{"id":28380,"date":"2025-10-08T06:56:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T06:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=28380"},"modified":"2025-10-08T06:56:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T06:56:36","slug":"my-devon-girl","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/my-devon-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"My Devon Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Pretty girls in China<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1918<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Terry Sullivan \/ L Silberman & A Glock<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN10720<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Little Emmie, Gertie Gitana<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Syer, Wallie ; England : Suffolk ; no date<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From Sheet Music held in the British Library<\/strong>

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.<\/em>

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.<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A hit for former child performer Little Emmie<\/em> in Blackpool in the summer of 1918, the song was later associated with another former child star \u00a0Gertie Gitana<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can hear Wallie Syer sing a variant known as \u00a0Pretty Girls in China<\/em> on the Veteran Recording\u2019s\u00a0 collection Comic Songs Sung In Suffolk<\/em>, which is available by following the links at\u00a0https:\/\/veteran.co.uk\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n