She was only...

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Tue, 24 May 2005 18:08:23 -0400, Benjamin Zimmer
<bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:

>This was a popular gag in syndicated humor columns in the '20s,
>particularly "Scoop's Colyum" (the Danville Bee cites below).  The
>earliest version I can find is the "moonshiner's daughter" one, from
>1922.
>
>-----
>Chicago Tribune, Aug 7, 1922, p. 8
>Under separate cover I am sending you my latest poem of passion, "She's
>Only a Moonshiner's Daughter But Oh I Love Her Still."
>-----

And jokes relying on "I love her still" go back much earlier than that:

-----
Atlanta Constitution, Nov 17, 1875, p. 4
"My native city has treated me badly," said a drunken vagabond, "but I
love her still." "Probably," replied a gentleman, "her still is all that
you do love."
-----


--Ben Zimmer