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Charles Giteau/Charles Guiteau (Laws E11)
Traditional Old-Time, Breakdown and Ballad
ARTIST: Lyrics as recorded by Kelly Harrell, vocal, & The Virginia String Band (Posey Rorer, fiddle; R. D. Hundley, banjo; Alfred Steagal, guitar), RCA Victor Studios, Camden, NJ, Mar 23, 1927 (master #38237-2, released as RCA Victor Vi 20797);
LISTEN: Kelly Harrell
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: Late 1800's
OTHER NAMES: "Charles Giteau;" "Ewing Brooks;" "The Murder of F. C. Benwell;" Johnny Runkins ; Death of Young Bendall ; Lament of James Rodgers
RELATED TO: Coal Creek Troubles ; Jimmy Brown (the Newsboy)
RECORDING INFO: Kelly Harrell, "Charles Giteau" (Victor 20797B, 1927; on KHarrell02, AAFM1) Roscoe Holcomb, "Charles Guitau" [instrumental version] (on Holcomb1); Loman D. Cansler, "Charles Guiteau" (on Cansler1); Harrell, Kelly; & the Virginia String Band. Kelly Harrell and the Virginia String Band, County 408, LP, cut# 3; Harrell, Kelly; & the Virginia String Band. Anthology of American Folk Music, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40090, CD( (1997), cut# 16; Harrell, Kelly; & the Virginia String Band. Old Time Ballads from the Southern Mountains, County 522, LP (197?), cut# 12; Holcomb, Roscoe. High Lonesome Sound, Folkways FA 2368, LP (1965), cut#B.05; Lawson, Clorine. I Kind of Believe It's A Gift, Meriweather Meri 1001-2, LP (198?), cut# 18; Phipps Family. Phipps Family, Folkways FA 2375, LP (1965), cut# 11; Scott and Stanley. Hard Times in the Country, Talkeetna TR 100, LP (1974), cut#B.06
SOURCES: Laws E11, "Charles Guiteau;" Randolph 134, "Charles Guiteau;" Eddy 128, "Charles Guiteau, or, The Murder of James A. Garfield;" Friedman, p. 230, "Charles Guiteau;" McNeil-SFB1, pp. 56-59, "Charles Guiteau;" Combs/Wilgus 58, pp. 186-187, "Charles J. Guiteau;" Lomax-FSNA 142, "Charles Guiteau" (1 text, 1 tune, claiming to be a transcription of the earliest recorded version by Kelley Harrell -- but in fact the text has been slightly modified); LPound-ABS, 65, pp. 146-148, "Charles Guiteau or James A. Garfield;" Darling-NAS, pp. 192-193, "Charles Guiteau;" Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 48 "Charles Giteau;" Silber-FSWB, p. 290, "Charles Guiteau;" American Ballads and Songs, Scribners, Sof (1972/1922), p146; Native American Balladry, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk (1964), p181; Anthology of American Folk Music, Oak, Sof (1973), p 48; Lambert, Corie. Southern Folk Ballads, Vol. 1. American Originals: A Heritage..., August House, Sof (1987), p. 56; Lawson, Clorine. Southern Folk Ballads, Vol. 1. American Originals: A Heritage..., August House, Sof (1987), p. 58; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
NOTES: "G Major. Standard. AABBCC. Jere Canote [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1), 1994; pg. 46. Lomax-FSNA 142, "Charles Guiteau" transcription of the earliest recorded version by Kelly Harrell." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
On July 2, 1881 James A. Garfield is shot by Charles Guiteau, who thought Garfield owed him a patronage job. Garfield had been president for less than four months. This ballad about the murder of James Garfield is also listed as a fiddle tune in some (Phillips) editions. Garfield died on Sept 19, 1881 and on June 30, 1882 Charles Guiteau was hanged.
The song derives from "The Lamentation of James Rodgers" (executed Nov. 12, 1858) or one of its kin- "My Name it is John T. Williams"
CHARLES GITEAU
LISTEN: Kelly Harrell
Come all you tender Christians, wherever you may be,
And likewise pay attention from these few lines from me.
I was down at the depot to make my getaway,
And Providence being against me, it proved to be too late.
I tried to play off insane, but found it would not do,
The people all against me, it proved to make no show.
Judge Cox, he passed the sentence, the clerk he wrote it down,
On the thirtieth day of June to die I was condemned.
CHORUS: My name is Charles Guiteau, my name I'll never deny.
To leave my aged parents to sorrow and to die.
But little did I think, while in my youthful bloom,
I'd be carried to the scaffold to meet my fatal doom.
My sister came in prison to bid her last farewell.
She threw her arms around me, she wept most bitterly.
She said, "My loving brother, today you must die
For the murder of James A. Garfield, upon the scaffold high."
And now I mount the scaffold to bid you all adieu.
The hangman now is waiting, it's a quarter after two.
The black cap is o'er my face, no longer can I see,
But when I'm dead and buried, dear Lord, remember me.
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