Gentleman Soldier, The

DESCRIPTION: Soldier brings woman into his sentry-box. They have sex; he prepares to leave. She asks him to marry her; he says he can't, as he's already married -- and "two wives are allowed in the army, but one's too many for me!" Nine months later she has a child.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Reeves/Sharp-TheIdiomOfThePeople)
KEYWORDS: adultery seduction sex abandonment pregnancy bawdy humorous soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "GENTLEMAN SOLDIER, THE"
VaughanWilliams/Lloyd-PenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs, pp. 40-41, "The Gentleman Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig/Duncan7 1471, "The Sentry" (4 texts plus a single verse on p. 507, 3 tunes)
Reeves/Sharp-TheIdiomOfThePeople 92, "The Sentry" (1 text)
Purslow-TheConstantLovers, p. 88, "The Sentry Box" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
Dallas-TheCruelWars-100SoldiersSongs, pp. 66-67, "The Gentleman Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #178
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Drumdelgie" (tune)
cf. "One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing)" [Laws P14] (plot)
File: VWL040

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