273
Little Rosewood Casket
This piece rather strikingly shows how a merely sentimental song
may be taken up by tradition. No doubt a parlor song originally —
its author and history are not known — it has become traditional
song in the South and Midwest ; not, so far as is known, in New
England. For its range, see BSM 220, and add to the references
there given Texas (PFLST vi 221-2) and Indiana (SFLQ iv
197-8). It is listed also in Shearin's Syllabus, and Spaeth gives
it in JVeep Some More, My Lady, p. 35. The texts vary consider-
ably, though they are all clearly forms of one song. The North
Carolina texts — there are twenty- four in our collection — may be
grouped under three heads: those in which the dying girl speaks
to her sister (texts A-P, T-X), those in which she speaks to her
brother (texts Q-S), and those in which, whether she is speaking
to her brother or her sister, she reveals her jealousy of the girl who
has supplanted her (texts Q S T U W X). This element prob-
ably does not belong to the original song ; it is borrowed from
other songs of lovers' jealousy, most definitely from 'The Finished
Letter,' for which see BSM 213. Our texts are listed here. It
seems sufficient to print only one from each of the three groups.
A 'A Package of Old Letters.' From Miss Clara Hearne, Pittsboro,
Chatham county.
B 'The Rosewood Casket.' Obtained by Julian P. Boyd from Graham
Wayne, a pupil in the school at Alliance, Pamlico county.
C 'The Little Rosewood Casket.' From Jesse T. Carpenter, Durham.
D 'Package of Old Letters.' From Mrs. Minnie Church of Heaton,
Avery county, in 1930. An exceptionally full text.
E 'Little Rosewood Casket.' From Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga
county. Ten stanzas.
F 'Little Rosewood Casket.' From Elsie Lambert, Stanly county.
G 'The Little Rosewood Casket.' From the manuscript songbook of
Miss Lura Wagoner of Vox, Alleghany county.
H 'Little Rosewood Casket.' From the manuscript of Mrs. Mary Mar-
tin Copley, Route 8, Durham ; obtained by Jesse T. Carpenter.
I 'The Little Rosewood Casket.' Secured by L. W. Anderson from
Alva Wise, one of his pupils at Nag's Head.
632 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
J 'The Little Rosewood Casket.' From Miss Bonnie Ethel Dickson.
Ten stanzas.
K 'The Rosewood Casket.' From Miss Florence Holton of Durham.
Three stanzas only.
L 'The Rosewood Casket.' From C. G. Knox, student at Trinity Col-
lege. Not dated. Four stanzas.
M 'The Rose-Bud Casket.' From Mamie Mansfield of the Fowler
School District, Durham county, July 1922. Five stanzas.
N 'The Rosewood Casket.' From P. D. Midgett, Roanoke Island, in
1922. Seven stanzas, with the tune.
O 'Package of Old Letters.' From the manuscripts of G. S. Robinson of
Asheville, obtained in August 1939.
P 'Little Rosewood Casket.' Anonymous, but doubtless authentic. Ten
stanzas.
Q 'Rosewood Casket.' From Gertrude Allen (afterwards Mrs. Vaught),
Taylorsville, Alexander county.
R 'The Little Rosewood Casket.' From Mrs. Church of Heaton. A
four-stanza fragment.
S 'The Little Rosewood Casket.' From Miss Bonnie Ethel Dickson.
Six stanzas.
T 'Rosewood Casket.' From Ruth Efird of Stanly county. Six stanzas.
U 'There's a Rosewood Casket.' From Macie Morgan, Stanly county.
Six stanzas.
V 'The Little Rosewood Casket.' Contributed by Nancy Maxwell of
Durham in December 1920.
W 'Little Rosewood Casket.' Anonymous, but authentic. Six stanzas.
X 'Little Rosebud Casket.' From the Blaylock Collection. Eight stanzas.
As a specimen of the first of the three groups mentioned above here
is the E text. Mr. Smith notes on the manuscript : "This song, which
does not sound very old, was popular among the young people of Zion-
ville about twenty years ago; several people still sing it."
1 In the little rosewood casket
That is resting on my stand
Is a package of old letters
Written by a cherished hand.
2 Will you go and get them, sister?
Will you read them o'er to me?
For ofttimes I'v tried to read them
But for tears I could not see.
3 Read those precious lines so slowly
That I'll not miss even one.
