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Peggy Gordon

[ Roud 2280 ; Ballad Index Gil127 ; trad.]

Peggy Gordon seems to be of Canadian origin; nearly all versions listed by Roud are from Nova Scotia, most prominently from the Helen Creighton collection.

Robin and Barry Dransfield sang Peggy Gordon in 1977 on their Free Reed album Popular to Contrary Belief. Like most of the tracks from that album, it was included in 1997 on their anthology Up to Now.

Jon Boden and Lucy Farrell sang Peggy Gordon as the January 9, 2011 entry of Jon's project A Folk Song a Day.

Lyrics

Robin and Barry Dransfield sing Peggy Gordon

Oh Peggy Gordon, you are my darling,
Come sit ye down, love, upon my knee
Come tell to me the very reason
Why I am slighted so by thee.

I wish I was faraway in Ingol,
Far away across the briny sea,
Sailing over the stormy ocean
With love nor care never bothering me.

I put my head to a cask of brandy,
It was my fancy, I do declare.
For when I'm drinking, I'm always thinking,
And wishing that Peggy Gordon was there.

Oh, I'll go down to some lonesome valley
Where no man on earth shall there me find,
Where the pretty little small birds do range their voices
And every moment blows blusterous wind.

(repeat first verse)

Jon Boden and Lucy Farrell sing Peggy Gordon

Oh Peggy Gordon, you are my darling,
Come sit you down here on my knee
And tell to me the very reason
Why I am slighted so by thee.

I am so in love, I can't deny it,
My heart lies broken in my breast.
But it's not for you to let the world know it,
A troubled mind can know no rest.

I turned my head to a glass of brandy,
It was my fancy, I do declare,
For when I'm drinking, I'm seldom thinking,
And wishing Peggy Gordon was there.

I wish I was in a lonely valley
Where womankind can not be found,
And the pretty birds all change their voices
Every moment to a different sound.

Links

See also the Mudcat Café thread Origins: Peggy Gordon with a much longer version comprising ten verses.