Brown Collection- X. Songs Of Prisoners and Tramps
X. SONGS OF PRISONERS AND TRAMPS (Contents)
350. The Prisoner's Song
351. Seven Lonc; Years 416
352. Twenty-One Years Is a Mighty Lonc Time 417
353. Write My xMothek I'll Be Home 418
354. Durham Jail 419
355. Moonshiner's Dream 420
356. jNIay I Sleei' in Your Barn Tonicut, Mister? 420
357. The Tramp Song 423
358. Tale of a Tramp 425
359. The Wild and Reckless Houo 426
360. The Dying Hobo 427
361. Waiting for a Train 428
362. Banjo Tramp 429
363. Hand Me Down My Walking Cane
364. I Lay Around the Old Jail House (John C. Britton ) 431
365. The Foggy Mountain Top 433
X. SONGS OF PRISONERS AND TRAMPS
THE SONGS in the following- small section have affinities with - many pieces in several preceding sections. They are superficially related to the outlaw and murder ballads. They differ from those, however, in subject-matter, aim, emphasis, and point of view. Whereas in the ballads the substance is action and the chief object is to tell a story, in the songs about to be presented the material
is mainly feeling and mood, and the purpose is to indulge in self-
pity, to convey a state of mind, or to arouse sympathy. By the
latter criteria several pieces placed among the ballads, e.g., "Tom
Dula's Lament' and 'Shackleford's Farewell Song,' would properly
belong here; but they have been left with the true ballads about
the same persons. The following songs also resemble many of the
constituents of the "Folk Lyric" section. They are separated from
those because they show a degree of homogeneous specialization in
their subjects. They are the lonely, sometimes maudlin, cry of
men who have been alienated from normal society by crime, in-
dolence, or misfortune.
Of the prisoners' songs, the first printed below has been popular
for a long time over a wide area. One of the editors of this col-
lection learned the tune and a few stanzas, forty years ago, from a
stout and jolly young white man who sang it in a rich bass voice
while he chopped cotton in a Mississippi creek-bottom field. The
same singer rendered it again one night, to guitar accompaniment,
in a moonlit farmyard during one of the intermissions of a country
breakdown. 'Twenty-One Years' has at least one stanza notable
in folk song for its expression of utter loneliness and alienation.
Though lamenting "hard times," "Durham Jail" is satirical rather
than self -pitying.
Not knowing well the gypsy, whom European folk have senti-
mentalized about, the American i)eople have romanticized the tramp
or hobo. Half a dozen of the following pieces illustrate this tend-
ency. 'May 1 Sleej) in \'()ur Barn Tonight. Mister?' is a widely
popular sob story accounting for the speaker's vagrancy. Though
a ballad in narrative content, its self-conscious and calculated pathos
may justify our placing it here, if not for a reason similar to that
which left 'Tom Dula's Lament' among the ballads. Much the same admission iiii.yht he mack' al)()Ut "I'ale of a Traini).' The others,
though, are rather lyrical tlian narrative. All these pieces are more
concerned about arousing sympathy with or for a human derelict
than about telling a story for its own sake. And. poor as most of
them are, they may be more interesting than are editorial reasons
for placing thcni where they are.
The Prisoner's Song
Miss Scarborough (SCSM 346) thinks this is a descendant of
the English 'Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries,' which is re-
ported from Sussex in JFSS i 135. In this country, especially in
the Southern mountains, it has got mixed with a sentimental song
by J. A. Wade, 'Meet Me in the Moonlight,' which has nothing to
do with prisoners. In its characteristic Appalachian form it has
three motives: the jail, the moonlight, and a ship. Nova Scotia
texts (BSSNS 303, SENS 309) know nothing of the ship or the
moonlight. But texts from Virginia (SCSM 347-9), Kentucky
(ASb 216-7), North Carolina (SCSM 349-51), and— as it hap-
pens—Iowa (MAFLS XXIX 49) have all three. Another from
Kentucky ( FSSH 327) has the prison cell but no moon or ship;
one from West Virginia (FSmWV 71-2) has the ship and the
moonlight; one from Tennessee (JAFL XLV 82-3) and a Negro
song (NWS 83-4, not treated) have the ship only; another from
North Carolina (BMFSB 54-5) has the prison cell only, no ship
and no moonlight; and one from Mississippi (JAFL xxx'ix 153-4),
not a prisoner's song at all, yet has the ship stanza. 'Meet Me in
the Moonlight' appears also in our collection sometimes without anv
connection with 'The Prisoner's Song.'
'Meet Me in the Moonlight." Reported by Miss Amy Henderson of
Worry, Burke county, in 1914.
1 Off to the jail house tomorrow
Not far to leave my little darling alone.
With them cold iron hars around me
And my pillow is made of stone.
Chorus:
Meet me tonight, darling, meet me
Out in the moonlight alone.
For I have a secret to tell you
AFust he told in the moonlight alone.
2 Oh, I heard that your jjarents don't like me.
They have driven me away from their door ;
If I had those days to go over
I would never come back anv more.
412- N R T H C A R O L I N A K O I. K I. () R E
3 If 1 liad a ship oil the ocean
All lined with bright silver and gold,
Before mv darling should suffer
Mv ship should he anchored and sold.
