Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo

Subject: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: GEST
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 07:46 PM

In his Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, Kenneth Peacock includes both Waterloo and Lonely Waterloo. I think I have Lonely Waterloo properly archived, along with a reference to a variant from MacEdward Leach. I cannot, however, track down any on-line information on Peacock's Waterloo. Thus far, I have only learned that one song is in volume 3, p.1007, and the other is on pp.1020-1022, so they are obviously different songs, but I have no idea which is which.

Thanks in advance for your help. :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 08:44 PM

Lonely Waterloo (Peacock III 1007) begins "A lady fair was walking down by a riverside." There seem to be several examples in Edith Fowke's collection beside those you mention; typically called Bloody Waterloo. Also in Gardner & Chickering and Greenleaf & Mansfield; and Creighton. Also a Scottish example, C20, from Willie Scott (Roud 622). No Irish examples are listed; I'm unclear as to why you talk about "Irish immigrants" in the note on your website. Is that where you think the song came from?.

The other song is unrelated and tells a completely different story. Peacock has two examples; Roud lists them at number 1921 and cites a further example in Greenleaf & Mansfield (also from Newfoundland). Also Laws J2. The Greenleaf text is in the DT, with tune, at  Waterloo.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: GEST
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 08:52 PM

The Irish immigrant note was an aside from Leach, more pertinent to Newfoundland history than Ireland.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 08:57 PM

Thank you. It's a good idea to credit quotes in order to avoid confusion or misunderstanding. As Bruce Olson used to say, if you acknowledge your source, then you won't get blamed if it turns out to be wrong.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: GEST
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 09:18 PM

It's not a quote. It's an historical fact which Leach mentions differently. I researched it myself and wrote it my way. Nonetheless, consider it gone since you seemed to take offense to it.

As for the Greenleaf page, I considered it before but feel it is too fractured. I would rather not have an entry than archive a page as incomplete as that.

Subject: Lyr Add: WATERLOO (from Kenneth Peacock)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 09:41 PM

Lyr. Add: WATERLOO
(Peacock)

It was on one Monday morning in that lovely month of June,
I went forth to convince my love all in her youthful bloom.
But the press-gang lay in ambush and up to me they drew,
And the very next day we marched away to fight at Waterloo.

It happened on the eighteenth, the day that I was pressed,
It was on the twenty-second I first put on my dress,
My waistcoat of the scarlet, my hat and feather too,
And the very next day we marched away to fight at Waterloo.

The day we fought at Waterloo it being a heavy blast,
It was early the next morning we were ordered to Belfast,
And when we came near Belfast town our captain he did say,
"I am very much in doubt, my boys, that we won't gain the day."

It was early the next morning we were signalled on the plain,
Our captain cried, "My hero boys, don't let your courage fall,
I hope you are victorious and keep your colours true,
I hope to God you will gain the day we fight at Waterloo,"

It was eight o'clock in the morning the battle it did commence,
And every man with sword in hand to stand his own defence.
The first shot came, my arm swung, so loudly I did bawl,
And the next one took my leg from me which caused for me to fall.

And when my limbs were gone from me I fell down on the plain
All for to rest my wounded limbs in heavy wracks of pain.
And when my comrades work was done 'twas up to me they flew,
I have often cried and wished I'd died that day at Waterloo.

We ranged along till nine o'clock till the going down of the sun,
Each one of us a husband dear or a loving mother's son.
Out of eithteen hundred noble slaves we only lost but two,
They had to yield and quit that field we gained at Waterloo.

It was by our honorable captain we were ordered on the course,
The distance being so far home we were all brought back on horse.
I was both tall and strong-limbed when I first left my dear, But now receive a pension of thirty pounds a year.

Mrs. Charlotte Decker, Parson's Pond, NFLD, August 1959.

Kenneth Peacock, 1965, "Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, vol. 3, pp. 1020-1021, with music.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 09:48 PM

Why would I "take offense"? You are making an assumption without evidence. If the remark is relevant, then say why, and identify your source for the information. It really is quite simple. If it isn't directly relevant, then it doesn't need to be mentioned in the first place.

The Greenleaf text is relevant, incomplete or not. Do you mean the first, or second song? Were there any accompanying notes or commentary? The DT (second song) doesn't say, but habitually omits vital contextual information. The book is hard to get on this side of the Atlantic except at inflated "antiquarian" prices, so anything you might care to add would be appreciated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: Liam's Brother
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 10:11 PM

Coming at the end of the Napoleonic era, the battle of Waterloo was a huge event and a field day for ballad writers. It took months for the fate of some soliders to reach home. Loved ones desperately wanted to know whether soldiers made it through the big battle. There would have been many entries into the "best ballad of 1815" competition. Once those broadsides were circulated and committed to memory, the true folk process took over.

