Annie Laurie

Banjo Hangout Top 100 Traditional Songs

This old Scottish love song, based on William Douglas's poem in around 1700, was also the first performance attempt of Lotta Crabtree (1847 - 1923). Known now as the Shirley Temple of the 19th century, Lotta walked onto a school stage in San Francisco as a wee little girl under six years old. She burst into tears when trying to sing Annie Laurie and ran off stage. So, stage fright is certainly nothing new! She got over it and became a millionaire and successful Broadway performer, leaving her millions to charity in the 1920's.