[Alternately: “Lucy Neale,” “Miss Lucy Neal,”]

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Music adapted from “A fosco cielo,” or, “Phantom Chorus,” from the opera La sonnambula (1831) with music by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). Lyrics unknown, however, Winans records an 1844 edition of the song as being authored by J.P. Carter (n.d.) (3). Certainly one of the more popular minstrel songs dealing with separated lovers and enslaved women, early variants of the song (c.1844) are generally considered to be indicative of a pro-abolitionist sentiment (Mahar 291; Winans 3). The song was so popular in America that regional variants appeared throughout the mid-nineteenth century, each speaking to the specific conditions of slave life in the regions (Mahar 304). Unlike “Buffalo Gals,” which was also adapted by a number of regions, the variants are reflected in the lyrical setting rather than in the title.

As Mahar suggests, this was one of the most frequently performed songs in the pre-1860 minstrel show (3). This fact is supported by the fifty instances of performance under the title “Lucy Neal” listed in this database. The popularity of the song did not endure into the twentieth century, however, and at the time of this writing only two recordings could be located.

Select Recording History:

Winans, Robert, music director and program consultant. The Early Minstrel Show. New World Records, 1998.

Pilot Mountain Bobcats. Dance By the Light of the Moon. Pilot Mountain Bobcats, 1999.

Works Cited:

Mahar, William J. Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture. Chicago: Illinois UP, 1999.

Winans, Robert, music director and program consultant. The Early Minstrel Show. Liner Notes. New World Records, 1998.

Mark Turner