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Sleepy Desert/Katie Dear (Drowsy Sleeper/ Awake! Awake! /Silver Dagger)
Traditional Song and “tragic” ballad- Appalachian region, widely known. See Also: East Virginia Version 4; and Silver Dagger;
ARTIST: Transcription of Wilmer Watts and His Lonely Eagles 'Sleepy Desert' recorded October 29 or 30, 1929 in New York City and issued as Paramount 3282. Reissued on Various Artists 'Times Ain't Like They Used To Be: Early American Rural Music Vol III' Yazoo CD 2047 by Stewie.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes (although known as a ballad there are fiddle solos and versions that use fiddles);
DATE: Earliest text: Drowsy Sleeper- Bodelian Library 1817; Appears in The Social Harp 1855 (first verse only); Earliest complete version in US “Awake Awake!” sung by Mary Sands at Allanstand, NC Aug 1, 1916.
OTHER NAMES: "The Drowsy Sleeper " [Laws M4]; “Oh Molly Dear (Go Ask Your Mother)” “Silver Dagger;” “I Will Put My Ship in Order” “Awake, Awake” “Who's That Knocking?;” “Peggy Dear;” “Kentucky Mountain;” “Julianne;” “Willie Darling;” “Little Willie”
RELATED TO: “Greenback Dollar,” “Old Virginny/East Virginia Blues/Dark Holler Blues,” “Darling Think of What You've Done;” "Greenback Dollar" (plot); "Go From My Window;" "One Night As I Lay on My Bed"
RECORDING INFO: Silver Dagger/ Drowsy Sleeper/ Awake Awake- Dillard Chandler, "Awake, Awake" (on OldLove); Lester A. Coffee, "Awake, Arise, You Drowsy Sleeper" (AFS, 1946; on LC55); Oaks Family, "Wake Up You Drowsy Sleeper" (Mid-1920s; on TimesAint01); Wilmer Watts & the Lonely Eagles, "Sleepy Desert" (Paramount 3282, 1931; on TimesAint03); New Lost City Ramblers, "Little Satchel" (on NLCR17, NLCRCD2); Baez, Joan. Joan Baez, Vanguard VRS 9078, LP (1961), cut# 1; Baez, Joan. Very Early Joan, Vanguard VSD 79446/7, LP (1982), cut#D.06; Coffee, Lester A.. Folk Music From Wisconsin, Library of Congress AFS L55, CD (1960/2001), cut# 4; Davis, Bill. Sounds of the Smokies, Old Tradition BWD 51471, LP (197?), cut#A.05; Ensign, Bob; and the Stump Jumpers. Mountain Guitar Pickin', Rural Rhythm RRBE 255, LP (197?), cut#B.08; Gunning, Sarah Ogan. Silver Dagger, Rounder 0051, LP (1976), cut# 4; Haley, Ed. Grey Eagle (Vol. 2), Rounder 1133/1134, CD (1997), 1.04; Hundley, Holley. Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 3, Augusta Heritage AHR 009, Cas (1991), cut#1.01; Ian and Sylvia (Ian & Sylvia). Early Morning Rain, Vanguard VRS 9175, LP (1965), cut# 4 (Awake Ye Drowsy Sleeper); Ritchie, Jean. Singing Family of the Cumberlands, Riverside RLP 12-653, LP (1957), cut#B.03d (Awake, Awake You Drowsy Sleeper); Smith, Betty. Songs Traditionally Sung in North Carolina, Folk Legacy FSA-053, LP (1975), cut# 8 (Awake, Awake You Drowsy Sleeper); Van Ronk, Dave. Dave Van Ronk, Fantasy 24710, LP (197?), cut#4.04; Womenfolk. Womenfolk at the hungry i, RCA (Victor) LPM-2991, LP (1963), cut# 11;
Julianne- Sparks, Randy/Traditional-New Christy Minstrels. Tell Tall Tales!, Columbia CS 8817, LP (1963), cut#B.03
Kentucky Mountain- Delmore, Alton -Delmore Brothers. Sand Mountain Blues, County CCS 110, LP (1986), cut#A.01; Williamson, George & Mary. Our Mountain Heritage, Old Homestead OHS 80010, LP (198?), cut#B.04;
Peggy Dear [Laws G21/Sh 165]- (Related To: Young Men and Maids) Iron Mountain String Band (Calif.). Someday We'll Meet Again, Folkways FA 3836, LP (1981), cut#A.02
