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Pretty Saro
Traditional Old‑Time Song.
ARTIST: from Iris Dement
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: 1911; 1922 Talley;
RECORDING INFO: Pretty Saro [Sh 76]
Lloyd, A. L. & Isabel Arete de Ramon y Rivera (eds.) / Folk Songs of the, Oak, Sof (1966), # 40
Sing for the Fun of It, CSS, poc (194?), p23
Winds of the People, Sing Out, Sof (1982), p 66
Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof (1959), 5, p25
Blood, Peter; and Annie Patterson (eds.) / Rise Up Singing, Sing Out, Sof (1992/1989), p149
Atwater-Donnelly. Where the Wild Birds Do Whistle, RIM 1005-2, CD (1997), trk# 1
Bullard, Linnie. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p222/#744A [1926/07/07]
Carawan, Guy. Green Rocky Road, June Appal JA 021, LP (1977), trk# 5
Carawan, Guy. Asch, Moses (ed.) / 124 Folk Songs as Sung and Recorded on Folkways Reco, Robbins, Fol (1965), p102
Carlton, Gaither. Doc Watson Family Tradition, Rounder 0129, CD (2005/1977), trk# 16 [1965/05]
Collins, Judy. Maid Of Constant Sorrow, Elektra EKL 209, LP (1961), trk# B.05
English, Logan. American Folk Ballads, Monitor MF 388, LP (1962), trk# B.06
Franklin, Douglas. Great American Songs - Produced by Robert De Cormier, American Heritage CAH 1201, LP (1969), trk# A.06
Gateway Singers. On the Lot, Warner WS 1296, LP (1959), trk# B.05
Gibson, Lizzie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 12/# 76D [1918/04/26]
Guilliams, Eloise. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume IV, Religous Songs and Others, Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p224/#744B [1942/01/06] (Way Down in Lone Vall
Hensley, Rosie. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 11/# 76C [1916/08/12]
Mabus, Joel. Fairies and Fools, Flying Fish FF 296, LP (1983), trk# 9
MacKinney, Miss. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 11/# 76B [1910/05/28]
McCurdy, Ed. Ballad Singer's Choice, Tradition TLP 1003, LP (1956), trk# B.07
Mitchell Trio. Chad Mitchell Trio Arrives!, Colpix CP 411, LP (1964), trk# A.05
Molsky, Bruce; and Big Hoedown. Bruce Molsky and Big Hoedown, Rounder 0421, CD (1997), trk# 3
Morris, Polly. Scarborough, Dorothy (ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p327b,443 [1930] (Pretty Sarah)
Moser, Artus M.. North Carolina Mountain Folksongs and Ballads, Folkways FD 5331, LP (1974), trk# 2
Richards, Walt. In Touch with the Earth, Aton FM 75113, LP (198?), trk# B.02
Ritchie, Jean. Most Dulcimer, Greenhays GR 714, LP (1984), trk# 2
Ritchie, Jean. Folk Festival at Newport. Vol. 3, Vanguard VRS 9064, LP (1959), trk# A.03
Ritchie, Jean. Ritchie, Jean / Dulcimer Book, Oak, sof (1963), p30
Ritchie Sisters. Ritchie Family of Kentucky, Folkways FA 2316, LP (1959), trk# A.04d
Ritchie, Jean; and Doc Watson. Jean Ritchie and Doc Watson At Folk City, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40005, LP (1990), trk# 14
Sands, Mary. Sharp, Cecil & Maude Karpeles (eds.) / Eighty English Folk Songs from th, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 62 [1917ca]
Sands, Mary. Sharp & Karpeles / English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians II, Oxford, Bk (1932/1917), p 10/# 76A [1916/08/05]
Seeger, Peggy. Seeger, Peggy / Five String Banjo American Folk Styles, Hargail, sof (1960), p41/#16
Simpson, Martin. When I Was on Horseback, Shanachie 97016, CD (1991), trk# 1a
Stikeleather, Mrs. James G.. Scarborough, Dorothy (ed.) / A Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1966/1937), p327,443 [1930]
Sweeney, Ed. American Sampler, North Star NS0033, Cas (1991), trk# 9
Tuft, Harry. How Sweet the Sound, Swallow Hill SW 9901, CD (1999), trk# 1.05
Watson, Doc. Home Again, Vanguard VSD 79239, LP (1967), trk# 10
Watson, Doc. Watson, Doc / Songs of Doc Watson, Oak, Sof (1971), p114
West, Hedy. Pretty Saro, Topic 12T 146, LP (1966), trk# A.02
OTHER NAMES: Pretty Sarah; "In Eighteen Forty Nine;" "At the Foot of Yonder Mountain"
RELATED TO: "The Streams of Bunclody," "In Eighteen Forty Nine;" Waggoner's/Wagoners Lad; Frowns That She Gave Me; "The Rebel Soldier" (floating lyrics); "When First To This Country" (floating lyrics); "Farewell, Sweet Mary" (floating lyrics); "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)" (floating lyrics); "I Came to this Country in Eighteen Sixty-Five" (floating lyrics); "In Seventeen Ninety-Five" (lyrics)
SOURCES: From English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians, Sharp, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 78 (Betty Ann); From “Far in the Mountains” web-site; Randolph 744, "Pretty Saro" (2 texts, 1 tune); Sharp/Karpeles-80E 39, "Pretty Saro" (1 text, 1 tune, with one stanza omitted); Chase, pp. 152-153, "At the Foot of Yonder Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune); Silber-FSWB, p. 148, "Pretty Saro" (1 text); Randolph 745, "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (2 texts, 2 tune)
NOTES: Variations of this song were collected by several folksong collectors in the early 1900s in the Appalachian mountains. The earliest publication was in Lomax's North Carolina Booklet (1911). A variation in Vance Randolph's Ozark Folksongs has the woman named Molly.
