{"id":13071,"date":"2021-10-19T13:54:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T13:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=13071"},"modified":"2023-06-30T06:14:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T06:14:49","slug":"on-the-banks-of-the-beautiful-severn","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/on-the-banks-of-the-beautiful-severn\/","title":{"rendered":"On the banks of the beautiful Severn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Banks of the beautiful Severn<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1875<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

Writer\/composer<\/td>Sam Bagnall<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN23321<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

\n
Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Sam Bagnall, JH Milburn<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Unknown gypsy singers; south-east England; 1880s<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
[From  Sprake and Palmer Sheet Music, c1875 S&P105, Personal Copy]\n\nOn the banks of the beautiful Severn<\/strong>\nWritten, Composed and Sung with great success by Sam Bagnall. \nSung also by JH Milburn\n\nOn the banks of the beautiful Severn\nOne evening that's long since gone by. \nWe stray'd till the clock struck eleven,\nMy own little Annie and I.\nHer cheeks wore a blush like the roses.\nHer breath like the hay newly mown,\nHer eyes sparkled bright like the dew that reposes\nIn crystal like drops on the foliage clad thorn\n\nOn the banks of the beautiful Severn.\nOne evening that's long since gone by. \nWe stray'd till the clock struck eleven,\nMy own little Annie and I.<\/em>\n\nWe stray'd hand in hand together.\nOur hearts beating high with true love,\nWe gaz'd on the stars as they twinkled.\nAnd peep'd from their blue 'vaults above. \nShe talk'd of the days of her childhood,\nWhen gathering flow'rs o'er the lea,\nAnd clapped her sweet hands as she nestl'd up to me.\nAnd whisper'd my dearest \"Do you love me?\"\n\nWe soon reached the door of her cottage, \nWhere granny was waiting to see,\nThe face of her own little darling.\nThat was dearer than life unto me.\nWe stood at the gate for a moment\nTill granny cried, \"Fiddle de dee.\"\nShe teased me, she squeezed me, and pressed me so tight,\nShe kiss'd me and wish'd me a very good night.\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n
On the banks of the beautiful Severn<\/em> was written and composed by\u00a0Sam Bagnall<\/a> and seems to have first officially been published as sheet music in 1875 by Sprake and Palmer of Islington Green, London. In 1877 the song was named in a complex copyright court case in which Sprake and Palmer claimed that William Sutton had infringed their rights by publishing the words of four songs that they owned. During the case a different publisher, William Fortey, gave evidence that he had already published the song as early as 1870. Fortey was a printer of cheap street literature and it’s likely he would have published the song as a broadside containing only the words. Fortey seems to have bought the song in exchange for “two glasses of pale ale” – which tells you something about how much value was placed on the song writers art!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mar. 18, 1877;  <\/strong>The Era <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Sprake and Palmer won their case, but subsequently the song seems to have been published by Howard and Co, with the stipulation that it could be “sung in public without fee or licence”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Dec. 16, 1877;  <\/strong>The Era <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The sheet music suggests the song was associated with the singing of Sam Bagnall and JH Milburn in the Halls, but contemporary reports suggest it was also sung by a wide range of other singers in the late 1870s. The tune was also arranged as a waltz which was popular with contemporary military bands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pioneering ethnomusicologist Laura Alexandrine Smith (1861-1902) collected the song from gypsy singers at some point in 1880s, and was told it was particularly popular amongst the gypsies of south-east England. She gave no indication that she was aware of its origin, so it was listed amongst other traditional Anglo-gypsy songs.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n