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Kitty Kline/Katy Cline
Old-Time Song and Breakdown- Originated from L. V. H. Crosby “Kitty Clyde” published in 1853; Southeast US;
ARTIST: From "The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore; the folklore of North Carolina, collected by Dr. Frank C. Brown during the years 1912 to 1943, in collaboration with the North Carolina Folklore Society"
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: “Kitty Clyde” published in 1853; Recorded by Monroe Brothers in 1937.
RECORDING INFO: Benfield, Neriah & Kenneth. Traditional Music at Newport, 1964, Part 1, Vanguard VSD 79182, LP (1965), cut# 10; Creed, Kyle. Liberty, Heritage (Galax) 028 (XXVIII), LP (1977), cut#A.06 (Katy Kline); Greenbriar Boys. New Folk, Vanguard VRS 9096, LP (196?), cut#A.01; Harold and Abe. Cornbred, Molasses and Sassafras Tea, Heritage (Galax) 023, LP, cut# 9; Jones, Vester. Traditional Music From Grayson and Carroll Counties, Folkways FS 3811, LP (1962), cut# 14; Monroe Brothers. Feast Here Tonight, Bluebird AXM2-5510, LP (1975), cut# 19; Red Fox Chasers. Red Fox Chasers, County 510, LP (1967), cut# 6; Rutherford, Ernest; and the Gold Hill Band. Old Cap'n Rabbit, Heritage (Galax) 080, Cas (1989), cut# 21; Seekers. Seekers, Pickwick SPC-3068, LP (197?), cut#A.06; Singing LeFevre Family. Folk Festival of the Smokies. Vol. 1, Traditional FFS-528, LP (197?), cut# 13 (Katy Kline)"Katie Cline" is performed by The Dillards on "First Time Live," 1999; "Katie Klein" is performed by The Stoneman Family on "Stonemans," 1970; "Katy Cline" is performed by Mountain Heart on "Mountain Heart," 2000; Stover/Lilly/Anthony on (various artists) "Mountain Music: Bluegrass Style," 1991; The Greenbriar Boys on (various artists) "Original New Folks," 1993; The Lilly Brothers on "Live at Hillbilly Ranch," 1965; The Stanley Brothers on "Shadows of the Past," 1981; "Katy Kline" is performed by Raymond Fairchild on "Banjo Breakdown," 2000; The Seekers on "1963-1964" The Seekers on "Seekers Complete," 1997; Traditional Grass on "Howdy, Neighbor, Howdy," 1992; "Katy Klyne" is performed by The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers on "Bluegrass Favorites," 1963.
OTHER NAMES: "Katie Klein," "Katie Cline," "Katy Kline," "Katy Klyne," "Kitty Kline"
RELATED TO: “Kitty Clyde,” “Free Little Bird”
SOURCES: The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Silber-FSWB 149, "Katy Cline" (1 text);
NOTES: “Katy Cline” is an adaptation of “Kitty Clyde,” written and composed by L. V. H. Crosby and published in1853; for complete lyrics see Version 6. Here’s a verse and chorus of Kitty Clyde:
How I wish that I was a Bee,
I'd not gather honey from flowers,
But would steal a dear sip from Kitty's sweet lip,
And make my own hive in her bowers.
Or, if I was some little bird,
I would not build nests in the air,
But keep close by the side of sweet Kitty Clyde,
And sleep in her soft silken hair.
CHORUS: Sweet Kitty, dear Kitty, my own sweet Kitty Clyde,
In a sly little nook by the babbling brook,
Lives my own sweet Kitty Clyde.
“Kitty Clyde” is the originator of both the “Free Little Bird” and “Katy Cline” songs. The “Katy Cline” title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. It was first recorded by Monroe Brothers in 1937.
255 Kitty Kline "The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore; the folklore of North Carolina, collected by Dr. Frank C. Brown during the years 1912 to 1943, in collaboration with the North Carolina Folklore Society"
Of this song Louise Rand Bascom remarks that it is "the ballad which is most universally known" in western North Carolina; that it "might be called the national song of the highlanders." She also notes, what is evident in our texts, that it has "as many versions as there are singers" (JAFL xxii 240).
It is in fact an outstanding example of that type of folk lyric which picks up motives, recombines them, drops them, takes up others, until it is hardly possible to say whether a given text is to be reckoned a form of a particular song or not. Thus the first of the two texts given by Miss Bascom (JAFL xxii 240-1) does not contain the
name 'Kitty Kline' at all. Two themes are fairly constant: the "take me home" theme (sometimes combined with elements from 'The Lass of Roch Royal') and the "free little bird" theme. Miss Bascom thought that the song belonged peculiarly to the Tennessee- North Carolina mountain region. Besides her texts (reproduced here for the sake of completeness) it has been reported from east Tennessee by Perrow (JAFL xxvi 134) and by Isabel Gordon Carter (JAFL xivi 49). and Mrs. Steely found it in the Ebenezer communitv in Wake county. But Randolph reports clear traces of it from the Ozarks (OFS iv 156-8. 188).
A. 'Kitty Kline' Louise Rand Bascom in JAFL xxii (1909) 240-1.
1. Take me home, take me home, take me home,
Take me home, take me home, take me home.
When the moon shines bright, and the stars give light.
Take me home, take me home, take me home.
