NAME: History of Prince Edward Island, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of the "dismal fate" of the Island. He complains that the rich folk of Canada have "made us slaves and sold Prince Edward Isle." He tells of a time of troubles and of many leaving their homes. At last he too must depart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: Canada lament exile political patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1867 - Prince Edward Island declines to join the newly-formed Canadian Confederation
1873 - Prince Edward Island joins Canada
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 256-257, "The History of Prince Edward Island" (1 text)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 120-121, "Prince Edward Isle, Adieu" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 108-110, "Prince Edward Isle, Adieu" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 230-233,253, "Prince Edward Isle, Adieu" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4517
NOTES: According to Doerflinger, Prince Edward Island has a long history of trouble with government. The original settlement left the island owned primarily by a handful of absentee landlords who had little sympathy for the common people. When the Canadian Confederation was formed, PEI at first opted out. When Confederation was at last passed, a number of Islanders fled to New England.
Despite their fears, Confederation was probably good for PEI. The Canadian government bought out the absentee landholders, allowing the local residents the chance to own the land.
Various poets have been suggested as the author of the verses. Larry Gorman, naturally, has been mentioned -- but it hardly sounds like his work. Other candidates include Larry Doyle and "a schoolteacher named Fitzgerald." - RBW
Ives-DullCare: "Briefly ... it is a ... view of the political situation around 1880.... The song has been a significant presence in Island folklore for over a century." - BS
File: Doe256
===
NAME: History of the World: see Walkin' in the Parlor (File: Wa177)
===
NAME: Ho Boys Ho: see Ho for California (Banks of Sacramento) (File: E125)
===
NAME: Ho for California (Banks of Sacramento)
DESCRIPTION: The "plot" of the song varies widely, according to its use by pioneers, sailors, or gold-diggers. The chorus is fixed: "(Then) Ho! (boys), Ho! To California go! There's plenty of gold in the world, we're told, on the banks of the Sacramento"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1849 (Journal of William F. Morgan of the La Grange)
KEYWORDS: gold shanty travel
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1849 - California gold rush
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Australia Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Eddy 125, "California" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 70, "Ho, Boys, Ho" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 68-70, "Sacramento" (3 texts, 2 tunes, though the last of these derives its verses from "Rolling in the Dew (The Milkmaid)")
Colcord, pp. 105-106, "Sacramento" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 109-110, "Banks of Sacramento" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 106-114, "California," "Sacramento" (7 texts-1 in German, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 95-100]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 82-83, "The Banks of Sacramento" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 110-111, "California"; 111, "The Banks of Sacramento" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Smith/Hatt, p. 37, "On the Banks of the Sacramento" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 42, "Sacramento" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 91, "Banks of the Sacramento" (1 fragmentary text, in which the singer seeks girls rather than gold; 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 174-176, "The California Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 88, "Sacramento" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 158-159, "(De) Camptown Races--(Sacramento)"
DT, SACRMNTO* SACRMNT2*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Sacramento" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #309
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "Sacramento" (on LEnglish02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ten Thousand Miles Away" (tune)
cf. "A Capital Ship" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Californi-O
Blow, Boys, Blow for Californi-O
Der Hamborger Veermaster
Der Hamborger Vullrigger
NOTES: Possibly created and certainly popularized by the Hutchinson Family (who published a text in their 1855 songbook), versions of this song are found throughout the U.S., and are well-known among sailors.
The texts are diverse (Hugill, for instance, has a version in which a sailor courts a girl and winds up with a venereal disease), but most seem to be related to the California gold rush. The tune is a variation on "Camptown Races," perhaps in turn based on "A Capital Ship." - RBW
File: E125
===
NAME: Ho-Hum, Nobody's Home: see Hey, Ho, Nobody Home (File: FSWB412G)
===
NAME: Hob-Y-Derri-Dando
DESCRIPTION: Welsh shanty often sung mixing English verses and the Welsh chorus. The translation of the Welsh version has a chorus something like "Jane, sweet Jane, full of charm, the birds are singing merrily."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Welsh shanty often sung mixing English verses and the Welsh chorus. The translation of the Welsh version has a chorus something like "Jane, sweet Jane, full of charm, the birds are singing merrily." The most common English verses featured nonsense rhymes about "Davy Davy" from Nevin and various members of his family. However other versions also borrowed from "Sally Brown" among others. The English verses sung to this were also often put to the tune of another Welsh shanty, "Mochyn Du.
KEYWORDS: shanty foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Britain Wales
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 525-528, "Hob-Y-Derri-Dando" (4 texts-English & Welsh, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mochyn Du" (English verses often interchanged with this)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hob-Y-Derrin-Dando
File: Hugi525
===
NAME: Hoban Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: On the night of October 27, a hurricane blows in. The next day, the singer sees the wrecks of the Minnie and Lilly & Jim. The singer's own Mayflower has been towed to St Pierre and looted; they pay the fee to the French, clear customs, and head home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1976 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: sea ship storm wreck
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 51, "The Hoban Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "The Hoban Boys" text mentions no year. My guess is that it refers to the October 28, 1921 storm but, while there is documentation for damage by that storm in Trinity Bay and Conception Bay (Fred Martin's site has a list of those losses) and  Robert Parsons mentions damage at Hermitage Bay and Fortune Bay, I find no information about losses in between, at Placentia Bay.
Northern Shipwrecks Database, and that database's owner -- David Barron -- also has no specific information about ships lost on that date; he recommends I review microfilm of local papers for that week. I contacted a Placentia Bay newspaper, _The Southern Gazette_, but they have no information about the storm (they started publication in 1975) and thought "only the Telegram or the defunct Daily News would have recorded that info." The Telegram has not responded to my inquiry. 
Neither Ms. Lehr nor Ms. Best could pin down the year for this storm; Ms. Best, noting that "sometimes dates in songs are imperfectly remembered and passed on, as you will no doubt realise" wondered why I would take the dates mentioned in the ballad so literally. Obviously, that's a good point. Even for such a famous sinking as "The Loss of the Atlantic," for which I've seen six distinct versions, Ranson _[Songs of the Wexford Coast]_ p. 88 has the sailing date from Liverpool April 18 -- rather than March 20 -- for a wreck that occurred on April 1; Ranson's other version has the sailing from Queenstown on March 21 -- as should be -- but the departure from Liverpool as March 14.
Any further research will have to be done in Newfoundland. - BS
"The Old Mayflower" also mentions a ship named _Mayflower_ being looted. Whether that describes the same event as this I do not know. - RBW
File: LeBe051
===
NAME: Hobbies, The
DESCRIPTION: In praise of hobbies, "for each has a hobby from cobbler to king." Some have unfortunate hobbies (e.g. "The hobbies of scolds are their husbands to tease,") some have the hobbies of courting; "The Americans'... hobby is Madison, peace, and free trade."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: political sports patriotic nonballad
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1809-1817 - Presidency of James Madison
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Arnett, p. 36-37, "The Hobbies" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Arn036
===
NAME: Hobie Noble [Child 189]
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells how Hobie, an Englishman exiled to Scotland, was convinced by the traitor Sim of the Mains to raid England. Warned of Noble's coming, the land-sergeant (whose brother Noble had killed) takes him. Noble is hanged at Carlisle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1775 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: borderballad fight punishment execution revenge
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 189, "Hobie Noble" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 516-519, "Hobie Noble" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 252, "Hobie Noble" 1 text)
OBB 139, "Hobbie Noble" (1 text)
DT 189, HOBINOBL
Roud #4014
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jock o the Side" [Child 187] (characters)
File: C189
===
NAME: Hobo Bill's Last Ride
DESCRIPTION: "Riding on an eastbound freight train, speeding through the night, Hobo Bill, a railroad bum, was fighting for his life." Bill dies alone and is found with a smile on his face, but none mourn; "he was just a railroad bum who died out in the cold."
AUTHOR: Waldo O'Neal (born 1908, according to Cohen)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Jimmie Rodgers)
KEYWORDS: death hobo
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 393-396, "Hobo Bill's Last Ride" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7513
RECORDINGS:
Gene Autry, "Hobo Bill's Last Ride" (Supertone 9702)
Jimmie Rodgers, "Hobo Bill's Last Ride" (Victor 22421, 1930; rec. 1929/Montgomery Ward 4210)
File: LRai393
===
NAME: Hobo Diddle De Ho: see Old Bob Ridley (Hobo Diddle De Ho) (File: R499)
===
NAME: Hobo from the T & P Line, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a hobo, gets a job in (Wellford). He courts the boss's daughter; the boss calls him "a bummer, all dressed up." Bidding farewell to the daughter, he sets off down the road with tears in his eyes, vowing to return
AUTHOR: Almoth Hodges & Bob Miller?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Almoth Hodges w. Bob Miller's Hinky Dinkers)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, a hobo, lands in (Wellford), is hired by a boss who gives him easy work and treats him well. He and the boss's daughter court; the boss calls him in, saying, "They say you're a bummer, all dressed up." Singer tells boss he does his work well; if the boss doesn't like it, he'll leave. Bidding farewell to the daughter, he sets off down the road with tears in his eyes, vowing to return
KEYWORDS: grief courting love rambling work boss worker hobo
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Almoth Hodges with Bob Miller's Hinky Dinkers, "The Hobo from the T & P Line" (Brunswick 399 [in two parts], probably 1930; rec. 1929; Part 1 is on Rose1)
Clayton McMichen, "Bummin' on the I. C. Line" (Varsity 5097, 1930s)
Mary Sullivan, "The T & P Line" (AFS 5099 A, 1941; on LC61)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Farmer's Boy [Laws Q30]" (plot) and references there
NOTES: The "T & P" was the Texas and Pacific Railroad. - PJS
File: RcTHFTPL
===
NAME: Hobo's Grave, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer comes upon a hobo's grave. The wolves howl over it; the box cars roll on, but the hobo, his father's only son, his mother's pride, lies at rest. There's no stone to mark the spot, no one to watch over it, "none to direct the money or the checque"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE:  c. 1957 (recording, Tom Brandon)
KEYWORDS: loneliness grief burial death mourning hobo
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #4825
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "The Hobo's Grave" (on Ontario1)
NOTES: The lyrics sound like a commercial "hobo song" from the 1920s, or perhaps a poem, but so far I haven't been able to locate a source from that period. Tom Brandon says he learned it from his brother, who worked in northern Ontario in the 1930s. 
The reference to "the money or the checque" suggests the hobo may have been a "remittance man," perhaps an English ne'er-do-well shipped off to Canada and supported by an allowance so that he wouldn't embarrass his wealthy family. - PJS
File: RcHobGra
===
NAME: Hobo's Last Ride (I), The
DESCRIPTION: A hobo lifts his dying partner Jack into a boxcar, then reminisces about their past. He is keeping his promise to take Jack back home to be buried. He sighs for the old days and "for his pal so cold/Who was taking his last long ride"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Buell Kazee)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A hobo lifts his dying partner Jack into a boxcar, then reminisces to him as they ride about the places they've been and the lines they've ridden. He is keeping his promise to take Jack back home to be buried, and laments the doctor who was "too busy with the wealthy folks/To doctor a worn-out bum." As the train rolls east, he sighs for the old days and "for his pal so cold/Who was taking his last long ride"
KEYWORDS: grief poverty rambling train travel burial death dying friend hobo
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Canada
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Buell Kazee, "The Hobo's Last Ride" (Brunswick 330, 1929; Supertone S-2056, 1930)
Goebel Reeves, "The Hobo's Last Long Ride" (MacGregor 858, n.d.)
Hank Snow, "The Last Ride" (RCA Victor, c. 1959)
Art Thieme, "The Hobo's Last Ride" (on Thieme03)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Hobo" [Laws H3] (plot)
NOTES: Despite the obvious similarity in plot, this is an entirely separate song from "The Dying Hobo."
The Kazee and Reeves recordings use a tune that Kazee composed as a setting for a poem by A. L. Kirby, which he said he found in a book of Northwest poems. Hank Snow's recording, cited above, uses a different tune, possibly composed by Ted Daffan. To confuse things, Snow recorded another song called "The Hobo's Last Ride," which we have indexed separately as "Hobo's Last Ride (II)."- PJS
File: RcTHLR
===
NAME: Hobo's Lullabye
DESCRIPTION: "Go to sleep you weary hobo, Let the town drift slowly by. Listen to the steel rails humming, That's the hobo's lullabye." The hobo is urged not to think about tomorrow, to ignore the police (who will not be found in heaven), and to remember mother's love
AUTHOR: Goebel Reeves
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (recording, Goebel Reeves)
KEYWORDS: hobo rambling lullaby
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 410, "Hobo's Lullabye" (1 text)
DT, HOBOLULL*
Roud #16629
RECORDINGS:
Goebel Reeves, "Hobo's Lullabye" (Champion 45181, 1936); (Vocalion 02828, 1934)
NOTES: Although composed, this has become so popular that I think it qualifies as a genuine folk song. Woody Guthrie, for instance, was very fond of it, and many people must have learned it from his singing. - RBW
File: FSWB410C
===
NAME: Hoboes Grand Convention, The
DESCRIPTION: "If you give me your attention, A few facts I will mention Concerning a convention That was held last fall." The hoboes gather in Montreal, and have a quiet convention, "For every bum was loaded To the neck with alcohol."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Flanders/Brown)
KEYWORDS: hobo party drink
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 51-52, "The Hoboes Grand Convention" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HOBOCONV*
ST FlBr051 (Partial)
Roud #5445
NOTES: Unlike most hobo songs, this one is clearly unsympathetic to the hobos; it equates them directlly with bums and indirectly with thieves. - RBW
File: FlBr051
===
NAME: Hobson, the Cobbler: see The Cobbler (File: R102)
===
NAME: Hoe-Cake, The: see Jinny Get Your Hoecake Done (File: Fus158C)
===
NAME: Hoffnung, De
DESCRIPTION: Hugill lists this as a German version of "Long Time Ago." Translated text tells of a captain making a deal with the devil to get him to port on time. The Devil complies but then the Captain gets the best of him by splicing his tail to the anchor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor Devil bargaining trick
FOUND_IN: Germany
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 104-105, "De Hoffnung" (2 texts-German & English)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Long Time Ago" (tune, chorus)
cf. "Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail" [Laws B17] (theme)
File: Hugi104
===
NAME: Hog Drovers
DESCRIPTION: Playparty. "Hog drovers (x3) we air, A-courtin' your daughter so handsome and fair. Kin we get a largin' here?" The father turns them down. Others (gold miners, cowboys, etc.) ask for her hand. Most are rejected; one (a farmer?) may be acceptable
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: courting playparty rejection father children
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 555, "Hog Rovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson 148, pp. 296-297, "Hog Drovers" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 207, "Hog Drovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 810-812, "Swine-Herders (Hog Drovers)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LoF207 (Full)
Roud #3596
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Three Dukes" (plot, lyrics)
NOTES: Randolph reports that this is based on the Irish game "The Nine Daughters." - RBW
File: LoF207
===
NAME: Hog Rovers: see Hog Drovers (File: LoF207)
===
NAME: Hog-Eye (I): see Roll the Boat Ashore (Hog-eye I) (File: San380)
===
NAME: Hog-eye (II): see Sally in the Garden (File: CSW067)
===
NAME: Hog-Eye Man (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The Hog-Eye Man [read: "The Vagina-hungry Man"] meets Sally or Jenny or Molly who is lying in the grass or the sand and who does good service with him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922
KEYWORDS: bawdy shanty sex
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 401-404, "The Hog-Eye Man" (8 texts, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 104, "The Hog-Eye Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 54-55, "The Hog-Eye Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 269-272, "The Hog-Eye Man" (3 texts & several fragments, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 199-200]
Sharp-EFC, V, p. 6, "The Hog-Eyed Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 410-411, "The Hog-Eye Man" (1 fragment, 1 tune, evidently bowdlerized)
DT, HOGEYEMN*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "The Ox-eyed Man" is in Part 4, 8/4/1917.
Roud #331
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sally in the Garden" (the "clean" version of this piece)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Ox-Eye Man
The Hogs-Eye Man
The Hawks Eye Man
Oh, Who's Been Here?
NOTES: Ed Cray explains "hog-eye man" as one deeply interested in sex. Sandburg explains a "hog-eye" as the barges that traveled from the Atlantic ports around Cape Horn to San Francisco. A "hog-eye man" would therefore be a crewmember of such a barge.
Give the length of the voyage around the Horn in the 1850s, the two definitions may not be mutually exclusive. - RBW
"Oh, Who's Been Here?" is quoted by Hugill, from a shanty which Cecil Sharp gave in the Journal of the Folk Song Society. Hugill only quotes one line, which has the same melody and very similar words as "Hog-Eye Man" though not the usual "Hog-eye" chorus. - SL
File: RL401
===
NAME: Hog-Eye Man (II): see Roll the Boat Ashore (Hog-eye I) (File: San380)
===
NAME: Hog-eyed Man (III), The: see Sally in the Garden (File: CSW067)
===
NAME: Hog-tub, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer is invited home by his "pretty young lass." She pushes him in the hog-tub and, had not a friend come by to save him, he would have drowned. He takes his love to a dance. He defends kissing: if bad it would not have approval of parsons and ladies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846 (Halliwell, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection rescue dancing Bible humorous
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 298, "It's once I courted as pretty a lass" (1 fragment)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #282, pp. 165-166, "(It's once I courted as pretty a lass)"
Roud #1273
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.33(36), "The Hog-tub," unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kissing's No Sin (I)" (theme, lyrics)
NOTES: Opie-Oxford2 298, "It's once I courted as pretty a lass" has only the first verse. The description is from broadside Bodleian Firth b.33(36). - BS
There is a very complicated situation here, with "The Hog-Tub" sharing lyrics with "Kissing's No Sin (I)," which shares them with "The Mautman." I have no idea how these strands are to be disentangled. For more, see the notes to "Kissing's No Sin (I)." - RBW
File: OO2298
===
NAME: Hogan's Lake
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you brisk young fellows that assemble here tonight, Assist my bold endeavors while these few lines I write...." The singer tells of the exploits of the logging gang Bill and Tom Hogan led to Hogan's Lake
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (Fowke-Lumbering)
KEYWORDS: logger work
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Fowke-Lumbering #6, "Hogan's Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 174-176, "Hogan's Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 20, "Hogan's Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FMB174 (Partial)
Roud #3682
RECORDINGS:
 O. J. Abbott, "Hogan's Lake" (on Lumber01)
File: FMB174
===
NAME: Hogs in the Garden
DESCRIPTION: "Hogs in the garden, catch 'em, Towser; Cows in the corn-field, run, boys, run! Cats in the cream-pot, run, girls, run; Fire on the mountain, run, boys, run!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1843 (Only True Mother Goose's Melodies)
KEYWORDS: animal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #660, p. 260, "(Hogs in the garden, catch 'em, Towser)"
File: BGMG660
===
NAME: Hold My Hand, Lord Jesus
DESCRIPTION: "Hold my hand, Lord Jesus, hold my hand (x2), There's a race that must be run, And a vict'ry to be won. Every hour, give me power, to go through." The devotion of the singer to Jesus is emphasized
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Warner 169, "Hold My Hand, Lord Jesus" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LORDJSUS*
Roud #7487
RECORDINGS:
Sue Thomas, "Hold My Hand, Lord Jesus" (on USWarnerColl01)
File: Wa169
===
NAME: Hold My Mule: see Coffee Grows (Four in the Middle); also Little Pink, etc. (File: R524)
===
NAME: Hold On: see Keep Your Hand on the Plow (File: LxU111)
===
NAME: Hold On, Abraham
DESCRIPTION: "We're going down to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie... To fight for the dear old flag.... Hold on, Abraham... Uncle Sam's boys are coming right along." The song catalogs soldiers and generals who are fighting to recover the South for the Union
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 529-530, "Hold On, Abraham" (1 text)
Roud #15567
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We Are Coming, Father Abraham"
NOTES: The chorus of this song implies kinship with "We Are Coming, Father Abraham," but the verses are completely different.
The mention of 600,000 enlistees does not exactly match any of Lincoln's calls for enlistments (the closest was the 1861 authorization of a 500,000 man army), but two levies in the summer of 1862 totalled 600,000 men.
A date of late 1862 also fits the list of generals mentioned in the song, all of whom were in senior posts in 1862 (but often replaced by 1863). Among those listed:
"General Grant": Ulysses S. Grant, eventual Union high commander, who by late 1862 had already captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson as well as the bloody battle of Shiloh.
"Our Halleck": Henry W. Halleck, who never actually fought a battle as a Union general, but was Grant's theatre commander and received credit for all victories in the west. A good organizer, the one time he led armies in the field (Corinth campaign, late spring 1862), he showed so little initiative that he took a month to cover 20 miles in the face of slight resistance. Despite this, he was promoted to command of all Union armies in July 1862. He held the post until 1864, when Grant took over the job.
"Bold Kenney": There was no Union General Kenney. The reference is probably to General Philip Kearny, probably the most aggressive and competent officer in the Army of the Potomac (though he was only a division commander). He was killed at Chantilly on Sept. 1, 1862.
"General Burnside": Ambrose Burnside, commander of the Army of the Potomac in the final months of 1862. A complete incompetent, he lost the Battle of Fredericksburg and was returned to subordinate roles for the rest of the war.
"Picayune Butler": Benjamin F. Butler, called "Old Picayune" (apparently a reference to a female character, "Picayune Butler," in the minstrel song of that title).
Butler was a complete incompetent, but he managed to remain a general for years because of his political connections. In late 1862 he was commander of occupied New Orleans, and so brutal and corrupt that the southerners called him "Beast Butler" and accused him of stealing spoons with his own hands. - RBW
File: LxA529
===
NAME: Hold the Fort
DESCRIPTION: "Ho, my comrades, see the signal, Waving in the sky; Reinforcements now appearing, Victory is nigh. 'Hold the Fort, for I am coming,' Jesus signals still...." The "great Commander" will defeat Satan's "mighty host."
AUTHOR: Philip Paul Bliss
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880
KEYWORDS: religious battle nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 82-83, "Hold the Fort" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 363, "Hold the Fort" (1 text)
DT, HOLDFRT2*
RECORDINGS:
Chautauqua Preachers' Quartette, "Hold The Fort" (Columbia A1585, 1914)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hold the Fort (Union Version)"
SAME_TUNE:
Hold the Fort (Union Version) (File: PSAFB020)
Storm the Fort, Ye Knights (Darling-NAS, pp. 371-372)
Columbia's Daughters (by Harriet H. Robinson; Darling-NAS, p. 358)
NOTES: Inspired by, though hardly based on, a Civil War event. After Atlanta had fallen to the Union, Sherman set up a supply dump at Altoona. A Confederate force under General French attacked this base on October 5, 1864, and called upon Union General Corse to surrender. Soon after, General Sherman send a simple message to Corse: "Hold the fort; I am coming." Corse held out, and Sherman's troops arrived in time to drive off French. - RBW
File: SCW82
===
NAME: Hold the Fort (Union Version)
DESCRIPTION: Rewrite of traditional hymn: "Hold the fort, for we are coming/Union men be strong/Side by side we battle onward/Victory will come"
AUTHOR: Tune by Philip Paul Bliss; words attributed to English transport workers, late 19th century and said to have been circulated by the Knights of Labor
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: labor-movement nonballad worker derivative
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 20 "Hold the Fort" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 372-373, "Hold the Fort" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 138, "Hold the Fort" (1 text)
DT, HOLDFORT*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Hold the Fort" (on PeteSeeger01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hold the Fort" (tune) and references there
File: PSAFB020
===
NAME: Hold the Wind
DESCRIPTION: "Hold the wind (x3), Don't let it blow." "You may talk about me just as much as you please... I'm gonna talk about you on the bendin' of my knees." The singer assures us that (s)he, at least, has been redeemed, and plans to enjoy Heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Sparkling Four)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 247, "Hold the Wind" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11946
RECORDINGS:
Famous Garland Jubilee Singers, "Hold the Wind" (Banner 32249, 1931; Conqeror 8354 [as Bryant's Jubilee Singers], 1934)
Sparkling Four, "Hold the Wind" (OKeh 8741, 1929)
Southern University Quartet, "Hold the Wind" (Bluebird B-5846, 1935)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "On My Journey (II) [Mount Zion]" (floating verse)
File: LoF247
===
NAME: Hold the Woodpile Down
DESCRIPTION: Original and floating verses: "Saw my love the other night/Hold the woodpile down/Everything wrong and nothing was right...." Chorus: "But I was a-travelling, travelling/As long as the world goes round/For the backyard shine on the Georgia line/Hold...."
AUTHOR: unknown (verses possibly Uncle Dave Macon)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Sam Patterson Trio)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Original and floating verses: "Saw my love the other night/Hold the woodpile down/Everything wrong and nothing was right/Hold the woodpile down"; "Gave her a little kiss to make her happy/Gave me a little love lick and in came her pappy"; "Come to town the other night/Heard a lot of noise and seen a big fight/Police running and jumping all round/Load of moonshine done come to town"; "Down in the packinghouse, stole a ham/Folks don't know how bad I am/Carried it home and I laid it on the shelf/I'm so bad, I'm scared of myself." Chorus: "But I was a-travelling, travelling/As long as the world goes round/For the backyard shine on the Georgia line/Hold the woodpile down."
KEYWORDS: courting drink humorous nonsense floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 210-212, "Hold That Woodpile Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon & his Fruit Jar Drinkers, "Hold That Wood-Pile Down"  (Vocalion 5151, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Hold That Woodpile Down" (on NLCR03)
Sam Patterson Trio, "Haul De Woodpile Down" (Edison 51644, 1925)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll the Woodpile Down" (chorus)
NOTES: This song is a conundrum. The verses are pure minstrel (Uncle Dave played minstrel shows in his youth), but the chorus is almost identical to that of "Roll the Woodpile Down," a chanty from African-American riverboat workers: "Rolling, rolling/Yes, rolling the whole world around/That brown gal of mine's down the Georgia line/And we'll roll the woodpile down." Other versions of "Hold the Woodpile Down" say, "Black gals shine on the Georgia line", which is closer to the chanty form. -PJS
I'll admit that I would have classified this as a "Dave Macon-ised" version of "Roll the Woodpile Down" -- but Paul has probably examined the matter more than I have. - RBW
File: CSW210
===
NAME: Hold Your Hands, Old Man: see The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)
===
NAME: Hold-Up at Eugowra Rocks, The: see The Morning of the Fray (File: FaE084)
===
NAME: Hole In The Wall, The
DESCRIPTION: "On a Saturday night the crowd were invited to be there on Sunday to open the ball ... I'll title the harbour 'The Hole In The Wall.'"  The singer, a stranger on this shore, "saw at a glance that the girls they were plenty ... We danced the whole night."
AUTHOR: Peter Leonard
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: dancing party shore
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doyle3, pp. 69-70, "The Hole In The Wall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 52, "The Hole in the Wall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4416
NOTES: Lehr/Best: The song "refers to the village of Little Bona in Placentia Bay." - BS
File: Doyl3069
===
NAME: Holland Handkerchief, The: see The Suffolk Miracle [Child 272] (File: C272)
===
NAME: Holland is a Fine Place: see The Lowlands of Holland (File: R083)
===
NAME: Holland Song, The: see The Sheffield Apprentice [Laws O39] (File: LO39)
===
NAME: Hollin, Green Hollin
DESCRIPTION: "Alone in the greenwood I must roam, Hollin, green hollin, A shade of green leaves is my home, Birk and green hollin." "Where nought is seen but boundless green." "A weary head a pillow finds." "Enough for me... To live at large with liberty."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: home rambling nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 116, "(Alone in the greenwood I must roam)" (1 text)
NOTES: This doesn't sound much like a folk song, but it apparently made some popular poetry anthologies, so I thought I'd better include it for future reference. - RBW
File: MSNR116
===
NAME: Holly and the Ivy, The
DESCRIPTION: "The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown, Of all the trees that are in the wood, The holly bears the crown."  The holly's attributes are detailed; each ties to a reason Mary bore Jesus
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1861 (Sylvester's "Christmas Carols")
KEYWORDS: religious Christmas Jesus nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
OBC 38, "The Holly and the Ivy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 383, "The Holly And The Ivy" (1 text)
Bronson 54, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (version #29 contains a scrap of "The Holly and the Ivy")
DT, HOLLYIVY*
Roud #514
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Holly Bears a Berry" (theme, lyrics)
NOTES: This clearly derives from the same roots as "The Holly Bears a Berry," and a strong case could be made that they should be considered one song. [Indeed, Kennedy lumps them. - PJS. As does Roud. - RBW] As, however, both are circulated in fairly fixed forms, I decided to separate them. - RBW
File: FSWB383
===
NAME: Holly Bears a Berry, The
DESCRIPTION: "The holly she bears a berry as white as the milk/And Mary bore Jesus who was wrapped up in silk"; similarly "... berry red as the blood/...to do sinners good", "green as the grass/...who died on the cross."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Dunstan)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: "The holly she bears a berry as white as the milk/And Mary bore Jesus who was wrapped up in silk", similar verses for "The holly bears a berry as red as the blood/...to do sinners good", "green as the grass/...who died on the cross." Cho.: "And Mary bore Jesus Christ our Saviour for to be/And the first tree that's in the greenwood it was the holly"
KEYWORDS: religious Christmas Jesus nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Kennedy 91, "'Ma Grun War 'n Gelynen [The Holly Bears a Berry]" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBC 35, "Sans Day Carol" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bronson 54, "The Cherry Tree Carol" (version #27 contains "The Holly Bears a Berry")
Ritchie-Southern, p. 42, "The Holly Bears a Berry" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HOLLYBR*
Roud #514
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Holly and the Ivy" (theme, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sans Day Carol
NOTES: This clearly derives from the same roots as "The Holly and the Ivy," and a strong case could be made that they should be considered one song. [Indeed, Kennedy lumps them. - PJS] As, however, both are circulated in fairly fixed forms, I decided to separate them. - RBW
Agreed. Norma Waterson, incidentally, places this as a spring carol, appropriate between Passiontide and Easter. Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. - PJS
According to the Oxford Book of Carols, the title the "Sans Day Carol" does not mean "Carol Without a Day," nor is it a reference to [All] Saints' Day; rather, the song was taken down as St. Day in Cormwall.
Jean Ritchie learned this in the United States, but it was not from her family tradition; I have not listed it as found in the Appalachians, because she does not give full details about the source of her version. - RBW
File: K091
===
NAME: Holly Bough, The/The Maid of Altibrine
DESCRIPTION: "In Altibrine there lives a maid, a maid of beauty rare, The violet or primrose with her never could compare." He praises her beauty, and offers to take her away. The girl (?) says that her dowry is too small. He says that the holly will never fade
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty dowry
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H111, pp. 229-230, "The Holly Bough/The Maid of Altibrine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7981
File: HHH111
===
NAME: Holly Twig, The [Laws Q6]
DESCRIPTION: The singer finds that his new wife is a scold and a nag. He recounts his misery day by day. After a few days he goes to the woods and cuts a (holly twig), (whipping her so hard her soul is sent to hell). (A devil/her father comes to take her back). 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1760 (_West Country Garlands_)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: On Monday the singer marries; on Tuesday he cuts a holly stick; on Wednesday he beats her with the stick until it breaks. On Thursday she takes sick (presumably from the beating); he says if she isn't better by tomorrow the devil can take her. On Friday the devil takes her. On Saturday the bells toll her death and the singer is jolly. On Sunday he relaxes alone, saying "Here's good luck to a week's work's end."
KEYWORDS: husband wife abuse violence death
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(West,South)) US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws Q6, "The Holly Twig"
Randolph 367, "I Married Me a Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 184, "The Holly Twig" (2 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 43, "The Holly Twig" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hudson 58, pp. 174-175, "The Holly Twig" (1 text)
SharpAp 53, "The Holly Twig" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Niles 59, "The Unwilling Bride" (1 text, 1 tune, listed as Child 277 but appearing to me to be more similar to this ballad)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 78-79, "On Monday Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 72-73, "Scolding Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 520, HOLLYTWG*
Roud #433
RECORDINGS:
Ollie Gilbert, "Willow Green" (on LomaxCD1707)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277] (plot)
cf. "A Week's Matrimony (A Week's Work)" (theme)
cf. "The Old Gray Goose (I)"
cf. "I Had a Wife"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
A Week's Work Well Done
A Bachelor Bold and Young
File: LQ06
===
NAME: Holmes Camp
DESCRIPTION: "It was early last April when the logging was done I went to Fort Francis to join in the fun. My intentions were good -- one drink and no more...." But he (and others) get drunk; he hits on a girl, is rejected, has a headache, vows not to get drunk again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger drink rejection
FOUND_IN: Canada(West)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #48, "Holmes Camp" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #4562
File: FowL48
===
NAME: Holy Babe, The: see Children Go Where I Send Thee (File: LoF254)
===
NAME: Holy Ground Once More, The: see Swansea Town (The Holy Ground) (File: Doe152)
===
NAME: Holy Ground, The: see Swansea Town (The Holy Ground) (File: Doe152)
===
NAME: Holy Is the Lamb of God
DESCRIPTION: "O holy Lord, holy my Lord, holy Lord, Holy is the lamb of God. I was in the dark and I could not see... Till Jesus brought this light to me." "If you talk about shouting here below... Just wait till you get upon the other shore."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 97, "Holy Is the Lamb of God" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16939
NOTES: The most famous reference to the Lamb of God is of course John 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." Though the Lamb as an actual being, as opposed to a metaphor, is found in the Apocalypse only, starting at Rev. 5:6. - RBW
File: ChFRA097
===
NAME: Holy Nunnery, The [Child 303]
DESCRIPTION: Willie's parents vow that he shall not marry Annie. Told of this, Annie vows to become a nun and never kiss a man again. After seven years, Willie can bear no more; he dresses as a woman and goes to see Annie in the nunnery. She will not break her vow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: love separation father mother clergy disguise cross-dressing
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 303, "The Holy Nunnery" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 686-689, "The Holy Nunnery" (1 text)
Roud #3886
File: C303
===
NAME: Holy Well, The
DESCRIPTION: Mary sends Jesus out to play. He meets a group of noble children, who scorn him as poor. Jesus bitterly runs home to Mary. She urges him to curse/damn them. Jesus, as the worlds's savior, realizes he cannot do so
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1828 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 1484)
KEYWORDS: abuse Jesus poverty
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,West))
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Leach, pp. 690-691, "The Holy Well" (1 text)
Leather, pp. 186-187, "The Holy Well" (1 text, 2 tunes)
OBB 110, "The Holy Well" (1 text)
OBC 56, "The Holy Well" (1 text, 2 tunes)
PBB 9, "The Holy Well" (1 text)
ST L690 (Partial)
Roud #1697
RECORDINGS:
Wiggy Smith, "The High-Low Well" (on Voice11)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 1484, "The Holy Well" ("As it fell out one May morning"), T. Wood (Birmingham), 1806-1827; also Douce adds. 137(12), Harding B 7(10), "The Holy Well"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bitter Withy" (plot)
File: L690
===
NAME: Home Brew Rag
DESCRIPTION: "Well, I've never been drunk but about one time, And it think it was on home brew; If you ever drink any brew yourself, You know just what it'll do.... Ick-poo, home brew, We know what we'll do." The singer proposes a little drink to test the brew
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Roanoke Jug Band)
KEYWORDS: drink
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
ST RcHoBreR (Full)
RECORDINGS:
Roanoke Jug Band, "Home Brew Rag" (OKeh 45393, 1929)
Lowe Stokes & His North Georgians, "Home Brew Rag" (Columbia 15241-D)
File: RcHoBreR
===
NAME: Home Brew Song, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer "makes the whiskey That some people calls home brew." He is arrested and taken for trial to Newcastle. Condemned by a woman's testimony, he is sentenced to $200 or 6 months. He chooses bug-ridden prison because "they feed on bread and tea"
AUTHOR: Frank O'Hara (Manny/Wilson)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: crime prison trial food drink humorous bug
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 21, "The Home Brew Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi021 (Partial)
Roud #9192
SAME_TUNE:
Manny/Wilson: "The Home Brew Song was written in Prohibition Days by Frank O'Hara of Grey Rapids while he was serving a term in the County Jail for selling home brew." - BS
File: MaWi021
===
NAME: Home Came the Old Man: see Four Nights Drunk [Child 274] (File: C274)
===
NAME: Home I Left Behind, The
DESCRIPTION: "An Irish boy he sat alone by Susquehanna shore" thinking sadly of "the home he left behind." He recalls summer, dances, and a girl in Ireland. He and his widowed mother were driven from home "when landlord, bailiffs and police broke in our cottage door"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: homesickness emigration separation dancing hardtimes America Ireland nonballad mother landlord
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 46, "The Home I Left Behind" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5235
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "The Home I Left Behind" (on IRTLenihan01)
File: RcHILBh
===
NAME: Home in that Rock
DESCRIPTION: "I've got a home in(-a) that rock,  don't you see, don't you see? Up between earth and sky, Though I heard my savior cry, 'You've got a home....'" The fates of Dives and Lazarus are alluded to, or David, or Judas, or  the happy fate of Noah
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (recording, Biddle University Quartet)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 608, "Little David" (1 short text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 355, "Home In That Rock" (1 text)
Roud #12209
RECORDINGS:
Elder Charles Beck, "I Got a Home In That Rock" (Eagle 103, n.d.)
Biddle University Quartet, "I've Got a Home In That Rock" (Pathe 22400, 1920/Perfect 11225, 1925)
Birmingham Jubilee Singers, "Home in that Rock" (Columbia 14163-D, 1926)
Carter Family, "God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign" (Victor V-40110, 1929) (Conqueror 8693, 1936)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers "Got a Home In That Rock" (Bluebird B-6539, 1936)
Otis Mote, "Home in the Rock" (OKeh 45429, 1930)
Paul Robeson, "I Got a Home In-a Dat Rock" (Victor 21109, 1927)
Smith's Jubilee Singers, "I've Got a Home in That Rock" (Sterling 1503, n.d.)
Marshall Smith, "Home in the Rock" (Columbia 15080-D, 1926)
Kid Williams & Bill Morgan [pseuds. for Walter Smith & Lewis McDaniel], "When He Died He Got a Home in Hell" (Homestead 16094, c. 1929; Conqueror 7739, 1931)
NOTES: The editors of Brown think that their "Little David" version is linked to "Little David, Play On Your Harp." That may perhaps have asserted some influence, but the final line, "He got [or "lost," in the case of Judas] a home in that rock, don't you see?" strikes me as the key characteristic.
The parable (not an actual historical event!) of the rich man ("Dives") and Lazarus is found in Luke 16:19-31. The story of Noah's flood is in Genesis 6-8, with the covenant of the rainbow in Gen. 9:12-17. - RBW
File: FSWB355A
===
NAME: Home on the Mountain Wave, A
DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Ha ha my boys, these are the joys of the noble and the brave, who love the life in the tempest's strife and a home on the mountain wave." Several verses basically describing the thrills of sailing, especially in stormy weather.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1860 (Broadside)
KEYWORDS: sailor storm foc's'le
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 214-216, "A Home on the Mountain Wave" (1 text)
Roud #9152
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Mountain Wave
A Bold Brave Crew
NOTES: This is found on two broadsides in the Bodleian collection, published in New York and Philadelphia. - SL
File: Harl214
===
NAME: Home on the Range
DESCRIPTION: "Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam...." The singer praises the land of the west, "Where the sky is not cloudy all day." Details vary from version to version, and besides, you all know the song anyway....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1873 (lyrics published in Smith County [KS] Pioneer)
KEYWORDS: cowboy home
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Randolph 193, "Home on the Range" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Larkin, pp. 166-168, "Home on the Range" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 62, "Home on the Range" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 108, "Home on the Range" (3 texts, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 26, "Home On The Range" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 49, "Home on the Range" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 178-179, "Home on the Range" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 273-274, "Home on the Range"
DT, HOMERANG
Roud #3599
RECORDINGS:
Jules Allen, "Home On The Range" (Victor 21627, 1928; Montgomery Ward M-4343, 1933)
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink], "Home on the Range" (Supertone 9571, c. 1929)
Black Bros., "Home on the Range" (OKeh 45572, 1932)
Vernon Dalhart, "Home on the Range" (Brunswick 137, 1927)
Hank Keene, "Home on the Range" (Bluebird B-5241/Montgomery Ward M-4397, 1933)
Frank Luther Trio, "Home on the Range" (Banner 32966/Perfect 12975 [both as Buddy Spencer's Trio], 1933; Conqueror 8273 [as Buddy Spencer Trio], 1934)
Frank Luther & Carson Robison, "Home on the Range" (Columbia 2642-D, 1932)
Ken Maynard, "Home on the Range" (Columbia test recording, c. 1930; on MakeMe, WhenIWas2)
Patt Patterson & Lois Dexter, "Home on the Range" Perfect 12650, 1930 [as "A Home on the Range"]; Conqueror 7711, 1931)
Red River Dave, "Home on the Range" (Sonora 1063, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "Home on the Range" (on PeteSeeger17, CowFolkCD1)
SAME_TUNE:
Toys, Beautiful Toys (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 32-33)
Alaska: Home on the Snow (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 243)
Frank Luther & Trio, "Home on the Range Part 5/Part 6" (Decca 1429, 1937)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Western Home
Arizona Home
NOTES: Various candidates have been proposed as the author of this piece, e.g. Daniel Kelley and Dr. Brewster Higley (1873; for this story, see Fuld), "C.O. Swartz... and other prospectors" (1885), and probably others. Given the feel of the piece, it seems likely that there is only a single author -- but I'd have a hard time saying WHICH single author.
