More Songs from the Southern Highlands by Mellinger E. Henry
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 44, No. 171 (Jan. - Mar., 1931), pp. 61-115
MORE SONGS FROM THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS*
COLLECTED BY MELLINGER E. HENRY Ridgefield, N. J.
[*Abbreviated references: Journal ("Journal of American Folk-Lore"); Cox ("Folk Songs of the South"); Campbell and Sharp ("English Folk-Songs of the Southern Appalachians"); Pound ("American Ballads and Songs"); Scarborough ("On the Trail of Negro Folk Songs"); Sandburg ("The American Song-bag"); Shearin and Combs ("A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-Songs"); Lomax ("Cow-boy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads"); Shoemaker ("North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy", 2nd Ed., 1923).
1. LAMKIN (Child, No. 93)
"Boab King". Obtained from Miss Laura Harmon, Cade's Cove, Blount County, Tennessee, 1928. See Campbell and Sharp, p. 104; Albert H. Tolman. Journal, XXIX, 162 and XXXV, 344, who writes of the former: "It is the only full American version that I know of." See also Journal, XIII, 117; New Jersey Journal of Education, September, 1929, p. 9.
1. Boab King was a mason
As fine as ever laid a stone.
He built a fine castle
And pay he got none.
2. The land-lord said to his lady,
"Beware of Boab King,
If he comes here today"
3. "What care I for Boab King?
What care I for him ?
My doors are all locked,
And my windows barred within."
4. Boab King came one day
While the land-lord was gone
Saying, "Where is the land-lord?
Where is he today ?"
"He is gone to New England
To buy a gold ring."
5. "Where is the land-lord's lady?
Where is she, I say ?"
"She is upstairs in her castle
Resting today."
6. "Where is her daughter, Betsy?
Where is she today?"
"She is up-stairs
A-sleeping today."
7. Boab King said to Miss Fartner,
"How will we fix to get this lady down?"
"We will stick her little baby
Full of needles and pins."
8. Boab King rocked the cradle;
Miss Fartner she [did] sing
Till the blood ran out of the cradle
And the tears did spin [spill].
9. This lady came tripping downstairs,
A-thinking no harm.
Boab King was a-standing
And he caught her in his arms.
10. "Boab King, Boab King,
Please spare me one hour,
Till I go to my baby,
So mournful it cries."
11. "What care I for your baby?
What care I for it?
I have got the land-lord's lady,
My whole heart's delight."
12. "You can have my daughter, Betsy,
You can have her today;
And as many gold dollars
As your horse can carry away."
13. "You may keep your daughter, Betsy;
You can keep her, I say,
To wash up your basin
Where your heart's blood do lay."
14. "Lie still, my daughter, Betsy,
Wherever you be
Till you see your papa
Come sailing on the sea."
15. "O father, you ought not to lay this blame on me.
Boab King killed your lady and baby."
Boab King was hung in a tree so high
And Miss Fartner was burned to a stake close by.
2. THE WIFE OF USHER'S WELL (Child, No. 79)
No local title. Obtained from Mrs. Mary Tucker, Varnell, Georgia, 1929. Cox (No. 14) gives five texts recoverd in West Virginia and mentions two others. The present text resembles most B. See also Campbell and
Sharp, No. 19; Josephine McGill, "Folk Songs of the Kentucky Mountains", p. 5; Pound, No. 7; Journal, XIII, 119; XXIII, 429; XXX, 305; XXXIX, 96; Shearin and Combs, p. 9.
1. There was a woman lived in Ardell,
And babies, she had three;
She sent them away to the North country
To learn their granerlee.
2. They had not been gone two week -
I am sure it was not three
Till old grim Death come knocking at the door,
And tuck these babies away.
3. When their mother heard of that,
She wrung her hands full sore;
"Alas! alas!" their mother said,
"I will see my babes no more."
4. "There is a King in Heaven, I know,
Who I know wears a crown.
Oh, pray, Lord, do send my babies down."
5. Christmas time was drawing near;
The night drew long and cold;
These three babies come running down the hill,
Into their mother's hall.
6. The table was spread with bread and wine;
"Come, eat and drink, my sweet little babies,
Come, eat and drink, it is mine."
7. "I do not want your bread, dear mare, [1]
Or neither want your wine,
For yander stands our Saviour dear,
And to Him we now must go.
8. She put them in the back room to sleep,
Spread over with clean sheet,
And over the top spread a golden sheet,
To make them venture sleep.
9. "Wake up, wake up," said the oldest one,
"The chickens will soon crow for day,
And yander [2] stands our Saviour dear,
And to Him we now must go.
Io. "Farewell, dear father, farewell, dear mother,
Farewell to Aunt Kate and Kane,
For mander stands our Saviour dear,
And to Him we now must remain."
[1] For mother
[2] Error for yander, yonder.
3. SIR HUGH, OR, THE JEW'S DAUGHTER (Child, No. 155)
A. "A Little Boy Lost His Ball" Also obtained from Mrs. Mary Tucker, Varnell, Georgia, 1929.
Cox (No. 19) reports fourteen variants from West Virginia, six of which he gives in full. See Campbell and Sharp, No. 26; Reed Smith, "South Carolina Ballads", p. 148; Pound, No. 5; Newell, "Games and Songs of American Children", p. 75; Scarborough, p. 53; Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Journal, XIX, 293; XXIX, 164, 166; XXX, 322; XXXV, 344; XXXIX, 212.
1. On one dark and misty day two little boys went to play;
They bounced their ball,
They bounced it high, they bounced it low;
It rolled into a gypsy's door, where no one was allowed to go.
2. There was a lady in her silk so fine:
"Come in, little boy, the ball shall be thine".
"I can't come in," the little boy said,
"For I have been told that you're out of your head".
3. First, she showed him a blood-red cherry,
And then a gold-diamond ring;
Then she showed him a big red apple,
To get the little boy in.
4. Then she tuck him by the hand,
And led him through the hall.
She led him to the cellar
Where no one could hear his call.
5. She called for a napkin
And then for a pin;
Then she called for a butcher knife
To carve his little heart in.
6. "Young lady, please spare me my life,
As it is in your hands
And, if I live to make a man,
My riches will be at your demand.
7. "I have got you now, you need not cry,
No one can hear your call,
I rather have your own heart's blood,
Than all the world of gold."
8. "Well, then, when I am dead,
Place a Bible at my head, and a prayer-book at my feet;
If my little play-mates call for me,
Please tell them I am a-sleep."
B. "Hugh of Lincoln." Obtained from Mr. M. M. Hoover, 50 Morningside Drive, New York City, who had it from his mother in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
1. It rained a mist, it rained a mist;
It rained all over the town;
Till every boy in Scotland
Went out to toss his ball.
2. At first he tossed his ball too high;
And then again too low;
Till over into the Jew's garden it went
Where no one had dared to go.
3. Out came the Jew's daughter, all dressed, all dressed;
All dressed in the finest of jewels;
Come in, come in, you little lambkin,
You shall have your ball back again.
4. I will not come in, I shall not come in,
Unless my playmates do;
For whoever comes in will never come back
Will never come back any more.
5. At first she showed him a gay gold ring;
And then a yellow, mellow apple;
And then a cherry as red as blood,
Which enticed the little boy in.
6. And then she took him by the hand;
And through the castle she went;
And pitched him into a cellar below,
Where no one could hear his lament.
7. Oh, spare me, oh, spare me; the little boy cried;
That little boy cried he;
And if ever I live to be a man,
My treasures shall be thine.
8. Then she took him out again;
And pinned him in a napkin;
And called for a basin washed with gold,
To catch his heart's blood in.
9. Oh, lay my prayer book at my head;
My Bible at my heart;
And if my playmates should ask for me,
Oh, tell them that we must part.
10. Oh, lay my prayer book at my heart;
My Bible at my head;
And if my mother should ask of me,
Oh, tell her that I am dead.
4. YOUNG HUNTING(?) (Child, No. 68)
"Loving Heneary". Obtained from Mrs. Mary Tucker, Varnell, Georgia. This is interesting as illustrating the way the singers of the southern highlands sometimes mix up their songs. Beginning with the stanzas from "Young Hunting", the song goes off into what, for want of a better name, may be called "The Forsaken Girl" group (Cf. Josephine McGill: Folk-Songs of the Kentucky Mountains, p. 50).