4 I am dving for some one to love me
And some one to call me their own,
For some one to be with me always ;
1 am tired of living alone.
Dr. Brown notes on tlie manuscript tliat lie heard the cliorus as :
A\"on't vou meet me. won't you meet me by the moon-
light.
Won't you meet me by the moonlight tonight?
I have a sweet story to tell you.
Won't you meet me by the moonlight tonight?'
and one stanza as :
'I have three ships out on the ocean
All lined with silver and gold
I would have them and sold.'
B
'Meet Me hy the Moonliglit.' Reported by W. Amos Abrams from
Boone, Watauga county.
1 I am going to a new jail tomorrow.
Leaving the one that I love.
Leaving my friends and relations;
And oh ! how lonely my home.
Chorus:
Meet me by the moonlight, love, meet me,
Meet me by the moonlight alone.
For I have a sad story to tell you
To be told bv tlie moonlight alone.
2 My parents how cruel they treat me.
They drove me away from their door.
If I live to be a hundred years older,
I'll never go back anv more.
3 ( )li ! if 1 had the wings of an angel
I'd fl\- o'er land and o'er sea,
I'd f\y in the arms of my darling,
And oh ! how happy I'd be.
S \ (', S () 1" r K I S () N 1". K S A N 1) T K A M I' S 4T3
4 ( )h ! I wisli I had sonic one to low nic.
Some one to call me her own.
Some one to always he with me ;
I am tired of living- alone.
5 ( )h ! now 1 have some one to love me.
Some one to call me her own,
Some one to always he with me;
( )h ! don't it heat livin^^ alone?
6 1 have a little ship on the ocean
All lined with silver and gold.
I know that my darling does own it;
1 know it. for I have heen told.
C
'The Prisoner's Song.' From the Jnlm Uurch Blaylock Collection.
This has all three of tlie characteristic elements — the jail, tlie ninoniiglit,
and the siiip.
1 ( )h, I wish I had someone to love me.
Someone to call me their own ;
Oh, I wish I had someone to live with,
For I'm tired of living alone.
2 Oh, meet me tonight in the moonlight.
Meet me out in the moonlight alone ;
For I have a sad story to tell you.
It's a story that's never heen told.
3 I'll he carried to the new jail tomorrow,
Leaving my poor darling alone.
With those cold prison hars all around me
And my head on a pillow of stone.
4 I wish I had wings like an angel ;
I'rom these dark prison walls I would fly,
I would fly to the arms of my darling
And there I'd be willing to die.
5 1 have a fine ship on the ocean,
All lined with silver and gold ;
And before my poor darling should sulifer
J\ly fine ship would be anchored and sold.
D
'Meet Me in the Moonlight.' From A. E. Elliott of Farmer, Randolph
county. With the tune. Four stanzas and chorus, of which stanzas
I, 2, 4, and chorus correspond with slight vcrhal variations to stanzas
I, 2, 3. and chorus of A. Stanza 3 runs:
414 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
If I had the wings of an angel
I would fly far, far away,
I would fly to the arms of my darling
And there I'd he willing to stay.
'Meet Me by tlie Mooiiliglit.' From the manuscripts of Oliadiali John-
son of Crossnore, Avery county. In this there is no mention or thought
of a prison, yet it is clearly a form of the same song as the four texts
preceding.
1 I am going to leave you tomorrow,
To sail on the ocean so blue.
To leave all my friends and relations ;
I have come now to bid you adieu.
2 Then meet me by the moonlight, love, meet me ;
I want to see yoti alone.
To tell of the heart that is breaking
To leave my love and my home.
3 I hate to leave you, my darling ;
But my parents to me are unkind.
To prove false words that are spoken
Has never once entered my mind.
4 I have a fine ship on the ocean
All lined with silver and gold.
And before my lover shall perish
I'll have that ship anchored and sold.
5 1 have c(Mne by the moonlight to see you.
To tell of my future time.
I am going to seek for a fortune.
Will return and claim you for mine.
6 Your return to me is uncertain.
But to you I will ever be true.
God grant you may have a safe voyage
And our days apart may be few !
7 1 know that heaven will bless us
And the angels will guide you aright.
To help yoti rettirn to }-our loved one,
TlKJUgh her heart is breaking tonight.
8 Years i)assed and she prcned to him faithful,
To another she never was wed.
And her life it seemed blighted forever
\\ hen she heard that her true love was dead.
SONGS () I" I' K 1 S () N I". R S A X I) T K A M P S 4I5
F
'Meet Me Tonight.' Contributed by Zilpah Frisbie of Marion, McDowell
county, in 1923. Only two stanzas reported, the first of Wade's song
and the ship stanza, hut she notes tliat "tliere are several more verses."
'I Have a Ship on tlie Ocean.' Obtained from .Miss Jewell Kobbins
(later Mrs. C P. Perdue) of Pekin, Montgomery county, in \t)2i.
The jail and the moonlight have vanished from this version, yet it is
clearly a form of the same song.
1 I have a secret to tcil yoti. sweet love,
Abotit the ship on the sea ;
And if you think you can hear it, sweet love,
I'll tell it to yoti in a dream.
Chorus:
Darling, the shi]) is on the ocean.
