A Group of Indiana Folksongs
by Herbert Halpert
Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Mar., 1944), pp. 1-15
Volume II - HOOSIER FOLKLORE BULLETIN - Number 2; March, 1944
A GROUP OF INDIANA FOLKSONGS
Most of this small group of folksong texts were contributed to the editor between 1940-42 by people who had heard him give lectures at various places in Indiana, Although no one feels more strongly than he does that a text without the music is much less than half the song, this is a case of half a loaf being better than none. These texts may serve to interest other Hoosiers in securing similar songs, or in recalling them from their own memories, and thus lead to recording the music with the words.
A very considerable body of folksong texts has already been collected and published by Mr. Paul G. Brewster. His book, Ballads and Songs of Indiana (Indiana University Folklore Series, No. 1, Bloomington, Indiana University, copyright 1940) is a must for all Indiana residents interested in the cultural background of their state. Mr. Brewster has supplemented this collection by three articles in the Southern Folklore Quarterly: "Folksongs from Indiana," III (1939), 201-52 "More Songs from Indiana," IV (1940), 175-203 "More Indiana Ballads and Songs," V (1941), 169-90. In the field of the play-party, the book by Leah Jackson Wolford, The Play Party in Indiana (Indianapolis: The Indiana Historical Commission, 1916), is a classic "study well-packed with music.
Although Mr. Brewster's collections have a few melodies, the best body of Indiana folkmusic is found on a set of phonograph discs recorded in 1938 by Mr. Alan Lomax for the Archive of American Folk-Song, in the Music Division of the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. A duplicate set of these records is in the Indiana University Folklore Library. About half a dozen additional songs were recorded for the University by the writer. Miss Margaret Sweeney of Jeffersonville has also made a few records which are in her possession.
There is still a large field for further collecting in Indiana, and all Hoosiers are urged to aid both by contributing texts of songs they know and by locating other singers for possible recording. When songs are submitted, the contributor is requested to include full data on the name, age, and occupation of the singer, date and place of taking the song down, information on vrhere the singer learned it, and any comments he makes on the song or on singing in the old days. The songs here are chiefly British in origin, part of the stock
that has become thoroughly accepted in the American tradition. I have made no attempt to give an extended list of variants. The collections of Beiden, Brewster, Cox, and Sharp-Karpeles to which I refer, contain exhaustive parallels.
1. The Old Miller
(The Miller and His Three Sons)
Sung and dictated by Mr. Bruce Sare, Route 3, Bloomington, Indiana, March 10, 1941. He commented: "For fear it should be changed with 'The Jolly Miller', a play song, I think 'The Old Miller' is the right name for it."
1. There was an old miller who lived alone;
He had three sons and they was all grown;
And when he came to make his will,
Now he had nothin' but a little old mill.
Refrain: To my wack foddle diddle lolly day. (after each stanza)
2 He called to him his oldest son
And said, "My course is nearly run;
And if you the miller I make,
Tell me the toll you're going to take."
3. "Father," says he, "my name is Jack;
Out of every bushel I'll take a peck;
And every bushel that I do grind,
I hope in that a good living to find."
4. He called to him his second son
And said,to him his second son
And said, "My course is nearly run;
And if you the miller I make,
Tell me the toll you're going to take."
5 "Father," says he, "my name is Ralph;
Out of every bushel I'll take a half,
And every grist that I do grind,
I hope in that a good living to find."
6. He called to him his youngest son
And said, "My course is nearly run;
And if you the miller I make,
Tell me the toll you're going to take.*"
7. "Father," says he, "I'm your darling boy;
Taking toll is all my joy.
And if in that a good living I lack,
I'll take it all and swear to the sack."
8. "Well, well, well," the old man said,
"You're the only one that's learned my trade;
The mill is yours," the old man cried,
Kicked up his old heels and died.
*Sung slowly, "That's the way my father used to sing it, like the old man was gettin' discouraged."
(For references see: H. M. Beiden, Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folklore Society (University of Milsou Studies, XV, No. 1, 1940), pp. 244-46.)
"That was an old song when my grandmother was a girl in the '30's. That was right in this county, down near Buena Visty in Indian Creek township. She was dead before I was born, but I know my father got it from her when he was a boy. Where I heard him sing it was in the Washington Territory in the late '80's.
