Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project

Verses in Vogue with the Vulgar

Lady Washignton's [sic] lamentation for the death of her husband

Another Washington elegy, this sentimental text is expressed entirely as if his widow were speaking. It was written by a sophisticated author in a modern romantic style.

Martha Washington was devoted to her husband and displayed extraordinary strength of character as she supported him throughout his career. She experienced much hardship and grief during her life and those around her admired her extraordinary fortitude. This song describes her imagined reaction to Washington’s death, calling the listener into the grieving circle.

The lyrics first appeared in songsters such as The Merry Medley (1804), and were copied by Betsy Gaylord, a Connecticut girl, at about the same time. In her manuscript she wrote out the tune as well, the only place we have found it. It is clearly a tune intended for this song only as it reflects the unusual verse structure and metric flow.

Additional Metadata

Date

1810-1814

Place of Publication

Boston.

Publisher

Coverly, Nathaniel, 1775?-1824, printer.

Subjects

Washington, George, 1732-1799
Death
Grief
Freedom
Columbia (Symbolic character)

First Line

When Columbia's brave sons sought my hero to lead them.

Identifiers

BIB ID: 280408
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocn191261918
OCLC Control No.: (OCoLC)ocn191460797
Ford, W.C. Thomas ballads, 134
Wegelin, O. Early American poetry, 1306
Shaw, R.R. American Bibliography, 20511
AAS General Catalog URL: http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=280408
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Physical Dimensions

31 x 25 cm.

Transcriptions

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Related Items

Woodcut for Lady Washington's lamentation for the death of her husband

Citation

“Lady Washignton's [sic] lamentation for the death of her husband,” Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project, accessed June 10, 2023, https://www.americanantiquarian.org/thomasballads/items/show/141.