Apparently, most versions of this song do not mention the Bankso of Claudy. Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry for this song:Ten Thousand Miles Away (On the Banks of Lonely River)
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls his aged mother "on the banks of a lonely river, Ten thousand miles away." He wishes he (were a little bird so he could be) with her. He receives a letter from his sister saying his mother has died
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1882 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1882 16161)
KEYWORDS: death mother loneliness separation
FOUND IN: US(SE,So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 697, "Ten Thousand Miles Away" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
BrownII 170, "The Homesick Boy" (2 texts)
Roud #3514
RECORDINGS:
Fred Redden, "The Banks of Claudy" (on NovaScotia1)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1882 16161, "Ten Thousand Miles Away on the Banks of a Lonely River," Balmer & Weber (Saint Louis), 1882 (tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "To the West A While to Stay" (plot)
Notes: Several of Randolph's informants credited this to a Missouri musician named Hubbard. Given the general feebleness of the song, it is quite likely that it comes from such an obscure source. The presence of the North Carolina texts, however, argues that it is not local to the Ozarks. - RBW
Broadside LOCSheet sm1882 16161: "composed by I.M. Williams" whatever that means. Is it a coincidence that the publisher is so close to the Ozarks?
[NovaScotia1] begins "In youth I craved adventure To Australia I did stray, I left my home and mother For a fortune far away, She bade me not to leave her Or to return some day To the banks of far off Claudy Ten thousand miles away." This verse is missing from LOCSheet sm1882 16161, which begins with the letter verse, followed by the dream verse.- BS
File: R697Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index InstructionsThe Ballad Index Copyright 2006 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
I posted the MIDI for the Almeda Riddle version that Charlie posted. It is pretty close to the tune Lisa uses, Charlie?Click to play