As ever near to me ;
Darling, this world would lose its motion
If I proved false to thee.
2 I have a ship on the ocean, sweet love.
All lined with silver and gold.
Before I'd see you sufifer, sweet love,
I'd anchor my ship to be sold.
3 Some say love is ])leasure. sweet love ;
What pleasure do I see
When the one I love so dearly, sweet love.
Has turned her back on me?
H
*I Had a Little Ship.' Obtained from Miss Jennie Belvin of Durham
in 1922. Perhaps not the same song; nothing is left here but the ship.
1 I had a little ship on the ocean
All lined with silver and gold.
.\nd freely would I give it
To call little .Sallie my own.
2 Little Sallie. little Sallie mv darling.
Little Sallie, little Sallie my own.
And freely would I give it
To call little Sallie my own.
I
'Meet Me in the Moonliglit.' Obtained by C. G. Knox in 1923 or
thereabouts from Miss Gertrude Smith of Morganton, Burke county.
Here there is little left of the prisoner motive. The first tliree stanzas
correspond i to the chorus of A, 2 to stanza 3 of C, 3 to stanza 2 of
A, and the fourth stanza runs :
N.C.F., Vol. TTT. (29)
4l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
When the cold, cold clay is around me
Won't yon come and shed one hitter tear
And say to the friends standing round me.
'There's a heart I have loved long ago' ?
J
'Sweet Lulur.' From John AI. Greer of Boone, Watauga county, in
191 5. Here we have the prisoner and tlie sliip. hut no mounliglit.
1 He hound my feet in cold iron.
All tangled my feet in chains
But hefore I'll go hack on sweet Lulur
I'll have them tangled again.
Chorus:
O Lulur, O Lulur my darling,
O Lulur. O Lulur my dear.
If it hadn't heen for sweet Lulur,
Sweet Lulur that brought me here !
2 I had three ships on the ocean
All lined with silver and gold.
And hefore I'll go back on sweet Lulur
I'll have them hoisted and sold.
K
'Sweet Lulur.' From Thomas Smith, Watauga county, in 1915, with
the notation : "The above verses are all I recall of a song which I
heard sung when a child probably thirty or more years ago by a Miss
Louise Wilson at my grandmother's house."
When I was in Danville, a-walking down the street.
I spied a policeman who bound my hands and feet ;
He bound my feet in cold iron, all tangled my feet in
chains.
But before I'll go back on sweet Lulur I'll have them
tangled again.
Oh Lulur, oh Lulur, my darling, oh Lulur, oh Lulur, my
dear.
If P hadn't a-been for sweet Lulur, it was Lulur that
brought me here.
351
Seven Long Years
Quite distinct from 'The Prisoner's Song:,' thoiic:li it has a similar
theme. It has been reported (with considerable variations in text)
from Nova Scotia (BSSNS 303, SENS 309), Kentucky (FSSH
^ One expects "it."
S O N t; S () I' 1- IM S () X K K S A N 1) T K A MPS 417
Z^"/^, and Oiiio (ASh 218-19, where Satulburg says lie got part of
his text from Denison, Ohio, and part of it from a soldier in the
Spanish-American War). Miss Geneva Anderson's "A Collection
of Ballads and Songs from East Tennessee" (unpublished Univer-
sity of North Carolina thesis, 1932), p. 230, contains a song of
four stanzas and chorus, in a different order and with minor dif-
ferences in the chorus. The thiril stanza of our text is an echo
from 'Little Sparrow.'
'Seven Long Years." Contril)utc(l by P. D. Midgett of Wanchcse,
Roanoke Island, in 1920.
1 1 have a father and a mother
That dwell in a cottage by the sea.
I have a brother and a sister.
I wonder if they ever think of me.
Chorus:
Sad. sad and lonely.
Sitting in a cell all alone.
Thinking of the days that have gone by me
And the time when I done wrong.
2 Seven, seven long years in state prison,
Se\en. seven long years to remain,
For knocking a man down the alley
And swdping his gold watch and chain.
3 If I had the wings of a sparrow
Across this wide world I would fly,
I'd fly to the arms of my darling.
There I would lay me down and die.
352
Twenty-One Years Is a Mighty Long Time
Henry (SSSA 69) prints a version of this song from Tennessee,
taken down in 1932. Alton C. Morris, in FSF 67-9, gives a better
and longer version, noting that it "is a popular barn-dance number
used by fiddling bands on radio programs" and "is sung extensively
by the rural folk of Florida." He includes, also, 'Answer to Twenty-
One Years,' attesting to its popularity. The first stanza of Morris's
'Twenty-One Years' reads :
'The judge says, "Stand up. boys, and dry your tears;
You're sentenced to Nasliville for twenty-one years."
So kiss me goodbye, llabe. and say you'll l)e mine.
For twenty-one years. Hatie, is a mighty long time.'
This may indicate the appro.ximate form Miss Walker's first stanza,
below, would have if it were complete. ( io these references add
Randolph OFS 11 156-9.)
4l8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
'Twenty-One Years Is a Mighty Long Time.' From a MS book of
songs lent to Dr. Brown c. 1936 by Miss Edith Walker, Boone.
1 The judge said, 'Stand up, boy, and dry your tears;
You're sentenced to Nashville for twenty-one years.'
