A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-songs
by Hubert Gibson Shearin, Josiah Henry Combs
[This is Volume 1 published in 1911 which lists the folk/old-time /bluegrass songs and ballads that were circulating in Kentucky. Since the authors took some time to compile this information we can deduce that most the songs and ballads listed here were known in the 1800s. Many of the songs are more recognizable under different titles: "The Auxville Love" is "The Wexford Girl," or "The Oxford, "Lexington Girl" also "Knoxville Girl" which are categorized as Laws P35; "The Pale Amaranthus" is "The Wildwood Flower," a parlor song from 1860, originally titled "I'll Twine 'Mid the Ringlets" and so on.
Since the texts from the informants were probably complete-- where are the original MS texts?
R. Matteson 2014]
INTRODUCTION
This syllabus, or finding-list, is offered to lovers of folk literature in the hope that it may not be without interest and value to them for purposes of comparison and identification. It includes 333 items, exclusive of 114 variants, and embraces all popular songs that have so far come to hand as having been "learned by ear instead of "by eye," as existing through oral transmission—song-ballads, love-songs, numbersongs, dance-songs, play-songs, child-songs, counting-out rimes, lullabies, jigs, nonsense rimes, ditties, etc.
There is every reason to believe that many more such await the collector; in fact, their number is constantly being increased even today by the creation of new ones, by adaptation of the old, and even by the absorbtion, and consequent metamorphosis, of literary, quasi-literary, or pseudo-literary types into the current of oral tradition.
This collection, then, is by no means complete: means have not been available for a systematic and scientific search for these folk-songs, which have been gathered very casually during the past five years through occasional travel, acquaintanceship, and correspondence in only the twenty-one following counties: Payette, Madison, Eowan, Elliott, Carter, Boyd, Lawrence, Morgan, Johnson, Pike, Knott, Breathitt, Clay, Laurel, Rockcastle, Garrard, Boyle, Anderson, Shelby, Henry, and Owen—all lying in Central and Eastern Kentucky.
All of the material listed has thus been collected in this State, though a variant of The Jew's Daughter, page 8, has come by chance from Michigan, and another of The Pretty Mohee, page 12, was sent from Georgia. The Cumberland Mountain region, in the eastern part of the State, has naturally furnished the larger half of the material, because of local conditions favorable to the propagation of folksong. However, sections of Kentucky lying farther to the westward are almost equally prolific. The wide extension of the same ballad throughout the State argues convincingly for the unity of the Kentucky stock—a fact which may be confirmed in more ways than one.
The arrangement is as follows: The material in hand is loosely grouped in eighteen sections, according to origin, chronology, content, or form. Though logically at fault, because of the cross-division thus inevitably entailed, this plan has seemed to be the best. No real confusion will result to the user in consequence. In fact, no matter what system be adopted, certain songs will belong equally well to two or more different categories.
Under each of these eighteen main divisions the treatment of the individual song-ballad is in general as followsi: First, stands the title, with variant titles in parentheses. Should this be unknown, a caption coined by the editors is placed in brackets. Secondly, a Eoman numeral immediately follows the above to denote the number of versions, if variants have been found. Thirdly, the prosodical character of the song is roughly indicated by a combination of letters and numerals. Each letter indicates a line; the variation in the letters indicates, in the usual fashion, the rime-scheme of the stanza. Each numeral indicates the number of stresses in the line (or lines) denoted by the letter (or letters) immediately succeeding it. When a chorus, burden, or refrain is present, the metrical scheme of this stands immediately after an "and," as, for example, in The Blue and the Gray, page 14. In the case of the refrain, the letters used are independent of those immediately preceding the "and", and denoting the rime-scheme of the stanza proper. Fourthly, an Arabic numeral follows to indicate the number of stanzas in the son?, exclusive of the refrain, should one be present. If the number of stanzas in a ballad is indeterminable, because its form is fragmentary, or because its variant versions differ in length, this fact is indicated by an appended ca (circa). Sixth, and last, is a synopsis, or other attempt to give briefly such data as may serve to complete the identification.
Illustration of the third item above may be helpful. Thus in Pretty Polly, on page 7, 4aabb indicates a quatrain riming in couplets, with four stresses in each line. In Jackaro, page 9, 3abcb indicates a quatrain riming alternately, with three stressed syllables in each line. In The King's Daughter, page 7, 4a3b4c3b indicates a quatrain, with only the second and fourth lines riming and without stresses in the first and third lines and three stresses in the second and fourth. In Johnnie Came from Sea, page 14, 6aa denotes a rimed couplet, with six stresses in each line.
It has, naturally, been difficult at times to decide whether certain stanzas should be counted as couplets, or as quatrains half as long. In such cases, the air, or tune, and other data, often rather subtle, have been employed in making decision. The quatrain form has in uncertain instances been given the benefit of the doubt. Even thus, certain minor inconsistencies will perhaps be noted. It is hardly necessary to add that assonance freely occurs in the place of rime, and as such it is considered throughout.