Who's that Knocking on My Window- The Carter Family recorded their version of “Drowsy Sleeper” entitled “Who’s That Knocking On My Window” (64102-A) in 1938 while in NY. New Lost City Ramblers. Sing Songs of the New Lost City Ramblers, Aravel AB-1005, LP, cut# 15; New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p 37;
Katie Dear [Laws G21]- Callahan Brothers. Going Down The Valley; Vocal & Instrumental Music from the South, New World NW 236, LP (1977), cut# 13 (Katie Dear); Homer and Walter Callahan, "Katie Dear (Silver Dagger)" (Banner 33103/Melotone M-13071/Oriole 8353/Perfect 13017/Romeo 5353, c. 1934); Blue Sky Boys. Original and Great: Early Authentic Country Recordings, Camden CAL 797, LP (1964), cut# 5; Blue Sky Boys. Bluegrass Mountain Music, Camden ADL-2-0726, LP (1974), cut# 3; Blue Sky Boys. Are You From Dixie? Great Country Brother Teams of the 1930's, RCA (Victor) 8417-4-R, Cas (1988), cut# 17; Ian and Sylvia (Ian & Sylvia). Four Strong Winds, Vanguard VSD 2149, LP (196?), cut#A.03; Louvin Brothers. Tragic Songs of Life, Rounder SS012, LP (199?), cut#B.02; Maddy, Roger and Janice. Place of My Dreams, Voyager VRLP 324-S, LP (197?), cut#A.08; Perry, Cliff; and Laurel Bliss. Old Pal, Telegraph TM0707, Cas (1994), cut# 11; Stewart, Polly; and the Valley Boys. National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest & Folk Music Festival. 1965, Century, LP (1966), cut# 23; Williams Family. All in the Family, Arkansas Traditions 004, LP (1986), cut# 12;
Oh Molly Dear (Go Ask Your Mother)- Kelly Harrell, "O! Molly Dear Go Ask Your Mother" (Victor 20280, 1926; on KHarrell01 -- with several verses from "East Virginia" inserted in the song); Seeger, Mike. Mike Seeger, Vanguard VRS-9150, LP (1964), cut#A.02;
SOURCES: Laws M4, "The Drowsy Sleeper;" Randolph 52, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (6 texts, 3 tunes); Eddy 31, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (4 texts, 4 tunes); Doerflinger, p. 314, "Who's That at My Bedroom Window? (The Drowsy Sleeper)" (1 text, 1 tune); Leach, pp. 727-730, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (2 texts); FSCatskills 51, "Awake, Awake, Ye Drowsy Sleepers" (2 texts, 2 tunes); Warner 188, "Wake, O Wake, You Drowsy Sleeper" (1 text, 1 tune); McNeil-SFB1, pp. 72-73, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (1 text, 1 tune); Sharp-100E 47, "Arise, Arise" (1 text, 1 tune); Sharp/Karpeles-80E 46, "Arise! Arise!" (1 text, 1 tune); Sandburg, p. 144, "Kind Miss" (1 text, 1 tune, primarily "Wheel of Fortune" but with one verse of "The Drowsy Sleeper"); Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 200-201, "[Drowsy Sleeper]" (1 text, 1 tune); SHenry H722, pp. 343-344, "The Sweet Bann Water" (1 text, 1 tune, erroneously listed in the text as Laws M34); Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 549-550, "The Shining Dagger" (1 text, 1 tune); LPound-ABS, 21, pp. 51-52, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (1 text; the second text is perhaps influenced by "The Silver Dagger"); JHCox 348, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (2 texts); Darling-NAS, pp. 114-115, "Awake, Awake, My Old True Lover" (1 text); also pp. 115-116, "Oh, Molly Dear" (1 text, very mixed, with verses from this song, from "East Virginia, and some floaters); also pp. 116-117, "Who's That Knocking" (1 text, even