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male slave in
Kentucky whose sweetheart has been taken away by slave-owners. The man mourns his beloved, who has been sold South to Georgia (where the slave’s life was conventionally regarded as harsher). He eventually dies and joins her in heaven. The song became popular in the years preceding the
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in 1856 and was inspired by the Hanby family’s encounter with Joseph Selby, a runaway slave from
Kentucky who died at the Hanby home in Rushville after relating the moving story of his escape to freedom and having to leave behind his lost love. Benjamin Hanby's father, Bishop William Hanby, a
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Price, Jeremy (2010). ""From Nelly Ray to Maggie May": Re-enacting the Past on the
Streets of Liverpool'". In Barrow, Logie (ed.).
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Cat. #1097 (MFH #764) - As sung by Ollie
Gilbert, Mountain View, Arkansas on June 9, 1970
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The melody of
Darling Nelly Gray is the (nearly identical) basis for the melody of
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Cat. #1440 (MFH #764) - As sung by Otis
Williams, Wesley, Arkansas. (Fall), 1967
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Keeping the Lid on: Urban
Eruptions and Social Control since the 19th Century
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Michael
Corcoran's Texas Top 50", Lonestar Music Magazine, 29 July 2016
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When the moon had climbed the mountain and the stars were shining too.
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Civil War and helped promote support for the abolitionist cause.
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Note: user must type "Corcoran's top 50 into website search line.
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One night I went to see her, but "She's gone!" the neighbors say.
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65:" is a 19th century anti-slavery ballad written and composed by
360:. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 82–3.
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Text and RealAudio for versions collected in the field by
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They have taken her to
Georgia for to wear her life away,
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I'm a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way,
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My eyes shall look downward, and my song shall be unsung
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Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,
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Oh! I hear the angels calling, and I see my Nelly Gray.
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There's a low, green valley, on the old
Kentucky shore.
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recorded the song for Vocalion on October 22, 1937 and
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in 1856. It is written as from the point of view of an
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My eyes are getting blinded, and I cannot see my way.
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And we'd float down the river in my little red canoe,
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I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.
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was popular in 1937 reaching the charts of the day.
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My canoe is under water, and my banjo is unstrung;
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A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,
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383:"The Commonwealth of Toil (Ralph Chaplin) (1910s)"
193:Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,
161:recorded it for Decca Records on April 25, 1938.
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415:. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.
247:That they'll never take you from me any more.
235:Hark! there's somebody knocking at the door.
199:For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.
335:"Benjamin Hanby and His Anti-Slavery Song"
102:The relationship to the English folk song
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219:As she toils in the cotton and the cane.
183:Where I've whiled many happy hours away,
82:Hanby composed the song while attending
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229:While I stay on the old Kentucky shore.
215:The white man bound her with his chain;
195:And I'll never see my darling any more;
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411:Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954
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251:Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!
209:While my banjo sweetly I would play.
205:Then I'd take my darling Nelly Gray,
57:Darling Nelly Gray by Benjamin Hanby
441:"The Online Discographical Project"
239:Farewell to the old Kentucky shore.
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187:Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.
109:The tune was subsequently used by
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123:Keep yor feet still Geordie hinny
37:"My Darling Nelly Gray", sung by
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567:Songs written by Benjamin Hanby
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132:Industrial Workers of the World
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313:"The Civil War in Sheet Music"
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281:Darling Nelly Gray, page three
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225:I'm tired of living any more;
337:. Westerville Public Library
269:Darling Nelly Gray, page two
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472:. International Club Crosby
466:"A Bing Crosby Discography"
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315:. Ohio History Connection
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140:The Commonwealth of Toil
407:Whitburn, Joel (1986).
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97:Underground Railroad
84:Otterbein University
562:American folk songs
387:www.folkarchive.de
293:Passamezzo moderno
151:The Mills Brothers
63:Darling Nelly Gray
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27:American folk song
18:Darling Nelly Gray
445:78discography.com
381:Manfred H (ed.).
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159:Bing Crosby
128:trade union
39:J. W. Myers
572:1856 songs
556:Categories
534:Max Hunter
166:Faded Love
118:Joe Wilson
114:music hall
104:Maggie May
170:Bob Wills
138:, to set
476:July 26,
450:July 26,
392:14 March
287:See also
490:Wolff,
256:Gallery
134:member
126:and by
116:singer
111:Geordie
78:History
41:in 1904
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243:Chorus
191:Chorus
176:Lyrics
299:Notes
478:2017
452:2017
421:ISBN
394:2017
362:ISBN
343:2022
321:2022
149:and
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.