15332/Challenge 335 [as Charlie Prescott]/Silvertone 5084, 1927; Supertone 9250, 1928; on KMM [as Taylor's Kentucky Boys])
Arthur Tanner, "The Knoxville Girl" (Silvertone 3515, 1926) (Columbia 15145-D, 1927)
Frances Turbyfill (Campbell), "The Knoxville Girl" (Fragment: Piotr-Archive #16, recorded 09/15/2020)
Mildred Tuttle, "Expert Town (The Oxford Girl)" (AFS; on LC12)
Rick Ward, "The Knoxville Girl" (Fragment: Piotr-Archive #143, recorded 04/18/2022)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Antiq. c. E.9(125), "The Berkshire Trgedy [sic]" or "The Wittam Miller" ("Young men and maidens all give ear"), unknown, c.1700; also Firth c.17(216), "The Berkshire Tragedy" or "The Wittam Miller," unknown, 1796; Harding B 6(100), Douce Ballads 3(1b), Harding B 6(101), Harding B 6(102), Firth b.28(40a), "The Berkshire Tragedy" or "The Wittam Miller"; Harding B 6(96), "The Berkshire Trgedy [sic]" or "The Wittam Miller"; Harding B 6(98), "The Wittham-Miller" or "The Berkshire Tragedy"; 2806 c.17(40), Harding B 28(224), "Bloody Miller" ("My parents educated, and good learning gave to me"); Firth c.17(110), Harding B 11(752), Harding B 11(753), Harding B 11(754), Harding B 11(755), "[The] Cruel Miller"; Harding B 15(74a), "Cruel Miller" or "Love and Murder"; Firth c.17(109), "Cruel Miller" or "Love and Murder!"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of the Ohio" [Laws F5] (plot)
cf. "Camden Town" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Oxford Tragedy
The Expert Girl
Johnny McDowell
The Prentice Boy
The Cruel Miller
The Miller Boy
Never Let the Devil Get the Upper Hand of You (Carter Family version)
NOTES [368 words]: Ozark folklore links this to the murder of one Lula Noel, whose body was discovered by the Cowskin River in Missouri in 1892. The song, however, is obviously older. Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman traces it to a broadside about a murder committed at Reading, England in 1774. - RBW
Botkin, following Cox (who follows Belden), traces it to a British broadside, "Berkshire Tragedy" or "The Wittam Miller", circa 1700. - NR
Laws also lists this broadside in his catalog (it is, indeed, one of the texts he prints), but adopts his title based on common traditional usage.
Laws, in fact, draws a stemma, starting from the "Berkshire Tragedy," and listing a total of seven "recensions" (p. 119), though he considers the broadside to be merely of eighteenth century date. I have a problem with the whole reconstruction, though: It's too literary. Even if one assumes the original ballad was a broadside (and I think Laws assumes this more often than is justified), it does not follow that its entire history is found in the broadsides. The song is so common that one must suspect the larger share of the broadsides to be derived from tradition, rather than being the source of tradition. - RBW
In Peacock pp. 638-640 version A the girl is pregnant, as in Laws' text of "The Cruel Miller" ( American Ballads from British Broadsides chapter IV, p. 111).
Broadside Bodleian Firth b.28(40a), printed in London between 1800 and 1811, has 22 8-line verses; shelfmark Antiq. c. E.9(125), with the same text as Firth b.28(40a) has an estimated print date of c.1700. These are all clearly recognizable as the same ballad, down to the "bleeding at the nose" line. - BS
The "Love and Murder" broadsides listed here should not be confused with the other numerous broadsides of that title, many of which are versions of The Cruel Ship's Carpenter (The Gosport Tragedy; Pretty Polly) [Laws P36A/B]. ["Love and Murder" is a very common title for broadsides, which I suppose proves that cheap journalism is not a modern invention. - RBW] - BS, (RBW)
Porter and Gower refer to [Jeannie Robertson's "Butcher Boy"] as "Laws P24" - but that "Butcher Boy" is a completely different song. RPG #68 is full-on "Wexford Girl." - DGE
Last updated in version 6.8
File: LP35

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