Various adaptions have been published over the years, e.g. "Arizona Home" by William and Mary Goodwin (1904), but none depart far from the original form. - RBW
File: R193
===
NAME: Home Rule for Ireland
DESCRIPTION: Hearers are urged to join the Home Rule Movement. Mr Butt and other leaders are named. Gladstone thought that the church bill would suffice, "but Paddy wants to rule himself." America and France support Home Rule. Butt leads "his little band" of MPs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic political
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Zimmermann, p. 61, "Home Rule" (1 fragment)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 145-146, "Home Rule" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 13(340), "Home Rule for Ireland" ("Come all you sons of Erin"), unknown, n.d.; also 2806 b.10(224), Firth c.16(407)[first nine lines illegible], "Home Rule for Ireland"
NLScotland, L.C.1270(009), "Home Rule for Ireland," unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Loyal Song Against Home Rule" (subject)
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 61: "Constitutional agitation had been revived in 1869 through meetings demanding an amnesty for the Fenian prisoners. A 'Home Government Association for Ireland', created in 1870 [founded by Isaac Butt], became the 'Irish Home Rule League' in 1872 and soon met with great success as the Irish Parliamentary Party. Broadside ballads praised its leaders, and looked once more for encouragement from overseas." [see also "The Glorious Meeting of Dublin" and references there].
The leaders of the movement named in the broadside are, besides Butt, are John Martin and Shea, Dr Cummins and Galbraith; the "little band" of Home Rule MPs are not named.
The reference to Gladstone and the church refers to his 1869 move disestablishing the Church of Ireland in 1869 so that Catholic farmers did not have to pay tithes to that church. In 1885 Gladstone announced his support for Irish Home Rule. (sources: "Gladstone and Home Rule 1886" in _Northern Ireland Timeline_ at the BBC site; "Gladstone and Ireland" at the History Learning site)
Zimmermann p. 61 is a fragment; broadside NLScotland L.C.1270(009) is the basis for the description. The NLS probable period of publication as 1840-1850 is obviously incorrect when the broadside refers to events after 1870. - BS
The initial organization of the Home Government Alliance was rather ironic, as it included Protestants upset about the disestablishment of the Protestant Church (see Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being Volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 61; also the notes to "The Downfall of Heresy").
If Kee is to be believed, the Home Rulers were right about Gladstone: "Gladstone seems at first to have imagined that he could solve the problem of Ireland forever by two measures: first, By disestablishing the Irish Protestant Church and, second, legislating to compensate a tenant financially on conviction" (p. 58). The first measure came into force in 1869, and was universally welcomed. The second took the form of the first Land Bill, passed in 1870. But it corrected only a few minor abuses: Evicted tenants had to be paid for improvements they had made, but they could still be evicted. Something stronger was needed.
The mention of the Church Bill dates the song after 1869. The lack of reference to the second Land Bill, and of Gladstone's Home Rule proposal surely dates it before 1886 -- and the lack of reference to Parnell probably dates it very early in that period. Isaac Butt had been a moderately important figure since 1848, when he defended Smith O'Brien and some of his confederates. But it wasn't until 1869 that he became a major political force, urging a program of constitutional reform.
Part of Butt's problem was that he didn't really have a program, except a parliament for Ireland. On that basis he managed to recruit a number of Irish MPs -- but he couldn't hold them together in Westminster (Kee, pp. 64-66. This was epecially so since he had to work part-time, and wasn't really in position to head a party). From 1875, when Charles Stewart Parnell made his maiden speech declaring Ireland to be "not a geographical fragment but a nation," Butt was a spent force.
Home Rule nearly took care of Gladstone, too. He introduced the bill in 1886 -- and it split the Liberal party; a block of about fifty M.P.s, headed by Joseph Chamberlain, bolted. (See Robert K. Massie, _Dreadnought_, pp. 235-238). For about twenty years, Britain had what amounted to four political parties: Orthodox liberals (committed to social reform and home rule), Conservatives (opposed to social reform and home rule), the Irish delegation (which often split many ways; the most important faction, led by John Redmond, believed in home rule, though many were liberal on other issues), and the Chamberlainites (the "Liberal Unionists," who were liberal on social issues but adamantly opposed to Home Rule). It made Britain nearly ungovernable, except when the Chamberlainites managed to extract liberal concessions from the Conservatives. The Conservatives developed a policy of "killing Home Rule with kindness" (Kee, p. 111), but kindness wasn't really their specialty.
A few years later, Parnell died (October 10, 1891), and Kee (p. 115) writes that "The chances of Home Rule for the next twenty years were buried with him"; see also the notes to "We Won't Let Our Leader Run Down." For the future course of the Home Rule movement, see the notes to ÒA Loyal Song Against Home Rule.Ó
Chamberlain, in addition to splitting the liberal party and postponing home rule, had one more dubious gift to give to Britain: His younger son, Neville Chamberlian. - RBW
File: BrdHoRuI
===
NAME: Home, Boys, Home: see Ambletown; also Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43A)
===
NAME: Home, Dearie, Home: see Ambletown; also Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43A)
===
NAME: Home, Home, Home: see When I Was Young; also Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: EM075)
===
NAME: Home, Sweet Home: see Home! Sweet Home! (File: RJ19080)
===
NAME: Home! Sweet Home!
DESCRIPTION: "'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble there's no place like home." The singer yearns to return to that "lowly thatched cottage" which brings peace of mind
AUTHOR: Words: John Howard Payne
EARLIEST_DATE: 1823
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 80-82, "Home! Sweet Home!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, p. 87, (no name; a partial text of a parody)
Krythe 3, pp. 40-61, "Home, Sweet Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 254, "Home, Sweet Home" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 274-275, "Home! Sweet Home!"
DT, HOMSWEET
Roud #9597
RECORDINGS:
The Breaux Freres, "Home Sweet Home" [in Cajun French] (Vocalion 2961B, 1934; on AAFM2)
Elizabeth Cotten, "Home Sweet Home" (on Cotten03)
Edward Franklin, "Home Sweet Home" (Columbia 44, 1901)
Frank Jenkins, "Home Sweet Home" (Silvertone 5080, 1927)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Home Sweet Home" (Brunswick 475, 1930)
Margarethe Matzenauer, "Home, Sweet Home" (Pathe Actuelle 027519, n.d.)
McMichen's Melody Men, "Home Sweet Home" (Columbia 15288-D, 1928)
Royal Hawaiians, "Home Sweet Home" (Broadway 8100, c. 1930)
DaCosta Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, "Home Sweet Home" (Supertone 9162, 1928)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(7a/b) View 7 of 8, "Home, Sweet Home" ("Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam"), R. March and Co. (London), 1877-1884; also Harding B 25(854), Harding B 11(1564), Firth c.17(40), Harding B 11(2341), Harding B 11(4032), "Home, Sweet Home"
LOCSheet, sm1851 490710, "Home, Sweet Home" ("'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam"), Firth, Pond and Co. (New York), 1851; also sm1851 670130, sm1852 510930, sm1852 692100, sm1883 17251, sm1883 21656, "Home, Sweet Home" (tune)
LOCSinging, as105460, "Home, Sweet Home," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also sb20169b, "Home, Sweet Home"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "There Is No Place in the Height of Heaven" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Krythe gives extensive notes on the career of John Howard Payne (1791-1852), actor, playwright, poet, minor American diplomat, expatriate, and man with absolutely no idea how to manage his affairs. This song was originally part of an operetta, "Clari, the Maid of Milan," which Payne sold for fifty pounds in 1823.
The music to the opera "Clari" was by Henry Rowley Bishop. Some have questioned, however, whether he wrote the music for this particular song. It has been claimed that it is an old French tune.
The sheet music sold hundreds of thousands of copies, but of course none of the proceeds went to the composers. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as105460: J. Andrews dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: RJ19080
===
NAME: Homesick Boy, The: see Ten Thousand Miles Away (On the Banks of Lonely River) (File: R697)
===
NAME: Homespun Dress, The
DESCRIPTION: "Yes, I am a southern girl, and glory in the same, And boast it with far greater pride than glit'ring wealth or fame...." The girl proudly boasts that, though her dress is homespun and her clothing poor, it is all southern and better than northern finery
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Southern Poems of the War)
KEYWORDS: clothes Civilwar patriotic
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Belden, p. 360, "The Homespun Dress" (1 text)
Randolph 215, "The Southern Dress" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 380, "The Homespun Dress" (2 texts plus a reprinting of a printed version)
Hudson 125, pp. 265-266, "The Homespun Dress" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 229-230, "The Homespun Dress" (1 text, tune referenced)
Arnett, pp. 78-79, "The Homespun Dress" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CNFEDGAL*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 224, "The Homespun Dress" (1 short text)
Roud #4504
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "Young Ladies in Town" (theme)
NOTES: The authorship of this piece is disputed; several sources list a Lt. Harrington, killed at Perryville (Oct 9, 1862); others credit the song to Carrie Bell Sinclair. The notes in Brown contain an extensive, but inconclusive, discussion, which consists mostly of citations of unauthoritative sources. - RBW
File: R215
===
NAME: Homestead Strike, The
DESCRIPTION: "We are asking one another as we pass the time of day Why men must have recourse to arms to get their proper pay." The union workers go on strike; the company hires Pinkertons to break it. The result is bloodshed
AUTHOR: J. W. Kelly?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942
KEYWORDS: labor-movement fight hardtimes strike
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 1, 1892 - Declaration of the Homestead Strike (one of many strikes taking place about this time). The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers strikes Carnegie's Homestead Steel Works in Pennsylvania, trying to win the right to collective bargaining.
Relations between the Union and management has, until this time, been fairly good, but manager Henry Clay Frick decided the expiration of the current contract was a good opportunity to break the union. He cut wages and refused to negotiate.
July 6, 1892 - Frick brings in 300 Pinkertons (the "paid detectives" of the song) to battle the strikers and relatives (who number about 5000). Twenty people were killed in the ensuing battle, in which the Pinkertons were repelled (and, without exception, injured)
July 9, 1892 - Frick convinces Pennsylvania Governor Pattison to send in 7000 militia to break the strike
July 15, 1892 - Despite appeals from all over the world (including President Cleveland), the Homestead Mill is re-opened by scabs
Nov 14, 1892 - The Homestead workers give up their strike. They have made no real gains (except in public opinion), and many have lost their jobs to scabs
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Gilbert, pp. 198-199, "A Fight for Home and Honor " (1 text)
DT, HOMESTD*
Roud #7744
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Homestead Strike Song" (on PeteSeeger47)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Father Was Killed by the Pinkerton Men" (subject)
File: Gil198
===
NAME: Homeward Bound (I)
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Goodbye, fare you well, goodbye, fare you well... Hurrah, my boys, we're homeward bound." While the rest of the shanty usually tells a story about sailors' return, the stanzas are often compiled from floating verses
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (from the log of the Minerva)
KEYWORDS: shanty reunion
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 87-89, "Homeward Bound" (3 texts, 1 tune. The first text is largely "Outward and Homeward Bound"; the third partakes of "Rolling in the Dew" and "Ratcliffe Highway"")
Bone, p. 117, "Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 113-114, "Good-bye, Fare You Well!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 119-121, "Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 120-124, "Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well" (8 texts-5 English, 2 Norwegian, 1 French, 2 tunes. Version c's verses are from "Blow the Man Down," version d's are from "The Dreadnaught") [AbEd, pp. 103-106]
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 85, "Goodbye, Fare You Well" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 140-141, "Homeward Bound" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Doyle2, pp. 63, "Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 29, "Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 165, "Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 23, "Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 34, "Goodbye, Fare Ye Well" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 37, "Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 103, "We're Homeward Bound" (1 text)
SHenry H53a, p. 97, "I'm Going Home" (1 text, 1 tune - a fragment, probably of this song)
DT, GDBYFWL*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). We're Homeward Bound" is in Part 4, 8/4/1917.
Roud #927
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Homeward Bound" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Goodbye, Fare You Well (Homeward Bound)" (AFS 4229 A, 1939; on LC27 as "Homeward Bound"; in AMMEM/Cowell)
W[illiam] H. Smith, "Goodbye, Fare You Well" (on NovaScotia1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Et Nous Irons a Valapariso" (partial tune and chorus)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Goodbye, Fare You Well
Ved Ankerhioning (Anchor Song) [Norwegian versio]
As-tu-connu le Pere Lancelot [French version]
NOTES: Horace Beck in his book _Folklore and the Sea_ (Mystic Conn.: Mystic Seaport Museum, 1985), p. 137, explains that this chanty was sung by British sailors as they "walked the capstan round" bound for home. Other ships hearing this would give them mail and messages to take with them. On American ships "Shenandoah" was sung instead. - SH
File: Doe087
===
NAME: Homeward Bound (II -- Loose Every Sail to the Breeze)
DESCRIPTION: "Loose every sail to the breeze, The course of my vessel improve... Ye sailors I'm bound to my love." The sailor rejoices to be going home to his faithful Emma. He toasts the ship and the wind which carries her home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1795 (Journal from the Joseph Francis)
KEYWORDS: sailor sea home
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 52-53, "Loose Every Sail to the Breeze" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2016
NOTES: Huntington thinks this a traditional song, but his tune, at least, can hardly be regarded as traditional. It requires a range of two full octaves. Some singers could handle this, but probably not enough to keep the song current. - RBW
File: SWMS052
===
NAME: Homeward Bound (III): see Get Up, Jack! John, Sit Down! (File: Wa071)
===
NAME: Honest Irish Lad, The
DESCRIPTION: "My name is Tim McNare, I'm from the County Clare In that lovely little isle across the sea." The singer loved Ireland, but his farm could not support his family. Now in America, he can find no work. He still hopes to bring his family to join him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956
KEYWORDS: poverty emigration family separation unemployment
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 89-91, "The Honest Irish Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4522
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "No Irish Need Apply" (subject)
cf. "An Irish Laborer" (subject)
File: FMB089
===
NAME: Honest Working Man, The
DESCRIPTION: "Way down in East Cape Breton, where they knit the sock and mitten, Cezzetcook is represented by the husky black and tan. May they never be rejected, and home rule be protected, and always be connected with the honest working man."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Fowke/MacMillan)
KEYWORDS: work fishing
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fowke/MacMillan 31, "The Honest Working Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HONSTWR*
Roud #4535
NOTES: Written as a piece of irony aimed at the importation of surplus labor in the summer months.... Referred to in several sources as "the national anthem of Cape Breton workers." - SL
File: FowM
===
NAME: Honey Babe (I): see New River Train (File: AF073)
===
NAME: Honey Babe (II): see Sound Off (Cadence Count, Jody Chant) (File: LoF317)
===
NAME: Honey, Take a Whiff on Me: see Take a Whiff on Me (File: RL130)
===
NAME: Hook and Line
DESCRIPTION: "Gimme the hook and gimme the line; Gimme the girl you call Caroline." Possibly part of the same song: "Set my hook and give it a flip; Caught old (name) by the lip."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: fishing courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 157, "Hook and Line" (third of 12 single-stanza jigs) (1 fragment); also possibly p. 157, "The Hook" (the fourth jig)
ST Fus157 (Full)
Roud #13943
File: Fus157
===
NAME: Hooker John
DESCRIPTION: "Oh me Mary she's a sailor's lass. Ch: To me Hooker John, me Hoo-john! Oh we courted all day on the grass (Ch) "Full Ch: Way Suzanna Oh way, hay, high, high, ya! Johnny's on the foreyard, Yonder way up yonder!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: "Oh me Mary she's a sailor's lass. Ch: To me Hooker John, me Hoo-john! Oh we courted all day on the grass (Ch) "Full Ch: Way Suzanna Oh way, hay, high, high, ya! Johnny's on the foreyard, Yonder way up yonder!" Verses continue with other girls, "Flora she's a hoosier's friend, Sally she's a nigger's gal" etc.
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong courting
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 290-291, "Hooker John" (2 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 214-215]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Ooker John
File: Hugi290
===
NAME: Hooly and Fairly
DESCRIPTION: Singer wonders why he married; his wife drinks and calls him cheap. She dines out and dresses well while he must wear rags. She overdresses, fails to keep house, and sleeps too much. He wishes he were single, and that she would live "hooly and fairly"
AUTHOR: unknown; text recomposed by Joanna Baillie
EARLIEST_DATE: text 1751 (published in "Yair's Charmer" as "The Drucken Wife o' Gallowa'"); melody 1759 (The Caledonian Pocket Companion, same title); both together under title "Hooly and Fairly," 1757 (Thirty Scots Songs for Voice and Harpsichord)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer wonders why he married; his wife drinks canary wine and calls him cheap. She dines with her gossiping friends, goes to fairs, "bridals," and preachings well-dressed while he must wear rags. She overdresses in church, fails to keep house, and sleeps while the neighbors are waking. She won't take advice, arguing with the minister. He wishes he were single, and that his wife would drink/spend/dress/speak "hooly and fairly"
KEYWORDS: shrewishness marriage clothes drink nonballad wife
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 111, "Hooly and Fairly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5654
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Drucken Wife o' Gallowa'
NOTES: The singer is a kvetch. "Hooly" = "slowly, softly, gently." Joanna Baillie (1762-1851) was a child prodigy who composed verses before she could read; in addition to writing songs, for forty years she was a dramatist for the London Theatre. - PJS
File: McCST111
===
NAME: Hooraw for the Blackball Line: see The Black Ball Line (File: LxA489)
===
NAME: Hoosen Johnny: see The Old Gray Mare (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull) (File: R271)
===
NAME: Hootchy-Kootchy Dance, The
DESCRIPTION: "There's a place in France/Where the women wear no pants" and similar bawdy verses. Cho: "Do what your mama says and do what your papa says/But don't split your pants, doin' the hootchy-kootchy dance"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893
KEYWORDS: sex clothes bawdy nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Anonymous singer "The Hootchy-Kootchy Dance" (on Unexp1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bonaparte's Retreat" (sometimes used as a C part for that tune)
NOTES: Yes, you know it. This is the piece that is *always* used in a cartoon as the music when anything having to do with Arabia, Egypt, belly dancing, snake charming or Muslims in general is depicted. Originally a Tin Pan Alley song, popular at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where exotic dancers adopted it instantly; Sol Bloom, entertainment director at the Exposition, claimed he wrote it, but it has also been connected to traditional tunes in Iraq and Algeria. The title usually associated with the tune is "The Streets of Cairo." (See http://www.shira.net/streets-of-cairo.htm for more history.) It's a tune nearly everyone in America knows, and many older Americans (and maybe kids?) know the "women wear no pants" verse. A folk song if ever there was one. - PJS
File: RcTHoKoD
===
NAME: Hop High Ladies (Uncle Joe)
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses ("Did you ever go to meeting, Uncle Joe?" "Every time you turn around you jump Jim Crow"). Characterized by the refrain "Hop high ladies, (the cake's all dough/Three in a row), Don't mind the weather when the wind don't blow"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (recording, Henry Whitter)
KEYWORDS: nonballad dancing dancetune floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Randolph 252, "Jump Jim Crow" (1 text, 1 tune, a short text with the chorus of "Jump Jim Crow" and other material that might float)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 219-220, "Jump Jim Crow" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 252)
BrownIII 85, "Hop Light, Ladies" (2 fragments)
Hudson 147, pp. 293-294, [no title] (1 text, a square dance sample with a lot of material appropriate to that setting but with a chorus that seems to place it here)
Lomax-FSNA 116, "Uncle Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 64-65, "Hop High Ladies, the Cake's All Dough" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 33, "Uncle Joe" (1 text)
DT, HOPUPLAD*
Roud #6677
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Hop Light Lady" (OKah 45011, 1925)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Hop Light Ladies The Cake's All Dough" (Vocalion 5154, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Hop High, Ladies" (on NLCR10) ; "Hop High, Ladies, the Cake's All Dough" (on NLCR12)
Fiddlin' Powers and Family, "Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe?" (OKeh 45268, 1927)
Riley Puckett, "Hop Light Ladies" (Bluebird B-5514, 1934)
Red Fox Chasers, "Did You Ever See The Devil, Uncle Joe" (Gennett 6461/Champion 15522, 1928)
Doc Roberts, "Did You Ever See the Devil Uncle Joe" (Perfect 12724, 1931; Melotone 12390, 1932; Conqueror 8136, 1933)
Oliver Sims, "Hop About Ladies" (Columbia 15103-D, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Hop Light Ladies" (Edison 52056 [may also have been listed as by the Dixie Mountaineers, same record number], 1927)
Henry Whitter, "Hop Light Ladies and Shortenin' Bread" (OKeh 40064, 1924)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Miss McCleod's Reel " (tune)
cf. "Jump Jim Crow" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Randolph has a report that this song has been heard as far afield as Delhi, India, but seems to be referring to "Jump Jim Crow" (of which his version has just the chorus). - RBW
File: R252
===
NAME: Hop High Ladies, the Cake's All Dough: see Hop High Ladies (Uncle Joe) (File: R252)
===
NAME: Hop Light, Ladies: see Hop High Ladies (Uncle Joe) (File: R252)
===
NAME: Hop-Joint, The
DESCRIPTION: "I went to the hop-joint And thought I'd have some fun, In walked Bill Bailey With his forty-one! (Oh, baby darlin', why don't you come home?)" Bailey, or somebody, shoots the singer in the side: "Don't catch me playin' bull In the hop-joint any more!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: cards drugs violence injury murder
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 90-91, "The Hop-Joint" (1 text, apparently incomplete, plus a fragment; 1 tune); also some additional lyrics on p. 91
ST ScaNF090 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?" (some lyrics; character of Bill Bailey)
NOTES: Scarborough's source apparently had a great deal of trouble acquiring a complete text of this song, and the resulting fragments are difficult to interpret.
It also is a peculiar composite; quite a few lines, and of course the main character, are reminiscent of "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?" (though it's not clear whether that song, from 1902, was the inspiration of this or derived from it); the feel seems more like "Duncan and Brady," and of course there are lots of stories of violence in drug-houses. We really need more information than we have. - RBW
File: ScaNF090
===
NAME: Hop-Pickers' Tragedy, The
DESCRIPTION: A group of hop-pickers on their way from work approaches (Larklake) Bridge in a horse-drawn vehicle. The horses shy; the vehicle plunges over the bridge into the River Medway with great loss of life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (recording, Jasper Smith)
KEYWORDS: death drowning farming harvest work disaster horse worker
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Oct. 20, 1853 - The Medway accident
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 120, "The Hop-Pickers' Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1729
RECORDINGS:
Jasper Smith, "Hartlake Bridge" (on Voice08)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
There Was Four-and-Twenty Strangers
NOTES: [On October 20, 1853,] A horse-drawn brake carrying a party of hop-pickers plunged over Hartlake Bridge into the River Medway. Thirty people, including four children, were drowned. The dead included Travellers, Irish, and English.
[MacColl and Seeger write,] "In spite of being very well known among Kent and Surrey Travellers, the song does not appear to have been printed at any time." - PJS
Regarding the date of the event, Hall, notes to Voice08, re "Hartlake Bridge" cites Mike Yates as source for an October 1858 date. Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03 also has the date as October, 1858. - BS
It appears this is a nmisreading. I found a reference to the accident in the October 29, 1853 edition of the _London Illustrated News_. It claims 32 people were killed. As of this writing, a citation may be found at http://www.iln.org.uk/iln_years/year/1853.htm. - RBW
File: McCST120
===
NAME: Hop, Old Squirrel: see Peep Squirrel (File: ChFRA119)
===
NAME: Hopalong Peter
DESCRIPTION: Nonsense song. "Old mother Hubbard and her dog were Dutch/A bow-legged rooster and he hobbled on a crutch/Hen chawed tobacco and the duck drank wine/The goose played the fiddle on the pumpkin vine" and similar verses.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (recording, Mainer's Mountaineers)
KEYWORDS: nonsense animal chickens drink wordplay
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 160, "Get Along, John, the Day's Work's Done" (1 text, of only three lines, but two of them correspond to this song)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 104-105, "Hopalong Peter" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Fisher Hendley & his Aristocratic Pigs, "Hop Along Peter" (Vocalion 04780, 1939, on CrowTold01)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Hop Along Peter" (Bluebird B-6752 [as Mainer, Morris & Sherrill?]/Montgomery Ward M-7131, 1937)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Hopalong Peter" (on NLCR10, NLCRCD1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hallelujah"
cf. "Johnny Fell Down in the Bucket" (technique)
cf. "I'll Rise When the Rooster Crows" (lyrics)
cf. "Hannamaria" (theme)
NOTES: A number of verses to this song rely on the "unexpected final word." For example, a common first verse runs
Old Uncle Peter, he got tight,
Started up to Heaven on a stormy night.
The road being rough and him not well,
He lost his way and he went... to...
(Chorus)
Hopalong Peter, where you going (x2)
Hopalong Peter, won't you bear in mind
I ain't coming back till the gooseberry time. - RBW
File: CSW104
===
NAME: Hopping Down in Kent
DESCRIPTION: "Some say hopping's lousy. I don't believe it's true," but then the singer describes the hoppers' hard life, poor wages, and bad food. And when the money's spent "don't I wish I'd never went A-hopping down in Kent"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1975 (recording, Mary Ann Haynes)
KEYWORDS: harvest work hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #1715
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Haynes, "Hopping Down in Kent" (on Voice05)
NOTES: Hops are picked in September. Most hoppers in Kent were the poor and unemployed from London. "At the hop industry's peak more than 80,000 people poured into Kent every autumn. Whole families came and there are many records of families visiting the same gardens for several generations." (source: "History of Hop Picking in Kent" in _A History of Hop Growing in Kent and the South East_ at the National Hop Association of England site; the article describes hopping and some of the terminology used in the song) - BS
File: RcHoDIKe
===
NAME: Horn of the Hiram Q, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes a whaling trip -- he was the best man aboard, and the "worst of them was you." Cho: "With a yo ho and there she blows; Steer for her tail and you'll fetch her nose, with a la-de-da, and a how d'ye do, and hark for the horn of the Hiram Q"
AUTHOR: L. E. Richards
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Mostly nonsense, written in dialect. Singer talks of a whaling voyage -- he was the best man aboard, and the "worst of them was you." Cho: "With a yo ho and there she blows; Steer for her tail and you'll fetch her nose, with a la-de-da, and a how d'ye do, and hark for the horn of the Hiram Q"
KEYWORDS: whaler humorous nonballad nonsense
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 227-228, "The Horn of the Hiram Q" (1 text)
Roud #9155
NOTES: I'm just guessing that this is a piece of composed poetry because it is in the section of Harlow's book where he's including things like excerpts from the Wizard of Oz (see "Hurrah for Baffin's Bay"). The author is given as L.E. Richards and I couldn't make any further determination who that might be. However, it does *not* appear to be Laura E. Howe Richards (daughter of Julia Ward Howe). She wrote a good bit of poetry, but this piece doesn't seem to be one of hers. -SL
File: Harl227
===
NAME: Hornet and the Peacock, The
DESCRIPTION: "King George says [to the Peacock] 'To America go / The Hornet, the Wasp is the British king's foe.'" However, the Hornet defeats the Peacock: "The Peacock now mortally under her wing / Did feel the full force of the Hornet's sharp sting/"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: sea battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1760-1820 - Reign of George III of Britain
1812 - Battle between the U.S.S. Hornet and the H.M.S. Peacock off the coast of South America. The American ship won
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Eddy 107, "The Peacock that Lived in the Land of King George" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT, HRNTPEAK
Roud #5339
NOTES: What seems to be the most widely distributed text of this ballad runs, "The peacock that lived in the land of King George / His feathers were fine and his tail very large / He spread out his wings like a ship in full sail / And prided himself on the size of his tail... The hornet doth tickle the British bird's tail." _Hornet_ and _Wasp_ were American ships.
The battle between U.S.S. _Hornet_ and H.M.S. _Peacock_ was strange. The _Hornet_ was commanded by James Lawrence, a brash young officer barely in his thirties. On February 24, 1812, cruising off Brazil, the 18-gun _Hornet_ spotted H.M.S. _Espiegle_, another 18-gun ship, off Brazil (see Walter R. Borneman, _1812, The War That Forged a Nation_, p. 112).
Before the two ships could engage, another 18-gun brig, H.M.S. _Peacock_, showed up. _Peacock_, unlike _Espiegle_, wanted to fight. It was a bad decision; she had to strike her colors after only a quarter of an hour. And she was so badly damaged that Lawrence quickly abandoned the prize and took off _Peacock's_ crew. (According to Fletcher Pratt, _A Compact History of the United States Navy_, p. 82, the _Peacock_ sank even before the crew could get off. John K. Mahon, _The War of 1812_, p. 123, notes that the only three Americans who died in the battle were drowned on the _Peacock_ as she sank.)
Lawrence's reward was a promotion to full captain. That also meant was due command of a frigate. The frigate he received (Borneman, p. 113) was the ill-fated U.S.S. _Chesapeake_ (for its story, see the notes to "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20]). - RBW
File: E107
===
NAME: Horrors of Libby Prison, The
DESCRIPTION: "Did the soldier dream of plenty on the Richmond prison floor? Did he dream that he was marching with his own brave army corps?" The singer describes the starvation and wretched conditions in southern prisons and hopes for release
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar soldier prisoner food death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 59-63, "The Horrors of Libby Prison" (1 text)
NOTES: I rather doubt that this is an actual song, though Thomas describes it so; it's too long and plodding to survive in oral tradition. Nonetheless conditions in Confederate prisons were always bad; they hadn't enough to feed their own soldiers, so how could they feed prisoners?
Although the song refers to Libby Prison (and Pemberton Prison), I doubt it is based on anyone's actual experiences at that place; the song seems to describe the fate of enlisted men, but Libby Prison (in Richmond, on the James River, the former warehouse of Libby and Sons) was reserved for officers, and was largely shut down after May 1864. - RBW
File: ThBa059
===
NAME: Horse Named Bill, A
DESCRIPTION: "I had a horse, his name was Bill And when he ran, he couldn't stand still. He ran away one day And also I ran with him." Nonsense verses about the singer, his girlfriend, her cat, birds, balloons, and all else that comes to mind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: animal nonsense
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SW)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 340-341, "A Horse Named Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 69, "The Horse Named Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 174, "A Horse Named Bill" (1 text, tune referenced)
Silber-FSWB, p. 241, "A Horse Named Bill" (1 text)
DT, HORSEBIL
Roud #6674
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dixie" (tune) and references there
NOTES: Sandburg describes the tempo of this as "with lucid intervals if possible." The tune is the same as the first part of "Dixie." - RBW
I incline to the opinion that Sandburg wrote most of these verses. - PJS
Certainly a fair possibility, though he clearly started with some piece of craziness which he amplified (compare the "Crazy Song to the Air of 'Dixie'") - RBW
Verse 1 of Sandburg is similar to verse 4 of Opie-Oxford2 355, "There was a monkey climbed a tree" (earliest date in Opie-Oxford2 is 1626).
Sandburg: "I had a horse, his name was Bill And when he ran, he couldn't stand still He ran away, one day And also, I ran with him"
Opie-Oxford2 355: "There was a horse going to the mill, When he went on, he stood not still."
Unlike "Horse Named Bill," all of Opie-Oxford2 355 is of this type. For another example, "There was a crow sat on a stone, When he was gone, then there was none." - BS
File: San340
===
NAME: Horse Shit
DESCRIPTION: "A pilot of great reknown" attempts intercourse with a young woman, and fails in successive tries. The name derives from the refrain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy nonballad pilot sex
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 42-43, "Horse Shit" (1 text)
Roud #10137
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Monk of Great Renown"
NOTES: This technically is not a ballad at all. - EC
As Ed notes, this is really a simplified version of "The Monk of Great Renown." He classifies them separately because this one has taken on odoriferous life of its own. Also, the versions of this piece seem to have lost the theme of abusing the girl to death found in some texts of "The Monk." - RBW
File: EM042
===
NAME: Horse Teamster, A
DESCRIPTION: Brady, a horse teamster driving for Cooley, comes to the skidway and asks for a tow. The teamster protests that his horses are stiff and lame, but Brady insists. The horses balk despite all his whipping; eventually he's hauled out by another team
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work horse
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 32, "A Horse Teamster" (1 text)
Roud #4055
NOTES: In the early days, the teamsters in the pinewoods drove oxen, later horses and (less often) mules. - PJS
This song is item dC30 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Be032
===
NAME: Horse Trader's Song, The
DESCRIPTION: "It's do you know those horse traders, It's do you know their plan? (x2) Their plan it is for to snide you And git whatever they can; I've been all around the world." About the tricks and travels of horse traders
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: horse commerce travel trick
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 495, "The Horse-Traders' Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 355-357, "The Horse-Trader's Song" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 495)
Lomax-FSNA 168, "The Horse Trader's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5728
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Been All Around This World)" (tune, floating lyrics)
NOTES: Clearly a specialized adaption of "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" -- but the difference in plot makes them separate songs. - RBW
File: R495
===
NAME: Horse Traders' Song, The: see The Horse Trader's Song (File: R495)
===
NAME: Horse Wrangler, The (The Tenderfoot) [Laws B27]
DESCRIPTION: A young fellow decides to try cowpunching. The foreman assures his that it is an easy job, but the young man soon finds reason to disagree. Hurt by a fall, he gives up the job
AUTHOR: words credited to D. J. O'Malley (but see below); tune "The Day I Played Base Ball"
EARLIEST_DATE: 1894 (Miles City, Montana Stock Growers' Journal, credited to "R. J. Stovall")
KEYWORDS: cowboy injury work
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NW,So) Canada
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws B27, "The Horse Wrangler (The Tenderfoot")
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 96-97, "The Tenderfoot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 274-275, "The Tenderfoot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife III, pp. 44-57 (13-14), "The Tenderfoot" (7 texts, 4 tunes)
Fife-Cowboy/West 72, "The Tenderfoot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 19, "Cowboy's Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 82, pp. 176-178, "Breaking in a Tenderfoot" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 114, "The Tenderfoot" (1 text)
DT 599, TNDRFOOT
Roud #3246
RECORDINGS:
Slim Critchlow, "D-Bar-2 Horse Wrangler" (on Critchlow1, BackSaddle)
Glenn Ohrlin, "The Tender Foot" (on Ohrlin10)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Day I Played Base Ball" (tune)
NOTES: The authorship of this piece is uncertain. Lomax credits it to D. J. O'Malley (writing under the name R. J. Stovall); in 1932 O'Malley emphatically claimed authorship, claiming to have written in the piece in 1893. However, the song was also claimed by an R. D. Mack, and Thorp's 1921 edition credits it to "Yank Hitson, Denver, Colorado, 1889." Perhaps more significantly, Thorp reports collecting it in Arizona in 1899. - RBW
File: LB27
===
NAME: Horse-Thief, The: see Wild Rover No More (File: MA069)
===
NAME: Horse's Complaint, The: see The Drunkard's Horse (File: R318)
===
NAME: Horsey Song: see All the Pretty Little Horses (File: LxU002)
===
NAME: Horsham Boys
DESCRIPTION: Jarvis and James go to the pub and treat all the local low-lifes to drink, in the hope of buying their votes for Jarvis in the Parliamentary election. The rogues drink and smoke with the voters all night; the singer remonstrates with his fellow citizens
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 ("A Parliamentary History of Horsham, 1295-1885" by William Albury)
KEYWORDS: drink political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1847 - John Jarvis stands for Parliament
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Tony Wales, "Horsham Boys" (on TWales1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Buffalo Gals" (tune)
File: RcHorBoy
===
NAME: Hostler Joe
DESCRIPTION: Hostler Joe and pretty Annie wed and have a child. After four years, though, a stranger lures Annie away from her home with promises of fame and fortune. Her beauty wins her fame, but both fade in time. Joe arrives as she is dying
AUTHOR: Words: George Robert Sims
EARLIEST_DATE: 1890 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: death beauty marriage abandonment children
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 830, "Hostler Joe" (1 text)
ST R830 (Partial)
Roud #7440
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Ostler Joe
NOTES: If I were to use one word to describe this piece of moralizing tripe, the word would be
"sickening." Randolph remarks, "It is often recited by people of the same kind who recite 'The Face on the Barroom Floor.'"
Based on Hazel Felleman's _The Best Loved Poems of the American People_, it appears that the author's title of this is "Ostler Joe." But since Randolph's appears to be the only traditional collection (if it is truly traditional -- note the lack of a tune), I use his title. - RBW
File: R830
===
NAME: Hot Ash-Pelt, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer McGuire leaves the farm for the asphalt crew. A peeler insults the men, and the singer knocks him into the boiler. They pull him out but the tar won't come off; now he hangs in the National Museum, "an example of the dire effects of hot ash-pelt"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (collected from John McLaverty)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer McGuire leaves the farm to be boss of the asphalt crew. A peeler (policeman) asks to light his pipe on the boiler fire; he insults the men, and the singer hits him, knocking him into the boiler. They pull him out and scrub him, but the asphalt won't come off; now he hangs by his belt in the National Museum, "an example of the dire effects of hot ash-pelt"
KEYWORDS: fight violence work humorous boss worker police technology
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 225, "The Hot Ash-Pelt" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacColl-Shuttle, pp. 26-27, "Hot asphalt" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HOTASPLT
Roud #2134
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(70a), "Hot Ashfelt," unknown, c. 1890
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hot Asphalt
NOTES: Although we tend to think of paved roads as a modern contrivance (with, perhaps, the exception of the Roman roads), paving has been around for quite a while. The first modern paved roads were built by John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836), who as paving commissioner of Bristol from 1806 began using crushed rock to build solid surfaces ("macadam").
The idea caught on quickly; by the mid-nineteenth century, most "turnpikes" in the United States were paved. (A fact which could have important historical effects, e.g. during the Civil War. It's often stated that the Battle of Gettysburg took place where it did because it was a road center -- which is true, but there are plenty of road centers in Pennsylvania. Gettysburg was especially noteworthy because no fewer than three turnpikes -- the Baltimore, Chambersburg, and York Pikes -- met there.)
