“Mustang Gray (The Maid of Monterey)”

Description

"There was a brave old Texan, his name was Mustang Gray." When the Mexicans invaded Texas, he was taken prisoner. "He wore the yoke of bondage through the streets of Monteray. A senorita loved him...." and turned him loose

Notes

Thorp/Fife notes that this song takes two forms: "In Hewitt's original aria interest is focused on the senorita and her heroic deed. The texts most current in Western American oral tradition... bring the American soldier-cowboy into central focus...."

The piece seems to have drawn its title from the 1847 novel _The Volunteer, or The Maid of Monterrey_, by Ned Bluntine.

The song has been variously credited to John Hill Hewitt, Tom Grey, and James Lytle. Thorp/Fife considers Hewitt (a well-known composer) to be the most likely candidate.

As "Mustang Gray," this song is item dB28 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW

Same tune

• The Dying Soldier Boy ("Upon Manassa's bloody plain a soldier boy lay dying" -- words by A. B. Cunningham) (War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy, pp. 347-348)

Cross references

• cf. "The Turkish Lady" [Laws O26] (plot)
• cf. "Young Beichan" [Child 53] (plot)

References

1. Thorp/Fife IX, pp. 104-111 (23-24), "Mustang Gray" (4 texts, 1 tune)
2. Fife-Cowboy/West 49, "Mustang Gray" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Lomax-ABFS, pp. 395-396, "Mustang Gray" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 190-191, "Mustang Gray" (1 text)
5. DT, MUSTGRAY*
6. Roud #4035
7. BI, FT09