Campbell and Sharp (No. 15) have six variants and six tunes of "Young Hunting". Cox (No. 9) gives two. Reed Smith (South Carolina Ballads, p. 107) has one which has been quoted by Sandburg. Arthur Palmer Hudson (Specimens of Mississippi Folk-Lore, No. 9) has a fragmentary version. See also Journal, XX, 252; and XXX, 297. The song is mixed up with "The False Young Man" which, Campbell and Sharp remark, is probably derived from "Young Hunting". See Campbell and Sharp, No. 94, and note, p. 333. Cf. stanza 4 of A with stanza 8 of the present song and stanza 9 of C with stanza 6 of this song. Both these stanzas from "The False Young Man" are nearly identical with those mentioned in the following song.
1. "Come in, come in, loving Heneary," she said,
"And stay all night with me,
For it has been fully three quarters of a year,
Since I changed one word with thee."
2. "I won't come in or I can't come in,
For I have not a moment of time;
Besides all of that, you have true lovers of your own;
Your heart is no more mine."
3. "Your heart, it once was mine, my love;
Your arms die across my breast,
But you made me believe by the false lies you swore,
That [the] sun rose in the west.
4. "As many stars in the sky above
As the green grass below;
That many curses shall be sent upon your head,
For treating any poor girl so.
5. "I wish to the Lord my baby was borned,
And on its Dady's knee;
And me, a poor girl, was dead and gone
And green grass growing over me.
6. "I wish, Lord, I never bin borned,
Or a-died when I was young:
I would never would of wet my cheeks in tears
For the sake of no man's son.
7. "If I live till another year
And God will give me grace,
I will buy a bottle of simon water
To wash your flattering face.
8. "While other girls can go abroad
And hear the small birds sing,
Me, a poor girl, have to stay at home
And rock the cradle and sing."
5. THE RICH MAN EXTRA TIRE(?)
Obtained from Miss Laura Harmon, Cade's Cove, Tennessee, 1928. This song has not been identified. Its slight resemblance to "The Suffolk Miracle" has been pointed out. There is also a song about a wife in childbed
being carried away. It is likely that the original was a broadside. Cf. the English broadsides under the titles of "William and Harriet" and "William and Dinah". For a comic stage version of the latter, see "Vilikens and His Dinah" in Ashton's Modern Street Ballads, p. 89. London, 1888. It is hoped that the present song may yet be fully identified. Since writing the above, Mr. Phillips Barry has called attention to the version of The Perjured Maid in a chapbook (Two Old Songs - Falkirk: Printed for the Booksellers) in the Harvard University Library, and has added the following remarks:
"It has no date, and belongs in all probability to the first decades of the 19th century. It is the same song
as your Rich Man Extra Tire, which when I first saw it, impressed me as being what Child would call a 'blurred, enfeebled, and disfigured form' of something quite old and good. There are not a few songs being recorded
now which Child would have included in a supplementary volume, if he had lived. In the present case, we have the same motif as in The Suffolk Miracle, the living being made to keep a tryst with the dead, -the only difference being that the Child ballad is a story of parted lovers and The Rich Man Extra Tire a story of infidelity punished. Compare also The Demon Lover."
I. A rich man exter tire [1]
Had a beautiful daughter fair.
Courted was she by lords and spears;
None her favor could remove.
Till a young sea captain did approve.
2. He was the master of her heart
Which caused it both to ache and smart.
He came to his love in fine -
Just began to tell his mind.
3. She kissed his lips and sighed and said:
"My love, do not be afraid
If [= that] ever I prove false to you
While you are sailing on sea."
4. She wished her body in a nearing grave;
Or her soul no res'ing place to have;
And "May God's vengeance on me swell
And burn my soul in flames of hell,
If ever I prove false to you
While you are sailing on sea."
5. In the course of nine months
He [was] gone on sea,
Courted was she for riches' sake;
All the vows firm to [= she did] break;
And when he came to his love in town,
With grief and sorrow he looked down.
6. As soon as he heard how his true love's mind was bent,
Straight for this lady he sent.
She came to her love with a frown:
"What bad wind blowed you to town?"
7. "You falsest [one], so my dearest, dear,
I heard tomorrow you are going to wed,"
She said, "That's true, but if I do,
What is that to you?"
8. Grief took his speech; no more could [he] say;
And out of his arms she flung away
And left the young sea-captain there alone
With heart as cold as lead or stone.
9. In the morning when he arose,
A letter in tears he wrote.
He conveyed it to his dear,
Saying, "These few lines you must hear."
10. "You falsest of woman-kind,
This is to put you fresh in mind
That you may think of my unhappy estate
And repent before it is too late."
11. Taking this letter in calf(?),
Reading it over she fain did laugh;
And in her pocket she put the same;
And back to her company she went again.
12. No answer from his love could [he] get;
His grief was more than he could bear;
And [to] a river near the town,
In sorrow and tears he walked down.
13. He threw himself in with sad screams and cries;
He never more was seen to rise.
The very day he died,
She made another man a bride.
14. The joyful day was done and passed;
Mark the sorrow to come at last
15. When bed time came she said:
"My dear, let me first for bed prepare,
And afterwards when you want to come,
My maid will light you to the room."
16. Hunting the room and chamber around,
Nothing but her clothes could be found.
As I have always heard them say -
"The devil has carried her soul and body away."
[1] Exeter is suggested.
The song Mr. Barry found and referred to is here reprinted for the purpose of comparison:
THE PERJURED MAID
Come lovers all, both maid and men,
Who swear to what you ne'er inten',
A warning piece I bring to you,
The which is strange but certain true.
A Nobleman near Exeter,
He had a comely daughter fair:
And at the age of sixteen years,
She courted was by Lords and Peers.
But some of them her heart could move,
Till a young sea Captain he did prove
To be the master of her heart,
And caus'd it both to bleed and smart.
His person was so excellent,
That she, poor soul, had no content;
And always when he went to sea,
She'd weep with sorrow bitterly.
And many times beyond the seas,
He'd buy fine things his love to please:
Cupid had given the wound so deep
It made him oft-times also weep.
A piece of gold he broke in two,
And said, if e'er I prove false to you,
May heaven's judgments from above
Fall on their heads, that slight true love.
Her answer was, my dear, said she,
If ever I prove false to thee,
I wish my body ne'er a grave,
Nor soul a resting place may have.
Soon after this it happen'd so,
That he again to sea must go:
One night he came to her, we find,
And thus began to tell his mind:
My tender love, said he, henceforth,
Dear life, be mindful of your oath;
Oh think of me when I am gone,
For thee I'm comfortless alone.
She kissing him, and crying said,
My dearest dear, be pacified;
If that I don't prove true, said she,
May heaven's judgments fall on me.
No sooner was he gone to sea,
But this poor wretched creature she
Was courted by another man,
Who did her yielding heart trepan.
This poor young man, who was her love,
By stress of weather he was drove;
Upon the coast of Barbary,
When he had nine months been away.
The other being discontent,
This wretched maiden did consent
To match with him for riches sake,
And all her former vows to break.
The day was set for to be wed,
But the night before, as 'tis said,
The poor young Captain came to town,
In poverty, and much cast down.
Poor lad, by stress of weather, he
Had lost his substance in the sea;
Both ship and loading all were gone,
Seldom one sorrow comes alone.
He hearing how her mind was bent,
In tears he for the lady sent:
She came to him with scornful frown,
Asking what wind brought him to town.
My dearest love, the Captain said,
I hear to-morrow you're to wed;
Straight, with a frown, she cried, 'tis true,
And if it I be, what's that to you?
Tears stopp'd his speech, no more could say,
Straight from his arms she flung away,
And left him there in tears alone,
With heart as cold as lead or stone.
In floods of tears to bed he went,
And spent the night in discontent;
Smiting his breast, he oft-times said,
Oh! that I'd in the ocean died.
In the morning, soon as it was light,
In tears he did a letter write,
Which he directed to his dear,
The words were these sa you shall hear.
Thou falsest one of woman-kind,
This is to put thee fresh in mind,
How most ungrateful you have been,
Oh! while you're here repent your sin.
Oh! take your joys while they do last,
But be assur'd e'er night be past,
I'll come in tears and visit you -
No more from him that loves so true.
She took the letter with a scoff,
And reading it she fram'd a laugh;
Into her pocket put the same,
And to her company went again.
No answer from her could he get
Therefore in height of passion great,
Into a river near the town,
In tears of sorrow walked down;
Smiting his breast, he often cry'd,
O! that in the ocean I had died;
And never liv'd to see this day,
To throw my precious life away.
His grief was more than he could bear;
Into the river deep and clear
He flung himself with bitter cries,
And never more was seen to rise.
The very night in which he died,
She to another was made bride;
In mirth and joy the day they past,
But mark her sorrows at the last.
Night being come, she said, my dear,
Let me the first to bed repair;
If after you'll be pleas'd to come,
My maid will show you to the room.
The same it was by both agreed,
Being put to bed, the maid with spee,
Taking her leave, return'd down stairs,
The same minute the Ghost appears.
