Manchester Angel, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a girl in Manchester and promises to marry her. She sleeps with him; his regiment prepares to march. She begs to go with him; he refuses. She offers to buy his discharge; he refuses. She vows to enter a nunnery until he returns.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding Harding B 28(14))
KEYWORDS: courting sex army parting dialog soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,North))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Gardham-EarliestVersions, "MANCHESTER ANGEL, THE"
VaughanWilliams/Lloyd-PenguinBookOfEnglishFolkSongs, pp. 66-67, "The Manchester Angel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dallas-TheCruelWars-100SoldiersSongs, pp. 71-72, "The Manchester 'Angel'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, p. 734, "The Manchester Angel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harding-FolkSongsOfLancashire, pp. 50-51, "The Manchester Angel" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MNCHESTR*
Roud #2741
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Manchester Angel" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(14), "In Coming Down to Manchester," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(2306), Harding B 25(1206), "The Manchester Girl"; Harding B 28(249), Harding B 25(1801), Firth c.14(196), Harding B 11(2388), Harding B 11(3575), Harding B 15(301a), Harding B 15(301b), Harding B 16(254a), "Soldier's Farewell to Manchester"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Girl Volunteer (The Cruel War Is Raging)" [Laws O33]
cf. "Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany)" [Laws N7]
cf. "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)" [Laws N8]
cf. "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9]
cf. "High Germany (I)"
cf. "The Jacket So Blue (The Bonnet o' Blue)" (theme)
cf. "Oh! No, No" (lyrics)
NOTES [164 words]: [According to A.L. Lloyd,] "The Angel Inn is said to have stood in the Market Place adjoining Market Sted Lane, Manchester."
Given the large number of ballads with this plot, I was tempted to lump this with one of the others. However, it has enough unique elements, in my judgment, to warrant a separate listing. -PJS
Although most of the elements of this song are duplicated elsewhere, the combination is unique. So is the (frequently Dorian) tune. So I agree with Paul: This piece is unique. There is another song with this title in Sam Henry, but it is distinct (and fragmentary).
Harding-FolkSongsOfLancashire cites Lloyd's location in Market Place, but says that the whole area was leveled to build "that tasteless abomination, the giant Arndale Centre, covered in acres of lavatorial tiles." Arndale Centre is still there, with lots of glass, looking just like any other shopping center, much too close to the center of Manchester and just a few blocks from the River Tib. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: VWL066

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