All attempt to indicate the prevailing metrical unit, or foot, within the line has been frankly given over. Iambs, dactyls, and their ilk receive scant courtesy from the composer of folk-song, who without qualm or quaver will stretch one syllable, or even an utter silence (caesura), into the time of a complete bar; while in the next breath he will with equal equanimity huddle a dozen syllables into the same period. Consequently, this item, even if it could be indicated, would have scant descriptive value.
It is a pleasant duty to acknowledge gratefully the assistance of those who have transmitted to our hands many of the songs: Mesdames J. W. Combs, W. T. Phillips, Jennie L. Combs, Richard Smith, Martha Smith, Euth Hackney, W. F. Hays, Ollie Huff, Eobin Cornett, Lucy Banks, Sarah Burton, Kittie Jordan, and Euby Martin; Misses Martha Jent, Maud Dean, Virginia Jordan, Jessie Green, Lizzie Cody, Margaret Combs, Barbara Smith, Helena E. Eose, Sarah Burton, Sarah Hillman, Cordia Bramblett, Nannie S. Graham, Myrtle Wheeler, Melissa Holbrook, Eosetta Wheeler, Euth Hackney, Ora McDavid, Jeannette McDavid; Messrs. Wm. W. Berry, Chas. Hackney, S. B. Wheeler, E. L. Morgan, Enoch Wheeler, Thos. H. Hackney, James Goodman, W. S. Wheeler, Harry M. Morgan, Henry Lester, T. G. Wheeler, C. E. Bishop, and John C. Jones. Especially helpful as collaborators have been Messrs. Winfred Cox, Emory E. Wheeler, Eoud Shaw, A. B. Johnston, C. E. Phillips, and H. Williamson.
Kind words or letters of appreciation and, in some cases, of suggestion, from the following have encouraged the preparation of this syllabus: Professors Alexander S. Mackenzie, of the Kentucky State University; Clarence C. Freeman, of Transylvania University; John A. Lomax, of the University of Texas; Albert H. Tolman, of the University of Chicago; John M. McBride, Jr., of the University of the South; George Lyman Kittredge, of Harvard University; Henry M. Belden, of the University of Missouri; and Katherine Jackson, formerly of Bryn Mawr College, who has most generously given the use of her manuscript collection. None of the shortcomings of this brochure, however, can be imputed to them in the slightest degree.
SYLLABUS
GROUP 1.
The songs in this group are the survivors of English and Scottish originals, found for the most part in the Child collection. Certain of those given in sections II to XVIII below could doubtless, with due effort, be identified in like manner.
The King's Daughter (six Pretty Fair Maids, Pretty Polly), iv, 4a3b4c3b, 9ca: Variants of Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight, Child, No. 4. By a stratagem she drowns the lover just as he is about to drown her.
Pretty Polly, iv, 4aabb, 9ca: Parallel in general plot to the above, save that she is led by the lover to an open grave and there slain. (Cf. 5, page 28.)
Fair Ellender, 4a3b4c3b, 10: A variant of the Earl Brand cycle, Child, No. 7.
Lord Of Old Country, 4aa, with refrain as below, 10ca: A variant of The Two Sisters, Child, No. 10.
The miller was hung upon Fish-gate, Bosodown,
The miller was hung upon Fish-gate,
(These sons were sent to me)
The miller was hung upon Fish-gate
For drowning of my sister Kate!
I'll be true, true to my true-love,
If my love'll be true to me.
The Rope And The Gallows (Lord Randal), 4aa, 12ca: A variant of Lord Randal, Child, No. 12.
Edward. 4a3b4c3b, 10: A variant of the Old World ballad of the same name, Child, No. 13.
The Greenwood Side (Three Little Babes), ii, 4a3b4c3b, 9: Variants of The Cruel Mother, Child, No. 20.
Little Willie, 4a3b4c3b, 5: A variant of The Two Brothers, Child, No. 49.
Lord Bateman (the Turkish Lady), ii, 4abcb, 17ca: Variants of Young Beichan, Child, No. 53.
Loving Henry (Sweet William And Fair Ellender) , iii, 4a3b4c3b, Ilca: Variants of Young Hunting, Child, No. 68.
Lord Thomas And Fair Ellender, iii, 4a3b4c3b, 17ca: Variants of Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor, Child, No. 73.
Fair Margaret And Sweet William, iv, 4a3b4c3b, 15ca: Variants of the Old World ballad of the same name, Child, No. 74. (Published by Combs in Jour. Am. Folklore, 23: 381.)
Lord Lovely, 4a3b4c3b, 9: A variant of Lord Lovel, Child, No. 75.
Cold Winter's Night (Bosom Friend; Lover's Farewell), vii, 4a3b4c3b, 9ca: Variants of The Lass of Loch Koyal, Child, No. 76. (Published by Shearin, Mod. Lang. Eeview, Oct., 1911, p. 514.)
Lord Vanner's (Daniel's) Wife, ii, 4a3b4c3b, 17ca: Variants of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard, Child, No. 81.
Barbara Allen, vi, 4a3b4c3b, Ilca: Variants of Barbara Allen's Cruelty, Child, No. 84.
The Bailiff's Daughter Of Islington, 4a3b4c3b, 12: A variant of the Old World ballad of the same name, Child, No. 105,
The Jew's Daughter, ii, 4a3b4c3b, 12ca: Variants of Sir Hugh, Child, No. 155. One of the Kentucky versions makes the murdered boy's mother go seeking him switch in hand, to punish him for not returning home before nightfall. (Communicated by Dr. Katherine Jackson.)