"I was born in this county, but I never heard him sing it till he got out there-in '86 I believe it was. I came back here, I was just a very small chap when he moved out there. Father's name John Lucian Sare, grandmother, Achie Steele - she was cousin to this fellow who used to paint pictures up to the college. Grandmother was sister to Achie,- Elizabeth Steele. Originally Steeles came from England. They settled originally in North Carolina, from there to Kentucky, and then to Indiana. Most of the people in the southern townships of this county came from Carolina. Stopped a while in Kentucky and came up."
Mr. Sare mentioned a number of other folksongs which he could only recall in part: "The House Carpenter", "The Jam on Gerry's Rock":
"Come all ye jolly shanty men and listen unto me"
Of the latter he said: "I kinda laid off that song, Rube and I used to run together and he sung that ...... Harry Elmore used to sing:
'I've seven ships a-sailing on the sea,
And seven more in port,.' ---'Young Cowboy' (Cowboy's Lament)
was Harry Elmores."
2. Lowly, Lowly
Contributed by Miss Irene A, McLean, of Indianapolis, Indiana, October 25, 1940. Miss McLean added the following note: "My grandmother taught the above ditty to my mother, Mrs. Ida L. McLean, cir. 1871. My
mother grew up in Ohio and California. My grandmother had lived in James City, Virginia, and in Buffalo, New York. If sufficiently provoked or coaxed, my mother will not only sing the ditty but will act it."
1 There was a little pious man
So faithful to his duty
He travelled all the world around,
In search of shining beauty.
Chorus: Lowly, lowly, lowly, low,
Lowly, lowly, lovrly, low,
Lowly, lowly, lowly, low,
I love to be a Quaker.
2. The boys they dearly love the girls;
They think it's hard to please them;
And if they always think it so,
It shall be good forever.
(There are several songs mocking the Quakers in the standard folksong collections, but a hasty check of several of them fails to disclose a parallel to this song. A cante-fable contributed by Miss McLean
appeared in the Bulletin, I, 5-8; a rhyme in II, 46.)
3. The Shoemaker's Song
Text contributed in 1941-42 by an Indiana University student who failed to sign his name. He secured it from a relative, Mrs. R, S. Compton, aged 84, of Nashville, Tennessee. Title is contributor's.
1. I bought me a wife and five pounds of leather,
We settled down foi life and we're bound down forever,
Chours: Tumble - lim- lum -larry,
Tumble- lim - lum, larry.
Ah, she is my dear!
2 We bought us a cow, and she had but one horn,
She'll give us milk a-plenty if we feed her on corn,
3 My wife she wants some shoes, and hain't got time to make 'em,
Got so much work to do for other people.
4 If she'll find the thread, I'll find the leather,
And with my peg and awl I'll tack them together.
5 I lost my ball of wax and where shall I find it?
T-h-e-r-e, now I have found it!
(For parallels see: John H, Cox, Folksongs of the South (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1928) p. 491; Cecil J. Sharp and Maud Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians (London: Oxford University Press, 1932), II, 75.)
4. Old Grimes
Contributed by Mr. A. L. Gary, Rushville, Indiana, April 20, 1942, Mr. Gary wrote: "I enclose the words of an old song which I heard when a youth, but have never seen it in print. It might interest you. It was sung frequently at school exhibitions. "Sometimes it was sung like the old church hymns were sung in the early
days when they had perhaps just one song book. The leader would read off two lines, then the congregation sang those two lines; then he would read off the next two lines and so on until they got through.
"In the last verse of this song where I have put the dash, instead of putting in the word which would make the rhyme complete, they usually inserted the name of some school district or town which did not stand
well in their estimation and it always brought applause from the audience..."
On July 23, 1942, Mr. Gary wrote again: "You are correct, 'Old Grimes' was sung to the tune of 'Auld Lang Syne'. It was quite a catchy tune when sung by the entire audience. Of course, all of the voices were
not in tuna, but they made up in quantity what they lacked in quality."
1 Old Grimes is dead, that good old man,
We never shall see him more;
He used to wear an old blue coat,
All buttoned down before.
2 And on his head an old white hat
He always used to wear,
To cover up his shining pate
So destitute of hair.
3 Old Grimes' wife made butter and cheese,
Old Grimes would drink the whey,
There came an east wind from the west,
And blew poor Grimes away.
4 Now this old man, he had two sons,
And these two sons were brothers.
Tobias was the name of one,
Biochus was the other.
