“The Girl I Left Behind Me”
After supper, when night and lamplight came, Pa took his fiddle out of the box and tuned it lovingly… He played ‘The sweet little girl, te pretty little girl, the girl I left behind me!’ — On the Banks of Plum Creek, Chapter 30, “Going to Town”
The Girl I Left Behind Me is a traditional Irish tune first known as “Rambling Laborer”; it was brought to America in the mid-17th century. It was a traditional fife tune in England, and was used as a fife tune in the colonies during the Revolutionary War. In 1816, it was published in a collection of flute melodies as “Brighton Camp or the Girl I Left Behind Me.” The earliest known published lyrics appeared in Dublin’s Charms of Melody. Those lyrics are similar to the ones given below.
As was the case with most traditional music, endless variations in lyrics have been written throughout the generations. During the Civil War, “The Girl I Left Behind Me” was much used by both Union and Confederate troops, who adapted the song to describe various battles as well as the parting of soldiers from loved ones at home.
In On the Banks of Plum Creek, Charles Ingalls plays the song to celebrate a homecoming, not a journey. Wilder includes the song with other songs popular during the Civil War. By mentioning some of the lyrics as well as the title, she suggests that this was a song not only played by Pa on the fiddle, but that he sometimes sang along with the fiddle. In the manuscript for On the Banks of Plum Creek, the two songs Pa played after coming home from the harvest fields are “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” and “Bacon and Greens.” “The Girl I Left Behind Me” only appears in the published book.
(early 1800s lyrics)
1. I’m lonesome since I cross’d the hill,
And o’er the moorland sedgy
Such heavy thoughts my heart do fill,
Since parting with my Betsey,
I seek for one as fair and gay,
But find none to remind me
How sweet the hours I passed away,
With the girl I left behind me.
2. O ne’er shall I forget the night,
The stars were bright above me
And gently lent their silv’ry light
When first she vowed to love me.
But now I’m bound to Brighton camp
Kind heaven then pray guide me
And send me safely back again,
To the girl I left behind me.
3. Her golden hair in ringlets fair,
Her eyes like diamonds shining
Her slender waist, her heavenly face,
That leaves my heart still pining.
Ye gods above oh hear my prayer
To my beauteous fair to find me
And send me safely back again,
To the girl I left behind me.
4. The bees shall honey taste no more,
The dove become a ranger,
The falling waters cease to roar,
Ere I shall seek to change her.
The vows we made to heaven above
Shall ever cheer and bind me,
In constancy to her love,
The girl I left behind me.
(from On the Banks of Plum Creek)
The sweet little girl, the pretty little girl,
The girl I left behind me!
CLICK HERE to listen.
Click on the above images to view a copy of Civil War era sheet music of “The Girl I Left Behind Me.”
“The Girl I Left Behind Me” (BPC 30)
“The sweet little girl, the pretty little girl, the girl I left behind me”