The earliest macadamized roads were made simply of rock, but by the end of the century, bitumen was being used as a binder, requiring a device to keep the asphault hot. - RBW
File: K225
===
NAME: Hot Ashfelt
DESCRIPTION: 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: 
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
The Hot Ash-Pelt
File: K225
===
NAME: Hot Asphalt: see The Hot Ash-Pelt (File: K225)
===
NAME: Hot Corn, Cold Corn (I'll Meet You in the Evening)
DESCRIPTION: Stanzas about drink, courting, drink, slavery, drink (you get the idea). Recognized by the themes of the chorus: Corn, a demijohn, evening meetings: "Hot corn, cold corn, bring along a demijohn (x3), I'll meet you in the (morning/evening), Yes, sir."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (recording, Arthur Collins)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad courting floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 267, "I'll Meet You in the Evening" (2 texts, 2 tune)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Old Aunt Peggy, Won't You Set 'em Up Again?" (OKeh 40108, 1924)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 228-230, "I'll Meet You in the Evening" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 267A)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 164-165, "Hot Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4954
RECORDINGS:
Arthur Collins, "Hot Corn" (CYL: Columbia 33075, c. 1906)
Asa Martin, "Hot Corn" (Champion 45065, 1935) (Melotone 6-01-51, 1936)
Fiddlin' Doc Roberts Trio, "Hot Corn" (Perfect 6-03-52, 1936)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Hot Corn" (on NLCR03)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn)" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Green Corn
NOTES: It is possible that this song and "Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn)" spring from the same sources, since they share lyrics and themes. However, they have evolved far enough apart that I feel I have to split them. - RBW
I place the Fiddlin' John Carson record here for want of a better place. - PJS
File: R267
===
NAME: Hot Nuts
DESCRIPTION: To a chorus beginning "Hot nuts. Hot nuts. Get 'em from the peanut man," we hear descriptions of various men's nuts, and various girls' reaction to same. All verses end with the exclamation "Nuts!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (recording, Lil Johnson)
KEYWORDS: bawdy nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 344-346, "Hot Nuts" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Lil Johnson, "Get 'Em from the Peanut Man" (Champion 50002, 1935) (Vocalion 03199/Vocalion 03241, 1936); "Get 'em from the Peanut Man (Hot Nuts)" (Champion 50002, 1935) (ARC 6-5-58/Vocalion 03199, 1936)
Georgia White, "Get "em from the Peanut Man" (Decca 7152, 1936)
SAME_TUNE:
Georgia White, "New Hot Nuts" (Decca 7631, 1939)
Lil Johnson, "Get 'em from the Peanut Man (The New Hot Nuts)" (Vocalion 03241, 1936) 
File: EM344
===
NAME: Hot Time in the Old Town, A: see There'll Be a Hot Time (In the Old Town Tonight) (File: RL532)
===
NAME: Hound Dawg Song, The: see The Hound Dog Song (File: R512)
===
NAME: Hound Dog Song, The
DESCRIPTION: "Ev'ry time I come to town, The boys keep kickin' my dog around, Makes no diff'rence if he is a hound, They gotta quit kickin' my dog around." The details of the tussle between dog and people is described, ending when the dog's owners counterattack
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1912 (sundry sheet music publications)
KEYWORDS: fight dog injury
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Randolph 512, "The Hound Dog Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 357-360, "The Hound Dog Song" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 512)
Lomax-FSNA, "The Hound Dawg Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 253-254, "The Hound Dog Song" (1 text)
DT, KICKDAWG*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 196-198, "The Ozark Dog Song" (1 fragment plus extensive folklore about whether the song is from Missouri or Arkansas)
Roud #6690
RECORDINGS:
American Quartet & Byron G. Harlan, "They Gotta Quit Kicking My Dog" (Victor 17065, 1912)
Byron G. Harlan, "Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dawg Aroun'" (Columbia A-1150, 1912)
Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers, "Ya Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Aroun'" (Columbia 15084-D, 1926)
Cy Stebbins, "They Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dawg Aroun'" (Vocalion 14378, 1922) 
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
You Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Around
NOTES: This was the campaign song of Champ Clark, [representative] from Missouri, during his campaign for President of the United States. He lost. -PJS
As a matter of fact, James Beauchamp "Champ" Clark was never even nominated for the Presidency, though he came very close. As Congressman from Missouri, he had been a leader in the fight to strip the Speaker of the House of his dictatorial powers in that chamber. This made him an obvious candidate for the Presidency in 1912. But the Democratic Party required that candidates receive two-thirds of the votes of the nominating convention delegates, and Clark -- though he was the clear favorite among the candidates -- never did gain that many votes (this was in the days when most delegates were chosen by caucus). Eventually his support started to fail, and a series of deals made Woodrow Wilson the Democratic nominee.
With the Republican Party split between the factions of Taft and Theodore Roosevelt, the Democratic nominee's election was assured. Thus Clark was only a rule change away from being elected President -- but not a single person ever voted for him in a national election.
Randolph heard a story which based this on a pre-Civil-War incident in Forsyth, Missouri. Proof is, of course, lacking. - RBW
File: R512
===
NAME: Hourra, Mes Boues, Hourra!
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Sailor is gathering strawberries and feeding them to a girl. Her mother arrives; he says he's using the berries to fix her teeth. The mother wants her share too, but the sailor says they're only for girls of 15. The old ones are for the captain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty bawdy food
FOUND_IN: Canada France
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 137-138, "Hourra, Mes Boues, Hourra!" (2 texts, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Derriere chez nous y a z'un petit bois (Behind Our House There is a Little Wood)
NOTES: If sung in French, the text is full of bawdy double entendres. This was possibly derived from a French-Canadian folk song with a similar story. - SL
File: Hugi137
===
NAME: House Carpenter and the Ship Carpenter, The: see The Daemon Lover (The House Carpenter) [Child 243] (File: C243)
===
NAME: House Carpenter, The: see The Daemon Lover (The House Carpenter) [Child 243] (File: C243)
===
NAME: House of the Rising Sun, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments, "There is a house in New Orleans / They call the Rising Sun / It's been the ruin of many a poor girl / And me, O God, I'm one." She tells of her troubled childhood, laments that she cannot escape her life, and warns others against it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Texas Alexander)
KEYWORDS: whore lament gambling drink husband father mother
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 250-253, "The House of the Rising Sun" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 151, "The Rising Sun Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 18, "House Of The Rising Sun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 184, "House Of The Rising Sun" (1 text)
DT, HOUSESUN*
Roud #6393
RECORDINGS:
Roy Acuff & his Smoky Mountain Boys, "The Rising Sun" (Vocalion 04909, 1939)
Almanac Singers, "House of the Rising Sun" (General 5020B, 1941; on Almanac01, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Clarence Ashley & Doc Watson, "Rising Sun Blues" (on Ashley03, WatsonAshley01)
[Clarence] Ashley & [Gwen] Foster, "The Rising Sun Blues" (on Vocalion 02576, c. 1933)
Homer Callahan, "Rounder's Luck" (Melotone 6-02-59, 1936; rec. 1935)
Dillard Chandler, "Sport in New Orleans" (on Chandler01)
Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton, "Rising Sun Blues" (Columbia 15701-D, c. 1931)
Woody Guthrie, "House of the Rising Sun" (on AschRec2)
Esco Hankins, "The Rising Sun" (King 650, 1947)
Daw Henson, "The Rising Sun Blues" (AAFS 1508 B2)
Roscoe Holcomb, "The Rising Sun" [LP] or "House in New Orleans" [CD] (on Holcomb-Ward1, HolcombCD1) 
Bert Martin, "The Rising Sun Blues" (AAFS 1496 B2)
Pete Seeger, "House of the Rising Sun" (on PeteSeeger18)
Georgia Turner, "The Rising Sun Blues" (AAFS 1404 A1)
NOTES: Legman offers extensive, if rambling, notes in Randolph-Legman I. - EC
While this song is generally associated in the public mind with African-American tradition, it clearly circulated in the Anglo-American community extensively; Clarence Ashley said he learned it from his grandmother. - PJS
File: RL250
===
NAME: House That Jack Built, The
DESCRIPTION: Jack built his house." "This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built" "This is the sack that held the malt that lay in the house that Jack built" ....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1780 (J. Marshall, according to Opie-Oxford2)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: "Jack built his house" The master of hounds chases the fox that killed the cock that woke the priest that married the man that married the maiden that milked the cow that tossed the dog that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that gnawed the string that tied the sack that held the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
KEYWORDS: cumulative nonballad marriage farming animal clergy home
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 258, "This is the house that Jack built (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #30, pp. 44-45, "(This is the house that Jack built)"
Roud #12921
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Wills, "The House That Jack Built" (on Voice18)
File: RcTHTJBu
===
NAME: House-Burning in Carter County, The
DESCRIPTION: A mother sets out from home to get some mullen oil, but -- despite her child's encouragement to hurry -- stays to talk. Before she returns, her house catches fire and her children die in each other's arms. The mother is told they are at rest
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: fire death children mother
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 108-109, (no title) (1 text)
ST ThBa108 (Partial)
Roud #13945
File: ThBa108
===
NAME: Housekeeper's Tragedy, A: see The Housewife's Lament (File: FSC097)
===
NAME: Housewife's Lament, The
DESCRIPTION: The housewife complains of her never-ending war against dirt: "Oh life is a toil and love is a trouble, Beauties will fade and riches will flee, Pleasures they dwindle and prices they double...." At last she dies "and was buried in dirt."
AUTHOR: H. A. Fletcher?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1871
KEYWORDS: work wife lament death burial dream
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
BrownIII 312, "A Housekeeper's Tragedy" (1 text plus an excerpt)
FSCatskills 97, "Life Is a Toil" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 67, "The Housewife's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 184, "The Housewife's Lament" (1 text)
DT, HSEWFLAM
Roud #5472
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "The Housekeeper's Complaint" (on Cansler1)
File: FSC097
===
NAME: How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?
DESCRIPTION: Times are hard; goods used to be cheap, but they're now exorbitant. Schools are bad, but all children are sent nonetheless. Prohibition, although good, is inappropriately enforced. Preachers and doctors are corrupt.
AUTHOR: Blind Alfred Reed
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Blind Alfred Reed)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes nonballad money
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Darling-NAS, pp. 383-384, "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" (on NLCR09, NLCRCD1)
Blind Alfred Reed, "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" (Victor V-40236, 1929; on HardTimes1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rigs of the Times" (subject)
NOTES: Pity we don't have a keyword "bitching." - PJS
File: RcHCPMSS
===
NAME: How Can I Keep from Singing
DESCRIPTION: "My life flows on in endless song Above earth's lamentation... It sounds an echo in my soul, How can I keep from singing." The singer notes all the troubles swirling around, but refuses to be influences by such things
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 353, "How Can I Keep From Singing" (1 text)
DT, KEEPSING*
NOTES: This song has become popular in folk revival circles in recent years, but is originally the work of the Society of Friends (Quakers). One wonders how many of the singers realize that it is a celebration of the doctrine of placing the individual conscience ahead of society's rules and Biblical teachings. - RBW
File: FSWB353A
===
NAME: How Come That Blood?: see Edward [Child 13] (File: C013)
===
NAME: How Dry I Am
DESCRIPTION: "How dry I am/How dry I am/Nobody knows/How dry I am"
AUTHOR: Music: Edward Rimbault, adapted by Tom A. Johnstone; Words: Will B. Johnstone
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 279-280, "How Dry I Am"
RECORDINGS:
Bar Harbor Society Orchestra, "Old Timers" (Vocalion A-14315, 1922)
Wise String Orchestra, "How Dry I Am" (Vocalion 05360, 1939)
NOTES: This fits Dave Para's definition of folklore perfectly: What everybody knows, and no one gives a second thought. I'm astonished it's not listed in any books we've indexed thus far.
Fuld describes the melody as an adaptation of the hymn "(O) Happy Day," published in the 1855 "Wesleyan Sacred Harp." A short version of the song appeared in the musical "Up in the Clouds", and we've listed that as "Earliest Date." The complete song was published in Gaskill & Ernest's "Good Fellow Songs," published in 1933 -- just in time for Repeal. - PJS
File: RcHDIA
===
NAME: How I Love the Old Black Cat
DESCRIPTION: "Who so full of fun and glee? Happy as a cat can be, Polished sides so nice and fat, How I love the old black cat! Yes I do." The boys try to sick dogs on the cat, but the girl (?) rescues it. She prefers it to other pets
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 147, "How I Love the Old Black Cat" (1 text)
Roud #15767
File: Br3147
===
NAME: How I Wish I Was Single Again: see I Wish I Were Single Again (II - Female) (File: E070)
===
NAME: How Long Blues
DESCRIPTION: "How long, how long Has that evening train been gone, How long, Baby, how long, how long?... How long will it be Before you learn to quit mistreating me?" The singer complains about his lost woman and the travelling he has done.
AUTHOR: Leroy Carr?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recordings, Tampa Red's Hokum Jazz Band, Gladys Bentley); perhaps 1921 (recorded by Daisy Martin)
KEYWORDS: loneliness separation travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 437-440, "How Long, How Long Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 314, "How Long Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HOWLONG*
RECORDINGS:
Shelley Armstrong [Bumble Bee Slim] , "How Long, How Long Blues" (Champion 50008, 1935)
Gladys Bentley, "How Long - How Long Blues" (OKeh 8612, 1928)
Leroy Carr [and Scrapper Blackwell], "How Long -- How Long Blues" (Vocalion 1191, 1928; Vocalion 1241, 1929; Banner 32557/Oriole 8166/Perfect 0215/Romeo 5166, 1932)
Folkmasters, "Rising Sun" (on Fmst01) [This is *not* "House of the Rising Sun," but a Brownie McGhee partial rewrite of "How Long Blues"]
Bertha "Chippie" Hill w. Baby Dodds' Stompers "How Long Blues" (Circle J-1003, n.d.)
Jed Davenport, "How Long How Long Blues" (Vocalion 1440, 1930)
Daisy Martin, "How Long? How Long?" (OKeh 8009, 1921, possibly this song)
Tampa Red's Hokum Jug Band, "How Long How Long Blues" (Vocalion 1228, 1928)
SAME_TUNE:
Leroy Carr, "How Long, How Long Blues Part 2" (Vocalion 1279, 1929; Banner 32557/Oriole 8166/Perfect 0215/Romeo 5166, 1932; rec. 1928); Carr later released additional "How Long" sequels
Leroy Carr w. Earl, "Scrapper" Blackwell, "The New How Long How Long Blues" (Vocalion 1435, 1930)
NOTES: I have not heard the Daisy Martin recording; it may be a different song. If it's the same, however, that shoots Carr's authorship in the foot. - PJS
According to Cohen, Martin's recording is "not closely related"; neither is a song recorded in 1928 by Alberta Brown, "How Long." Cohen of course does note some earlier materials which may have inspired Carr. 
Cohen adds that theri June 1928 recordings "inaugurat[ed] a major change in hte nature of recorded blues music. Smoother, more urbane than most of the country blues that preceded them, more polished, and considerably more danceable, their style was immediately emulated." The result was to make piano-and-guitar blues much more common. - RBW
File: LoF314
===
NAME: How Long, How Long Blues: see How Long Blues (File: LoF314)
===
NAME: How Many Biscuits Can You Eat?
DESCRIPTION: "How many biscuits can you eat, this mornin', this mornin'? (x2) Forty-nine, and a ham of meat, this mornin'." Discussion of food, work, etc., with many floating verses ("Ain't no use me workin' so hard," "If you get there before I do").
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Humphrey Bate)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #7876
RECORDINGS:
Dr. Humphrey Bate & his Possum Hunters, "How Many Biscuits Can You Eat?" (Brunswick 232, 1928)
Gwen Foster, "How Many Biscuits Can I Eat" (Bluebird B-8082/Montgomery Ward M-7859 [as "How Many Biscuits Can You Eat"], 1939)
Grandpa Jones, "How Many Biscuits Can You Eat?" (King 740, 1948) 
Pickard Family, "How Many Biscuits Can You Eat" (Coast 253, n.d.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Crawdad" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Crawdad (File: R443)
NOTES: This is pretty definitely built about "Crawdad," or one of its relatives, and manages to be even sillier than that silly song. But it's been recorded enough that I finally decided it went in the Index. - RBW
File: RcHMBCYE
===
NAME: How Many Miles to Babyland?: see How Many Miles to Babylon? (File: HHH040a)
===
NAME: How Many Miles to Babylon?
DESCRIPTION: Singing game: "How Many Miles to (Babylon)? (Three) score and ten. Can I get there by candlelight? Yes, and back again." The rest of the song may refer to the pleasures of "Babyland" (Henry text), or to courting, or traveling -- or something else
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1805 (Songs for the Nursery, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: playparty travel nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(England(All), Scotland) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
SHenry H40a, p. 12, "How Many Miles to Babyland?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 18-19, "How Many Miles to London Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 26, "How many miles to Babylon?" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #146, p. 115, "(How many miles to Babylon?)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 81, "(How many miles to Glasgow Lea?)" (1 text)
Roud #8148
NOTES: Sam Henry was of the opinion that the original text of this song referred to "Babyland," with "Babylon" as a corruption. Gomme, however, has nineteen texts (though a handful may not be this piece), and seven refer to Babylon, three to Banbury (Cross/Bridge), a couple of others to variants on Bethlehem, a few to London, and none to Babyland.
In defence of Sam Henry, there is a piece called "Babyl-land" with several sheet music settings, by Jeannette Amidon (LOCSheet, sm1877 04182, "Baby-land," Wm. A. Pond (New York), 1877 (tune)) and Gerrit Smith (LOCSheet, sm1884 24704, "Baby-land," Wm. A. Pond (New York), 1884 (tune)). But these really look like by-blows to me. I have to think "Babylon" is original even though it's hard to explain.- RBW
File: HHH040a
===
NAME: How Many Miles to Banbury?: see How Many Miles to Babylon? (File: HHH040a)
===
NAME: How Many Miles to Glasgow Lea?: see How Many Miles to Babylon? (File: HHH040a)
===
NAME: How Many Miles to London Town?: see How Many Miles to Babylon? (File: HHH040a)
===
NAME: How Old Are You, My Pretty Little Miss?: see Seventeen Come Sunday [Laws O17] (File: LO17)
===
NAME: How Paddy Stole the Rope
DESCRIPTION: Paddy and Mick rob a church. They need rope to bind the loot. Paddy climbs the bell rope to the top, cuts the rope above himself and falls. Mick climbs up, cuts the rope beneath himself and can't get down. The boys are caught and thrown in jail
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: prison robbery unemployment humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
O'Conor, pp. 68-69, "How Paddy Stole the Rope" (1 text)
McBride 57, "Paddy Stole the Rope" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Hazel Felleman, Best Loved Poems of the American People, p. 474
ST OCon068 (Partial)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(65), "How Paddy Stole the Rope," unknown, n.d.
File: OCon068
===
NAME: How Sad Was the Death of My Sweetheart: see Saint James Infirmary (File: San228)
===
NAME: How Sadly My Heart Yearns Toward You: see Broken Ties (I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes) (File: BrII156)
===
NAME: How Sweet the Rose Blaws
DESCRIPTION: "How sweet the rose blaws, it fades and it fa's; Red is the rose and bonnie, O! It brings to my mind what my dear laddie was; So bloomed -- so cut off was my Johnnie, O!" Peace is come, but the singer's love is dead. She will meet him soon (in death)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love soldier death flowers
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, p. 176, "How Sweet the Rose Blaws" (1 text)
Roud #13166
NOTES: This is almost the only song in Ford which is offered entirely without comment. Whatever that means. - RBW
File: FVS176A
===
NAME: How Tattersall's Cup Was Won
DESCRIPTION: "Fair, every heights are gleaming Beneath the sun God gave, Great waves of life are swaying Along the wheel-worn wave." A very detailed description of the race, listing many of the horses as well as the rider who was thrown and killed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: racing death horse
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 249-253, "How Tattersall's Cup Was Won" (1 text)
NOTES: Meredith and Anderson believe this piece pertains to the race in which Alec Robertson was killed. This is quite reasonable, but the accident plays a relatively minor role. - RBW
File: MA249
===
NAME: How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours: see Greenfields (How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours) (File: San154)
===
NAME: How We Got Back to the Woods Last Year: see How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year (File: FowL45)
===
NAME: How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you lads that would like to hear How we got up to the woods last year." The singer and colleagues gather (to go logging). They hire a coach and feel grand. They perhaps get drunk. They arrive.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: travel drink logger
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont,Que)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fowke-Lumbering #45, "How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 22, "How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3676
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "How We Got Back to the Woods Last Year" (on Lumber01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Conroy's Camp" (tune, lyrics, theme)
cf. "Rantin', Roarin', Drunk on the Way" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
Conroy's Camp (File: FowL46)
NOTES: This is about as interesting as the description implies; even Fowke admits that the song lacks "any dramatic incident."
The chorus is shared, in general form, with "Rantin', Roarin', Drunk on the Way" -- but the plot is different; it appears to be simply a case of the cross-fertilization so common among lumbering songs. - RBW
File: FowL45
===
NAME: Howard Carey [Laws E23]
DESCRIPTION: The singer, Howard Carey, recalls his happy youth. But he left home and parents and, despite his mother's warnings, turns to a dissolute life. Blaming his fate on whiskey and bad women, he kills himself
AUTHOR: probably Joe Scott
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: suicide drink family
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 5, 1897 - "Howard Carrick, a woodsman, aged 33, hanged himself in his room at Annie Siddal's boarding house in Rumford, Maine..." (source: Ives-DullCare)
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws E23, "Howard Carey"
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 59-60, "Howard Kerry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 131-132,247, "Howard Carey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 22, "Howard Carey" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 834, HOWCAREY*
Roud #9191
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Howard Carragher
NOTES: Ives-DullCare is unequivocal about the author being Joe Scott. - BS
Manny/Wilson attributes it without hesitation to Scott as well. They note, however, what appear to be allusions to British material. Their background notes that this is described as "the true story of Howard Carey (variously spelled Kerrick, Currie, Carrick...) who was born in Grand Falls on the Upper St. John River. Howard led a wandering life, went to the bad, and finally hanged himself in Rumford Falls, Maine." - RBW
File: LE23
===
NAME: Howes o' King-Edward, The
DESCRIPTION: "Though lovely the land where in childhood I wandered," the singer looks back on a different, more gloomy world. He recalls happy days of the past; now, "O, changed are the Howes o' King-Edward to me!"
AUTHOR: William Cruikshanks (died 1868)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 339-340, "The Howes o' King-Edward" (1 text)
Roud #3942
File: Ord339
===
NAME: Hu, Hu, Hu!
DESCRIPTION: German shanty. Translation: "Oh the bosun's great big fid boys, Hu, hu, hu, hu, hu! Is as long as a tops'l yard boys. Hu... Ch: Yaw, yaw, yaw we'll sing boys, an' we'll heave away (x2)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Baltzer, _Knurrhahn_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty
FOUND_IN: Germany
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 536-537, "Hu, Hu, Hu!" (1 text, 1 tune -- a translation only; Hugill says the original was too rough)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Reise, Reise!
File: Hugi536
===
NAME: Huckleberry Hunting
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "To me, Hilo, me Ranzo boy!" Boys and girls went huckleberry hunting, with the boys naturally chasing the girls. In the end a boy proposes to a girl (perhaps after seeing her garter)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917
KEYWORDS: shanty courting
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 32, "Huckleberry Hunting" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 69, "Huckleberry Hunting" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 88-89, "Hilo, My Ranzo Way" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 249-250, "We'll Ranzo Way" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 181-182]
Sharp-EFC, XIV, p. 17, "Huckleberry Hunting" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 102, "The Wild Goose" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, (RANZORAY* -- the text here is very similar to Doerflinger's, but the tunes are so different that one wonders if they could be the same shanty)
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Huckleberry Picking" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #328
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ranzo Ray" (floating lyrics, form of chorus)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sing Hilo, Me Ranzo Ray
The Wild Goose Shanty
File: Doe032
===
NAME: Huckleberry Picking: see Huckleberry Hunting (File: Doe032)
===
NAME: Hudson River Steamboat
DESCRIPTION: "Hudson River steamboat, sailing up and down, New York to Albany or any river town, Choo choo to go ahead, Choo choo to slack her...." Sketches of places one would pass and things one might see from the steamboat
AUTHOR: perhaps adapted by John Allison?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: river ship nonballad technology
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 40, "Hudson River Steamboat" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HUDSNRVR
Roud #6671
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hudson River Steamer
File: LoF040
===
NAME: Hugh Hill, the Ramoan Smuggler
DESCRIPTION: The singer, a member of Hill's smuggling crew, recalls how Dixon betrayed them. A cutter captures Hill's ship, but when the crew is brought to trial, no proof is available; Hill and crew go free and will smuggle more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: trial punishment ship escape 
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H494, pp. 127-128, "Hugh Hill, the Ramoan Smuggler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13372
NOTES: One of the less-intelligent British colonial policies was to cut off all sorts of external (and even internal) trade. This made smugglers like Hugh Hill heroes. There really weren't many of them, though -- Ireland didn't have enough excess income to support a large smuggling industry. - RBW
File: HHH494
===
NAME: Hugh of Lincoln: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Hugh of Lincoln and The Jew's Daughter: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Hugh Spencer's Feats in France [Child 158]
DESCRIPTION: Hugh Spencer is sent to the king of France to know whether there be peace or war; answer: War. The French queen challenges him to joust with her knight. French horses and spears are inferior but he wins, then fights others until the king sues for peace.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1750 (Percy folio)
KEYWORDS: royalty war France knight fight
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1337-1453 - Hundred Years' War between Britain and France
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 158, "Hugh Spencer's Feats in France" (3 texts)
Roud #3997
NOTES: In trying to match the events here with actual history, we should note the reigns of the various Kings Henry of England before 1525:
Henry I, 1100-1135 (no war with France; skirmishing in Normandy)
Stephen, 1135-1154 (no war with France; civil war in England)
Henry II, 1154-1189 (constant skirmishing with France)
Richard I, 1189-1199 (continued skirmishing with France)
John, 1199-1216 (John, bankrupted by Richard's spending, cannot defend Normandy)
Henry III, 1216-1272 (cold war with France but no direct fighting)
Edward I, 1272-1307 (cold war with France but no direct fighting)
Edward II, 1307-1327 (cold war with France but no direct fighting)
Edward III, 1307-1377 (war declared with France 1337. Victories at Sluys, Crecy, Poitiers. Peace of Bretigny 1360.)
Richard II, 1377-1399 (Technical peace, but France keeps retaking land)
Henry IV, 1399-1413 (technically at war with France but no direct fighting; France continues to recapture land)
Henry V, 1413-1422 (invaded France 1415; appointed heir to Charles VI 1421)
Henry VI, 1422-1461 AND 1470-1471 (all British possessions in France except Calais lost by 1453; fighting was constant, though Henry hated it and eventually went mad)
Edward IV, 1461-1470 AND 1471-1483 (plans and mounts but does not carry through an invasion of France)
Edward V, 1483 (did not reign in fact)
Richard III, 1483-1485 (no time for war with France)
Henry VII, 1485-1509 (too cheap to even think about war)
Henry VIII, 1509-1547 (last English king to threaten France)
During this period France had several Kings Charles:
Charles IV, 1314-1328
Charles V, 1364-1380 (and sometimes regent while his father John was in English captivity)
Charles VI (Charles the Mad), 1380-1422
Charles VII 1422-1461 (not crowned until 1430)
Charles VIII 1470-1498
Thus, although the song is not dated, it seems very likely that it is intended to refer to the time of Henry V. It's true that Charles VI was not in very good mental shape at the time (a madness that would, in fact, come to affect Henry V's son Henry VI, who was Charles's grandson) -- but an English song could easily ignore that fact. - RBW
File: C158
===
NAME: Hughie Grame [Child 191]
DESCRIPTION: Hugh the Graeme is taken for horse thieving. Many pray for his life, but the Bishop (of Carlisle) is bitterly opposed and has his way. (Hugh is executed.) The reason is that the Bishop has seduced Hugh's wife, and the horse stealing was in retaliation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Scott; reference in Ritson, 1790)
KEYWORDS: execution revenge adultery robbery
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber,High))
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Child 191, "Hughie Grame" (9 texts)
Bronson 191, "Hughie Grame" (7 versions)
Dixon XV, pp. 73-76, "Sir Hugh, the Graeme" (1 text)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 98-99, "Hughie the Graeme" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
OBB 143, "Hughie the Graeme" (1 text)
BBI, ZN287, "As it befel upon one time"; ZN1008, "Good Lord John is a hunting gone"
DT 191, HUGRAME* HUGRAME2*
Roud #84
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl, "Hughie the Graeme" (on ESFB1, ESFB2) {Bronson's #6}; Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Hughie Grame" (on SCMacCollSeeger01) {for tune cf. Bronson's #4}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gallant Grahams" (lyrics)
File: C191
===
NAME: Hullaballo-Balay: see Hullabaloo Belay (File: FSWB084A)
===
NAME: Hullabaloo Belay
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Hullabaloo belay, Hullabaloo bela belay." The singer's mother keeps a boarding house. With the boarders at sea, Shallo Brown courts the mother. She runs off with Shallo (but returns the next day). The father pines away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: Early 1950s (recording, Richard Dyer-Bennet)
KEYWORDS: shanty home mother father abandonment death jealousy adultery infidelity return humorous
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Hugill, pp. 484-485, "Hullaballo-Balay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 84, "Hullabaloo Belay" (1 text)
DT, HULLABOO*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Shallo Brown (Shallow Brown)" (character)
cf. "Ali Alo" (similar tune and chorus)
File: FSWB084A
===
NAME: Humble Farmer, The
DESCRIPTION: "I saw a humble farmer, His back was bending low, A-pickin' out the cotton, Along the cotton row." The ragged farmer meets the merchant, who demand, "Pay me all you owe." The farmer cannot pay it all; he hopes for an extension until next fall
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: work poverty hardtimes farming
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 213, "The Humble Farmer" (1 text)
Roud #6709
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Farmer Is the Man" (theme)
cf. "Po' Farmer" (theme)
cf. "Down on the Farm (III)" (theme)
File: Br3213
===
NAME: Humble Village Maid Going a-Milking, The
DESCRIPTION: Maid going milking rejects advances of rich suitor "for Edmund he's the lad I love He won my heart,she said, And he has promised for to wed his humble village maid"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: poverty courting love marriage rejection money
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 77, "The Humble Village Maid Going a-Milking" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: GrMa077
===
NAME: Humoresque
DESCRIPTION: An omnibus of disparate stanzas, bawdy and scatological, set to Dvorak's familiar piano composition.
AUTHOR: unknown (music by Antonin Dvorak)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940  (music published 1894)
KEYWORDS: bawdy scatological humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England) US(MW,SW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 235-239, "Humoresque" (4 texts, 1 tune)
DT, HUMORESQ*
Roud #10262
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Footprints on the Dashboard" (tune)
NOTES: The late Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas claims that he and fellow Yale Law School professor Thurman Arnold wrote at least one of the verses to this in the early 1930s. See Douglas's _Go East, Young Man_ (pp. 171-172). - EC
File: EM235
===
NAME: Humphrey Marshall
DESCRIPTION: "Oh General Humphrey Marshall Who weighs all of three hundred pound, To fetch here safe your message, On that purpose I am bound." "Humphrey Marshall he's our boss, Brave as hell and big as a hoss."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar nonballad soldier
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 55-56 (no title) (2 very short fragments)
NOTES: Humphrey Marshall (1812-1872) was a Confederate politician (a Kentuckian, he served in congress as a Whig 1849-1852 and as a Know-Nothing in 1855-1859 as well as in the Confederate congress 1864-1865).
Marshall, who had graduated West Point (barely) but resigned after only a year of military life, was appointed a Confederate general in 1861, and -- in an interesting sidelight to Thomas's narrative about General Garfield -- fought against that Union general in early 1862.
Marshall had originally tried to keep Kentucky neutral in the Civil War, and only "went south" after his hopes failed. He probably received appointment because the Confederates needed Kentucky officers for recruiting purposes; this caused Marshall to be given a command during Bragg's 1862 invasion of Kentucky.
His record, however, was apparently not very distinguished; his weight is mentioned in both my biographic sources, and he is said to have been a poor disciplinarian. He finally resigned from the Confederate army in 1863 (he had already quit once in 1862), perhaps because he couldn't acquire a meaningful command. - RBW
File: ThBa055
===
NAME: Humping Old Bluey (The Poor Bushman)
DESCRIPTION: "Humping old bluey it is a stale game... You're battling with poverty, hunger, sharp thorn -- Things are just going middling with me." The shearer complains about the life after the shearing is over
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: rambling sheep Australia
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 125, "Humping Old Bluey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, p. 142, "Humping Old Bluey" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA125
===
NAME: Humpty Dumpty
DESCRIPTION: "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Threescore men and threescore more Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was before." (Or, ... All the kings horses And all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1810 (Gammer Gurton's Garland)
KEYWORDS: death riddle
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #670, pp. 268-269, "(Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall)"
Roud #13026
NOTES: These days, we all know this from Lewis Carroll -- though, interestingly, we don't use his last line ("Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again," which Alice correctly notes doesn't scan). It's found in the chapter "Humpty Dumpty" in _Through the Looking Glass_. But the first form quoted here is that found in _Gammer Gurton's Garland_, which according to the Baring-Goulds is the first appearance of the rhyme in print.
They claim, however, that the rhyme is much older as a riddle (presumably it ended with a question asking who Humpty was, the answer being "an egg"). - RBW
File: BGMG670
===
NAME: Humpy Hargis: see Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line (File: ADR98)
===
NAME: Hundred Years Ago (I), A
DESCRIPTION: Shanty or windlass song, "A hundred years is a very long time, Oh, aye, oh, A hundred years on the Eastern Shore, A hundred years ago." "Ol' Bully John from Baltimore, Oh, aye, oh, I knew him well, that son-of-a-whore, A hundred years ago."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: sailor work shanty
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE) Britain
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Colcord, pp. 67-68, "A Hundred Years on the Eastern Shore" (1 text)
Harlow, pp. 62-63, 150, "A Long Time Ago (version 3)," "A Hundred Years Ago" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 101,  "A Long Time Ago" (1 text, version "g" of "A Long Time Ago") [AbEd, p. 92]; pp. 509-511 "A Hundred Years Ago" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 375-376]
Sharp-EFC, LII, p. 57, "A Hundred Years on the Eastern Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 485, "A Hundred Years Ago" (1 text, 1 tune, curiously listed as a religious song!)
DT, HUNDAGO*
Roud #926
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Yankee John, Stormalong (Liza Lee)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Tis Time For Us to Go
File: San485
===
NAME: Hundred Years Ago, A: see A Long Time Ago (File: Doe037)
===
NAME: Hundred Years on the Eastern Shore, A: see A Hundred Years Ago (I) (File: San485)
===
NAME: Hung My Bucket on de White Folks' Fence
DESCRIPTION: "Hung my bucket on de white folks' fence, Hain't seen my bucket sense.  Oh Lawd! Oh Lawd! Old Aunt Dinah, well she bounce around, Leave her wooden leg on de ground, Save her meat skin, lay dem away, To grease her wooden leg every day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: theft dancing
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 475, "Hung My Bucket on de White Folks' Fence" (1 short text)
Roud #11801
File: Br3475
===
NAME: Hungry Army (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Having fought with his sweetheart, the Irishman enlists in the army. He quarrels with his NCOs, then is sent off to (China?) in a boat too small and ill-equipped for the soldiers. Sent into battle, he is injured and discharged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection); c. 1856 (broadside NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(054))
KEYWORDS: soldier battle injury disability
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H92, p. 86, "The Hungry Army" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1746
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(27), "The Hungry Army" ("The wind in thundering gales did roar"), unknown, n.d.
Murray, Mu23-y1:097, "The Hungry Army," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(054), "The Hungry Army," James Lindsay (Glasgow), c.1856
NOTES: The notes to broadside Bodleian 2806 b.11(27) make the subject "War, Opium War, 1840-1842, Ireland"
Broadside Murray Mu23-y1:097 has the site of the war in China and the battle simply "on the field of battle."
Broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(054) has the site of the war in Russia, rather than China; the singer is wounded November 5 at Inkerman. - BS
File: HHH092
===
NAME: Hungry Army (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer enlists and is sent to Ballarat. The men are so thin a strong wind "blew the lot away"; the singer gets a medal for surviving. He eats cabbage broth. Utensils are only used to cut hair. Sent to drill still strong recruits, he is beaten.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.25(254))
KEYWORDS: army ordeal starvation Australia humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #1746
RECORDINGS:
Walter Pardon, "The Hungry Army" (on Voice14)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(254), "The Hungry Army" ("When I was young and in my prime"), W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also Firth c.19(219), 2806 c.8(288), "The Hungry Army"
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice14: "Servicemen also have the gift of moaning, and 'The Hungry Army', set in mid-nineteenth century Australia, is a typical squaddie beef at conditions and authority."
Ballarat is in Victoria, Australia, about 65 miles east of Melbourne. - BS
According to Andrew and Nancy Learmouth, _Encyclopedia of Australia_ (article on Ballarat in the second edition), the Ballarat region was not opened for settlement until 1837, during a drought. The population remained small until the 1851 gold rush; in 1851 "a septuagenarian digger named John Dunlop discovered the richest field of all, at Ballarat" (see Robert Hughes, _The Fatal Shore_, p. 562). I suspect that this is what brought Ballarat to the broadside-writers' attention -- especially since the British government charged the large fee of 30 shillings a month for a gold license (Hughes, p. 562),meaning that they needed some sort of law and order in the area. But gold rushes are almost always attended by squalor, since there are few supplies in the area. Hence, presumably, this song. But we note that it has mentions absolutely nothing about Australia except the name "Ballarat." I assume it is in fact an older piece adapted to the Australian gold rush.
Roud lumps this with "The Hungry Army (I)." But while the theme is the same, the plot is different enough that Ben Schwartz and I both believe it should be split. - RBW
File: RcHunAr2
===
NAME: Hungry Confederate Song, A
DESCRIPTION: "The streets are all lonely and drear, love, And all because you are not here, love, if you were here, you would shed a sad tear And open your cupboard to me." The singer describes his woeful condition and wishes that he had stew or cornbread or something
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: food love
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hudson 114, p. 257, "A Hungry Confederate Song" (1 text)
Roud #4498
NOTES: Hudson lists this as a Civil War song, and certainly it fits that conflict, in which Southern troops in particular often went hungry -- but there is no actual evidence in Hudson's text that it is a Civil War song, and neither he nor I knows another version to settle the claim. - RBW
File: Hud114
===
NAME: Hungry Fox, A: see The Fox and the Grapes (File: GC479a)
===
NAME: Hungry Hash House
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a boarder and I dwell in that second-rate hotel. If I stay here long, I think I'll go insane...." "Well, she promised she would meet me when the clock struck seventeen...." "She's my darling, she's my daisy. She's hump-backed and she's crazy...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes home disease nonballad nonsense madness food
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 478, "The Boarding-House" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 371-373, "The Boardinghouse" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 478)
Sandburg, p. 207, "She Promised She'd Meet Me" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 220-221, "Hungry Hash House" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 74, "Hungry Hash House" (1 text)
Gilbert, pp. 191-192, "The All Go Hungry Hash House" (1 text)
DT, HASHOUSE*
Roud #11719
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Charlie [pseud. for Charlie Craver], "That Old Go Hungry Hash House" (Vocalion 5401, 1930)
Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers, "All Go Hungry Hash House" (Victor 21758, 1928)
Charley Blake, "Hungry Hash House" (Supertone 9534, 1929)
Cofer Brothers, "All Go Hungry Hash House" (OKeh 45099, 1927)
Bill Cox, "Hungry Hash House Blues" (Champion 15792, 1929)
Uncle Dave Macon, "All Go Hungry Hash House" (Vocalion 15076, 1925)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Hungry Hash House" (on NLCR13)
Charlie Poole & the North Carolina Ramblers, "Hungry Hash House" (Columbia 15160-D, 1927; Velvet Tone 2492-V/Clarion 5432-C [both as Pete Harrison & his Bayou Boys], 1932; rec. 1926; on CPoole03)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "The Old Go Hungry Hash House" (Okeh 45062, 1926); "All Go Hungry Hash House" (Victor 20237, 1926); [Ernest Stoneman &] The Dixie Mountaineers, "All Go Hungry Hash House" (Edison, unissued, 1927) (Edison 52350, 1928) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5528, 1928)
Gordon Tanner, Smokey Joe Miller & Uncle John Patterson, "Lonesome Hungry Hash House" (on DownYonder)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
cf. "Sara Jane" (tune, floating lyrics)
NOTES: The verse "She's my darling, she's my daisy, She's humpbacked and she's crazy... She's my freckled-faced consumptive Mary Ann" floats (e.g. Charlie Poole uses it in his version of "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago (Bragging Song)"), and it also appears in "Sara Jane." Paul Stamler thinks that the most likely source, so we are now, somewhat tentatively, listing lose citations of that verse there unless we can determine their source. - RBW
File: San207
===
NAME: Hungry Hash House Blues: see Hungry Hash House (File: San207)
===
NAME: Hunt the Buffalo: see Shoot the Buffalo (File: R523)
===
NAME: Hunt the Squirrel
DESCRIPTION: "Hunt the squirrel through the wood, I lost him, I found him; I have a little dog at home, He won't bite you, He won't bite you, And he *will* bite you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: playparty animal hunting dog
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Linscott, pp. 37-38, "Lucy Locket" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 806, "Hunt the Squirrel (Itisket, Itasket)" (1 text)
ST BAF806 (Full)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Atisket, Atasket (I Sent a Letter to My Love)" (floating lyrics, playparty form)
NOTES: Botkin, following Newell, lumps this with "Atisket, Atasket." There is, however, little contact in the lyrics; if they are connected, it is because both are used as platforms for the "drop glove" playparty game. For details, see the notes on "Atisket, Atasket (I Sent a Letter to My Love)."
Linscott has still a different version, opening with the verse "Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it, There was not a penny in it, only ribbon 'round it." This also occurs in nursery rhymes (see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #279, p. 165, "(Lucy Locket lost her pocket)"). But the second verse is the "I wrote a letter to my love," and the third is "I have a little dog at home" -- plus she says the game is "Hunt the Squirrel." So I file the piece here. Possibly it should be with "Atisket, Atasket (I Sent a Letter to My Love)." Or maybe the two should be lumped.... - RBW
Verse 1 of Linscott is the same as Opie-Oxford2 312, "Lucy Locket" (earliest date in Opie-Oxford2 is 1842). - BS
This is also the name of an English country dance. - PJS
File: BAF806
===
NAME: Hunt the Wren
DESCRIPTION: "Let's go to the wood, said Robin-the-Bobbin, Let's go to the wood, said Richard to Robin. Let's go to... said John Tullane, Let's go to... said everyone." They hunt, kill, and eat the wren, and argue over disposing of the body
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1744 (Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, Volume II)
KEYWORDS: wren hunting foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord),Wales) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Kennedy 78, "Helg yn Dreean [Hunt the Wren]" (1 Manx Gaelic text+translation, 1 tune, plus fragments and a text of "The Cutty Wren" in the notes)
LPound-ABS, 117, pp. 235-236, "Let's Go to the Woods" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 230-233, "Let's Go to the Woods or The Hunting of the Wren" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 447, "We will go to the wood, says Robin to Bobbin" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #29, p. 41-44, "(We will go to the Wood)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 16, "The Hunting of the Wren" (1 text)
DT, HNTWRN2 HUNWREN2
Roud #236
RECORDINGS:
Jack Elliott, "Billy the Bob" (on Elliotts01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wren (The King)" (subject)
cf. "Billy Barlow" (form)
cf. "Cricketty Wee" (form)
cf. "The Cutty Wren" (form, subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Robin-the-Bobbin
NOTES: Many have identified this song with "Billy Barlow," "Cricketty Wee," or (especially) "The Cutty Wren," but while the form is similar, and in the latter case even the subject is the same, the plot is distinct enough that the Index splits them.
In some cases, e.g. the Kennedy text, I'll admit this is doubtful, but some of the Digital Tradition texts are more distinct, and even pick up pieces of "The Wren (The King)." In another Digital Tradition text (HNTWRN2), the plot doesn't even involve a wren; it's just a bunch of kids(?) finding a bird's next; that one seems to have some "Billy Barlow" in its ancestry (or, more likely, the reverse).
For a little information, and a lot of speculation, on the history of wrenning, see the notes to "The Wren (The King)." - RBW
File: K078
===
NAME: Hunter from Kentucky, A: see The Hunters of Kentucky [Laws A25] (File: LA25)
===
NAME: Hunter's Log Camp: see Burns's Log Camp (File: Doe217)
===
NAME: Hunters of Kentucky, The [Laws A25]
DESCRIPTION: The hunters of Kentucky are praised and offered as a specimen based on their performance at the Battle of New Orleans
AUTHOR: Samuel Woodworth
EARLIEST_DATE: 1822 (published 1826)
KEYWORDS: war patriotic bragging
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulsed Pakenham's force; the British commander is killed in the battle.
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws A25, "The Hunters of Kentucky"
Belden, pp. 298-299, "The Hunters of Kentucky" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 1 tune, but the "A" fragment and part of "C" is "Pakenham")
Randolph 666, "A Hunter from Kentucky" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Rickaby 40, "The Hunters of Kentucky" (1 text (Woodworth's original) plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 427-429, "The Hunters of Kentucky or Half Horse and Half Alligator" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 113-117, "The Hunters of Kentucky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 163-164, "The Hunters of Kentucky" (1 text)
Arnett, pp. 34-35, "The Hunters of Kentucky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 288, "Hunters of Kentucky" (1 text)
DT 369, HUNTKENT*
Roud #2211
RECORDINGS:
Bob Atcher, "Hunters of Kentucky" (Columbia 50484, 1948; rec. 1947)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of New Orleans" [Laws A7] (subject)
cf. "Pakenham" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Unfortunate Miss Bailey" (tune)
NOTES: Samuel Woodworth's only other noteworthy composition was "The Old Oaken Bucket." His novels and plays are mercifully forgotten.
For a Creole account of this battle, see Courlander-NFM, pp. 167-168 (an untitled piece which appears to be about the Battle of New Orleans).
For the general background of the final campaigns of the War of 1812, see the notes on "The Siege of Plattsburg." For the Battle of New Orleans itself, see The Battle of New Orleans" [Laws A7].
It should probably be noted that the Kentucky and Tennessee militia weren't all that great in themselves; in a series of Indian engagements in 1814, they showed a disastrous tendency to fall apart. Some of them, in fact, were routed at New Orleans -- only to be saved when general Pakenham refused to take advantage of the opening. But Andrew Jackson executed some of the deserters, and managed to tighten discipline. - RBW
File: LA25
===
NAME: Hunting of the Cheviot, The [Child 162]
DESCRIPTION: Percy, Earl of Northumberland, goes deer hunting into Earl Douglas' land of (Cheviot/Chevy Chase), in defiance of a warning from Douglas. In battle they earn each other's respect, but both die, along with many of their men.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy; mentioned in "Wit's End" in 1617 and in the Stationer's Register in 1624)
KEYWORDS: battle hunting death nobility
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1388 - Battle of Otterburn. Scots under Douglas attack England. Although Douglas is killed in the battle, the Scots defeat the English and capture their commander Harry "Hotspur" Percy
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland) US(NE,SE)
REFERENCES: (20 citations)
Child 162, "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (2 texts)
Bronson 162, "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (10 versions)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 20-35+notes on pp. 51-52, "The Ancient Ballad of Chevy Chase"; pp. 249-264, "The More Modern Ballad of Chevy Chace" (sic.) (2 texts) 
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 243-248, "Chevy Chase" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 135-144, "The Hunting of the Cheviot, or Chevy Chase" (1 text, from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition)
Davis-Ballads 34, "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (1 text)
Davis-More 31, pp. 239-244, "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Leach, pp. 446-463, "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (3 texts)
Friedman, p. 276, "Chevy Chase" (1 text, 2 tunes)  {approximating Bronson's #1, #4}
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 1-3, "Chevy Chase" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #6, also from Stokoe's collection but differing in one note}
OBB 128, "Chevy Chase" (1 text)
PBB 71, "Chevy Chase (The Hunting of the Cheviot)" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 105-115+325-327, "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 96, "Chevy Chase (The Hunting of the Cheviot)" (1 text)
TBB 21, "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 93-101, "Chevy Chase" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 43-45, "Chevy Chase" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 90-92, "Chevy Chase" (1 tune, perhaps linked to this piece)
BBI, ZN980, "God prosper long our Noble King"; ZN982, "God prosper long our noble king" (?)
DT 162, CHEVCHAS*
Roud #223
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of Otterburn" (subject)
cf. "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" [Child 73] (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Of Turkey lately I did read/The Patient Wife betrayed; Or, The Lady Elizabeths Tragedy (BBI ZN2124)
Give o'er you rhiming Cavaliers/ Bloody News from Chelmsford (BBI ZN971)
In bloody town of Newberry/...Shuff of Newberry (BBI ZN1413)
In Popish time when Bishops proud/The King and the Bishop ((BBI ZN1452)
In searching ancient chronicles/A pleasant history of a Gentleman in Thracia (BBI ZN1461)
Strange news, strange news, I here have write/..Relation from the Faulcon.. Mr Powel [a ghost] (BBI ZN2405)
Amongst the Forresters of old/The Unfortunate Forrester ...Lord Thomas.. fair Elener (BBI ZN173)
God prosper long our noble King, and send him quickly o'er/Hunting-Match (BBI ZN986)
When as my mind was fully bent/ Bloudy News from Germany (BBI ZN2821)
All you which sober minded are/Terrible News from Branford (BBI ZN155)
All tender hearts that ake to hear/The Spanish Virgin (BBI ZN97)
God prosper long our noble king, His Turks and Germans all/An excellent new Ballad (BBI ZN983)
God hath preserved our Royal King/The Royal Patient Traveller [Charles II] (BBI ZN978)
NOTES: Child opines that this is based on the same events as "The Battle of Otterburn" (Child #161) rather than some other border battle between Percies and Douglases. The historical Henry Percy (Hotspur) fought [and] was captured [by the Scots], but did not in fact die at Otterburn in 1388 or at any other battle with Scots but was instead slain in battle with Henry IV's forces. - KK
In addition, Harry Hotspur was never Earl of Northumberland. His father (the first of five generations of Henry Percys of Northumberland) was the first Earl, and lived until 1408. Hotspur was killed in 1403, and thus never succeeded to the title, although Hotspur's son became the second Earl.
However, none of the various Earls Percy died in battle with the Scots. The first Earl was a traitor against Henry IV; the second (d. 1455) and third (d. 1461) were casualties of the Wars of the Roses, and the fourth was killed by the people of his own Earldom because he had not supported Richard III at Bosworth. (Richard, despite his later reputation, was loved in the north of England for being fair and honest and keeping the Scots away from the borders.) - RBW
File: C162
===
NAME: Hunting of the Wren, The: see Hunt the Wren (File: K078)
===
NAME: Hunting Priest, The (Parson Hogg; Sing Tally Ho!)
DESCRIPTION: The singer will tell of the priest "with constitution strong," who regularly goes out "to 'Tally ho, the hounds, sir.'" He will interrupt anything -- a sermon, a wedding -- when he hears the sound of the hunt.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: clergy hunting
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H222, pp. 29-30, "The Hunting Priest" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1861
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We'll All Go A-Hunting Today" (theme)
NOTES: The thene of gentlemen who prefer hunting to church is an ancient complaint in Britain; "The Mourning of the Hare" is the tale of a creature which is pursued by huntsmen who do not wait for mass; it is thought to date to the fifteenth century. - RBW
File: HHH222
===
NAME: Hunting Seals
DESCRIPTION: "With knife and fork, with kettle and pan, With spoon and mug, and glasses.... For we are swoilers fearless, bold, As we copy from pan to pan, sir." The singer describes hunting seals, facing polar bears, and enticing girls with furs
AUTHOR: probably James Murphy
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Ryan/Small)
KEYWORDS: hunting courting animal
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, p. 133, "Hunting Seals" (1 text, tune referenced)
NOTES: The original manuscript of this lists the tune as "The Rigs O Barley" -- i.e. presumably Burns's "Corn Rigs and Barley Rigs." The verse fits the first four lines of that tune, and the chorus of this fits the last four lines of the verse, but the chorus of "Corn Rigs" has to be omitted. - RBW
File: RySm133
===
NAME: Hunting Tale, A: see The Sally Buck (File: SKE70)
===
NAME: Huntingdon Shore
DESCRIPTION: The singer narrates preparations for a fishing journey to Huntingdon Shore. Conditions aboard and the itinerary are described. They meet girls on Round Island, Labrador but the singer insists that the place can't compare with the Huntingdon Shore.
AUTHOR: Doyle (A fisherman of St. John's and not the editor of the collection)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: fishing work travel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doyle2, p. 23 , "Huntingdon Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 53, "The Huntingdown Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4415
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Huntingdon Shore" (on NFOBlondahl05)
NOTES: Said to have been composed in the 1860s. - SH, RBW
"Young Goodridge," according to Doyle, was a renowned merchant of the time. - SH
Lehr/Best: "The Huntingdown or Huntingdon shore was a fishing area on the Labrador coast." - BS
File: Doy23
===
NAME: Huntingdown Shore, The: see Huntingdon Shore (File: Doy23)
===
NAME: Huntsman's Horn, The
DESCRIPTION: "The sturdy boys from Newton and the boys from College Land" hunt hare in Kilnacran. The hounds are named as well as the landmarks passed. At least two hare are killed. A health to Ned Crudden and Comely who "did bring the cup to old Loughgar"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1980 (recording, Big John Maguire)
KEYWORDS: death hunting animal dog horse moniker Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #12920
RECORDINGS:
Big John Maguire, "The Huntsman's Horn" (on Voice18)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fair of Rosslea" (subject: competitive hare hunt from the huntsman's point of view)
cf. "Killafole Boasters" (subject: competitive hare hunt from the huntsman's point of view) and references there
NOTES: The hunt takes place in the area around Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. - BS
File: RcHuntHo
===
NAME: Hurling Down the Pine: see The Lumber Camp Song (File: Doe210)
===
NAME: Huron Carol, The (Jesous Ahatonhia)
DESCRIPTION: The Christmas story in Indian terms: "'Twas in the moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled That mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead. Before their light the stars grew dim, and wand'ring hunters heard the hymn...."
AUTHOR: Father Jean de Brebeuf (English text by J. E. Middleton, 1926)
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1642
KEYWORDS: Christmas Jesus religious Indians(Am.)
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1634 - the Jesuit Jean de Brebeuf leads the first missionary party to evangelize by living among the Hurons
1639 - Father Jemore Lalemant founds the mission of Ste-Marie.
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 130-132, "The Huron Carol (Jesous Ahatonia)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 29-31, "The Huron Carol" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Une Jeune Pucelle" ("A Young Maiden") (tune)
NOTES: Having been unable to teach the Indians old Catholic hymns, Father Brebeuf created this song for the Hurons in 1641 or 1642 (long after the first permanent missions to the Hurons were created in 1625). They sang it every Christmas until 1648, when the Hurons were attacked by Iroquois (the Hurons had by then been badly weakened by the white man's diseases).
In a twist of irony, few Hurons showed to that time had shown any interest in Catholicism; Catholic ways were very different, the French themselves brought disease, and often they looked down on native ways.
To an exent, the Iroquois attack changed that. The Iroquois set out starting in 1645 to destroy all their neigbours (which they would succeed in doing by 1655); the Huron were the 1648 victims.
This caused some Hurons to turn Catholic. The Iroquois were winning with the white man's weapons; perhaps the Hurons thought the white man's religion might answer. But it was too late; Huronia was destroyed in 1649. (A severe blow to the French settlement, which was closely allied to the Hurons.)
Father Jean de Brebeuf and Father Gabriel Lalemant (the nephew of Jerome Lalemant of Ste.-Marie), the leading spirits of the Jesuit missions, refusing to flee to safety, were captured, tortured, and killed. (We should note that they were *not* tortured for their faith; the Iroquois simply tortured captives as part of a policy of terror.)
Even then, the song continued to be sung in Huron circles; it was collected by another Jesuit, Father de Villeneuve, and was translated into French (as "Jesus est ne") as well as English.
"Gitchi Manitou" -- in other Algonquian-language-family traditions, Keeche Keeche Manitou -- is "The Great, great Spirit... the master of life... [who] leaves the human race to their own conduct, but has placed all other living things under the care of [lesser] Manitos" (from the notes of the early explorer David Thompson, though he was writing of the Cree, not the Huron; the Huron language is part of the Iroquoian family, which is not Algonquian, so there appears to be some cultural contamination here). - RBW
File: FJ130
===
NAME: Hurrah for Baffin's Bay
DESCRIPTION: Nonsense song. Ch: "Avast belay, Hurrah for Baffin's Bay! We couldn't find the pole, because the barber moved away. The boat was cold we thought we'd get the grip so the painter put three coats, upon the ship! Hip, hip! Hip, hip! Hurrah for Baffin's Bay!"
AUTHOR: Theodore F. Morse/Music: Vincent Bryan
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Broadway "Wizard of Oz")
KEYWORDS: sailor nonsense nonballad humorous
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 230-231, "Baffin's Bay" (1 text)
Roud #9157
NOTES: From the 1903 Broadway production of "The Wizard of Oz." It was performed by the comedy team of Fred A. Stone and David C. Montgomery (and may have been written with them in mind). - SL
At the time this was written, the quest for the Pole was looking much like the quest for the Northwest Passage fifty years earlier, or the quest to climb Mount Everest forty or fifty years later: Lots of attempts, little luck -- and the prospects for success rather poor.
It's interesting to note that the serious quest for the North Pole began relatively late; people had been seeking the Northwest Passage for years before they really started looking for the Pole. (For background on the quest for the Passage, see the notes to "Lady Franklin's Lament (The Sailor's Dream)" [Laws K9].) Indeed, the first two serious Northward Nuts (Elisha Kent Kane and Charles Francis Hall) started their careers searching for Franklin. Charles Francis Hall managed to bring home some Franklin artifacts and tales, as well as relics from Frobisher's very first Northwest Passage quest -- but he also started a ridiculous story that Franklin's second-in-command Crozier was still alive as late as 1860.
The Pole expeditions never produced the casualties that the Franklin expedition did -- but only because no one was willing to send so many men.
The first fairly modern attempts to reach the pole were made in the early nineteenth century by the British Navy. The first, in 1818, was commanded by David Buchan in the _Dorothea_, with John Franklin in the _Trent_ as his second-in-command. The goal was to go forward by ship, but they made it only about to the north end of Spitsbergen. They gave up after a long summer; their ships much battered but with the crews intact (Fleming-Barrow, pp. 52-55. For references, see the Bibliography at the end of this note).
The second naval attempt, in 1827, was made by William Edward Parry, the Admiralty's darling boy for his near-conquest of the Northwest Passage in 1819. This time, the ship _Hecla_ was only to take them to Spitzbergen; from there they would proceed with sledges and small boats. They quickly discovered that the polar ice was not smooth, so the sledges were slow, and that the ice had a southward drift. The expedition set a new record for "Farthest North" that would stand for half a century (Fleming-Barrow, pp. 239-240), but finally had to return.
That ended naval attempts at exploration; there just wasn't the money for more expeditions with such feeble results. When polar exploration resumed, it was largely done by amateurs, who found amazing ways to get in trouble.
It probably didn't help that, where the Northwest Passage expeditions were led by sober men like Parry and Franklin, many North Pole expeditions were organized by fruitcakes like Elisha Kent Kane, who had little contact with reality. Iin the expedition he commanded, he faced multiple near-mutinies, ended up eating rats, and finally lost his ship (Berton, pp. 250-258, 273-295). His problems may even have been genetic; reading histories of the Mormons, I find that his brother Thomas Leiper Kane was also given to wild plans, grandiose notions, and illnesses that sound psychosomatic. (T. L. Kane was not an explorer, but he mediated between the U. S. Government and the Mormons, and later became a Civil War general, with limited success.)
Charles Francis Hall had no relevant training (he was an engraver who had run a no-account newspaper in Cincinnati) and was given to prophetic dreams, quarrels with everyone, and perhaps a mild case of bipolar disorder; on an earlier expedition, he had murdererd one of his crew, but was never prosecuted because no one could figure out which jurisdiction the case fell under.
Robert Peary, who came later, wasn't given to visions, but he was secretive to the point of paranoia, and so obsessed that he refused to have his toes treated for frostbite on one expedition. He ended up losing eight toes -- and being forced to stop anyway; see Berton, p. 525. Fleming-North, p. 284, calls him "probably the most unpleasant man in the annals of polar exploration," noting that in his youth he liked to trip his grandfather just to see the old man fall down.
The Pole really did seem to lure people who were in it for the glory. This was utterly unlike the Northwest Passage expeditions, which had strong scientific components (John Franklin's _Journey to the Polar Sea_, for instance, which describes his disastrous 1819 expedition, notes that he was instructed to "register the temperature of the air at least three times in every twenty-four hours; together with the state of the wind and weather an any other meteorological phenomena. That I should not neglect any opportunity of observing and noting down the dip and variation of the magnetic needle, and the intensity of the magnetic force; and should take particular notice whether any, and what kind or degree of, influence the Aurora Borealis might exert on the magnetic needle..." and so forth. See the introduction to Franklin's work, p. 28 in the 2000 Brassey edition with introduction by James P. Delgado). Peary's sole goal, by contrast, was to reach the Pole. So strong was Peary's obsession that, when he heard of other attempts, he gave orders to his subordinates to automatically discount them -- see Henderson, p. 210.
Hall's third expedition, 1871-1873, in the ship _Polaris_, shows how badly a polar expedition could fail: They made an incredible push northward, heading up Baffin Bay to the Kane Basin between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, then continuing up the Kennedy Channel to reach the north shore of Greenland at the place now called Hall Basin.
But the expedition crew by then was in near-total disarray, with a drunken ship's captain and a rebellious scientific staff; the goofy Hall unable to exert control. In November 1871, Hall died. Almost a century later (1968), Chauncey Loomis led an expedition that excavated his grave -- and found he had been poisoned with arsenic. (Unlike the Franklin Poisoned By Lead theory, this doesn't seem to have been questioned, though it's not clear if it was murder or accident. For the story, see Loomis, especially the epilogue starting on p. 303, which describes the trip to conduct the Hall autopsy. A shorter summary can be found in Berton, pp. 390-394. A third vivid account is found in Fleming-North,  pp. 138-141. In Berton and Fleming, the pages before and after describe the horrid plight of the crew on the expedition, giving rather more detail than Loomis, who devotes most of his work to Hall himself.) Most of the other members of the expedition eventually made it home, but the _Polaris_ was lost and the crew suffered extreme privations.
The 1879-1882 expedition of the _Jeannette_ was as bad. Lincoln R. Payne's _Ships of the World_ (entry on the _Jeanette)_ tells of how the former H.M.S. _Pandora_ was sold to U. S. Navy Lt. George W. de Long. The ship was renamed for the sister of James Gordon Bennett, editor of the _New York Herald_, which had earlier sent reporter Henry M. Stanley into Africa to find Dr. Livingstone (Guttridge-Ice, p. 21) and who had also sent a reporter on de Long's one previous arctic expedition, to search for the _Polaris_ (Guttridge-Ice, p. 14). Bennett loved to publish exploration stories, so he decided to fund a new polar venture. At least, he promised to fund it. In practice, he demanded that de Long keep the cost under control, causing a lot of dangerous corner-cutting (Guttridge-Ice, pp. 41-44, etc.) The ship's boilers were inefficient, she had divided objectives, she didn't acquire a tender until the last minute, and she really wasn't designed to withstand the ice. Some changes were made before she sailed, including strengthening of the sides -- but certainly not enough (Guttridge-Ice, pp. 55-56).
The ship's voyage begam on July 8, 1879 (Guttridge-Ice, p. 2). On August 28, 1879, _Jeannette_ set out through the Bering Straight, to try to reach the Pole from western Canada. (They were seeking the alleged open Polar Sea, even though the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey determined in that year that such a sea almost certainly did not exist.; Guttridge-Ice, p. 80).
After numerous delays for this and that, the _Jeannette_ finally headed through the Bering Strait. It was late in the year, and coal was relatively low (de Long was rather profligate with fuel; he had  gone through too much on the _Polaris_ rescue mission and had used it up at a prodigious rate pushing toward the arctic; Guttridge-Ice, pp. 15, 63), but de Long didn't hesitate; he tried to make it as far north as possible even after the ice started to close in (Guttridge-Ice, pp. 80-81). He made little northward progress, and within days, the ship was trapped in the ice (Guttridge-Ice, p. 83).
It wasn't long before the ship sprung the first of several leaks (Guttridge-Ice, p. 114); it took all the ingenuity of chief engineer George Melville to rig enough pumps to keep the ship afloat (Guttridge-Ice, pp. 115-128, etc.) -- and even with all his exertions, much of the ship was flooded and many supplies destroyed, plus, until Melville managed a wind-powered pump, they were burning irreplaceable coal. And they were trapped in a trap they would never escape. They could perhaps have tried to escape to Wrangel Island (which, until then, had been known as "Wrangel Land," because it wasn't until de Long passed north of it that it was demonstrated to be an island). They had sighted it just before they became trapped (Guttridge-Ice, pp. 79-81), and it would still have been within reach. But de Long wasn't ready to abandon ship for an unexplored island; not yet. (And, though he couldn't know it, Wrangel Island would prove very inhospitable for the crew of the _Karluk_ thirty years later; see the notes to "Captain Bob Bartlett." Of course, de Long would have had his expedition in better shape than Bartlett had he abandoned immediately.)
The next summer, when they hoped to get free of the pack, they were able to make some repairs (Guttridge-Ice, p. 133 and following), but the ice had carried them north; it never quite thawed enough to let them loose. By the summer of 1881, they were passing north of the New Siberian Islands, several of which they had discovered and named (Guttridge-Ice, pp. 157-158). In June 1881, the ice finally destroyed the _Jeannette_ (Guttridge-Ice, p. 163). The islands nearby were far too cold and small to support them; the crew sledged painfully over the ice, then upon reaching open water set out for home in three smaller boats they had hauled with them (Guttridge-Ice, pp. 185-190). Fleming-North, pp.  221-229, tells how they were separated. One boat simply vanished. Two landed near the outlet of the Lena river in Siberia, but not together. The crew led by engineer Melville managed to survive. De Long and his party starved to death.
The story of Andrew Greely's party, which set out shortly after the _Jeanette_ went missing, was similar. Greely and his party of 25 was sent to explore northern Ellesmere Island, gathering scientific data and perhaps making a run for the pole. They were supposed to stay several years, with supplies arriving in summer. They were ill-equipped for the task; it was mostly an army signal corps expedition, and few men had arctic experience (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 7).
Even though the expedition had to sail north to their base at Lady Franklin Bay, was little inter-service cooperation (Greely had boats, but no navy men; apart from one former seaman and a sergeant brought upon Cape Breton, no one even knew how to manage a boat! -- Berton, p. 459). Greely had a congressional appropriation, but it was too small and long-delayed; it was nearly impossible for Greely to acquire the supplies he needed with the money he had available (Guttridge-Sabine, pp. 39-47). He had a hard time finding the officers and specialists he needed. Finally, on deadline, the party set out despite not really being ready.
It didn't take long for trouble to arise. Greely had a strange notion of discipline (reading Guttridge-Sabine, pp. 117-118, and other passages, he seems to have been the sort who felt that forcing people to obey silly and arbitrary orders promoted military order; Berton, p. 437, calls him a martinet and humorless -- very bad for an expedition in the arctic, where initiative is key). He sacked his second in command (Guttridge-Sabine, pp. 64-66) almost the moment the expedition arrived at its destination, then (p. 118) started taking duties away from the doctor/naturalist. When trouble came, he was in a position where he had no intelligent subordinates whose advice he could trust.
The first supply ship, which was supposed to arrive in 1882, never showed up; the army bureaucracy in effect placed all the arrangements in the hands of a private, who was given conflicting orders and had no useful experience (Guttridge-Sabine, pp. 92-97); the ship he chartered was blocked by ice, and he gave up after caching a bare handful of the supplies he had brought (Guttridge-Sabine, pp. 100-101). Not long after, the private would die of a drug overdose (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 203).
The next year's supply expedition was bigger -- it included the _Proteus_, which had brought the expedition north in the first place, and the naval vessel _Yantic_ -- but the _Yantic_ was neither fitted nor supplied for the ice (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 130), and the _Proteus_ ended up "nipped"; she sank with most of her supplies (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 138). Plagued by indiscipline in the transport's crew (her excellent complement of two years earlier having been replaced by a different and more mutinous bunch; see e.g. Guttridge-Sabin p. 139), it took some effort just to get the relief expedition home; they left no supplies (Guttridge-Sabin, pp. 144-146).
After two years without contact, Greely decided to abandon Fort Conger, the base on northern Ellesmere. This was written into his instructions: If he hadn't been resupplied by September 1, 1883, he would depart. After 721 days at their base, Greely decided to leave just a little early, on August 9 (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 152; Berton, p. 448). Greely can hardly be blamed; while there was still sufficient food for at least another year, the men were unhappy (especially with him, as it would prove), and travel in the arctic winter was never easy.
What followed showed the disastrous effects of inadequate planning; Greely did not really know what course to take, and made assorted errors along the way. He took too many records and equipment (which could always have been recovered from Fort Conger at a later date) and too few rations. Plus, being the nut case he was, he insisted on hauling along his heavy dress uniform (Berton, p. 458). Had everything gone exactly as planned, he had just enough food to get to where he was going (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 157)
But nothing ever goes according to plan in the arctic. The engineer in charge of keeping the motorboat's engine running was an alcoholic, and Greely couldn't keep him sober (Berton, p. 459; Guttridge-Sabine, p. 158, 162, etc.). Greely eventually decided to take passage on an ice floe, leading the rest of the edition to discuss mutiny (Berton, p.. 460; Guttridge-Sabine, p. 163-164). Greely himself fell in the water, and though he was rescued, many of the party thought he should have been left to drown (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 164). His failed planning caused one of the boats to be destroyed (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 173). Even his most reliable sergeant described this part of the trip as "madness" (Guttridge-Sabine, pp. 198-199). The map on Guttridge-Sabine, p. 213 shows how the ice  drove them around the Kane Basin as they tried to get to the island of Cape Sabine; twice they came within sight of it only to have the ice turn them around).
As all this went on, the _Yantic_ headed south on September 15 (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 171), and the war department determined not to send further help (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 184).
They came ashore south of their destination at Cape Sabine, with sone of the men starting to become ill from their ordeal (Berton, p. 462). They moved on to that point, but they were abandoned, and had perhaps three months' worth of food to last the entire arctic winter (Berton, pp. 463-464). They built a shelter that was more cave than hut (25 feet long, 18 wide, but only 5 feet high; Guttridge-Sabine, p. 222), and basically prepared for rescue or death. (They hoped at first to be able to sledge to the Greenland side, but the ice, for once, never closed over the passage, and they were too debilitated to try the remaining boats; Guttridge-Sabine, p. 239).
By New Year's, the doctor was amputating a soldier's foot and fingers due to frostbite (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 226). They had lived at Fort Conger for two years without scurvy, but now, with little fresh food, the traces began to appear; when the first man died on January 18, 1884, it was of a mix of scurvy and starvation (Guttridge-Sabine, p. 234; Berton, p. 469).
Ironically, Greely, a failure until this point, managed to be a good fairly leader at this time (Berton, p. 472), rationing the food and keeping the the men relatively sane (Berton, pp. 467). But they slowly died off due to malnutrition. There were several instances where men stole food (Berton, pp. 467, 470, 473, etc.); in the end, they had to execute the worst thief, who had enlisted under an assumed name to hide his history (Berton, p. 475; Guttridge-Sabine, p. 272, notes that he was not really given a trial, simply shot -- though he admits that, in the circumstances, the formality of a court-martial "was out of the question."). On the last day before rescue, when the tent by the burial plot (to which they had moved their base, Guttridge-Sabine, p. 266) fell in, no one was strong enough to put it up again. And it was later shown that someone had engaged in cannibalism (Berton, pp. 484-485). It was probably the doctor, since it was skillfully done and ceased at about the time he died (none of the men who died after him had any flesh removed), but -- Guttridge-Sabine, pp. 271, 275, offers a few cryptic hints that others might have been involved.
By early June, the deaths were happening almost daily, and the survivors had no strength left to bury the corpses; the last one was simply pushed out into the snow. When they were finally rescued in the fourth week of the month, only seven men were still alive, and one of them was the man who had had his feet amputated; he would soon after die of his injuries, leaving only six. Out of 25 who had set out. Apparently only two were still relatively mobile when found. Greely was the only officer to live.
A constant theme, from exploratory party after exploratory party, is men who went out of control. Some of this, no doubt, is commanders who didn't know how to command (even Peary was a civil engineer, not a line officer). But I wonder a little about seasonal affective disorder. In any case, in 1903, the quest for the pole was, if anything, in worse shape than the quest for the Passage had been when Franklin set out.
No wonder, then, that the repeated Polar expeditions became the subject of mirth: What sane person would risk what the explorers had been through? Besides, there were all the mad inventor types the quest encouraged: Peary was mailed ideas for building a wooden tunnel to the pole, for building a pipe to transport hot soup, and to fire himself to the pole by cannon (Henderson, p. 185; compare Fleming-North, p. 353).
In 1904, in fact, Peary founded the Peary Arctic Club with the declared mission of "altering... public opinion so that existing prejudice against Arctic work would be lessened" (Henderson, p. 159).
The following list shows key dates in the quest for the North Pole (adapted from Berton, p. 637 and following). Note that the Pole was not reached until 1908 at the earliest, five years after this song was performed -- and it was probably much later. The first person we are certain saw the North Pole was Roald Amundsen and the crew of the dirigible _Norge_, which flew over the pole in 1926, days after Robert Byrd tried (and probably failed) to reach the Pole by plane.
1818 - David Buchan's expedition from Spitzbergen (two ships, the other commanded by Lt. John Franklin)
1827 - William Edward Parry's expedition from Spitzbergen passes the latitude of 82 degrees N
1860-1861 - An American expedition under Isaac Hayes seeks (and naturally fails to find) the "Open Polar Sea"; it also produces some hideously inaccurate maps  (Berton, pp. 353-364; Fleming-North, pp. 61-78)
1871-1873 - North Pole expedition of the _Polaris_ (Hall's third northward expedition, but the first devoted to the Pole rather than Franklin), which features the death of Hall and the stranding of half his crew; see description above
1875-1876 - British naval expedition under George Nares. This was to be the last try by the British navy, and it does briefly set a new Farthest North record -- but scurvy, which the Admiralty thought it had solved, forces the expedition home a year early (Berton, pp. 413-429; Fleming-North, pp. 161-186)
1879-1882 - _Jeannette_ expedition, described above. All told, 20 out of 33 involved die.
1881-1884 - Adolphus Greely explores Ellesmere Island and his team sets a new "farthest north" record, but only six of 25 survive (due mostly to American government errors), and at least one man was guilty of cannibalism
1886 - Robert Peary fails to cross Greenland (crossing Greenland  may not sound like a big deal, but the island is all glacier; there is no life at all for hunters to harvest, and the Inuit wouldn't go near the interior. Had Peary succeeded, it would have been a testimony to his techniques; also, there was at the time a hope that Greenland might provide a route to the Pole). Peary also claims to chart shoreline later shown not to exist
1888 - Fridtjof Nansen crosses Greenland
1891-1892 - Another Peary expedition to Greenland. He doesn't chart any more territory -- and makes off with sacred and irreplaceable Inuit artifacts which he sells entirely for his own profit. Later he will lure six Inuit back to "civilization" where they will become the victims of "scientific" experimentation; all will die young, and it will be decades before their bones are returned north for burial
1893-1895 - Nansen, using a new type of boat (the _Fram_) and later sledges, sets a new Farthest North but does not reach the pole
1897 - Salomon Andree tries and fails to reach the pole by balloon. He and his crew make it back to the uninhabited islands of Franz Joseph Land but die there; their bodies are not discovered for more than thirty years
1898-1902 - Another Peary expedition fails -- this time leaving Peary with damaged feet
1899-1900 - Abruzzi expedition sets another Farthest North record but doesn't approach the Pole
1901-1902 - Ziegler/Baldwin expedition from Norway fails to reach the pole
1903-1905 - Ziegler/Fiala expedition, again from Norway, fails with the loss of the ship _America_
1905-1906 - Peary fails again
1908-1909 - Peary claims to reach the Pole (April 6, 1909). So does Dr. Frederick Albert Cook (April 21, 1908).
Examination of the incomplete records of Cook and Peary makes it unlikely that either ever made the Pole -- but Peary saw to it that Cook's instruments and many of his records were lost, making it impossible for him to offer proper evidence for his claims. In addition, Edward Barrill, who had accompanied Cook on an expedition up Mt. McKinley, released a report claiming Cook never made the summit (Henderson, pp. 267-269, offers evidence that the account was made up after the fact and that Barrill was paid by Peary supporters to concoct it, but Fleming-North, p. 386, offers evidence that Cook's description doesn't match reality). With Cook's claim definitely unprovable, and with his reputation damanged, Peary's equally unprovable claim was accepted almost by default (for details on this, see the notes to "Captain Bob Bartlett").
Of the authorities I checked, Henderson thinks Cook made it and Peary may have. Berton thinks neither did (though Berton, whose general policy is to consider everyone a disreputable idiot, does make the observation that, though Peary didn't reach the Pole, he came closer than anyone else to go there solely by muscle power, without support from aircraft, and returning under his own power; see p. 624.) Fleming thinks he didn't but doesn't see why it matters (a view more meaningful in hindsight: We now know there is no land under the pole, so there is no real distinction between 88 or 89 or 90 degrees north. But Peary *didn't* know that, and he wasn't doing science anyway). The National Geographic Society initially accepted Peary's claim -- after all, they had supported his expedition; in fact they never really tested his data. Later they would admit this fact --  but the eighth edition of their World Atlas (no copyright date but released after 2000) still lists him as the first to reach the pole. The 1972 edition of_Webster's Geographical Dictionary_ did not mention Peary and says the Pole was first crossed by foot and dogsled 1968-1969, though the 1998 edition credits Peary with reaching the Pole while admitting the claim is disputed.
At this time, the matter probably cannot be settled. My observation, though, would be that we don't let athletes who use steroids earn credit for winning races. Why shouldn't Peary be held to the same standard? Did he reach the Pole? Maybe. Did he lie (to the Inuit), cheat (Bartlett, whom he had promised to take to the Pole) and steal (from the Inuit and from Cook)? Yes. His behavior should disallow his claim.
>>*BIBLIOGRAPHY*<<:
In writing this summary, in addition to the standard references, I have consulted the following works, of varying quality.
A classic  is Pierre Berton's _The Arctic Grail_ (Viking, 1988), which covers nearly the entire history of Northwest Passage and Polar explanation, though its harsh descriptions of failures make little allowance for hindsight.
Fergus Fleming, _Barrow's Boys_, (Grove Press, 1998; cited as Fleming-Barrow). A general-purpose book about exploratory expeditions by the British Navy from about 1816 to 1846, only the handful of chapters on polar exploration are of interest here.
Fergus Fleming, _Ninety Degrees North_, (Grove Press, 2001; cited as Fleming-North) is a history of northward exploration starting roughly at the time the search for Franklin ended (and hence a semi-sequel to Fleming-Barrow). This pays particular attention to expeditions not mounted from Britain or the U. S. Although less negative than Berton, it does give much of its attention to the ways the various expeditions failed.
Leonard F. Guttridge, _Icebound_ (Naval Institute Press, 1986; I used the 2001 Berkeley edition. Cited as Guttridge-Ice) is specific to the _Jeannette_ expedition. The ending is a bit confusing -- he spends a lot of time considering who should bear the blame, then never assigns any! -- but it's a readable reference on this sad, largely avoidable disaster.
Leonard F. Guttridge, _Ghosts of Cape Sabine: The Harrowing True Story of the Greely Expedition_ (Berkley, 2000. Cited as Guttridge-Sabine) is Guttridge's account of the Greely disaster. Like his book on the _Jeannette_, it is specific to that one event, and shares many of the strengths and weaknesses of his earlier book.
Bruce Henderson, _True North_ (Norton, 2005) is devoted almost entirely to the explorations of Cook and Peary, approaching the status of biography of the two. Its only real purpose appears to be to vindicate Cook (which it would do better if it didn't whitewash over so much of the evidence against him), but it has much useful detail about the final phases of Peary's quest also.
Chauncey Loomis, _Weird and Tragic Shores: The Story of Charles Francis Hall, Explorer_ (Modern Library edition, with a new afterword, published 2000) is more a life of Hall than a story of arctic exploration, but it inevitably details the early stages of his last voyage -- and of the inquiry that followed. - RBW
File: Harl230
===
NAME: Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah!
DESCRIPTION: German shanty. Sailors arrive in David street in Hamburg where they can buy girls for five pennies. Song enumerates various girls and their attributes. The sailors spend all the money and go back to sea.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty sailor whore sex money
FOUND_IN: Germany
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 138-140, "Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah!" (2 texts-German & English, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Wat Wi Doht
David Straat
File: Hugi138
===
NAME: Hurrah, Lie!: see Martin Said To His Man (File: WB022)
===
NAME: Hurrah, Sing Fare Ye Well
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "We're bound away to Callyo, Hurrah sing fare ye well. Oh fare ye well, me Liverpool gal, Hurrah sing fare ye well." Verses have vague courting, whoring, and sailing themes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty separation farewell
FOUND_IN: US Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 119-120 "Hurrah, Sing Fare Ye Well" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 102-103]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Goodbye, Sing Fare You Well
Fare Ye Well
My Bonnie Young Girl
File: Hugi119
===
NAME: Hurry Up, Harry: see The Lumber Camp Song (File: Doe210)
===
NAME: Husband Lamenting the Death of the Wife, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come, my dear friends, and mourn with me In my afflicted state. I am bereaved, as you may see, Of my dear loving mate." He tells his grief, notes how the children miss their mother, and says it is God's will
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Belden), from a diary of the Civil War era
KEYWORDS: husband wife death loneliness orphan
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, p. 467, "The Husband Lamenting the Death of the Wife" (1 text)
Roud #7957
File: Beld467B
===
NAME: Husband With No Courage In Him, The: see My Husband's Got No Courage in Him (File: K213)
===
NAME: Husband-man and the Servant-man, The: see The  Husbandman and the Servingman (File: K226)
===
NAME: Husband's Departure, The
DESCRIPTION: The husband prepares to go to war against the south. His wife tries to dissuade him. He says she would not respect him if he were a coward. He finally convinced her and departs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: husband wife battle Civilwar dialog
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 378-39, "The Husband's Departure" (1 text)
Roud #7761
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rolling Stone" [Laws B25] (form, lyrics)
NOTES: Sort of a cross between "The Rolling Stone" (which Belden lists as a probable source) and Lovelace's "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars." - RBW
File: Beld378
===
NAME: Husband's Dream, The: see The Drunkard's Dream (I) (File: R307)
===
NAME: Husbandman and the Servingman, The
DESCRIPTION: A husbandman and a servingman meet and discuss their occupations. The servant describes all the rich people he associates with; the husbandman details the pleasure of a good season in the fields. The servingman wishes he had chosen the other occupation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1843 (Broadwood)
KEYWORDS: work dialog farming servant
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 226, "The Husband-man and the Servant-man" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 282-283, "Paul's Steeple, or I Am the Duke of Norfolk" (1 tune, partial text, said by Kennedy to be this piece)
DT, HUSBSERV
Roud #873
RECORDINGS:
Mummers from Symondsbury, "The Symondsbury & Eype Mummer's Play & The Singing of the Travels"  (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741, FSB9)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Farmer and the Shanty Boy" (plot)
cf. "The Plooman Laddie" (theme)
cf. "Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me)" (theme)
cf. "Buttercup Joe" (subject, a few phrases)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Singing of the Travels
NOTES: Kennedy claims that Chappell's piece "I Am the Duke of Norfolk" is this tune. This overstates the case -- Chappell's tune is similar but not identical in the tenor line. And neither tune is the one I know. "I Am the Duke of Norfolk" is, however, a popular tune; it is cited many times in the Broadside Ballad Index (ZN338, ZN1208, ZN1839, ZN2168, ZN2570, ZN2671, ZN2955). - RBW
File: K226
===
NAME: Hush Alee
DESCRIPTION: "I sit up all night with the fire burning bright, While rocking my baby to sleep, Singing, 'Hush a-le la lee, hush a-lo lee, Your daddy will come by and by, So close your eyes and go to sleep, Your dear mother she is tired, Singing hush alee..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: lullaby nonballad father mother
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H591b, p. 6, "Hush Alee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 343, "Hush, Little Babbie" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HUSHALEE*
Roud #2158
NOTES: It's far from certain that these songs are the same. Kennedy, who knew the Henry collection, did not equate them, speculating instead that "Hush, Little Babbie" came from a Gaelic original.
But both the Kennedy and Henry texts are from Northern Ireland, and they share lines and somewhat similar choruses. I decided to equate them.
The text cited in the description is from Henry. Kennedy's version has a curious floating segment, "Where are you going, my old man, Where are you going, my honey?" - RBW
File: HHH591b
===
NAME: Hush You (The Black Douglas)
DESCRIPTION: "Hush you, hush you, Little pet you, Hush you, hush you, Dinna fret you, The Black Douglas Shall not get you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: lullaby
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 137, "(Hush you, hush you)" (1 text)
NOTES: Whether this is a traditional song I do not know -- but it's old enough to have folklore about it. Unfortunately, I don't remember the source, but the tale went as follows:
A singer, high in a castle, was singing "The Black Douglas shall not get you" to her bairn, when Douglas, who was raiding the castle and had come up behind her, announced, "I'm not so sure of that."
Probably too good to be true, to be sure.
The Douglas family arose to prominence in the reign of Robert I Bruce (King of Scotland 1306-1329); Sir James Douglas (died 1330) was Bruce's right-hand man, and I seem to recall one version of the above story in which he was the Douglas involved.
But James Douglas was not a "Black Douglas"; at the time, there was but the one Douglas family. His descendants became Earls of Douglas. It was the second Earl, another James, who died young at Otterburn (for which see "The Hunting of the Cheviot [Child 162]"). He had no direct heir, so the Douglas family split into Red and Black branches.
The Black Douglases were the stronger -- indeed, they were the strongest family in Scotland, probably stronger than the King. For half a century, they were a constant menace, until James II killed William Douglas (the eighth earl) in 1452. His brother James succeeded as ninth earl, but was driven into exile a few years later, and the Douglases were finally broken.
Thus this piece, if real, would have to date from between 1388 and 1455. Probably it comes from the earlier end of that period, in the period of the most intense border wars -- which were not really battles between England and Scotland; like Otterburn, they were between the Percies of Northumbria and the Douglases of Lothian. - RBW
File: MSNR137
===
NAME: Hush-a-Bye, Baby
DESCRIPTION: The singer is forty-five with a young wife who "loves to go out on a spree" leaving him to watch the baby. One night he goes out for a stroll while the baby is sleeping and "my dear wife I spied hugging a soldier sixteen"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: infidelity marriage baby wife
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leach-Labrador 115, "Hush-a-Bye, Baby" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab115 (Full)
Roud #9971
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)" (theme)
cf. "Unhappy Jeremiah (The Brats of Jeremiah)" (plot)
File: LLab115
===
NAME: Hush-a-bye, Baby, On The Tree Top: see Rock-A-Bye Baby (File: Wa190)
===
NAME: Hush-a-Bye, Don't You Cry: see All the Pretty Little Horses (File: LxU002)
===
NAME: Hush-oh-bye Baby
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a woman with her three children on a sleeting night. She say her husband, a farmer, was killed in town by a gang. She spent all she had to bury him and was put on the road when she could not pay rent. She and the babies die of the cold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1974 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: poverty burial death children mother husband storm
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 54, "Hush-oh-bye Baby" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best, "Hush-o-bye Baby" (on NFABest01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Three Perished in the Snow" [Laws G32] (plot)
NOTES: In the song the couple are said to live "in a place they called Newton Perry." Newton Perry is a sector of Limerick City, County Limerick, Ireland (source: inforing Ireland Gateway site). Lehr/Best (viz., Anita Best): "This is no doubt a song which originated in Ireland where, in the nineteenth century, evictions of poor tenant farmers unable to pay rent was extremely common." - BS
File: LeBe054
===
NAME: Hush, Honey, Hush: see Go Slow, Boys (Banjo Pickin') (File: R278)
===
NAME: Hush, Little Babbie: see Hush Alee (File: HHH591b)
===
NAME: Hush, Little Baby
DESCRIPTION: "Hush little baby, don't say a word, Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird won't sing. Papa's gonna buy you...." And so forth, through many objects, ending "And if that () won't (), you'll still be the prettiest little baby in town."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: lullaby bird commerce gift
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Randolph 359, "Mamma, Mamma, Have You Heard?" (1 short text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
BrownII 196, "Swapping Songs" (4 text plus 2 excerpts, with most texts being "The Swapping Boy," but "E" and "F" are this song)
SharpAp 234, "The Mocking Bird" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Peacock, p. 15, "Lullaby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #558, p. 228, "(Hush, little baby, don't say a word)"
Scott-BoA, p. 164, "Hush, Little Baby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 61, "Hush, Little Baby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 224-225, "Mockingbird" (1 text, with some unusual verses; the ending may be a parody)
Silber-FSWB, p. 409, "Hush Little Baby" (1 text)
DT, HUSHLIL*
Roud #470
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Say, Darling, Say" (lyrics, tune)
cf. "Mamma's Goin' to Buy Him a Little Lap Dog (Come Up Horsie)" (theme, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Mockingbird Song
Papa's Going to Buy Me a Mockingbird
NOTES: An Ozark version of this song ends "If that lookin-glass doesn't shine, Papa's going to shoot that beau of mine!" -- referring to a belief that mirrors only shone for chaste women.
Although this particular song seems to have become popular only recently, the form with progressive items is old; Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784), for instance, has a poem beginning
A man of words and not of deeds
Is like a garden full of weeds;
And when the weeds begin to grow,
It's like a garden full of snow;
And when the snow begins to fall,
It's like a bird upon the wall....
(For this poem, see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #75, p. 81; also in Talley's _Negro Folk Rhymes_). - RBW
File: SBoA164
===
NAME: Hush, Little Baby (II): see Jesus Done Taken My Drifting Hand (File: Br3580)
===
NAME: Hushabye (I): see All the Pretty Little Horses (File: LxU002)
===
NAME: Hut that's Upside Down, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer has travelled many places, but now is "anchored hard and fast in the hut that's upside down." He describes the wild behaviors there -- gambling, frantic shearing, and watching the cook beat a brownie or dance a highland fling
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: rambling sheep Australia cook
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 58-59, "The Hut that's Upside Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Thought to refer to a shed in Big Burrawang in New South Wales. Meredith and Anderson report that this shed was "so big that a wooden tramway ran around it to move the wool." - RBW
File: MA058
===
NAME: I Ain't A-Gonna Work a No Mo'!
DESCRIPTION: "I ain't a-gonna work a no mo'! (x2), Done an' work-ed till my hands got sore. I ain't a-gonna work a no mo!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 242, "I Ain't A-Gonna Work a No Mo'!" (1 short text)
File: Br3242
===
NAME: I Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More: see Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More (File: R300)
===
NAME: I Ain't Got Nobody: see Took My Gal a-Walkin' (File: RcTMGAW)
===
NAME: I Ain't Got Time to Tarry: see Don't Get Weary Children (Massa Had a Yellow Gal) (File: BAF904)
===
NAME: I Am a Brisk Young Sprightly Lad
DESCRIPTION: "I am a brisk and sprightly lad, But just come home from sea, sire... A sailor's life for me, sir." "Yeo, yeo, yeo, Whilst the bosun pipes all hands With a yeo, yeo, yeo!" The sailor loves foreign ports, and promises to fight for the nation when attacked
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: sailor battle money
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 138, "I Am a Brisk and Sprightly Lad" (1 text)
NOTES: This is another of those sea-poems Shay seems to have dug up somewhere; I have not found it elsewhere.
The boast about each man "hasten[ing] to his guns" would surely have sounded very strange to the sailors who fought in the Napoleonic wars -- it is estimated that half of the men in Nelson's fleet were impressed, and more were quota men. - RBW.
File: ShaSS138
===
NAME: I Am a Done-Up Man
DESCRIPTION: "I am a done-up (hic) man, You'll agree with me ev'ry one (hic), Tis true I've seen the bright side of (hic) life (hic), But now I'm a poor old bum (hic)." The drunkard believes that, when he dies, Heaven turn him out, and Satan will reject him too
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink death devil
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 406, "I Am a Done-Up Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7683
File: R406
===
NAME: I Am a Girl of Constant Sorrow: see Girl of Constant Sorrow (File: FSWB128B)
===
NAME: I Am a Great Complainer
DESCRIPTION: "I am a great complainer, that bears the name of Christ... I feel my faith declining...." The singer calls on Christ to repair (his) wavering faith and help (him) in (his) stumbling in a fast-moving world: "I am so full of folly, and have no time to pray"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1848 (Hesperian Harp)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 647, "I Am a Great Complainer" (1 text)
Roud #7568
File: R647
===
NAME: I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow: see Man of Constant Sorrow (File: CSW113)
===
NAME: I Am a Newfoundlander
DESCRIPTION: "I am a Newfoundlander, I go out to the ice. I'm always in the best of ships.... The man I wish to sail with is Captain Harry Dawe." The Adventure sets out in 1906 and takes 20,000 seal. The singer tells of the voyage, the crew, and an injured Irishman
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Ryan/Small)
KEYWORDS: ship hunting moniker injury doctor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, pp. 89-90, "I Am a Newfoundlander" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Pride of Logy Bay" (tune)
File: RySm089
===
NAME: I Am a Pilgrim
DESCRIPTION: "I am a pilgrim and a stranger Traveling through this wearisome land, I have a home in yonder city, And it's not made, not made by hand."  The singer's family has gone before; the singer hopes to be made whole
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (recording, Imperial Quartet)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 353, "I Am A Pilgrim" (1 text)
DT, IAMPLGRM*
RECORDINGS:
Imperial Quartet, "I'm a Pilgrim, I'm a Stranger" (Victor 18199, 1917)
Silver Leaf Quartet, "I Am A Pilgrim" (OKeh 8594/ARC 6-12-63/Vocalion 04395, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Tossed and Driven (The Poor Pilgrim)"
NOTES: The Digital Tradition lists this as by Merle Travis. The Folksinger's Wordbook doesn't list an author. I haven't a clue -- but there are a lot of traditional lines in here. - RBW
I think the 1917 recording effectively washes out the claim of Merle Travis as sole author, although he certainly put the song into the form in which it's most commonly sung today. Sam Hinton learned a version in his childhood which is probably closer to the 1917 version than to Travis's. - PJS
File: FSWB353B
===
NAME: I Am a Pretty Wench
DESCRIPTION: "I am a pretty wench, And I come a great way hence, And sweethearts I can get none: But every dirty sow Can get sweethearts enow, And I, pretty wench, can get never a one."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1784 (Gammer Gurton's Garland)
KEYWORDS: oldmaid
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #82, p. 84, "(I am a pretty wench)"
cf. Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 84, "The Ploughman" (1 text, 1 tune, not this song as printed, but the notes reveal that the informant's version began with a verse of this)
Roud #2538
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Condescencing Lass
Pretty Wench
File: BGMG082
===
NAME: I Am a Rich Widow: see The Rich Widow (File: Lins019)
===
NAME: I Am a River Driver: see The River-Driver's Lament (I Am a River Driver) (File: FowL69)
===
NAME: I Am a Union Woman
DESCRIPTION: The singer proclaims, "I am a union woman, Just as brave as I can be... And the bosses don't like me." She tells all to "join the C.I.O./N.M.U." She is called a Red and shot at for her activities; her husband denied work; but she still supports the union
AUTHOR: Words: Aunt Molly Jackson/Music: Traditional
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930s (recorded by author)
KEYWORDS: work unemployment labor-movement
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Arnett, pp. 174-175, "I Am a Union Woman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 269-270, "I Am a Union Woman" (1 text)
Roud #16050
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "Join the C.I.O." (on NLCR09)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Which Side Are You On?" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Join the N. M. U.
Join the C. I. O.
NOTES: The radical National Miners' Union (N.M.U.) attempted to organize miners in the 1930s, but were defeated by the mine owners after bitter and bloody conflicts. The United Mine Workers of America (U.M.W.), part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (C.I.O.) succeeded a few years later, again after terrible struggle. The song was rewritten [it is based on "Which Side Are You On" - DGE] to suit the new organizing drive.
The note from DGE states that this was based on, "Which Side Are You On?," but this song may predate it. Both were based on a traditional hymn tune. - PJS
File: Arn174
===
NAME: I Am a Wee Laddie, Hard, Hard Is My Fate: see Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)
===
NAME: I Am a Wild Young Irish Boy [Laws L19]
DESCRIPTION: The Irish convict, trained as a sailor, flees the farm where he has been sent. He turns outlaw, but never robs the poor or kills without cause. Trapped by the police, he kills five and escapes. Only when he is dying does he let the police be tipped off
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959
KEYWORDS: sailor outlaw fight escape death
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws L19, "I Am a Wild Young Irish Boy"
Doerflinger, pp. 270-272, "I Am a Wild Young Irish Boy' (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 573, YNGIRSHB
Roud #1907
File: LL19
===
NAME: I Am a Young Maiden (If I Were a Blackbird)
DESCRIPTION: The girl has been courted by a sailor, but now is deserted. She wishes she were a blackbird so she could follow her love. She tells of how her parents' dislike caused her to love him the more. He promised to buy her ribbons, but now has left her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection); c.1920 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: separation courting love floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Ireland Canada(Newf) Britain(England(Lond),Scotland)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
FSCatskills 38, "I Am a Young Maiden" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H79, pp. 428-429, "If I Were A Blackbird" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 46, "If I Was a Blackbird" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 170-171, "If I Was a Blackbird" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 31, "If I Was a Blackbird" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Blondahl, p. 119, "If I Were a Blackbird" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, (IFBLKBRD -- apparently a reworking of the song from a man's perspective) IFBLKBR2*
Roud #387
RECORDINGS:
Diddy Cook, "The Blackbird" (on Voice15)
Blanche Wood, "I'm a Young Bonnie Lassie" (on FSB1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wagoner's Lad" (lyrics)
NOTES: Although this song is composed entirely of floating lyrics -- from "The Wagoner's Lad," "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be" and others -- this combination is sufficiently widespread that it must be considered a song in its own right - RBW
File: FSC38
===
NAME: I Am Bound for the Promised Land: see Bound for the Promised Land (File: LxU099)
===
NAME: I Am Gaun to the Garret
DESCRIPTION: "My mither has three butter platies. Platies? Ay, platies... And she's nae ither dochters but me. But I maun gang tae the garret... Since there's nae bonnie laddie for me." After lamenting her fate, she at last reports that she is to marry a miller
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: oldmaid courting dowry beauty marriage miller
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 58, "I Am Gaun to the Garret" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #818
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wonder When I Shall Be Married" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: This is fundamentally the same song as "I Wonder When I Shall Be Married," and both very possibly derive from a broadside "The Maiden's Sad Complaint for Want of a Husband." But this version ends with the girl getting married, and the other with her still an old maid. That's a sufficient change in the plot that I list the two separately, but there is clearly overlap. Roud unsurprisingly lumps them. - RBW
File: Ord058
===
NAME: I Am Going to Heaven
DESCRIPTION: "I am going to Heaven (x3), (To see/I and) the bleeding lamb." "Come, my loving father, And don't you want to go? Come go with me to glory To see the bleeding lamb." Similarly with mother, brother(s), sister(s)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 534, "I Am Going to Heaven" (1 text)
Roud #11873
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Religion Is the Best of All" (lyrics)
File: Br3534
===
NAME: I Am Going Where the Blood Flows Stronger
DESCRIPTION: "I am going where the blood flows stronger (x2), Way over in the promised land." "I wonder where is my dear old mother?" "Who will rise and go to my father?" "I know those angels are having a good time, Eating of honey and drinking of wine."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad wine
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 582, "I Am Going Where the Blood Flows Stronger" (1 text, with irregular lyrics that strongly hint two songs were combined)
Roud #11898
File: Br3582
===
NAME: I Am Growing Old and Gray
DESCRIPTION: The old man laments, "I am growing old and gray ev'ry year," and laments his loss of sexual power, as well as the ability to hold liquor. The women "ask for much more" every year, but he can no longer supply it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: sex age bawdy
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 53-54, "I Am Growing Old and Gray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10140
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" (tune) and reference there
cf. "When I Was Young and in My Prime" (theme)
File: EM053
===
NAME: I Am Napoleon Bonaparte: see Napoleon's Farewell to Paris (File: GC089)
===
NAME: I Am On My Way: see Jacob's Ladder (I) (File: CW190A)
===
NAME: I Am Sold and Going to Georgia
DESCRIPTION: "O! When shall we poor souls be free? When shall these slavery chains be broken? I am sold and going to Georgia, Will go go along with me." The singer has lost his wife and child. He bids farewell, and says, "Go sound the jubilee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: slavery travel separation family
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 95-96, "I Am Sold and Going to Georgia" (1 text)
NOTES: Greenway, for some reason, is convinced that this is of white origin. I suppose it is possible, but it clearly refers to the plight of the Black slave. - RBW
File: Grnw095
===
NAME: I Am Standing in the Shoes of John
DESCRIPTION: "I am standing in the shoes of John (x2), I am standing, I am standing, I am standing in the shoes of John." "If they fit me, I will wear them on...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad clothes
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 589, "I Am Standing in the Shoes of John" (1 short text)
Roud #11837
NOTES: There is, of course, no Biblical reason to think that there was anything special about the shoes of either John the Baptist (who said he wasn't even worthy to untie Jesus's shoes) or John the Apostle. The reference is probably to the John of the Apocalypse anyway. - RBW
File: Br3589
===
NAME: I Am the Duke of Norfolk: see references under The Husbandman and the Servingman (File: K226)
===
NAME: I am the Master (Dusty Bluebells)
DESCRIPTION: Singing game: "In and out those dusty bluebells (x3), I am the master. Tip a little apple on my shoulder (x3), I am the master." "Tippety, tappety, on your shoulder (x3), I am the master"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H48a, p. 10, "I Am the Master" (1 text, 1 tune)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 79, "(In and out the dusty bluebells)" (1 text)
Roud #734
NOTES: Roud classifies this as a version of "In and Out the Window/Marching Round the Levee." I would say the "I am the master" line makes them distinct. - RBW
File: HHH048a
===
NAME: I Am Waiting on the Levee
DESCRIPTION: "I am waitin' on the levee, Waitin' for the steamboat to come down, I hope she's loaded pretty heavy, I hope she's loaded to the ground. I think I hear her whistle blowin'... It must be the Natchez or the Robert Lee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: racing ship river
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jun 30, 1870 - Race between the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee.
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, pp. 57-58, "I Am Waitin' on the Levee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10019
NOTES: The Natchez, built 1869, and the Lee, built 1866, were regular competitors on the Natchez/New Orleans run. In 1870, the two captains agreed to a race.
It wasn't an equal contest, though -- the Natchez (thought by many to have been the slightly faster boat) took an ordinary load of passengers and cargo; the Lee was stripped for the race and drove through a fogbank. The Lee won the race by seven hours -- six of which the Natchez spent waiting out the fog to protect her passengers' safety.
The race was famed in popular folklore (see, for instance, Botkin's Mississippi River Folklore, pp. 58-61), but it didn't really set any records; it was just a straight race. And, interestingly, true folk songs about it are rare. Wheeler's is the first I've encountered to mention it, and it's only a fragment; the real subject might be something else. - RBW
File: MWhee057
===
NAME: I Ask that Gal
DESCRIPTION: When the singer asks her to give him some, she tells him to wait until the 'taters are done. He can't wait, and forces himself on her, only to lament "the 'taters got burnt an' so did I."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex disease lament
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 133-134, "I Ask that Gal" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #11500
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Frog Went A-Courtin'" (tune)
NOTES: Sung to the melody of "Frog Went A-Courtin'." - EC
This instinctively reminds me of the story of King Alfred and the Cakes. But it's not the same story, and I would be shocked at any evidence of literary dependence. - RBW
File: RL133
===
NAME: I Been a Miner: see Take This Hammer (File: FR383)
===
NAME: I Believe This Dear Old Bible
DESCRIPTION: Sundry Bible stories told briefly and linked by the refrain, "I believe this dear old Bible from beginning to the end." Sample: "I believe that Father Adam was the first created man."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 648, "I Believe This Dear Old Bible" (1 fragment)
Roud #7569
File: R648
===
NAME: I Belong to that Band
DESCRIPTION: "I never saw the like since I been born, People keep coming and the train done gone." "I belong to that band, Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, I belong to that band, Hallelujah." "Some come crippled and some come lame." "Clouds look heavy...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses train disability
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 583, "I Belong to that Band" (1 text); also 624, "Old Satan's Mad" (5 texts, of which the short "A" text is probably "Free at Last"; "B" is a variation on "Down By the Riverside (Study War No More)"; "C" has the "Old Satan's Mad" stanza but a "climbing Zion's walls" chorus; D" is an unidentifiable fragment perhaps related to "I Belong to that Band; and "E" is also a fragment, perhaps of "Free At Last")
Chappell-FSRA 87, "O I Believe in Jesus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11900
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ten Stone" (lyric)
File: Br3583
===
NAME: I Bid You Goodnight (The Christian's Good-Night)
DESCRIPTION: Funeral hymn/spiritual, recognized by the chorus line, "And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight." The hymn form describes a farewell and the afterlife. Other versions encourage repentance or sound almost like a lullaby
AUTHOR: F. A. and J. E. Sankey (?) Sarah Doudney?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Lonnie McIntorsh)
KEYWORDS: death funeral religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US Britain(England(North)) Bahamas
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, BIDGNITE
ST DTbidgni (Full)
Roud #15632
RECORDINGS:
Men from Andros Island, "I Bid You Goodnight" (on LomaxCD1822-2)
Five Gospel Souls [pseud. for the Five Soul Stirrers] "Sleep On Darling Mother" (Ebony 137, rec. 1945)
Lonnie McIntorsh, "Sleep On, Mother, Sleep On" (Victor 21271, 1928)
Mound City Jubilee Quartette, "Sleep On, Darling Mother" (Decca 7158, 1936; rec. 1935)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, "Sleep On, Darling Mother" (Decca 8657, 1944; rec. 1943)
Lena Thompson, Lucy Scott, & Lucy Smith, "Sleep On" (on VaWork)
NOTES: This song has an incredibly tangled history. Bob Bovee tells me that he found a 78 of this song: "It's by Lonnie McIntorsh with the title 'Sleep On, Mother, Sleep On' (Victor 21271). He's [a] black gospel singer with guitar recorded in Memphis in 1928."
The Sankey Brothers version of the song appeared in the Cokesbury Worship Hymnal in 1928.
In 1936, Hazel Felleman's _The Best Loved Poems of the American People_ (pp. 342-343) lists a version as by Sarah Doudney. (Perhaps Doudney wrote the lyrics, with the Sankeys adding a tune?)
And then there is the recording by Joseph Spence, with what amounts to only a single verse, applied to different relatives. It's hardly even the same song.
This hymn thoroughly deserves a detailed research project. Did the Sankeys write it, or just adapt it? Which versions of the song are traditional, and where? Did Spence create his version, or did it exist before him? I can't answer any of these questions from my library. - RBW
Spence's version is quite similar to another, collected in the Bahamas in 1935 by Alan Lomax; both include traditional Bahamian "rhyming" -- improvised verses over a sung or chanted background. And to another, found in Virginia in 1980 among crabpickers, who sang it as they worked.
It's also found in Yorkshire, and interestingly enough it is used there as a lowering-down song at funerals, just as it is in the Bahamas. - PJS
File: DTbidgni
===
NAME: I Binged Avree
DESCRIPTION: Travellers' cant. Singer meets two men in a North Scotland lodging house. They get drunk and start a fight; he hits one, then flees. He buys an accordion with the money he has begged and goes to Ireland. He meets two Tinkers who ask why he left Scotland
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (recorded from Davie Stewart)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Travellers' cant. Singer takes to the road, heads for northern Scotland, far from home, where he meets two men in a lodging house. They get drunk and start a fight; he hits one, then flees. He goes into a music shop and buys an accordion with the money he has begged; he gets tea and two shillings from a woman whose man is away at work. She tells him he'd best get away; he goes to Ireland. There he meets two Irish Tinkers who ask why he left Scotland
KEYWORDS: homesickness fight violence rambling travel music Ireland Scotland foreignlanguage Gypsy
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 344, "I Binged Avree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2159
File: K344
===
NAME: I Bless the Lord, I'm Born to Die
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "I bless the Lord, I'm born to die; Keep me from sinkin' down; I'm gwine to jedgment bye an' bye, Keep me from sinkin' down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 13, (no title) (1 fragment)
File: ScaNF013
===
NAME: I Bought Me a Rooster: see I Had a Little Rooster (Farmyard Song) (File: R352)
===
NAME: I Bought Myself a Cock: see I Had a Little Rooster (Farmyard Song) (File: R352)
===
NAME: I Can Forgive But Not Forget (Sweetheart, Farewell)
DESCRIPTION: "Sweetheart, farewell; at last we part. I leave you with an aching heart." The singer tells how (her?) lover scorned her. She says she loves him yet; "I can forgive but not forget." She thinks his false friends may prove untrue, and he will remember her. 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love separation betrayal nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 166, "Farewell, Sweetheart" (1 text)
Roud #6579
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Forget You I Never May" (theme)
File: BrII166
===
NAME: I Can't Feel At Home In This World Any More: see This World Is Not My Home (File: Wa135)
===
NAME: I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the life of a rambler, commenting "I can't help but wonder where I'm bound." He sees worried people everywhere, he misses his former girlfriend and his buddy; he advises people who have homes to stay there
AUTHOR: Tom Paxton
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: rambling home
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 52, "I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound" (1 text)
DT, WHERBOND*
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound
Can't Help But Wonder
NOTES: Obviously this isn't a traditional song, and it probably never will become one. On the other hand, it has been sung so widely by pop/folk singers (themselves ramblers, and so perhaps unusually sympathetic to the song) that I have seen a number of bluegrass sources list it as traditional. It may be that the song belongs in the Index just to refute that claim. - RBW
File: FSWB052
===
NAME: I Cannot Call Her Mother (The Marriage Rite is Over; The Stepmother)
DESCRIPTION: "The marriage rite is over," and the children have seen their father take a new wife. Their mother's picture is replaced by the pretty new girl's. The child "could not call her mother." She calls herself an orphan; "God gave us but one mother."
AUTHOR: Henry Harrison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (date of composition)
KEYWORDS: family marriage mother father children stepmother orphan
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 726, "The Stepmother" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 79, "I Cannot Call Her Mother" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 298-299, "I Can Not Call Her Mother" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "The Stepmother" (source notes only)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 201-202, "(The Stepmother)" (1 short text)
ST R726 (Partial)
Roud #2091
RECORDINGS:
Bradley Kincaid, "I Cannot Call Her Mother" (Supertone 9565, 1929; Champion 15968, 1930 [as Dan Hughey])
[Roy Harvey and the] North Carolina Ramblers  "I Cannot Call Her Mother" (Silvertone 5181 [as The Three Kentucky Serenaders], 1927; Supertone 9246/Silvertone 8147, 1928)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "I Cannot Call Her Mother" (Columbia 15307-D, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blind Child" (theme)
File: R726
===
NAME: I Catch-a Da Plenty of Feesh
DESCRIPTION: "I sail over the ocean blue, I catch-a da plenty of feesh; The rain come down like hell, And the wind blow through my wheesk. Oh, Marian, my good compan, O Viva le Garibaldi! Viva, viva, viva l'Italiane!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: sailor work patriotic
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 409, "I Catch-a Da Plenty of Feesh" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Garibaldi was, of course, the soldier who (in a military sense) was most responsible for the unification of Italy. The mention presumably dates the song to the period around 1861 when Cavour (sometimes helped, and sometimes hindered, by Garibaldi) was unifying Italy under the Piedmont dynasty. - RBW
File: San409
===
NAME: I Come from Salem City: see Oh California (File: ShaSS114)
===
NAME: I Come Up Put uv Egypt: see Balm in Gilead (File: FSWB360A)
===
NAME: I Could'n Live Bedout de Flowers
DESCRIPTION: About southern living habits. "I could'n live bedout de flowers Ur fdat sweet magnolia tree. I could'n sleep where de mockin' bird Could'n sing he song to me." The singer claims he would "pine an' die on Boston beans, 'Caze possum is what we eat."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food home nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 442, "I Could'n Live Bedout de Flowers" (1 text)
Roud #11781
NOTES: The editors of Brown say this is of minstrel origin, and it seems likely enough.
File: Br3442
===
NAME: I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray
DESCRIPTION: "Couldn't hear nobody pray, I couldn't hear nobody pray, Well, way down yonder by myself I couldn't hear nobody pray." "In the valley... On my knees... Callin' Jesus... So lonesome... In the mornin'... In the evenin'...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (recording, Fisk University Jubilee Quartette)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 246, "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 351, "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (1 text)
Roud #11949
RECORDINGS:
Emory University Glee Club, "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (Victor 20594, 1927)
Fisk University Jubilee Quartette, "I Couldn't Hear Nobody" (Victor 16448, 1909)
Fisk University Jubilee Singers, "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (Columbia A-1932, 1916); "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (on Fisk01)
Four Blues, "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (DeLuxe 1003, 1945)
Paramount Jubilee Singers, "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (Paramount 12070, 1923)
Southern Four, "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (Edison 50885, 1921)
Vaughan Quartet, "Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (Vaughan 300, n.d.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wreck on the Highway" (words)
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Wreck on the Highway," which uses a similar phrase in its chorus. -PJS
File: LoF247
===
NAME: I Died My Petticoat Red: see Shule Agra (Shool Aroo[n], Buttermilk Hill, Johnny's Gone for a Soldier) (File: R107)
===
NAME: I Do Love Sugar in My Coffee O: see Sugar in My Coffee (File: R565A)
===
NAME: I Do Wonder Is My Mother on That Train
DESCRIPTION: "I do wonder is my mother on that train (x2). Train is a-comin' roun' de curve, an' she's strainin' ever' nerve, I do wonder...." Sinners are told of the arrival of the train in heaven and told they should behave better.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious train nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 586, "I Do Wonder Is My Mother on That Train" (1 text)
Roud #11902
File: Br3586
===
NAME: I Don't Care If I Do: see I Don't Mind If I Do (File: MA263)
===
NAME: I Don't Know When Old Death's Gwine ter Call Me
DESCRIPTION: "I don't know when old death's gwine ter call me, He's ridin' every day. He don' let nobody stay. My heart is full of sorrow, my eyes is full of tears, Old death is gwine ter call me 'fore many more years."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 590, "I Don't Know When Old Death's Gwine ter Call Me" (1 fragment)
Roud #11903
NOTES: Although the editors of Brown list this among the religious songs, and it certainly *could* be one of those laments-on-death-but-I'll-wait-for-Jesus type songs -- but there is no indication of such in the actual text. - RBW
File: Br3590
===
NAME: I Don't Like a Nigger
DESCRIPTION: "I don't like a nigger, I'll be dinged if I do. Feet's so big Till he can't wear a shoe. Head like a hay-stack, Mouth like a frog's; Eats more bread than Forty Bull-dogs. Got de glory and honor! Praise de Jesus, to my dyin' land!...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Black(s) discrimination Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 484, "I Don't Like a Nigger" (1 text)
Roud #11866
NOTES: For some reason, the notes in Brown equate this with "I Don't Like No Railroad Man." I wonder if this isn't an error -- "I Don't Like No Railroad Man" is much more like "Don't Like a Rich White Man Nohow," which occurs a few entries earlier in Brown. This may be a white man's answer to the latter complaint -- but if so, it is a clearly inferior product. As well as much less justified. - RBW
File: Br3484
===
NAME: I Don't Like No Railroad Man
DESCRIPTION: "I don't like no railroad man, Railroad man he'll kill you if he can, I don't like no railroad man." "I don't like no railroad boss, Railroad boss got a head like a hoss...." "I don't like no railroad fool, Railroad fool got a head like a mule...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: railroading nonballad floatingverses discrimination Black(s)
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sandburg, p. 326, "I Don't Like No Railroad Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 481, "Don't Like a Rich White Man Nohow" (1 short text)
Roud #11802 and 11865
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The similarity in lyrics between the Brown and Sandburg versions clearly make them the same, though Brown's is a clear reminiscence of the bitter era in the American South after the Civil War, when Jim Crow laws made life miserable for Blacks. The Brown lyrics are much more explicit:
Don't like a rich white man nohow (x2),
Head like a hoss, and he tries to be de boss,
An' I don't like a rich white man nohow.
Don't like a poor white man nohow (x2),
Head like a mule, an' he tries to act a fool....
An' I don't like a poor white man nohow.
The resulting texts, though almost entirely the same in form, have completely different feelings. I have to suspect Sandburg's text is a cleaned up version -- but it too is seemingly early, and it was indexed first, so I retain its title. - RBW
File: San326
===
NAME: I Don't Love Nobody
DESCRIPTION: "I love a nobody, nobody loves me, Ain't gonna get married, Live single and free, They're after my money, ain't after me, I love a nobody, nobody love me."
AUTHOR: original version by Lew Sully
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1896 (sheet music published)
KEYWORDS: love money
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 782, "I Love a Nobody" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 384-385, "I Love a Nobody" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 782)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 229, (no title) (1 fragment, possibly of this)
Roud #7414
RECORDINGS:
Elizabeth Cotten, "I Don't Love Nobody" (on Cotten01)
George Gaskin, "I Don't Love Nobody" (Berliner 928Z/0928Z, 1896)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers "I Don't Love Nobody" (OKeh 45101, 1927)
Poplin Family, "I Don't Want to Get Married" (on Poplin01)
Riley Puckett "I Don't Love Nobody" (Columbia 150-D, 1924)
Hoke Rice & his Gang, "I Don't Love Nobody" (Brunswick 482, 1930)
Doc Roberts "I Don't Love Nobody" (Perfect 12929/Conqueror 8239, 1933)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers "I Don't Love Nobody" (Columbia 15123-D,  1927; rec. 1926)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Don't Want to Get Married
Duplin County Blues
I Ain't Got Nobody
NOTES: Paul Stamler points out that this was a "popular string ragtime song in the 1920s," but I don't know whether that is the immediate source of Randolph's version, which was collected around that time.
Cohen speculates that this is derived from Lew Sully's 1899 song "I Don't Love Nobody," while admitting that that in turn may have been a reworking of something else. - RBW
And the date on the George Gaskin recording suggests it may have been. The chorus is often all that remains of the original, which was a "coon song." - PJS
File: R782
===
NAME: I Don't Love Old Satan
DESCRIPTION: "I don't love old Satan, Old Satan don't love me, And under the circumstances, Me and old Satan don't agree." "I'se gwine to Mount de Zion, My beautiful home." "I stepped in de water, And the water was cold; Got a free body, And I want a free soul."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Devil nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 584, "I Don't Love Old Satan" (1 text plus an excerpt from 1 more, both from the same informant); also 595, "I'se Gwine Land on Dat Shore" (1 text, with a "I'se gwine land on dat shore" chorus, but not long enough to classify with anything else)
Roud #11899
File: Br3584
===
NAME: I Don't Mind If I Do
DESCRIPTION: Various reminiscences about courting, all ending with something like, "Bedad, then, says I, I don't mind if I do." The singer comes courting, enters the house, takes a drink, kisses the girl, learns she has a dowry, and marries her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1885 (broadside Bodleian, Harding B 11(2164))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 263-264, "Oh, Bedad Then, Says I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 268-269, "I Don't Care If I Do" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 106-107,252, "Pat Murphy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 97-99, "Pat Murphy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #847
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2164), "Joe Muggins"/"I Don't Care If I Do," ("If you listen to me I will sing you a song"), unknown (London), 1863-1885
File: MA263
===
NAME: I Don't Sing Like I Used to Sing
DESCRIPTION: "I don't sing like I used to sing, Jesus done changed, changed, changed Dis heart o' mine (x4). Jesus done changed this heart of mine." Similarly, "I don't pray like I used to pray," and also shout, talk, walk, moan, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 585, "I Don't Sing Like I Used to Sing" (1 text)
Roud #11901
File: Br3585
===
NAME: I Don't Want to Be a Gambler
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I don't want to be a gambler, An' I'll tell you the reason why, My Lord, sittin' in his Kingdom, Got his eyes on me, God got his eyes on me...." "Oh, I don't want to be a lawyer, An' I'll tell you the reason why" "Oh, I don't want to be a drunkard"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: religious virtue nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 465, "I Don't Want to Be a Gambler" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: San465
===
NAME: I Don't Want to Join the Army
DESCRIPTION: Rather than join the army, the singer prefers to hang around Picadilly, "living off the earnings of a highborn ly-dee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous soldier
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada US(MW,SW) New Zealand
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 384-386, "I Don't Want to Join the Army" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT, JOINARMY*
Roud #10263
File: EM384
===
NAME: I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard
DESCRIPTION: Two girls were neighbors and close friends until "one day a quarrel came." The one tells the other "You can't play in our yard;" the other replies, "I don't want to play in your yard"; she will be sorry for all the fun she misses. Then they make up
AUTHOR: Words: Philip Wingate / Music: H. W. Petrie
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: youth fight
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 254-256, "I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16802
NOTES: Reported by Spaeth to be "the most popular child's song of the [1890s]" other than the works of Charles K. Harris. - RBW
File: SWM254
===
NAME: I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister
DESCRIPTION: "I don't want your millions, mister; I don't want your diamond ring; All I want is the right to work, Mister; Give me back my job again." The worker describes his toils that made the owner rich. But he doesn't need riches -- just food for his children
AUTHOR: Words: Jim Garland
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938
KEYWORDS: unemployment hardtimes work
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 153, "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 313, "I Don't Want Your Millions Mister" (1 text)
DT, MLLIONMR*
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers , "All I Want" (on Almanac04, PeteSeeger01) 
Pete Seeger , "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister" (on PeteSeeger39)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "East Virginia (Dark Hollow)" (tune & meter)
cf. "Greenback Dollar" (tune & meter)
File: LoF153
===
NAME: I Don't Work for a Living
DESCRIPTION: "I don't work for a living, I get along all right without, I don't toil all day, I suppose it's because I'm not built that way." The singer describes all the things he can accomplish if someone else does the work, and describes his relaxed way of living
AUTHOR: James Mullen & Edward Leroy Freeman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Hobo Jack Turner)
KEYWORDS: work humorous unemployment
FOUND_IN: Australia US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 142-143, "I Don't Work for a Living" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Frank Crumit, "I Don't Work for a Living" (Victor V-40214, 1930)
Walton Dalton, "I Don't Work for a Living" (Perfect 12574, 1930)
Jack Kaufman, "I Don't Work for a Living" (Broadway 8145, n.d. but c. 1930)
Frankie Marvin, "I Don't Work for a Living" (Brunswick 401, 1930);  (Conqueror 7449/Romeo 1145 [both as Frankie Wallace], c. 1930)
Hobo Jack Turner  [pseud. Ernest Hare], "I Don't Work for a Living" (Velvet Tone 2070-V, 1929)
Pete Wiggins, "I Don't Work for a Living" (OKeh 45412/Parlophone [UK] E-6357, 1930)
File: MCB142
===
NAME: I Dream of Jeanie: see Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (File: FSWB249)
===
NAME: I Dreamed Last Night of My True Love: see Locks and Bolts [Laws M13] (File: LM13)
===
NAME: I Dreamed of my True Lover: see Locks and Bolts [Laws M13] (File: LM13)
===
NAME: I Dreamt Last Night of My True Love: see Locks and Bolts [Laws M13] (File: LM13)
===
NAME: I Drew My Ship into the Harbour: see I Will Put My Ship In Order (File: Ord318)
===
NAME: I Dropped the Baby
DESCRIPTION: "I dropped the baby in the dirt, I asked the baby if it hurt, But all the little thing could say was, 'Waa, waa, waa.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1949 (recording, Dorothy Howard)
KEYWORDS: humorous baby
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #14046
RECORDINGS:
Dorothy Howard, "I Dropped the Baby" (on USWarnerColl01)
File: RcIDtBab
===
NAME: I Dyed My Petticoat Red: see Shule Agra (Shool Aroo[n], Buttermilk Hill, Johnny's Gone for a Soldier) (File: R107)
===
NAME: I Fight Mit Sigel
DESCRIPTION: "Dutch dialect" song, describing how a German immigrant came to the United States and worked, apparently with little success, at various occupations. Now he has given it up; "Dey dress me up in soldier clothes To go und fight mit Sigel"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous Civilwar foreigner
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 217, "I Fight Mit Sigel" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune, plus another fragment and tune which might be a chorus)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 210-211, "I Fight Mit Sigel" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 217A)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 222-223, "I Fights Mit Seigle" (1 text)
ST R217 (Partial)
Roud #4867
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
 I Goes to Fight Mit Sigal [sic]
NOTES: Franz Sigel (1824-1902), a German immigrant, was the leading German in the Union armies. His fame and influence brought many Germans to the colors.
