{"id":4355,"date":"2020-07-19T16:38:27","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T16:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=4355"},"modified":"2025-12-09T08:04:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T08:04:38","slug":"blind-boy-the","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/blind-boy-the\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind Boy, The"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td> 1871<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lyrics<\/strong><\/td>R.Lee<\/td>Music<\/strong><\/td>GW Moore<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN24512<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>GH Chirgwin 1880s-1919<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Source Singers<\/strong>
Ernie? 1960, Sussex England
unknown male, 1950 \u2013 69, Worcestershire England
Frank Hinchcliffe, 1970, Yorkshire England
Stanley Marsden, 1972 Yorkshire England<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I am but a poor blind boy\nStill my heart is full of joy\nThough I never saw the light\nOr the flowers they call so bright\nI can hear the sweet bird sing\nAnd the wild bee on the wing\nBird and bee and summer wind\nSing to me because I'm blind.\n\nThey love me, yes they love me\nAnd to me they are so kind\nThey love me, yes they love me.\nBecause I am blind.<\/em>\n\nWith my fingers I can trace\nEvery line on Mother's face\nOft her smile upon me beams\nI can see it in my dreams\nFather takes me on his knee\nBrothers Oh so kind to me\nSister's arms around me twinned\nKisses me because I'm blind.\n\nThis morning as in bed I lay\nMother softly came to pray\nSaid for me such pretty prayers\nAnd I felt her holy tears\nFalling gently down on me\nAnd she kissed me, so you see\nEvery one to me is kind\nAnd they love me for I'm blind.<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
It may seem strange looking back at Victorian entertainment, that the blackface minstrel troupes were far more respectable than the Halls. Queen Victoria regularly attended these entertainments in which white performers would cover their faces with burnt cork and mimic what they thought of as the comic antics of black people. Within such entertainments, as well as broad comedy there would always be a tear-jerking sad song or two. This schmaltzy number was originally written for the Moore and Burgess minstrels, though  it was later adopted by GH Chirgwin a blackface comedian who performed on the Music Hall stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A number of folk songs were originally written for minstrel shows, and that might be a suitable subject for a different website. That said, even limiting the discussion to the scope of this site, there are a significant number of folksongs which come from the minstrels via the Halls, another famous example would be Buttercup Joe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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George H Chirgwin (1854-1924) first appeared in a minstrel troupe at the age of six years old. Blacked-up white performers were a regular feature of musical entertainment until the late 20th century. Chirgwin sported a blackface with a white diamond shape around one eye, and was promoted as “The White-eyed Kaffir”. He was known for singing in a high falsetto voice, and pun laden humour which he supplemented with a number of tear-jerking songs including this one, and My Fiddle is My Sweetheart<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Blind Boy <\/em>has been found in the repertoire of late 20th-century source singers in Yorkshire and Sussex, and it’s included in a list of “old songs” collated from the readers of a Canadian newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recording or download of this song can be purchased from Windyridge CDs.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n