For those cherished hands that wrote them
His last work for me is done.
4 You have got them now, dear sister.
Come set down upon my bed
NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 633
And press gently to your bosom
This poor throbbing, aching head.
5 Tell him that I never blamed him
Though to me he's proved untrue.
Tell him that I'll ne'er forget him
Till I bid this world adieu.
6 Tell him that I never blamed him ;
Not an unkind word was spoke.
Tell, oh, tell him, sister, tell him
That my heart in coldness broke.
7 When I'm dead and in my coffin
And my shroud's around me bound
And my little bed is ready
In the cold and silent ground,
8 Place his letters and his locket,
Place together o'er my heart.
But the little ring he gave me
From my finger never part.
9 Vou have finished now, dear sister.
Will you read them o'er again ?
While I listen to you read them
I will lose all sense of pain.
10 While I listen to you read them
I will gently fall asleep.
Fall asleep to wake with Jesus.
Oh, dear sister, do not weep.
Texts in which the girl speaks not to her sister but to her brother are
generally shorter. All three of them have taken over matter from 'The
Finished Letter.' Miss Allen's Q text will serve as a sample:
1 I've a little rosewood casket
Sitting on a marble step.
'Tis a package of love letters
Written by my sweetheart's hand.
2 Go and bring them to me, brother,
Set them down upon my bed.
Lean your head upon my pillow ;
My poor aching heart's most dead.
3 I will listen while you read them
And perhaps I'll fall asleep,
Fall asleep to wake with Jesus.
Dearest brother, do not weep.
634 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
4 When I'm dead and in my coffin
I'll be crowded all around,
And my narrow bed will be hallowed
In some lonesome churchyard ground.
5 He is coming through the gateway.
Brother, meet him at the door,
Tell him that I will forgive him
If he'll court that girl no more.
6 I saw him ride out last evening
With a lady by his side,
And I think I heard him tell her
That she soon would be his bride.
7 Take this letter to him, brother,
Tell him that I'm dead and gone,
Gone to heaven to await his coming.
Dearest brother, do not weep.
Of the texts in which the girl speaks to her sister but into which
the jealousy motive from The Finished Letter' has crept, the T text,
from Stanly county, will serve as a sample :
1 There's a little rosewood casket
Sitting on a marble wall.
'Tis a package of love letters
Written by my sweetheart's hand.
2 Go and bring them to me, sister,
And sit down upon my bed.
Lean your head upon my pillow ;
My poor aching heart's most dead.
3 I will listen while you read them
And perhaps I'll fall asleep,
Fall asleep to wake with Jesus.
Dearest sister, do not weep.
4 He is coming at the gateway.
Go and meet him at the door ;
Tell him that I will forgive him
If he'll court that girl no more.
5 Place his letters and his pictures
In my casket near my heart ;
For in life we met together
And in death we must not part.
6 When I'm dead and in my casket
I'll be shrouded all around;
NATIVE AMERICAN BALLADS 635
I'll be carried to the graveyard
And be sank beneath the ground.
------------------
273
The Little Rosewood Casket
'Little Rosewood Casket.' Sung by Mrs. H. K. Stamcy and Hestabel Dellinger.
Recorded at Altamont, Avery county, in 1940. The variations given below arc
derived from another recording, by Mrs. R. H. Buchanan.
For melodic relationship cf. **OFS iv 270, No. 763A ; SHP 62; BMFSB
32; MSNC 24, and AMS 54.
Scale: Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: aa^bc (2,2,2,2) =
ab (4,4).
E(I)
'Little Rosewood Casket.' Sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Recorded at
Turkey Creek, 1921 (?). This is really only another variation of the above
version.
For melodic relationship cf. ***SHP 62-3; BMFSB 32; MSNC 24;
**FSmWV 74, No. 28B.
Scale: Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: e-flat. Structure: aa^bc (2,2,2,2)
= ab (4,4).
N
'The Rosewood Casket.' Sung by C. K. Tillett. Recorded at Wanchese, Roa-
noke Island, 1922. The form is the same as that of version 28B, given in
FSmWV 73-
For melodic relationship cf. ***SHP 62; BMFSB 32; **MSNC 24.
Scale : Heptachordal, plagal. Tonal Center : e-flat. Structure : aa^bcbci (2,2,2,
2,2,2) = abb (4,4,4) or nmmi, inverted barform.