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Girl I Left Behind Me(An Spailpin Fanach) Old-Time, American, Irish, Scottish, English; March, Two-Step, Polka, Set, Sword, Country and Morris Dance Tune (2/4 time); Widely known.
ARTIST: Max Hunter Collection: Cat. #0526 (MFH #411) - As sung by Harrison Burnett, Fayetteville, Arkansas on July 5, 1960 CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: As “Brighton Camp” 1600’s; As “Maggie Walker” early 1900’s.
OTHER NAMES: “Maggie Walker’s Blues" “As Slow Our Ship," "Brighton Camp," "The Gal I Left Behind Me," "Pretty Little Girl" (I Left Behind Me), "An Spailpin/Spalpeen Fanach," "The Rambling Laborer," "The Wandering Harvest Labourer," “Peggy Walker;” “Peggy Walker’s Blues;” “I'll Ne'er Forget the Parting;” “My Parents Reared Me Tenderly;” “The Rich Old Farmer;” “The Broken-hearted Boy;” “The Maid I Left Behind;” “I've Got to Leave You;” “I'm Going Away to Leave You, Going to Tennessee;”
RELATED TO: Brighton Camp; Johnny Goodwin; Mysteries of a Hobo's Life; Rambling Cowboy; Across the Rocky Mountain; Lackey Bill; All Frolicking I'll Give Over; Long Time Gone;
RECORDING INFO: G. B. Grayson & Henry Whitter, "I've Always Been a Rambler" (Victor 40324, 1928; on GraysonWhitter01, LostProv1); Dock Boggs, "Peggy Walker" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1); Pleaz Mobley, "My Parents Raised Me Tenderly" (AFS; on LC12); Billie Maxwell, "The Arizona Girl I Left Behind" (Victor V-40188, 1930; on MakeMe); Jules [Verne] Allen, "The Gal I Left Behind" (Victor V-40022, 1929; on WhenIWas2); New Lost City Ramblers, "I've Always Been a Rambler" (on NLCR13, NLCRCD2)l; Spencer Moore, "The Girl I Left Behind" (on LomaxCD1700, LomaxCD1702); Baldwin, Stephen. English Village Fiddler, Leader LED 2068, LP (1976), cut# 5; Barron, Rik. Bound for the Ice, Odd Sock PRO 101, Cas (199?), cut#A.05; Bowers, Bryan. By Heart, Flying Fish FF 313, LP (1984), cut#B.05b; Broudy, Saul. Songs of Rebels and Redcoats, National Geographic Soc. 07788, LP (1972), cut#B.07; Bulwer, Walter. English Country Music, Topic 12T 296, LP (1965/1976), cut#B.01b; Carpenter, Ernie. Elk River Blues, Augusta Heritage AHR 003, LP (1986), cut# 2 (Pretty Little Girl I Left Behind Me); Chase, Richard. Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians, Tradition TR 1007, LP (196?), cut# 7; Clark, Yodelin' Slim. Cowboy Songs, Masterseal MS-57, LP (1957), cut#A.06; Douglas, Wilson. Back Porch Symphony, Douglas C-7625, LP (1995), cut#A.05; Fuzzy Mountain String Band. Fuzzy Mountain String Band, Rounder 0010, LP (1972), cut# 4; George, Franklin/Frank. Traditional Music for Banjo, Fiddle & Bagpipes, County C-2703, Cas (1992), cut#A.11; Gill, Marshall. Songs of Early Times, Early Times, LP (1961), cut#A.01; Jarrett, Merrick. Old Chisholm Trail, Riverside RLP 12-631, LP (1956), cut#B.01 (Gal I Left Behind Me); Kruskal, Tom; and Jim Morrison. Round Pond Relics, Cottey Light 901, LP (1980), cut#A.04a; Luxon, Benjamin; and Bill Crofut. Simple Gifts. British and American Folk Songs, Stolat SZM 0124, LP (1981), cut#B.04a; MacKenzie, Tom. Finally Tuned, Rooster 104, LP (1980), cut# 5b (Gal I Left Behind Me); Milnes, Gerry. Old Time Fiddling of Braxton County. Vol 2, Augusta Heritage AHR 013, Cas (1992), cut# 2; Page, Ralph;'s Boston Boys. Old Time Herald, Old Time Herald OTH, Ser (1987-), 7/7, p35 (Honest John); Price, Truman; and Jane Keefer. Songs and Tunes of the Oregon Trail, True West TW C-21, Cas (1991), cut# 10; Red Clay Ramblers. Twisted Laurel, Flying Fish FF-030, LP (1976), cut# 1b; Smith, Hobart. Hobart Smith, Folk Legacy FSA-017, LP (1964), cut# 18; Tester, Scan (Lewis). Scan Tester. I Never Played to Many Posh Dances, Topic 12T 455/6, LP (1990), cut#1.08; Trail Band. Voices from the Oregon Trail, Trail's End TEP 001, Cas (1991), cut#A.04c; Wills, Bob; and the Texas Playboys. Tiffany Transcriptions, Vol. 1, Edsel ED 321, LP (1982), cut#B.01; Woodhull's Old Tyme Masters. Square Dances, RCA (Victor) LPM-1238, LP, cut#B.04 (Girl Behind Me); Augusta Heritage Records 003, Ernie Carpenter, "Elk River Blues: Traditional Tunes From Braxton County, W.Va." (appears as "Pretty Little Girl I Left Behind Me"). Brunswick (78 RPM), John McDermot (central N.Y.), 1926 (appears as last tune of "Virginia Reel Medley"). Cassette C-7625, Wilson Douglas - "Back Porch Symphony." Mag, Hubert and Ted Powers- "Powers Town Music." Edison 51381 (78 RPM), Jasper Bisbee (Mich.), 1923. Folk Legacy Records FSA-17, Hobart Smith - "America's Greatest Folk Intsrumentalist" (appears as middle tune of "Banjo Group 2"). Gennett 6826 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (Ky.). OKeh 45150 (78 RPM), Franklin Co., Va., fiddler Howard Maxey {1882-1947} (1927). Paramont 3017 (78 RPM), 1927, John Baltzell (Mt. Vernon, Ohio). RCA Victor LCP 1001, Ned Landry and His New Brunswick Lumberjacks - "Bowing the strings with Ned Landry." Tradition TLP 1007, Richard Chase - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians," 1956. Victor 36402A (78 RPM), Woodhull's Old Tyme Masters (N.Y.), 1941. Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling."
RECORDING INFO AS PEGGY WALKER BLUES : Blake, Norman; and Red Rector. Norman Blake and Red Rector, County 755, LP (1976), cut# 1 (Girl I Left Behind); Borusky, Pearl. Anglo American Ballads, Library of Congress AFS L 1, LP (1956), cut#A.06 (Rich Old Farmer); Caswell Carnahan. New Leaves on an Old Tree, Kicking Mule KM 313, LP (1981), cut#A.03a (Girl I Left Behind); Grayson and Whitter. Recordings of Grayson and Whitter, County 513, LP (197?), cut# 6 (Girl I Left Behind); Hall, Kenny; and the Sweets Mill String Band. Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band, Vol.II, Bay 103, LP (197?), cut# 12; Hicks, Delta. Tennessee: The Folk Heritage, Vol. 2. The Mountains, Tennessee Folklore Soc. TFS-103, LP (198?), cut# 2 (My Parents Raised Me Tenderly); Highwoods String Band. No. 3 Special, Rounder 0074, LP (1978), cut# 11; Hotmud Family. Meat and Potatoes and Stuff Like That, Flying Fish FF 251, LP (1981), cut#B.04b (I've Always Been a Rambler); Howard, Clint. Old-Time Music at Clarence Ashley's. Part 1, Folkways FA 2355, LP (1961), cut# 11 ; Kazee, Buell. Buell Kazee, June Appal JA 0009, LP, cut# 5 (Roving Cowboy); Mainer, Wade. From the Maple on the Hill, Old Homestead OHTRS 4000, LP (1976), cut#A.04 (I've Always Been a Rambler) ; McNew, Walter. Black Jack Grove, Appalachian Center Ser. AC005, Cas (1993), cut#B.09 (Girl I Left Behind); Moore, Ashley. Kirkland Recordings, Tennessee Folklore Soc. TFS-106, LP (1984), cut# 10 (Roving Boy); Moore, Spence (Spencer). Banjo Songs, Ballads and Reels from the Southern Mountains, Prestige International INT 25004, LP (196?), cut# 2 (Girl I Left Behind); Moore, Spence (Spencer). Southern Journey. Vol. 2: Ballads and Breakdowns, Rounder 1702, CD (1997), cut# 4 (Girl I Left Behind); New Lost City Ramblers. Rural Delivery No. 1, Verve/Folkways DW-90705, LP (197?), cut# 4 (I've Always Been a Rambler); New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p 38 (Girl I Left Behind) ; New Lost City Ramblers. There Ain't No Way Out, Smithsonian/Folkways 40098, CD (1997), cut#20 (Girl I Left Behind); Paley, Tom. Old Tom Moore and More, Global Village C 309, Cas (1991), cut# 3 (Girl I Left Behind); Pine River Boys with Maybelle. Outback, Heritage (Galax) 003 (III), LP (1974), cut#A.02 (Pretty Polly); Possum Hunters. In the Pines, Takoma A-1025, LP (196?), cut# 4; Reed, Ola Belle. Ola Belle Reed, Rounder 0021, LP (1973), cut# 12 (I've Always Been a Rambler); Ringer, Jim. Waiting for the Hard Times to Go, Folk Legacy FSI-047, LP (1972), cut# 12 (Girl I Left Behind); Ritchie, Jean. High Hills & Mountains, Greenhays GR 701, LP (1979), cut# 9 (Old George's Square); Rutherford, Ernest; and the Gold Hill Band. Old Cap'n Rabbit, Heritage (Galax) 080, Cas (1989), cut# 23 (I've Always Been a Rambler); Seeger, Mike. Music From the True Vine, Mercury SRMI-627, LP (1972), cut# 13 (Roving Cowboy); Watson, Doc; Clint Howard and Fred Price. Country Music and Bluegrass at Newport, Vanguard VSD-79146, LP (1968), cut#A.08
