ABSTRACT
As can be seen from the bibliography below, this piece is most commonly found in Ireland (where it has a different melody), less commonly in Scotland (nearly always found to the m elody given here) and scarcely found at all in England and the United States. In all the printed texts to which we refer, ‘The Banks o f Red Roses’ is a sweet and whimsical love-song expressing the viewpoint o f the man. Some o f these texts refer pointedly to the disapproval o f the girl’s parents but comment philosophically on the fact that ‘she’s pretty, but I can leave her alone and go court some other’ . Other texts end happily at the altar.
