{"id":11954,"date":"2021-08-08T05:32:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-08T05:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=11954"},"modified":"2021-08-20T08:08:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T08:08:50","slug":"shed-a-black-and-rolling-eye-railway-version","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/shed-a-black-and-rolling-eye-railway-version\/","title":{"rendered":"She’d a black and rolling eye (railway version)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Left holding the baby<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1863<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer\/composer<\/td>George Ware<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN3561<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>EW Mackney<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Botting, Bill (Corn); England : Sussex : c1968 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
From Mackney's Organ Grinder Songster (1865)\n\nShe'd a Black And a Rolling Eye<\/strong>.\n\nMusic and words published and sold by L'Enfant and Hodgkins, 18 Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, London\n\n\nKind friends, just listen for a while, a few words to you I'll say,\nOf what happened to me when travelling by rail t'other day;\nI got into a carriage with a lady dress'd so slap,\nShe was nursing of an infant that was crying out for pap.\n\nSpoken - <\/em>Yes, she was a charming creature, for she had such \u2013\n\nA black and rolling eye, <\/em>\nShe wore a new poke bonnet,\nA nice little young thing, <\/em>\nAnd just the one to woo.<\/em>\n\nI said, \"What a handsome baby,\" and the lady only smil'd;\nI said, 'twould make a man feel proud to be the father of such a child.\nI said, are you it's ma-ma?\nShe said, can't you the likeness see?\nAnd as she spoke she gave a look and roll'd her eye at me.\n\nSpoken - <\/em> Yes, I never shall forget that look; you can imagine a loving look from such an angel with \u2013\n\nWhen we got near a station the lady said to me,\nWould you have any objection to take this baby on your knee\nI have to get out at this station just to speak a word to a friend,\nI said I would, with pleasure, and down the stairs she did descend.\n\nSpoken - <\/em>And as she did, she gave me another loving look with \u2013\n\nIn less than half a minute, the train was off again,\nI looked and called for the lady, but call I did in vain,\nWe got to another station, when to the porter I did shout,\nI say, be quick and open the door, and let me at the baby out.\n\nSpoken - <\/em> And the first thing I did was to look about the carriages, but no mother for the baby could I find, so the guard said, you had better go to the stationmaster and inform him of the circumstance; I did, and the stationmaster said, just give me the description of the lady,so I told him \u2013\n\nA mob soon came round me to hear what I had to say,\nSome said it was a cruel thing for the mother to run away,\nSome said it was only done for a lark, others 'twas a mistake,\nAnd another one suggested I should buy the child some cake.\n\nSpoken - <\/em>Now, in my opinion, I had cake enough already, and hardbake as well, when one of the crowd said, what sort of lady was she? so I told him \u2013\n\nSo now I've told you all my case I hope you'll bear in mind\nThe description of this lady and help me try to find\nThe mother of the infant, and gents a warning take by me,\nAnd never let mothers out of sight when their<\/em> baby is on your knee.\n\n[Spoken] - Yes, gentlemen, don't be too obliging in railway trains. Altho' it's very nice to be a guardian for a short time, especially when a pretty girl solicits your protection, but be careful you're made a Foundling as I was by \u2013\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The idea that a woman with a black and rolling eye <\/em>might be particularly attractive goes back at least to the early 18th century. It features in an anonymous fragment of verse from 1750 (the spelling has been modernised):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pretty Miss, 
Come and kiss 
With your black and rolling eye. 
O that lip 
Let me sip
Or with anguish I shall die<\/p>The Merry Companion (1750)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The phrase appears in several folksongs, including the song most often known as Seventeen Come Sunday<\/em> <\/a>(RN277)  –  Steve Gardham  suggests that the earliest version of that song we can find dates to 1795 (Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https:\/\/archives.vwml.org\/search\/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]\/0_50\/all\/score_desc\/extended-roudNo_tr%3A3561<\/a>). Several songs have at times been referred to as She had a black and rolling eye<\/em>, or something very similar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n