5 Now these two sons they had a mule,
And he was wondrous kind,
Tobias rode him on before,
Biochusrode him on before,
Biochus on behind.
6 And these two sons, they would get drunk
When'er they had the tin.
Tobias, he got drunk on rum,
Biochus, he on gin.
7 And these two sons they had some clothes,
They were made by Mrs. Grundy.
Tobias wore them all the week,
Biochus wore them Sunday.
8 When these two sons they came to die,
A sadder tale to tell,
Tobias, he to heaven went,
Biochus went to ___.
(For the background of this song see Beiden, pp, 258-59. For some reason the first part of the song seems to fuse easily with other songs; see Cox, p. 490, In Mr, Gary's version the second half is a song that used to be popular in college circles, I have a New York State version in which "Old Grimes" is in combination with "Billy Grimes the Drover.")
5. The Little Ground
Contributed by Mr. A. L. Gary, Rushville, Indiana, July 23, 1942, Mr. Gary wrote: "I am enclosing two other songs which were prominent in my youth. I have no idea where either of them originated. The song, 'The Little Ground' was first sung in my hearing by one Wesley McFatridge about the year 1880. He had been in the West as far as Arizona with a surveying crew doing some railroad surveying. There are a number of other
old songs that may come to me. If you desire them, I will send you a copy of the words, but unfortunately, I ara not able to write the music for you."
1 Once there was a little ground,
Purtiest little ground what you ever did see,
O, the ground----
The groen grass growing all around and around,
The green grass growing all around.
2 On that ground there was a field,
Purtiest little field what you ever did see,
O, the field was on the ground----
The green grass growing all around and around,
The green grass growing all around.
3 In that field there was a tree,
Purtiest little tree what you ever did see.
O, the tree was in the field, and the field was on the ground---
The green grass growing all around and around,.
The green grass growing all around.
4 On that tree there was a limb,
Purtiest little limb what you ever did see.
0, the limb was on the tree, and the tree
was in the field, and the field was on the ground---
The green grass growing all around and around,
The green grass growing all around.
5 On that limb there was a leaf,
Purtiest little leaf what you ever did see,
0, the leaf was on the limb, and the limb
was on the tree, and the tree was in the field, and the field was on the ground---
The green grass growing all around and around,
The green grass growing all around.
6 On that leaf there was a nest,
Purtiest little nest what you ever did see.
O, the nest was on the leaf, and the leaf
was on the limb, and the limb was on the
tree, and the tree was in the field, and
the field was on the ground---
The green grass growing all around and around,
The green grass growing all around.
7 In that nest there was an egg,
Purtiest little egg what you ever did see.
0, the egg was in the nest, and the nest
was on the leaf, and the leaf was on the
limb, and the limb was on the tree, and
the tree was in the field, and the field
was on the ground---
The green grass growing all around and around,
The green grass growing all around.
8 In that egg there was a bird,
Purtiest little bird what you ever did see.
O, the bird was in the egg, and the egg was
in the nest, and the nest was on the leaf,
and the leaf was on the limb, and the limb
was on the tree, and the tree was in the
field, and the field was on the ground -
The green grass growing all around and around,
The green grass growing all around.
(This is a good version of an accumulative song. For a variant see Sharp-Karpeles, II, 281-82. Mr. Gary sang some folksongs for recording at Indiana University in the spring of 1942. He also contributed some yarns which appeared in the Bullet in s II, 4/--45.)
6. The Noble Squire
(Dog and Gun)
Contributed by Miss Emma Robinson, of Bloomington, Indiana, March 19, 1941, from the singing of her aunt, Mrs. C. B, Bessick, who lives on a rural route near Bloomington. Mrs, Bessick learned it when she was ten
Years old from Jane Polly who lived near Bloomington.
1 There was a noble squire in London did dwell;
He courted a lady, a lady so fair.
All for to get married was their whole intent;
Their friends and relations had give their consent.
2 Instead of getting married she went to her bed,
The thoughts of the farmer so strong in her head.
Both weskit and britches this lady put on,
All for to go a-hunting with her dog and her gun.
3 She hunted all around where the farmer did dwell,
Oft-times she did fire but nothing did kill,
Oft-times she did fire but nothing did kill,
At last the jolly faimer came out in the field.
4 "Why ain't you at the wedding?" the lady she cried,
"To wait on the squire and grant him his bride?"
"Oh no," says the faimer, "I love her too well,"
"Oh no," says the farmer, "I cannot give her away."