more mixed and with a "Little Sparrow" verse); Silber-FSWB, p. 193, "Don't Sing Love Songs" (1 text); Darling-NAS, pp. 115-116, "Oh, Molly Dear"-, and some floaters); pp. 275-276; Laws G21, "The Silver Dagger;" Randolph 139, "The Silver Dagger" (6 texts, 2 tunes); Eddy 102, "The Green Fields and Meadows" (2 texts, 2 tunes); Leach, pp. 730-731, "The Silver Dagger" (1 text); LPound-ABS, 52, pp. 121-122, "Silver Dagger"; pp. 123-124, "Silver Dagger" (2 texts); JHCox 109, "The Silver Dagger" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more); Darling-NAS, pp. 221-222, "Young Men and Maids" (1 text); American Ballads and Songs, Scribners, Sof (1972/1922), p121; American Ballads and Songs, Scribners, Sof (1972/1922), p123; Native American Balladry, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk (1964), p223; Baez, Joan. Joan Baez Song Book, Ryerson Music, sof (1964/1971), p 75; Ritchie, Jean. Singing Family of the Cumberlands, Oak, Bk (1955), p.200 (Drowsy Sleeper/Sleepers); New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p 37;
NOTES: First, let me acknowledge my friends and fellow researchers at Mudcat Discussion Forum for their contributions to the “Drowsy Sleeper” and related songs. The relationship of “Drowsy Sleeper” with “Old Virginny/ East Virginia Blues/ Dark Holler Blues/ Man of Constant Sorrow” has been documented but maybe not to the extent as in the Forum.
The “Drowsy Sleeper” is one of the tragic ballads: A young man comes to his love's window and bids her ask her parents' permission to marry him. They will refuse it; her father is prepared to kill him. Depending on the version, he leaves, or one or the other lover (or both) commits suicide or die of grief.
The chronology of the “Drowsy Sleeper” Songs can be seen below. Traced from a broadside from Chrome, Sheffield, 1817 entitled the “Drowsy Fleeper” in the Bodelian Library, England, to “Katie Dear” in the 1930’s in the US.
1) “The Drowsy Sleeper " [Laws M4];” 1817 Bodelian Library- England
2) “Arise! Arise!” Late 1800’s early 1900’s England
3) “Awake! Awake! (Sharp No. 57 see: Version 4)” US versions- 1916
4) “Silver Dagger” 1918 Sharp- US version
5) “Oh Molly Dear (Go Ask Your Mother)” 1926 Kelly Harrell
6) “Katie Dear” 1934 Callahan Brothers
“DROWSY SLEEPER” [Laws M4] NOTES: So far, the oldest (Chrome, Sheffield, 1817; Birt, London, 1828, titled "The Maiden's Complaint"; 1834, and possibly Catnach, no exact date (begins in 1813) all refer to the boy as Jemmy; forming a related group. More versions may be in the Bodleian or other repository under names such as "The Maiden's Complaint," which aren't recognizable as "The Drowsy Sleeper."
The Bodelian Ballad index features “The Drowsy Sleeper” (1817):
Awake awake ye drowsy sleeper,
Awake awake, 'tis almost day!
How can you sleep, ye darling creature
Since you have stole my heart away?
"Jemmy and Nancy of Yarmouth" tells the same story of separation and cruel parents, in an overlong ballad printed by Bebbington in 1858-1861, Bodleian 2806 c.16(319). Other Jemmy and Nancy ballads are unrelated.
Also see "The Cruel Father," undated, Harding B25(450), and especially "The Cruel Father, or the Maiden's Complaint," Harding B25(452), pub. 1819-1844, Pitts and Toy, which begins "Awake, awake, you drowsy sleeper," another one with Jemmy; a different printing of "The Maiden's Complaint" from the one already transcribed.