Babe, is a mighty long time.
2 Hear the train blow, Babe, she'll be here on time
To carry me to Nashville to serve out my time.
So hold up your head. Babe, and kiss me goodbye.
Best friends must part. Babe; so must you and I.
3 Oh, look down the railroad, as far as you can see.
And keep on waving your farewell to me.
The steam from the whistle, the smoke from the stack —
I'm going away. Babe, but I will be back.
4 Go beg the governor, on your sweet soul ;
If you can't get a pardon, try to get a parole.
For if I had the governor where the governor's got me,
Before Tuesdav morning that governor would be free.
5 Six months have passed. Babe. I wish I was dead —
This dirty old jail house, no clothes for a bed.
It's raining, it's hailing, the moon gives no light.
Tell me why. Babe, you never do write.
6 I've counted the days. Babe, I've counted the nights,
I've counted the moments. I've counted the lights.
I've counted the footsteps. I've counted the stars,
I've counted a thousand of the prison bars.
353
Write My Mother I'll Be Home
No title. Contributed by H. A. Cherry, Lilcsvillc. Anson county : a stu-
dent in Trinity College 1922-24.
1 There is somewhere the sun is shining.
There is somewhere a little rain.
There is somewhere the sun is shining.
There is somewhere a little rain.
2 Some ol' day. some rainy day.
Write my mother I'll be home, some ol' day.
Ain't got no friends to take me in.
Write my mother I'll be home some ol' day.
3 Say, the white folks got me on the ball an' chain,
Pick and shovel, working in de rain,
SON C. S O !-• P R 1 S N K k S A X 1) T K A M P S 4I9
For I ain't got no friends to take me in.
Write my mother I'll be home some ol' day.
Some ol' day, some rainy da}-,
Write my mother I'll be home — I'm on m\' way.
I ain't got no friends to take me in.
Write my mother I'll be home some ol' day.
If I had died when I was young,
Would not had this rick to run.
For I'm in the rain, wearing ball 'n' chain.
Write my mother I'll be home some ol' day.
Oh, Stella, can 1 be your fellow ?
Oh, Stella, can I be your man?
She said, 'No, for I've got a beau.'
I'm in de rain wearin' ball 'n' chain.
Write mv mother I'll be home some ol' day.
354
Durham Jail
'Durham Jail.' By D. W. Fletcher. One of the group of songs pre-
pared by Dr. Brown for printing, about 1916-18. His note says: "As
collected from E. L. Husketh, who learned it from convicts in 1890."
1 Your breakfast comes round, it's cold corn bread ;
It's hard as a rock and heavy as lead.
One cup of cold water, and mush on your bread :
You're bound to starve out in Durham's old jail.
Chorus:
Hard times in jail, yes, it is hard times
In Durham's old jail, hard times in jail.
2 It has often been thought, but a shame to be told.
That an Irishman drinks buttermilk seven davs old.
O, yes. there's lice in jail as long as a rail ;
There's lice in jail under your sliirt tail.
3 There's a city police, a set I despise ;
They'll come to your house with a mouth full of lies.
They hum and they haw, your pockets they pick.
Get drunk on your money, and doing so will .
4 There was old Judge McCoy I like to forgot.
Another grand rascal we have in our lot.
He'll hum and he'll haw and talk about bail —
No bail for a negro, but slap him in jail.
420 X O R T II CAROLINA FOLKLORE
5 The judge and llie jury is a hnrrihle crew.
They'll look cm ihe i)ri.soner like looking- him through.
They'll giye him a long sentence in Raleigh to dwell.
For hfty-fiye cents the\"ll shoye him in hell.
355
Moonshiner's Dream
From the John Burch Blaylock Collection.
1 Last night as I lay sleeping
I dreamed one pleasant dream ;
I dreamed I was on some mountain.
On some still house stream.
2 Making hlockade whiskey
And selling at retail ;
But I woke up sad. heart-hroken,
In the Fulton county jail.
3 I see the jailer coming
With a darn big bunch of keys,
One loaf of poor cornbread,
And a darn big bowd of peas.
4 I dreamed my love came stealing,
Had money to go my bail ;
But I woke up sad, heart-broken.
In the Fulton county jail.
5 News came. 'All yoti blockade stillers
That's selling at retail,
The very first place you find yourself
Is in the Fulton county jail.'
356
May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight. Mister?
This has been reported as folk song from Tennessee (ETWVMB
117-18). Texas (PFLST vi 124-5), and Virginia ( FSV y^, listed).
Its author has not been discovered. There are in our collection
two other tramp songs, 'The Tramp Sdm,^' and "Tale of a Tramj),'
that carry hints of a like story.
A
'May I Sk'cp in Your Barn Tonight, Kind Mister?' Contril)ute(i by
Kdiia Whitley — without, unfortunately, any indication of time or place.
1 May I sleep in your barn tonij^hl. mister?
'Tis so cold King out on the ijrdund.
SONGS OF 1' R I S () X I". U S A N 1) T K A M I> S 42I
And the cold, chilly rain are falling,
And 1 have no place to lie down.
2 "^'ou ask me how lon^ I've been traveling
And a-leading this sort of a life.
I'll tell }()u my sad story,
If it cuts my poor heart like a knife.