The House Carpenter, iii, 4a3b4c3b, 13ca: Variants of The Demon Lover, Child, No. 243.
Dandoo: A fragmentary variant of The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin, Child, No. 277, as follows:
He put the sheepskin to his wife's back, Dandoo;
He put the sheepskin to his wife's back,
Clima cli clash to ma clingo,
He put the sheepskin to his wife's back
And he made the old switch go whickity-whack,
Then rarum scarum skimble arum
S kitty-wink skatty-wink
Clima cli clash to ma clingo.
The Green Willow Tree, metre as below, 11: A variant of The Golden Vanitee, Child, No. 286.
There was a ship sailed for the North Amerikee,
From down in the lonesome Lowlands low—
There was a ship sailed for the North Amerikee,
And she went by the name of the Green Willow Tree,
And she sailed from the Lowlands low.
The Driver Boy (Young Edwin), 4a3b4c3b, 13: The above adapted to a recital of Emily's love for the maildriver boy and of his untimely murder.
Pretty Peggy O, metre as below, 6: A fine lilting lyric of the Captain's love for his lass; his farewell; and his deatli. It begins:
As we marched down to Fernario,
As we marched down to Fernario,
Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove,
And they called her by name Pretty Peggy, O.
(Cf. Child, No. 299, Trooper and Maid. Published by Shearin, Sewanee Review, July, 1911, p. 326.)
Lady Gay, 4a3b4c3b, 9: An English woman sends her three children to America. They die on board ship, their shades return to the mother at Christmas and warn her against pride. (Cf. Child, No. 79, The Wife of Usher's Well, and a close variant from North Carolina in Kittredge's Edition, p. 170.)
Jackaro, iv, 3abcb, 17ca: The daughter of a London silk merchant loves Jack, the sailor-boy, against her father's will. Disguised as a man, she follows him to "the wars of Germany," finds him wounded on the battle-field, and nurses him back to health; then they are married. (Cf. Child, 1857 ed., iv, p. 328, The Merchant's Daughter of Bristow, 4abab, 65: Maudlin disguised as a seaman follows her lover to Padua; they are married, and return to England.)
The Fan, it. 4abcb, 12: A sea-captain and a lieutenant woo a lady. To test their love she throws her fan into a den of lions. The sea-captain recovers it and wins her. (Published by Shearin, Mod. Lang. Notes, 26. 113; for British originals see Belden, Sewanee Eeview, April, 1911, p. 218, and Kittredge, Mod. Lang. Notes, 26. 168.)
The Apprentice Boy, iii, 4abcb, 12ca: Like Keats's, Isabella, the daughter of a merchant in a post-town loves her father's apprentice. He is slain by her brothers and his body hidden in a valley. His ghost reveals the murderers, who, striving to flee, are lost at sea. (Identified by Belden with an English version, The Constant Farmer's Son, in The Sewanee Review, April, 1911, p. 222.)
GROUP II.
The songs in this group are apparently of British origin. Material has not been at hand to justify an attempt to establish their identity.
The Rich Madgent [Merchant], 2abcb, 12: Dinali, daughter of a rich London merchant, loves Felix contrary to her father's wishes. Going into the garden she drinks poison. Felix arrives and drains the rest of the potion. Both are buried in one grave.
Beneath The Arch Of London Bridge, 4a3b4c3b and 4aaaa, 5ca: Here a man, whose son has recently died, finds a waif. Struck by his resemblance to his own heir, he adopts ,\he orphan boy.
Jack Wilson, ii, 4a3b4c3b, 9: The confession of Jack Wilson, a Thames boatman, awaiting execution in Newgate prison for robbery done in Katherine Street, and his denunciation of the "false deluding girl" for whose sake he had done the wrong.
The Old Woman Of London, 3abcb, 6: She causes her husband to suck two magic marrowbones, which blind him; then leading him to the river, she essays to push him in to drown. But he steps aside, and she dies in his stead. The refrain is:
Sing tidri-i-odre-erdri-um, Sing fol-de-ri-o-day! (The Golden Glove), ii, 4aabb, 9: A mariner's daughter, about to be married to a young squire of London, feigns illness, goes a-hunting on the estate of her favored lover, a farmer, intentionally drops her glove, and vows she will marry "only the man who can return it. Of course, the farmer is the lucky finder.
Shearfield, 3abcb, 15: An apprentice in Sheffield recites his running away to London, where he enters the service of an Irish Lady, who falls in love with him. He, however, cares only for Polly Girl, her maid. His jealous mistress, by a stratagem, causes him to be hanged for theft.
Fair Notamon [Nottingham] Town, 4aabb, 1: An absurd recital, full of obvious contradictions, of a countryman's visit to the city, where he sees the royal progress:
I called for a quart to drive gladness away
To stifle the dust—it had rained the whole day.
Lovely Caroline Of Old Edinboro (Eddingsburg Town), ii, 3abcb, 9: She weds young Henry, "a Highland man," and goes with him to London. Deserted by him, she wanders forlorn to a sea-cliff and plunges in, to drown.