In Eighteen-Forty-Nine closely resembles Pretty Saro, several verses being nearly verbatim copies of verses here. However, some verses of In Eighteen-Forty-Nine resemble different folksongs, so that appears to be made up of remnants of several songs.
Dorothy Scarborough (A Song Catcher in Southern Mountains, American Folk Songs of British Ancestry), who collected a version in North Carolina in 1930, notes that her source said the appropriate date might be 1749, as that was a time of significant immigration from Scotland and Ireland, where the tune was probably from. She also says the term "freeholder" would indicate a British origin.*
Pretty Saro is also related to the Irish song Bunclody whose first lines of the first three verses correspond closely to these.* In addition to those songs, according to The Ballad Index, Pretty Saro is related to At the Foot of Yonder Mountain, where the woman is referred to as Mary rather than Saro or Sarah. Some scholars trace the origin of that song to "an ancient hymn to the Virgin Mary."
Pretty Saro/Sara was sung unaccompanied by Cas Wallin, Madison County, North Carolina (see: Version 5). It has been collected in Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, the Ozarks, Indiana, and Iowa amongst other states.
The Frank C Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore suggests that that the odd line "banks of said brow" might be a corruption of the line of the another version which has "the mountain's sad brow."
The use of the word “freeholder” places the song’s origin in England as the term is not used in the United States. It appears that "Pretty Saro" and its doppelgaenger "At the Foot of Yonder Mountain" are mostly derived from "The Streams of Bunclody." The 1749 date looks good too. There is a local tradition that "The Streams of Bunclody" was written from America by an immigrant from County Wicklow and sent back to Ireland.
If this immigrant or a son or daughter or someone who had the song from him was among the early European settlers of the Appalachians, the American versions could easily have been adapted from the immigrant's song. 1749 could be the date of the immigrant's arrival in America, although the stanza with the date did not go back to Ireland or was dropped there. Of course, there are a lot of floating lyrics here, and John Moulden points out the dangers of taking such material as a basis for identifying oral texts as versions of the same song. What one must look for is distinctive stanzas; otherwise there would be just one song of which "Pretty Saro," "On Top of Old Smokey," "It was in the Month of January," "The Wagoner's Lad," and countless others would be examples. But these do have distinctive content and it seems that "Streams of Bunclody" begat "Pretty Saro."
This piece seems to break up into two families, "Pretty Saro" (which appears to be more popular) and "At the Foot of Yonder Mountain." In the latter, the woman is "Mary," not "Saro." Broadwood and Gilchrist argued that all this is based on an ancient hymn to the Virgin Mary. If so, that would argue that the "Yonder Mountain" form is older. But we all know how active some folklorists' imaginations are. (Ballad Index)
Randolph separates "In Eighteen-forty-nine" as a song made up of scraps and fragments, including "Pretty Saro," with echoes from "Jack O'Diamonds," "Farewell, Sweet Mary" and "Rabble Soldier."
PRETTY SARO- [from Iris Dement]
When I first come to this country in Eighteen and Forty-nine
I saw many fair lovers but I never saw mine
I viewed it all around me, saw I was quite alone
and me a poor stranger and a long way from home
Well, my true love she won't have me and it's this I understand
For she wants some free holder and I have no land
I couldn't maintain her on silver and gold
but all of the other fine things that my love's house could hold
Fair the well to ol' mother, fair the well to my father too
I'm going for to ramble this wide world all through
And when I get weary, I'll sit down and cry
and think of my Saro, pretty Saro, my bride
Well, I wished I was a turtle dove
Had wings and could fly
Far away to my lover's lodgings
Tonight I'd drawn the line
And there in her lilywhite arms I'd lay there all night
and watch through them little wind'ers
for the dawning of day
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