3 It was three years ago last summer —
And I'll never forget that sad day —
When there came a young man from the city,
So tall and so handsome and gay.
4 He was a well dressed gentleman
And he looked like a man who had wealth.
And said he had come to the county^
To board a while for his health.
5 So my wife said she'd like to be earning
Something to add to (jur home.
And so I then consented that stranger
Might stay there and board.
6 One evening as I was coming from the city,
A-whistling away with joy.
Expecting some kind, loving message
From my wife and my darling little boy,
7 I saw something looked like a letter ;
And I picked it up into my hand.
And the words that was written within it
Was enough to drive any man mad.
8 It took me all in the grave-
And it showed me a newly made grave,
!_ So the manuscript ; doubtless miswritten for "country."
- Essential parts of the story have been lost here. The Texas version
makes it clear (stanzas 9-1 1) :
And the words that were wrote there upon it
Seemed to burn through my brain and drive mc wild.
For they told me the stranger and Nellie
Had run off and had taken my child.
Then I stopped at a farm house last summer.
There they told mc my baby had died.
It was there for the first time in my life, sir,
I knelt on my knees and I cried.
Then they tocjk me dcjwn to the churcliyard ;
There they showed me a newly made mound,
And they told me that Nellie, my darling.
Lay asleep in that cold, solid ground.
422 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
And it said that my wife and my baby
\\'ere sleeping in their silent grave.
9 Just as sure as there's a God up in heaven,
\\'hich I've always been taught to believe,
I hoi)e he'll give that scandaP
What he'd ought to receive.
B
'Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister?' Contributed by Otis
Kuykendall of Asheville, in August 1939- An abbreviated form of the
song, remade, one judges, by memory.
1 Can 1 sleep in your barn tonight, mister?
It is cold lying out on the ground,
And the cold north wind is whistling,
And I have no place to lie down.
2 ( )h, I have no tobacco or matches.
And I'm sure I'll do you no harm.
I will tell you my story, kind mister.
For it runs through my heart like a storm.
3 It was three years ago last summer.
I shall never forget that sad day,
When a stranger came out from the city
And said that he wanted to stay.
4 ( )ne night 1 came home from my workshop;
I was whistling and singing with joy ;
I expected a kind-hearted welcome
From my sweet loving wife and my boy.
5 But what should I find l)ut a letter !
It was placed in a room on a stand ;
And the moment my eyes fell upon it
I picked it right uji in my hand.
6 Now this note said my wife and the stranger,
They had left and taken my son.
(Jh! I wonder if (lod up in heaven
Only knows what the stranger has d(jne !
c
'May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister?' From the John Burch
Blaylock Collection. Like B, this has lost the latter part of the story;
but its variations from F. show wliat liappens to a song that travels by
word of mouth.
' The Tennessee text has "rascal." Perhaps "scandal" is a mishear-
ing of "scoundrel."
S O N Ci S !•• I> R I S (> N K R S A \ 1) T R A MPS 423
May 1 sleep in your barn tonight, mister?
l''or it's cold lying out on the ground.
And the cold north wind is whistling.
And I have no place to lie down.
I have no bags nor matches,
And I'm sure I'll do you no harm.
I will tell you my story, kind mister,
Though it lies in my heart like a bone.
It was three years ago last summer —
1 shall never forget that sad day —
W hen a stranger came out from the city
And said he wanted to stop for his health.
Now this stranger was fair, tall, and handsome.
And he looked like a man who had wealth.
He said he wanted to stop in the country.
Yet he wanted to stop for his health.
Now my wife thought his board and his lodgings
Would help to keep up our little home.
So we took in this tall handsome stranger
\\ ho later broke up our little home.
Last night as I came from my workshop.
W histling and singing for joy
And expecting a kind, hearty welcome
As received from a wife and a boy,
\\'hat should I spy but a letter
Lying in the room on a stand.
And the moment my eye lay upon it
I picked it right up in my hand.
The note said the tall, handsome stranger
Had gone and taken my doll ;
And as sure as there is a God up in heaven
She with this stranger had gone.
357
The Tramp Song
There are various songs romanticizing the tramp, two of them.
'May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister.' and 'Tale of a
Tramp,' in our collection. This, however, the editor has not found
elsewhere.
'The Tramp Song.' Obtained by Jesse T. Carpenter from the manu-
script songbook of Mrs. Mary Martin Copley, RFD 8, Durham.
424 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
1 \\'hen passing down the street how many men you meet
Who has nowhere on earth to lay their head !
Oh, grasp him by the hand, and remember he's a man ;
For God knows wliat you may be before you die.
Chorus:
So if you meet a tramp who bears misfortune's stamp,
If he's worthy of your aid, why, freely give
Him a hearty grip, wish him good luck if you trust,
And remember that a poor tramp has to live.
2 I once saw a tramp whom the people called a scamp
And upon him set their dogs lest he should steal ;
And as he turned away I saw him kneel [and pray].
And I know that God above heard his appeal.
3 How little do we know, as they tramped through rain
and snow,'
That once he was as happy as a king
Till fortune's crude- dart came and pierced his manly
heart
And took away his liome and everything.