Who'll Be King But Charlie?, metre as below, 3: A rally-song upon the landing of Charles Stuart, The Young Pretender, at Moidart, in Inverness-shire, July, 1745, beginning:
There's news from Mordart came yestreen,
Will soon yastremony (sic) ferly,
For ships o'er all have just come in
And landed royal Charlie.
(Published by Shearin, Sewanee Review, July, 1911, p. 323.),
Cubeck's [Cupid's] Garden, 3abcb, 16: The poet overhears a lady and her father's apprentice a-courting in "Cubeck's Garden." The angry parent banishes the lad, who goes to sea, is promoted, draws forty thousand pounds in a lottery, returns and marries his fair love.
William Hall, ii, 4abcb, Ilca: He is a young farmer of "Domesse-town" and loves a "gay young lady" of "Pershelvy-town" against her parents' wishes. Banished by them to sea, he returns, finds by a ruse that the lady is yet faithful, and marries her.
Rosanna, 4aabb, 6ca (fragmentary): Silimentary, the lover, bids Rosanna farewell, and is later lost at sea; at the news she stabs herself with a silver dagger.
Mary Of The Wild Moor, 3ab4c3b, 8: She, with her babe, returns one winter night to her father's door to seek forgiveness and protection, is rebuffed by him, and perishes in the snow.
Betsy Brown, 4aabb, 8: John loves Betsy, the waiting-maid; his old mother objects and packs her off across the sea. He dies of grief.
The Romish Lady, 6aabb (or 3abcb), 12 (or 24): "Brought up in popery," she obtains a Bible and turns Protestant, is tried before the Pope, is condemned, bids farewell to mother, father, and tormentors, and is burned at the stake.
GROUP III.
The songs of this group are connected more or less closely with American colonial times. For most of them it is fair to infer a British origin.
[To America], ii, 4aabb, 8ca: An [English] sailor, bound for America to serve his King, is forgotten by his sweetheart. Eeturning to her father's hall, he finds her married, and vows to return to Charlestown, where cannon-balls are flying.
The Silk Merchant's Daughter, 2aa, 17: A London lad and his sweetheart set sail for America. The ship springs a leak, the passengers drift in a long-boat. Lot falls to the girl to be slain, her lover takes her place. A passing ship carries them back to London, and they are married.
The Pretty Mohee (Maumee), iii, 4aabb, 7: An Indian maid falls in love with a young adventurer and wooes him. He tells her he must return to his love across the sea. This he does, but dissatisfied returns to the "pretty Mohee."
Sweet Jane, 4a3b4c3b, 12: Her lover sails for America "to dig the golden ore," "loads up" his trunk with it, and after many trials reaches home, across the main, and reclaims his bride.
GROUP IV.
The songs of this group find their common bond in their reference to Ireland, where some of them undoubtedly had their origin.
Irish Molly O; 6aabb and 6aabb(?), 7: A Scotch laddie, MacDonald, falls in love with "Irish Molly." Scorned by her parents, he wanders about, signifying his intention to die for her, and suggests an appropriate inscription for his tombstone. (See an Old World variant • in Brooke and Eolleston's Treasury of Irish Poetry, p. 15, Macmillan, 1905.)
William Eiley, 6aabb, 7: Eloping with Polly Ann, he is brought back to trial by her irate father, is defended by an aged lawyer, is transported, and departs wearing the maiden's ring. (See an Old World variant in the volume just named, p. 6.)
Roving Irish Boy, 4a3b4c3b, 12: He lands in Philadelphia and "makes a hit" with the ladies. Then he visits "other parts"—among the Dutch of Bucks County, he meets an inn-keeper's daughter, and leaves off rambling.
The Waxford Girl (Wexford Girl), 4a3b-lc3b, G: A youth murders his sweetheart and throws her into a stream. He tells his mother, who sees the blood on his clothes, that his nose has been bleeding. He is haunted by the ghost of the dead girl (Cf. Lizzie Wan, Child, No. 51, and Miller-boy, page 28.)
Patty On The Canal, 3abcb and 3abcb, 9: Pat lands in "Sweet Philadelphy" and soon "makes himself handy" on the canal, likewise among the girls, whose mothers become anxious. He is a "Jackson man up to the handle."
Molly, 6aabb, 4: An Irish lad comes to America, courts Molly, but against her parents' will. He goes to serve a foreign king for seven years, returns, and finds that Molly has died of grief.
Johnnie Came From Sea, 6aa, 10: Irish Johnnie escapes a shipwreck and lands in America. Thinking him penniless, a landlord refuses him his daughter's hand. Johnnie "draws out handfuls of gold" and departs, to drink "good brandy."
Irish Girl, a fragment, as follows:
So costly were the robes of silk
The Irish girl did wear—
Her hair was as black as a raven,
Her eyes were black as a crow,
Her cheeks were red as roses
That in the garden grow.
The songs of this group are based upon incidents or events of the Civil War.
Bounty Jumpers, 3abcb, 9: Sam Downey, a soldier, "jumps his bounty," and is apprehended in Baltimore. Eefusing to return the money, he is shot by the military authorities.