With piercing words, he to her cry'd,
Oh! perjured soul, not satisfied
With all the love that I could give,
How canst thou thus desire to live?
Could not my sighs make thee to grieve?
Could not my sighs make thee believe
That my distressed heart was true?
What canst thou say? Speak to me now.
With that she shriek'd out bitterly,
Oh! pray, dear Christian souls, said she,
Save me! save my life, I do die,
I am ruin'd to eternity.
'Tis not your cries, said he, can save.
Your perjured body from the grave:
This night you'll lie with me in clay:
Then straight he took her hence away.
They hearing of her dreadful cry,
Up stairs immediately did hie,
But found the chamber all alone,
The poor young Lady being gone.
In tears of sorrow all were drown'd:
In her pocket they the letter found,
Which he had sent the day before,
Reading the same they wept the more.
The father cry'd, I am undone:
The husband he distracted ran:
Oh! take warning here both young and old,
And never break your vows for gold.
6. THE BLIND CHILD'S PRAYER
"The Blind Girl". Obtained from Mrs. Emory P. Morrow, Aliceville, Alabama. See Perrow, Journal, XXVIII, 170, for a North Carolina version; also Shearin and Combs, p. 32.
1. They tell me, father, that tonight
You wed another bride;
That you will clasp her to the arms,
Where my dear mother died.
2. They say her name is Mary too,
The name my mother bore.
But, father, is she kind and true
Like the one you loved before?
3. Her picture is hanging on the wall;
Her books are lying near;
There is the harp her fingers touched;
There sits her vacant chair.
4. The chair by which I've ofttimes knelt
To say my evening prayer.
O! father, do not bid me come;
I cannot meet her there.
5. Now let me kneel down by your side
And to our Saviour pray
That God's right hand will lead you both
Through life's long weary way."
6. The prayer was answered and the song.
"I'm weary now," she said.
He picked her up all in his arms
And laid her on the bed;
7. And as he turned to leave the room,
One joyful cry was given;
He turned and caught the last sweet smile,
For his blind child was in heaven.
8. They buried her by her mother's side,
And raised a marble fair,
And on it graved the simple words:
"There'll be no blind ones there."
7. THE BUTCHER BOY
A. This song did not come from the South. It was obtained from Miss Nancy Giannotti, Jersey City, N. J., 1926. See W. Roy Mackenzie's "The Quest of the Ballad", p. 9; Cox, No. 145; Pound, No. 24; Lomax, p. 397; Sandburg, p. 324 (title is "London City"); Spaeth ("Weep Some More, My Lady"), p. 128 (title is "In Jersey City"); Journal, XXIX, 169; XXXI, 73; XXXV, 360; XXXIX, 122; Phillips Barry, Ancient British Ballads, etc. [A privately printed list], No. 41; Arthur Palmer Hudson's "Specimens of Mississippi Folk-Lore", p. 31.
1. In Jersey where I did dwell,
A butcher's son, he loved so well.
He stole my heart away from me,
And now with me he would not stay.
2. In that same city there lived a girl,
And that is where his love went to.
He took her right upon his knee,
And now with me he would not stay.
3. I went upstairs to make the bed;
Without a word to mother I said.
I took a pen and set me down,
And on a paper I wrote down.
4. Her father came home and looked around,
And could not find his daughter bright.
He went upstairs and broke the door,
And saw her hanging on a rope.
5. And on her breast these words were found:
"Oh dig my grave and dig it deep
With a marble stone from head to feet;
And on my dove a golden love,
To show the world I died for love."
B. No local title. Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, who had it from Dock Stinnett, Sevierville, Tennessee.
1. In London City where I did dwell,
A merchant's son I loved so well.
He courted me, my life away,
And then with me, he would not stay.
2. There lived a girl in that same town;
He'd go right there and he'd sit down;
He'd take her upon his knee;
He'd tell to her what he wouldn't tell me.
3. Can you tell me the reason why,
Unless she had more gold than I?
Her gold will melt and her silver fly;
In a few more years she'll be poor as I.
4. I went up stairs to make my bed,
And listening to what my mama said.
O mama, O mama, oh, can't you see
How cruel Sweet Willie has been to me?
5. Oh, bring me a chair and I'll set down -
A paper and pen - I'll write it down.
On the gold and silver line she dropped a tear,
A-calling back, "Sweet Willie, dear."
6. Was late last night when her papa came home.
He found her missing from the room.
He went up stairs and the door, he broke.
He found her hanging by a rope.
7. He took a knife and cut her down
And in her bosom, a note he found:
"Go dig my grave both deep and long.
And at my head and feet place a marble stone;
8. And by my side place a William tree
That the world may weep and mourn for me;
And on my heart place a lovely dove
That the world may know that I died for love."
8. EARLY IN THE SPRING (One Dark and Gloomy Day)
No local title. Obtained from Austin Harmon, Varnell, Georgia. See Arthur Palmer Hudson's "Specimens of Mississippi Folk-Lore", p. 29.
1. It was on one dark and gloomy day;
Our ship set sail to America -
To America our ship was bound -
The music sweet as trumpet sound.
2. As I was crossing the deep blue sea
I takened a kind of tunete (?)* in writing
Letters to my dear.
No letters from her could I hear.
3. For seven long years I served my king;
On the eighth returned again,
Enquiring for the girl I left behind
Who ofttimes told me her heart was mine.
4. As I was going up the street
I found a letter beneath my feet.
It was wrote without a blot
Saying, "Sailed on sea, but not forgot."
5. They told me she had wed for riches' sake,
"Now, young man, seek another maid."
6. "It's curse all gold and silver too
And curse all girls that won't prove true.
On sea or land, I will sail no more.
I will make my way where the bullets roar."
7. "Stop, a stop, a stop", said she.
"Don't make your way to the raging sea;
Don't make your way where the bullets fly;
For there are girls more beautiful than I."
*opportunity(?)
9. KITTY WELLS
Obtained from Miss Cora Clark, Crossnore, Avery County, North Carolina, July 13, 1929. Shearin and Combs note this song, p. 22. See also Pound, No. 94; Shoemaker, p. 135 (2nd ed.). The present song is close to the wording of the latter, but lacks one stanza in that version.
1. You ask what makes this darky weep,
Why he like others is not gay,
What makes the tears roll down his cheek
From early morn till close of day.
My story, darky, you shall hear,
While in my memory fresh it dwells.
It will cause you all to drop a tear
On the grave of my sweet Kitty Wells.
CHORUS: While the mocking bird is singing in the morning,
And the ivy and the myrtle are in bloom -
The sun on the hilltops is dawning -
'Twas then they laid her in the tomb.
2. I often wish that I was dead
And laid beside her in the tomb;
The sorrow that bows down my head
Is silent in the midnight gloom;
The spring time has no charm for me,
Though flowers are blooming in the dell.
The form that I do not see
Is the form of my sweet Kitty Wells.
Chorus:
10. NEGRO SONG
From the singing of a group of Negroes at Montreat, N. C. This is an endless song in which the name of any denomination may be substituted.
You better love the Methodist -
You go'n' to die;
You better love the Methodist-
You go'n' to die
You don't know the day nor the hour.
You better love the Methodist -
You go'n' to die.
Cf. Perrow, Journal, XXVI, 151:
"Methodist, Methodist, while I live;
Methodist till I die;
Been baptized in the faith,
An' fed on Methodist pie."
11. TREAT ME RIGHT
The writer caught this song as it rang out from the throats of a gang of negroes who where working on the Asheville, N. C., watershed on the North Fork at the foot of the Craggy Mountains:
If you treat me right,
I'd sooner work than play;
If you treat me mean,
I won't do neither way.
Compare this with Perrow, Journal, XXVIII, 189, a negro work song from Mississippi:
"The time is coming and it won't be long,
You'll get up some morning, and you'll find me gone.
So treat me right and jolly me along
If you want this nigger to sing the old home song."
12. ALL MY SINS ARE TAKEN AWAY
"I Went Down in the Valley to Pray". Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, August, 1929, who had it from Miss Grace Franklin, Maryville, Tennessee.
See Hudson, "Specimens of Mississippi Folk-Lore", No. 99. Cf. also Odum and Johnson, "The Negro and His Songs", p. 60 ff., and Professor Newman I. White's "American Negro Folk-Songs", 1928, pp. 6o, 132.
1. I went down in the valley to pray,
I went down in the valley to pray,
I went down in the valley to pray.
My soul got happy and I stayed all day!
All my sins are taken away, taken away.
CHORUS: All my sins are take away,
All my sins are taken away,
All my sins are taken away.
0, glory be unto his name!