What the Roud and Laws indexes try (and tried) to do are establish a provenance for each of the ballads about Waterloo. Confusing the issue to some extent is the oft mentioned and not always fully understood folk process, which can merge different ballads and songs into one.

I've been to Waterloo in Belgium four or five times. Every time I go, I sing a song or two. I guess the one I've sung most shows as "The Plains of Waterloo (II)" in Ken Peacock's Songs of the Newfoundland Outports. The great Oliver "O.J." John Abbott sang it so well in Ontario, and all of the great ballad singers of the 1970s followed after him. I sing it myself.

Now that war is over, let peace and understanding reign. Good question GEST. Fine comments Malcolm Douglas.

Subject: LYR. ADD: LONELY WATERLOO (Peacock)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 10:29 PM

Subject: Lyr Add: LONELY WATERLOO (from Kenneth Peacock)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 10:54 PM

(Hmmm- hitting my space bar enters a post after entering the subject)

LONELY WATERLOO
Peacock

A lady fair was walking down by a riverside,
The crystal tears fell from her cheeks as I did pass her by,
I saw her heaving bosom as up to me she drew,
"My friend I hear my Willie dear is slain at Waterloo,"

"What sort of clothes did your Willie wear?" the soldier made reply.
"He wore a highland bonnet with a feather standing high,
A glittering sword hung by his side over his dark suit of blue,
Those were the clothes my Willie wore on lonely Waterloo."

"If that's the clothes your Willie wore I saw his dying day,
Five bayonets pierced his tender heart before he down did lay,
He took me by the hand and said some Frenchman did him slew,
It was I who closed your Willie's eyes on lonely Waterloo."

"Oh Willie, dearest Willie!" and she could say no more,
She fell into the soldier's arms those dreadful tidings bore.
"May the jaws of heaven open and swallow me down through,
Since my Willie lies a mouldering corpse on lonely Waterloo.

"If I had some eagle's wings I would surmount on high,
I would fly to lonely Waterloo where my true love do lie;
I would light upon his bosom my love for to renew,
I would kiss my darling's pale cold lips on lonely Waterloo."

Mrs. John Fogarty, Joe Batt's Arm, NFLD, 1952.

Two tunes are given, the second from Arthur Nicolle, Rocky Harbour, 1958. ("Both appear to be related").
Kenneth Peacock, 1965, "Songs of the Newfoundland Outports," vol. 4, pp. 1007-1008.

Peacock also includes two variants of "The Plains of Waterloo," with separate tunes.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: GEST
Date: 19 Aug 05 - 11:03 PM

Thank you, Malcolm, Liam's Bro, and especially Q. Living on a small island two hours by ferry from the mainland as a retired citizen, without access to expansive libraries and/or funds, my research is limited entirely to the Internet. I don't even have a PC, merely an Internet receiver. Forgive me if my attempts sometimes seem futile. Nonetheless, I love the research, the gathering of data, and the friends I make.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: JohnB
Date: 20 Aug 05 - 09:31 AM

Any chance of the tunes for both these? I'm pretty sure I won't be getting the book(s).
JohnB

Subject: Tune Add: WATERLOO (from Kenneth Peacock)
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 20 Aug 05 - 10:29 PM

Well, I must say you're doing extremely well to manage that site without a computer. I only nag because your site is the major resource for Newfoundland material online, and that makes you a de facto authority even if you didn't intend to be!

Here is the tune for Peacock's example A. The key-signature is (notionally) C, but the scale is apparently a-c-c#-d-e-f-g. I'm afraid that my limited musical knowledge doesn't run to identifying that (today at any rate), so I've had to specify "C" in the abc key header. Sorry about that, chaps.


X:1
T:Waterloo
S:Mrs Charlotte Decker, Parson's Pond. August 1959
B:Peacock, Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, 1965. III, 1020-21
N:PEA 157 no. 1015. Roud 1921. Laws J2.
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
M:2/2
K:C
F G|A2 G2 (Ad) (dc)|(A3G) E2 F G|(AG) (GF) D3 C|
w:It was on one Mon_day_ morn_ing in that love_ly_ month of
D6 (FG)|A2 A2 d2 e2|f2 (fd) e2 ((3f/g/f/e)|
w:June, I_ went forth to con-vince my_ love all___
(dc) A2 (^cd) (ec)|d6 F G|A2 A2 d2 e2|
w:in_ her youth_ful_ bloom. But the press-gang lay in
(f/g/f d2) e2 (fe)|((3d/e/d/c) A2 (^cd) (ec)|d6 D F|
w:am___bush and_ up___ to me_ they_ drew, And the
A2 G2 (Ad) (dc)|A3 G E2 (FG)|A2 (GF) D3 C|D6|]
w:very next day_ we_ marched a-way to_ fight at_ Wa-ter-loo.

