Blue Bell

AKA Bluebell
Farewell my Blue Bell
First Published 1904
Writer/composer Edward Madden / Theodore Morse Roud RN11331

Music Hall Performers "everybody", Hamilton Hill
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Cox, Laura ; England : Norfolk 1905
Robbins, Miss Jewell ; USA : N. Carolina : c1921
Copper, Jim ; England : Sussex ; 1936
White, Newman I. ; USA : N. Carolina 1945
Browne, Mrs. Nola ; USA : Alabama : 1952
Weare, Henry W. ; USA : Arkansas : 1954
Everly, Mrs. Gladys ; USA : Missouri : 1958
Webb, Mrs. Walter ; Canada : Ontario : 1962
Sykes, Jack ; England : Yorkshire : Hull 1967
Baker, Arthur ; England : Hampshire : 1971
Beeforth, Jack ; England : Yorkshire : 1974
Pardon, Walter ; England : Norfolk : 1974
Bond, George ; Australia : New South Wales : 1982
Baxter, Bill ; Australia : New South Wales : 1983
Jones, Frank ; England : Birmingham 1984
Marks, Phillis ; USA : W. Virginia : 1998
Jacobs, Lillian ; USA : Vermont : no date		 

From Music hall Memories No 20:

Blue Bell, the dawn is waking, 
Sweetheart, you must not sigh,
Blue Bell, my heart is breaking, 
I've come to say good-bye;
Hear how the bugle is calling, 
Calling to each brave heart,
Sweetheart, your tears are falling, 
Blue Bell, we two must part.

Good-bye, my Blue Bell, farewell to you,
One last fond look into my eyes so blue;
'Mid camp fires gleaming, 'mid shot and shell,
I will be dreaming of my own Blue Bell.

Blue Bell, a wrong wants righting
Brave men must risk their lives ,
Foemen in arms are fighting,
Each for the victory strives,
There on the hillside lying,
There 'mid the guns loud roar,
Blue Bell your true love's dying
Calling for you once more

Blue Bell, they are returning, 
Each greets a sweetheart, true,
Blue Bell, your heart is yearning, 
Never a one greets you,
Sadly they tell the story, 
Tell how he fought and fell,
No tho't of fame or glory, 
Only of his Blue Bell.

A sentimental song whose performance rights were not owned by any particular singer, though the Australian baritone Hamilton Hill did a lot to popularise it in British and Australian Music Halls. It was a huge hit globally in the first decade of the 20th century, sung and/or recorded by dozens of artistes, including The Haydn Quartet, Henry Burr, Frank Stanley, Kathryn Miley, Nellie Nichols, Edward B Adams, Anna Driver and Madeline Clark.

It was originally written in response to the short-lived Spanish- American war of 1898, and like Break the News to Mother was revived in later conflicts. Most sources state the song was first published 6 years after the conflict, in 1904.(Kilgarriff gives a publication date of 1898, but I have not found any corroboration for this earlier date.)

It was recorded by Al Hopkins and his Buckle Busters in the late 1920s

The song’s popularity in English-speaking countries is reflected in the fact that it has been found in the repertoire of traditional singers from England, Australia, Canada and America.

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