All my sins are taken away, taken away.
2. Mary wore the golden chains,
Mary wore the golden chains,
Mary wore the golden chains,
Every link in Jesus name.
All my sins are taken away, taken away.
CHORUS:
3. Ever since I've been reemed,*
Ever since I've been reemed,
Ever since I've been reemed,
I've been walking on the golden stream.
All my sins are taken away, taken away.
Chorus:
4. Enoch was a good old man,
Enoch was a good old man,
Enoch was a good old man.
The good lord came down and took him to the promised land.
All my sins are taken away, taken away.
Chorus:
5. I had a little book and read it through,
I had a little book and read it through,
I had a little book and read it through.
I've got my Jesus as well as you.
All my sins are taken away, taken away.
Chorus:
6. I do love that good old way,
I do love that good old way,
I do love that good old way.
When I get down on my knees, try to pray.
All my sins are taken away, taken away.
Chorus:
*redeemed.
13. PHAROAH'S ARMY
Obtained by Mrs. Mellinger E. Henry from the singing of a group of Negroes at Montreat, North Carolina, July, 1926.
O fathers, ain't you glad you left that sinful army?
O mothers, ain't you glad you left that sinful army?
The sea gave way -
O mothers, ain't you glad the sea gave way?
CHORUS: Oh, Moses smote the water
And the children all passed over!
Oh, Moses smote the water
And the sea gave way!
O brothers, ain't you glad you left that sinful army?
O sisters, ain't you glad you left that sinful army?
The sea gave way -
O sisters, ain't you glad the sea gave way?
Chorus:
14. PHAROAH'S ARMY GOT DROWNDED
"Pharoah's Army". Obtained from Major Charles A. Stokes, Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia.
See Sandburg, p. 477. The present song has two additional verses. Cf. also Perrow, Journal, XXVI, 156; Odum and Johnson's "Negro Workaday Songs", p. 19o; Professor Newman I. White's "American Negro Folk-Songs", 1928, p. 58.
I. If I could I surely would,
Stand on the rock where Moses stood -
Pharoah's Army got drown-ded,
In the deep blue sea-e-e.
2. Mary, don't you weep and, Martha, don't you moan,
My name's written on the David line.
Pharoah's Army got drown-ded,
In the deep blue sea-e-e.
15. ONE MORE DRINK
In pre-prohibition days a rollicking bass-songster from south of the Mason and Dixon Line during his somewhat joyous career in New York prefaced many of his frequent quaffings of champagne with the following verse:
"Oh, there was a little brown hen;
She laid one egg in a mulberry tree;
Now she lays eggs all over the farm;
One more little drink won't do any harm."
Compare the following from Perrow, Journal, XXVIII, 131, obtained from Mississippi:
"There was an ole hen with a wooden foot;
She made her nest by a mulberry root;
She ruffled her feathers and kept her warm;
One more little drink won't do any harm."
16. MY LAST GOLD DOLLAR
Obtained from Mrs. Emory P. Morrow, Aliceville, Alabama, who used the song in a play intended for an audience of mountain folk. See Spaeth's "Weep Some More", p. 130. The present tune has a slightly different arrangement. The last line of the present song does not appear in the Spaeth text.
My last gold dollar is gone;
My last gold dollar is gone;
My board bill is due and my whiskey bill is too;
And my last old rowdy is dead.
17. I'M GOING TO GEORGIA
Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, August 12, 1929, who had it from Miss Lala King, Knoxville, Tennessee.
See Campbell and Sharp, No. 78, which has five stanzas of two lines each. The first stanza is nearly identical with the refrain of the present song.
I. I once loved a young man as dear as my life,
And ofttimes I told him I'd make him his wife.
I've fulfilled my promise, I made him his wife
And see what I've come to by being his wife.
CHORUS: I'm going to Georgia,
I'm going to roam,
And if ever I get there,
I'll make it my home.
2. My cheeks were once red, as red as a rose,
But now they are as pale as the lilies that grow;
My children all hungry and crying for bread;
My husband, a drunkard, Lord! I wish I were dead!
Chorus:
3. Come, all young ladies, take warning by me:
Never plant your affections on a green young tree;
For the leaves will wither and the buds they will die;
Some young man might fool you as one has fooled I.
Chorus:
4. They'll hug you, they'll kiss you, they'll tell you more lies
Than the cross-ties on the railroad or the stars in the skies,
They'll tell you they love you like stars in the West
But along comes corn whiskey; they love it the best.
Chorus:
5. Go, build me a cabin on the mountain so high
Where the wild birds and turtle dove can hear my sad cry.
Chorus:
18. SOURWOOD MOUNTAIN
Obtained from Misses Ronie and Annie Barbara Johnson, Crossnore, Avery County, North Carolina, July 12, 1929. See Campbell and Sharp, No. 114; Wyman and Brockway, p. 91; Shearin and Combs, p. 38; Ethel Park Richardson and Sigmund Spaeth's "American Mountain Songs", New York, 1927, p. 89. Note also Horace
Kephart's "Our Southern Highlanders", New York, 1913, p. 263.
1. Chickens a-crowing in the Sourwood Mountain,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day,
So many pretty girls I can't count them,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day.
2. My true lover lives over the holler,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day,
She won't come and I won't call her,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day.
3. My true lover lives over the river,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day,
A hop and a skip and I '1l be with her,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day.
4. My true lover lives up in Letcher,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day,
She won't come and I won't fetch her,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day.
5. My true lover, she is a daisy,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day,
If I don't get her, I'll go crazy,
Hey ding dang diddle all the day.
19. THE TEXAS RANGERS
"Texas Ranger". Obtained from Austin Harmon, Varnell, Georgia* 1929.
See John A. Lomax ("Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads"), 44; Pound, No. 73; New Jersey Journal of Education, March, 1928. Cf. also Journal, XLII, 281.
1. Come, all you Tennesseemen,
Wherever you may be,
And I will tell you all some troubles
That happened unto me.
2. At the age of sixteen
I joined the jolly band.
We marched from Searsu*, Texas,
To English Orland land.
3. Our captain there informed us -
Perhaps he thought it right -
"Before we reach the mountain, my boys,
We will have to fight."
4. We saw them rebels coming;
We heard them give the yell,
My feeling at that moment
No human tongue could tell.
5. The smoke it was descending,
Descending to the sky.
My feelings in that moment -
I thought that I must die.
6. I thought of my old mother;
In tears she said to me;
"You are my only ranger,
You better stay with me."
7. I thought she was old and childish -
The best she did not know.
My mind was bent on roaming
And I was bound to go.
8. We fought them nine long hours,
Before the strife give over.
The like of dead and wounded
I never saw before.
9. There lie three the noblest rangers
That ever traveled the West -
Was buried by their comrades
With bullets in their breasts.
10. Perhaps you have a mother,
Likewise a sister too;
Perhaps a sweetheart
To weep and mourn for you.
11. If this be your condition
Although you like to roam,
I will tell you by experience
You better stay at home.
12. One word to you, young ladies;
It makes my bosom swell;
I wish you all be happy
On this earth may dwell.
13. I wish you all be happy
On this earth may dwell
I'm going away to leave you,
Young ladies, fare you well.
* Sherman(?).
20. JESSE JAMES
"Jessey James." Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, August 12, 1929, who had it from Lewis Clabo, Sevierville, Tennessee.
Apparently unlike any other song on Jesse James. But cf. Charles J. Finger, "Frontier Ballads", New York, 1927, pp. 57-59; Shearin and Combs, p. 16; Hudson, "Specimens of Mississippi Folk-Lore", No. 77;
Pound, No. 64, A; Lomax, p. 27; Sandburg, p. 421; Charles J. Finger, "Sailor Chanties and Cowboy Songs", p. 18; Cox, No. 44.
1. Whilst living in Missouri was a great, bold man.
He was known from Seattle down to Birmingham,
From Boston, Mass., and across the states
From Denver, Colorado to the Golden Gates.
2. You people all have heard of some famous men -
In every nook and corner heard of Jessey James.
We use to read about him in our homes at night -
The wind came down the chimmey - made us shake with fright.
3. Jessey said one morning, "Boys, some coin we need"
He polished up his rifle, got a hasty steed.
He mounted to his horse, rode to his brother Frank's -
Says, "We've got to have some money from the Pittsville bank."
4. They rode to town next morning; it was ten o'clock;
The cashier of that bank, he got an awful shock;
While Jessey kept him covered with his forty-four,
The cashier counted out a half of million or more.
5. Jessey in his cabin one day all alone -
His wife had left him to straighten up the hall,
When scrubbing in the kitchen - when the door bell rang.
In stepped forty members of an outlaw gang.
