{"id":6221,"date":"2020-10-29T12:17:39","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T12:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=6221"},"modified":"2024-06-16T09:46:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T09:46:30","slug":"charming-young-widow-the-i-live-in-north-wales","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/charming-young-widow-the-i-live-in-north-wales\/","title":{"rendered":"Charming Young Widow I met on the train, The"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>The Charming Young Widow
I Live in North Wales<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1865<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

Writer\/composer<\/td>W.H.Cove<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN3754<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

\n
Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>William Randall<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Source Singers<\/strong>
Woods, Anna 1928 USA : Pennsylvania
Barbee, Fred 1933 USA : Missouri
Kennison, J.C. 1939 USA : Vermont
Fish, Lena Bourne 1940 \/41 USA : New Hampshire
Moody, Lewis Winfield 1940 USA : Wisconsin
Lobdell, Hamilton 1941 USA : Wisconsin
Boutilier, Sydney 1950 Canada : Nova Scotia
Mathieson, Willie 1952 Scotland : Aberdeenshire
Kerr, Della 1953 USA : Arkansas
Collicott, Edward 1960 Canada : Nova Scotia
Pronger, Mrs. Fanny 1960 England : Sussex
Sellick, Edward 1962c Canada : Prince Edward Island
McClung, Tom 1978 N. Ireland : Co. Armagh
Carey, Michael 1978 Canada : Newfoundland <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
From UK Sheet music:

I live in North Wales and one morning last summer
A letter informed me my uncle was dead,
And also requested I'd come on to London,
As he'd left me a very large sum of money, it said.
Of course I determined of making the journey
And to book myself by the First Class I was fain;
Tho I had gone Third I had never encountered
The charming young Widow I meet in the train

Yes! Scarce was I seated within the compartment
Before a fresh passenger enter'd the door
Twas a female, a young one and dress'd in deep mourning
An infant in long clothes she gracefully bore,
A whitecap surrounded a face ... oh so lovely!
I never shall look on one like it again.
I fell deep in love, over head in a moment
With the charming young Widow I met in the train

The Widow and I side by side sat together
The carriage containing ourselves and no more;
When silence was broken by my fair companion
Who enquired the time by the watch that I wore;
I of course satisfied her, and then conversation
Was freely indulged in by both, till my brain
Fairly reeled with excitement, I grew so enchanted
With the charming young Widow I met in the train

We became so familiar I ventured to ask her
\"How old was the child that she held at her breast?\"
\"Ah sir\", she responded, and into tears bursting,
Her infant still closer convulsively pressed,
\"When I think of my child I am well nigh distracted
Its father, my husband, oh my heart breaks with pain.\"
She choking with sobs lean'd her head on my waistcoat,
Did the charming young Widow I met in the train

By this time the train had arrived at the station
Within a few miles of the great one in Town,
When, my charmer exclaimed as she looked through
the Window,
\"Good gracious alive! Why there goes Mr Brown,
He's my late husband's brother, Dear sir would you
kindly
My lost beloved child for a moment sustain?\"
Of course I complied, then off on the platform
Tripp'd the charming young Widow I met in the
train

Three minutes elapsed when the Guards whistle sounded,
The train began moving - no Widow appeared,
I bawled out \"Stop, stop!\" But they paid no attention,
With a snort and a jerk starting off, as I feared.
In this horrid dilemma, I sought for the hour?
But my watch - ha ! Where was it? Where - where
was my chain?
My purse too, my ticket, gold pencil-case - all gone!
Oh! that artful young Widow I met in the train.

While I was my loss thus deeply bewailing,
The train again stopped and I \"Tickets, please!\" heard;
So I told the Collector - while dandling the infant,
The loss I'd sustained, but be doubted my word;
He called more officials, a lot gathered round me,
Uncovered the child, oh! how shall I explain?
For behold, 'twas no baby, 'twas only a dummy!
Oh! that crafty young Widow I met in the train.

Satisfied I'd been robbed, they allow'd my departure,
The of course I had settle my fare the next day;
And I now wish to counsel young men from the country
Lest they should get served in a similar way;
Beware of young Widows you meet on the Railway,
Who lean on your shoulders, whose tears fall like rain
Look out for your pockets - in case you are familiar with
The charming young Widow I met in the train

Alternative version<\/strong>
Whilst in South Wales a letter was sent to me
From London, which bid me quickly repair
To an uncle; it stated: fast he was dying,
The wish had expressed to make me his heir.
So, hurriedly packing a few things together,
Wishing that London quickly might gain,
By a first-class express went; in the same carriage,
A charming young widow I met in the train.

An infant she had, so fondly caressing;
I ventured to ask: \"If that was her own?\"
She answered, in words appearing distressing:
\"Yes; and its Papa is dead and gone!\"
When the question I asked, in my face looking..
That look I shall ne'er be forgetting again!
In fact, fast my heart to herself was hooking,
Was the charming young widow I met in the train.
 
As the train it was stopping, the engine to water,
She asked, in a hurry: \"Would I be so kind
Her infant to take it, the darling so quiet?\"
\"Of course\" I replied, I didn't mind.
To the refreshment-room she went into.
The signal for starting I heard, but in vain,
Not a glimpse could I see of her; the train without started,
The charming young widow I met in the train.

Loud I was shouting, the train to be stopping,
Out of the window putting my head;
No answer receiving, the infant I took it,
Discovered, O horror! it was dead!
On its bosom was sewn a note: which on reading,
Found I was taken in, done for, quite plain:
It begged me bury the child for the sake of
The charming young woman I met in the train.
 
It was strange to myself that I was remarking
How quiet a child, not hearing a sound..
The sweet little creature asleep was, she told me;
Quite dead  in sleep..so, in truth, I found.
I took it, and buried the poor little creature,
Its age or its name I could not explain;
On a stone was inscribed: \"Underneath was bequeathed me
By a charming young Widow I met in the train\".<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n
A song from the Halls which appears widely in 19th century broadsides and songsters, and has firmly established itself in the repertoire of traditional singers on both sides of the Atlantic. It has been adapted to numerous localities by exchanging place names, but broadly exists in two versions. Both involve the deception of a gullible male: one involves a robbery, the other leaves him holding a dead baby. Both versions appear in print both in the British Isles and North America. It appears that the version with the robbery was the original – at least that was how it was published in around 1865<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some sources suggest it was written in the 1840s , but the earliest evidence of it I can find it in the 1860s when it was officially published and regularly performed in the Halls by William Randall <\/a>(1830-98). The writer, WH Cove (sometimes misspelled as Gove) is a bit of a mystery to me, his most famous songs are this one and The Matrimonial Swindle <\/em> – both were sung by Randall.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
London Evening Standard – Friday 20 January 1865<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
There is a US version of the sheet music in the University of Michigan library<\/a>, credited to Gove with an estimated publication date of 1860 – but this is an estimate not a firm date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hear Della Kerr sing it <\/a>from the Ozark Folksong collection, and Mrs Fanny Pronger on the Sussex Traditions site<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A version found on YouTube …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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