Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime

Subject: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 02 Jul 00 - 10:35 AM

G'day,
From the Penguin Book Of English Folk Songs, Ed Pellow's rendition of the tune of The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime can be found here.

THE YOUNG GIRL CUT DOWN IN HER PRIME

As I was a-walking one midsummer morning,
As I was a-walking along the highway,
Who should I see but my own dearest daughter,
With her head wrapped in flannel on a hot summer's day.

'O mother, dear mother, come set you down by me.
Come set you down by me and pity my case;
For my wounds are now aching, my poor heart is breaking,
And I'm in low spirits and surely must die.

'O mother, dear mother, come send for the clergyman,
O send for the doctor to bind up my wound,
And likewise my young man, whose heart it did wander,
That he may see me before I'm screwed down.

'And when I am dead to the churchyard they'll bear me,
Six jolly fellows to carry me on,
And in each of their hands a bunch of green laurel,
So they may not smell me as they're walking along.

'So rattle your drums and play your fife over me,
So rattle your drums as we march along.
Then return to your home and think on that young girl:
"Oh, there goes a young girl cut down in her prime."'

Sung by an unnamed singer, East Meon, Hants (F.J. 1909)

There are many versions and similar songs in the DT. Search by typing "young AND [cut down] AND prime" into the search box (omitting the quotes).

Previous song: Young Edwin In The Lowlands Low.
This is the final song.
First song: All Things Are Quite Silent.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 07 Jul 00 - 03:46 PM

Here are the notes from the Penguin Book (1959):

"At the end of the eighteenth century a homilectic street ballad spread in England concerning the death and ceremonial funeral of a soldier "disordered" by a woman.  It was called The Unfortunate Rake (in Ireland) or The Unfortunate Lad (on the broadside printed by Such).  Many singers know it as St. James's Hospital.  It is still a common song in the British Army, though printed versions are few.  English sets have been reported from Yorkshire (FSJ I p.254) and Hampshire (FSJ III p.292).  Our song represents a later development, in which the sexes are reversed, but the ceremonial funeral is retained.  Versions of this form have been recorded from Oxfordshire and Somerset as well as the present Hampshire version.  In America, the song has been adapted to the cattle range (The Cowboy's Lament or The Streets of Laredo) and the gambling hall (St. James' Infirmary).  The motif of the ceremonial funeral remains constant, despite all the transformations of the chief character."  -R.V.W./A.L.L.

This version of the song was first published in The Folk Song Journal volume IV page 325.

DT #350 Laws Q26

@death @sex @funeral @illness

There is an entry at the Traditional Ballad Index:  The Bad Girl's Lament, (St. James' Hospital; The Young Girl Cut Down in her Prime)

There is a copy of the Such broadside at  Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads   printed between 1863 and 1885:  The Unfortunate Lad  (Large image).

Other versions of the Unfortunate Lass/ Bad Girl's Lament family on the DT:

THE BAD GIRL'S LAMENT
BRIGHT SUMMER MORNING
THE GIRL IN THE DILGER CASE
ONE MORNING IN MAY
UNFORTUNATE LASS

Versions of The Unfortunate Rake/ St. James's Hospital family on the DT:

LOCKE HOSPITAL
NOO I'M A YOUNG MAN CUT DOWN IN MY PRIME
PILLS OF WHITE MERCURY
ST. JAMES HOSPITAL
THE TROOPER CUT DOWN IN HIS PRIME
THE UNFORTUNATE RAKE
WHEN I WAS ON HORSEBACK

In the Forum:

The Buck's Elegy
St. James' Hospital

There are also numerous versions of The Streets of Laredo (including a number of parodies and re-writes) and St. James' Infirmary on the DT; a search for #350 will locate them.

Also in the Forum:

The Dying Outfit (parody)
Streets Of Laredo (parody)
Ballad Of Sherman Wu (parody)
Tom Sherman's Barroom

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 01:24 AM

Lyr. Add: ANNIE FRANKLIN
(The Bad Girls Lament)

As I was walking one fine summer's morning,
As I was a-walking one morning in May
I spied a fair damsel rolled up in red flannel,
Rolled up in red flannel as cold as the clay.

"Mother, dear mother, come sit down beside me,
Sit down beside me, a story I'll tell,
My poor head is aching, my sad heart is breaking,
Oh mother, dear mother, I know I've done wrong.

"Mother, dear mother, take care of the baby,
Teach her and guide her along the right way,
When she gets sixteen please tell her my story,
'Twas of her young mother, who was led astray.

"Mother, dear mother, please send for the doctor,
Send for the priest to pray over me,
Send for that young man who stands on the corner,
For he was the young man who led me astray."

He stands on the corner, he sees the corpse passing,
"There goes the girl whom I led astray."
First to the barroom and next to the dance hall,
Up to the hospital and down to her grave.

"Here lies the form of a girl who was handsome,
Here lies the form of a girl who was gay,
Here lies the form of sweet Annie Franklin,
And she was the young girl whom I led astray."

Mrs. Wallace Kingsley, Isle aux Morts, Nfld., 1959.
Kenneth Peacock, 1965, "Songs of the Newfoundland Outports," vol. 2, pp. 420-421.

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: GUEST,songsmith
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 10:21 AM

not sure of the air, but sings well to 'The Recruited Collier'

cheers songsmith

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: Dead Horse
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 01:55 PM

It was also a sea shanty. (substitute 'sailor' for 'soldier')

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: Nerd
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 01:59 PM

I never heard it as a shanty, Dead Horse, though I've heard plenty of sailors' versions. Do you have details of shanty versions?

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 02:18 PM

I should have mentioned that "Annie Franklin" was printed with music. I will send it to Joe if there is any interest, but it is essentially "Streets of Laredo."

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: EBarnacle
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 10:04 AM

It's been used as a forebitter. The melody might be usable as a capstan chantey but there are not enough emphatic points or frequent enough points of emphasis for it to be a proper chantey.

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 04:44 PM

Surely 'The Dead Horse' was sung aboard to accompany the 'Dead Horse' custom.

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 10:13 PM

A 'forebitter' is merely a song sung at sea that wasn't a work song. I'm not at all sure why people bother with the term, unless it's to insist on a nautical connection for songs that everybody knew, including sailors.

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Feb 10 - 10:27 PM

Im looking for annie Franklin for a friend and the word he gave me differ from this one here are some of the words he gave me his mother use to sing it to him when he was young.

Mother dear mother take care of my baby
take care of my baby -------
when she is 16 tell her my story
i was her mother who was let astray

I went to the hospital to visit my daughter
therer on her pillow a few lines were wrote
never go walking --------- alone

Subject: RE: Penguin: The Young Girl Cut Down In Her Prime
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 06:48 PM

On Jon Boden's A Folk Song a Day, the song for 17 November is Unfortunate Lass, yet another version of this song.
-Joe-