There may be a relationship with some versions of "The Cruel Father and Affectionate Lovers," where the lover is a servant or clerk; the locale may be Shannon or England (1813-1838); and The Cruel Father and the Constant Lover, 1802-1819, 2806 c18(76) and others. These involve a dungeon and probably are separate ballads. Also see "The Cruel Father," printed Edinburgh, Firth c12(298), seems to be fairly late 19th C., "a young sailor."(Dicho)
The 1830’s Drowsy Sleeper text quotes from Stephen Sedley's book, The Seeds of Love (1967), is one of two separate songs he "constructed" from the same seven (!) separate sources; not, I'm afraid, evidence of anything at all apart from Sedley's extravagant imagination and complete lack of concern for authenticity. The tune was from Marina Russell of Upwey in Dorset, noted early 20th century, incidentally. The only 1830s source cited was "a note in Cunningham's 1834 edition of Burns", whatever that might have been. (Malcolm Douglass)
From Peta Webb Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (Cecil Sharp House, London): I had look at Ord and Greig- Duncan references but these certainly don't seem to pre-date Sharp. I also had a look at our Broadside Index and found several references to “Drowsy Sleeper” on our microfilms of the Madden Collection in Cambridge University Library. The Broadsides are undated: printers are Such ( working from 1849 on); Catnach (1813 on); Jackson, Birmingham (dates unknown); Baird of Cork (dates unknown). Catnach version is similar to the 1817 version -refers to "Jemmy" - but is several stanzas shorter. As far as I can tell, you have answered your own question, and these 1834 and 1817 items are likely to be the earliest versions of The Drowsy Sleeper- unless you have any way of more precisely dating the Catnach version.
“ARISE ARISE/AWAKE AWAKE” NOTES: Versions of the Drowsy Sleeper entitled “Arise Arise!” and in the US “Awake Awake!” appear in the early 1900’s. The first verse only appears in The Social Harp- 1855.
From Peta Webb Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (Cecil Sharp House, London):
1) Roud index gives No.402 (LawsM4) to the 205 examples given, typical title being Awake, arise you drowsy Sleeper. Sharp's titles are Arise, Arise (Jack Barnard,James Saunders, Lucy White,Amos Ash, Rebecca Holland) plus one example of title Awake, Awake (James Saunders) .First lines differ, several include the phrase "Drowsy sleeper". Card Index at VWML refers search for Awake,Awake and Arise, Arise to Drowsy Sleeper. The Drowsy Sleeper card lists the aforementioned examples collected by Sharp. It seems reasonable to conclude therefore that Sharp (as Roud, Laws) considered Awake/Arise /Drowsy sleeper to be all variants of the same song.
2) Silver Dagger has Roud No.711 (LawsG21). There are 86 refs., all USA/Canada. Card Index gives first line as "Young Men and maidens pay attention". All refs seem to be USA./Canada. Sharp version in "Eng. Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians" has this first line. I conclude therefore that this is a separate song from Awake, etc. Version of Silver Dagger in English Dance & Song Vol 27.2 1965 turns out to be a version collected by Sharp in Virginia,1918, starting "Come young men and pay attention". I can find no ref. to Sharp collecting an English version of Silver Dagger. Roud gives 17 refs. to Sharp's versions collected in the USA.
3) Madden Broadside collection has Awake/Arise/Drowsy texts printed by Catnach,Jackson,Eavans,Pitts but the broadsides are not dated. Actual collecting of songs only started in the 1890s, so Sharp's would probably be the/among the/ earliest. Another collector, PW.Percy Merrick, contributes to Journal of Folk Song Society "O, who is that that raps at my window?" (a version of Awake,Awake) collected from Henry Hills,Sussex, 1904 (JEFSS Vol. 1 No.5 1904).
SILVER DAGGER (I), The [Laws G21] NOTES: “Silver Dagger” has the same basic plot as “Drowsy Sleeper” but the silver dagger is used as the suicide weapon. Here’s the basic story: Two young people wish to marry; the boy's parents are against it because the girl is poor. The heartbroken girl stabs herself to death. The boy, finding her dying, takes the dagger and stabs himself as well. “Katie Dear” is the same song as “Silver Dagger.”