5. This young lady being glad for to hear of his love,
She pulled out her glove that was flowered with gold;
And she told him she had found it as she came along,
As she was a~hunting with her dog and her gun.
6. This young lady she went home with her heart full of love,
And put out the news that she had lost her glove.
"Oh he that will find it and bring it to me,
"Oh he that will find it, his bride I will be."
7 This young farmer being glad for to hear of this news,
He picked up the glove that was flowered with gold.
"My dear honest lady, I've brought you your glove,
I hope you will please for to grant me your love."
8 "My love's already granted," the lady replied,
"I love the sweet breath of the farmer," she cried.
"I'll be mistress of the dairy and the milking of the cows
While the jolly young farmer goes whistling to his plow."
9 They hadn't been married long till she told of her fun,
How she hunted up the farmer with her dog and her gun.
"And now I have caught him so fast in my snare,
I'll love him forever I vow and declare."
(For references see Beiden, pp. 229-?31, Miss Robinson contributed several folktales to the Bulletin, I, 14-15, and 22, She also collaborated with the editor in an article: "'Oregon' Smith, and Indiana Folk Hero", SFQ VI (1942), 163-68.)
7 Willie Hall
Contributed by Miss Etama Robinson, Bloomington, Indiana, March 19, 1941, from the singing of her aunt, Mrs. C, B. Bessick.
1 Love is sweet and love is charming,
Love's a burden to my soul;
I courted a fair and a handsome lady,
And she lived in Wesco town.
I courted a fair and a handsome lady,
And she lived in Wesco town,
2 Her parents being angry with her,
Very angry Indeed,
They sent her Willie across the ocean,
Where she ne'er could see him any more.
They sent her Willie across the ocean,
Where she ne'er could see him any more.
3 "I'll steer my boat through every valley,
I'll steer my boat from shore to shore;
If my Willie's alive, I'm sure to find him,
Oh, I'll go and try once more.
If my Willie's alive, I'm sure to find him,
Oh, I'll go and try once more."
4 As I was walking down the valley,
As I was walking down the lane,
Cold drops of rain fell on my shoulder,
Oh, I'll see my Willie again.
Cold drops of rain fell on my shoulder,
Oh, I'll see my Willie again.
5 "Good morning, good morning to you, fair lady,
Do you fancy me or no?"
"My fancy's a brawn and brave young soldier,
Who's lately gone to the war,"
"My fancy's a brawn and brave young soldier,
Who's lately gone to the war."
6 "I saw him and I knew him,
And his name was Willie Hall.
I saw a cannon ball go thru him,
And in death he quick did fall,
I saw a cannon ball go thru him,
And in death he quick did fall."
7 The screams, the screams of this fair lady,
The screams, the screams I'll ne'er forget,
"My true love's dead and I'm broken hearted,
Oh, what shall I ever do?
My true love's dead and I'm broken hearted,
Oh, what shall I ever do?"
8. "Arise, arise, my fair young lady,
The truth to you I now must tell*
You see this ring upon my finger,
Here's the ring that you gave me.
You see this ring upon my finger,
Here's the ring that you gave me."
9. So this young couple they joined right hands,
And then to the squire they did go.
So this young couple was lawfully married,
Whether their parents were willing or no.
So this young couple was lawfully married,
Whether their parents were willing or no.
(For references see Beiden, pp. 156-60)
8. Indian Song
(Shule Aron)
Text contributed in 1941-42 by an Indiana University student who failed to sign his name. He secured it from a relative, Mrs. R. S. Compton, aged 84, of Nashville, Tennessee. Title is contributor's.
1 The rose is red, the grass is green,
The pleasure is fled that I have seen,
Others in the place where I might have been,
As ker vallie, vallie-voo,
Shacka - lo - li rill.
Chorus: Shurli - shurli shurlika - shac,
Shurlika shackali - shurli - ho;
Voli - mooster, sallie - salli voo,
As ker vallie, vallie - voo,
Shacka - lo - li rill.
2. I place myself on top of the hill,
And there my tears may turn a mill,
Till this old heart grows cold and still,
As ker vallie, vallie - voo,
Shacka - lo - li rill.
3 I'll sell my clock, I'll sell my reel,
Next I'll sell my spinning wheel,
To buy my true love a sword and shield,
As ker vallie, vallie -voo,
Shacka - lo - li - rill.