Hiram Hubbert, 3abcb, 9: Hiram Hubbert is taken by the Eebels in the guerrilla warfare in the Cumberland Mountains, tried, tied to a tree and shot. He leaves a last letter of farewell to his family.
The Guerrilla Man, 3a3b4c3b, 5: A Southern soldier goes to Shelby County, Ky., and falls in love with a "Eebel girl," who loves him in spite of the opposition of her mother, and determines to follow him.
Murfreesboro, 4a3b4c3b, 7: A Union soldier lies dying on the battlefield. He sends to his mother and sweetheart a message recounting his bravery.
Battle Of Gettysburg (the Two Soldiers), ii, 4a3b4c3b, 13: Two comrades promise each other to bear messages, in the event of death to either of them on the field —one to a sweetheart, the other to a mother.
The Blue And The Gray, 4a3b4c3b4d3e4f4e and 4a3b4c3b3e4f3e, 2: A mother haa lost two sons in gray, at Appomattox and at Chickamauga. Her third has just died in blue at Santiago.
Zollicoffer: A fragment as follows:
Old Zollicoffer's dead, and the last word he said
Was, "I'm going back South; they're a-gaining."
If he wants to save his soul, he had better keep his hole,
Or we'll land him in the happy land of Canaan.
I'm Going To Join The Army, 3abcb, 12: A volunteer's farewell to his sweetheart as he leaves for Pensacola, her fears, and his promise to return.
[Come All Ye Southern Soldiers], 3abcb, 8: A volunteer, aged sixteen, from Eastern Tennessee, describes the march into Virginia and his feelings at his first sight of the "Yankees."
GROUP VI.
The songs of this group relate to the- days of pioneer migration Westward. The one exception is The Sailor's Eequest, placed here in order to bring it into proximity with its later variant, The Dying Cowboy.
Arkansas Traveller (santford Barnes V ii, 4a3b4c3b, 14ca: A laborer's humorous recital of his hard experiences in Arkansas. He leaves the state, vowing that if he sees it again it will be "through a telescope from hell to Arkansaw."
Starving To Death On A Government Claim, 4aa and 4aabb, 20: "Ernest Smith" recites humorously his hard experiences as claim-holder in Beaver County, Oklahoma. He resolves to go to Kansas, marry, and "life on corn-dodgers the rest of his life."
The Dying Cowboy, ii, 4abcb and 4abcb, 6: A cowboy, shot while gambling, laments his career and fate, gives warning to his comrades, sends a farewell to his family and sweetheart, and gives directions for his funeral.
The Lone Prairie, 4aabb, 10: A dying cowboy requests that he be buried not on the lone prairie, but at home beneath the cotton-wood boughs, near his mother. His comrades ignore his petition. (Cf. The Sailor's Request.)
The Sailor's Request, 4aabb, 9: A dying sailor requests that he be buried not at sea, but at home in the churchyard, near his father. His comrades ignore his petition. (Cf. The Lone Prairie.)
California Joe, 3abcb, 17: A prospector during the California gold-fever, in 1850, saves a girl of thirteen years from Indians, and gives her over to her uncle, Mat Jack Eeynolds. Later, she almost shoots, by accident, her saviour, thinking him a Sioux.
Polly, Ms Charmer, 4aa, !): An adventurous youth, on the point of going West, is detained by the charms of "Polly." He wishes he were like Joshua, in order to prolong his moments with his love, by making the sun stand still.
Jesse James, 2aa3b2cc3b and 2aa3b<!cc3b, 4: A lyric concerning the robbing of "the Danville train" and "the Northfield raid"; the escape of Jesse and Frank James to the West, and Jesse's death at the hand of "Boh Ford."
Handsome Flora, 3abcbdefe, G: Her lover, in prison for stabbing his rival, tells his yet constant devotion to the "Lily of the West," the "girl from Mexico."
GROUP VII.
The songs of this group are of the "good-night" type, being the meditations or confessions of criminals, while in prison and, usually, under sentence of death.
Macafee's Confession (Betty Stout), ii, 4aabb, 17ca: Orphaned at five years of age and reared by his uncle, MacAfee becomes wayward; later he marries, but falls in love with Betty Stout, poisons his wife, and speaks this confession under sentence of death.
Beauchamp's Confession, 4aabb, 7: Under sentence of death by Judge Davidge, for the murder of Sharpe (sec VIII, end), Beauchamp pictures the meeting of himself and his victim in hell.
Jack Combs's Death Song, ii, 4abcb and 4abcb, 3: Jack Combs, dying, tells of his murder by an unknown man, and gives directions for his burial rites. (Based upon The Dying Cowboy, page 15.)
Tom Smith's Death Song, ii, 3a(fiis)4b3c and 3a(&«) 4b3c, 2: The condemned man, standing on the scaffold, asks his friends not to lament his death, since he is leaving them in peace on earth.
The Rich And Rambling Boy, iii, 4aabb, 8ca: He marries a wife whose "maintenance'' is so great that he is compelled to "rob on the broad highway." He is sent to Frankfort [Ky.] prison, but in this song he pictures his pardon and return home.