6. The photograph of Jessey's wife was hanging on the wall -
Says, "Tonight I'll put that picture up in the hall -."
Says, "Tonight the western mail is coming to town,
So tonight I'll put that picture back up there."
He reached to get it, stood upon a chair,
While Robert with his forty-four ranging (?) at his head.
The news went over the country: "Jessey James was dead."
7. And on his tombstone was some verses read:
"If you're going to be a bandit, live a single man",
For we know that Jessey wouldn't have lost his life
If it hadn't been for the picture of his dear old wife -
That Jessey wouldn't have lost his life, if it hadn't been
For the picture of his dear old wife.
He reached to get his rifle, knocked the picture down.
21. LITTLE NELLIE
"Nellie." This song was obtained from Mrs. Emory P. Morrow, Aliceville, Alabama. She writes that she used to call to mountain boys while in school to sing "Nellie", and in that way learned the tune.
Shearin and Combs, p. 26, describe the group of songs in which this folk song is included as follows: "Many are hardly 'popular' in the strict sense: though current among the folk, they differ from the true folk-song,
or 'song ballet'."
1. Come listen to me, a story I'll tell -
A story so sad and so true.
I once loved and courted a dear little girl
Whose eyes were as soft as dark blue.
2. I know that she loved me
For she told me so then and promised to be my dear wife.
How happy it made me to hear that dear girl
Agree to live with me through life.
3. The next time I saw her she had tears in her eyes,
Saying, "Johnny, my promise can't stand;
Papa and Mama 're both angry with me;
They say I must take the rich man.
4. The next time I heard from little Nellie
She had gone and married that young Mr. Brown.
He was wicked but wealthy, owned houses and land.
Little Nellie's now living in town.
5. He soon ceased to love her and drank all the while and her so lone and so sad.
Her heart soon o'ercame her;
She sank in despair
And nothing could make her heart glad.
6. The good Lord of mercy took pity on her
And told the bright angels to come
And take little Nellie, the drunkard's lone wife,
To where she might have a bright home.
7. I hope that I'll meet little Nellie up there,
Where friends will never part.
The only inscription I want on my tomb
Is, "The tale of a broken heart."
22. MY PRETTY LITTLE PINK
Obtained from Austin Harmon, Varnell, Georgia, 1929. See Sandburg, p. 166.
1. My pretty little pink,
So fare you well
You slighted me,
But I wish you well.
2. The prettiest face,
And the meanest hand
I love the ground
Where on she stands.
3. I saw you the other day:
You looked so loving
And you were so gay;
You fooled and trifled your time away.
4. If on earth
No more shall see,
I can't serve you
As you serve me.
5. I love my love
And well she knows.
6. I would rather build my home
On some icy hill
Where the sun refuses to shine -
A trusting girl is hard to find.
7. But when you find one
Just and true,
Forsake not the old one
For the new.
8. On the twenty-ninth of May
The prison doors flew open wide
With guns and guards on every side,
And on my coffin made ride.
9. Come, welcome, death,
I will go with you
The roads are dark.
And lonesome too.
10. Come on, my dear,
And see me die,
And meet sweet Jesus
In the sky.
11. The rope is bought,
The bolt is swung,
A innocent man,
You all have hung.
12. Before they thought
He was quite dead,
Down came a little dove,
Hovered around his head,
And they thought it was
The Savior dear.
23. I HAVE A FATHER GONE TO GLORY
From the singing of Granville Gadsey, Guerrant, Breathitt County, Kentucky, July, 1925. Cf. Professor Josiah H. Combs's "Folk-Songs du Midi des Etats-Unis", Paris, 1925, p. 225:
"We have fathers gone to heaven,
O do tell me if you know,
Will those fathers know their children
When to heaven they do g ?"
There are four more stanzas with only slight variation beginning, -
2. We have mothers gone to heaven
3. We have brothers gone to heaven
4. We have sisters gone to heaven
5. We have children gone to heaven.
This song comes from Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky.
Cf. also E. C. Perrow, Journal, XXVI, 147. The title is On Heaven's Bright Shore (East Tennessee):
"We have fathers gone to glory, (thrice)
Gone to heaven's bright shore;
Some day we'll go en' jine 'em (thrice)
On heaven's bright shore.'
Also note page 148 of the same:
"I have a father in the Promised Land (thrice)
Way over in the Promised Land".
See also Ethel Park Richardson's "American Mountain Songs", p. 67 (Safe in the Promised Land), stanza 2:
"We hev fathers gone to Glory!
We hev fathers gone to Glory!
We hev fathers gone to Glory!
Safe in the Promised Land!"
Now compare I HAVE A FATHER GONE TO GLORY. From Breathitt County, Kentucky:
I. I have a father gone to Glory;
I am alone in this world.
I have a father gone to Glory, I am alone.
I have a father gone to Glory;
I am alone in this world:
Take me home, bless the Savior, take me home.
Chorus: I am alone in this world
And I am weary of life;
I am alone in this world, I am alone;
I am alone in this world and I am weary.
Take me home, bless the Savior.
2. I have a mother gone to Glory;
I am alone in this world.
I have a mother gone to Glory, I am alone.
I have a mother gone to Glory;
I am alone in this world.
Chorus:
3. I have a brother gone to Glory;
I am alone in this world.
I have a brother gone to Glory, I am alone.
I have a brother gone to Glory;
I am alone in this world.
Take me home. bless the Savior, take me home.
Chorus:
4. I have a sister gone to Glory;
I am alone in this world.
I have a sister gone to Glory, I am alone.
I have a sister gone to Glory;
I am alone in this world.
Take me home, bless the Savior, take me home.
Chorus:
5. There's a home up in Heaven
For us all when we go;
There's a home up in Heaven for us all,
There's a home up in Heaven
For us all when we go.
Take me home, bless the Savior, take me home.
Chorus:
24. JOHNNY DOYLE
No local title. Obtained from Mrs. Mary Tucker, Varnell, Georgia, 1929.
See Campbell and Sharp, No. 83; Hudson, Journal, XXXIX, 121; Shearin and Combs, 27; Phillips Barry, Ancient British Ballads, etc. [A privately printed list], No. 55.
I. It was one Friday evening -
It happen but late -
When me and my Johnny
Was about to take a flight.
2. My waiting maid was standing by.
Those words heard she.
She run to my mama
And told it on me.
3. I bundled up his clothes
And bid him to be gone.
So sad, sick and wounded.
He moved along.
4. Behind young Ganual More
They forced me to ride
And six double horse-men
To ride on by my side.
5. And also they forced me,
They forced me to stand,
And also they forced me
To give him my right hand.
6. And when the minister he entered the door,
My ear jewels burst-ed
And fell unto the floor;
In sixty-five pieces my stay laces flew.
7. And when I ought to of* spoken
I scarcely could resign
The thought of young Johnny
Run so in my mind.
8. Behind my oldest brother,
They carried me safe home.
And into my mother's chamber
And into my own room.
9. And by my bedside
I threw myself down
So sad, sick and wounded.
My body I found.
10. I called unto my mama:
"Come please shut the door,
And this time tomorrow
You can let in Ganual More.
11. "He never shall enjoy me,
Or call me his bride,
Tor this time tomorrow
Death will end all strife.
12. "Farewell, cruel mother
Likewise, father too."
The last words she spoken
Was dire farewell.
*of - have.
25. OLD GRAMPUS
A. "Growler". This was spoken of as "an old stage song" that used to be caroled to his passengers by Jesse Steppe, for many years a well-known stage-driver of North Carolina. The words were obtained from his granddaughter, Mrs. Elsie Burnette, who lives in the Craggy Range of the Blue Ridge Mountains, North Fork Road, Black Mountain, North Carolina.
See New Jersey Journal of Education, June, 1927, P. 9; Journal, XIII, 230-23i ; XXXIV, 113 ; XXXVI, 144; XXXIX, 167; Scarborough, pp. 136-137.
Old Growler is dead and laid in his grave,
He, he, laid in his grave!
There grew a fine apple-tree out of his head,
He, he, out of his head.
There came an old woman to gather them all,
He, he, to gather them all!
Old Growler raised up and gave her a kick
He, he, and gave her a kick
And sent her off a-hippity hop,
He, he, a-hippity hop!
B. "Old Robin". Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, Aug. 12, 1929.
1. Old Robin is dead and laid in his grave,
Laid in his grave, laid in his grave,
Old Robin is dead and laid in his grave, ho, ho.
2. A tall apple tree grows over his grave,
Over his grave, over his grave,
A tall apple tree grows over his grave, ho, ho.
3. The apples were ripe, beginning to fall,
Beginning to fall, beginning to fall,
The apples were ripe, beginning to fall, ho, ho.
