The Minstrel Boy

Canción irlandesa escrita por Thomas Moore (1779–1852) y publicada dentro  de sus Melodías irlandesas, concretamente en la edición de 1813. Probablemente el tema más recordado de Moore, el autor llegó a ser apodado "The Minstrel Boy", y de hecho este es el título de la biografía de Moore, escrita por Leonard Strong en 1937.

El origen de la melodía es incierto y, aunque se publicó como un tema tradicional irlandés, no se conocen registros previos que confirman tal afirmación. La canción aparece en la colección de aires escoceses e irlandeses de George Thomson de 1816, bajo el título de Moore, lo que lleva a la sospecha, aunque no se ha encontrado evidencia documental, de que Thomson envió la melodía a Moore.

Las Melodías irlandesas de Moore fueron inmensamente populares en Irlanda y Gran Bretaña en su época, llegando a una audiencia amplia y diversa, y "The Minstrel Boy" fue una de las canciones más famosas de esta colección. Después de su muerte, se vendieron grandes cantidades de ediciones especiales de lo que más tarde se conocieron como Melodías de Moore a precios muy elevados, con lujosas ilustraciones, caras encuadernaciones de cuero verde e imágenes en relieve de tréboles y arpas doradas. Estos también se vendieron en América del Norte, donde no tardó en llegar la fama de Moore.

Al igual que otras Melodías irlandesas, "The Minstrel Boy" es melancólica y nostálgica, desgarrada, pero en contraste con las canciones de corte político de algunos de los contemporáneos de Moore, aquí no hay ninguna promesa de que el futuro será mejor. El arpa, esclavizada, habrá de guardar silencio: "Tus canciones fueron hechas para los puros y libres, nunca sonarán en manos de un esclavo".

El tema de la libertad, sutilmente expuesto en "The Minstrel Boy" tuvo muy buena acogida entre el púbico estadounidense, aunque muchas de las expresiones políticas más sutiles pasaron desapercibidas. "The Minstrel Boy" estaba en sintonía con las nociones románticas contemporáneas de democracia y libertad. El propio Moore, que en la década anterior había viajado por Estados Unidos y Canadá, estaba en contra de la esclavitud, expresando en 1806 su desilusión, afirmando que América no tendría ni "esperanza ni futuro" siendo un país esclavista.

Letra original:

The Minstrel-Boy to the war is gone,

In the ranks of death you'll find him;

His father's sword he has girded on,

And his wild harp slung behind him.

"Land of song!" said the warrior-bard,

"Tho' all the world betrays thee,

One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,

One faithful harp shall praise thee!

The Minstrel fell!—but the foeman's chain

Could not bring that proud soul under;

The harp he lov'd ne'er spoke again,

For he tore its chords asunder;

And said, "No chains shall sully thee,

Thou soul of love and bravery!

Thy songs were made for the pure and free,

They shall never sound in slavery.

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Edison 7229. James C. McAuliffe (1899)

👉🏽 Edison 8487. James C. McAuliffe (1904)

👉🏽 Edison 8769. William Tuson (1904) 🔊

👉🏽 Leeds 5078. George J. Gaskin (1899-1902)

👉🏽 Victor 3206. George Schweinfest (1901)

👉🏽 Victor 1623. George Schweinfest (1902)

👉🏽 Victor 4427. James McCool (1905)

👉🏽 Victor 64117. John McCormack (1910)

👉🏽 Columbia 710. J.W. Myers (1902)

👉🏽 Columbia 3484. George Alexander (1906)

👉🏽 Columbia 1144. Reed Miller (1912)

👉🏽 Columbia 2348. J. Malachy White (1917)

👉🏽 Columbia 2435. Vernon Stiles (1917)

👉🏽 Columbia (UK) 7244. Tom Burke &Frank St. Leger (1920)

👉🏽 Columbia 1232. William A. Kennedy (1926)

👉🏽 Okeh 1191. Charles Hart (1918)

Darling Nellie Gray

Performer: The Metropolitan Quartette

Issue Number: Edison 712

Release year: 1911

Source: UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive

Subjects: Slavery  

Letra adaptada

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,

That they'll never take you from me any more.

