242
The Boston Burglar
This is an American adaptation of the English stall ballad of
'Botany Bay.' Spaeth (Read 'Em and Weep, p. 178) says that
NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 555
"M. J. Fitzpatrick is credited with its authorship." It has been
reported as traditional song in Nova Scotia (SENS 206-7), Ver-
mont (VFSB 53-4), Virginia (SCSM 289-93 and Davis FSV 280,
listed), West Virginia (FSS 296-9), North Carolina (SCSM
294-6, FSRA loo-ioi), Ohio (BSO 204-6). Indiana (BSI 223-5),
Michigan (BSSM 335-6), Iowa (ABS 57-8), and Wyoming (ABS
59-60). Finger (FB 88) says he has heard it from Canada to
Cape Horn and that the text he gives was sung by a native of
Arkansas. The texts in our collection are so closely alike that it
will not be necessary to give them all.
'The Boston Burglar.' Transcribed by Dr. Brown from a manuscript
songbook lent to him in 1936 by Miss Lura Wagoner of Vox, .Alleghany
county. The entries in this book were made from 1911 to 1913.
1 I was born in the town of Boston,
A town you all know well.
Raised up by honest parents —
The truth to you I will tell—
Raised up by honest parents,
Raised up most tenderly,
Until I became a sporting man
At the age of twenty-three.
2 My character was taken
And I was sent to jail.
The people tried, but all in vain,
To keep me out on trail. ^
The juror found me guilty,
The clerk he wrote it down.
The judge he passed the sentence
To send me to Charlestown.
3 They put me on the east-bound train
One cold December day,
And every station I would pass.
This is what they would say :
'There goes the Boston burglar ;
His arms in chains are bound.
'Tis for some crime or other
They have sent him to Charlestown.'
4 There was my aged father
A-standing at the bar,
Likewise my dear old mother
A-tearing down her hair.
* The other texts show that this should be "bail."
556 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
She was tearing down her old gray locks
And trembling, as she said,
'My son, my son, what have you done
To be taken to Charlestown ?'
5 There lives a girl in Boston,
A girl that I loved well.
If ever I gain my liberty
It's with that girl I'll dwell.
If ever I gain my liberty
There are two things I '11 shun :
That being a night street walker
And drinking of the rum.
'The Bugle Boy.' As sung December 29, 1922, by Mrs. Charles K.
Tillett of Wanchese, Roanoke Island. Six stanzas, the first five of which
are the same as A except that stanzas 3 and 4 have changed places,
"trail" becomes "bail," "juror" "juries," and "Charlestown" "Charleston
town." The sixth stanza runs :
6 Oh, you that has your liberty
Pray keep it if you can ;
Don't walk around the streets at night
An' break the laws of man.
For if you do you will surely be
And find yourself like me.
Who has fto] serve out there twenty-one years
In the penitentiary.
The Boston Burglar.' Secured from Otis S. Kuykendall of Heaton,
Avery county, in 1929. Six stanzas, the same as B except that it has
"jury" for "juries," "Charlestown" for "Charleston town," and in the
penultimate stanza "Likewise wild walking gambling" instead of "Like-
wise night walking gambling."
'Boston Burglar.' Secured from O. L. Coffey of Shull's Mills, Watauga
county. It is metrically defective in places, and introduces new matter
after stanza 3 :
Down came the jailor about eight o'clock
With the keys in his hand
A-shoving for the lock ;
'Cheer up, cheer up,'
I think I heard him say,
'You're bound for old Charles Town,
Twenty-one long years to stay.'
NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 557
Down came little Lula,
Five dollars in her hand ;
'Cheer up, boy, cheer up,
I've done you all I can ;
May God Almighty bless you,
Wherever you may be.
Farewell, farewell !
Alas for you and me !'
'The Boston Burglar.' Secured from Otis S. Kuykendall of Asheville
in 1939. The only noteworthy variants in the text are "Franklin town"
for "Charlestown," "Stop hanging on the street at night" in his warning
to youth, and the habitat of his sweetheart : "There is a girl in the
mountains"— which fits the topography of North Carolina better than that
of Massachusetts.
'The Boston Burglar.' From Ruth Efird of Stanly county. Four stanzas
only. The seat of the prison is Franklin town, he travels thither in a
"Southbound" train, and his crime is the "robbing of the Cleveland bank."
242
The Boston Burglar
'The Boston Burglar.' Sung by Otis Kuykendall. Recorded at Asheville, Bun-
combe county, in 1939. Also known as 'Boston Bay,' 'Bugle Boy,' and 'Boston
City.' 416
For melodic relationship cf. **SCSM 433, version A, measures 2-3 and 5-7 ;
also version E, ibid. 434 in general melodic outline; BSSM 335, No. 137, meas-
ures 2 and 6.
Scale: Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: f. Structure: aba^bi (2,2,2,2) =
aai (4,4).