X:1
T:The Beautiful Damsel
T:The Undaunted Female
T:Box on her Head
S:Mrs Wilson, Northamptonshire
B:Lucy Broadwood and J.A. Fuller Maitland, English County Songs, 1893.
N:Roud 289, Laws L3.
L:1/8
Q:1/4=100
M:2/4
K:F C|F2 F3/2 F/|(FA) c3/2 A/|G2 F3/2 E/|F3
w:'Tis of a fair dam-*sel in Lon-don did dwell, c|d3/2 d/ f3/2 d/|d2 c3/2 c/|B3/2B/A3/2G/|A3
w:A-wait-ing in her beau-ty, which none there could ex-cel. d|d3/2 d/ f3/2 d/|d c z c|B3/2 B/ A3/2 G/|A3
w:Her mas-ter and her mis-tress she serv-�¨d sev-en year, A|(G3/2A/) B3/2 c/|d2 c3/2 A/|G3/2 F/ F3/2 F/|F3|]
w:And what_ fol-lows af-ter you soon shall quick-ly hear. The song seems to have begun its life in the 18th century, as The Staffordshire Maid. By the 19th century the action had moved south and shortened a bit; the set above is very close to broadside texts, which appeared as The Undaunted Female. It persisted in tradition at least as recently as the 1970s, generally known as Box on her Head; Gwilym Davies recorded a set from Mrs. Dodds of Steep, Hampshire, in 1973, which was published in English Dance and Song, vol.38 no.1, 1976. The song has been found mainly in England; less often in Scotland and just occasionally in the USA and Canada. Various broadside editions can be seen at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, listed as: The Staffordshire maid The undaunted female Database entry is here. Edited By Malcolm Douglas - 21/01/2003 04:04:35
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