I'm a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way,

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!

When the moon had climbed the mountain 

and the stars were shining too.

Then I'd take my darling Nelly Gray,

And we'd float down the river in my little red canoe,

While my banjo sweetly I would play.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

My eyes are getting blinded, and I cannot see my way.

Hark! there's somebody knocking at the door.

Oh! I hear the angels calling, and I see my Nelly Gray.

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore.

Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,

That they'll never take you from me any more.

I'm a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way,

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

Darling Nellie Gray

Performer: The Metropolitan Quartette

Issue Number: Edison 10053

Release year: 1909

Source: UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive

Subjects: Slavery  

Letra adaptada

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,

That they'll never take you from me any more.

I'm a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way,

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

Darling Nellie Gray

Performer: Alice Nielsen

Issue Number: Columbia 54-M

Release year: 1922

Source: Kahle/Austin Foundation

Subjects: Slavery  

Letra adaptada

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

When the moon had climbed the mountain 

and the stars were shining too.

Then I'd take my darling Nelly Gray,

And we'd float down the river in my little red canoe,

While my banjo sweetly I would play.

Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,

That they'll never take you from me any more.

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

Darling Nelly Gray

Performer: Lucy Gates

Issue Number: Columbia 6059

Release year: 1918

Source: Kahle/Austin Foundation

Subjects: Slavery  

Letra adaptada

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

When the moon had climbed the mountain 

and the stars were shining too.

Then I'd take my darling Nelly Gray,

And we'd float down the river in my little red canoe,

While my banjo sweetly I would play.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

My eyes are getting blinded, and I cannot see my way.

Hark! there's somebody knocking at the door.

Oh! I hear the angels calling, and I see my Nelly Gray.

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore.

Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,

That they'll never take you from me any more.

I'm a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way,

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

Darling Nelly Gray

Performer: Alice Nielsen

Issue Number: Columbia 1143

Release year: 1912

Source: Kahle/Austin Foundation

Subjects: Slavery  

Letra adaptada

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

When the moon had climbed the mountain 

and the stars were shining too.

Then I'd take my darling Nelly Gray,

And we'd float down the river in my little red canoe,

While my banjo sweetly I would play.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

Darling Nellie Gray

Performer: Carroll Clark

Issue Number: Columbia 770 [1]

Release year: 1909

Source: The Orchard Enterprises

Subjects: Slavery  

Letra adaptada

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

My eyes are getting blinded, and I cannot see my way.

Hark! there's somebody knocking at the door.

Oh! I hear the angels calling, and I see my Nelly Gray.

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore.

Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,

That they'll never take you from me any more.

I'm a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way,

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!.

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

[1] United 770, Standard 770, D&R 3649, Climax 222, Lakeside 70657

Darling Nellie Gray

Performer: The Columbia Quartette

Issue Number: Columbia 32836

Release year: 1905

Source: UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive

Subjects: Slavery  

Letra adaptada

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Chorus

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

One night I went to see her, but "She's gone!" the neighbors say.

The white man bound her with his chain;

They have taken her to Georgia for to wear her life away,

As she toils in the cotton and the cane.

Chorus

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

My Darling Nellie Gray

Performer: J.W. Myers

Issue Number: Columbia 4615 [1]

Release year: 1904-1909

Source: UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive

Subjects:  

Letra adaptada

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

One night I went to see her, but "She's gone!" the neighbors say.

The white man bound her with his chain;

They have taken her to Georgia for to wear her life away,

As she toils in the cotton and the cane.

Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,

That they'll never take you from me any more.