4. 'Long came an old woman picking them up,
Picking them up, picking them up,
'Long came an old woman picking them up, ho, ho.
5. Up jumped Old Robin and gave her a thump,
Gave her a thump, gave her a thump,
Up jumped Old Robin and gave her a thump, ho, ho.
6. He made the old woman go hip-a-hop,
Hip-a-hop, hip-a-hop,
He made the old woman go hip-a-hop, ho, ho.
7. If you want any more song, sing it yourself,
Sing it yourself, sing it yourself,
If you want any more song, sing it yourself, ho, ho.
26. MY DEAREST DEAR
No local title. Obtained from Mrs. Mary Tucker, Varnell, Georgia, 1929.
See Campbell and Sharp, No. 77; Hudson, Journal, XXXIX, 146. The refrain does not occur in either of the above texts.
1. The time is drawing very near
When I and you must part.
It little do you think or care
For the grief of my poor heart,
For the grief of my poor heart, my love,
For the grief of my poor heart.
It little do you think or care
For the grief of my poor heart.
2. I wish my breast was made of glass,
And in it you would behold
Your name in secret I would write
In letters of bright gold.
In letters of bright gold, my love,
In letters of bright gold.
Your name in secret I would write,
In letters of bright gold.
3. The blackest crow that ever flew
Will surely turn to white
If ever I prove false to you.
Bright days will turn to night,
Bright days will turn to night, my love,
Bright days will turn to night,
If ever I prove false to you,
Bright days will turn to night.
4. His eyes is of the sparkling blue;
His lips is ruby be;
His conversation was so sweet
Till it charmed this heart of mine,
Till it charmed this heart of mine, my love,
Till it charmed this heart of mine,
His conversation was so sweet,
Till it charmed this heart of mine.
5. What have I suffered for your sake!
For you I love so dear.
What would I care for all this world,
If I was married to you!
If I was married to you, my dear!
If I was married to you!
What would I care, for all this world,
If I was married to you!
6. I wish I was one hundred miles -
Ten thousand miles or more.
Among the Rocky Mountains so high,
Where the wild beast howls and wars,
Where the wild beast howls and wars, my love,
Where the wild beast howls and wars
Among the Rocky Mountains so high,
Where the wild beast howls and roars.
27. DEAR MOTHER
Obtained from Granville Gadsey, Guerrant, Breathitt County, Kentucky.
Shearin and Combs mention a Kentucky song entitled, I Have No Mother Now," an orphan's lament, with a vision of his mother's grave, etc", but Prof. Combs writes that the present song is not identical with the one
mentioned in the Syllabus (p. 32). However, it seems worth printing as an example of a composite ballad. Prof. Combs says: "You have, in this song, it seems to me, a splendid example of a composite ballad. I recognize in it snatches of a number of songs, as follows: stanza 2, lines 1 and 2, in a number of songs; lines 1 and 2, in stanza 3, are stock or common property in many songs, and the following two lines (3 and 4) are found in the old love-song, Beautiful Isle O'er the Sea. Stanza 5 sounds like a typical banjo song. Stanza 7 sounds dangerously like the old song a two-line refrain of which runs:
'For I have a dear old mother
Ten thousand miles away.'
I do not remember the title, but I heard mother sing it thirty years ago. The two lines preceding the two quoted above run:
'Then blame me not for weeping,
O blame me not, I pray;'
Stanza 8 is also found in the Hustling Gambler, an outlaw- or prisoner song."
I. I'm going away to leave you;
Come listen to what I say;
Don't weep for me, dear mother,
For I'll be back some day.
2. The birds they sing so sweetly
That fly from vine to vine.
This world could 'a' been a pleasure,
If you had said so in time.
3. I'll sail across the ocean,
I'll sail across the sea:
For the girl I love so dearly
Has turned her back on me.
5. Remember what I told you,
Remember all I say,
Remember all I tell you
Until your dying day.
6. I'm going away to leave you;
It's sad for us to part,
But if I never more see you,
I love you in my heart.
4. I'll find me another sweetheart,
Where love can have its fill.
This world is wide and lovely,
If one won't, some other will.
7. I have a dear old mother;
Her hair is turning gray;
She lives down by the river,
Ten-thousand miles away.
8. My mother wrote me a letter
And this is how it read
Saying, "Poor boy, I know you're in trouble
But never hang your head."
9. I'll cross the dangerous ocean;
I'll cross the deep, deep blue;
I'll try to find another
Who will to me be true.
I0. But now my dear mother
Is sleeping 'neath the sod.
The very last words she told me says,
"Son, put your trust in God."
28. WILLIAM AND POLLY
"Song Ballet". Obtained from Mrs. Mary Tucker, Varnell, Georgia, 1929.
See Campbell and Sharp, No. 225; Mackenzie's "The Quest of the Ballad", p. 135; Shearin and Combs, p. 27. Cf. also a song entitled, "Pretty Polly" in Col. Henry W. Shoemaker's "North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy", p. 18o (Second edition).
I. A youthful young man -
All in his blooming years -
With sigh lamentations
And a-many lonesome tear.
2. He went to his beloved one,
To give her to understand,
That he must go and leave her,
All in some far distant land.
3. "Stay you at home, sweet Willie,
Stay you at home," said she,
"Stay you at home, sweet Willie,
And do not gae to sea."
4. "Our king wants commanders, love,
And I, for one, must go,
If it was to save my own life,
I dare not answer no."
5. "I'll cut my hair, and paint my skin,
And dress in man's repair.
I go with you, sweet Willie,
I go with you to sea."
6. "Stay you at home, pretty Polly.
Stay you at home," said he.
"Stay you at home, pretty Polly,
And do not go to sea.
7. "There the men do lie bleeding, love,
And bullets swift do fly,
And silver trumpet sounding,
To drown the wounded's cry."
8. "Oh, tell me not of danger, love,
For death I value not,
I value not danger, love,
When Willie's by my side."
9. "Then what [if] I meet a damsel, love,
All on the highway,
And take a fancy to her,
What would my Polly say?"
10. "Would she be offended, love?
Oh, no, I'll love her too,
I'll step aside, sweet Willie,
Till she may comfort you."
11. "Oh, no, oh, no, then, Pretty Polly,
These words has gauged my heart,
We'll go and get married
Before we depart."
12. This couple straight way married,
And Will has gone on the sea,
And Polly is still waiting,
In her own country.
29. LITTLE SPARROW
A.
"Fair and Tender Ladies". Obtained from Miss Lib Franklin, Crossnore, Avery County, North Carolina, July, 1929.
See Wyman and Brockway, "Lonesome Tunes", p. 55; Josephine McGill, "Folk Songs of the Kentucky Mountains", p. 23; Shearin and Combs, p. 26; Campbell and Sharp, No. 65; Cox No. 140; Journal, XXIX, 184; W. J. Raine's, "Land of the Saddle Bags", p. 124.
1. Come, all ye fair and tender ladies,
Take warning how you court young men;
They are like bright stars of a summer morning;
They first appear and then they are gone.
2. They'll tell to you some loving stories
And make you think they love you true;
Straightway they'll go and court another
And that is the love they have for you.
3. I wish I never had a-courted;
If I had known that love was so hard to gain,
I'd lock my heart in a box of gold
And fasten it up with a silver chain.
4. I wish I were a little sparrow
Or some of those that fly so high;
I'd fly away to my false true-lover
And while he'd talk, I would be by.
5. But as it is I am no sparrow;
I have no wings; I cannot fly;
I'll sit down here in grief and sorrow
And try to pass my troubles by.
6. I hope there is a day a-coming
When I my love again will see;
I hope there is a place in torment
To punish my love for denying me.
B.
"The False Lover". Obtained from Ray Bohanan, Indian Gap, Route 15, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee, August 15, 1929, who had it from Miss Beulah Bohanan, Elkmont, Tennessee.
1. Come, all you fair and tender ladies,
Take warnings how you court young men;
They are like the stars in summer morning;
They first appear and then be gone.
2. For I, myself, once had a lover;
Indeed, I thought he was my own;
But now he's gone and married another
And left me here in tears to mourn.
3. I wish I was a little sparrow
And one of these that flies so high;
I'd fly away to my false lover
And when he talked I would be by.
4. But as it is I am no sparrow,
Nor have I any wings to fly;
So I'll sit down in grief and sorrow
And mourn and pass my troubles by.
C.
Also from Tennessee, in the same vicinity as B, but perhaps differing sufficiently to justify its inclusion with tho other two versions. It was obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Aug., 1929, who had it from Lewis Childress, Sevierville, Tennessee.
1. Come, all you fair and tender ladies,
Take warning by me
How you court young men;
They are like bright stars
Of a summer morning;
They first appear and they be gone.