(For references see Beiden, pp. 281-82, This charming song is Irish, but the Gaelic refrain has become unintelligible nonsense in most of the American texts.)
9. Lord Thomas And Fair Ellen
(Child 73)
Text contributed by Mrs. Lena L. Aveline, of Marion, Indiana, in the summer of 1942, some weeks after she had sung and dictated to the editor a less complete text. She "learned it 65 years ago in Grant County, I
don't know how it came into our family." When dictating it she remarked: "I'll be 76 my next birthday and I do everything anybody else does," At that time I asked, when she had learned the song and she said: "When I
was young, Maggie!' Years and years and years ago. It's been 30 years since I ever thought of it, I have included here some of Mrs. Aveline's comments made when first dictating the song to me."
1 "Mother, 0 mother, will you discourse,
Will you discourse as one?
Or would you marry Fair Ellen,
Or bring The Brown Girl home?"
(Mrs. Aveline's daughter asked: "Well, just whatever has that to do with it?" She replied tartly: "0 it doesn't have to mean anything!")
2 "The Brown Girl she has house and land,
Fair Ellen she has none;
Therefore I will charge you with my dear blessing,
Go bring The Brown Girl home."
3 "I will go, I will go," says one,
"I will-go, I will go," says he,
"And invite Fair Ellen to my wedding,
Tomorrow at eight o'clock it will be."
4 He rode and he rode till he came to the hall,
So loudly he knocked on the ring;
("Just a knocker or doorbell, I s'pose.")
And none so ready as Fair Ellen herself,
To rise and let him come in.
5 "Good news, good news," Fair Ellen said,
"Good news, Lord Thomas, you bring."
"Bad news, bad news," Lord Thomas said,
"Bad news, Fair Ellen, I bring."
6 "I have come, I have come," said one,
(At this point in dictating the text Mrs. Aveline could not remember the exact wording and said: "I don't know which it is and it doesn't matter.")
"I have come, I have come," said he;
"I have come to invite you to my wedding,
Tomorrow at eight o'clock it will be."
7 "Your wedding, your wedding," Fair Ellen cried,
"I think it came wonderfully soon,
I expected to have been myself the bride,
And you to have been the groom."
8 "0 mother, 0 mother, will you discourse,
Will you discourse as one?
Or would you go to Lord Thomas's wedding,
Or would you tarry at home?"
9 She dressed herself in scarlet red,
Her waiting maid in green.
And every city that they passed through,
They took her to be some queen.
(The singer hesitated here and said: "Now I tell you it's been years and years and years.")
10 She rode and she rode till she came to the hall,
So loudly she knocked on the ring,
And none so ready as Lord Thomas himself,
To rise and let her come in.
11 He took Fair Ellen by the hand,
And led her through the hall,
And seated her down at the head of the table
Among the ladies all.
12 "Is this your bride?" Fair Ellen cried,
"I think she looks wonderfully brown.
You might have married as fair a lady
As ever the sun shone on."
("Then The Brown Girl got in her stuff!")
13 The Brown Girl having a' knife in her hand,
It being both keen and sharp,
She pierced it through Fair Ellen,
She pierced it through her heart.
14 "What is the matter?" Lord Thomas cried,
"I think you look wonderfully pale.
You used to have such rosy cheeks
I thought they would never fail."
15 "Are you turning blind?" Fair Ellen cried,
"Or can you not very well see?
And don't you see my own heart's blood
A-flowing down by me?"
("Tragic]")
16 He took The Brown Girl by the hand,
And led her through the hall,
He took his sword, cut off her head,
("Wasn't he awful?")
And kicked it against the wall,
("That's worse yet")
17 "Go dig my grave," Lord Thomas cried,
"Go dig it both long and deep.
And bury Fair Ellen in my arms,
And The Brown Girl at my feet."
18 With the handle of the sword against the wall,
The point against his breast*
(He cried:) "Here is the end of three true lovers;
Pray God send them to rest."
*("They just put that in for good measure 'cause they don't say he says it.")
(For references to this old ballad see Brewster, pp, 58-70. "Child 73" refers to the number under which the ballad is discussed in the great scholarly collection of Prof. Francis James Child. Mrs. Aveline and her daughter contributed stories to the Bulletin, I, 27-28.)
10. Young Charlotte
Contributed in the summer of 1942, by Mrs. Lena Aveline, of Marion, Indiana. When handling me the text she remarked: "We*ve always had that; I don't know where we got it."
