Polly Perkins of Paddington Green by Harry Clifton - piano/vocal sheet music

"Pretty Little Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" was composed by the songwriter Harry Clifton (1832–1872) and published in 1864. It is thought that Clifton took his inspiration for the tune from traditional English folk songs since it is similar in form to the English folk song known as "The Bold Grenadier" (also "One Morning in May" or "The Nightingales Sing"). Clifton's song is subtitled "The Broken Hearted Milkman" and in 7 verses it tells the story of a milkman who falls for Polly Perkins, but his love is rejected and she marries someone else. Paddington is an area of London with a famous station which gave its name to the children's character Paddington Bear. For a US audience Clifton adapted the lyrics under the title "Polly Perkins of Abington Green". The song is widely known across the English-speaking world and has been used or referenced in a number of films. The Tyneside singer/song-writer Geordie or George Ridley (1835-1864) rewrote the lyrics as "Cushie Butterfield" and the song is best-known in this form in the North-East of England.

Other than the cover in the illustration above, it has proven difficult to find the original sheet music for "Polly Perkins" so this is an arrangement by Jim Paterson and it includes the lyrics for all 7 verses. You can see the sheet music below and the audio files use a clarinet sound to replace the voice for playback purposes, or you can download the sheet music together with midi and mp3 files using the links in the left-hand menu.