Despite having had officer training in Germany, he proved a poor soldier; his performance at Wilson's Creek contributed to the Union's loss of that battle, and his performance at Pea Ridge, though adequate, was hardly exceptional. Transferred to the east after that battle, his troops were badly mauled by "Stonewall" Jackson, and his XI (German) Corps came to be the laughingstock of the Army of the Potomac even before Jackson routed it at Chancellorsville in May 1863.
Sigel had retired from active duty in February of 1863, but his political clout led to him being re-appointed in 1864. Sent to the Shenandoah Valley, his incompetence once again shone through. One wonders if the Germans were as ardent for him in 1864 as they had been in 1861.
Foote: Shelby Foote, _The Civil War: A Narrative_ (Volume I: Fort Sumter to Perryville) (Random House, 1958), reports that the phrase "I fights mit Sigel" was popular after Pea Ridge, during the brief time when people might delude themselves into thinking Sigel was a competent soldier.
Cohen reports that this is a parody of an obscure piece "I Fights Mit Sigel," said to be by Grant P. Robinson and printed in _Songs of the Soldiers_ in 1864. It can also be found in Hazel Felleman's _The Best Loved Poems of the American People_, pp. 439-440.
Roud seems to lump this with a completely unrelated piece, "Why Did They Dig Grandmother's Grave So Deep." - RBW
File: R217
===
NAME: I Fights Mit Seigle: see I Fight Mit Sigel (File: R217)
===
NAME: I Found a Horseshoe
DESCRIPTION: "I found a horseshoe, I found a horseshoe, I picked it up and nailed it to a door. And it was rusty and full of nail holes, Good luck 'twill bring you forevermore." "The man who owned the horse he lives in New York." "The horse... his name was Mike"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: horse nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp. 382-383, "I Found a Horseshoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10077
File: San382
===
NAME: I Gave My Love a Cherry
DESCRIPTION: The singer gave his love "a cherry without a stone... a chicken without a bone," etc. He is asked how these things are possible. The reply: "A cherry when it's blooming, it has no stone," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1430 (British Museum -- Sloane MS. 2593, "I have a yong suster")
KEYWORDS: riddle nonballad love gift
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland) Canada(Mar) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (27 citations)
Bronson (46), 18 versions given as an appendix to "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship"
Randolph 123, "The Four Brothers" (1 text)
BrownII 12, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" (1 text plus mention of another, but it is nothing but riddles and not to be connected with Child #46)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 230-231, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" (1 text with no listed local title; it is nothing but riddles and not to be connected with Child #46)
Eddy 8, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune, with little except the riddles and no sign that it was ever part of the longer ballad) {Bronson's #15}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 299-315, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" (3 texts plus two fragments, 5 tunes; the "I" and II" texts and tunes are "I Gave My Love a Cherry")
Gardner/Chickering 188, "Gifts From Over the Sea" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune) {Bronson's #13}
SharpAp 144, "The Riddle Song" (3 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #7, #6, #5}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 162-163, "I'll Give My Love an Apple" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #2a,2b}
Linscott, pp. 267-269, "Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domini" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 137, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" (2 texts, but only the second belongs with this song)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 136-137, "I'll Give My Love an Apple" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (3 texts, 3 tunes, of which the second, "The Riddle Song," and the third, "Piri-miri-dictum Domini," go with this piece)
Scott-BoA, pp. 9-10, "I Will Give My Love an Apple" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 11, "I'll Give My Love an Apple" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 59, "The Riddle Song" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
Opie-Oxford2 478, "I have four sisters beyond the sea" (3 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #270, pp. 162-163, "(My true love lives far from me)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 189, "(I had three little sisters across the sea)" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 41, "The Riddle Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 156-157, "The Riddle Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stevick-100MEL 56, "(I Have a Yong Suster)" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 55-56, "Peri Meri Dixie Dominie" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 72, "Riddle Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 408, "Riddle Song" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Brown/Robbins, _Index of Middle English Verse_, #1303
DT, RIDDLSNG RDDLSNG3* (GONORUSH*) PERIMERI*
Roud #36
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "The Riddle Song" (on PeteSeeger18)
Tony Wales, "Piri-iri-igdum" (on TWales1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" [Child 46]
cf. "Riddles Wisely Expounded" [Child 1]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Have a Young Sister
NOTES: Certain scholars have seen this as a worn-down form of "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" [Child 46]. Since, however, it goes back at least to 1430, the dependency is if anything in the other direction. But there is no real reason to believe they are related in any but a casual way; riddle songs were popular for a long time. Still, because many scholars list versions of this song under "Captain Wedderburn," one should check both songs for complete references
"Go No More A-Rushing" (DT GONORUSH) appears to be an Elizabethan prologue tacked on to the old song.
In modern English and in far eastern folklore, cherries are associated with sex. Whether that has any significance here I do not know. - RBW
File: R123
===
NAME: I Give My Horn a Blow: see Whoop 'Em Up, Cindy (File: CSW196)
===
NAME: I Got a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue
DESCRIPTION: "I got a bonnet trimmed with blue Which I like to wear and so I do, Oh I do wear it when I can Oh when I go out with my man." The rest is all "chin music"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 60-61, "I Got a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8212
NOTES: Most of Peacock's version is "chin music." Specifically, a text verse is "Oh da diddle la diddle la diddle la Da da diddle la da da da da Da da da da diddle la diddle la Da da diddle la da da da da." 
Peacock explains "'Chin' or 'mouth' music is a vocal imitation of instrumental music and is used for dancing when a fiddle or accordion is not handy. Some singers ... become so proficient that they are often called upon even when instruments are available." - BS
File: Ord060
===
NAME: I Got a Gal at the Head of the Holler: see Sourwood Mountain (lyric) (File: R417)
===
NAME: I Got a Gal in Baltimore
DESCRIPTION: "I got a gal in Baltimore, Street-car runs right by her door, Crazy baby a-settin' on the floor, Get your hair cut pompadour!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, The Georgia Crackers)
KEYWORDS: technology hair
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 452, "I Got a Gal in Baltimore" (1 fragment)
Roud #7601
RECORDINGS:
Georgia Crackers "I've Got a Gal in Baltimore" (OKeh 45192, 1928; rec. 1927)
NOTES: Randolph, taking a lead from Spaeth (in _Read 'Em  and Weep_, p. 146 [Randolph prints 166 in error]), thinks this may be connected to "Ta-ra-ra boom-de-ay." The form suggests a connection to "Old Joe Clark" or a relative. But until we have more text to work with, any conclusions are shaky. - RBW
Well, here's a bit more [a second half-verse to the half-verse above]: "She don't wear no -- yes, she do/She don't wear no Sunday shoes." The tune is nothing like either "Old Joe Clark" or "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay"; it's a string-ragtime sort of tune.  - PJS
Which, however, still leaves us with only a single verse.... - RBW
File: R452
===
NAME: I Got a Girl
DESCRIPTION: "I got a girl, she lives in town. She wrote me a letter, she's a comin' down." "Down the road and across the creek, I ain't had a letter since away last week." "I do red she ain't no fool, Tryin' to put a saddle on a hump-backed mule."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love animal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII I Got a Girl, "" (1 short text)
Roud #11791
NOTES: Almost certainly a fragment of something more detailed -- but I've no idea what. - RBW
Ida Red? Pretty close to "I do red." - PJS
File: Br3448
===
NAME: I Got a Key of De Kingdom: see I Got a Key to the Kingdom (File: Br3587)
===
NAME: I Got a Key to the Kingdom
DESCRIPTION: "Preacher, I got de key of de kingdom, De world can't do me no harm... Watch your secret keeper, Always bringin' you news, Tell a lie upon you And keep you all confuse'." The singer warns of false friends but doesn't think they matter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (cf. Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 587, "I Got a Key of De Kingdom" (1 text)
Roud #11829
File: Br3587
===
NAME: I Got a Letter from Jesus
DESCRIPTION: "I got a letter from Jesus, Ahah, ahah, I got a letter, I got a letter, I got a letter from Jesus, Mm--, mm--."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 487, "I Got a Letter from Jesus" (1 short text, 1 tune)
File: San487
===
NAME: I Got de Hezotation Stockings and de Hezotation Shoes: see Hesitation Blues (File: FSWB075)
===
NAME: I Got Mine
DESCRIPTION: The singer gets into all sorts of scrapes, getting out in some manner while maintaining "I got mine." Example: The police raid a craps game in which the singer is involved. He grabs the pot and successfully makes off.
AUTHOR: John Queen and Charles Cartwell
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (recording, Collins & Natus)
KEYWORDS: gambling chickens robbery trial escape trick
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownIII 52, "I Got Mine" (1 text)
Gilbert, p. 243, "I Got Mine" (1 partial text)
DT, IGOTMINE
Roud #7852
RECORDINGS:
Chris Bouchillon, "I Got Mine" (Columbia 15317-D, 1928)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "I Got Mine" (OKeh 40119, 1924)
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "I Got Mine" (Brunswick 2810, 1925)
[Arthur] Collins & [Joseph] Natus, "I Got Mine" (CYL: Edison 7889, 1901) (Victor [Monarch] 1297, 1902)
Fleming & Townsend, "Yes, I Got Mine" (Victor 23676, 1932)
Jenkins Family, "I Got Mine" (OKeh 40247, 1924)
John McGhee, "I Got Mine" (Gennett 6403, 1928)
Peg Moreland, "I Got Mine" (Victor 23510, 1930)
Jesse Oakley ,"I Got Mine" (Supertone 9256, 1928)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "I Got Mine" (Columbia 15134-D, 1927; rec. 1926)
Unknown baritone & tenor [probably Collins and Harlan] "I Got Mine" (Standard 597, c. 1901)
NOTES: The Digital Tradition footnotes claim that this is from McNeil's Southern Folk Ballads. This is incorrect; I have not been able to discover the source of the DT version. - RBW
Perhaps the DT transcription came from the Carson recording? Or, more likely, from one of the several revival performances of the song, such as Roy Bookbinder's. - PJS
Brown's text seems to be a racist version of the original (or other texts are cleaned up); the singer devotes his efforts to cheating "coons." - RBW
Looking at the sheet music on the American Memory website makes it clear that the other texts were cleaned up; this was originally a "coon song." It was recorded by a duo that was probably Collins & Harlan, who specialized in "coon songs." - PJS
File: Gil243
===
NAME: I Got My Questionnairy
DESCRIPTION: "Well I got my questionnairy, and it leads me to the war (x2), Well, I'm leavin', pretty baby, Child, can't do anything at all." "Uncle Sam ain't no woman, but he sure can take your man (x2), Boys, they got them in the service...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: war soldier separation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Courlander-NFM, p. 137, "(I Got My Questionnairy)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DRAFTBLU*
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Draftee's Blues
File: CNFM137
===
NAME: I Got to Roll
DESCRIPTION: "Ham and eggs, pork and beans, I woulda et more, but the cook wasn't clean." "I got to roll, roll in a hurry, Make it on the side of the road." "If I'd-a known my Captain was blind... If I'd known my Captain was bad... If I'd known my Captain was mean..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937
KEYWORDS: chaingang work hardtimes prison
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 292, "I Got to Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GOTROLL*
Roud #6713
File: LoF292
===
NAME: I Had a Banjo Made of Gold: see Troubled In My Mind (File: LoF102)
===
NAME: I Had a Handsome Fortune: see Oh, Once I Had a Fortune (File: R316)
===
NAME: I Had a Heart that Doted Once
DESCRIPTION: "I had a heart that doted once In passion's boundless pain, An' though the tyrant I abjured, I could not break his chain."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 616, "I Had a Heart that Doted Once" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7553
File: R616
===
NAME: I Had a Little Horse Whose Name Was Jack
DESCRIPTION: "I had a little horse whose name was Jack, Put him in the stable and he jumped through the crack."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: horse
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 176, "I Had a Little Horse Whose Name Was Jack" (1 short text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Had a Little Pony (I)"
cf. "I Had a Little Pony (II)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The notes in Brown connect this with the English nursery rhyme, "I had a little pony, his name was Dapple Gray." This is possible -- but only that. - RBW
I don't see the connection either but Brown is refering to Opie-Oxford2 127, "I had a little pony" or--less likely--Opie-Oxford2 223, "I had a little horse."  [See also Montgomerie-ScottishNR 12, 25, and especially Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #157, pp. 118-119, about dapple gray, and notes there. - RBW]
There seems a more complete version from Texas at the Real Live Preacher site in _Finding the Man in the Picture Part One_:
"I had a little dog, his name was Rover. He died all over except for his tail, and it turned over."
"I had a little mule, his name was Jack. I put him in the stable but he jumped through the crack." - BS
File: Br3176
===
NAME: I Had a Little Nut Tree
DESCRIPTION: "I had a little nutmeg, nothing would it bear But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear. The King of Spain's daughter came to visit me And all for the sake of my little nut tree." "Her dress was all of crimson.... She asked me for my nutmeg...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Linscott); first printing appears to have been in one of the Tom Thumb songbooks (n.d. but c. 1790)
KEYWORDS: royalty food courting
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Linscott, pp. 210-211, "I Had a Little Nut Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 381, "I had a little nut tree" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #130, p. 106, "(I had a little nut tree)"
Roud #3749
NOTES: Folklorists, ever desperate for an event upon which to hang a song, have connected this to the visit of Juana (Joanna) of Castile (the future Juana the Mad, 1479-1555, queen of Castile from 1505), the father of the future Emperor Charles V, who visited England in 1506 during the reign of Henry VII.
This has the usual problems. For starters, Juana's father Ferdinand of Aragon was not King of Spain; he was King of Aragon, and it was not until Juana succeeded him in 1516 that Spain was properly a united kingdom. (Though, in fairness, Ferdinand was regent of Castile after his wife's death, so one might loosely call him King of Spain.)
Problem #2 is the dating; there is no hint of the song at the time of Juana's visit.
It's also worth noting that, even if you project this song back 250 years before the earliest known version, there is still no real reason to connect it to Juana. Why not connect it to, say, Catherine of Aragon, Juana's sister, who happened to marry the son of Henry VII?
In the incidentals department: I learned this song somewhere along the line, I think from my mother, and my tune is not Linscott's (and I know of no other printed traditional tune). - RBW
File: Lins210
===
NAME: I Had a Little Pony (I)
DESCRIPTION: "I had a little pony, I rode him down town. And ev'ry time I turned him round, Turn him on an acre ground! Boots and show-line come down, Lady show-line come down; Boots and show-line come down, Lady show-line come down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 184, (no title) (1 fragment)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I  Had a Little Horse Whose Name Was Jack"
cf. "I Had a Little Pony (II)"
File: ScNF184A
===
NAME: I Had a Little Pony (II)
DESCRIPTION: "I had a little (pony/mule), His name was Jack; I rid his tail To save his back." "The lightning roll, the thunder flash, And split my coat-tail clear to smash."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 184, (no title) (1 fragment, with only the first four lines); p. 185 (no title) (1 fragment, adding the "lightning roll" verse; I have a feeling those two floated together)
Roud #16341
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I  Had a Little Horse Whose Name Was Jack"
cf. "I Had a Little Pony (I)"
SAME_TUNE:
This might be a variant on any of several things -- the Brown piece "I Had a Little Horse Whose Name Was Jack"; the English folk poem "I had a little pony, his name was Dapple Gray" (for which see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #157, pp. 118-119 and notes there); perhaps others. But all such links are just possibilities. - RBW
File: ScNF184B
===
NAME: I Had a Little Puppy (Pussy Willow, Hot Dog)
DESCRIPTION: Riddle-song, with a description of something (cat, dog, etc.) that actually describes something else. E.g., 'I had a little puppy, it had a stubby tail... you buy it at a butcher's shop" (describing a hot dog)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1972
KEYWORDS: wordplay riddle nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 68, "Pussy Willow" (1 text, tune described but not printed)
Roud #10248
NOTES: There are a whole class of songs of this sort. I learned "I had a little puppy" somewhere in an (obviously mis-spent) youth, and also heard "pussy willow" many years ago. Both use the same tune (or, rather, tune device: Each word in a line sung to a single note, with each line one note higher than the preceding). I imagine there are more of these things around. I'll just lump them here. - RBW
File: PHCFS068
===
NAME: I Had a Little Rooster (Farmyard Song)
DESCRIPTION: The singer enjoys the company of various animals, e.g. "I had a little rooster by the barnyard gate, And that little rooster was my playmate, And that little rooster went Cock-a-doodle-doo...." And so forth, cumulatively, for various animals
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1849 (Halliwell)
KEYWORDS: animal cumulative nonballad farming humorous chickens sheep horse dog
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland) Ireland US(Ap,SE,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Randolph 352, "I Bought Me a Rooster" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 290-291, "I Bought Me a Rooster" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 352A)
BrownIII 124, "Barnyard Song" (1 text plus3 excerpts and mention of 2 more); also 127, "The Dogs in the Alley" (1 text, with a slightly different form but too short to classify separately)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 6, "The Barnyard Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 297, "I Bought Myself a Cock" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 218, "The Farmyard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 78, "The Farmyard" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
Lomax-FSNA 230, "Fiddle-I-Fee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 171-174, "Fiddle-i-Fee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 387, "I Had a Rooster" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 13, "(I had a wee cock and I loved it well)" (1 text)
DT, ROOSTR2
Roud #544
RECORDINGS:
George Blackman, "I Bought Myself a Cock" (on FSB10)
John Curtis, "Farmyard" (on NFMLeach)
Maud Long, "Fiddle-I-Fee" (AFS; on LC14)
Jamesie McCarthy, "Kerry Cock" (on IRClare01)
Marieo Perkins, "I Love My Rooster" (on JThomas01)
Pete Seeger, "Bought Me a Cat" (on PeteSeeger03, PeteSeegerCD03); "I Had a Rooster" (on PeteSeeger08, PeteSeegerCD02)
Asher Sizemore & Little Jimmie, "My Little Rooster" (Bluebird B-5495, 1934)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Le Marche des Animaux (The Animal Market)" (theme and structure)
File: R352
===
NAME: I Had a Wee Cock and I Loved It Well: see I Had a Little Rooster (Farmyard Song) (File: R352)
===
NAME: I Had a Wife
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes how he got rid of his wife by chopping off her head. Without evidence, the killing is ruled an "act of providence." Listeners are advised to follow the singer's example
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: marriage violence murder death wife humorous
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 174, "I Had A Wife" (1 text)
DT, HADAWIFE
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "I Had a Wife" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Drunken Sailor" (tune)
File: FSWB174B
===
NAME: I Had But Fifty Cents
DESCRIPTION: The singer takes a girl to the ball. He thinks, since she is so delicate, that it is safe to take her to a restaurant, even though he has but fifty cents. But she orders a huge meal. The singer, unable to pay, is beaten up by the restaurant staff
AUTHOR: Words: Billy Mortimer; Music: Dan Lewis
EARLIEST_DATE: 1881 (sheet music, with the title "Fifty Cents")
KEYWORDS: food money poverty courting
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 485, "I Had But Fifty Cents" (1 text)
Gilbert, p. 121, "I Had But Fifty Cents" (1 text)
DT, FIFTYCNT*
Roud #2798
RECORDINGS:
Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers, "When I Had But Fifty Cents" (Victor V-40129, 1929)
Bill Chitwood & his Georgia Mountaineers, "I Had But Fifteen Cents" (OKeh 45131, 1927)
Otto Gray & his Cowboy Band, "I Had But Fifty Cents" (Vocalion 5256, c. 1928)
Jack Golding, "I Had But Fifty Cents" (Champion 16072 [as Jerry Ellis]/Supertone 9711 [as Jack Edwards], 1930)
Peg Moreland, "When I Had But Fifty Cents" (Victor V-40209, 1930)
Riley Puckett, "When I Had But Fifty Cents" (Columbia 15015-D, 1925; rec. 1924)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bill Morgan and His Gal" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Fifty Cents
NOTES: A piece entitled "Fifty Cents," by Billy Mortimer and Dan Lewis, was published in 1881. Paul Stamler has verified that this is the same song. - PJS, RBW
File: R485
===
NAME: I Hate That Train Called the M & O
DESCRIPTION: "I hate that train that they all call the M and O (x2), It took my baby away, and he ain't comin' back to me no more." Her man sticks his head out the window and says "I'm going away, baby." She wishes the train had not parted them
AUTHOR: unknown, but probably adapted by Lucille Bogan
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (recording, Lucille Bogan)
KEYWORDS: train separation
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 444-445, "I Hate That Train Called the M & O" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Lucille Bogan, "I Hate That Train Called the M. and O." (Banner 6-02--04/Oriole 6-02-04/Melotone 6-02-04/Perfect 6-02-04, 1936; rec. 1934)
File: LSRai444
===
NAME: I Have a Father in My Native Land
DESCRIPTION: "I have a father in my native land, Oh, he's looking for me tonight, night, night, Oh, he's looking for me tonight." "He may look, he may look with his withering watery eyes, And it's oh, he may look to the bottom of the sea, sea, sea...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: sailor death father separation mourning
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 231, "I Have a Father in My Native Land" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "He Lies in the American Land" (theme)
File: Br3231
===
NAME: I Have a Wife: see Smiggy Maglooral (File: OCon143)
===
NAME: I Have a Yong Suster: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: I Have a Young Sister: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: I Have Been Redeemed
DESCRIPTION: "I have been redeemed, I know I have been redeemed, O hallelujah, I know I have been redeemed, O sinner, you better obey." "This world is not my home.... Oh, sinner, you better obey." "O, heaven is my home...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 84, "I Have Been Redeemed" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16934
File: ChFRA084
===
NAME: I Have Finished Him a Letter: see Anna Lee (File: R775)
===
NAME: I Have Four Sisters Beyond The Sea: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: I Have Long Since Been Learned
DESCRIPTION: "I have long since been leaned Dat de trumpets will be sounding... in dat day. Oh, sinner, where will you stand in dat day?" "He can able de blind to see... Jesus is knocking at de door." The singer describes heaven and resurrection.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 588, "I Have Long Since Been Learned" (1 text)
Roud #11838
File: Br3588
===
NAME: I Have No Loving Mother Now (Oh, See My Father Layin' There)
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, see my father layin' there (x3), I cannot stay here by myself." "Lord, I cannot stay here by myself (x2), When de wind blows east and de wind blows west, Lord I cannot...." "Oh, see my mother layin' there...." "Oh, see my brother layin' there...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
[Randolph 612, "I Have No Loving Mother Now" -- deleted in the second printing]
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 432-433, "I Have No Loving Mother Now" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 612)
BrownIII 622, "Oh, See My Father Layin' There" (1 text)
Roud #11925
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "I Have No Loving Mother Now" (Victor C-20935, 1927; on KHarrell02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wish I Was a Little Bird (Nobody Cares for Me)" (lyrics)
NOTES: This is a very amorphous song, recognized mostly by its form and its vaguely religious theme. - RBW
File: Br3622
===
NAME: I Have No One to Love Me: see The Deep Blue Sea (I) (File: R794)
===
NAME: I Have Worked in the Woods
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes all the things he's done while working as a logger, including both work and recreation: logged, driven, danced, fought, sung and slept on the floor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 7, "I Have Worked in the Woods" (1 text)
Roud #8868
File: Be007
===
NAME: I Heard Somebody Call My Name: see Little Bessie (File: MN2172)
===
NAME: I Hope I'll J'ine the Band: see I Hope I'll Join the Band (Soon in the Morning) (File: R266)
===
NAME: I Hope I'll Join the Band (Soon in the Morning)
DESCRIPTION: Sundry verses about the pleasures of heaven ("Goin' to see my Jesus," "Meet our fathers there," "Lookin' over Jordan," etc.). Usual internal refrain is "Soon in the morning"; final chorus, "And I hope I'll join the band."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: music religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 266, "I Hope I'll J'ine the Band" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 227-228, "I Hope I'll J'ine the Band" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 266A)
BrownIII 598, "I Wanter Jine de Ban'" (1 text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 16-17, (no title) (1 text); also. p. 198, "Bullfrog" (1 text, 1 tune, with the chorus from here though the verses are about the frog)
ST R266 (Partial)
Roud #7816
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I'm Going to Ride in Pharaoh's Chariot" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: This is one of those songs with extreme variations, especially between the Brown and Randolph versions (Brown's text has stanzas without repeats and doesn't use the "Soon in the morning" refrain). But the similarities are too great to split them. - RBW
File: R266
===
NAME: I Keep My Dogs: see Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping (File: K249)
===
NAME: I Know a Boarding-House
DESCRIPTION: "I know a boarding-house Not far away Where they have ham and eggs Three times a day." "Lord, how those boarders shout..." "Lord, how those boarders yell When they hear that dinner-bell!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: food home humorous nonballad derivative
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 479, "I Know a Boarding-House" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, "At the Boarding House Where I Live" (1 text, tune referenced); also p. 190, "While The Organ Pealed Potatoes" (1 text, tune referenced)
DT, BORDHOUS* (HAPYLND2*)
Roud #7636
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Country Ham and Red Gravy" (Bluebird 7951, 1938)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "There Is a Happy Land" (tune, form)
cf. "The Barefoot Boy with Boots On" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This is one of those composite songs -- the key element is humorous verses to the tune of "Silver Threads." The most common verse -- shared with "The Barefoot Boy" -- is "while the organ pealed potatoes"; my father learned this from a substitute teacher in Detroit around 1941.
Dave Macon copyrighted his "Country Ham and Red Gravy" version of this song, which does indeed seem to be a rewrite (rather racist), but it's clearly from the same roots. Though he may have supplied the tune, also known as "New Five Cents." - RBW
File: R479
===
NAME: I Know a Little Feller: see He's Got the Money Too (File: R299)
===
NAME: I Know Moonlight
DESCRIPTION: "I know moonlight, I know starlight, I lay this body down." "I walk in the moonlight, I walk in the starlight, I lay...." "I walk in the graveyard, I lay in my grave, I lay...." "I go to the judgment, In the evening of the day, When I lay this body down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: religious death burial nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Sandburg, p. 451, "I Know Moonlight" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 611, "Mary Bowed" (1 short text, with a verse "I wonder where Sister Maryy's gone... She's gone to some new buryin' ground For to lay her feeble body down" and a second verse from "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks")
Scott-BoA, pp. 209-210, "Lay This Body Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 577-578, "Lay Dis Body Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 322, "Lay This Body Down" (1 text)
DT, KNOWMOON*
Roud #11839
RECORDINGS:
Bertha Smith & Moving Star Hall Singers, "Lay Down Body" (on BeenStorm1)
File: San451
===
NAME: I Know My Love
DESCRIPTION: "I know my love by his way of walking," his speech, his clothes. She laments, "If my love leaves me, what will I do?" She knows he is courting strange girls in Maradyke. He rejects her because of her lack of money
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: love courting abandonment poverty
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 143, "I Know My Love" (1 text)
DT, KNOWLOVE
Roud #60
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Tavern in the Town" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Queen of Hearts"
NOTES: Paul Stamler suggests that this is a version of "Tavern in the Town" (based on the stanza about the dancehouse in Maradyke, which is almost the same as in "Tavern"). I am more reminded of "Queen of Hearts." The first half-stanza, we might note, seems to exist independently of any plot at all, and is fairly popular.
The inevitable result: I list this as a separate song, with a lot of cross-references. Roud lumps it with "Love Has Brought Me to Despair" (Laws P25) -- which for him is a huge family, though Laws lists only a handful of songs in the group. - RBW
File: FSWB143
===
NAME: I Know Where I'm Going: see Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going) (File: SBoA050)
===
NAME: I Know Where They Are: see The Old Barbed Wire (I Know Where They Are) (File: San442)
===
NAME: I Know You Rider
DESCRIPTION: "I know you rider, gonna miss me when I'm gone (x2), Gonna miss your li'l mama from rollin' in your arms." The singer sets out to find a man who will give her some "decent care." If she can't be her man's love, she won't be his dog. Many verses float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: love separation abandonment abuse floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 196-197, "Woman Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 77, "I Know You Rider" (1 text)
DT, KNOWRIDR
Roud #15575
NOTES: The Lomaxes claim to have gotten one verse of this a female prisoner (location unidentified). No word of the source for the other ninety percent of their text. - RBW
File: LxA196
===
NAME: I Lay Around the Old Jail House (John C. Britton)
DESCRIPTION: Perhaps a composite song: The singer complains of life in jail and of working in the coal mines. There follows a brief item about a raid or a race from "Manthus" to Cairo in which John C. Britton suffers a grave loss of men
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: prison mining work hardtimes racing war death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 364, "I Lay Around the Old Jail House (John C. Britton)" (1 text)
Roud #11734
NOTES: It's not often that one encounters a song this confusing. The first four stanzas seem to be your standard prison/poverty song. Stanza 5 is a floater. Stanzas 6 and 7 are suspected of being from at least one and perhaps two other songs.
The editors of Brown suggest that the last stanzas might be a description of a Civil War raid. Possible, but if so, it's too small to have left a dent in the standard histories. But I rather doubt it. It looks to me like a race between two boats, the John C. Britton and the (Robert E.?) Lee, from Memphis to Cairo. The rest must be referred to the reader. - RBW
File: Br3364
===
NAME: I Learned about Horses from Him
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the horses (and others) he has met in his life. Every incident ends with the rueful comment, "I learned about horses from him." There is a "horse," Conscience, he hasn't ridden; he expects hereafter to learn about that horse from Him
AUTHOR: George B. German
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse humorous gods
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 71, "I Learned about Horses from Him" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Modeled after Kipling's poem "The Ladies" ("I Learned about Women from Her"). - RBW
File: Ohr071
===
NAME: I Left Ireland and Mother Because We Were Poor: see There's a Dear Spot in Ireland (File: HHH821)
===
NAME: I Like to Be There
DESCRIPTION: "I like to be there when the engine starts early in the morning; I like to sit me down at breakfast time, Just when the engine's roaring.... Then hurrah for the life of the factory While we're waiting for the judgment day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1954 (MacColl)
KEYWORDS: technology work
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacColl-Shuttle, p. 5, "I Like to Be There" (1 short text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Country Life" (form, lyrics) 
NOTES: This reminds me very strongly of "Country Life"; I'm fairly sure there is influence. But the tunes are different. - RBW
File: MacCS05
===
NAME: I Live Not Where I Love
DESCRIPTION: The girl laments that "I live not where I love." In flowery phrases she describes her fidelity. She hopes that she and her lover may be reunited/never part.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding 11(39))
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 200, "I Live Not Where I Love" (1 fragment of text; the text and tune listed are not this piece)
cf. BBI, ZN1787, "Must the absence of my mistresse"; ZN3048, "You loyal Lovers that are distant"
DT,  NOTWHERE NOTWHER2
Roud #593
RECORDINGS:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(39), "I Live Not Where I Love" ("Come all you maids that live at a distance"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 11(1638), "I Live Not Where I Love"
NOTES: On the basis of the ornate lines in the text ("All the world should be one religion, All living things should cease to die, If ever I prove false to my jewel Or any way my love deny"), it would seem likely that this piece began life as an art song. How far it made it into the traditional repertoire remains to be determined.
The most likely antecedent appears to be Martin Parker's 1740 piece, "A Paire of Turtle Doves." Whether this song is directly derived from Parker's piece, or has simply exchanged some lines, is hard to tell. - RBW
File: ChWI200
===
NAME: I Long to be Wedding: see The Old Maid's Song (File: R364)
===
NAME: I Love a Nobody: see I Don't Love Nobody (File: R782)
===
NAME: I Love Little Willie
DESCRIPTION: "I love Little Willie, I do, mama, I love Little Willie, But don't you tell Pa!  For he wouldn't like it, you know, mama." Similarly: "He wrote me a letter," "He gave me a ring," "And now we are married," "We fuss and we scratch."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage trick father mother
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownIII 307, "I Love Little Willie, I Do, Mamma" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 4 excerpts, and mention of 3 more)
Randolph 382, "I Love Little Willie" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 327, "I Love Little Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3538
SAME_TUNE:
I Love My Union (Greenway-AFP, p. 128)
File: R382
===
NAME: I Love Little Willie, I Do, Mamma: see I Love Little Willie (File: R382)
===
NAME: I Love My Love (I) (As I Cam' Owre Yon High High Hill)
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a pretty girl, asks who her father is, asks where she lives, asks if she would marry. She is not overly enthusiastic. He bids farewell and hopes she will be kinder when he returns. In the chorus, he admits "But I love her yet...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection love floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 129, "As I Cam' Owre Yon High High Hill" (1 text)
Roud #5548
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Seventeen Come Sunday" [Laws O17] (floating lyrics)
cf. "Trooper and Maid" [Child 299] (floating lyrics)
NOTES: So much of this piece is shared with "Seventeen Come Sunday" and "Trooper and Maid" (which themselves cross-fertilize) that it cannot be regarded as an independent song. But this ends with the woman rejecting the man, and also has that interesting chorus: But I love my love, and I love my love, And I love my love most dearly; My whole delight's in her bonnie face, And I long to have her near me." So we split. - RBW
File: Ord129
===
NAME: I Love my Love (II)
DESCRIPTION: "All my friends fell out with me/Because I kept my love's company." The singer must leave to go over the mountain because his fortune is low. "When I have gold she has her part/And when I have none she has my heart... And upon my honor I love her still."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer says "All my friends fell out with me/Because I kept my love's company." He must leave to go over the mountain because his fortune is low. "When I have gold she has her part/And when I have none she has my heart/And she gained it too with a free good will/And upon my honor I love her still." "The winter's past and summer's come/The trees are budding one by one/And when my true love chooses to stay/I'll stay with her till the break of day"
KEYWORDS: poverty courting love sex parting travel lover
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SharpAp 190, "I Love my Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3612
NOTES: It's hard to distinguish this from the plethora of songs with similar themes. The verses "All my friends fell out with me..." and "Over the mountain I must go/Because my fortune is so low/With an aching heart and a troubled mind/For leaving my true love behind" are good delineators.
Jean Ritchie used most of the lyrics for her song "One I Love," changing the sex of the singer and adding the chorus "One I love; two, he loves/Three, he's true to me" - PJS
File: ShAp190
===
NAME: I Love My Love with an A
DESCRIPTION: "I love my love with an A, because he's A(greeable), I hate him because he's A---, He took me to the sign of the A---, And treated me with A---, His name is A---, and he lives in A---." Similarly through the rest of the letters of the alphabet.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1871 (Through the Looking Glass)
KEYWORDS: love wordplay playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #667, p. 264, "(I love my love with an A, because he's Agreeable)"
NOTES: This probably isn't a song, since it's based on alliteration (meaning that the meter can suffer). But it is certainly ancient, and well-enough known that Lewis Carroll used it in the chapter "The Lion and the Unicorn" (itself named for a folk rhyme) in _Through the Looking Glass_. Alice uses the letter "H" and describes the White King's messenger Haigha.
Martin Gardner, in _The Annotated Alice_ (pp. 279-280) refers the business back to Halliwell -- and notes a likely hidden wordplay, in that Alice was actually doing the "A" verse, because Haigha would probably have dropped the "H" in his name (i.e. it would be pronounced "ay-yore. Any resemblance to A. A. Milne is probably coincidence). - RBW
File: BGMG667
===
NAME: I Love My Sailor Boy
DESCRIPTION: The singer overhears a girl declare, "Let my friends say what they will, I love my sailor boy." She praises his appearance and virtues. Her mother calls her foolish and bids her wed a "steady farmer's son." The girl disdains such a lover
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: love sailor mother farming floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Rickaby (notes to #10, "The Shanty-boy and the Farmer's Son"), "I Love My Sailor Boy" (1 text)
ST Rick203 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Farmer and the Shanty Boy" (theme)
cf. "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" (lyrics)
NOTES: This song is one of those items where every line has parallels elsewhere (especially in "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy," but the parallels are truly to numerous to list). I'm not really sure it exists on its own. But when in doubt, we list. - RBW
File: Rick203
===
NAME: I Love My Sweetheart the Best
DESCRIPTION: "The sun was sinking slowly, Sinking in the west; I love all those pretty boys, But I love my sweetheart the best."  The girl regrets ignoring mother's advice; boys have led her astray. She points out that mother is wise and a friend; men are deceivers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Kelly Harrell)
KEYWORDS: love mother betrayal
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
ST RcILMSTB (Full)
Roud #13150
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "I Love My Sweetheart the Best" (Victor 20867, 1927; on KHarrell02)
NOTES: I don't know Harrell's source for this -- but so much of his material is traditional that I have to think this is another traditional song. - RBW
File: RcILMSTB
===
NAME: I Love Old Ireland Still
DESCRIPTION: The singer wants to see "old Ireland once more free." Ireland would prosper if allowed "the wealth that lies beneath her soil." "Let friends all turn against me, let foes say what they will, My heart is with my country, I love old Ireland still."
AUTHOR: probably J.H. Woodhouse (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(4009)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 131, "I Love Old Ireland Still" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4009), "I Love Old Ireland Still", Howard & Co (London), n.d. 
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian, Harding B 11(4009): "Written, composed, and sung with tremendous success by J.H. Woodhouse." - BS
File: OCon131
===
NAME: I Love Sixpence
DESCRIPTION: "I love sixpence," spend a penny, lend a penny, and take fourpence home to the wife. The singer repeats the process with fourpence and twopence. With nothing left he says "I have nothing, I spend nothing, I love nothing better than my wife"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1810 (Gammar Gurton's Garland, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: poverty humorous nonballad wife
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 480, "I love sixpence, jolly little sixpence" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #113, pp. 93-95, "(I love sixpence, a jolly, jolly sixpence)"
Roud #1116
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Jolly Tester
File: OO2480
===
NAME: I Love the Blue Mountains
DESCRIPTION: Halyard shanty: "I love the blue mountains of Tennessee, that's the place for you and me." Singer is a former slave who was set free (in 1863), he's going back to Tennessee to get his wife and child (pickanniny) and then will quit sailing.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: shanty slave return family home
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 143-144, "I Love the Blue Mountains" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9147
NOTES: Harlow apparently attributed this to Black sailors. It strikes me as a little too "still longing for the old plantation"-ish for me to trust that claim without more data. - RBW
File: Harl143
===
NAME: I Love to Tell the Story
DESCRIPTION: "I love to tell the story Of unseen things above, Of Jesus and his glory, Of Jesus and his love.... I love to tell the story, 'Twill be my theme in glory." The singer says repeatedly how it is "pleasant to repeat" the inspiration supplied by Jesus
AUTHOR: Words: [Arabella] Katherine Hankey (1834-1911) / Music: William Gustavus Fisher (1835-1912)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (source: Johnson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp, 186-187, "I Love to Tell the Story" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #17488
File: BdILtTtS
===
NAME: I Love You And I Can't Help It
DESCRIPTION: "I love you and I can't help it, fol dol day, fol dol day (x2)" "Oh my love you're too hard-hearted." "Oh my love I will call you honey." "If you do I will call you beeswax."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: dialog courting rejection humorous
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 363, "I'm Going Away to Texas" (3 texts, 1 tune, but only the "B" text goes here; "A" is the true "I'm Going Away to Texas" and "C" is a "Quaker's Wooing" type)
Roud #6691
NOTES: This may, as Randolph suggests, be a form of one or another of the courting-and-rejection songs -- but the verses which survive look independent to me. - RBW
File: R363B
===
NAME: I Love You Well: see My Dearest Dear (File: SKE40)
===
NAME: I Loved a Lass: see The False Bride (The Week Before Easter; I Once Loved a Lass) (File: K152)
===
NAME: I Loved You Better Than You Knew
DESCRIPTION: "Our hands are clasped at last forever, Perhaps we'll never meet again, I loved you as I could no other, This parting fills my heart with pain." The singer rehearses all that she will suffer, demonstrating the theme "I loved you better than you knew."
AUTHOR: Johnny Carroll ((?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: love farewell betrayal rambling
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 738, "I Loved You Better Than You Knew" (1 text); also 755, "The Broken Heart" (the "A" text includes a stanza from this piece)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 493-495, "The Broken Heart" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 755A)
Roud #6434
RECORDINGS:
The Carter Family, "I Loved You Better Than You Knew" (Victor 23835, 1933)
File: R738
===
NAME: I Married Me a Wife (I): see The Holly Twig [Laws Q6] (File: LQ06)
===
NAME: I May Be Gone: see Oh, Lord, How Long (File: R615)
===
NAME: I Mean to Go to Heaven Anyhow
DESCRIPTION: "I mean to go to heaven anyhow... Jesus died, oh, he died on the cross, To set every sinner free." "You told mother when she was living... You would treat her chilluns good... But... you've driven us from your door."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: orphan hardtimes mother death Jesus religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 592, "I Mean to Go to Heaven Anyhow" (1 text)
Roud #11905
File: Br3592
===
NAME: I Met a Handsome Lady
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a lady who invites him into her parlor and says nice things; he says she can send for the preacher, he'll be ready and have his shoes greased. The preacher says she is too young; all sit down to a supper of chicken and underdone turkey
AUTHOR: Unknown; some verses added by H. N. Dickens
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (recording by H. N. Dickens)
KEYWORDS: age courting marriage wedding food party bird chickens clergy lover
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #12644
RECORDINGS:
H. N. Dickens, "I Met a Handsome Lady" (on Stonemans01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cindy" (lyrics)
cf. "Pig at Home in the Pen" (lyrics)
cf. "Roving Gambler" (lyrics)
NOTES: A most disjointed song, and I can't tell whether it was used as a dance tune or not (but I suspect not). - PJS
File: RcIMAHaL
===
NAME: I Met a Possum in the Road
DESCRIPTION: "I met a possum in the road, 'Bre'r Possum, whar you gwine?' 'I bless my soul and thank my stars To sunt some muscadine.'" "I met a possum in the road, and 'shamed he looked to be. He stuck his tail between his legs And gave the road to me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 177, (no title) (1 fragments, perhaps floating or not the same song)
File: ScNF177A
===
NAME: I Met Her in the Garden Where the Praties Grow: see Garden Where the Praties Grow (File: San463)
===
NAME: I Must And Will Get Married (The Fit)
DESCRIPTION: Mother and daughter are talking. The daughter says, "I must and will get married; I'm in the notion now" (or "...the fit comes on me now"). Mother asks who she will marry; she names the (miller Sam). If he won't agree, she'll find another
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp Collection)
KEYWORDS: marriage mother loneliness
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SharpAp 128, "I Must and I Will Get Married" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 53, "I Must And Will Get Married" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 27-28, "The Fit's Upon Me Now" (1 tune, which may be this piece; no text is provided)
Roud #441
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lolly-Too-Dum" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Fit Comes On Me Now
NOTES: This song is thematically  identical to "Lolly-Too-Dum," but the stanza form is different enough that I have separated them. - RBW
File: SKE53
===
NAME: I Never Shall Forget: see The Day Columbus Landed Here (File: FJ178)
===
NAME: I Never Will Marry [Laws K17]
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a fair woman by the seashore. She (is reading a letter which) reveals that her lover is dead. The singer asks her to marry him. She vows she never will marry, and ensures it by drowning herself 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love death suicide
FOUND_IN: Britain US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws K17, "Down by the Sea Shore"
Belden, pp. 167-168, "The Lover's Lament for her Sailor" (2 texts)
Randolph 84, "Down by the Sea-Shore" (2 texts plus 1 fragment and 1 excerpt, 2 tunes)
McNeil-SFB1, pp.130-131, "The Maiden's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 114, "I Never Will Marry" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 29, "I Never Will Marry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 181, "I Never Will Marry" (1 text)
DT 405, CONSTLOV NEVMARRY* (FORSAKMM)
Roud #466
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "I Never Will Marry" (Montgomery Ward M-7356, c. 1935; Bluebird B-8350, 1940)
Texas Gladden w. Hobart Smith, "I'm Never to Marry" (Disc 6080, 1940s)
Pete Seeger, "I Never Will Marry" (on HootenannyCarnegie) (on PeteSeeger27)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Chowan River" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Shells of the Ocean
File: LK17
===
NAME: I Never Will Marry a Man Who Is Rich: see I'll Not Marry at All (File: E072)
===
NAME: I Never Will Turn Back Any More
DESCRIPTION: "When I was a boy I had a little mule That I always rode to Sunday School. Lord, I never will turn back any more." Humorous stanzas of religious life: The mule "got in an awful way"; the singer meets Satan in a meadow or runs into a hornet's nest
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious humorous floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 345, "I Never Will Turn Back Any More" (1 text)
Roud #11739
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Chased Old Satan Through the Door" (floating verses)
NOTES: This reads like a humorous take on a church hymn; several of the verses float. It looks a lot like "Chased Old Satan Through the Door," but that seems to be built on a different hymn. - RBW
File: Br3345
===
NAME: I Often Think of Writing Home
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a California miner, often thinks of writing to his family, but seldom does; he's half a mind to tell them he's coming home. "For it keeps a man a-hunting round to keep up with the times And pen and ink is very scarce for people in the mines...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1858 (Put's Golden Songster)
KEYWORDS: homesickness loneliness poverty home separation travel mining hardtimes nonballad
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1848 - gold found in Sutter's Mill, California. 
1849 - multitudes of easterners emigrate west, hoping to "make their pile" 
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "I Often Think of Writing Home" (on LEnglish02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Irish Molly-O" (tune)
File: RcIOTOWH
===
NAME: I Once Did Know a Farmer: see Treat My Daughter Kindly (The Little Farm) (File: R668)
===
NAME: I Once Had a True Love
DESCRIPTION: Singer bids adieu to Molly whose parents slight him for his "want of gear" He dreams she comes to him and says "it will not be long love, till our wedding day" Floating lines. But she is not here. "I'll think of you Molly when I am alone"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: love rejection dream floatingverses nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 153, "I Once Had a True Love" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "If I Were a Fisher" (floating verses)
cf. "She Moved Through the Fair" (floating verses)
NOTES: The "floating lines" include "if I was a fisher ... and my love was a salmon" and "if I was a blackbird and had wings to fly"; there are also lines that are more explicit than most floaters I have seen: "In a grove of green laurels I'd lay my love down And with my strong wings I would her surround" and "Since the notion has took me to make my own will Sure my own rod beats sorest and does hurt me still." 
Tunney-StoneFiddle notes Tunney's hearing this song in 1960. He makes it "the original traditional song" behind Padraic Collum's "She Moved Through the Fair." Also see his comment on "My Young Love Said to Me" at "She Moved Through the Fair." - BS
File: TSF153
===
NAME: I Once Loved a Girl in Kilkenny: see Eileen, The Flower of Kilkenny (File: GrMa76)
===
NAME: I Once Loved a Lass: see The False Bride (The Week Before Easter; I Once Loved a Lass) (File: K152)
===
NAME: I Onct Was Young
DESCRIPTION: "I onct was young but now I'm old, Am blind, but yet I have a soul, That soul to save... Or else sink down to endless woe." "My threescore years is at an end." "I have three sons before me gone... By faith through prayer we'll win the day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: injury death religious
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 40-41, (no title) (1 text)
ST ScaSC040 (Partial)
Roud #8814
NOTES: Reportedly composed by the uncle of Grandma Bell on his deathbed. There are quite a few hints of older songs, though; I suspect he adapted rather than wrote. And, yes, that's "onct" in the title. - RBW
File: ScaSC040
===
NAME: I Picked My Banjo Too
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you sons of freedom, Come listen unto me...." "I used to be a rebel, I wandered from the Lord...." "The conflict between two parties, the gray coats and the blue, I volunteered for freedom, And picked my banjo too." But he then turns to Jesus
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious music freedom soldier slave
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 594, "I Picked My Banjo Too" (1 text)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 175-177, (no title listed, but perhaps to be called "Rufus Mitchell") (1 text)
Roud #11904
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Southern Wagon (Confederate)" (lyrics, themes)
NOTES: I have to suspect that this was composed in imitation of "The Southern Wagon," but I can't prove it.
It also shows signs of conflation: On the one hand, a slave who joins the Union armies (common and natural enough), on the other a banjo-picking sinner brought back to Christianity (and induced to give up the banjo). The problem with *that* is that almost all slaves were Christian -- and played the banjo anyway.
Frankly, the result looks like a modern banjo joke. And I'll also say that, instead of burning his banjo, the singer should have bashed that alleged preacher over the head with it. If he had to ruin the instrument, at least do something useful with it along the way. - RBW
File: Br3594
===
NAME: I Put My Little Hand In: see Looby Lou (File: R554)
===
NAME: I Reckon You Know What I Mean: see The Trooper Watering His Nag (File: RL044)
===
NAME: I Ride an Old Paint
DESCRIPTION: "I ride an old paint, I lead an old Dan/dam... Ride around, little dogies, ride around 'em slow...." Verses on various topics: The cowboy's travels, the strayed children of Old Bill Jones, the cowboy's hopes for his funeral
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse rambling funeral children
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Larkin, pp. 33-35, "I Ride an Old Paint" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 63(B), "Old Paint" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 12-13, "I Ride an Old Paint" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 260-261, "I Ride an Old Paint" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 857-858, "I Ride an Old Paint" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 25, "I Ride An Old Paint" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 106, "I Ride An Old Paint" (1 text)
DT, RIDEPNT*
Roud #915
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "I Ride an Old Paint" (General 5020B, 1941; on Almanac01, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Harry Jackson, "I Ride an Old Paint" (on HJackson1)
Tex Ritter, "A-Ridin' Old Paint" (Conqueror 8144, 1933; on BackSaddle)
Pete Seeger, "I Ride an Old Paint" (on PeteSeeger17)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodbye, Old Paint"
File: LxU063B
===
NAME: I Rock from Selma
DESCRIPTION: "I rock from Selma, ting tang, I'm a Georgia ruler, ting tang, I'm a Mobile gentelman, Susie-annah, Loan me de goar to drink water!" "Den all back-shuffle and clap yo' hands." "Come shuffle up, ladies, ting tang, Oh Miss Williams, ting tang."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 114, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: This sounds like it's made up of floating verses -- but it isn't; none of the lyrics are familiar. So I guess it gets its own entry. - RBW
File: ScaNF114
===
NAME: I Saw a Man at the Close of Day: see Drunkard's Doom (I), The (File: R306)
===
NAME: I Saw a Ship a-Sailing: see Ship a-Sailing, A (File: OBB104)
===
NAME: I Saw the Light from Heaven (Dry Bones (I))
DESCRIPTION: "Enoch lived to be Three hundred and sixty-five And the Lord came down And took him up to heaven alive. I saw, I saw, I saw the light from heaven come shining all around." Other assorted Bible stories, such as the dry bones in the valley
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Bascom Lamar Lunsford)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Dry Bones" (Brunswick 231, 1928; Brunswick 314, 1929; on AAFM2, BLLunsford01, Babylon)
NOTES: Among the incidents outlined here:
* Enoch's disappearance at age 365: Gen. 5:21-24
* Paul (and Silas) in prison during an earthquake: Acts 16:25-26
* Moses and the Burning Bush: Exodus 3:2ff.
* Dry bones walking: Ezek. 37:1-10
Other incidents, such as Eve's account of "Satan a-tempting me," are not directly Biblical (e.g. in Gen. 3:13, Eve blamed the Serpent for her behavior, but Satan is not named). - RBW
File: RcISTLFH
===
NAME: I Saw the Pale Moon Shining on Mother's White Tombstone
DESCRIPTION: "I am a little orphan, My mother she is dead, My father is a drunkard and won't give me no bread." "I saw the pale moon shining on mother's white tombstone, The roses round it twining it's just like me." The child, with "no mother now," tells of her grief
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (recording, Betty Garland)
KEYWORDS: mother children orphan burial mourning grief
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Betty Garland, "I Saw the Pale Moon Shining on Mother's White Tombstone" (on BGarland01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Row Us Over the Tide" (subject)
cf. "Orphan's Lament (Two Little Children, Left Jim and I Alone)" (subject)
File: RcISPMSM
===
NAME: I Saw Three Ships
DESCRIPTION: (While sitting on a sunny bank,) the singer sees three ships arrive on Christmas. In the ship are (pretty girls) or Mary, (Joseph), and/or (Jesus). (They/all) (sing/whistle/rejoice) as they sail on to Bethlehem
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1666 (Forbes's Cantus)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad ship
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond),Wales) US(Ap,MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
OBB 104, "I Saw Three Ships" (1 text)
OBC 3, "Sunny Bank"; 18, "I Saw Three Ships" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Combs/Wilgus 315, pp. 141-142, "Three Ships Came Sailing In" (1 text)
BrownII 53, "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In" (1 fragment)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 43, "I Saw Three Ships" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 152, "As I Sat on the Sunny Bank" (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 471, "I saw three ships come sailing by" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #331, pp. 180-181, "(I saw three ships come sailing by)"
Silber-FSWB, p. 379, "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In" (1 text)
DT, ISAW3SHP*
ST OBB104 (Full)
Roud #700
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce adds. 137(22), "The Sunny Bank," T. Bloomer (Birmingham), 1821-1827; also Harding B 7(38), Harding B 7(30), Harding B 7(37), Harding B 7(35), "As I Sat on a Sunny Bank" ("As I sat on a sunny bank")[some have no title]; Harding B 7(16), "The Sunny Bank"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
As I Sat Under a Sycamore Tree
NOTES: It probably need not be pointed out that there is no Biblical basis for this story, and that Bethlehem is nowhere near the ocean nor any body of water large enough for any kind of ship.
This makes it worthwhile to ask, Which version is older? The "Christmas" version is the one now widely sung, and the Combs version (the only one I think that's traditional in America) is a religious text -- but two of Gomme's three versions are secular.  On the other hand, several texts refer to "Our Savior Christ and His Lady." This sounds very Catholic -- and hence probably old -- to me.
Ian Bradley, in the _Penguin Book of Carols_, has an explanation, though I'm not sure I believe it: That three ships sailed in because they were bearing the relics of the three Magi. Of course, the Bible nowhere says that there were three Magi.
Personally, I'd guess that three is simply an auspicious number. Sure, one ship could carry Jesus and his mother, but three ships gives him an escort -- with the other two ships representing the other two persons of the trinity. - RBW
Also see Calennig, "Sandy Banks" (on Callenig, "A Gower Garland," Wild Goose WGS 299 CD (2000)). The notes have it noted in Wales by Rev J.D. Davies in 1877. Just two ships here. - BS
File: OBB104
===
NAME: I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing By: see I Saw Three Ships (File: OBB104)
===
NAME: I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In: see I Saw Three Ships (File: OBB104)
===
NAME: I See the Moon
DESCRIPTION: "I see the moon, the moon sees me, God bless the moon and God bless me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Baring-Gould)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #425, p. 202, "(I see the moon, and the moon sees me)"
NOTES: I believe I learned this, or the first line of it at least, somewhere in my youth, with a tune similar to the "Fiddle-I-Fee" versions of "I Had a Little Rooster." I know of no folk recordings, but that seems to imply some sort of tradition somewhere. - RBW
File: BGMG425
===
NAME: I Sent a Letter to My Love: see Atisket, Atasket (I Sent a Letter to My Love) (File: BAF806A)
===
NAME: I Sent My Brown Jug Downtown: see Brown Jug, The (Bounce Around) (File: R534)
===
NAME: I Sent My Love a Letter: see Down in the Valley; also Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R772)
===
NAME: I Shall Not Be Blue: see We Shall Not Be Moved (File: SBoA344)
===
NAME: I Shall Not Be Moved
DESCRIPTION: "I shall not, I shall not be moved/Just like a tree that's planted by the water/I shall not be moved". Other verses substitute "I'm sanctified and holy, I shall not be moved..." "I'm on my way to heaven..." etc..
AUTHOR: Alfred H. Ackley
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Ackley, "Hymns for His Praise No. 2")
KEYWORDS: virtue floatingverses nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 596, "I Shall Not Be Blue" (2 texts)
Roud #9134
RECORDINGS:
A. P. Carter Family, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Acme DF-103, n.d. but prob. early 1950s)
Rev. Edward Clayborn, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Vocalion 1243, 1929; rec. 1928)
Davis & Nelson, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (QRS 9023, c. 1929)
Jimmie Dickens, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Columbia 21068, 1953; rec. 1952)
Dixie Reelers, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Montgomery Ward M-7100, 1937; Bluebird B-7958, 1938; rec. 1936)
Folkmasters, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (on Fmst01)
Roosevelt Graves, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Paramount 12974, 1930; rec. 1929)
George Herod, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (on MuSouth07)
Harmonizing Four, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Gotham G772, rec. early 1950s)
Harvesters, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Columbia 41074, 1957)
I. C. Glee Club, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (OKeh 8872, 1931; rec. 1930)
Kentucky Holiness Singers, "I Will Not Be Removed" (Vocalion 5439; rec. 1930)
Frank & James McCravy, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Brunswick 196, 1928; Brunswick 3784, 1928; Oriole 8103, c. 1932; rec. 1927) (Banner 32308, 1931)
Charley Patton, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Paramount 12986, 1930; rec. 1929)
Rev. D. C. Rice & congregation "I Shall Not Be Removed" (Vocalion 1675, 1932; rec. 1929)
Joe & Emma Taggart, "I Will Not Be Removed" (Vocalion 1062, 1926)
Taskiana Four, "I Shall Not Be Moved" (Victor 20183, 1926)
Utica Jubilee Singers, "I Shall Not Be Moved" Victor 24113, 1932)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We Shall Not Be Moved"
NOTES: I include this hymn, common in African-American tradition, primarily because it formed the basis for the labor/civil rights anthem, "We Shall Not Be Moved." For the story of that song, see its entry. - PJS
File: RcISNBM
===
NAME: I Shot My Poor Teacher (With a Big Rubber Band)
DESCRIPTION: "On top of (something), All covered with (something), I shot my poor teacher With a (big) rubber band. I shot her with glory, I shot her with pride. I hardly could miss her; she's forty feet wide." The student describes harassing, killing, burying teacher
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1975
KEYWORDS: humorous murder abuse burial parody derivative
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 93, "I Shot My Poor Teacher" (1 text, tune referenced)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "On Top of Old Smokey" (tune)
NOTES: The proof that this is a folk song is that I've learned at least two versions in my life. It's just that few adults will admit to knowing it. - RBW
File: PHCFS093
===
NAME: I Thank You, Ma'am, Says Dan: see Thank You, Ma'am, Says Dan (File: HHH184)
===
NAME: I Think By This Time He's Forgot Her: see The False Bride (The Week Before Easter; I Once Loved a Lass) (File: K152)
===
NAME: I Thought to the Bottom We Would Go
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls a voyage "with the skipper Of a god-damned Yankee clipper" in which "I thought to the bottom we would go."  Leaving port with a large cargo of supplies and a few passengers (half of them whores), the crew narrowly averts disaster
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: ship storm hardtimes whore
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 97-98, "I Thought to the Bottom We Would Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: I feel quite sure that this is a fragment of something else -- but the surviving portion is so damaged that I cannot tell what. - RBW
File: MCB097
===
NAME: I Tickled Nancy
DESCRIPTION: "I'm living in the city, but I like the country life." The singer recalls his happy past: "I'd tickle Nancy, and Nancy'd tickle me, Before we get married, some pleasure we'd see."
AUTHOR: unknown (but probably patched up by Uncle Dave Macon)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (recorded by Uncle Dave Macon")
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #18323
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "I'll Tickle Nancy" (1935)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "She Tickled Me" (theme)
NOTES: This is similar enough to "She Tickled me" that I considered lumping them. But the divergences are also large, and I can't find a connecting link. - RBW
File: RcITckNa
===
NAME: I Told 'em Not to Grieve After Me: see Don't You Grieve After Me (I) (File: R257)
===
NAME: I Told Him Not to Grieve After Me: see Don't You Grieve After Me (I) (File: R257)
===
NAME: I Truly Understand You Love Another Man
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses; "I wish to the lord I'd never been born," "Who's going to shoe your foot," "I'll never listen to what no other woman says...." Chorus: "I truly understand that you love another man/And your heart shall no longer be mine."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, "Shortbuckle" Roark and family)
KEYWORDS: love floatingverses nonballad rejection
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 24-25, "I Truly Understand" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 125-126, "I Truly Understand That You Love Some Other Man" (1 text, filed under Child #76 along with a "Pretty Little Foot" fragment and a text of "New River Train/Honey Babe)
ST CSW025 (Full)
Roud #49
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "I Truly Understand You Love Another Man" (on NLCR01, NLCRCD1)
Shortbuckle Roark and Family, "I Truly Understand You Love Another Man" (Victor V-40023, 1928; on GoingDown)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Long Lonesome Road" (floating lyrics)
File: CSW025
===
NAME: I Tuck Me Some Corn to the County Seat
DESCRIPTION: "I tuck me some corn to the county seat, Three bushel of corn, three bushel of wheat. The miller tuck fur his millin'-turn, Three bushel of corn, three bushel of wheat."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: miller commerce nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 179, "I Tuck Me Some Corn to the County Seat" (1 text)
Roud #6583
File: BrII179
===
NAME: I Used to Work in Chicago
DESCRIPTION: The singer works in a succession of stores, asking female customers their desires, mistakenly fulfilling them and getting fired.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (recording, Pearl Trio)
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England) US(Ro,SW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 245-251, "I Used to Work in Chicago" (3 texts, 1 tune)
DT, CHCAGO*
Roud #4837
RECORDINGS:
Pearl Trio [Larry Vincent], "I Used to Work in Chicago" (Pearl 53-A, 1947)
Three Bits of Rhythm, "I Used to Work in Chicago" (Modern MM-118, n.d. but postwar)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Haben Aboo an a Banner"
cf. "The Jolly Tradesmen"
cf. "My Husband's a Mason" (theme)
NOTES: Oscar Brand has claimed a copyright of some of the verses of this song current in oral tradition. - EC
Larry Vincent claimed to have written the basic song, and it certainly has his, er, style. -PJS
File: EM245
===
NAME: I Walk the Road Again
DESCRIPTION: The singer is "a poor unlucky chap" and "very fond of rum." He has rambled far and wide, taking odd jobs here and there. Whenever things go bad, "I got up and hoisted my turkey and I walked the road again." (Now he hopes to find a job and settle down.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944
KEYWORDS: rambling work drink unemployment
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 178, "I Walk the Road Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC178 (Partial)
Roud #4602
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "From Ogemaw" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Feeing Time (II)" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I'll Hit the Road Again, Boys
NOTES: Cazden, early in his career, attributed this to the father of his informant George Edwards (who probably did adapt the text somewhat), but later retracted the claim. - RBW
File: FSC178
===
NAME: I Wandered by the Brookside
DESCRIPTION: Walking by the mill at night the only sound the singer hears is her heart beating. She waits to hear one footstep or word. Finally "a touch came from behind ... the beating of our own two hearts Was all the sound I heard"
AUTHOR: words: R.M. Milnes/music: A.B. Clark ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1848 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1848 440340)
KEYWORDS: courting love separation
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 35, "As I Wandered by the Brookside" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2418
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(405), "As I Wandered by the Brookside," J. Cadman (Manchester), 1850-1855; also Firth b.27(524), Harding B 11(3526), "As I Wandered by the Brookside"; Harding B 11(3162), "I Wandered by the Brook Side"
LOCSheet, sm1848 440340, "I Wandered by the Brookside," Wm. Hall and Son (New York), 1848; also sm1848 440400, sm1875 08167, sm1880 15884, "I Wandered by the Brookside" (tune)
LOCSinging, as106450, "I Wandered by the Brookside," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as106440, "I Wandered by the Brookside"
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as113120: J. Andrews dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: CrMa035
===
NAME: I Wanna Play Piano in a Whorehouse
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells us of his preferred profession, noting that "carnal copulation is here to stay."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1986
KEYWORDS: work music bawdy whore
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 251-252, "I Wanna Play Piano in a Whorehouse" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PLAYPIAN*
File: EM251
===
NAME: I Want a Nice Little Fellow
DESCRIPTION: The singer hopes for a rich, pleasant husband so she won't spend her whole life working. Johnny promises her wealth, but mother notes that her husband made the same promise and broke it. The girl promises to return if Johnny breaks his promise
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Kelly Harrell)
KEYWORDS: courting love money hardtimes mother children father betrayal abuse technology drink
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #13154
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "I Want a Nice Little Fellow" (Victor 20867, 1927; on KHarrell02)
NOTES: The reference to automobiles implies that this song is not much older than Harrell's recording. It also has a sort of a prohibitionist undertone. But it feels traditional. While I suspect it of being a composed song, I don't think Harrell learned it from sheet music. - RBW
File: RcIWANLF
===
NAME: I Want to Be a Cowboy
DESCRIPTION: "I want to be a cowboy and with the cowboys stand, Big spurs on my bootheels and a lasso in my hand." The singer desires life on the range, hopes to get drunk in Cheyenne, and expects to "rope the slant old heathen and yank them straight to hell."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922
KEYWORDS: cowboy drink
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
LPound-ABS, 79, pp. 173-174, "I Want to Be a Cowboy" (1 text)
Roud #4977
File: LPnd173
===
NAME: I Want to Go to Baltimore
DESCRIPTION: "I want to go to Baltimore, I want to go to France, I want to go to Baltimore To see the ladies dance."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: playparty travel dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 101, "I Want to Go to Baltimore" (1 fragment)
NOTES: Clearly a fragment of something, but it's not clear what. - RBW
File: Br3101
===
NAME: I Want to Go to Morrow
DESCRIPTION: Singer sets out for the town of Morrow. He tries to buy a ticket to Morrow "and return tomorrow night." The agent says he should have gone to Morrow yesterday and back today, for "the train that goes to Morrow is a mile upon its way."
AUTHOR: Lew Sully
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (sheet music published)
KEYWORDS: questions train travel railroading humorous nonsense paradox
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, MORROW1
Roud #9554
RECORDINGS:
Dan W. Quinn, "I Want to Go to Morrow" (Improved Berliner 438, c. 1900; Victor [Monarch] 12, 1900)
Bert Shepard, "I Want to Go to Morrow" (Victor 899, 1901)
Harry Spencer, "How I Got to Morrow" (Columbia 855, 1902)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Yuba Dam" (subject, such as it is, and general atmosphere)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
To Morrow
NOTES: Morrow, Ohio, said to be the subject of this song, is a small town just northeast of Cincinnati. - RBW
That may be, but according to the WPA guide for Kansas, the town of Morrowville "was named for its founder, Cal Morrow, State Senator (...). Until 1896 the town was called Morrow, but its name was changed to Morrowville after the railroad company had complained that its ticket agents were confused when travelers asked for 'a ticket to Morrow (tomorrow).'" Perfect timing for Lew Sully's song, published two years later. - PJS
You have me there. The only counterargument is, Why would enough people want to go to Morrow, Kansas for it to be a problem? - RBW
File: DTmorrow
===
NAME: I Want to See My Wife
DESCRIPTION: The worker (on the rail line?) expresses his loneliness and frustration: "I want to see my wife and children, Bim!... Captain Walker, where in the world did you come from?... Captain, send me a cool drink of water...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: work worker hardtimes loneliness separation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 94-95, (no title) (2 texts, probably partial, 1 tune)
File: CNFM094
===
NAME: I Want You All to Be There
DESCRIPTION: "When I get on the mountain top, I want you all to be there, And hear my wings go flippety-flop, I want you all to be there."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 455, "When I Get on Yonder Hill" (2 texts, but only the "B" fragment goes here)
Roud #(911)
NOTES: Randolph, for no reason I can see, classifies this with "When I Get On Yonder Hill," a fragment of "Shule Agra." To me it looks like a fragment of a southern hymn, which was also the understanding of the informant. - RBW
File: R455
===
NAME: I Wanter Jine de Ban: see I Hope I'll Join the Band (Soon in the Morning) (File: R266)
===
NAME: I Was Born About Four Thousand Years Ago: see I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago (Bragging Song) (File: R410)
===
NAME: I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago (Bragging Song)
DESCRIPTION: "I was born about ten thousand years ago, And there's nothing in this world that I don't know." The singer boasts of his past accomplishments, e.g. watching Adam and Eve eat the apple (and eating the core); teaching Solomon to read....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913
KEYWORDS: humorous bragging lie Bible
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Randolph 410, "I Was Born About Four Thousand Years Ago" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownIII 426, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 2 more)
Gardner/Chickering 187, "The Historian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 330-331, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 10, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 346-350, "The Highly Educated Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 69, "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World" (1 text, with a a final verse, and probably an extended introductory verse, by Charlie Poole)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 170, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 26, "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago" (1 text)
DT, (JUSTFACT) (BORN10K)
Roud #3127
RECORDINGS:
Clarence Ashley & Tex Isley, "I'm The Man That Rode the Mule Around the World" (on Ashley01)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "When Abraham and Isaac Rushed the Can" (OKeh 40181, 1924)
Cramer Brothers, "I Was Born Four Thousand Years Ago" (Broadway 757, c. 1927 [as "I Was Born 4000 Years Ago"]; Broadway 8059, c. 1932; rec. 1927)
Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers "I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago" (Crown 3101, 1931)
Vernon Dalhart, "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule Around the World" (CYL: Edison 5278, n.d.)
Otto Gray & his Oklahoma Cowboys, "4000 Years Ago" (Vocalion 5479, c. 1930)
Georgia Organ Grinders, "Four Thousand Years Ago" (Columbia 15445-D, 1929)
Kelly Harrell, "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago" (OKeh 40486, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Bradley Kincaid, "Four Thousand Years Ago" (Gennett 6761/Supertone 9362, 1929; Superior 2656, 1931)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Man That Rode the Mule Around the World" (Vocalion 5356, 1929)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "I Was Born Four Thousand Years Ago" (Brunswick 110/Vocalion 5028, 1927; Supertone S-2033, 1930)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World" (Columbia 15043-D, 1925, with an extended introductory verse by Poole; on CPoole04)
Pete Seeger, "I Was Born 10,000 Years Ago" (on PeteSeeger11)
Smoky Mountain Twins, "I Was Born 4000 Years Ago" (Conqueror 7065, 1928)
Dock Walsh, "Educated Man" (Columbia 15057-D, 1925)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Day Columbus Landed Here"
cf. "Sara Jane" (lyrics of some versions)
NOTES: It need hardly be stated that there is very little truth in this song (even if one accepts the Bible as literally true). I won't state examples; they would just bore you.
I do suspect that the "Ten Thousand Years" title is original, and "four thousand years" is a later correction by those who thought the braggart couldn't have been born before 4004 BCE. - RBW
Not to be confused with the bawdy "Three Thousand Years Ago". -PJS
The verse "She's my darling, she's my daisy, She's humpbacked and she's crazy... She's my freckled-faced consumptive Mary Ann"  (sung as part of this song, e.g., by Charlie Poole) is also associated with "Hungry Hash House," and that's where I've listed it when it occurs on its own. It's not clear that it belongs there, but for the moment I'm listing that song with this one because it fits better metrically. - RBW
File: R410
===
NAME: I Was Born in Pennsylvania: see Young Companions [Laws E15] (File: LE15)
===
NAME: I Was Born on the River
DESCRIPTION: "I was born on the river, and the river is my home, As long as I can carry a chain, I won't leave the river alone." The singer asks the Captain for money, describes how the Captain bosses the gang, and advises against gambling
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: work river boss gambling money hardtimes poverty
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, p. 33-35, "I Wuz Borned on the Rivuh" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 118, "Woman, Woman, I See Yo' Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10007
NOTES: The Wheeler text "Woman, Woman, I See Yo' Man" differs in from from "I Was Born on the River," but half its verses are found in the longer song. As is often the case in Wheeler's material, there is no good way to classify the result. I combine because, if I didn't, I'd have to list every piece in Wheeler separately.
File: MWHee033
===
NAME: I Was Despised Because I Was Poor: see I'm Despised for Being Poor (File: Beld195)
===
NAME: I Was Drunk Last Night
DESCRIPTION: "I was drunk last night, my darlin', And drunk the night before, But if ever I get sober, I'll never get drunk any more. Beautiful light o'er the sea...." "An' now I'll gather the roses To twine in my long braided hair...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink courting nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 407, "I Was Drunk Last Night" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7681
RECORDINGS:
Red Patterson's Log Rollers, "I'll Never Get Drunk Any More" (Victor 20936, 1927)
Riley Puckett, "I'll Never Get Drunk Anymore" (Columbia 15063, 1926)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Drunk Last Night" (initial line)
NOTES: This song is, in a way, impressive: In the space of twelve lines, it manages to invoke three songs: a "Never Get Drunk Any More" piece, the hymn "Beautiful Light," and something similar to "Wildwood Flower." Now all it needs is a stanza of a murder ballad to include every song-type known to humanity. - RBW
Not quite; it doesn't mention trains, trucks, prison, or mama. -PJS
"Trucks"? What do you think this is? A Nashville Nonsense Index? :-) - RBW
File: R407
===
NAME: I Was Just Sixteen
DESCRIPTION: "I was just sixteen when I first started roving" the sinful world. He meets and leaves a pretty girl. They agreed to be true but she thinks "on the vows she broke." She commits suicide.  At her funeral a letter arrives; "Willie fell from the yardarm"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: courting love parting death funeral suicide lover mistress mother sailor separation
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 102, "I Was Just Sixteen" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 720-721, "The Spanish Main" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 40, "The Spanish Main" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #17721
File: GrMa102
===
NAME: I Was Once a Sailor
DESCRIPTION: "Yes, I was once a sailor boy, I plowed the restless sea. I saw the sky look fair and glad And I felt proud and free." The sailor recalls his travels, but notes he made little profit. He now has a small farm and thinks his life is sweet
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1843 (Journal from the Florida)
KEYWORDS: sailor travel farming home
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 66-67, "I Was Once a Sailor" (1 text)
Roud #2021
NOTES: Huntington thinks this might be related to "The Faithful Sailor Boy" [Laws K13]. I don't see any signs of kinship. - RBW
File: SWMS067
===
NAME: I Was Once in a Dark and Lonesome Valley
DESCRIPTION: "I was once in a dark and lonesome valley, And Satan led with trouble on de way. But de devil tryin' hard to stop me, And dey laugh at me whatever dey hears me say." "Here's a light, chillun (x2), Here's a light where de angels led before us."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Devil
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 599, "I Was Once in a Dark and Lonesome Valley" (1 short text)
Roud #11909
File: Br3599
===
NAME: I Was Sitting on a Stile: see I'm Sitting on the Stile, Mary (The Irish Emigrant II) (File: Pea462)
===
NAME: I Went Down to My Girl's House Last Night
DESCRIPTION: "I went down to my girl's house last night, She met me at the door. She knocked me in the head with a rolling pin And I ain't been back no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting abuse abandonment floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 451, "I Went Down to My Gul's House Last Night" (1 fragment)
Roud #11785
NOTES: Obviously this is a floating fragment. It's not clear what it's floated free of. - RBW
File: Br3451
===
NAME: I Went Down to My Gul's House Last Night: see I Went Down to My Girl's House Last Night (File: Br3451)
===
NAME: I Went Down to New Orleans (I)
DESCRIPTION: Discovered in bed with the daughter of the landlord and landlady, the rover has sex with the mother too, and violates the father with a brace of pistols.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous landlord seduction sex
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 105-106, "I Went Down to New Orleans" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "O'Reilly's Daughter"
File: EM105
===
NAME: I Went Down to New Orleans (II): see He's Got the Money Too (File: R299)
===
NAME: I Went Down to the Depot: see Jesse James (I) [Laws E1] (File: LE01)
===
NAME: I Went Down to the Lowground: see BrownIII 187, "I Went Down to the Lowground" (1 text) (File: Br3187)
===
NAME: I Went Home One Night: see Four Nights Drunk [Child 274] (File: C274)
===
NAME: I Went Out A-Hunting, Sir: see The Sally Buck (File: SKE70)
===
NAME: I Went to Atlanta
DESCRIPTION: "I went to Atlanta, Never been there befo'; White folks eat de apple, Nigger wait fo' co'." The singer finds similar unfairness when visiting Charleston, Raleigh, etc. Chorus: "Cath dat Suth'n, Grab dat train, Won't come back no mo'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: travel hardtimes Black(s) discrimination
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenway-AFP, p. 106, "I Went to Atlanta" (1 text)
File: Grnw106
===
NAME: I Went to Cincinnati: see Turkey in the Straw (File: R274)
===
NAME: I Went to My Sweetheart's House
DESCRIPTION: Stanzas of the form "I went to my sweetheart's house, I never was thar before, They sot me in the corner as still as a mouse, An' I ain't gwine thar no mo', mo', mo, An' I ain't gwine that no mo', my love, An' I ain't gwine that no mo'." Verses float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: floatingverses home animal courting
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 166-167, "I Went to My Sweetheart's House" (1 text)
ST ScaNF166 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Raccoon" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: I thought seriously about filing this with "Raccoon"; they have that many stanzas in common. But some have floated in from other places, and the form is different, so I'm separating them. - RBW
File: ScaNF166
===
NAME: I Went to the Fair at Bonlaghy
DESCRIPTION: "I went to the fair at Bellaghy, I bought a wee swad of a pig, I got it up in my arms And danced 'The Swaggering Jig." In all contexts, man, pig, poorhouse inmates, passersby, flowers, whistle and/or dance the jig.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: animal humorous commerce dancing
FOUND_IN: Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H758, p. 23, "Bellaghy Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 151, "I Went to the Fair at Bonlaghy" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ST E151 (Partial)
Roud #5349
File: E151
===
NAME: I Went to the Hop-Joint: see The Hop-Joint (File: ScaNF090)
===
NAME: I Went to the Woods
DESCRIPTION: "Shure I went to the woods where I heard a big drum. 'By the holy Saint Patrick,' says I, 'that's a drum.'" The Irishman complains about the land where he lives: Cold weather, girls always chewing gum, the dreadful smell of fermented cabbage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: food hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Canada(West)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #51, "I Went to the Woods" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4563
NOTES: Fowke describes this song as "somewhat indelicate." This refers primarily to the first verse, which on its face is about a woodpecker drilling for food, but which Fowke considers to have a secondary meaning.
Personally, I suspect the song is composite; the first verse is, well, either about a bird or about something that is describes as one but isn't -- but the rest is a straightforward gripe about a the place the Irishman lives. - RBW
File: FowL51
===
NAME: I Went Up on the Mountain Top: see Liza Jane (File: San132)
===
NAME: I Whipped My Horse
DESCRIPTION: "I whipped my horse till I cut the blood (x3) And then I made him tread the mud." "I fed my horse in a poplar trough (x3) And there he caught the whooping cough." "Now my old horse is dead and gone (x3) But he left his jaw-bones ploughing the corn."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: animal nonsense nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SharpAp 219, "I Whipped My Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 71, "I Whipped My Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3267
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse)"
cf. "Ox Driving Song" (floating lyrics)
File: SKE71
===
NAME: I Will Give My Love an Apple: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: I Will Give You a Red Dress: see The Keys of Canterbury (File: R354)
===
NAME: I Will Love Thee Always: see Out In the Moonlight (I Will Love Thee Always) (File: R803)
===
NAME: I Will Put My Ship In Order
DESCRIPTION: The singer puts his ship in order to sail to his true love. He arrives wet and tired, knocks at her window, and asks her to let him in. She delays (perhaps her parents are watching), and he leaves before she comes. She laments his departure
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: ship love reunion separation nightvisit betrayal
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  35-36, "I Drew My Ship into the Harbour" (1 text, 1 tune, with a "ripest apples" floating verse)
Ord, pp. 318-319, "I Will Set My Ship in Order" (1 text)
DT, SHIPORDR* SHIPORD2*
Roud #402
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Drowsy Sleeper" [Laws M4] (plot)
cf. "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: This song is about 80% identical with the piece I've titled "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)"; the only differences are in the first verse (about the ship) and the ending (in this, the lover leaves; in the other, the girl arrives in time to admit him). Fragments could file with either song.
