I traced her little footmarks in the snow

AKA I traced her little footprints…
Footmarks in the snow
First Published 1876
Writer/composer Harry Wright Roud RN2660

Music Hall Performers Jolly Little Lewis, Nellie Gannon
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Clark, Mr.; England : Oxfordshire : 1914-1918
Coleman, Bernice; USA : W. Virginia 1931
Wade, Charles; USA : Vermont : 1934
Ford, Bogue; USA : California : 1939
Kincaid, Bradley; USA : Kentucky 1944
Lyons, Mabel Arnold; USA : Rhode Island :1945
Morris, Neal USA : Arkansas : 1959
Howard, Clint; USA : N. Carolina 1960
Belton, George England : West Sussex : 1960s
Devereux, Jack; Ireland : Co. Wexford : 1967
Gilbert, Ollie; USA : Arkansas : 1969
Hinchliffe, Frank; England : Yorkshire : 1970
Belton, George; England : West Sussex : 1971
Pardon, Walter; England : Norfolk : 1980
Rowe, Cliff; England : Somerset : Taunton 1984
Modern performances
Bill Monroe and many other Bluegrass artists

Some lovers like the summer time when they can stroll about
Spooning in the meadows may be grand without a doubt
But give me the winter time, for the girl I have made mine
Was captured while the snow was on the ground.

I traced her little footmarks in the snow,
I traced her little footmarks in the snow.
I bless that winter’s day when Nelly lost her way
And I traced her little footmarks in the snow.

I called to see the girl I love one winter’s afternoon,
That she had gone out walking they informed me very soon,
They said she’d strolled away, but where they could not say,
So I started off to find her in the snow.

I saw her little footprint just outside the cottage door,
I traced it down a country lane, I traced it to the moor,
I found she’d lost her way, there she stood in blank dismay,
Not knowing where to steer for in the snow.

I called her, she saw me, and as we were walking home,
She promised me that never more without me would she roam,
I’m happy now for life, for her I’ve made my wife,
Whose footmarks I traced plainly in the snow.

A hit in the Halls of the late 1870s for both ‘Jolly Little’ Lewis and Nellie Gannon, wife of Harry Wright who wrote and composed the song. As you can see from the message below, Wright and Gannon were keen to warn off anyone singing it without permission. It was later the subject of court action, but it was still widely pirated in street literature and songsters in both the UK and USA.

It has been collected from traditional singers on both sides of the Atlantic, but is particularly popular as a bluegrass standard…

Sunday,  May 21, 1876; The Era 

Not to be confused with a song from the 20th century Halls: Follow the footprints in the snow (RNV47057), first line: Bell’s were gaily ringing out 12 o’clock at night; published in 1912, written and composed by CW Murphy and Worton David – a different song…

Here’s a fine bluegrass version:

Sources: