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I'll Twine Mid the Ringlets/Wildwood Flower
Old-Time Parlor Song; Words and Music Maud Irving and J.P. Webster- 1860
ARTIST: Lyrics from Frank C. Brown Collection; 4 versions
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
EARLIEST DATE: 1860- Sheet music Maud Irving and J.P. Webster
RECORDING INFO: Wildwood Flower [Me II-E10] - Webster, J. P./Irving, Maud
Rt - Forsaken Lover ; Wildwood Flower Revisted; Pale Amarylis
At - I'll Twine Mid the Ringlets
Rm - Sinking of the Reuben James
Mf - Texas State Anthem
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Wildwood Flower Revisted - Irving, Maud/Webster, J. P./Fink, Cathy
Rt - Wildwood Flower
Fink, Cathy. Leading Role, Rounder 0223, LP (1985), trk# B.03
OTHER NAMES: Pale Wildwood Flower; Frail Wildwood Flower; Forsaken Lover; Wildwood Flower Revisted; Pale Amarylis; I'll Twine Mid the Ringlets
MELODY FOR: Sinking of the Reuben James
SOURCES: Mudcat; Folk Index; Ballad Index
NOTES: Wildwood Flower is a parlor song titled "I'll Twine Mid the Ringlets" by
Maud Irving and J.P. Webster published in 1860. Autoharpist Sara Carter sang lead when the Carter Family made "Wildwood Flower" the #3 hit in the nation in 1928.
For years the Carter Family were credited with writing/arranging the song. A debate about the origin and type of flower, which the Carters called "pale Aronatus" perhaps "pale Amarylis," has perplexed researchers. In the 1928 version the Carters sing: "The myrtle so bright with an emerald hue; And the pale Aronatus with eyes of bright blue." The song was passed down through the generations and I doubt Sara Carter knew what words she was singing. Different people hear different syllables; the exact meaning and type of flower may never be known.
The song is a popular bluegrass/country instrument usually as a guitar solo. The melody was adapted and used for Woody Guthrie's song "Sinking of the Reuben James."
Ballad Index Notes: DESCRIPTION: The singer prepares to deck herself out with flowers in her hair, in response to her former lover who now has abandoned her. She promises to behave joyfully and forget she knew him, and make him regret that he "neglected his pale wildwood flower"
AUTHOR: Words: Maud Irving / Music: Joseph Philbrick Webster (?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment beauty flowers
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
BrownIII 263, "The Pale Wildwood Flower" (3 texts plus a fragment)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 248-249, "[Pale Wildwood Flower]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 50-51, "Wildwood Flower" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 798, "The Wildwood Flower" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 500-501, "The Wildwood Flower" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 798A)
Silber-FSWB, p. 166, "Wildwood Flower" (1 text)
DT, WILDWFLR*
Roud #757
RECORDINGS:
The Carter Family, "Wildwood Flower" (Victor V-40000, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4432, 1934; rec. 1928) (Melotone 5-11-65, 1935); as "The A. P. Carter Family," "Wildwood Flower" (Acme 996, n.d.)
Carter Sisters & Mother Maybelle, "Wildwood Flower" (Columbia 21138, 1953)
John D. Mounce et al, "Wildwood Flower" (on MusOzarks01)
James Roberts, "Frail Wildwood Flower" (Gennett 6566 [as Wikel Miller]/Conqueror 7254 [as Joe Reeves], 1929; rec. 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Reuben James" (tune)
I'LL TWINE 'MID THE RINGLETS (Maud Irving and J.P. Webster) (1860)
I'll twine 'mid the ringlets of my raven black hair
The lilies so pale and the roses so fair
The myrtle so bright with an emeral hue
And the pale aronatus with eyes of bright blue.
I'll sing and I'll dance, my laugh shall be gay
I'll cease this wild weeping, drive sorrow away.
Tho' my heart is now breaking, he never shall know
That his name made me tremble and my pale cheeks to glow.
I'll think of him never, I'll be wildly gay
I'll charm ev'ry heart, and the crowd I will sway.
I'll live yet to see him regret the dark hour
When he won, then neglected, the frail wildwood flower.
He told me he loved me, and promis'd to love
Trough ill and misfortune, all others above
Another has won him; ah, misery to tell
He left me in silence, no word of farewell.
He taught me to love him, he call'd me his flower
That blossom'd for him all the brighter each hour
But I woke from my dreaming, my idol was clay
My visions of love have all faded away.
WILDWOOD FLOWER- Carter Family 1928
MAYBELLE CARTER: The first time I heard this song, I was just a kid. My mother sang it and her mother sang it. It has been handed down for years and years. It's the most popular song, we ever recorded, and there's hardly a country group who doesn't use this song. [Dorothy Horstman interview, Nashville, TN, 6 Sep 1973, reprinted in Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy, New York, 1976, pp. 201-202. Lyrics as reprinted ibid., p. 202.]
Oh, I'll twine with my mingles and waving black hair
With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
And the myrtles so bright with emerald dew
The pale and the leader and eyes look like blue.
