{"id":13901,"date":"2021-12-16T11:29:29","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T11:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=13901"},"modified":"2021-12-16T11:39:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T11:39:45","slug":"she-left-the-man-who-loved-her-for-another","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/she-left-the-man-who-loved-her-for-another\/","title":{"rendered":"She left the man who loved her for another"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>She left the man she loved<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1892<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>George Bruce \/ Felix McGlennon<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN17403<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>unknown<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Caldwell, Mary Frances; USA : Arkansas; 1962<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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SHE LEFT THE MAN WHO LOVED HER FOR ANOTHER.\nCopyright, 1892, by Frank Tousey.\nWords and Music by George Bruce and Felix McGlennon.\n\nIn a little country village\nLived a farmer and his wife,\nShe was young and rich with beauty,\nSunshine of her husband's life;\nBut the snake crept in his Eden,\nIn the guise of trusted friend,\nAnd the dreams fond love had cherished,\nCame they to a fatal end.\nOne night, when he reached his homestead,\nHis fond heart, was turned to stone-\nShe the wife he loved so dearly,\nWith his dearest friend had flown.\n\nShe left the man who loved her for another,\nShe who was the sunshine of his life;\nHer vows of faith and duty she'd forgotten,\nBroke the link that made them man and wife.<\/em>\n\nIn a handsome furnished chamber\nStand betrayer and betrayed;\nBe is scornful, she is pleading:\nAh, what havoc time has made!\nShe is white-faced, trembling, hopeless,\nAnd she feels dishonor's shame;\nFor the man who stands before her\nShe has ruined a husband's name.\nHe, grown weary of his victim,\nSays, \"'Tis better we should part.\"\nIn his soul there is no pity\nFor her crushed and breaking heart.\n\nIn the streets of a great city\nOne cold, bitter winter's night\nOn a door-step lies a woman,\n'Round her fall the snow-flakes white;\nBy her side a man is kneeling,\n\"Mary,\" is his bitter cry,\n\"You for months I have been seeking.\nNow I've found you, do not die.\"\nHear her pleading for forgiveness\nAs he clasps her to his breast;\nJust one kiss, one murmured \"good bye!\"\nAnd her soul in death finds rest.<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A song collected by John Quincy Wolfe from the singing of Mary Frances Caldwell in Arkansas in 1962 – you can hear it in the Wolf Folklore Collection of Ozark Songs<\/a> ..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was originally written by George Bruce with music by the prolific Music Hall composer Felix McGlennon<\/a>, though I can’t find any evidence that this song was performed in the British Halls. The sheet music was advertised in American publications and the lyrics were printed there in the relatively cheap song book Wehman’s Collection No. 40, in 1893. Despite this, it’s almost certainly a song written on this side of the Atlantic, as both Bruce and McGlennon were actively writing songs for the British Halls at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George Bruce was the name of a comedian and lyricist who appeared in the Halls of the 1890s. He was almost certainly the same George Bruce who appeared as a comic actor on the Scottish stage in the 1880s and who wrote the words for a number of songs of the 1890s including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n