2. They will tell to you some loving stories;
Declare to you that they love you well;
Straightway they will go and court some other,
And that is the love they have for you.
3. For I, myself, once had a true-lover;
I thought, indeed, he was my own,
But now he's gone and married another
And left me here in tears to weep.
4. I wish I'd a-knew before I'd a-courted
That love had been so hard to gain;
I'd a locked my heart in a box of golden;
I'd fastened it down with a silver pin.
5. Oh, I wish I were some little sparrow!
Oh, those that flies so high!
I'd fly away to my false true-lover;
I'd sit down and grieve no more.
6. I've not the wings of the little sparrow;
Neither of those that flies so high;
I'll sit down in grief and sorrow -
Grief and sorrow till I die.
30. A PAPER OF PINS
"Paper Pins". Obtained from Misses Mary and Pauline Franklin, Crossnore, Avery County, North Carolina, July II, 1929.
See Campbell and Sharp, No. 92, A, B, C; Pound, No. III; Shearin and Combs, p. 29; Newell, "Games and Songs of American Children", 1884, p. 51; Hudson, "Specimens of Mississippi Folk-Lore", No. 113; also
Hudson, Journal, XXXIX, I8o; Ethel Park Richardson and Sigmund Spaeth's "American Mountain Songs", New York, 1927, p. 52.
Boy
I'll give to you a paper of pins
And that's the way our love begins,
If you will marry me, oh, me,
If you will marry me.
Girl
I won't accept the paper of pins,
If that's the way our love begins
And I won't marry you, oh, you,
And I won't marry you.
Boy
I'll give to you a little puppy dog,
To take with you when you go abroad,
If you will marry me, oh, me,
If you will marry me.
Girl
I won't accept the little puppy dog,
To take with me when I go abroad
And I won't marry you, oh, you,
And I won't marry you.
Boy
I'll give to you a dress of red,
Bound around with golden thread,
If you will marry me, oh, me,
If you will marry me.
Girl
I won't accept the dress of red,
Bound around with golden thread,
And I won't marry you, oh, you,
And I won't marry you.
Boy
I'll give to you a coach of four,
And every horse as white as snow,
If you will marry me, oh, me,
If you will marry me.
Girl
I won't accept the coach of four,
And every horse as white as snow,
And I won't marry you, oh, you,
And I won't marry you.
Boy
I'll give to you a coach of six,
And every horse as black as pitch,
If you will marry me, oh, me,
If you will marry me.
Girl
I won't accept the coach of six,
And every horse as black as pitch,
And I won't marry you, oh, you,
And I won't marry you.
Boy
I'll give to you a dress of blue,
And golden strings to tie your shoe,
If you will marry me, oh, me
If you will marry me.
Girl
I won't accept the dress of blue,
And golden strings to tie my shoe,
And I won't marry you, Oh, you,
And I won't marry you.
Boy
I'll give to you the key of my heart,
That we may live and never part,
If you will marry me, oh, me,
If you will marry me.
Girl
I won't accept the key of your heart,
That we may live and never part,
And I won't marry you, oh, you,
And I won't marry you.
Boy
I'll give to you the key of my chest,
That you may have money at your request,
If you will marry me, oh, me,
If you will marry me.
Girl
I will accept the key to your chest,
That I may have money at my request
And I will marry you, oh, you,
And I will marry you.
Boy
Now, my friends, don't you see?
She loves my money and she don't love me;
And I won't marry her, oh, her,
And I won't marry her.
Girl
I'll get me a stove and sit in the shade,
And I'll determine to be an old maid;
And I won't marry you, oh, you,
And I won't marry you.
31. LEO FRANK AND MARIE PHAGAN
"Mary Fagen". Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, Aug. 12, 1929, who had it from Miss Maud King, Sevierville, Tennessee.
See "Leo Frank and Mary Phagan" by Franklyn Bliss Snyder, Journal, XXXI, 264. Mr. Snyder thinks that this song "represents a piece of folk-lore 'in the making' ". He had it from Miss Helen L. Duncan, of Chicago, "who took it down from recitation while she was a visitor at the Muscoda Mines, Bessemer, Alabama". The singer was a Georgian who could neither "read or write and made no claim to the authorship of what he sang". Miss Duncan states that before she got the ballad from this singer "she had heard it in various forms from a number of different people ............ and that no one had ever seen it in print". The present song seems to have sufficient variation from the Alabama version to make it worth while to print if for the sake of further
study of a piece of folk-lore "in the making". The names of the judge and watchman in the present song differ from the names of the same persons in the Alabama version. No mention of a solicitor is made in the present song. Verbal changes are frequent. Cf. also "Farm Life", July, 1927, P. 14.
1. Little Mary Fagen,
She went to town one day;
She went to the pencil factory
To get her weekly pay.
2. She left her home at eleven;
She kissed her mother goodbye;
Not once did the poor girl think
She was going off to die.
3. Leo Frank met her
With a brutish heart and grin;
He says to little Mary-:
"You'll never see home again."
4. Down on her knees fell
To Leo Frank and pled.
He picked a stick from the trash pile
And beat her o'er the head.
5. The tears rolled down her cheeks,
The blood rolled down her back;
For she remembered telling her mother
What time she would be back.
6. Nemphon was the watchman;
He went to wind his key;
Away down in the basement
Was nothing he could see.
7. They phoned for the officers;
Their names I do not know;
They came to the pencil factory -
Says to Nemphon, "You must go."
8. They took him to the jail house;
They bound him in his cell;
The poor old innocent negro
Had nothing he could tell.
9. Mother sits a-weeping;
She weeps and mourns all day
And hopes to meet her darling
In a better land some day.
10. Come, all ye good people,
Wherever you may be,
Suppose that "little Mary"
Belonged to you or me.
11. I have an idea in my mind
When Frankie comes to die
And stands examination
In the court house in the sky.
12. He'll be so astonished
To what the angels say
And how he killed little Mary
Upon that holiday.
13. Judge Roan passed a sentence;
He passes it very well;
The Christian doers of Heaven
Sent Leo Frank to hell.
32. COME, PRETTY POLLY
"Little Mollie". Also obtained from Mrs. Mary Tucker, Varnell, Georgia, February, 1929.
See Campbell and Sharp, No. 39: Kittredge, Journal, XX, 261; Wyman and Brokway, 79; New Jersey Journal of Education, March, 1926. For full history of this song see Cox's head-note to No. 89. Cf. also the version in Journal, XLII, 276.
1. "Little Mollie, little Mollie," said he,
"Will you degree,* and get married to me?
I have a fair** off friend,
That we will go and see."
2. "Sweet Willie, sweet Willie," said she,
"I am afraid I am too young to get married to you."
"Little Mollie, oh, no you are just right
For I have been digging at your grave all the best part of last night."
3. He led her over valleys and hollows so deep
Till, at last, poor little Mollie, so bitterly she did weep.
He led her up the mountain so high,
Until she came to her grave, and a spade a-laying by.
4. She threw her arms around him with a love hug and a fear.
"How can you kill a poor little girl, who has loved you so dear ?"
"I have got no time to tarry, or fool here with you."
He pulled his hand out of his pocket - a sharp knife he drew.
5. He pierced her to the heart, oh! how the blood did flow!
And into the grave her dead body he threw.
He covered her up and went his way home -
Left nothing but the small birds to hear his sad moan.
6. As he was sailing all on his heart's delight,
The ship it was sinking, and nearly out of sight.
Up stepped little Mollie all in a gore of blood,
Saying that "A debt you owe the devil, and now you have it to pay."
*agree.
**far.
33. A TOLLIVER-MARTIN FEUD SONG
"Rowan County Trouble". Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennesee, August, 1929.
See Cox, No. 39, who gives a full account of the incidents upon which the song is based. See also Shearin and Combs, 18. ("The Rowan County Tragedy").
1. Come all young men and ladies, mothers and fathers too;
I'll relate to you a history of the Rowan County crew,
Concerning bloody Rowan and her many hideous deeds;
My friends, please give attention, remember how it reads.
2. It was in the month of August, all on one election day;
John Martin, he was wounded, they say, by Johnny Day;
Martin could not believe it; he could not think it so;
He thought it was Floyd Tolliver that struck the fatal blow.
3. They shot and killed Saul Bradley, a sober innocent man,
Left his wife and innocent children to do the best they can;
They wounded young Ad Sizemore, although his life was saved,
He seemed to shun the gory shop since he stood so near the grave.
4. Martin did recover; some months had come and past.
In the town of Morehead these men both met at last;
Tolliver and a friend or two about the streets did walk;
He seemed to be uneasy and with no one wished to talk.