1 Young Charlotte lived on a mountain top,
It was in a dreary spot.
There were no dwellings for five miles round
Except her father's cot.
2 'Twas winter and the nights were cold,
High beamfe her lingering eye
A? oft to the frozen windows she'd go
To see the sleighs go by.
3 'Twas New Year's Eve, the sun was low,
High beams her lingering ear,
When a well-known voice she heard,
And driving up to her father's door,
And driving up to her father's door,
Young Charles's sleigh drew near.
4 In a village fifteen miles away
There is a ball tonight.
The air so freezing cold as death,
Tho' her heart was warm and light.
5 "O daughter dear," the mother said,
"This blanket round you fold;
The air so freezing cold as death;
You'll catch your death of cold."
6 "O no, O no!" the maid replied,
And laughed like a gypsy queen,
"With all those blankets muffled round
I never could be seen.'
7 So shawl and bonnet she put on,
And stepped into the sleigh,
And over hills and mountain top,
And over the hills away.
8 "Such a night as this I never saw;
The reins I scarce can hold,"
She answered back in frozen tones,
"I am now exceedingly cold."
9 "How fast," cried Charles, "the frozen snow
Doth gather on my brow,"
Shi answered back in those few words,
"I am growing warmer now."
10 He cracked his whip, he urged his team
Much faster than before,
Till five more long and dreary miles
In silence they ran o'er.
11 Young Claries drove up and then stepped out
And offered her his hand,
"Why sit you there like a monument
That has no power to stand?"
12 He asked her once, he asked heir twice.
Yet nothing to him said,
He tore the mantle from her brow
Saying, "O my God! She's dead!"
13 Into the lighted hall,
Her lingering form was borne.
Saying, "fare you well, my bonny, bqnny bride,
You he'er shall chill any more?"
14 He took:hia seat down by her side,
The bitter tear did flow,
He twined his arms around her waist,
He kissed her marble brow;
Then his thoughts ran back to the place she said,
"I am growing warmer now."
(For references see Beiden, ppf 308-17} Brewster, pp. 181-87, Brewster SFQ III (1939), 201, 31 V (1941), 172-74. This well-known American ballad was studied by the late Phillips Barry. Folksingers usually handle
the extra lines in a stanza. as in 3 and 14, by repeating the melodic phrase of the previous line or two,)
11. Naragansett Bay
Contributed by Miss Emma Robinson, Bloomington, Indiana, March 19, 1941, from the singihg of her aunt, Mrs. C. B. Bessick.
1 Full well do I remember my childhood's happy hours;
The cottage and the garden where bloomed the fairest flowers,
The bright and sparkling waters o'er which we used to ride
With bright-eyed laughing little Nell of the Naragansett tide.
Chorus: Toll, toll the bell at early dawn of day,
For lovely Nell so quickly passed away;
Toll, toll the bell so sad and mournfully,
For bright-eyed laughing little Nell of the Naragansett Bay.
2 I loved the little beauty, my boat it was my pride,
And with her close beside me what joy the. foam to ride,
She'd laugh in tones so merry to see the ships go by
When wildly blew the stormy wind and murky was the sky.
3 One day she wandered from me, and soon within the boat
The cord was quickly loosened, and with the tide a-float
The treacherous barque flew lightly and swift before the wind.
While home and friends and all so dear were many miles behind.
4 Next day her form all lifeless, was washed upon the beach;
I stood and gazed upon it, bereft of sense and speech.
'Tis years since thus we parted, but I'm weeping all the day
For bright-eyed laughing little Nell of the Naragansett Bay.
(This sentimental song is included chiefly because it has been listed by other collectors. See Brewster, p. 345.)
12. King George He Was King William's Son
Given to the editor in 1942 by Mrs. Louis Beiden of Indianapolis, Indiana as a "correction" sent by members of a women's music club to whom I had sung a humorous stanza of this song. Mrs. Beiden writes: "I assured them that as a collector you would be pleased to be corrected."
King George, he was King William's son,
And in the royal race he run;
Upon his breast he wore a scar,
Emblem of the Northern War.
(This is a well-known play party song. Page references are not at hand, but it is listed in Wolford and in B. A. Botkin's exhaustive study, The American Play-Party Song.)
Station No. 18, ATC, APO 462,
c/o PM, Minneapolis, Minn.
Herbert Halpert
2nd Lt., Air Corps