4 How many men there are who rides in bolts and bar
The door. . .^
Because they've lots of gold their hearts turn icy cold ;
They ought to be condemned for it. I'm sure.
5 I once heard a tramp relate the true story of his fate
And how he was an outcast shunned by all.
He led a happy life, had a loving child and wife;
But alas, like Eve, the woman had to fall.
6 How she proved botli weak and frail — it's no iLse to tell
the tale.
How she turned his manly heart to sad despair.
He never since has smiled on that handsome wife and
child.
But sadly now he roams from ])lace to i)lace.
^ The manuscript has "shine," Imt the rhyme calls for "snow."
"So the manuscript seems to read, hut tiie word sliould prohahly he
"cruel."
^ This stanza is defective in the manuscript. Prohalily the original
says that the rich man holts and hars his door ; hut the editor will not
undertake to reconstruct it. Nor has he done anything ahout the curious
syntax in stanzas i, 3, and 4.
s o n c. s o !• p r 1 s o n !•: r s a x i) t r a m p s 425
Talk of a Tramp
This title appears in the list of records jmhlislied hy the Archive
of American Folk Song as secured in X'irginia. Dean (Flying
Cloud 71 ) has a piece of similar character, 'The Tramp's Lament,'
liut it is not the same. Furtlier it has not heen tracnl.
'Tale of a Trani]).' Reported i)y L. W. Anderson as "sung by Mrs.
I. A. White, Kittv Hawk, N. C, according to her daughter, Eva Mae
White."
1 Let nie sit down a iiionient ;
A stone's got in my shoe.
Don't yoti commence your cussin' ;
I ain't done nothing to yott.
2 Yes, I'm a tramp — what of it ?
Folks say we ain't no good.
Tramps have got to live, I reckon.
Though folks don't think we should.
3 Once I was young and handsome.
Had plenty of cash and clothes.
That was hefore I got to topplin'^
And got gin in my nose.
4 Way down in the Lehigh valley
Me and ni}' jjeople grew ;
I was a hlacksmith captain ;
Yes. and a good one, too.
5 Me and my wife, and Nellie —
Nellie was just sixteen.
And she was the pootiest cretur
The valley had ever seen.
6 Beaux ! \Miy, she had a dozen,
Had 'em from near and fur.
But they were mostly farmers ;
None of them suited her.
7 But there was a city chap.
Handsome, young, and tall —
Oh, curse him ! I wish I had him
To strangle against yonder wall.
8 He was no man for Nellie.
She didn't know no ill.
Mother, she tried to stop it.
But you know^ young girl's will.
^ So the manuscript. Perhaps merely miswrittcn fur "tipplin'."
426 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
9 Well, it's the same old story,
Common enough, you'll say.
But he was a soft-tongued devil
And got her to run away.
10 More than a month, or later,
We heard from the poor young thing.
He had run away and left her
Without any wedding ring.
1 1 Back to her h(jme we hrought her,
Back to her mother's side.
Filled with a ragin' fever
She fell at my feet and died.
12 Frantic with shame and sorrow
Her mother l^egan to sink
And died in less than a fortnight.
That's when 1 took to drink.
13 Come, give a glass now. colonel,
And I'll be on my way.
And I'll tramp till I catch that scoundrel
If it takes till judgment day.
359
The Wild and Reckless Hobo
Probably a music-hall piece originally, this has achieved some-
thing like a folk-song status. It is reported, with wide variations
in the text, from V'irginia ( ETWVMB 3-4) and from Tennessee
(SSSA 107-8, again ultimately from Virginia), and the Archive
of American Folk Song has a record of it from Kentucky.
'The Wild and Reckless Hobo.' Contributed by Otis S. Kuykendall
of Asheville, in 1939.
I There was a wild and reckless hobo
Who left his happy home.
He went out on a western trip
To find himself a home.
His pocketbook was empty
And his heart was filled with pain;
Ten thousand miles away from home,
llumming a railroad train.
Clionis:
"Kind miss, kind miss, won't you give me
A little bite to eat,
Won't you give me a little cold corn bread
SON V. S () I' I' K 1 S O N E R S A N I) I R A M I' S 427
And a little piece of meat?'
Slic took him in the kitchen.
She treated liim nice and kind ;
She put him in the notion
Of l)ummini;- all the time.
2 He got off the train at a small hotel ;
lUnnming around in town
lie thought he heard a doul)le-hea(ler hlow
And thought it was western hound.
He i)ulled his hat down over his eyes
And he stepped up to the track;
He caught himself a sleeping car
And never did look back.
3 He got off the train in Danville,
Got stuck on a Danville girl.
You bet your life she was out of sight ;
She wore those Danville curls.
She wore her hat on the back of her head.
Like high-toned people do ;
And when a freight train came hiking along
He bade that gal adieu.
360
The Dying Hobo
This has been reported from Maine (SBML 102-3). West Vir-
ginia (FSS 252), Mississippi (FSM 251-2), Texas ( PFLST 11
40-1), New Mexico (FB 106-7), and CaHfornia (CFLQ 11 42-3);
it is known also in Michigan (BSSM 478, listed but no text given),
and Sandburg (ASb 186-9) has a somewhat similar song that he
says he got in the Calumet mining region. .Spaeth has it in
Weep Some More, My Lady. \'ery likely it is much more widely
known than this list indicates.
