Folk-Lore in Michigan- Bertrand L. Jones 1914
[From: Bertrand L. Jones, Folk- Lore in Michigan (from Kalamazoo Normal Record, May, 1914, Western State Normal School, Kalamazoo, Mich.)
FOLK-LORE IN MICHIGAN.
WE sometimes hear the remark that Michigan, as compared with states such as Massachusetts, Kentucky, or Virginia, is either lacking in or disinterested in legend and tradition. This I believe not to be so. I should prefer to say that Michigan has her stories and her songs, but that many of her people, nay, most of her people, are not conscious of the wealth of folk-lore within the bounds of their native state.
Between the years 1882 and 1894 Professor Francis J. Child, of Harvard University, issued in nine parts (a tenth part was issued after his death) the greatest single compilation of folksong that has ever been the work of any one English-speaking editor. This great collection contains a total of over twelve hundred versions of three hundred and five distinct ballads. While Professor Child was but twelve years in issuing his collection, he was actually engaged in the work of collecting and editing it for more than fifty years. His sources were confined to three fields: (1) original manuscripts deposited in American and European libraries, museums, and universities; (2) original manuscripts in the hands of private individuals; (3) printed collections derived from manuscripts, some that were and still are extant, many that are lost. Manuscripts, then, and printed books were Professor Child's principal sources. At his death he felt confident that he had unearthed every important extant manuscript, with perhaps one exception. We have his finished work in five large volumes (Parts I.-X.)*
•Houghton, Mifflin & Co.. Boston. 1882-1894.
This is the richest legacy of its kind that any American or English scholar has ever left to Anglo-Saxon peoples.
But Professor Child's work was only the beginning of what he would have liked to see supplemented by a still greater work—the ingathering of English folk-songs treasured away in the minds of our people and perpetuated by oral communication. This Professor Child did not live to see even in modest beginnings. Living songs came in slowly, or almost not at all, in response to his call for them. In this respect he died a disappointed man. But, as has often been the case in the life work of great men in other fields, so it has proved to be in that of Mr. Child. Gradually has the influence of his long endeavor been exerting itself in the United States. Many states have their ballad or folklore societies. The Journal of the American Folk-Lore Society is in its twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh year. Many of our great universities are putting some of their best men into fellowships solely for the purpose of collecting our native songs; private individuals are spending money and devoting much time to the same end. All this is but the beginning of the realization of Mr. Child's dream of what might be done.
At the present time the United States Bureau of Education, through the leadership of Professor Alphonso C. Smith of Virginia, is stimulating, on the broadest scale yet attempted, a nation-wide campaign to accomplish this one definite thing: a complete collection of all existing American versions of all the English and Scottish popular ballads in Mr. Child's great collection. This brings me to the point and purpose of the present paper. Through the co-operation of teachers and students in the schools of Michigan; through the co-operation of woman's societies and federations; through the co-operation of private individuals, no matter who, interested in the preservation of folklore in Michigan—through all these and any other agency or agencies, I am anxious to collect and preserve to our posterity what I regard as a priceless heritage. Such a work is being done by Mr. Phillips Barry of Boston for Massachusetts and other New England states; Professor Belden is doing the same in Missouri and its neighboring states; Professor H. G. Shearin, of Lexington, Kentucky, has printed a syllabus of some 370 or more pieces of genuine folk-stuff; Professor John Lomax of Harvard, now president of the American FolkLore Society, has gathered an immense amount of folk-material in the Southwest, particularly Texas, and has embodied the best part of it in his book Cowboy Songs and at the present time he is actively engaged in collecting negro songs in the South.
These are but a few of the men at work in this field. I am anxious to see, in a measure at least, the same thing done in Michigan.
To a few whose interest in this subject may be stimulated for the first time the question may arise, "What is folk-lore?" This is not the place for critical or fine-spun discussion. To me folk-lore means the literature and the song of the people themselves, the music and the literature which grow up amongst us as grow up the brier rose and the violet, we know not how. They are with us—that is sufficient—and we enjoy them and cherish them. By folk-lore I mean the verse, the story, or the song, that would still be ours if every printed book or scrap of printed paper should by some miraculous power be wiped out of existence. I mean in substance these things: Popular songs, and parodies of printed songs, whether secular or
sacred, that come to us we hardly know how; "tongue-twisters," riddles in verse, or prose, nonsense rhymes, or rhymes in the form of axioms; counting-out rhymes, "Mother Goose" rhymes, and lullabies for children; dancing and singing games of children; fairy tales and legends; anonymous songs popular in the days of the Civil war; songs of the "lumberjack;" songs of pioneer or missionary days; songs of the emigrant, whether French, Canadian, Irish, Scotch or English, it matters not which. All these and other unnamed creations like them constitute what I mean by folk-lore, the literature and the music of the people.