I'm a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way,

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

[1] El cilindro original (1897-1900) estaba interpretado por Steve Porter

Darling Nelly Gray

Performer: Louis Armstrong & The Mills Brothers

Issue Number: Decca 1245

Release year: 1937

Source: The Orchard Enterprises

Subjects: Pop Hits 1937

Letra adaptada

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

Darling Nelly Gray

Letra y Música: Benjamin Russell Hanby

(Oliver Ditson & Co., Boston, 1856)

Benjamin Hanby (1833-1867) compuso esta balada antiesclavista a los 23 años, cursando aun sus estudios en la Otterbein University de Westerville (Ohio), inspirado en un hecho que conmovió a toda su familia. Cierto día llegó a casa de los Hanby, en Rushville (Ohio), un esclavo negro procedente de Kentucky, Joseph Selby, que había logrado escapar de la plantación donde trabajaba. Terriblemente enfermo, Selby les contó la angustiosa historia de su huida, que tuvo que emprender dejando atrás a su amada. El padre de Benjamin, el obispo William Hanby, un ministro de los United Brethren (Hermanos Unidos) comenzó a recaudar fondos para liberar a la amada de Selby, pero este murió de neumonía.

En la balada de Hanby, tal vez inspirada en "Maggie May", una canción folk del área de Liverpool, también se produce una separación forzosa. El protagonista, un esclavo de Kentucky llora a su amada, que ha sido vendida a los dueños de otra plantación, al sur de Georgia (donde la vida del esclavo se consideraba convencionalmente más dura). Entonces él muere y se une a ella en el cielo. La canción se hizo muy popular en los años previos a la Guerra Civil y ayudó a promover la causa abolicionista.

Posteriormente esta melodía (o la de "Maggie May") fue utilizada por el cantante de music hall Joe Wilson para su famosa canción Keep yor feet still Geordie hinny (1858).

Letra:

There's a low, green valley, on the old Kentucky shore.

Where I've whiled many happy hours away,

A-sitting and a-singing by the little cottage door,

Where lived my darling Nelly Gray.

Chorus

Oh! my poor Nelly Gray, they have taken you away,

And I'll never see my darling any more;

I'm sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day.

For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore.

When the moon had climbed the mountain and the stars were shining too.

Then I'd take my darling Nelly Gray,

And we'd float down the river in my little red canoe,

While my banjo sweetly I would play.

One night I went to see her, but "She's gone!" the neighbors say.

The white man bound her with his chain;

They have taken her to Georgia for to wear her life away,

As she toils in the cotton and the cane.

My canoe is under water, and my banjo is unstrung;

I'm tired of living any more;

My eyes shall look downward, and my song shall be unsung

While I stay on the old Kentucky shore.

My eyes are getting blinded, and I cannot see my way.

Hark! there's somebody knocking at the door.

Oh! I hear the angels calling, and I see my Nelly Gray.

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore.

Chorus

Oh, my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,

That they'll never take you from me any more.

I'm a-coming-coming-coming, as the angels clear the way,

Farewell to the old Kentucky shore!

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Decca 1245. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers (1937) [#19, 12.06.37] 🔊

Otras versiones:

👉🏽 Columbia 3412. William Tuson (1897-98) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 4615. John W. Myers (1904-09) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 32836. Columbia Quartette (1905) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 770. Carroll Clark (1909) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 1143. Alice Nielsen (1912) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 6059. Lucy Gates (1918) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 54-M. Alice Nielsen (1922) 🔊

👉🏽 Edison 3615.  William Tuson (1898-99) 🔊

👉🏽 Edison GM 3615.  William Tuson (1902) 🔊

👉🏽 Edison 10053. Metropolitan Quartette (1909) 🔊

👉🏽 Edison 712. Metropolitan Quartette (1911) 🔊

👉🏽 Edison 1860. Metropolitan Quartet (1913) 🔊

👉🏽 Victor 912. American Quartet (1901)

👉🏽 Victor 3515. American Quartet (1901)

👉🏽 Victor 1387. Haydn Quartet (1902)

👉🏽 Victor 31044. Haydn Quartet (1905)

👉🏽 Victor 16174. Haydn Quartet (1908)

👉🏽 Victor 17888. Samuel Gardner (1915)

👉🏽 Victor 18195. Peerless Quartet (1915)

👉🏽 Victor 64729. Alma Gluck (1917)

👉🏽 Victor 36385. Bill Dickinson (1940)

👉🏽 Lambert 630. American Quartet (1903)

👉🏽 Everlasting 344. Peerless Quartet (1911)

👉🏽 Vocalion 15343. Charlie Oaks (1925)

👉🏽 Bluebird 10114. Les Brown Orchestra (1939)