WARNING: This is a blackface minstrel song, a genre that features demeaning caricatures rooted in racism and white supremacy.

“Farewell My Lilly Dear,” arranged for guitar accompaniment, was submitted for copyright deposit on August 26, 1853.

The song also appears in “Old Folks Quadrilles.”

According to Evelyn Foster Mornweck’s The Chronicles of Stephen Foster’s Family: 

At this time, Stephen had an agreement with E. P. Christy to allow Christy the privilege of singing Stephen’s songs prior to publication. For the privilege of first singing “Oh! Boys, Carry Me ’Long,” “Massa's in de Cold Ground,” “Old Dog Tray,” and “Ellen Bayne,” Christy paid Stephen ten dollars for each song; this also included the right to have printed on the cover page “As sung by E. P. Christy,” or “Christy’s Minstrels.” For “Old Folks at Home,” and “Farewell, My Lilly Dear,” Stephen received fifteen dollars each.