[In Rowan County Jail], 3abcb, 6: While here awaiting trial for robbery, the prisoner is visited by his sweetheart Lula, with "ten dollars in each hand," to "go on his bail."
Last Night As I Lay Sleeping, 3abob, 6: A prisoner in the Knoxville [Tenn.] jail dreams of his home and sweetheart, but is rudely awakened by the turnkey to hear his death-sentence passed.
Edward Hawkins, 4abcb, 9ca: Under sentence of death for murder, he warns his comrades by his example, welcomes death bravely, and invites them to see his execution twenty-eight days hence.
Rowdy Boys, metre as below, 5: A "rowdy" youth scorns his mother's warning, serves a term in the Frankfort State Prison for homicide, and comes back home still a "rowdy." The first stanza is:
I heard my mother talking;
I took it all for fun.
She said I would ride the Frankfort train,
before I was twenty-one.
GROUP VIII.
The songs of this group are epic; rather than lyric as are those in VII, above. They are recitals of local tragedies —murders, assassinations, feudal battles, and disasters.
The Cause And Killing Of Jesse Adams, ii, 3abcb, 25: A detailed recital of a domestic tragedy on the Brushy Fork of Blaine: Adams, overhearing his wife and her paramour, shoots her and attempts suicide.
Floyd Frazier, 3abcb, 16: A recital of Frazier's murder of Ellen Flannery: he hides her body under a pile of stones; later, is arrested, makes confession, and is placed in Pineville, Ky., jail to await execution.
Talt Hall, ii, 3abcb, 8: A recital of Hall's murder of Frank Salyers, his arrest in Tennessee, his confinement in the Gladeville, Va., jail, and his execution in Eichmond, Va.
William Baker, 3abcb, 12: A recital of Baker's murder of one Prewitt in Clay County, Ky.: he hides the body in the woods and tells Prewitfs wife that her husband had deserted her.
Poor Goens, 4aabb, 5: A recital of the betrayal and murder of Goens for the purpose of robbery, on Black-spur Mountain.
The Rowan County Tragedy, ii, 3abcb, 26: A detailed account of a feudal battle in Morehead, Ky., on election day, and of the succeeding events connected with the arrest of the participants.
John T. Parker, 4aabb. 12: An account of the drowning of Parker in the Kentucky Eiver one winter night, as, with three companions, he essays to cross, but their boat is capsized in the wash from the steamboat Blue Wings.
[Jeems Braggs], 4a3b4c3b, 8: A protest against the Governor's pardon of Braggs, upon the eve of his execution, for the murder of one Prewitt.
The Assassination Of J. B. Marcum, 3aa6b3cc6b and 3aa6b3cc6b, 13: A detailed recital of the shooting of Marcum as he stood in the court-house door at Jackson, Ky., with animadversions upon the identity of his slayers and an account of their various trials.
The Irish Peddler, 4a3b4c3b, 7: An account of the murder of an old peddler and his wife, shot from ambush one June morning for the purpose of rifling their wagon.
John Hardy, iii, 4a3b4c3b, 6: An account of Hardy's shooting a man in a poker game, of his arrest, trial, conviction, conversion and baptism, and of his execution and burial on the Tug Eiver.
Jereboam Beauchamp, 3abcb, 33: A recital of the murder of Beauchamp done upon Solomon P. Sharpe, Attorney-General of Kentucky, at Frankfort in the winter of 1824. (Cf. William Gilmore Simms' novel of the same name, and see VII, 2.)
GROUP IX.
The songs of this group relate to various occupational pursuits. Of course, many of those listed elsewhere could he placed here also.
The Moonshiner, 4aa, 3: "For seventeen years I've made moonshine whiskey for one dollar per gallon, at my still in a dark hollow. I wish all would attend to their business and leave me to mine. God bless the moonshiner!"
Walking-boss, metre as below, 3: A teamster's song in couplets, with refrain, beginning:
Get up in the morning 'way before day,
Feed old Beck some corn and hay.
Get up in the morning soon, soon;
Get up in the morning soon.
The Steel-driver, ii, 4a3b4c3b, 11: John Henry, proud of his skill with sledge and hand-drill, competes with a modern steam-drill in Tunnel No. Nine, on the Chesapeake & Ohio Eailroad. Defeated, he dies, asking to be buried with his tools at his breast.
Rosin The Bow, 3abcb, 4: A lyric of an old fiddler buoyant even in the face of approaching death: he asks for wine and women at his funeral rites.
Rosin The Bow: a fragment as follows:
I'll tune up my fiddle,
I'll rosin my bow,
And make myself welcome
wherever I go.
The Old Shoemaker, 4a3b4c3b and 4a3b4c3b, 4: Lately become a freeman, with five pounds laid up, and half a side of leather, he sings of Kate, the woman to make his content complete.
The Farmer's Boy, ii, 4a3b4c3b, 9: An orphan lad, he obtains employment from the farmer, later to marry his daughter and inherit thus the farm.
Old Gray, 6aabb, 5: Song of a teamster, who, lured by the still-house, hauls four loads of coal per day, instead of six; becoming drunk, he rides Old Gray off to a country frolic one night, whither his father follows him, and brings him back to his duty in the morning.
