Folk Songs: ‘When You and I Were Young, Maggie’

I first saw a recording by the group Mignarda (http://www.Mignarda.com) at Cap’s Blog in his post Se sei con me.  By their own words,

“As Mignarda (http://www.Mignarda.com), we typically perform music from the 16th century, but while taking a break from recording the music of John Dowland, we did an impromptu rendition of this lovely old song.”

This “impromptu rendition” of When You and I Were Young, Maggie is below. ❤️

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, 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…