That I may not be obscure or general, I will give parts or wholes of some few of the preceding types I have already been able to collect through the help and kindness of students and friends.* The specimens will speak for themselves. To make rough distinctions appear bold, I shall group these specimens under—
I. Rhymes and games of children.
II. "Modern" popular songs and parodies, apparently American in origin.
III. Songs of the soldier, the lumber-jack, the emigrant and the negro.
IV. American versions of English and Scottish ballads.
I. Rhymes and Games of Children.
A. Counting-Out Rhymes, or "Count-
Outs."
1. Antry, mentry, kentry, corn,
Apple seeds and apple thorn;
Wire, brier, limber, lock,
Three geese in a flock;
One flew east, and one flew west,
One flew over the cuckoo's nest.
Out spells '"out"—
Ring the old woman's dish-cloth out.
2. As I went up the apple tree
All the apples fell on me, etc.
3. Eenie, meenie, miny, moe,
Catch a feenie flney foe;
Amanoochie, papatoochie
Rick, bick, ban do.
•I print most of my texts in part, with the simple purpose of "stirring up" unprinted versions now in the minds of my readers. 1 have not, however, been able to determine whether all my specimens are in print or not.
E. Singing and Dancing Games of Children.
1. Three little girls a-sliding went
All on one summer's day;
The ice so thin, they all fell in;
The rest they ran away. Etc.
2. The farmer's in the dell, the farmer's in the dell;
High over glory, oh, the farmer's in the dell, etc.
3. The needle's eye that doth supply
The thread that runs so truly. Etc.
4. Here comes the duke a-riding, etc.
II. "Popular" Songs — Sentimental
Songs, Parodies, Etc.
A. "Old-Fashioned" Songs.
1. Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man,
He washed his face in the frying pan, etc.
2. Once I was Bingle and lived at my ease,
But now I am married, a husband for to please,
Four children all to maintain—
Oh, how I wish I was single again!
3. Oh, where have you been, Billy boy, Billy boy,
Oh, where have you been, charming
Billy, Etc.
B. Sentimental Songs—Older Type.
1. Down by yonder drooping willow
Where the gentle zephyrs bloom,
There sleeps that young Florella
All in her silent tomb. Etc.
2. Can any one tell me where my beau has gone, Etc.
3. 'Twas a fine summer day,
The weather being fine;
Mary stood by her own cottage door,
When a beggar passed by
With a patch on his eye.
"Have pity," said he, "on the poor,"
etc.
C. Parodies.
1. We had a friend by the name of Billy Long;
He bought a goat just for a song;
He loved that goat, so well he did,
He bought it for his little kid. Etc.
2. In the shade of the old apple tree,
Sat two Irishmen, drunk as could be. Etc.
III. Songs of the Soldier, the Lumber-Jack, the Pioneer, and the Negro.
4. Wang, wum, wittle-wum; Jack Strum, strittle-strum.
Wang, wum, wittle-wum; way goes Flum,
etc.
B. Game-Rhymes, Memory Rhymes, Etc.
1. Here comes, here comes the golden ball
Under apron strings and all, etc.
(Bouncing Ball).
2. Alligator, hedgehog, anteater, bear,
Rattlesnake, frog, anaconda, hare; etc.
3. Chickamy, chickamy, crany crow
Went to the well to wash her toe;
When she got back her chicken was gone.
What time is it, old witch!
4. Oranges and lemons says the bells of
St. Clemens; You owe me four farthings, says the bells of St. Martins. Etc.
0. Nonsense Rhymes, Riddles, Etc.
1. Beefsteak when I'm hungry
Whiskey when I'm dry;
Pretty girls when I'm happy,
Heaven when I die.
2. As I was crossing London Bridge,
I met my sister Ann.
I pulled off her head
And drank her blood
And left her body stand.
3. When I was a little boy,
My mother kept me in;
Now I am a big boy,
Fit to serve a king. Etc.
4. I came to a city, I went to a ball,
I married a rich widow with nothing at all;
I was married in June on a hot summer day,
In the middle of winter, the making of hay.
Burden—Down, down, derry down, etc.
5. Said the man to Sandy,
"Will you lend me your mill,"
"Yes, I'll lend you my mill," said Sandy.