5. He walked into Judge Cary's grocery, stepped up to the bar,
But little did he think, dear friends, he had met the fatal hour.
The sting of death was near him; Martin rushed in at the door;
A few words passed between them concerning a row before.
6. The people soon were frightened begin to rush out of the room.
A ball from Martin's pistol laid Tolliver in the tomb.
His friends soon gathered around him his wife to weep and wail -
And Martin was arrested and soon confined to jail.
7. He was put in the jail of Rowan there to remain awhile -
In the bonds of law and justice to bravely stand his trial.
The people talked of lynching him at present, though they failed;
The prisoner's friends soon moved him into the Winchester jail.
8. Some persons forged an order, - their names I do not know, -
The plan was soon agreed upon; for Martin they did go.
He seemed to be uneasy; he seemed to be in dread;
"They've sought a plan to kill me," to the jailer, Martin said.
9. They put the hand-cuffs on him; his heart was in distress.
They hurried to the station, stepped on the night express.
Along the line she lumbered at her usual speed;
There was but two in number to commit the dreadful deed.
10. Martin was in the smoking car accompanied by his wife;
They did not want her present when they took her husband's life.
When they arrived at Farmer's, they had no time to lose;
A band approached the engineer and bid him not to move.
11. They stepped up to the prisoner with pistols in their hands.
In death he soon was sinking; he died in his bonds.
His wife soon heard its horrid sounds; she was in another car;
She cried, "O Lord, they've killed him," when she heard the pistol fire.
12. They killed the deputy sheriff; Boom Gardner was his name;
They shot him from the bushes after taking deliberate aim;
The death of him was dreadful; it may never be forgot;
His body pierced and torn with thirty-three buck shot.
13. I composed this as a warning; Oh, beware, young men,
Your pistols will cause you trouble; on this you may depend:
In the bottom of the whiskey glass a lurking devil dwells,
It burns the breast of those who drink it and sends their souls to hell.
34. JACK AND JOE
A.
Obtained from Mac Hardin, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee, August, 1929.
See Shearin and Combs, p. 24. Three slightly differing versions of this song were obtained in the same vicinity. Cf. also Bradley Kincaid, Favorite Old-Time Songs and Mountain Ballads, Chicago, 1929, p. 12.
1. One year ago both Jack and Joe
Set sail across the foam,
Each one their fortune to gain
Before returning home.
In one short year Jack gained his wealth
And he set sail away
And when the boys shook hands to part
Joe could only say:
Chorus: Give my love to Nelle, O Jack,
And kiss her once for me -
The fairest girl in all the world -
In know you'll say is she.
Treat her kindly, Jack, I say,
And tell her that I'm well
And when you meet, O, don't forget
To give my love to Nelle.
2. Three years had passed and Joe at last
Had gained his wealth for life
And he set sail across the foam
To make sweet Nelle his wife.
Upon his way he heard them say
That Jack and Nelle had wed.
The sighs and frets and sad regrets
That he had ever said:
Chorus:
3. Upon the streets they chanced to meet:
"Jack, you selfish elf
The very next girl I learn to love
I'll kiss her for myself,
But all is fair in love and war
And as they're ready wed
I'll not be angry with you, Jack",
And once again he said:
Chorus:
B.
Obtained from Ray Bohanan, Indian Gap, Route 15, Sevier County,Tennessee, August, 1929. The second stanza begins:
"One year had passed and Joe at last"
The same stanza ends,
"And deeply he regretted then
That he had ever said:"
C.
No title. Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, August, 1929, who had it from Miss Lara Ogle, Sevierville, Tennessee, Route 12. This version of the song is almost identical with A.
35. THE GREAT TITANIC
"Sinking of Titanic". Obtained from Miss Mary E. King, Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, August, 1929.
See Professor Newman I. White's "American Negro Folk-Songs", 1928, p. 347. When the present version of this song first came to the attention of the writer, it appeared to be so nearly like the one included in Professor White's collection as to make the printing of it unnecessary. A careful comparison, however, of the two songs shows nearly fifty verbal changes in the present version. It seems, therefore, that these word
variations in a modern song will be interesting to note. There is also some transposition of lines and stanzas.
1. It was on one Monday morning about four o'clock;
The great Titanic began to reel and rock;
The people began to scream and cry, saying:
"Oh, Lord, we've got to die."
Wasn't it sad when that great ship went down?
Chorus: Wasn't it sad when that great ship went down?
Husbands and wives, dear little children lost their lives
Wasn't it sad when that great ship went down?
2. And when they were a-building,
They declared what they could do:
They could build a ship that water couldn't go through;
But God with his power in hand
Showed to the world it could not stand.
Wasn't it sad when that great ship went down?
Chorus:
3. When Paul was out a-sailing with all his men around,
God who sits in Heaven says not a one should drown.
If you'll trust him and obey, he will save you all today.
Wasn't it sad when that great ship went down?
Chorus:
4. Oh, it must have been awful to the people on the sea
When they were singing "Nearer My God To Thee."
When they were homeward bound, sixteen hundred had to drown.
Wasn't it sad when that great ship went down?
Chorus:
5. And when the ship left England a-sailing for the shore;
The rich had declared with the poor they wouldn't go.
So they put them below and they were the first that had to go.
Wasn't it sad when that great ship went down?
Chorus:
36. THE MINER BOYS
Obtained from Granville Gadsey who sang it at Guerrant, Breathitt County, Kentucky, July, 1925.
See New Jersey Journal of Education, February, 1926. This song with whatever marks of "author" it may possess is presented here in order to compare it with "'The Avondale Mine Disaster" printed in Songs and Ballads of the Anthracite Miner by George G. Korson, 1926, page 136. It has been pointed out to the writer that "The Miner Boys" has little folk and only a trace of the conventional broadside style in verses I and 2, but that it is nevertheless worth preserving, because, continues the critic, "It's always possible that later it may develop more 'folk traits' and that the ability to compare the early 'author' version with a possible later 'folk-type' version would be of great value." Please note that the writer first heard the song of "The Miner Boys" in 1925 and that "The Avondale Mine Disaster" was published in 1926. But Mr. Korson informs us that the ballad came unexpectedly one day and spread throughout the hard coal region like a hurricane. "For a
quarter of a century thereafter," he adds, "mothers crooned their little ones to sleep on this melody." Later he says, "I heard about the ballad in as widely separated cities as Carbondale and Pottsville, which I believe,
attests to the universality of its one time vogue." (Page 133.) The similarity of the opening stanzas of the two songs almost leads one to wonder if "The Avondale Mine Disaster" ever reached Cold Creek Mine, Kentucky. However, it was only after following a long and winding trail and many turnings aside that Mr. Korson found an old broadside with "The Avondale Mine Disaster" printed on it. Here are the opening stanzas:
I. "Good Christians all, both great and small,
I pray ye lend an ear,
And listen with attention while
The truth I will declare:
When you hear this lamentation,
It will cause ye to weep and wail,
About the suffocation
In the mines of Avondale.
2. On the sixth day of September,
Eighteen hundred and sixty-nine,
Those miners all the got a call
To go work in the mine;
But little did they think that day
That death ....... vale
Before ........
The mines of Avondale."
The missing words were later supplied as follows:
"That death would gloom the vale
Before they would return again from."
Now compare "The Miner Boys" which follows:
1. Hello, friends and miner boys,
Come and listen to my song.
Why not sing and praise and drop a tear
For miners that are gone?
2. The ninth day of December,
Nineteen hundred and eleven,
Many were killed in the Cold Creek mine,
And I hope they are in heaven.
3. Some were in their snow lake*,
And some were in their prime - -
Some were in their tender youth
All smothered in the mine.
4. Those pitiful little children
All through the crowd would trawl
Saying, "Mama, where is papa?
Why doesn't he come home?
5. "What makes the people crowd around ?"
Then mama dropped her head,
Not knowing that papa is
Now numbered among the dead.
6. To hear the women crying!
To hear their sad mourn!
Their eyes are filled with tears,
But their hearts are hard as stone.
7. Wails all around the ochres echo,
Where women and children are crying.
Why not sing the song of green mountains
Where I hear fathers dying?
* flake(?).
In "The Avondale Mine Disaster" a rescue is attempted without avail. Compare, then, these last lines of that song with the lament in "The Miner Boys".
One hundred and ten of brave stout men
Were smothered underground;
They're in their graves till the last day,
Their widows may bewail
And the orphans' cries they rend the skies
All around through Avondale!"
Note: A slightly different version of the "Avondale Mine Disaster", entitled "The Mines of Avondale", appears in Col. Henry W. Shoemaker's North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy, Altoona, Pa., 1923, p. 207 (2nd Ed.).