ABSTRACT
As with “The Loyal Soldier of Flanders”, “The Longing Lasses Letter” provides further proof that, as early as the seventeenth century, soldiers expected to receive written missives from loved ones while they were away on campaign. Unlike the former, however, this ballad is a testament to feminine constancy. There are no other versions in the Bodleian collection, suggesting it was not extraordinarily popular. Like the other ballads here, “The Longing Lasses Letter” presents a soldier’s sweetheart who did not plan to follow the drum, but instead expected to marry her warrior upon his departure from the army. This bears echoes of “The Soldiers Fortune” without its message that servicemen should eschew forming attachments altogether.