So Sandy lent the man his mill,
And the man had the loan of Sandy's mill.
D. Lullabies, Mother Goose Rhymes, Etc.
1. Little birdie in the tree, little birdie in
the tree, Little birdie in the tree; sing a song
to me. Sing a song of big ships, etc.
2. Once there was a little girl Who had a little curl, etc.
3. Lady bug, lady bug,
Turn around; Lady bug, lady bug,
Touch the ground. Etc.
4. Rock a baby Bilkin, Daddy's gone a-silkin, etc.
A. War Songs.
1. Down where the patriot army,
Near Potomac's side,
Guards the glorious cause of freedom,
Gallant Ellsworth died. Etc.
/
I will leave my false love and the river behind.
C. Songs of the Emigrant. (I quote only
first lines).
1. Oh, the weary on you Johnny.
2. Young Emma was a servant maid, Who loved a sailor bold.
3. "John Reily"—
As I roved out one May morning,
All for to take the sweet morning air.
4. There was a rich merchant in London
did dwell.
3. You tender maidens I pray draw near.
In most of these a rich girl marries a poor man or sailor, runs off with him to sea, etc. Some end happily, some unhappily.
D. Cowboy Songs.
1. Come all ye Texas Rangers, wherever
you may be.
2. The Dying Cowboy.
:!. The Dying Californian.
E. Negro Airs.
1. Did von over hear de hammer ring (repeated thrice).
When dey nailed poh Jesus down?
Chill in dey nailed poh Jesus down.
2. Heaven is a high and loftiest place;
You can't git there if you got no grace.
Fare you well, sinner, fare you well. Etc.
3. T heard a noise in a cloud;
It sounds to me like thunder.
If that ain't my old wife comin' back,
It is to me a wonder.
4. Where now is the prophet Daniel? (Repeat thrice).
Way over on the other shore.
He went up from a (lend of lions,
Safe on de oder shore.
IV. American Versions of English and Scottish Ballads.
2. I knew by the light of his deep, dark eye
When he heard the roll of the must'ring drum,
That he never would fold his arms and sigh
Over the evils that were to come.
I knew that the blood of a patriot sire
Coursed through his veins like a stream of fire;
So I took his hand and I bade him go,
But he never dreamed that it grieved me so. Etc
B. Songs of the Lumber Camp.
1. Young Monroe—the following is a typical stanza:
'Twas on one Sunday morning,
As you will plainly see;
The logs were piled up mountain high,
They nearly reached the sky.
The foreman said, "Turn out, my boys,
With hearts devoid of fear;
We'll break the jam on Gerry Rock,
And for Charlietown we 'll steer."
The jam is broken, but Charlie and six companions are drowned—
There was one headless body
A-lying on the beach below;
All cut and mangled in the rocks
Lay the head of Young Monroe.
His "girl" is from "Saginaw town."
For her, the raftsmen take up a collection.
She dies not long afterwards of a broken heart.
Her last request was granted;
She was placed by Young Monroe.
2. Come you true and shanty boys,
Wherever you may be, etc.
The story is of Harry Dunn,
Who went in to the lumber woods
And never did return.
He is killed by a limb which his "body
bored." Both his mother and father die of
grief. The last four lines run—
So come all you true and shanty boys,
Wherever you may stand;
If ever you run short of work,
Keep clear of Michigan.
Bay City, Pinconning, and "the Huron
shore" all figure in the setting.
3. I 'm a heart-broken raftsman, etc.
This ballad is the lament of Jack Haggerty over the faithlessness of his sweetheart, Annie.
Her cheeks were as fair
As the lily of Spain
Or the wings of the sea-gull
That skims o'er the sea.
Jack blames Annie's mother, Jane Tucker,
for the jilting. He finally says:
Good-bye to the river, for me there's no rest;
I will shoulder my pevie; I will go to the West.
I will go to Muskegon, some comfort to find;
___________________________________________
I use the titles and numbers adopted by Professor Child.*
1. Riddles Wisely Expound (No. 1).
It begins—
What is rounder than a ring?
What is deeper than the sea?
What is higher than the skyf
What is worse than women kind?
•To the curious reader who may desire to have better reading acquaintance with Professor Child's famous collection ,it may be convenient to know that the best versions of about three hundred are printed in English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Cambridge Edition (Boston, New York, Chicago: HoughtonMifflin Company, 1904. Price $8.00).
2. The Elfin Knight (No. 2).
Where are you going? I'm going to Lynn.
