AKA | Valley of Switzerland |
First Published | 1907 |
Writer/composer | Charles Wilmott / Herman Darewski | Roud | RN16708 |
Music Hall Performers | Annie Purcell |
Folk performances | Source Singers Holman, Harry 1960 England : Sussex Green, Charles 1971 England : Sheffield Modern performances |
In a sweet little verdant valley with the mountains high above Looking down with snowy splendour lives the little girl I love Just a simple Switzer maiden but so sweet and so divine But my heart is ever yearning for the day when she'll be mine. In the valleys of Switzerland, Switzerland, Switzerland With my sweetheart hand in hand how I long to be I know she will be waiting there, waiting there, waiting there And the home with me she'll share, in the valleys of Switzerland. In her eyes the tears were shining on the day I said good-bye Leaving home and love fortunes in a far off land to try I can see her sad and lonely as that parting she recalls Of her absent love dreaming when the twilight softly falls. But a golden day is dawning. Home again I soon shall go Where the snow lies on the mountains, but the hearts beat warm below I shall feel those tender kisses that I've yearned so oft in vain With my loving arms around her, never more to part again.
Sung in the Halls by Annie Purcell (?-1932). The earliest records I can find of Annie Purcell appearing on stage are in 1880 when she appeared as a seriocomic and solo violinist in “provincial” Halls, like the Alexandra and Lord Nelson in Barnsley. By 1900 she was regularly appearing in the London Halls, where she had a huge hit with By The Side of the Zuyder Zee.
You can hear Harry Hollman singing it on the Sussex traditions website here
Sources:
- VWML entry
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- WorldCat
Last Updated on November 23, 2020 by John Baxter | Published: November 23, 2020