A
'The Dying Hobo.' Obtained by H. E. Sheetz, Jr., from C. F. Thomas
of Rockingham, Richmond county. With the air.
1 It was in a Western watering town,
On a cold Novemlier day.
Beside a north-bound boxcar
A dying hobo lay.
2 Beside him stood his pal
With a low and drooping head
To listen to the last words
That dying hobo said.
428 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
3 Tm goins^ to a l)ettei- land.
Where evervtliing is grand ;
Where hanclouts grow on bushes
And vou don't have to turn a hand.
4 'You don't have to work a bit,
Not even change your socks.
Where the good old beer with the foam on top
Comes trickling down those rocks.
5 'Now tell my girl in Frisco
No more shall I roam.
I've caught a north-bound boxcar
And I'm jroing awav back home.'
'The Eastern Hobo.' Reported by Julian P. Boyd of .Alliance, Pamlico
county, as secured from Jeanette Tingle, one of his pupils there. Essen-
tially the same as A except that it lacks the fourth stanza.
'The Dying Hobo.' From the John Burch Blaylock Collection. This
is a fuller version than A. In fact it is almost identical with Spaeth's
text in 'Weep Some More, My Lady.' After stanza 4 of A it runs:
3 'Tell all the bovs in 1^'risco that my face they'll no longer
view ;
Tell them I've caught a fast freight, and I'm going
straight on through.
Tell them not to weep for me. no tears in their eves must
lurk.
For I'm going to a better land where they hate the word
called work.
4 'Hark ! 1 hear her whistling ; 1 must catch her on the fly ;
One more scoop of beer I'd like, once more before I die.'
The hobo sto])ped ; his head fell back ; he'd sung his last
refrain.
His partner took his liat and shoes and caught the east-
bound train.
361
\\.\iTi.\(; FOR A Trai.n
One of many n()n<le>crii)t lioix) songs. .Stout reports it as known
in Iowa (MAFLS .\.\i.\ 11.^). and the Archive of .Knierican Folk
Song has a recordinj; of it made in Kentucky.
'Waiting for a Tniin.' I'lom the Jnhn lUuch Blaylock Collection.
S O N (. S OK I> R I S () N K R S AND TRAMPS 429
1 All around the water tank,
Waitins]^ for a train.
A thousand miles away from home.
A-sleepint^ in the rain.
I walked up to a hrakeman
To give him a line of talk.
He said, 'If you've got money
I'll see that you don't walk.'
'I ha\en't got a nickel.
Not a j)enny can I show.'
'Get off ! Get off, you railroad hum !'
He slammed the l)oxcar door.
2 He put me oft' in Texas.
A state I dearly love —
Wide open spaces all around me.
The moon and stars ahove.
Nobody seems to want me
Or lend me a helping hand.
I'm on my way from Frisco,
I'm going back to Dixie Land.
For my pocketbook is empty,
J\Iy heart is full of pain,
A thousand miles away from home,
Just waiting for a train.
362
Banjo Tramp
A vaudeville song, presumably, but I have not found it in print.
'Banjo Tramp.' From (and perhaps by) O. L. Coffey, ShuU's Mills,
Watauga county, in 1936. "Chorus after every verse but the last," he
notes.
I Come all you people that are here tonight
And listen to what I say ;
I'll sing you a song ; it's not very long.
And not much out of the way.
I've traveled this country over,
I've never had a stamp ;
But because I'm thin they call me slim.
I'm a regular banjo tramp.
Chorus:
Walking on the railroad,
Looking like a beat.
Sleeping out under a water tank
430 N R T II C A K L I N A K L K L O R E
Without anything to eat.
Some folks say that I'm aU rijjjhi.
While others say I'm a scamp:
But hecause I'ui thin they call me slim.
I'm a regular hanjo tramp.
2 I went to Spokane city
One cold and snowy night.
I went around, took in the town,
You het that 1 got tight.
1 packed my grip next morning
To hit another trail.
But I got drunk, stole an old man's trunk.
And they fired me into jail.
3 They took me up next morning.
Judge Miller he was judge.
I gave him a terrihle game of stufif.
But he would not hudge.
He says, 'Young man, I'm sorry for you.
You look so thin and pale.'
But he sent me down to fatten me up
In a miserable dirty jail.
4 Oh, I'm going to settle down
And settle down for life,
I'm going to marry —
But what will I do with a wife?
I'll quit my funny business
And try to act more sane ;
But I fear, in a year or two,
I'll be hitting the ties again.
363
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane
The first stanza of this composite prisoner's song; occurs twice,
in quite different contexts, in Uncle Remus's repertory: in 'The
End of Mr. Bear' and in 'Negro Love-Song.' And the fourth
stanza has been twice reported as Negro song: as part of 'Kelly's
Love' (JAFL xxiv 286) and in a construction gang chant (NWS
92). Title and first line are listed by Davis in FSV 153.
'Hand Mr Down My Walking Cane.' From the John Burcli Blaylock
Collectiiiii. 'I'liu fiftli line is the refrain, and is repeated after each stanza.
I Hand me down my walking cane.
Hand me down my walking cane,
SON G S O I- PRISONERS AND TRAMPS 43I
Hand me down my walking cant'.
