American Songs & Ballads- Political Themes
D. Political Themes Contents
60. The Liberty Ball 144
61. A Song for the Campaign 145
62. The True American 147
63. The Empire Club 149
64. Wait for the Wagon 1 5 1
D. Political Themes
The longest of these topical songs runs to only 8 stanzas, easily memorized for "coal-ile parades" or their earlier equivalents in presidential campaigns. Three of the five are concerned with the campaign of 1852, when the Stevens family evidently favored the Democratic party. Even in the Civil War later there were still many Democrats upstate, though nowadays we think of rural western New York as almost solidly Republican.
A feature of political songs was the use of new words for popular tunes, which were sometimes from minstrel shows. "A
Song for the Campaign" in 1852 was set to the melody of
"Old Dan Tucker," a minstrel song published in 1843. "The
Empire Club" in 1852 was sung to Foster's tune for "Oh,
Susannah" (1848); this song appeals to the Irish voter by using
the preposterous claim that Pierce's father was born in Erin. In
1856 "Wait for the Wagon," to the tune of a popular song of
1 85 1, attacks a "mongrel clan," the "Black Republicans." The
new party was mongrel in the sense that it was composed of
former members of other parties; it was black because of its
abolitionist sympathies. After passage of the Fugitive Slave Act
of 1850 sympathy for slaves had increased upstate; for example,
in Syracuse a colored man named Jerry was rescued in 185 1 from
the custody of a federal court that would have sent him back
South to his former owner; in Rochester the great colored orator,
Frederick Douglass, also born in slavery, was one of the leading
workers for abolition; through Auburn and on up to Canada
the heroic "Aunt Harriet" Tubman led scores of runaway slaves
to freedom "under de lion's paw."
60. The Liberty Ball
This song of abolition days does not appear in any of the books
examined. It was set to the tune of "Rosin the bow" [beau], says a
note in the manuscript. According to Spaeth, there were at least
four other songs to that tune between 1840 and 1875, though he does
American Songs and Ballads 145
not list this one. The abolitionist Liberty party was founded in
1840. This song probably dates from about that time. In i860 the
same tune was used for "Lincoln and Liberty."
The Liberty Ball
1 . Come all ye true friends of the nation
Attend to humanitys call
Come aid the poor slaves liberation
And roll on the liberty ball
And roll on the liberty ball
Come aid the poor slaves liberation
And roll on the liberty ball
2. The liberty hosts are advancing
For freedom to all they declare
The downtrodden millions are sighing
Come break up our gloom and despair
Come break up our gloom of despair
3. Ye democrats come to the rescue
And aid on the liberty cause
And millions will rise up and bless you
With heart cheerings songs of aplause
With heart cheering songs of applause
4. Ye Whigs forsake slavery's minions
And boldly step into our ranks
We care not for party opinions
But invite all the friends of the banks
And invite all the friends of the banks
5. And when we have formed the blesst union
We'll firmly march on one and all
We'll sing when we meet in communion
And roll on the liberty ball
x\nd roll on the liberty ball
61. A Song for the Campaign
This 1852 campaign song of the Democratic party was sung to
the air "Old Dan Tucker." Franklin Pierce (1 804-1 869) was the
Democratic presidential candidate, and William Rufus Devane King
(178 6- 1853) was the candidate for vice-president. The latter's title
146 A Pioneer Songster
of "colonel" seems to have been an honorary one, or else it was
given through confusion with Pierce, who was a colonel in the
Mexican War.
Stanza 3 refers to the campaign of 1844, in which James Knox
Polk ( 1 795-1 849) was nominated as a "dark horse" by the Demo-
crats and was elected. Pierce was nominated under similar circum-
stances in 1852; the party expected similar results. The election was
a Democratic victory with an electoral vote of 254 for Pierce to
42 for General Winfield Scott, his Whig opponent.
According to The Dictionary of American English (Chicago,
1942), to give someone "Jesse" means to scold or beat him soundly,
though the origin of the expression is obscure. JAFL (I [1888], 78)
prints an explanation of the term written by N. S. Shaler. "Jess," in
the days of falconry, was a thong by which the bird was attached to
the wrist; it was also used for punishing a bird that retrieved poorly.
A Song for the Campaign
1 . Come sons of freedom all draw nigh
And let us raise our banners high
Come let us strike our cause is just
the democratic truth we trust
Clear the track for pierce is comeing
Clear the track for Pierce is comeing
Clear the track for Pierce is comeing
And colonel king is with him runing
2. Hurrah for Pierce he's on the track
And Colonel King is on his back
They both are honest good and true
And whig humbuggery will not do
Get out of the way for Pierce is comeing
And colonel King with him is running
3. We whipped the whigs in forty four
As we had often done before
They did not know our james K polk
And swore his name was all a joke
Get out of the way for Pierce is comeing
And colonel King is with him running
American Songs and Ballads 147
4. Our principles are still the same
We never stoop or change our name
We stand united in the fight
And Whiggery we put to flight
Clear the track for Pierce is comeing
And Colonel King is with him running
5. Oour cause has stood the test of time
Our principles like gold do shine
While Fedral whigs change every year
And in new dresses do appear
Clear the track you whigs remember
You'll catch jesse in November
62. The True American
This Democratic party song for the campaign of 1852 does not
appear in any of the books examined. The tune for it mentioned in
the Douglass Manuscript is "My Dearest Mae."