The Waggoner's Lad, ii, 2abcb (or 4aa), 15: A complaint, arranged as a debat, of a lorn and loving lass against the teamster lad, as he departs from her.
Old Number Four (the F. F. V., Stockyard Gate), ii, 6aabb. lOca: George Allen, engineer, stays at the throttle as train Number Four on the Chesapeake & Ohio Eailroad plunges into a fallen boulder near Hinton, W. Va., and bids his fireman jump to safety, while he himself dies a hero's death.
[Railroad Boy], 4a3b4c3b and 4a3b4c3b, 5: A maiden's song in scorn of all men save the railroad conductor, with his striped shirt, handsome face, and diamond ring.
The Old Miller, 4aabb, 7: Dying, he questions his sons in order to choose one of them as his successor in the mill. Dick will take a peck as toll from each bushel; Ealph will take half; Paul will take all. But his wife assumes direction at his death.
Lynchburg Town, 4a3b4c3b, 3: A teamster's song as he takes his tobacco to the Lynchburg (Va.) market.
GROUP X.
The songs of this group are of jortisan or sectional character.
Kaintucky Boys, 4abab and 4ab, 5. A debat between a Virginia lad and the Kentucky maiden whom he comes to woo. She scorns lands and money, and lauds the superior manliness of the Kentucky lads.
Buckskin Boys, 4abab, 9: The above adapted to the praises of the "boys" of Owsley County (Ky.).
Goebel And Taylor, 4a3b4c3d, 3: Composed soon after the assassination of Wm. Goebel, the Democratic contestant for the Governorship of Kentucky in 1900: He is lauded, while Taylor, his opponent, is condemned as a demagogue and conspirator, who "ought to be in purgatory or some other unhealthy spot."
James A. Garfield: A fragment, as follows:
Mr. James A. Garfield is dead,
Oh, Mr. James A. Garfield is dead.
I will weep like a willow,
And I'll mourn like a dove;
Mr. James A. Garfield is dead.
GROUP XI
Here are grouped songs whose main theme is love, subdivided as below. Many are hardly "popular" in the strict sense: though current among the folk, they differ from the true folk-song, or "song-ballet." On the other hand, many bear a striking resemblance to certain of those listed in I and II, above.
1. Songs Of Constant Love.
Avonia (Red River Valley), ii,4a3b4c3b and 4a3b4c3b 4: A constant lover's song of farewell to Helen, as she leaves the vale of Avonia.
Barney And Kate, 4abab, 6: Barney, maudlin with drink, comes one winter's night to Kate's window and implores her to admit him.- She sends him packing. He goes away whistling, rejoicing in her chastity.
Kitty Wells, 4ababcdcd and 3abab, 3. Her lover's lament upon her death. The refrain is:
"While the birds they were singing in the morning, And the ivy and the myrtle were in bloom, The sun on the hill-top was dawning, It was then we laid her in the tomb. Nora O'neil, 4a3b4a3b, 5: Her lover's invitation to Nora to meet him "at the foot of the lane" when the nightingale sings in the dusk.
Sweet Birds, ii, 4a3b4a3b and 5aa, 6: A maiden's song of longing for her absent lover: she asks the birds to bear her message of devotion to him and to bring him back secure in his affection for her.
[Constant Johnny], 4aa, 14: A maiden sings her devotion to her absent sailor lover. He returns and they are married.
Lorla, 4aabb, 2: A lover's elegy over the grave of Lorla beneath the elm, as he recalls the golden willow under which they once sat on violet banks.
Lonesome Dove, 4a3b4c3b, 5: A constant husband sings his resolve to return like a lonesome dove to his wife and children in "Californy.''
Lonesome Dove, 4aabb, 8: The singing of a dove bereft of its mate reminds a constant husband of his Mary, recently dead of consumption.
Pretty Saro, iii, 4aabb and 4aabb, 6ca: Her absent lover sings of his devotion, wishing he were a priest and knew how to write to her, or a dove to fly to her.
Come, All Ye Jolly Boatsman Boys, 7aabb, 5: A ribald song of a sailor to his amorata by night, and the birth of the child nine months later.
A Package Of Old Letters, ii, 8aa, 11: A dying maiden bids her sister bring them from their rosewood casket to read them to her again, and asks that at her death they be buried with her.
Jack And Mamie, 6aabb and 4aaa3a, 4: Jack plunges into the water to recover the hat of his girl sweetheart, Mamie. Jack, the man, leaves her for a long voyage, and his ship never returned.
Sweet Summer Evening, 4abcb, 7: The poet one summer evening overhears a mother chide her daughter for her devotion to her roving sailor lover, who soons appears and bids her an affectionate farewell.
Wait For The Wagon, 3abcbdefe and 4a(<er), 4: A lover's call to Phyllis to jump into the wagon with him aSunday morning; he tells her of the cabin he has built for her, and wooes her to marry him.
Lovely Nancy, 4abcb, 5: A dialogue, in quatrains, between Nancy and her lover, whom she wishes to accompany on his voyage to the West Indies.
Nancy Till, 4aabb and 4aabb, 4: A serenade by her lover "down in the canebrakes close by the mill," urging her to be ready to go with him "a-sailing on the Ohio."
