Does thy heart beat true to me

Does thy Heart Beat True to me.
[UK sheet music published by TP Rogers, Sheffield]

Does thy heart beat true to me my love,
I said when last we met,
Her eyes shone like the stars above;
Me thinks I see them yet,
Her bosom heaved a tender sigh,
She said where e'er I be,
Remember love until I die,
My heart bears true to me.

In the silent night, when the moon shines bright,       
And I am far upon the sea,
I'll ask thee love by the stars above,
Does thy heart beat true to me,

Does thy heart beat true to me my love,
For now we're going to part,
And whilst the ocean wide I rove,
Have I thy loving heart,
Remember dear when I'm not here,
Thy fancy will be free,
And I shall say when far away.
Does thy heart beat true to me

Does thy heart beat true to me my love,
I'll ask when growing old,
And will it then be treasure trove,
When age his wrinkles fold,
When hair is white and eyes less bright
And all things changed you see,
Remember, it I'll ask again,
Does thy heart beat true to me,

A song which seems to have first been performed in Britain in the late 1870s – very quickly exported to the US from whence it returned as a blackface minstrel song ..

The romantic love-song Does thy heart beat true to me? was written and composed by the musical comic and later circus jester Harry Dale in the late 1870s. Here’s a notice from Dale warning off a competitor:

There are reports of it being sung in 1880/81 by a number of female performers including Nelly Farrell, Maude Beverley, Maggie Spires, Florence Hayes, and Clara Nisbett.

The best known of these Music Hall performers was Nelly Farrell, reviewed here singing it at The Middlesex in 1881:

The song seems to have been popular on both sides of the Atlantic, though American editions of the sheet music credit Thomas Maxwell as writer and composer. From around 1882 it was advertised as a feature of The Mohawk Minstrels and The Christy Minstrels repertoire, appearing in Sheard’s 1883 Annual of Christy Minstrel Songs and Ballads.

Sources:

• Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A12961
• Ballad Index
• Lyrics: National Library of Scotland: English Ballads. See also Wehman’s Collection of songs
• UK Sheet Music: mediated copying from OLO
• US Sheet Music: Levy Collection . Dated 1881 credited as “written and composed by Thomas Maxwell”. Also at Library of Congress
• Australian Sheet Music: Trove. Dated 1888, credited as “Sung by Christy Minstrels. Written and composed by Thomas Maxwell.”
• see also MACKNEY’S SIXPENNY BANJO TUTOR.

Last Updated on April 24, 2024 by John Baxter | Published: April 10, 2024