Peggy Gordon Explained

"Peggy Gordon" is a Canadian folk song that has become popular in many English-speaking countries.[1] As a folk song it was first collected in the 1950s[2] [3] and 1960s[4] in Canada, mainly in Nova Scotia.[5]

History

In the 1820s and early 1830s, a song called "Peggy Gordon" was published on American song-sheets: in New York and in Boston (available at the libraries of Brown University, RI and the New York Historical Society).[6]

A couple of decades later, a song called ”Peggy Gordon” was mentioned in Fitz-Hugh Ludlow's story The Primpenny Family. The story was published in serial form in the magazine Vanity Fair in 1861, mentioning the song in chapter VI in a conversation between Mr. Kineboy and Miss Primpenny: .[7]

The chorus of Kineboy's performance is very similar to the chorus of present-day versions:[8]

Another version of this song, in the form of a vaudeville song called Sweet Maggie Gordon,[9] was published in New York from 1880.[10] The song tells a story of a man who is madly in love with a woman of this name and how he longs to be with her.[11]

In 1938, a song called Sweet Peggy Gordon was recorded by Herbert Halpert in Sloatsburg, New York. The name of the singer was Mort Montonyea.[12]

Folk song tradition

The song “Peggy Gordon” has been recorded by many artists. One of the first commercial recordings was by Canadian folk singer Alan Mills in 1959 on the album Canadian Folksong.[13] It was recorded by Charles Jordan on the 9-LP set Canadian Folk songs, A Centennial Collection in 1966, issued in 1967.[14] [15] Also around this time it was recorded by Toronto folk singer Bonnie Dobson.[16]

The song was featured in the film The Proposition, sung by one of the Irish outlaws.

The Melvins’ cover of the song on their 2010 album, The Bride Screamed Murder, was described as "a serenely bizarre version of the Canadian folk song".[17]

Being a well-documented song and publicised by English Folk Dance and Song Society,[18] and Mainly Norfolk,[19] the song was recorded by Jon Boden and Oli Steadman for inclusion in their respective lists of daily folk songs "A Folk Song A Day"[20] and "365 Days Of Folk".[21]

Covers

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://library.efdss.org/cgi-bin/query.cgi?index_roud=on&cross=off&type=Song&access=off&op_9=or&field_9=&op_12=or&field_12=&op_13=or&field_13=&op_14=or&field_14=&op_15=or&field_15=&op_47=or&field_47=&op_16=or&field_16=&op_0=or&field_0=&op_17=or&field_17=&op_10=or&field_10=&op_11=or&field_11=&op_18=or&field_18=&op_19=or&field_19=&op_20=or&field_20=&op_21=or&field_21=&op_22=or&field_22=&op_23=or&field_23=&op_24=or&field_24=&op_5=or&field_5=&op_25=or&field_25=&op_26=or&field_26=&fieldshow=single&op=or&query=2280&field=all&output=Record&length=5&submit=Submit+query Roud Index
  2. Folkways FE 4307 (Maritime Folk Songs) by Grace Clergy from East Petpeswick, Nova Scotia, Canada. July 1951
  3. Edith Fowke Collection, Singer: Gooley, Bill, collected in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, July 1957
  4. Creighton & Senior, Traditional Songs of Nova Scotia pp.193-195
  5. Helen Creighton's Maritime Folk Songs, pp.74-75, "As sung by Dennis F. Murphy, the Irish Nightingale," Nova Scotia
  6. http://www.justanothertune.com/html/wateriswide.html "The Water Is Wide"The History Of A "Folksong"
  7. Ludlow, Fitz-Hugh: The Primpenny Family, Chapter VI [p. 73], Vanity Fair. Volume 3, 1861
  8. Ludlow, Fitz-Hugh: The Primpenny Family, Chapter VI [p. 75]
  9. https://www.loc.gov/item/sm1880.01560 Sweet Maggie Gordon
  10. New York Herald, Nov. 9, 1884
  11. http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/song-midis/Peggy_Gordon.htm Peggy Gordon
  12. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.afc.afc9999005.10746/default.html Sweet Peggy Gordon / Mort Montonyea [sound recording]
  13. http://www.folktrax-archive.org/menus/cassprogs/905.htm Les Raftsmen - Canadian Folksong FTX-905
  14. Encyclopedia: Hoover . Lynne . Betty Nygaard . King . Alan Mills . . 4 March 2015 . . online .
  15. Web site: Canadian folk songs : a centennial collection, disc 5 . University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . www.worldcat.org . 1967 . Chansons folkloriques du Canada: collection du centenaire . 22 May 2012 .
  16. http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,7671533,00.html Bonnie Dobson - Vive La Canadienne (2010 re-issue)
  17. Web site: The Melvins Don't Give a Fuck About Chickens. Moorman, Trent . The Stranger.com . 10 May 2011 . Buzz Osborne Talks Hair Care, Vegetarians, Abortion, and Earthquakes. 22 May 2012.
  18. Web site: Peggy Gordon (Roud index 2280). 10 January 2024.
  19. Web site: Peggy Gordon. 9 January 2024.
  20. Web site: A Folk Song A Day: Song List. 10 January 2024.
  21. Web site: 365 Days Of Folk: Song List. 10 January 2024.

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