Heart songs: When you and I were young, Maggie

As Mignarda, we typically perform music for voice and lute from the 16th century, an enterprise that keeps us busy enough.  But it turns out that our musical tastes do extend to the repertory of 19th century ‘heart songs’ or, the better-known descriptor, parlor songs.

We are currently finishing a recording project of the music of John Dowland from his last book of songs, A Pilgrimes Solace (1612).  While taking a break from the headier music – and with Ron’s 19th century parlor guitar close to hand – we decided to sing an impromptu rendition of this lovely old heart song.

The poem was written for Maggie Clark of Glanford, Ontario by poet George Washington Johnson. George and Maggie became engaged, married, and moved to Cleveland (Donna’s home town), but Maggie died less than a year later in May 1865 and was buried near her old home. Washington returned to Canada where he taught at the University of Toronto. The poem was published in 1864 in a collection entitled ‘Maple Leaves’ and, after Maggie’s death, Johnson arranged for it to be set to music by James Austin Butterfield, a music teacher then living in Detroit.

The song attained great popularity in post-Civil War America, and has been recorded countless times – first in 1905. This is our own spontaneous arrangement.

While we have no intention of veering off course from our more typical repertory, we do have a rather large number of heart songs and ballads from the 19th century residing in our collective memory, available to rise to the surface from time to time.  Write and let us know what you think.

Recorded by Will Russell at Electric Wilburland

UPDATE 2020 – 2021

As of November 2020 our new album called Heart-Songs is now available, including “When you and I were young, Maggie” and several other parlor songs from the turn of the last century.