SOURCES: "A. Shattuck's Book [ca. 1801]," p. 18; Howe, Leviathan Collection, p. 10; Fillmore, American Veteran Fifer, #64; Linscott, Folk Songs of Old New England, pp. 79-80; Ford, Traditional Music of America, p. 116; Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 3, 352; Ruth, Pioneer Western Folk Tunes, p. 2. For sets with different titles but some similarity, see Joyce, Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909), #443, #648. American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.280; American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.281a (That Pretty Little Gal); American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.282; Read 'Em and Weep, Arco, Sof (1959/1926), p 16; Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p116b; Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p417; American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk; Bell, David. Learning the Fiddler's Ways, Penn State, Sof (1980), P 46; American Balladry from British Broadsides, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk (1957), p248; Tuel, Bertha. Southern Folk Ballads, Vol. 1. American Originals: A Heritage..., August House, Sof (1987), p.106 (Broken Hearted Boy); Harper Arthur O'Neill, 1800 (Ireland) [Bunting]; John McDermott (New York State, 1926) [Bronner]; 10 southwestern Pa. fifers and fiddlers [Bayard, 1981]; William Garrett with Hack's String Band [Phillips]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; caller George Van Kleeck (Woodland Valley, Catskill Mtns., New York) [Cazden]; Angus McPhee (b. c. 1924, Mt. Stewert, Queens County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]. American Veteran Fifer, No. 64. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 2b, pg. 1. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 338A-J, pg. 322-325. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 119. Bronner, 1987; No. 4, pg. 27 (appears as last tune of "Virginia Reel Medley." Bruce-Emmett (Fifer's Guide), 1880; pg. 52. Bunting, 1840; pg. 43. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 9. Cazden, 1955; pg. 14. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times), Vol. 2, 1859; pgs. 187-188 (appears as "Brighton Camp"). Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 116. Hall & Stafford, 1974; pg. 12. Hazeltine (Instructor in Martial Music), 1820; pg. 29. Howe, Diamond School for the Violin, 1861; pgs. 51, 61, 62. Hulbert, 182?; pg. 19. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tune)s; No. pg. 7. Karpeles (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 31. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 55, pg. 27. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 3; pg. 41. Linscott (The Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 79-80. Moffat, (202 Gems), pg. 8. Neal (Esperance Morris Book), 1910; pg. 19. Old Fort Snelling Instruction Book for the Fife, 1974; pg. 35. O'Malley, 1919; pgs. 26, 35. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 972. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 972, pg. 167 (appears as "The Spalpeen Fanach"). O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 57, pgs. 87-90. Ostling, 1939; pg. 10. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 153. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 97. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 94. Riley (Flute Melodies), 1814; Vol. 1, No. 349. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), Set 1, 1911; pg. 1. Sharp (Sword Dance Tunes), 1911-1913; Book 1, 5, Book 3, pgs. 4 & 12. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 382. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 45. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Vol. 1), 1999; pg. 10. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 72; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