In the campaign of 1852 there was no strong division of principles
between the parties; as a result, the attacks by each party were
mainly on the personalities of the opposing candidates.
"Steward" in stanza 3 may refer to Alvan Stewart (1 790-1 849),
who was a member of the New York antislavery organization and
for several years was active in organizing auxiliary groups, or to
William Henry Seward (1 801-1872), who was against all compro-
mise on slavery.
Stanzas 4 and 5 refer to the "Americus" letter published by Gen-
eral Scott, the Whig candidate, in the National Intelligencer for
December 17, 1844. In this letter, according to Charles Winslow
Elliott {W infield Scott, the Soldier and the Man [New York,
1937]), Scott gave his views on the naturalization of aliens in the
hope of gaining support from the Native American party. He was
so much criticized for the letter that, when the Whigs considered
him for the presidential nomination, his political advisers suggested
that he recant. As a result he wrote to Thurlow Weed, May 30,
1848, that naturalized citizens should have full civil and political
rights and that because they had proved their zeal in the Mexican
campaign he was happy to call them his countrymen. The Demo-
148 A Pioneer Songster
crats, however, made much of his having hanged some twenty sol-
diers guilty of desertion to the Mexican army. The fact that they
were of Irish ancestry was emphasized in order to influence the
Irish-American vote.
Aside from the political references, it is interesting to notice the
quotation from Shakespeare's Macbeth, in stanza 2, line 2: "The cry
is still they come."
The True American
Again we've marshalled for the fight the spirit stiring drum
Reverberates throughout all the land the cry is still they come
To battle for the ancient faith and to its altar bring
The votive off rings in their hearts for gallant Pierce and King
Chorus Then to the breeze we'll fling
The flag of Pierce and King
And with a shout
We'll put to rout
The fees [foes] of pierce . . .
. . . the tramp of mighty men . . .
. . . work shop . . .
Aloft the stars and stripes they throw and make the welkin ring
Then to the &c
The South calls up her fiery sons with words of burning zeal
And like a wall of liveing fire and strong as tempered steel
They stand between the compromice and stewards prjured bands
Resolved the ark shall not be touched by his unholy hands
Then to the &c
The gen'rous noble hearted boys of brave old erin's isle
Will strike blow for gallant Pierce against a man so vile
For Scott with indignation fired thus to the natives wrote
That if he only had his way the irish should not vote
Then to the &c
But now he thinks he'd let them vote and citizens become
If they will wade through seas of blood to follow fife and drum
But 'twill not do for erins harp gives music from each string
For those who feel for erins sons for gallant Pierce and King
Then to the &c
American Songs and Ballads 149
Then like a mighty avalanche from some high mountain peak
We'll hurl ourselves upon the foe and a sure vengence wreak
And when their black flag trails in dust we'll make the blue dome
ring
With shouts of joy and victory for gallant Pierce and King
Then to the &c
63. The Empire Club
"Oh, Susannah" is the tune to which this Democratic campaign
song of 1852 was sung. General Winfield Scott (1786-1866), the
Whig nominee for president, is referred to in line 2, "pultepee" be-
ing a shortened form of Chapultepec, where Scott won the victory
which gave him Mexico City. Line 3 refers to remarks in letters he
wrote before assuming command in the Mexican campaign. Ac-
cording to General Aiarcus J. Wright (General Scott [New York,
1893]), t ^e fact that the administration disagreed with Scott's plans
for the prosecution of the war led Scott to write in 1846 that "sol-
diers had a far greater dread of a fire upon the rear than of the most
formidable enemy in the front." While General Scott was awaiting
orders, he was away from his office one day when the Secretary of
War called. When Scott returned, he wrote a note explaining his
absence; he "had only stepped out for the moment to take a hasty
plate of soup." Six years later these two quotations became bywords
during the campaign of 1852.
That year the Whig party was badly divided. The DAB quotes
the remark of Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune,
that "if an anti-slavery Whig must give up his anti-slavery or his
Whiggery, we choose to part with the latter." The "Silver Grays"
were a group of conservative Whigs who broke away from the
party at its national convention in 1850 at Syracuse, New York.
They were so called either because most of them had gray hair or
because Francis Granger, the leader, was gray-haired. "Godlike
Dan" was Daniel Webster, who, disappointed at not receiving the
Whig nomination for president, refused to support Scott and pre-
dicted the downfall of the party.
The implication of the chorus is that Scott is singing it, for "going
up Salt river" is a proverbial reference to political defeat.