Oh, I'll dance, I will sing and my laugh shall be gay
I will charm ev'ry heart, in his crown I will sway
When I woke from my dreaming, idols were clay
All portions of love then had all flown away.
Oh, he taught me to love him and promised to love
And to cherish me over all others above
How my heart now is wond'ring misery can tell
He's left me no warning, no words of farewell.
Oh, he taught me to love him and called me his flow'r
That was blooming to cheer him through life's dreary hour
Oh, I'm longing to see him through life's dark hour
He's gone and neglected this pale wildwood flower.
WILDWOOD FLOWER- Brown Collection 263 The Pale Wildwood Flower [The Brown collection sometimes has versions learned phonographic records and are not folk versions]
This is the same as 'The Pale Amaranthus' reported as known in Kentucky (Shearin 24-5), Virginia (FSV 86), and the Ozarks (OFS IV 315-17) ; both Davis's and Randolph's texts and those from North Carolina (one from Avery county, fairly close to our A. is
given by Henry in BMFSB 49) show curious corruptions of the word amaranthus. Undoubtedly the song circulated at some time as a sheet music or perhaps songbook piece of parlor sentiment, but I have not succeeded in finding it in print of that sort. That the text has been passed on by word of mouth is evident in the variations shown in the North Carolina versions. It even has two titles, as will be seen below. Besides the texts here given the Collection has two recordings of it: one from the singing of Mrs. W. W Hughes, Jonas Ridge, in 1940, the other from Miss Beulah Walton, Durham.
'Raven Black Hair,' Secured in 1915 or thereabouts from I. G. Greer of Boone, Watauga county. With the tune. The "Armeta" of line 4 is what is left of "Amaranthus."
1. I will twine with these locks of raven black hair
The roses so red and the lilies so fair.
The myrtle so bright with its emerald hue.
And the pale Armeta with eyes of dark bine.
2 He taught me to love and he promised to love.
To cherish me always all others above.
I woke from my dreaming, my idol was clay,
The passion of loving had faded away.
3 He taught me to love and he called me his flower
That blossomed to cheer him through life's lonely hour.
But another has won him. I'm sorry to tell;
He left me no warning, no words of farewell.
4 I'll dance and I'll sing and my life shall be gay.
I'll charm every heart in each crowd I array;
Though my heart now is breaking, he never shall know
That his name makes me tremble, my pale cheeks to glow.
5 I'll dance and I'll sing and my life shall be gay,
I'll stop this wild weeping, drive sorrow away.
I'll live yet to see him regret the dark hour
That he won and neglected this frail wildwood flower.
B. 'The Pale Wildwood Flower.' Secured by W. Amos Abrams from Margaret Barlowe, one of his students at the Appalachian Teachers Training College in Boone, Watauga county. She had it from a friend — says it was written down by Myrtle Greer, Dante, Virginia, February 4. 1919. The "amaranthus" has passed quite out of recognition into a "pale fairen maiden" in line 4. One suspects that it is so understood in line 4 of A.
1 I'll twine mid the ringlets, the raving dark hair.
The rose is so red and the lily so fair.
And the myrtle so green mid the emerald hue.
This pale fairen maiden with eyes of light blue.
2 I'll laugh and I'll sing and my songs shall be gay;
I'll quit this wild weeping, drive sorrow away.
Though my heart is now breaking, he never shall know
That his name- makes me tremble, my pale cheeks to glow.
3 He promised to love me; he called me his flower
That bloomed for to cheer him through life's weary hour.
Though another far dearer I'm sorry to tell,
He has left me no warning, no word of farewell.
4 I'll laugh and I'll sing and my life shall he gay.
I'll cease this wild weejjing, drive sorrow away.
Though I will live yet to see him regret the dark hour
That he's won and neglected this pale wildwood flower.
5 1 promised to love him; he told me that he would love,
He would sing and he would cheer me, like others above.
But when I awoke, my idol was clay;
The pale passionate loving had faded away.
C. 'The Frail Wildwuod Flower." Obtained from Bell Brandon of Durham. Four lines only, the last stanza of A.
I'll think of him never. I'll he wild and gay;
I'll cease this wild weeping. I'll drive sorrow away.
I'll live yet to see him regret the dark hour
When he won and neglected this frail waldwood flower.
D. No title. From Mrs. Minnie Church. Heaton, Avery county. A pecu-
liarly corrupt and confused text, printed here as it stands in the manu-
script except for the pointing and line division. The meaning — sometimes,
at least — can be made out by referring to texts A and B.
1 Oh I whine with my mongles and waving hlack hair
With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
And moon shines so hright with the emblem of you.
2 I will dance and I'll sing and my lass shall be gay,
I will charm every heart in his crown I wnll play,
When I wake from my dreaming . . . does play.
And all portions of love had all blown away.
3 Oh, he taught me to love him and promised to love.
And cherished me over all others above.
Now my heart is wondering no difference he can tell.
He left me no warning, no words of farewell.
4 Oh, he caused me to love him. and called me his flower
That's blooming to cheer him through life's weary hour.
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