NOTES: "G Major (almost all versions): A Flat Major (O'Sullivan/Bunting): C Major (Ashman). Standard. One part (Linscott, Raven): AB (Bayard, O'Sullivan/Bunting, Shaw): AABB (Ashman, Brody, Ford, Kennedy, Perlman, Phillips, Sweet, Tubridy): AABBCC (Hall & Stafford)." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
"The Girl I Left behind Me" has a history in both the British Isles and America as a song and a march, but it has become an item of general repertory for many fiddlers. In addition to this ballad form, there is a song with this title (indexed as "The Girl I Left Behind Me (lyric)"). The two have cross-fertilized (often, e.g., sharing the latter's tune "Brighton Camp"). In the US, “Peggy Walker Blues” has become a significant branch with early recordings by Dock Boggs and others. (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
Much folklore has arisen regarding this tune. One source states the tune was popular as far back as Queen Elizabeth's (Elizabeth I) reign and was played whenever a regiment left town or a man-of-war set sail. Theodore Ralph writes that the tune was known in America as early as 1650 and indicates it was a traditional fife tune, imported from England as Brighten Camp. The tune became generally popular during the Revolution. The tune was known in Ireland as The Rambling Laborer and The Spailpin Fanach and was first published in Dublin in 1791.
From Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc: There are many conflicting theories about the exact origins and dates of the tune that is claimed by both the English and Irish. "The Irish name, according to Bunting (1840), is 'The S(p)ailpin Fanach' or "The Rambling Laborer.' The music and words were printed in Dublin in 1791, although it was known much earlier. It is claimed by one authority that this tune originated when Admirals Hawke and Rodney were watching the French Fleet off the coast in 1758. Still another opinion assertes that in Queen Elizabeth's time it was very popoular and was played when a man-of-war weighed anchor or when a regiment moved in or out of town." (Linscott, 1939). "The song derives from an old British marching song; Spaeth identifies it with an Irish folk-tune, first written down in 1800...(also closely related to) "Brighton Camp" to which William Chappell (1893) assigns the date 1758 (See note on "Brighton Camp" for more details, esp. regarding Chappell's research). Kidson (Groves) can date it with confidence only from 1797, from a manuscript collection then in his possession. Fuld (1966) insists that the manuscripts Chappell refers to have not been located, and despite the persistent thought that the tune was known as "Brighton Camp" no printings of the melody under that name have been found to exist. Kidson (Groves) does find evidence of the melody as "Brighton Camp," although not before its publication in The Gentleman's Amusement c. 1810. Alfred Moffat, for one, in his Minstrelsy of Ireland (pg. 14) maintains that while it may be true that the British knew the tune in 1758-59 during the encampments of Rodney and Hawke, it still is quite possible the air was imported from Ireland, citing its "Irish flavour" and its resemblance to the Irish melody "The Rose tree in full bearing."
