Mrs. Robertson's Revolutionary War ancestor was Governor Richard Caswell of North Carolina. He was the grandson of Betty Martin, a noted Southern Belle, for whom this chapter was named.

"Heigh, Betty Martin, tiptoe fine,

Couldn't find a lover to suit her mind." *

(Early American Folk Song)

Legend holds that this verse is part of a song composed by a rejected suitor in honor of Miss Elizabeth Martin of Hereford County, Maryland. It seems she was so particular that she could not choose a proper Suitor to marry. However, she eventually married and had children. She is reported to have said to her sons, as they went off to fight in the Revolutionary War, "Go, boys, and fight for your country. Fight til death if you must, but never let your country be dishonored. Were I a man, I would go with you."

Betty Martin died in 1778.

* Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 58 (appears as "Tip Toe, Pretty Betty Martin").

 Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 85.

Web hyperlinks to non-DAR sites are not the responsibility of the NSDAR, the state organizations, or individual DAR chapters. 

For technical problems with this page, contact webmaster.

Last update October 9, 2012