The Gleeman


Notes on The Wife of Usher's Well

References:

Comments:

This is #79 in the Child cannon.The variant here is #79A. It should be noted that Child (1882-1898)CPB (vol II, pp238-239) seems to use the version in the 1802 edition of Scott's work, which seems to be different to the version in the later 1833 (and subsequent) editions. I, along with Bronson (1959-1972)BTT (vol II, pp247-248) have used the later version. (Bronson, however, transposes the air and makes other adjustments).

Scott does not give a source for this ballad. He also states that this is only a fragment.

Regarding the lyrics in the typeset score, the lyrics are as set out in Scott's book. Although the lyrics  match the text, there are some punctuation differences; the "w" in "well" on the first line of the verse as added to the score is lower case, and the second line of the verse is terminated by a semi-colon. Furthermore, in typesetting the score, I have ignored the piano accompaniment that Scott also provided. The linebreaks are also different.


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