I'm going away on the morning train.
All mv sins are taken away, taken away.
2 Hand me down my bottle of corn,
Hand me down my bottle of corn,
Hand me down my bottle of corn,
I'll get drunk as sure as you're born,
3 I got drunk and got in jail,
I got drunk and got in jail,
1 got drunk and got in jail,
1 had no one to go my bail.
4 If I'd listened to what mama said.
If I'd listened to what mama said.
If I'd listened to what mama said.
IW be sleeping on a feather bed.
5 The meat was tough and the meat was fat.
The meat was tough and the meat was fat,
The meat was tough and the meat was fat.
Oh. my Lord, I couldn't eat that.
6 Yonder comes a man across the field.
Yonder comes a man across the lield,
Yonder comes a man across the field,
Kicking up dust like an automobile.
7 If I die in Tennessee,
If I die in Tennessee,
If I die in Tennessee,
Ship me back by C.O.D.
B
'Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane.' Contributed by Otis Kuykendall,
Asheville, in 1939. Stanzas i, 3, 5, and 4 of A, with slight variations
in the wording ; the refrain line is : 'Cause all my friends are taken away,
taken away' ; the third line of each stanza inserts "Oli" at the beginning ;
and the third stanza (stanza 5 of A) has "lieans" instead of "meat" at
the beginning of the line.
364
I Lay Around the Old Jail House (John C. Britton)
This is from a typescript in the Louise Rand Basconi collection.
It bears the notation: "It is apparent that this must he a combina-
tion of at least two or more songs," and Dr. Brown confirms this
with the note: "There are two songs in this, I think." But inconse-
quence is a frequent mark of prisoner songs as well as of love
songs. And the fact that it is set down as a single item in the
N.C.F., Vol. Ill, (30)
432 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
typescript implies tliat it is the record of a single performance.
iVIiss Bascom has not indicated when or where she secured it. Dr.
White notes that the last three stanzas are "evidently a steamboat
song of the Mississippi"; but the pronouns "he" and "his" suggest
that Britton may have been the leader of a military company mov-
ing north in the Civil War.
No title. From the song collection of ]\liss Louise Rand Bascom,
Highlands, Macon county. No date given.
1 1 lay arotm' the ole gaol hottse —
I've got no honey-babe now.
Some one kissed me ; say, my bal)e,
No one won't go my bond.
2 I cursed and I blamed the lawyers,
I cursed, I blamed the judge ;
1 cursed, I blamed the jury. l)al)y.
But they convicted me.
C7/or//.s-.-
It's hush, oh, hush. oh. ])al)e, please hush;
1 hate to hear you cry.
The l)est of friends has to part sometimes
An' why not you and I ?
3 They sent me to them ole coal mines,
My feet all bound and chained.
If these col' rocks don't kill me, baby,
I'll see your face again.
4 It's gettin' so cold in Charlotte town
'J"he birds can't hardly sing.
All the girls air a-leavin' this town
And won't come back till s])ring.
5 It's whar 1 was last Saturday night,
A-drinkin' of sweet wine,
A-studyin' about this pretty little miss
I left so far beliind.
6 John C. P.ritlon left Alanthus^
Willi one hundred and ten good men;
And when he landed in Cairo, baby,
I lis numhiT was down to ten.
7 It's a-yonder comes that ole big b(.)at,
.\nd it's vondcr C(»mes the Lcc,
' Someone lias noted on tlie maniiscri])t that 'Ahmtluis" means "Mem-
phis" and has suggested tli.it "he" and "liis," just below, should be
"she" and "her."
S () N C, S () I" PRISON K K S A N 1) T R A M P S 433
And it's yonder conu's that olc bis; l)<>al ;
She's been the death of three.
It's hush, (ih, hu>h. oh. 1)al)e, please hu.sh,
1 hate to hear you cry.
The best of friends has to part sometimes
And win- not vou and 1 ?
365
The Foc.c.v Mountain Top
This, like many another folk song, is a compound of divers
simples. The Archive of American Folk Song has a record of it
made in California. A song reported from Kentucky ( SharpK 11
no), Tennessee (SFLQ 11 75-6, really from Kentucky), and North
Carolina (SharpK 11 no) has only the title phrase in common with
the present song. Stanza 5 of our text seems to be from some
song of advice about courting; compare 'Courting Song.' p 27.
And stanza 2 recalls 'I Lay around the Old Jail House.' No. 364.
'Foggy Mountain Top. Obtained from Mrs. .Minnie Church of Heaton,
Avery county, in 1930.
1 If I was on some foggy mountain top
rd sail away to the west,
Fd sail around this old wide world
To the girl I love the best.
2 If I had "a' listened to what mama said
I wouldn't 'a' been here today
A-lying around this old jail house
A- weeping my life away.
3 Oh. wdien you see that girl of mine
There is something you must tell her ;
Tell her to not to fool no time away
To court some other fellow.
4 She has caused me to weep, she has caused me to mimrn,
She has caused me to leave my home.
Oh, the lonesome pines and the good old times !
I am on mv way back home.
5 Oh. when you go a-courting,
1 tell you wdiat to do :
Pull off that long-tail roustabout,
Put on your navy blue.