My Devon Girl

AKA Pretty girls in China
First Published 1918
Writer/composer Terry Sullivan / L Silberman & A Glock Roud RN10720

Music Hall Performers Little Emmie, Gertie Gitana
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Syer, Wallie ; England : Suffolk ; no date		 

From Sheet Music held in the British Library

I've seen pretty girls in China,
Courted ladies in Japan,
Kissed a girl in Carolina,
Cuddled one in Yucatan;
But I know a girl is sweeter, 
Never met a girl to beat her,
How I'm longing now to meet her,
I'm a very lucky man.

Way down in Devon, it's just like heaven,
In old  Clov-el-y I found a pearl,
In merry Springtime, that's wedding ring time
I'll marry Nelly, My Devon Girl.

When a fellow goes a-spooning,
Ev'ry kind of girl he'll see,
Thinks of going honeymooning,
And how jolly it would be;
I've seen girls of every nation,
Some have won my admiration,
But the sweetest in creation 
Is the girl who waits for me.

There's a cottage down in Devon, 
Where the sun will always shine,
It will be a spot in heaven,
With my little girl divine;
When the wedding bells are ringing ,
And the villagers are singing,
To that cottage home I'm bringing,
That Clov-el-y girl of mine.

A hit for former child performer Little Emmie in Blackpool in the summer of 1918, the song was later associated with another former child star  Gertie Gitana. Newspaper reports suggest the song was very popular for a relatively short period – it was widely sung by amateur singers for two or three years 1918-21, but reports then cease.

You can hear Wallie Syer sing a variant known as  Pretty Girls in China on the Veteran Recording’s  collection Comic Songs Sung In Suffolk, which is available by following the links at https://veteran.co.uk/.

Sources:

  • Kilgarrif Sing Us
  • Lyrics and Sheet Music: British Library: Silbermann, L, and Ad Grock. “My Devon Girl.” 1918.
  • Info about the songwriters: Adam Ramet The Edwardian Pianist