Roll on Silver Moon

AKA The silver moon
Sweet silver-light bonny moon
First Published c1825
Writer/composer Charles Sloman? Roud RN906

Music Hall Performers Jennie Hughes
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Baker, Mrs. England : Somerset; 1906
Baldey, Benjamin England : Sussex; 1905
Barbour, Mr. England : Somerset ; 1905
Byrne, Packie Manus N. Ireland : Donegal 1974
Cook, Henry England : Gloucestershire ;
Cronin, Elizabeth Ireland : Co. Cork ;
Davis, Vol USA : Arkansas ; 1964
Dingle, John England : Devon ; 1894
Dowden, George England : Dorset 1905
English, John Joe Canada : Newfoundland 1976
Franklin, Edward England : Buckinghamshire 1907
Glover, Mrs. England : Somerset 1905
Hahn, Muss Grace USA : Arkansas 1941
Hillard, Mrs. Marie USA : New Hampshire 1942
Ingenthron, Charles USA : Missouri 1941
O Connell, John Ireland : Co. Cork
O’Hara, Mrs. Elizabeth N. Ireland 1969
Pronger, Mrs. Fanny England : Sussex 1960
Reardon, Ambrose Canada : Newfoundland 1968
Reilly, Miss Ireland : Co. Cavan : Lismagiril c1937
Watson, George P. USA 1906
Westaway, H. England : Devon 1889		 

This version from a broadside at Bodleian Ballads pub 1813-1832

As I went to my cot, at the close of the day,
About the beginning of June,
By a jessamine shade, I spy'd a fair maid,
And she sadly complain'd to the moon.
Roll on silver moon, guide the traveller's way,
(While the nightingale's song is in tune,)
But never again with my lover I'll stray,
By thy sweet silver light, Bonny Moon.

At the hart on the mountain my lover was brave;
So handsome, so manly, and clever,
so Lind and sincere, and he lov'd me so \ill\ar?
O Edwin, thy equal was never !
But now he is dead, and gone to his death-bed.
Cut down like a rose in full bloom ;
He has fallen asleep, and poor Jane's left to weep,
By thy sweet silver light, Bonny Moon.

His grave I will seek, and 'till morning appears,
I'll weep for my lover so brave;
I'll embrace the cold turf and I'll wash with my tears
The daizies that bloom on his grave.
O never again shall my bosom know joy,
With my Edwin I trust to be soon - 
And lovers shall weep, o'er the spot where we sleep
By thy sweet silver light, Bonny Moon.

A popular, early drawing room ballad – possibly written by Charles Sloman (1808-1870) a performer and songwriter who influenced the development of the early music Hall in Britain. I can find no evidence that this song was widely sung in the Halls,but I’m including it as an example of the variety of material the early song writers like Sloman might have produced.

Many modern sources credit the pioneering female composer Jane Sloman (1824-?) with writing the song. Sadly she was born in 1824, which makes it extremely unlikely she did write it, as we can be relatively certain that it was first published between 1813 and 1832 ( some sources suggest 1825). This may be a result of simple confusion, as some mid 19th-century sheet music just credited “Sloman”. However, it is possible that Jane Sloman wrote or arranged new music for words which had been around awhile.

It was widely performed throughout the 19th century. It appeared in the repertoire of Jennie Hughes, an American burlesque actress and vaudeville comic who performed widely in America in the 1870s.

An early recording: WARNING! EXTREME YODELLING!

Sources: