Broadside ballads entitled 'The girl I left behind me' and 'Brennan on the moor'

Commentary

The first ballad begins: 'Now for America I'm bound, / Against my inclination- / Yes, I must leave my native ground, / Which fills me with vexation'.

The second ballad begins: 'It's of a fearless highwayman a story I will tell, / his name was William Brennan in Ireland he did dwell'.

Both songs are about foreign places, perhaps making them more exotic to the audience. They are also both about leaving loved ones, although the first character is emigrating and the second, the highwayman, is to die. The latter, William Brennan was hanged in Cork in 1804. Sheets were often printed with two songs, often only distantly related like this one, to make them a more attractive purchase - more goods for your money.

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