Moffat maintains Bunting's version "is a mere parody on the genuine air," an opinion that Kidson (Groves) agrees with, saying the Bunting's elaborate version (as with Moore's) "quite destroy the strongly marked rhythm of the simple marching form." Chappell and Bunting communicated about "The Girl I Left Behind Me," the latter writing in 1840 to the English musicologist: "It is a pretty tune, and has been played for the last fifty years, to my knowledge, by the fifes and drums, and bands of different regiments, on their leaving the towns for new quarters." Some writers maintain that Bunting may have been conservative in his date and say that there is evidence that "The Girl I Left Behind Me" was often played in the years before the American Revolution when a British naval vessel set sail or and army unit left for service abroad. This may have inspired Thomas Moore write his song "As slow our ship," published in Irish Melodies in 1818, to the air "Girl I Left Behind Me."
"The Girl I Left Behind Me" has a long and illustrious history in America. Dolph (1929) prints a standard text popular at the time of the Civil War, which was a great favorite with Gen. George Custer, and is still the official regimental song of the 7th Cavalry (see also "Garryowen"). "My grandfather tells me that he heard it played by bands in both armies at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in 1862" (Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, Vol. III, 1980). Cauthen (1990) finds reference to its being played during the Civil War in an account by Georgia fiddler Ben Smith of the 12th Alabama Infantry; she calls it a "show tune" which was popularized during that war and which entered folk tradition through discharged soldiers. The United States army troop [The Old Guard] at Fort Snelling, Minesota, considered it a favorite in the 19th century. Today it remains in use by the army and is played at the United States Military Academy at West Point as part of the medley for the cadets' final formation at graduation.
Notwithstanding its popularity as a song or martial air, "The Girl" gained renewed currency as a dance tune in the South. Linscott (1939) remarks that in New England it was a great march favorite and that it "has always been popular as a country dance tune." The piece was a 'catagory tune' in an 1899 Gallatin, Tenn., fiddle contest; each fiddler would play his (or her?) rendition, with the best version winning a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). It was cited as having commonly been played at Orange County, New York country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), and was in the repertoire of Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner whose hey-day was in the early 20th century. Also in repertories of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848-1931) {Texas, Tenn.) as "The Girl I Left Behind," Mainer Mellie Dunham (Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's), and Buffalo Valley, Pa., dance fiddlers Harry Daddario and Ralph Sauers. It was recorded for the Library of Congress by folklorist/muicologist Vance Randolph in the early 1940's from Ozark Mountain fiddlers.
LYRICS:
VERSE 1
My parents treated me tenderly
They had no boy but me
My mind being bent on rambling
It's proved to be unkind
To leave my age'd parents
An' never no more return
VERSE 2
I asked my girl if she would consent
For me to cross th sea
Or, if she would prove true to me
Till I return again
She says, she would prove true to me
Till death did prove unkind
So, we shook hands and parted
I left my girl behind
VERSE 3
So, I struck out for some different country
Nebrasky for th see
An trade an' money were plenty
An' th girls were kind to me
Money an' trading were plenty
An' th girls to me were kind
But I never, never shall forget
That girl I left behind
VERSE 4
As I came in from work one evening
All on Saint James Square
I was standing by th gate post
When th mail boy met me there
He handed me a letter
Some news to understand
That th girl I left behind me
Had married another man
VERSE 5
In reading this letter
Some further down
I find this news be true
So, I turned myself around and about
For I did'nt know what to do
Good neighbors, I will give over
Bad company, I'll design
I'll spend th rest of my days in rambling
From the girl I left behind
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