The Lass of Richmond Hill
"The Lass of Richmond Hill", also known as "The Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill", is a song written by
Lyric
The words were written by
The "lass" referred to is Frances I’Anson, whom Leonard McNally married in 1787.
McNally's authorship was periodically disputed
The song is a ballad of praise of and expression of love for the "lass". It contains two verses with eight lines each and a chorus of four lines repeated after each verse. The first verse begins with the notable lines:[16]
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- On Richmond Hill there lives a lass,
- More bright than May-day morn,
- Whose charms all other maids' surpass,
- A rose without a thorn.
The chorus is:
- Sweet lass of Richmond Hill,
- Sweet lass of Richmond Hill,
- I'd crowns resign to call thee mine,
- Sweet lass of Richmond Hill.
According to the
Music
The music was composed by James Hook (1746 – 1827), a composer and organist at Vauxhall Gardens from 1774 to 1820.[1][18] Hook composed over 2,000 songs, the best known of which is "The Lass of Richmond Hill".[18]
The music epitomises Hook’s charming but sanitised folk-song style using a Scottish pastoral idiom, and is often mistakenly believed to be a genuine traditional folk song,[19][20] and has been assigned the number 1246 on the Roud Folk Song Index.[21] Indeed, it has become a Scottish country dance.[22]
History and cultural references to the song
The song was first performed publicly by
As well as becoming a Scottish country dance,
The song, or its title, has been the subject of a wide variety of cultural references and allusions:
- The romantic metaphor "a rose without a thorn" was popularized by the song.[29] It was subsequently much used, a recent example being by the singer-songwriter Nick Drake in his song "Time has told me".[29]
- An early work of the Austrian composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel, entitled "The Lass of Richmond Hill" (Opus No. 2), is a variation for the piano and was published in 1791.[30]
- Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill was the title of a 1970 historical novel about Eleanor Hibbert under the pen name "Jean Plaidy".[31]
- The Lass of Richmond Hill was an 1877 painting by George Dunlop Leslie.[32]
- According to a popular story, Richmond Hill, Ontario gained its name from the nostalgic insistence of the town's first school teacher, who was from Richmond in England, that it should be named after the song.[33]
- "Lass of Richmond Hill" is a pub in Richmond in London, the naming of which reflects earlier confusion between which of the two Richmonds the song concerned.[34][35]
- A 1957 BBC film, directed by Rudolph Cartier, about Mrs Fitzherbert was called The Lass of Richmond Hill.[36]
- In Dickens' David Copperfield, Uriah Heep references the ballad thus: "I call her mine, you see, Master Copperfield. There's a song that says, "I'd crowns resign, to call her mine!" I hope to do it, one of these days."
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0198610205.
- ^ ISBN 978-1417960163.
- ISBN 978-1859181423.
- ISBN 978-0946640959.)
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 978-0521469449.
- ISBN 978-0802313195.
- ^ "Leonard McNally". The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Encyclopedia.com. 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
- ^ Alfred John Webb (1878). "Leonard McNally". A Compendium of Irish Biography. Library Ireland. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ Adrian Hardiman (July–August 2005). "The (Show?) Trial of Robert Emmet". History Ireland. 13 (4). Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1850587934.
- ^ "Lass". Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ^ "The Lass of Richmond Hill". Willis's Current Notes. 6 (64): 35. April 1856. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1851825301.
- ^ ISBN 978-1417960163.
- ISBN 0-543-96787-5.
- ISBN 978-1853264894.
- ^ Peter Holman. "The Lass of Richmond Hill". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0198608844.
- ISBN 978-0521028905.
- ISBN 978-0521590174.
- ^ "Song: Lass of Richmond Hill". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b "The Lass of Richmond Hill". Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
- ^ Oberndorfer, Anne Faulkner (1921). What we hear in music: a course of study in music history and appreciation. p. 290.
- ISBN 978-1417960163.
- ^ "BBC Radio 3 Breakfast Programme". 20 June 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ISBN 978-0802313195.
- ISBN 978-1874622925.
- ISBN 978-0415002417.
- ^ ISBN 978-0747535034.
- ISBN 978-0810859203.
- ISBN 978-1591581260.
- ISBN 978-0730830764.
- ^ Robert M. Stamp (1991). "The Duke, the School Teacher, and "The Lass of Richmond Hill"". From Miles' Hill to Richmond Hill: The Birth of a Community. Town of Richmond Hill Public Library.
- ISBN 978-1840222661.
- ISBN 978-1417960163.
- ^ "Sunday-Night Theatre: The Lass of Richmond Hill". Film and TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