SOURCES: Laws G21, "The Silver Dagger;" Randolph 139, "The Silver Dagger" (6 texts, 2 tunes); Eddy 102, "The Green Fields and Meadows" (2 texts, 2 tunes); Leach, pp. 730-731, "The Silver Dagger" (1 text); LPound-ABS, 52, pp. 121-122, "Silver Dagger"; pp. 123-124, "Silver Dagger" (2 texts); JHCox 109, "The Silver Dagger" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more); Darling-NAS, pp. 221-222, "Young Men and Maids" (1 text);
“KATIE DEAR/OH MOLLY DEAR” NOTES: The first recording, under the title 'Katie Dear', was by the Callahan Brothers in 1934. Joe and Bill, from North Carolina, were born in 1910 and 1912 respectively. Bill Malone ['Country Music USA' p110] and the unidentified writer of the notes to 'Callahan Brothers' CD [Old Homestead 4031] indicate that there was plenty of singing around the Callahan household and that they learned the folk component of their repertoire [before being swept away with Jimmy Rodgers music in the late 20s], songs like 'Katie Dear' and 'Banks of the Ohio, from their mother. This would probably bring the date back to the late 19th century at least. (Stewie)
The name “Katie Dear” and “Oh Mollie Dear” are interchangeable: The gal came back to life and changed her name often- May, Molly, Nancy, Mary, Madam and nameless in “Drowsy Sleeper” variants in Randolph; Julia (Julie) and nameless in Silver Dagger; Mary in Cox' Silver Dagger. A number of bluegrass singers used the Katy Dear/Oh Mollie Dear variant. These are the earliest recordings:
1) Oh Molly Dear (BVE 35667-3)- Kelly Harrell- 6-09-1926
2) Oh Molly Dear (BVE 39725-2)- B. F. Shelton- 7-27-1927
3) Sleepy Desert (Paramount 3282, 1931; on TimesAint03)- Wilmer Watts & the Lonely Eagles- 1929
4) Wake Up You Drowsy Sleeper (BE 62575-2)- Oaks Family- 6-04- 1930
5) Katie Dear (14524-2) - Callahan Brothers (vcl duet w.gtrs) - 01/03/1934. NYC.
6) Katie Dear (BS 018680-1) - Blue Sky Boys (vcl duet w/mdln & gtr) - 01/25/1938. Charlotte, N.C. (Bill and Earl Bolick) Within The Circle/Who Wouldn't Be Lonely, BSR CD 1003/4. Rounder set 'The Blue Sky Boys' Rounder CD 0052. The booklet has a short essay by Bill Malone. As Bill says: 'The Blue Sky Boys' sound - mandolin, guitar and 2 voices - may suggest an earlier phase of American existence, but the sentiments they express are timeless. They speak directly to our hearts, if we will but listen, as few entertainers in country music history have done'.
7) Katy Dear (64077-) - Tiny Dodson's Circle-B Boys (vcl w/vln & gtrs) - 06/07/1938.
FINAL NOTES: The Carter Family recorded their version of “Drowsy Sleeper” entitled “Who’s That Knocking On My Window” (64102-A) in 1938 while in NY. Today the song has been recently recorded by such diverse artists as Dave Van Ronk, Old Crowe Medicine Show and Dolly Parton.
Transcription of Wilmer Watts and His Lonely Eagles 'Sleepy Desert' recorded October 29 or 30, 1929 in New York City and issued as Paramount 3282. Reissued on Various Artists 'Times Ain't Like They Used To Be: Early American Rural Music Vol III' Yazoo CD 2047.
Watts was from North Carolina and worked in the cotton mills. Band member, Palmer Rhyne, duetted on vocals on 'Sleepy Desert' and the pair were accompanied by an unidentified, but tasty, steel guitarist. It’s probable that Watts misheard a version and turned “Drowsy Sleeper into “Sleepy Desert.”
Here are the lyrics to 'Sleepy Desert' from Watts:
Wake, oh wake, you sleepy desert
Wake, oh wake, it's a-comin' day
Oh stick your head out of the window
See what your true lover say
Some people says that courting's pleasure
Oh what pleasure do I see
When the dearest girl in this world
Has done and turned her back on me
Wake, oh wake, you sleepy desert
Wake, oh wake, it's a-comin' day
Oh stick your head out of the window
See what your true lover say
There's no one (to follow to) bedroom
There's no one to sleep with me
I got a wife way up in heaven
And the Lord knows she loves me
Wake, oh wake, you sleepy desert
Wake, oh wake, it's a-comin' day
Oh stick your head out of the window
See what your true lover say
You needn't to bother to ask my papa
He's in his room a-takin' his rest
And in his hand he holds a weapon
To kill the man that I love best
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