Subject: ADD Version: Lonely Waterloo
From: GUEST,Rory
Date: 09 Nov 22 - 10:24 PM

Lonely Waterloo

Also known as "Bloody Waterloo"

Earliest printed versions in:
Ballads and Sea-Songs of Newfoundland,
Collected and edited by Elizabeth Bristol Greenleaf, music recorded by Grace Yarrow Mansfield, 1933.
pp.178-179, 1930 and 1929.


LONELY WATERLOO
Version A
Page 178
Communicated by Mrs. Maude Roberta Simmoods, Glenbunde, Bonne Bay, 1930.

1
As a lady fair was walking down by a riverside,
The crystal tears fell from her eyes as I walked by her side,
I saw her wavering bosom, those words been kind and true,
Saying, "Friends, I'm afraid my Willy is slain in Lonely Waterloo

2
"What was the clothes your Willy wore?" a soldier there replied.
"He wore an 'ighland bonnet with a feather standing high,
With a glistering sword hung by his side over his dark suit of blue;
This was the clothes my Willy wore in Lonely Waterloo."

3
"If that's the clothes your Willy wore, I saw his dying day;
Five bayonets pierced his tender breast, before that he down lay.
He hold me out his dying hand, saying, 'Some Frenchman did me slew.'
'Twas I that closed your Willy's eyes in Lonely Waterloo."

4
As soon as she heard him say those words in the soldier's arms she flew:
"O Willy, lovely Willy!" sure she could say no more.
"If I had the wings of small birds, with eagles I would fly;
I would fly to Lonely Waterloo where my true love do lie."

5
"I'd alight on his bosom; all sorrows I'd remove;
I would kiss my Willy's pale cold lips in Lonely Waterloo.
I'd alight all on his bosom, all sorrow I'd remove,
Since my Willy lies a mouldering corpse in Lonely Waterloo."


LONELY WATERLOO
Version B
Page 179
Recited by Patrick Lahey, Fortune Harbour, 1929.

1
"What sort of clothes did your Willy wear?" the soldier did reply.
"He wore a Highland bonnet with a feather standing by,
A glittering sword hung by his side o'er his dark suit of blue;
And that's the clothes my Willy wore at Lonely Waterloo."

2
"If that's the clothing your Willy wore, I saw his dying day;
'Twas by a bullet from a Frenchman's gun...
I was your Willy's comrade, I saw your Willy die,
Three bullets through did pierce his breast, before he down did lie.
And as he lay, I heard him say, `Some Frenchmen did me slew.'
'Twas I that closed your Willy's eyes at Lonely Waterloo."

3
"O Willy, lovely Willy" — and she could say no more,
She threw herself down on her knees, these awful tidings bore.
"The jaws of death might open me, and swallow me down through,
Since the lad is dead that I adore, at Lonely Waterloo."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waterloo vs. Lonely Waterloo
From: GUEST,Rory
Date: 10 Nov 22 - 02:20 AM

Recording

Artist: Birkin Tree
Singer: Aoife Ní Bhríain
Album: Five Seasons (2019)

YouTube
https://youtu.be/aypgO8idNHU


LONELY WATERLOO

A lady fair was walking down by a riverside,
The crystal tear fell from her eyes as I walked by her side,
I saw her wavering bosom, these words been kind and true,
Saying, "Friends, I fear my Willy is slain at Lonely Waterloo."

"What were the clothes your Willy wore?" a soldier did reply.
"He wore the highland bonnet with a feather standing high,
With a glittering sword hung by his side over his dark suit of blue;
Those were the clothes my Willy wore at Lonely Waterloo."

"If that's the clothes your Willy wore, I saw his dying day;
Five bayonets pierced his tender breast, before he down did lay.
He held me in his dying hand, saying, 'Some Frenchman did me slew.'
'Twas I that closed your Willy's eyes at Lonely Waterloo."

"0h Willy, lovely Willy!" and she could say no more.
She threw herself down on her knees, those awful tidings bore.
"Oh if I had wings like little birds, with eagles I would fly;
I would fly to Lonely Waterloo where my true love does lie."

"I'd alight all on his bosom, all sorrows to remove;
I'd kiss his pale and tender lips at Lonely Waterloo.
May the gates of death sling open wide, and swallow me down through;
Since my Willy lies a mouldering corpse at Lonely Waterloo."
"Since my Willy lies a mouldering corpse at Lonely Waterloo."


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