The Girl I Left Behind Me

The origin of this folk song is debatable. “The Girl I Left Behind Me” is claimed by both England and Ireland. It is said to date to the mid-1700s or even possibly back to the 1600s. The earliest known publication in print that lists the title and lyrics dates to 1791 in “The Charms of Melody,” Dublin, Ireland. The oldest known printed copy of the melody appears in “Himes Pocket Book for the German Flute or Violin”, Volume 3, also from Dublin, Ireland. There are numerous English, Irish and American versions of the lyrics. This song was also popular with early fiddlers and can be found in “Abel Shattuck’s Book”, circa 1801. “Many versions of this standard exist, dating from the late eighteenth century. The melody is an authentic Irish folk tune from as early as 1660; Bunting included it in The Ancient Music of Ireland (1840) under the title, “An spailpin fanach.” As a song its earliest appearance was in 1758, when England was threatened by an invasion from France and an unknown Irish conscript is t