{"id":29491,"date":"2026-03-16T16:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=29491"},"modified":"2026-03-22T10:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T10:21:16","slug":"nelly-ray-i-love-a-little-country-queen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/nelly-ray-i-love-a-little-country-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"Nelly Ray (I love a little country queen)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Nellie Ray
Nelly Wray
Nellie Rae
Little Nelly Ray<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1870<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

Writer\/composer<\/td>unknown probably Westbrook<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN12610<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

\n
Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Tom Bournley, Gus Westbrook<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Bavey, Dorothy ; England : Yorkshire : 1969
Deal, Edward Canada : Nova Scotia : 1950
Godfrey, Michael; Ireland : Co. Kerry : 1980
Green, Charles ; England : Yorkshire : 1971
Phillips, Mrs. G. England : Bedfordshire : Northill 1964 Scott, Harry ; England : Bedfordshire : 1950 -1969
Snell, Charles ; England : Devon : 1904
Wilson, John David ; Canada : Nova Scotia : 1953
Woodhouse, Charles ; England : Hampshire ; no date<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Nelly Ray<\/strong>

I love a little country queen, a village beauty rare,
With rosy cheeks, white pearly teeth and lovely nut-brown hair;
Her waist is so slender, and her feet they are so small,
Of all the girls I ever loved, my Nelly beats them all.

Nelly Ray, Nelly Ray, charming little Nell,
Nelly Ray like birds in May, singing all the day,
Nelly Ray, Nelly Ray, pretty little girl;
I never had a sweetheart like my little Nelly Ray.<\/em>

Her father is a farmer in a village down in Kent,
And being on my holidays, to spend them there I went,
One day while strolling out up to the farm house I did 
And there I first saw Nelly, as she drove the cattle home.

I took my Nelly for a walk among the bright green grass,
And words of love I whisper'd then to this sweet country lass;
I sat her down upon a bank, and then sat by her side,
And while my arm was round her waist, she pledged to be my bride.

And now I've named the wedding day and happy we shall be,
No thought of jealousy will cross the mind of her or me ;
But in our little- farmhouse we'll be happy night and day.
Our lives will pass like sunshine, for I've got the brightest ray.

.
https:\/\/digital.nls.uk\/broadsides\/view\/?id=15000&criteria=%22country%20queen%22
<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n
Surviving broadsides , songsters and contemporary newspaper reports suggest the song was first sung in 1870 and in that year performed by three different Music Hall comics: Tom Bournley, Gus Westbrook and possibly Edward Wilding. Westbrook seems to have  regularly appeared on the same bills  as Bournley and Wilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of a number of 19th century songs with the title Nelly Ray<\/em> or similar. I have spent some time investigating them and on balance I suspect that this particular song was written by Gus Westbrook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not to be confused with these songs, mostly associated with blackface minstrel performers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n