263. The Unfortunate Rake

 

The Unfortunate Rake

It seems best to use this title, though it is never, we believe, used
for the song about the dying cowboy, in order to distinguish our
song from others having a like theme — 'The Lone Prairie' and
others. Our song is an adaptation to the life of cowboys of a
British stall ballad about a soldier "disordered" by a woman, well
known in the British Isles. There is a fairly full account of the
ballad and its cowboy adaptation in BSM 392-3. To the references
there given should be added Somerset (JEFDSS iii 129-30, the
'Young Girl Cut down in her Prime' form of the story), Vermont
(NGMS 250-2), Ohio (BSO 283-4), Michigan (BSSM 252), Vir-
ginia (Davis FSV 287, listed), Florida (FSF 41-3). The several
texts in the North Carolina collection do not differ greatly; only
two or three need be given in full. The scene of the action varies.
Generally it is a barroom ; probably Lathian's barroom, Latherian's
barroom, the Luthern barroom (and in the Missouri texts Letheric

 

NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 615

Barren, Latern in Barin) preserve the memory of some actual drink-
ing place, but it has not, so far as we know, been identified. In its
cowboy adaptation the ballad seldom if ever hints at the original
cause of the man's death ; instead, he has taken to drink and
gambling, and now has been shot in a tavern brawl.

 

'The Dying Cowboy.' From Miss Pearl Webb of Pineda, Avery county.
This version lacks the customary opening stanza ; but another four-stanza
text communicated by her begins :

1 It was early in the morning, as I rode down the lane
To meet fair borow so bright/

It was early one morning I spied a handsome cowboy
All dressed in white linen and clothed for the grave.

2 'The sun is fast sinking, the stars are fast rising,
And I shall never see morning again.

Come stand ye around me ; my breath is expiring ;
I'll soon be ready to enter the tomb.

3 'Then play your fife loudly, and beat the drum slowly,
And play the dead march as they carry me along.
Take me to the graveyard and lay the sod o'er me ;
For I'm a young cowboy and know I've done wrong.

4 'Go gather around me a crowd of young cowboys
And tell them the story of my sad fate.

Go tell to the others before they go further
To stop their drinking before it's too late.

5 'I've missed life eternal, I'm bound for destruction;
But God was willing that I should do so.

Grieve not while thinking of my condition ;
I'm a vile sinner, and now I must go.

6 'Oh, once in my saddle I used to look charming,
Oh, once in my saddle I used to look gay.

I first took to drinking and then to card-playing.
Got shot in the breast — and now I must die.

7 'Someone write a letter to my aged mother
And break the news gently to sister dear ;
For there is no other so dear as a mother ;

And how she would grieve if she knew I was here !

8 'Some one go bring me a glass of cold water,
A glass of cold water,' the poor fellow said.
And when they returned, the spirit had left him
And gone to its Giver. The cowboy was dead.

* This line appears also in B. As to its meaning the editor offers no
guess.

 

6l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE

 

'The Cowboy.' Secured by James T. Carpenter of Durham from Mrs.
Mary Martin Copley of Route 8, Durham, in 1923. Much the same as
A, with the opening stanza as noted above ; but the stanza in which he
asks that his mother be notified ends :

But then there's another more dear than a mother
Who'll weep bitter tears when she hears I am dead.

And the stanza of warning to his fellow cowboys is shifted to the last
place.

 

'The Dying Cowboy.' From P. D. Midgett of Wanchese, Roanoke
Island. Lacks the opening stanza of location. The allusion to his sweet-
heart takes the form

But there is another more dear than a brother
Who will weep more bitter tears when she hears I am
dead.

And a variant given by Miss Fredericka Jenkins runs :

And there's another, as precious as a mother,
Who . . .

 

'The Dying Cowboy.' Sent in by L. W. Anderson as collected by Blanche
Mann of Nag's Head. Here the opening stanza runs :

As I rode down to Letherian's barroom,
Letherian's barroom one morning in May,
I spied a young cowboy all dressed in white linen,
All dressed in white linen and robed for the grave.

 

'Cow Boy.' From W. Amos Abrams, Boone, Watauga county, in 1935
or 1936. Begins :

As I rode down to Lathian's barroom,
Lathian's barroom, so early one morn . . .

and the directions for notification of his death run :

Go carry the sad message to my gray-headed mother,
Go break the news to my sister so dear ;
But don't mention a word I have told you
But gather around my story to hear.

Oh ! yet there's another, as dear as a sister,
Who'll bitterly weep when she hears I am gone.
And yet there are some for to win her;
For I am a cowboy and I know I have done wrong.

 

NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 617

 

'The Wounded Cowboy.' From Mrs. Minnie Church of Heaton, Avery
county, in 1929. Here the earlier part of the song has been lost ; it
begins

 

know I've done wrong.

 

Oh ! write me a letter to my gray-haired mother,
And carry the same to my sister so dear,
But never a word of this note shall you mention
When they gather around you my story to hear.

And the refrain appears only as the last stanza :

We beat the drum lowly, and played the fife slowly,
And bitterly wept as we bore him along ;
For we all loved our comrade so brave and so handsome.
We all loved our comrade although he'd done wrong.

 

'The Cowboy.' From O. L. Coflfey of ShuH's Mills, Watauga county,
in 1936. No significant variations. The opening line is

As I rode down to the Luthern barroom . . .

H
'The Dying Cowboy.' From the manuscripts of G. S. Robinson of
Asheville, copied in 1939. An incomplete version, with a new opening
line,

As I was riding through old Indiana,

which presents an improbable locale for a cowboy story.

I
'The Dying Cowboy.' From Miss Lura Wagoner's manuscript book of
songs. It begins :

As I wandered down the lane one morning.

As I passed by the barroom one morning in May, . . .

Otherwise no significant variants.

J
'The Cowboy.' From Mrs. Sutton, as sung by Myra (Mrs. J. J. Miller).
Mrs. Sutton remarks : "I can't see why the next two songs ['The Cow-
boy' and 'The Texan Ranger'] are so popular in North Carolina. Nor
can I see how they drifted in. I've never seen a real 'ballet-singer'
who didn't sing both." Begins simply

As I wandered down the lane one morning

and ends somewhat differently from other versions:

I left the barroom to do his bidding,

I walked very slowly with his downcast head ;

 

6l8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE

I sent for his mother, his sister and sweetheart,
But before I got back the cowboy was dead.

K

No title. Contributed by Allie Ann Pearce, Colerain, Bertie county. An
abbreviated text, without the opening stanza and so without locale.

 

'A Dying Cowboy.' A single stanza only. From Merle Smith, of
Stanly county.

264
When the Work Is Done This Fall

Despite its opening line this cowboy song is quite distinct from
the following ballad. No. 266. It is known in Tennessee (FSSH
351-2), North CaroHna (FSSH 352-3), Texas (PFLST vi 143.
where Dobie says that the man's name was Marshall Johnson, of
Waco, and that he was killed some time "in the seventies"), Mon-
tana (CS 74-6), and California (ASb 260-2); the Archive of
American Folk Song has a recording of it made in Texas ; it is
listed in Davis FSV  ----
 


263

The Unfortunate Rake

 

'The Dying Cowboy.' Sung by C. K. Tillett. Recorded at W'anchcsc, Roanoke
Island; no date given. Cf. tlie text with that of SharpK 11 165, No. 131 B; also,
CS 3-8.

 

 

For melodic relationship of. ***BSM 395 (E) ; SCSM 453 (F), not rhythmi-
cally, however; **FSmWV 24, measures 1-2 and 5-8.

Scale: Hexachordal. Tonal Center: d. Structure: aa^ (4,4)-