[Ephriam And Lucy], 4a3b4c3b and 4a3b4c3b, 4: The night before their wedding-day, amid night-hawks, owls, and whippoorwills, "we danced by the light of the moon."
2. Songs Of Love Inconstant.
[She Was Happy Till She Met You], 4aa5b4cc5b4dd5e4ff5e and 4ababcc5b, 2: A husband forsakes his wife; later, becoming repentant, he returns to seek her at the house of her mother, who forbids him access to her.
[Bedroom Window], 4abcb, 5: The lover by night calls his sweetheart to awake. She warns him away, saying that her father is armed to repulse his presence. He vows to have her for his own. A suggestion of his sinister motive closes the song.
I'll Hang My Harp On A Willow Tree, ii, 4a3b4a3b4c3d4c3d, 3: A lover voices his resolve to forsake the charms of his fickle mistress to court a warrior's fate at the Saracen's hand on the field of Palestine.
There Was A Rich Old Farmer, ii, 3abcb, 9ca: The singer recites his farewell to father and sweetheart to seek his fortune, and his faith in her—until a letter arrives telling of her marriage to another man.
Jack And Joe, 4a3b4b3c and 4a3b4b3c, 3ca: Both are sailors, away from home. Jack, returning first, is commissioned by Joe to kiss his sweetheart Nellie for him. When Joe returns, like Miles Standish, he finds that Jack and she are married.
All On The Banks Of Clauda, 3abcb, 10: By this stream the poet overhears a maiden's complaint against her fickle Johnny. Like Oenone, she prays the mountain to hear her, and implores Cupid to fire his heart anew.
The Auxville Love, 4aabb, 6: A merchant's daughter, "in Auxville town or Delaware," love-lorn, gathers flowers, Ophelia-like, and dies under a green pine on the mountain.
Cuckoo, ii, 4aabb, 5ca: A love-lorn maiden's warning to her sex not to be deceived, as she, by false men in springtime when the cuckoo calls.
We Have Met And We Have Parted, ii, 4abcb and 4abcb, 5ca: A maiden's scornful farewell to her fickle lover, as she returns him the presents and letters he has sent her.
If I Had Minded Mamma, 3abcb and 3abcb, 6: A maiden's regret that she has been deluded by a faithless lover:
He is like the blue-birds ever
That flies from tree to tree;
And when he sees another girl
He never thinks of me.
I Used To Love, 4abcb and 4abcb, 4: A maiden voices her complaint against the "dark-eyed girl," her successful rival, and her wish for "coffin, shroud, and grave," to end her woe.
The Butcher's Boy. iii, 4aabb, 8ca: A maiden voices her complaint against the New York butcher's boy, once her childhood playmate and lover, who now has forsaken her for a wealthier girl; then goes upstairs and hangs herself, leaving a note pinned on her breast.
The Pale Amaranthus, 4aabb, 5: A maiden's complaint against her faithless lover, whom she vows to forget.
I Have Finished Him A Letter, 4abcb and 4abcb, 7: A maiden's complaint against her lover, who has forsaken her for Annie Lee.
Can You Then Love Another?, ii, 3abcbdefe and 3abcb, 3: A lorn maiden's plaint:
Say, must I be forgotten,
Cast like a flower aside?
Have I from memory faded,
Once all your joy and pride?
To Cheer The Heart, ii, 3abcbdefe and 3abcbdede, 4: A maiden's complaint against her faithless lover. He is the son of a "rich merchant," she, the daughter of a "laboring man." "But why need I care? For I have another man."
A Poor Strange Girl, 4aafob, 7: The poet one May morning overhears a damsel complaining against her faithless lover, and against her loss of friends and home.
Pretty Polly, 4aabb, 5: A lover recites his visit one evening to her home, where he sees his rivals enjoying her company. He retires to a grove, sucks comfort from his whiskey bottle, and wishes that she were drowned, floating on the tide, that he, like a fisherman, might draw her in his net to shore.
Hang Down Your Head And Cry, 4aabb, 2: A fragment (two quatrains), apparently a complaint of a lover to his faithless sweetheart.
The Dying Girl's Message, ii, 4abcb, 15: Her deathsong to her mother, breathing forgiveness for her faithless lover, and closing with a vision of Christ waiting to receive her.
A second version contains only an elaboration of this last motif.
The Cold, Dark Scenes Of Winter, 3abcb, 9: In the winter the lover wooes his fair, but is rejected. In the spring, her mind changing, she writes him of her love for him. He replies that meanwhile his heart has changed in turn and that he is already married to another.
Loving Hanner, 3abcb, 9: The lover sings his devotion to her, but in the face of her coolness and her parents' opposition, vows to go on a long voyage to try to forget her— but in vain.
My Bonnie Little Girl, 4a3b4c3b, 4: Courting her too slow, the singer finds his sweetheart has fled with another man.
Lovely Nancy, ii, 4aabb, 5ca: A bachelor's warning against "courting too slow": Sweet William goes on a voyage; meanwhile Nancy, his sweetheart, writes him of her marriage to another. William dies of grief and Nancy, of remorse.
I'm Scorned For Being Poor (Vain Girl), 3abcb, 8: A lover's farewell to his sweetheart, who