Let every rose grow merry in time, etc. (I have two versions of this.)
3. False Lambkin (No. 93).
False Lambkin, goodly mason
As ever lay stone,
He built Lord Arnold's castle,
And the Lord paid him none.
4. The Twa Corbies (No. 26). (I have several variations.)
5. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight (No. 4). (I have three versions.)
Go steal me a portion of your father's gold
And also your mother's fee,
And I will take you to old England
And there my bride you'll be. Etc.
6. Lord Lovel (No. 75).
7. Our Goodman (No. 274).
Home comes the old man, home comes he,
A stick in the corner he chanced for to see.
8. Bonny Barbara Allan (No. 84).
'Twas in the merry month of May
An' the birds was sweetly singin'
Sweet William lay in his dyin' bed
For the love of Barbara Allen. Etc.
9. Sir Hugh, or the Jew's Daughter (No.
155.)
10. The Cruel Mother (No. 20).
As the version 1 have is so short, I submit it in its entirety. It comes to me from 8outh Carolina by way of Kentucky. Here it is:
I. My dear little children, if you were mine
All alone and aloney-o,
I'd dress you up in silks so fine
Down by the greenwood sidey-o.
II. O, false mother, when we were thine,
All alone and aloney-o,
You dressed us not in silks so fine,
Down by the greenwood sidey-o.
III. You buried us under a marble slab,
All alone and aloney-o,
Think you these deeds will ne'er be known,
Down by the greenwood sidey-o?
This last is the type of song that Andrew Lang must have had in mind when he said, "Ballads are a voice from secret places, from silent peoples, and old times long dead; and as such they stir us in a strangely intimate fashion to which artistic verse can never attain."
It is my purpose, I repeat, to preserve as much of this "voice from secret places, from silent peoples" that still lingers in the memories of living men and women and children within the borders of our commonwealth as it may be my good fortune to collect. I need offer no apology for this effort. How long it may take to get together enough material to warrant an opinion as to origins, distributions, literary values, cultural values, and the like, I cannot say; it may take a decade, it may take a generation. However that may be, I feel the task is a worthy one. To teachers it must mean much. The days of the teacher of the type such as Georgie Madden Martin pictures in Emmy Lou are fast going if not entirely gone. No more "blue" or "red" fairy books with genuine folk-material in them will ever be pitched in the fire; but a few teachers and many mothers need to know the superior value of the folk-child's songs and games, of the old ballads as compared with the modern mongrel tales embodying wizards armored in stove-pipes and tin-pans. The general reader, the common man, should be brought to realize that what is his in folk-song is what has always been the greatest of inspirations to some of our best poets. Allan Ramsay did an inestimable service to humanity when he published the songs in his Ever' green and his Tea-Table Miscellany, songs that inspired some of Burns' most touching lines. Walter Scott's work as a romanticist in both song and prose owed its earliest and its continued inspiration to Thomas Percy's Ancient Reliques of English and Scottish Poetry; not to the fanciful artificial pastorals of this interesting book, but to the mangled and "improved" renderings, by the obliging bishop, of the old ballads which his ecclesiastical excellence found "lying dirty on the floor under a Bureau in ye Parlour" of a certain Humphrey Pitt of Shropshire. The leaves of the old manuscript were being used by Pitt's "maids to light the fire." This is how near Scott came to losing the best of the old ballads that come down to us from five centuries and more. But why need I say more? Wordsworth and Coleridge's "Lyrical Ballads," much of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's best verse, many of William Morris's charming tales. Kipling's "Seven Seas," and the charm of many another singer's best song is a beautiful after-echo of the joys and the sorrows of the race. The in gathering of what still remains of these old songs is a labor worthy of the doing.*
*I shall be pleased to receive any contributions from any individual or group of individuals who may be willing to submit anything whatever that may be suggested by the selections which I give above. If any of the following information can be added to the material, such information may prove of great value:
1. From whom was the piece obtained? When? Where did he live? How old was he? Where did he get it?
2. Has it ever been seen in print? Where? When?
3. Did it have an air (tune)? Can the air be written down?
4. Was the piece accompanied by a game or a dance? Can either be described.
5. Spell the piece as it sounded at the time it was taken down.
6. Fragments may be of inestimable value oven when not accompanied by any information. If these questions cannot be answered, submit your material anyway. It will be welcomed by the collector.
Address all material to Bertrand L. Jones, Western State Normal School, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
BERTRAND L. JONES,
Department of English.