The letters in stanza 3 probably refer to the ones that Scott wrote;
150 A Piofieer Songster
they are explained in the introduction to "The True American"
(p. 147). In stanza 4 Patrick probably refers to the Irish immigrant;
Harney may be Brigadier General William Selby Harney, who was
mentioned for bravery at Medellin, Mexico, on March 25, 1847.
In stanza 5 the reference to Franklin Pierce's being of Irish descent
is either deliberate misrepresentation in order to appeal to the Irish-
American vote or a result of confusion with the Vice-President's
ancestry. Some of King's ancestors were from the north of Ireland,
but Pierce's father was born in Massachusetts of English ancestry.
Billy York was probably William Henry Seward, who was from
New York State. The mention of Scott's epaulets was designed to
encourage the antagonism of those who, thinking Scott too fond of
military regalia, called him "Fuss and Feathers."
The Empire Club
1 . I had a dream the other night when all around was still
I dreamed I saw old pultepee a sliding down the hill
The shasty soup was in his hand the fire was in his rear
His freesoil allies would not stand but scattered far and near
oh poor greely don't you spit on me
I'm going up salt river
With the platform on my knee
2. The silver greys were laughing loud the southern whigh were
grum
While Godlike dan stood cold and proud he did not like the
drum
Some strained themselves to raise a cheer about [above] Niagara
roar
It all fell flat it seemed so queer twas never dome before
oh poor greely &c
3. He had a pack of letters too he'd wrote since frty one
With prnciples of every hue weighing more than a ton
The whole was fast upon his back and nearly crushed him down
And not a whig in all of all the pack could stop to lift apound
oh poor greely
4. He called the irish long and loud from patrick up to harney
But paddy . . . and bowed and just he twiged the blarney
Arrah . . . nor caught with trashy writin
American Songs and Ballads 151
. . . ye'd better stick to fightin
[oh poor greely &]
5. But Franklin Pierce's the boy for me his father came from erin
His father's son is frank and free we like his fine appearin
But still poor scott kept slipping adown that slip'ry hill
He called on Billy York at last and called both loud and shrill
oh poor greely &c
6. But Billys feet were slipping too his darkies wouldn't draw
Poor Greely sweat and greely braced to stop the generals slide
But greely's morralls double-faced slid onward with the tide
oh poor greely etc
7. Those mystic epaulets he grasped Scott wore in forty eight
His brains were never here he gasped but all this came too late
That horrid war we used to hate we love it dearly now
We never taked of bloody graves deny it any how
oh poor greely &c
8. Thus in the vision of the ni^ht when all around was still
D
I saw the whigs in motly flight far down that slip'ry hill
While Demorats were on the brow and made the welkin ring
Old coon we've fairly caught you now hurrah for Pierce and
King
oh poor greely c.
64. Wait for the Wagon
The Democratic party sang this campaign song in the year 1856,
when the Negro question was a bitter one. The personal references
are to John Charles Fremont, who was the Republican presidential
candidate, and to Horace Greeley, William Seward, Preston King,
Joshua Giddings, and Henry Ward Beecher, all of whom were Re-
publicans and opposed to slavery. "Loco" is part of the name "Loco-
foco" applied to Democrats. "Pennsyltuck" is a portmanteau word
formed from Pennsylvania, the home state of the presidential candi-
date of the Democrats, James Buchanan, and from Kentucky, home
of the candidate for the vice-presidency, J. C. Breckinridge.
The music for the original "Wait for the Wagon" (1851) was
composed by R. Bishop Buckley, who was born in England about
1 8 10. After coming to the United States, he organized Buckley's
Minstrels in 1843 and, according to Johnson's Our Familiar Songs
152 A Pioneer Songster
and Those Who Made Them (New York, 1909), became its most
attractive feature.
Wait for the Waggon
Will you come with me good democrats
And rally round our flag
To fight the Black Republicans
Who play the game of brag
We'll meet them in discussion
We'll meet them at the polls
We'll met these same old coons again
And drive them to their holes
Wait for the Waggon &c
Theres Fremont with his woolley horse
With greely on his back
And seward with the monster bank
With all the federal pack
And king from old St. lawrence
With Giddings by his side
We'll give those negro worshipers
A good november ride
Wait for the Waggon
The old demoratic Waggon
Wait for the waggon
And yoll all take aride
We'll ride then up salt river
To their homes again
We'll give them no fresh water
Except a Loco Reign
Master Seward Shall be captain
And Beecher man the gun
And Greely pay the banjo
Whill St lawrence beats the drum
Wait for the Waggon
Our Waggon comes from pennsyltuck
By Democrats twas made
And made of good old Hickory
So you need not be afraid
American Songs and Ballads 153
Then all aboard ye federal tribe
We'll ticket every man
That goes the negro worshipers
Or goes the mongrel clan
Then wait for the waggon
The old demoratic waggon
Wait for the waggon
And youll all take aride