Texts of 'The Butcher Boy' show that this line should run 'It's grief to me. I'll tell you why.'
2. Oh, who will shoe your little feet.
Oh, who will glove your little hand.
Oh, who will kiss your sweet rosy cheek
W lien I'm gone to that far-distant land?'
3. Oh, Popper'll shoe my little feet.
And Mommer'll glove my little hand.
And you shall kiss my sweet, rosy cheek,
When you come from that far-distant land.
4 'Oh. I can't stay hyar hy myself.
Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself.
I'll weep like a willer, an' I'll mourn like a dove.
Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself.
5. If I was a little fish
I would swim to the bottom of the sea,
And thar I'd sing my sad little song.
Oh. I can't stay hyar by myself.
'Oh. I can't stay hyar by myself, etc.
6 "If I was a sparrer bird,
I would fly to the top of a tree.
And thar I'd sing my sad little song,
Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself.
"Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself, etc.
7. Yonder sets a turtle-dove.
A-hoppin' from vine to vine.
He's a-mournin' fur his own true love,
An' why not me fur mine?
8. I'm a-goin' ter the top of that nigh pine,
I'm a-going' ter the top of that nigh pine,
An' ef I fall 'thout breakin' my neck.
You'll know who I love the best.'
B. 'Kitty Kline' Miss Bascom's second text. JAFL xxii 241.
1. Take me home to my Mommer. Kitty Kline,
Take me home to my Mommer, Kitty Kline,
When the stars shine bright, and the moon gives light,
Take me home to my Mommer, Kitty Kline.
2. Take me home to my Mommer, Kitty Kline,
Take me home to my Mommer. Kitty Kline.
With my head upon your breast like a birdie in its nest,
Take me home to my Mommer, Kitty Kline.
3. I'm as free a little bird as I can be,
I'm as free a little bird as I can be,
I'll build my nest on sweet Kitty's breast,
W'har the bad boys can't tear it down.
Take me home to my Mommer, etc.
The ballad then proceeds as in version A until after the stanza about
the "sparrer" bird, when these stanzas are added:
7. If I was a honey-bee,
I'd dip the honey from the flowers.
An' I'd fly and sing my sad little song,
I can't stay hyar by myself.
8. So fare ye well, Kitty Kline,
So fare ye well, Kitty Kline,
You shall wear my gold-diamond ring.
When I'm in a far-distant land.
C. "Katy Cline" From Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga county in 1915, with the note that these "are all the words I have been able to obtain of this song. It has been played on the fiddle and picked on the banjo here for probably 90 years."
1. Oh, say that you love me, Katy Cline,
Oh, say that you love me, Katy Cline,
Oh, say that you love, you sweet turtle dove,
Oh, say that you love me, Katy Cline.
2. If I was a little bird, little bird.
If I was a little bird
I'd build my nest in sweet Katy's breast
Where the bad boys would never bother me.
D. 'Katy Kline.' Obtained from Miss Florence Shuman, Black Mountain, Buncombe county, in 1920.
1. Oh, say, don't you love me. Katy Kline ?
Oh, say, don't you love me. Katy Kline?
If you love me. Katy Cline. Put your little hand in mine.
Oh. say, don't you love me. Katy Kline?
2. Say you call me a dog when I'm gone.
Say you call me a dog when I'm gone;
But when I return with a ten dollar bill.
It's 'honey where you been so long?'
E. 'Katy Kline.' From Gertrude Allen (later Mrs. Vaught). Taylorsville. Alexander county.
1. Oh, say that you love me. Katy Khne, Katy Kline,
Oh, say that you love me, Katy Kline.
Oh, say that you love me, that you will he mine.
Oh, say that you love me, Katy Kline.
F. 'I'm as Free a Little Bird as I Can Be.' From Miss Maude Minnish; not dated, but before she became Mrs. Sutton and therefore before June 1923. She does not say from whom she got it, but notes that it goes to "a banjo tune, the lightest and tunefullest imaginable."
1. I'm as free a little hird as I can he.
I'm as free a little bird as I can he;
I'll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree ;
I'm as free a little bird as I can be.
2. Take me home, sweet Kitty, take me home.
Take me home, sweet Kitty, take me home.
I'll build my nest in the sweet Kitty's breast
Where the bad boys cannot trouble me.
G. 'I'm as Free a Little Bird as I Can Be.' Lines to accompany the tune as set down by Miss Vivian Blackstock. Not dated.
I'm as free a little bird as I can be.
I'll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree,
I'm as free a little bird as I can be.
H. 'Free a Little Bird." Sung by Tom Boyd on Rabbit Ham. Buncombe county. Not dated.
1. Take me home, birdie, take me home ;
Take me home by the light of the moon.
When the moon is shining bright and the stars are giving light.
Take me home to my mamma, take me home.
Chorus: I'm as free a little bird as I can be;
I'm as free a little bird as I can be;
I'll build my nest in the weeping willow tree,
Where the bad boys will never bother me.
2. Oh, I wish I was a little bird,
I'd build my nest in the air;
I would fy side by side of my sweet Kitty Clyde
And build in her soft silken hair.
3. I'm as free a little bird as I can be;
I'm as free a little bird as I can be;
I'll build my nest in my sweet Kitty's breast
Where the bad boys will never bother me.
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