Some, including Roud, have identified this song with "The Drowsy Sleeper," and there is some justice to this; there may be cross-influence. Indeed, for a time I listed this as an alternate title of "Drowsy Sleeper." But we are splitters, and so the two are now separate. I think that's the proper decision anyway.
The last few verses of this song bear a resemblance to Song of Solomon 5:2-6, but that may be coincidence. - RBW
File: Ord318
===
NAME: I Will Sail the Salt Seas Over
DESCRIPTION: "I will sail the salt seas over And the Shannon after me, For your equal in Loch Ray love Is rare to be seen. I would rather than a horse And a bridle for to steer That I ne'er mentioned the name of Loch Ray la she sheer"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 102, "I Will Sail the Salt Seas Over" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #2776
NOTES: The current description is all of the Creighton-SNewBrunswick fragment.
Creighton-SNewBrunswick: "The spelling of the last line ["Loch Ray la she sheer"] may be incorrect." - BS
File: CrSNB102.
===
NAME: I Will Set My Ship In Order: see I Will Put My Ship In Order (File: Ord318)
===
NAME: I Will Tell You My Troubles
DESCRIPTION: "I will tell you of my troubles, my ups and downs through life...." The singer complains about the life of a cowboy. Life is hard and lonely, and there is too much to do; the cows wander off even during the monotonous meals
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: work cowboy
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 25, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (7 texts, 2 tunes, with the "G" text going here)
Roud #11208
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
File: FCW025G
===
NAME: I Will Tell You of a Fellow: see Common Bill (File: R119)
===
NAME: I Wish I Had Someone to Call My Own
DESCRIPTION: "I wish I had someone to call my own; I wish I had someone to take my care." The singer lists all that he's tired of: coffee, tea, living, eating, sleeping, plus, "I"m so tired of livin' I don't know what to do; You're tired of me, an' I'm tired of you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 279, "I Wish I Had Someone to Call My Own" (1 text)
NOTES: Get help. - RBW
File: ScaNF279
===
NAME: I Wish I Had Someone to Love Me: see Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight (File: R746)
===
NAME: I wish I was a Child again: see Died for Love (I); also The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: McST055)
===
NAME: I Wish I Was a Little Bird (Nobody Cares for Me)
DESCRIPTION: "I wish I was a little bird, I'd fly up in a tree, I'd sit and sing my little sad song (spoken:) But I can't stay here by myself." "I wish I was a little fish, I'd swim way down in the sea, I'd sit and sing my little sad song,  But I can't stay here..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: loneliness nonballad animal bird
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Belden, p. 489, "I Wish I Was a Little Bird" (1 text)
Sandburg, p. 338, "I Wish I Was a Little Bird" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 722, "Nobody Cares for Me" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #6357
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Have No Loving Mother Now (Oh, See My Father Layin' There)" (lyrics)
File: San338
===
NAME: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
DESCRIPTION: "I wish I (was/were) a mole in the ground (x2), If I was a mole in the ground, I'd root that mountain down...." The singer complains of Kempy's expensive  tastes and his troubles with drink and/or the law. He may wish to be other things.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal money hardtimes floatingverses dancetune
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
BrownIII 173, "Mole In the Ground" (1 text)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 900-901, "I Wish I Wuz a Mole in the Ground" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 144, "(I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground)" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 152-153, "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 394, "Mole In The Ground" (1 text)
DT, WISHMOLE*
Roud #4957
RECORDINGS:
Green Bailey, "I Wish I Were A Mole In The Ground" (Conqueror 7255, 1929)
Frank Bode, "Tempy" (on FBode1)
Chancey Bros., "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" (on FolkVisions2)
Eugene Jemison, "Girls, Quit Your Rowdy Ways" (on Jem01)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" (OKeh 40155, 1924); (Brunswick 219B, 1928; on AAFM3, BLLunsford01); (BLLunsford02, FMUSA)
Pete Seeger, "Mole in the Ground" (on PeteSeeger09, PeteSeegerCD02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Don't Like No Railroad Man" (floating lyrics)
cf. "My Last Gold Dollar" (floating lyrics)
cf. "New River Train" (tune, floating lyrics)
cf. "Oh, Honey, Where You Been So Long?" (lyrics)
File: BAF900
===
NAME: I Wish I Was at Home
DESCRIPTION: "I'm marchin' down to Washington With a heavy load an' a rusty gun, An' I wish I was at home (x2). They carried me down to the navy yard, An' round me they placed a mounted guard, An' I wish I was at home (x2)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: home homesickness soldier
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 240, "I Wish I Was at Home" (1 text)
Roud #7710
File: R240
===
NAME: I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again
DESCRIPTION: "When I was single, marriage I did crave. Now I am married, it's trouble to my grave. Lord, I wish I was a single girl again!" The wife complains of hard work in the kitchen, of poverty, of poor clothes, hungry children, and a husband who steals her money
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: husband wife marriage poverty
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Warner 126, "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again"
Belden, p. 437, "When I Was Single" (1 text, with no letter designation; the lettered texts are all "I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male)")
BrownIII 28, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (3 texts)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 320-321, "The Single Girl" (1 text plus a fragment of "I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male)"; tune on p. 442)
Fuson, p. 188, "Oh, I Wish I Were Single Again" (1 text)
SharpAp 86, "The Single Girl" (5 texts, 5 tunes)
Scott-BoA, p. 171, "The Single Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 13(A), "When I Was Single (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 84, "Single Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 154-155, "When I Was Single" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 272-273, "Single Girl" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 59, "Single Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SNGLGRL3*
Roud #436
RECORDINGS:
Anne, Judy, & Zeke Canova, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Brunswick 264, 1928)
Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "I Wish I Was a Single Girl, Again" (Decca 24215, 1947)
Vernon Dalhart & Co., "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Edison 51610, 1925)
Sid Harkreader, "I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again" (Vocalion 15035, 1925)
Kelly Harrell, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Victor 19563, 1925; on KHarrell01) (Victor 20242, 1926; on KHarrell01)
Roscoe Holcomb, "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again" [LP] or "Single Girl" [CD] (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Lulu Belle & Scotty, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Conqueror 9189, 1938; Vocalion 04772, 1939)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Single Girl" (on NLCR14)
Frank Proffitt, "Single Girl" (on FProffitt01)
Riley Puckett ,"I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Bluebird B-8083, 1939)
Pete Seeger, "When I Was Single" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
Henry Whitter, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (OKeh 40375, 1925)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wish I Were Single Again (II - Female)"
cf. "Single Girl, Married Girl"
cf. "Sorry the Day I Was Married"
cf. "When I Was Young (II)" (theme)
cf. "For Seven Long Years I've Been Married" (theme)
cf. "Married and Single Life" (subject)
NOTES: Roud lumps "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again" and "Single Girl, Married Girl" (and perhaps others). Definitely a stretch, though the songs can easily cross-fertilize. - RBW
File: Wa126
===
NAME: I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male)
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the happy days when he was single. He recalls marrying a wife, "the plague of my life." She died and was buried, so he went and married again, to find that he "wished for the old one again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: funeral marriage shrewishness wife
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar) Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (23 citations)
Randolph 365, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 329-331, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 365A)
Eddy 69, "When I Was a Young Man" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 204, "I Wished To Be Single Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 19, "When I Was Single" (3 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 13 more, though most of the omitted texts are single stanzas)
Chappell-FSRA 75, "When I Was Single" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 320-321, "The Single Girl" (1 text plus a fragment; the song is "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again," but the fragment is this)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 47-50, "I Wish I Was Single Again"; "I Wish I Were Single Again" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Warner 127, "When I Was Single" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 437-439, "When I Was Single" (3 texts, plus a text of "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again")
Fuson, pp. 85-86, "Oh Then" (1 text, in which the second wife apparently plans to hang the husband before she, like the first, falls sick)
Sandburg, p. 47, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 215-217 , "When I Was Single" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 143, "When I Was Single" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 169-171, "When I Was Single" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 177, pp. 181-182, "The Married Man" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 13(B), "When I Was Single (II)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 156-158, "When I Was Single" (1 text, 2 tunes)
LPound-ABS, 98, pp. 207-208, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 274-275, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 276-277, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 172, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (1 text)
DT, WISHSNGL
Roud #437
RECORDINGS:
Foster & James, "When I Was Single My Pockets Would Jingle" (Gennett 6434/Supertone 9260, 1928)
Frank Luther, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (Crown 3084, 1931)
Riley Puckett, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (Columbia 15036-D, 1925) (Bluebird B-8066, 1939)
Arthur Tanner, "When I Was Single My Pockets Would Jingle" (Silvertone 3515, 1926)
Welby Toomey, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (Gennett 3202, 1926)
Tom Watson, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (Silvertone 3263, 1926)
Henry Whitter, "I Wish I Was Single Again" (OKeh 40375, 1925) (OKeh 45045, 1926)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "When I Was Single (II)"
cf. "Poor Married Man" (theme)
cf. "Married and Single Life" (subject)
NOTES: Characterized by a stanza format something like this:
When I was single, oh then,
When I was single, oh then,
When I was single, my money would jingle;
I wish I was single again.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, in _By the Shores of Silver Lake_ (chapter 22) has a slightly different form, allegedly from 1880:
When I was young and single,
I could make the money jingle
And the world was well with me, O then!
The world went well with me then. - RBW
File: R365
===
NAME: I Wish I Were Single Again (II - Female)
DESCRIPTION: The wife complains of the troubles of matrimony. When first her husband courted her, all was kindness, but now it's nothing but work and care for the children and try to stay out of trouble. She says, "I hope I shall be hanged if I ever love again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: fight husband marriage
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Eddy 70, "How I Wish I Was Single Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 366, "A Married Woman's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 26-27, "A Married Woman's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune, with the unrelated "The Sorrow of Marriage" in an appendix"
DT, SNGLGRL2*
Roud #436
RECORDINGS:
Margaret MacArthur, "Single Again" (on MMacArthur01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again"
cf. "Single Girl, Married Girl"
cf. "When I Was Young (II)" (theme)
cf. "For Seven Long Years I've Been Married" (theme)
NOTES: Characterized by a stanza format something like this:
Once I was single and lived at my ease,
But now I am married with a husband to please,
Four young children to maintain;
Oh how I wish I were single again! - RBW
File: E070
===
NAME: I Wish I Were Where Ellen Lies: see Helen of Kirconnell (File: OBB152)
===
NAME: I Wish I Were Where Gadie Rins: see Where the Gadie Rins (I), (II), etc. (File: Ord347)
===
NAME: I Wish I Were Where Helen Lies: see Helen of Kirconnell (File: OBB152)
===
NAME: I Wish I Were Yon Red, Red Rose: see The Irish Girl (File: HHH711)
===
NAME: I Wish My Granny Saw Ye
DESCRIPTION: Country lad Johnny Raw comes to town, where the girls giggle, "I wish my granny saw ye." He buys a girl a wedding dress; she laughs at him. A girl asks him to carry her baby; he consents. She disappears, and he is left to care for the child
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: clothes trick courting baby
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 395-396, "I Wish My Granny Saw Ye" (1 text)
Roud #5614
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Basket of Eggs" (plot) and references there
NOTES: Although the general theme of a country boy who falls prey to city tricks occurs throughout this song, I have to suspect it is at least somewhat composite, with the girl-and-baby theme translated bodily into a newer framework. - RBW
File: Ord395B
===
NAME: I Wish My Love
DESCRIPTION: Singer wishes his love were various objects: a cherry, a beeskep, an ewe, etc., so that he might make love to her. After some lovely metaphors, in the last verse he wishes she was a warm turd, and he was a "shitten flea," that he might light upon her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: sex lyric nonballad scatological
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #8738
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "I Wish My Love" (on Lloyd2) = "I Wish, I Wish" (on Lloyd 3) [same recording, changed title]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
A Pitman's Love Song
NOTES: Lloyd notes, "Rather to my own surprise I find myself too prudish to sing [the last verse], though I'm impressed by its intensity," but he reprints it in his book "Folk Song in England." - PJS
File: RcIWML
===
NAME: I Wish My Love Was In a Ditch
DESCRIPTION: "I wish my love was in a ditch, Without no clothing to her, With nettles up and down her back Because she was not truer." She had been involved with the singer and another; he claims her child was fathered by the other, and will not sleep with her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love marriage infidelity pregnancy
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 126, "I Wish My Love Was In a Ditch" (1 text)
ST BrII126 (Full)
Roud #6572
NOTES: The editors of Brown suspect this is Scottish, but can cite no other texts (Jamieson has a piece "I Wish My Love Was In a Mire," found also as #41 in _The Scot Musical Museum_, but the parallels are thematic rather than verbal). - RBW
File: BrII126
===
NAME: I Wish That Girl Was Mine
DESCRIPTION: "When I was a little boy, Just eighteen inches high, How I'd hug and kiss those girls To see their mammas cry." "Oh, I wish that girl was mine (x2), The only tune that I can play Is 'I wish that girl was mine.'" Of courting, banjos, and last regrets(?)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love courting music
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 298, "I Wish That Girl Was Mine" (1 text)
Roud #16859
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Troubled In My Mind" (theme, floating lyrics)
NOTES: This may be a variant of "Troubled In My Mind" or one of its relatives, but it has enough unique material (notably the first verse) that I tentatively separate it. - RBW
File: Br3298
===
NAME: I Wish That You Were Dead, Goodman
DESCRIPTION: "There's six eggs in the pan, goodman (x2), there's one for you and twa for me, And three for (our John Hielandman)." The woman complains, and concludes, "I wish ye were dead, wi' a stone at your head, and I'd run awa wi' John Hielandman"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1823 (Sharpe)
KEYWORDS: food love curse death
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H531, p. 506-507, "I Wish That You Were Dead, Goodman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, EGGSMAN WISHDEAD
ST HHH531 (Full)
Roud #5884
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
There's a Herrin' in the Pan
NOTES: Murray Shoolbraid's notes in the Digital Tradition discuss possible bawdy connections of this song. Interestingly, though they are all extremely subtle, Gordeanna McCulloch has a text which seems to have cleaned them all up and converted them into a complaint against landlords. - RBW
File: HHH531
===
NAME: I Wish There Was No Prisons
DESCRIPTION: The singer says "I only steal my belly to fill." Prison work is hard and makes him ill. He saw a girl with twins in a perambulator. He kissed one baby while he stole a potato from the other. "I wish there were no prisons. I do. Don't you?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (recording, George Spicer)
KEYWORDS: prison theft humorous nonballad baby
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #1708
RECORDINGS:
George Spicer, "I Wish There Was No Prisons" (on Voice14)
File: RcIWTWNP
===
NAME: I Wish They'd Do It Now
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls how, when he was a child, the girls would run to kiss him, cuddle him, bathe him, etc. Unfortunately, he is grown and their attentions have ceased; he remarks, "I've got itches in my britches and I wish they'd do it now."
AUTHOR: E. Freeman Dixey? (author cited in the sheet music)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865 (sheet music for "Why Don't They Do It Now?" published)
KEYWORDS: courting youth loneliness humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Gilbert, pp. 111-112, ""Why Don't They Do So Now?" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 186-189, "They were very very Good to Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DOITNOW*
Roud #1401
RECORDINGS:
Arthur Collins, "I Wish They'd Do It Now" (CYL: Edison 5412, c. 1898)
Steve Porter, "I Wish They'd Do It Now" (American Record Co. 031354, c. 1906)
Teddy Simmons, "I Wish They'd Do It Now" (CYL: Columbia 32895, c. 1906)
NOTES: [The original of this is] from "C.P. Hyland's I Wish They'd Do It Now Songster" published in [New York City] in 1869. It was an American song.  Not very good either, in the original, but the [folk] processed version was/is a gem. - MC
Those wishing to see something like the original version (as I understand it), with only minimal folk processing, are referred to the Meredith/Covell/Brown text. It is indeed rather less than inspired. - RBW
You think those words are insipid? You should see the ones from "Why
Don't They Do It Now?" (1865) from which this song is clearly derived. Without
seeing the words from the 1869 "I Wish They'd Do It Now Songster", I can't tell whether
those were a folk-processing of "Why Don't They Do It Now?" or a parody, if the
distinction can even be drawn. - PJS
File: Gil111
===
NAME: I Wish, I Wish: see Died for Love (I); also The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: McST055)
===
NAME: I Wished to be Single Again: see I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male) (File: R365)
===
NAME: I Won't Be a Nun!
DESCRIPTION: "Now is it not a pity such a pretty girl as I Should be sent to a nunnery to pine away and die? But I won't be a nun... I'm so fond of pleasure that I cannot be a nun!" The girl is too fond of partying/men.The nuns couldn't handle a novice like her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893 (Songs of the People)
KEYWORDS: clergy party freedom
FOUND_IN: US(So) Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Belden, pp. 266-267, "I Won't Be a Nun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 400, "I Won't Be a Nun!" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WONTNUN*
Roud #7630
File: R400
===
NAME: I Won't Be My Father's Jack
DESCRIPTION: "I won't be my father's jack, I won't be my (mother's/father's) (Jill/Gill), I will be the fiddler's wife And have music when I will. T'other little tune, T'other little tune, Prithee, love, play me T'other little tune."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1767 (Newberry, _Mother Goose's Melody_)
KEYWORDS: music courting father mother nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #40, p. 54, "(I won't  be my Father's Jack)"
NOTES: I've never met this as a genuine traditional song, as opposed to a nursery rhyme, but I heard it sung *somewhere* (the version in my head sounds like Peter Paul & Mary, I'm sorry to say), so I'm putting it in just in case. - RBW
File: BGMG040
===
NAME: I Won't Marry (I): see I'll Not Marry at All (File: E072)
===
NAME: I Wonder As I Wander
DESCRIPTION: "I wonder as I wander out under the sky How Jesus our savior did come for to die." Jesus comes for "poor ornery/ordinary people," is born to Mary in a "cow's stall," is celebrated in the skies; we are assured he could have had anything he wanted
AUTHOR: John Jacob Niles (?), based on at least one traditional stanza
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (sheet music); collected from tradition by 1940
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus childbirth poverty
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 600, "I Wonder As I Wander" (1 text)
Roud #15015
NOTES: I can't help but note an irony: In the entire Bible, Jesus really makes only one request *for himself*: "My father, if it is possible, take this cup from me" (Matt. 26:39, etc.)
The request was not granted. - RBW
File: Br3600
===
NAME: I Wonder Wha'll Be My Man?
DESCRIPTION: "A' kinds o' lads an' men I see, The youngest an' the auldest... I wonder wha'll be my man." The singer wonders about his work, where he is, how she will recognize him. She fears there might be none, and accuses him of keeping her waiting
AUTHOR: Edward Polin ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: courting oldmaid nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 262-263, "I Wonder Wha'll Be My Man" (1 text, 1 tune); pp. 264-265, "I Wonder Wha'll Be My Wife" (1 text, clearly a male adaption of the preceding; Roud #13096)
Roud #5571
File: FVS262
===
NAME: I Wonder Wha'll Be My Wife?: see references under I Wonder Wha'll Be My Man? (File: FVS262)
===
NAME: I Wonder What Is Keeping My True Love Tonight (Green Grass It Grows Bonny)
DESCRIPTION: Woman sings, "I wonder what is keeping my true love tonight?" He sings that he hasn't got anyone else, but he no longer loves her; he can't truly love a woman with two sweethearts. She warns other girls to beware false young men
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: infidelity love warning lover
FOUND_IN: Ireland Scotland(Aber)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Kennedy 157, "Green Grass It Grows Bonny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 87-88, "Green Grass It Grows Bonnie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 187, "The Rose and the Thyme" (1 text, with the plot of this song but introductory stanzas from "Green Grows the Laurel")
DT, KEEPLOVE
Roud #858
RECORDINGS:
McBride 38, "Green Grass it Grows Bonnie" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)" (lyrics)
NOTES: *She* should talk! - PJS
Oh, I don't know; they sound perfect for each other.
Interestingly, Ord's text (which seems to mash together this song and "Green Grows the Laurel") doesn't mention the bit about the girl having two sweethearts. Neither does the version in the Digital Tradition, which, however, does not list a source. - RBW
File: K157
===
NAME: I Wonder When I Shall Be Married
DESCRIPTION: "I wonder when I shall be married... For my beauty's beginning to (fail/fade)." The girl's parents would be happy to see her married; they offer a good dowry ("forty good shillings" and household furnishings) but there are as yet no takers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: age loneliness marriage dowry beauty clothes nonballad family oldmaid
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
JHCoxIIB, #16, pp. 157-158, "Old Maid's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 71, "I Wonder When I Shall Be Married" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WHENMARI
Roud #818
RECORDINGS:
Jean & Edna Ritchie, "I Wonder When I Shall Be Married" (on Ritchie03)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Maid's Song (I)" and references there
cf. "O Gin That I Were Mairrit" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "I Am Gaun to the Garret" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: This probably began as a British broadside, "The Maiden's Sad Complaint for Want of a Husband," and has a sister in this Index known as "I Am Gaun to the Garret". Even the American versions are often still quite British (note the forty shilling dowry!). But British versions often end with her finding a husband, so I'm listing this as a separate song.
Note that Cox's text is from Kentucky, not West Virginia -- and almost identical to the well-known Ritchie Family version. - RBW
File: CoxII16
===
NAME: I Wonder Where's the Gambler [Laws H22]
DESCRIPTION: The gambler spends all night at cards. In pain, he has to be helped home by friends. He is put to bed, and his mother asks the Lord to forgive him. The gambler says it is too late to pray. The chorus ends, "I wonder where he's gone" (i.e. Heaven or Hell)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: gambling death farewell Hell
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws H22, "I Wonder Where's the Gambler"
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 82-83, "The Gambler's Dying Words" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 152, "The Gambling Man" (2 texts, 2 tunes, but only the "A" text is this song; the "B" text is "Darling Corey")
DT 829, WHERGAMB
Roud #428
RECORDINGS:
Sid Harkreader, "The Gambler's Dying Words" (Broadway 8115, c. 1930)
Panhandle Pete [pseud. for Howard Nash], "The Gambler's Dying Words" (Decca 5599, 1938)
File: LH22
===
NAME: I Wondered and I Wondered
DESCRIPTION: "I wondered and I wondered All the days of my life, Where you're goin', Mr. Mooney, To get yourself a wife, Where you're goin', where you're goin' To get yourself a wife."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonballad wife
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 315, "I Wondered and I Wondered" (1 short text)
File: Br3315
===
NAME: I Would Not Be Alone: see The Song of the Southern Volunteers (File: SBoA221)
===
NAME: I Would Not Live Always
DESCRIPTION: The singer offers various reasons why "I would not live always:" "Since Jesus was laid there [in the tomb], I'll not fear its gloom." "Who would live always Away from his God?" The singer looks forward to the bliss of heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1860 (Harmona Sacra)
KEYWORDS: religious death burial
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 630, "I Would Not Live Always" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7558
File: R630
===
NAME: I Wouldn't Have an Old Man
DESCRIPTION: The singer refuses to have any part of an old man. She contrasts old and young men: The old are "slobbery," bony, have too many cows to milk, and hog the covers; young men are well-dressed and can keep a girl warm
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Frank Crumit)
KEYWORDS: nonballad age rejection youth marriage
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Eddy 135, "I Wouldn't Have an Old Man" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 174, "An Old Man and a Young Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 401, "Stand Back, Old Man, Get Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 17, "I Wouldn't Marry" (7 text (some short) plus 6 excerpts, 1 fragment, and mention of 5 more, of which "M," "N," and "R" belong here)
DT, AWAOLDMN*
Roud #3719
RECORDINGS:
Frank Crumit, "Get Away, Old Man, Get Away" (Victor 20137-B, 1926)
Vernon Dalhart, "Get Away Old Man, Get Away" (Brunswick 123, 1927) (Pathe 32254, 1927) (Columbia 969-D, 1927) (Supertone 9228, 1928) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5321, n.d.)
Durium Dance Band w. Carson Robison & his Pioneers, "Get Away Old Man" (Durium [UK] EN-25, 1932)
Arthur Fields, "Get Away Old Man"  (Broadway 8049, rec. 1927)
Mack Brothers, "Get Away, Old Man, Get Away" (Decca 5073, 1935)
Charlie Newman, "Get Away Old Man, Get Away" (OKeh 45095, 1927)
Chubby Parker, "Get Away Old Maids, Get Away" (Conqueror 7888, 1931; Montgomery Ward M-4945, 1936; on CrowTold02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man"
cf. "Old Man Came Over the Moor, An (Old Gum Boots and Leggings)"
cf. "I Wouldn't Marry an Old Man"
NOTES: I suspect this may be a clean version of "I Wouldn't Marry an Old Man," but Ed Cray did not equate the two, and who am I to argue? (It is worth noting that Roud doesn't seem to consider this a song in its own right).
Paul Stamler points out that this song also exists in a version which complains about women, sung by Chubby Parker, and wonders if we shouldn't do something about the title. But the majority of versions complain about men; I suspect the Parker text of being a deliberate rewrite. - RBW
File: R401
===
NAME: I Wouldn't Marry: see I'll Not Marry at All (File: E072)
===
NAME: I Wouldn't Marry (II): see For item #17 in BrownIII, see I Wouldn't Marry an Old Maid AND I'll Not Marry at All AND I Wouldn't Have an Old Man AND I Wouldn't Marry an Old Maid (File: Br3017)
===
NAME: I Wouldn't Marry an Old Maid
DESCRIPTION: "I wouldn't marry an old maid, Tell you the reason why...." Various reasons are offered, e.g. "Her neck is so long and stringy, I fear she'll never die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting oldmaid nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 17, "I Wouldn't Marry" (7 text (some short) plus 6 excerpts, 1 fragment, and mention of 5 more, of which ""B," part of "S," and the first stanza of "A" belong here)
File: Br3017
===
NAME: I Wouldn't Marry an Old Man
DESCRIPTION: The singer prefers a young to an old man for explicit sexual reasons.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy age marriage sex
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 334-335, "I Wouldn't Marry an Old Man" (2 texts, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man"
cf. "Old Man Came Over the Moor, An (Old Gum Boots and Leggings)"
cf. "I Wouldn't Have an Old Man"
NOTES: A male version, "I Wouldn't Marry an Old Maid," also exists. Necessarily, its verses differ from the female's; thus there may be two songs on the same theme with similar titles. Presumably the tunes will determine the question. In Randolph-Legman I, the melody for the female version given is more often associated with "No Balls at All." - EC
I suspect this may be a bawdy version of "I Wouldn't Have an Old Man," but Ed did not equate the two, and who am I to argue? - RBW
File: RL334
===
NAME: I Wrote My Love a Letter: see Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)
===
NAME: I Wuz Borned on the Rivuh: see I Was Born on the River (File: MWHee033)
===
NAME: I Yield
DESCRIPTION: "Fathers, bear your cross, for it will only make you richer, For to enter into that bright kingdom, by and by. I yield, I yield, oh, how I love to yield, For to enter into that bright kingdom, by and by." Similarly with mothers, brothers, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 219, "I Yield" (1 text)
ST Fus219 (Partial)
Roud #16374
File: Fus219
===
NAME: I-Yi-Yi-Yi (Limericks)
DESCRIPTION: Marked by verses in the form of limericks, always bawdy. Most deal with sexual machinery, either human or mechanical
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959
KEYWORDS: bawdy technology
FOUND_IN: US(SW,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 216-223, "I-Yi-Yi-Yi" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #10247
RECORDINGS:
Anonymous singers, "Limericks" (on Unexp1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cielito Lindo" (tune) and references there
cf. "Waltz Me Around Again Willie" (lyrics)
NOTES: As will be seen from the cross-references, this piece has an assembled tune, and not all versions have the same melody. Nor are there any lyrics found consistently. It classifies as a single song more or less by default. - RBW
File: EM216
===
NAME: I'd Rather Be Dead
DESCRIPTION: "I rather be dead an' laid in de dirt Than to see my gal with her feelin's hurt." "I rather be dead an' laid in de sand Than to see my gal with another man." "I rather be dead an' laid in de ground Than to see my gal in anoder weddin' gown."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (White)
KEYWORDS: death jealousy burial
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 443, "I'd Rather Be Dead" (1 text)
Roud #11780
NOTES: I suspect this is a fragment of something longer, in which the singer explains the reason for his jealousy. But I can't say what the longer piece is. - RBW
File: Br3443
===
NAME: I'll Be All Right
DESCRIPTION: "I'll be all right, I'll be all right, I'll be all right someday/Deep in my heart, I do believe, I'll be all right some day". Similarly, "I'll be like Him...", "I'll overcome"
AUTHOR: Unknown, perhaps adapted from a song by Charles Tindley
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (recording, Rev. Gary Davis)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Rev. Gary Davis, "I'll Be All Right Someday" (on GaryDavis02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We Shall Overcome" (tune, structure, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Will Be All Right
NOTES: Obviously, this song is a near-twin of "We Shall Overcome," and until recently I would have said that the latter was a minimal adaptation of this song. But the recent discovery that "We Will Overcome" was being sung as early as 1908, and in the context of a labor struggle at that, makes the question of ancestry more ambiguous. So I'll leave it up in the air, and simply give this song its own entry, separate from "We Shall Overcome," because of the drastically different social circumstances under which it is sung. - PJS
File: RcIBeAlR
===
NAME: I'll Be All Smiles Tonight
DESCRIPTION: The singer is carefully dressing and bedecking herself with flowers for a wedding -- the wedding of her false true love to another girl. She intends to put on a fine face: "Though my heart will break tomorrow, I'll be all smiles tonight."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Luther B. Clark)
KEYWORDS: love wedding infidelity clothes
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So) Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 812, "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (2 texts)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 32-34, 40-41, 174-175, "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (2 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (source notes only)
Roud #3715
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (Bluebird B-5529, 1934; Montgomery Ward M-4497, c. 1934)
Luther B. Clark [Blue Ridge Highballers], "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (Columbia 15069-D, 1926)
Frank Jenkins & his Pilot Mountaineers [Oscar Jenkins, Frank Jenkins, Ernest V. Stoneman], "I Will Be All Smiles Tonight" (Conqueror, unissued, 1929)
Jenkins & Whitworth, "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (OKeh 45331, 1929)
Bradley Kincaid, "I Will Be All Smiles Tonight" (Supertone 9566, 1929)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner ("Mac & Bob"), "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (Brunswick 164, 1927)
Linda Parker & the Cumberland Ridge Runners, "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (Conqueror 8164, 1933)
Reed Children, "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (Columbia 15525-D, 1930; rec. 1928)
Kitty Wells, "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" (RCA Victor 21-0333, 1950)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "This Night We Part Forever"
File: R812
===
NAME: I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again
DESCRIPTION: The soldier must leave his sweetheart; as she pins a rose on his breast, he promises, "I'll be with you when the roses bloom again." He is killed in battle; and can only ask that the captain inform his sweetheart
AUTHOR: Will D. Cobb & Gus Edwards (sometimes listed as "Will Whitmore & Harry Hilliard")
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1901 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: soldier separation death flowers
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 123, "When the Roses Bloom Again" (1 text)
ST RcIBWYWt (Partial)
Roud #2871
RECORDINGS:
Burnett & Rutherford, "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again" (Columbia 15122-D, 1927; rec. 1926; on BurnRuth01)
Cramer Boys [Carver Boys], "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again" (Broadway 8180, rec. 1929)
Cross & McCartt, "When the Roses Bloom Again" (Columbia 15143-D, 1927)
Vernon Dalhart, "I'm Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again" (Columbia 15054-D, 1926; rec. 1925)
Paul Joines & Cliff Evans, "Budded Roses" (on Persis1)
Harry Macdonough, "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again" (CYL: Edison 8276, 1903)
Blind Jack Mathis, "When the Roses Come Again" (Columbia 15344-D, 1929)
Lester McFarland & Robert A. Gardner, "When the Roses Bloom Again" (Brunswick 111/Vocalion 5027, 1927; Supertone S-2028, 1930)
Walter Scanlan "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again" (Edison 52063, 1927)
Kilby Snow, "Budded Roses" (on KSnow1)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "When the Roses Bloom Again" (matrix # GEX 496-A recorded 1927 and issued 1927-1928 as: Herwin 17741, Gennett 6044 [as by Ernest V. Stoneman and his Graysen County Boys, Champion 1522 [as by Uncle Jim Seany], Challenge 244/Supertone 9255/Silvertone 5001/Silvertone 8155/Silvertone 25001 [as by Uncle Ben Hawkins]) (matrix #7224-1 recorded 1927 and issued as Banner 1993/Domino 3964/Regal 8324/Oriole 946 [as by Sim Harris], 1927; Homestead 16498 [as by Harris])
[Wilmer] Watts & [Frank] Wilson, "When the Roses Bloom Again" (Paramount 3006, 1927)
Weaver & Wiggins [pseud. for Wilmer Watts & Frank Wilson], "When the Roses Bloom Again" (Broadway 8112, c. 1931)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Soldier (Erin Far Away I)" [Laws J6] (plot) and references there
cf. "Down Among the Budded Roses" (some lyrics)
NOTES: According to Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_ (p. 315), Cobb & Edwards were also the authors of "Mamie," listed as "an outstanding hit of 1901." 
This sounds like a Civil War song, but given the era when Cobb and Edwards worked together, one must assume it was inspired by the Spanish-American War. - RBW
I place Joines & Evans's recording "Budded Roses" here, but with misgivings; for one thing, it makes no mention of the man being a soldier. But the story fits well enough that, for want of an alternative, I place it here. Ditto Snow, who probably learned his version from Charlie Poole. - PJS
File: RcIBWYWt
===
NAME: I'll Build Me a Boat
DESCRIPTION: "I'll make me a boat and I'll down the river float... I'll see Mona, fair Mona, pretty Mona I'll see." Using his shirt for a sail, he arrives at Mona's -- but her four brothers break in, kill him, and throw him in the sea. She throws herself in after him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: murder brother ship river love courting suicide drowning sea
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 499, "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (4 texts, of which "A" is this piece)
Roud #10054
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Raise a Ruckus" (lyrics)
NOTES: The editors of Brown, seemingly followed by Roud,  threw this in with "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" because it contains that key line, and other hints (e.g. the girl's name Mona) that it is related to that song.
Related, but assuredly not a version. The overwhelming majority of the text is a murder ballad -- and, by the looks of it, a very old and possibly very good one that somehow was mixed up with "Raise a Ruckus." Unfortunately, it's short enough that it can't be identified by its lyrics -- and the plot doesn't exactly match any others I know. The murderous brothers are common -- but throwing the body in the sea certainly isn't, and the use of a shirt for a sail is most intriguing. - RBW
File: Br3499
===
NAME: I'll Cheer Up My Heart
DESCRIPTION: "As I was a-walking ae May morning... There I saw my faithless lover...." "Well, since he's gane, joy gang wi' him.... I'll never lay a' my love upon ane." She laments her lost love, who prefers a rich girl, but will not let the grief ruin her life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: courting farewell abandonment
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 177, "I'll Cheer Up My Heart" (1 text)
Roud #5563
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (subject) and references there
File: Ord177
===
NAME: I'll Drink One (To Be a Good Companion, The Sussex Toast)
DESCRIPTION: "I'll drink one, if you'll drink two, And here's a lad that'll drink with you, And if you do as I have done, You'll be a good companion." Each verse adds a drink ("I'll drink two if you'll drink three, And here's a lad that will drink with thee," etc.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Sharp MS.)
KEYWORDS: nonballad drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 285, "To Be a Good Companion" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SUSSXTST*
Roud #885
File: K285
===
NAME: I'll Fire Dis Trip
DESCRIPTION: "I'll fire dis trip an' I'll fire no mo', fire down below! (x2)" "Miss Nancy Bell, I wish you well, fire down below! (x2)" "De bullies' boy is Uncle Gable, fire down below! Bring on day wood while you be's able! Fire down below."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown); possibly first printed 1850 (see Notes)
KEYWORDS: ship work fire
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 222, "I'll Fire Dis Trip" (1 text)
Hugill, p. 115, "The Sailor Fireman" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Hugill suggests that this may be the original Negro song from which the tune of the verses of both "Ho for California" and "Camptown Races" stemmed. He found it in Sternvall's _Sang under Segel_ (1935) where the author cites a book called _Nigger Melodies, being the only entire and complete work of Ethiopian songs extant;_ Cornish Lamport & Co., NY, 1850. I found references to the book in WorldCat and other indexes, but haven't actually laid eyes on it. - SL
File: Br3222
===
NAME: I'll Fly Away
DESCRIPTION: "Some glad morning, when this life is over, I'll fly away/To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away" Cho: "I'll fly away, oh glory, I'll fly away/When I die, halleluiah bye and bye..." "Just a few more weary days and then...."
AUTHOR: A. E. Brumley 
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (recording, Selah Jubilee Quartet)
KEYWORDS: resurrection death nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, IFLYAWAY*
RECORDINGS:
Brown's Ferry Four, "I'll Fly Away" (King 785, 1949)
Rev. Gary Davis, "I'll Fly Away" (on GaryDavis2)
Lincoln Park Singers, "I'll Fly Away" (AFS 7043 B1, 1943)
Selah Jubilee Quartet, "I'll Fly Away" (Decca 7831, 1941)
Virginia Trio [Jim & Jesse McReynolds], "I'll Fly Away" (Kentucky 509, n.d.)
File: RcIFlyA
===
NAME: I'll Give You One More As You Go
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes how his sweetheart sent him off, offering a final kiss: "I'll give you one more as you go." Her parents are less tolerant; they set the dog on him. As he departs, the father orders "Sic him, Towse, And give him one more as he goes."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting family dog humorous
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 376, "I'll Give You One More As You Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 308-309, "I'll Give You One More As You Go" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 376)
Roud #3755
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sic Him, Towse
NOTES: Cohen reports this was written by Ike Brown in 1884. - RBW
File: R376
===
NAME: I'll Hang My Harp on a Willow Tree
DESCRIPTION: "I'll hang my harp on a willow tree, I'm off to the wars again." The singer's love is to be wed to one of higher degree. For her sake he gave up soldiering and became a minstrel, but after her wedding he will resume soldiering, hoping to die in battle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1846 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: war infidelity wedding music harp
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Ireland Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 113-115, "I'll Hang My Harp on a Willow Tree" (2 texts, 1 tune)
SHenry H155, p. 366, "I'll Hang My Harp on a Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 56-57, "I'll Hang My Harp" (I text, 1 tune)
ST MN1113 (Full)
Roud #1444
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as201530, "I'll Hang My Harp on a Willow Tree," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also as105930, as105920, as105910, sb20215b, "I'll Hang My Harp on a Willow Tree"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brighidin Ban Mo Store" (theme)
NOTES: The earliest references to this piece seem to be from American sheet music: A copy of c. 1846 was printed in Philadelphia with an arrangement credited to Leopold Meignen. In 1848/9 it was published in Louisville, Kentucky and credited to Wellington Guernsey. A 1909 American text is effectively identical to the Sam Henry text of 1926, but with a noticeably different tune. Given that the song was found both in Ulster by Henry and in England by Ord, one must suspect British origin, but the matter is uncertain.
Ord heard a report that the singer in this song was involved with Queen Victoria before her marriage (allegedly at 17, i.e. in 1836/37, shortly before she took the throne). There is no external confirmation of this, and does not match his text of the song, since in the text, the love has golden hair. Also, he speaks of fighting the Saracen -- but by Victoria's time, the Saracen was replaced by the Turk, and the English were generally supporting the Turks against Russia. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as201530: H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: MN1113
===
NAME: I'll Hit the Road Again, Boys: see I Walk the Road Again (File: FSC178)
===
NAME: I'll Live Till I Die: see Rye Whiskey; also The Rebel Soldier (File: R405)
===
NAME: I'll Meet You in the Evening: see Hot Corn, Cold Corn (I'll Meet You in the Evening) (File: R267)
===
NAME: I'll Ne'er Forget the Parting: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: I'll Never Be Yours: see Banks of the Ohio [Laws F5]
 (File: LF05)
===
NAME: I'll Never Get Drunk Any More (I)
DESCRIPTION: "When I go out on Sunday, what pleasure do I see? For the girl I loved so dearly Has gone square back on me." "I'll never get drunk any more, any more... I'll lay my head on the barroom floor." The singer laments how drink has ruined him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink abandonment nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 36, "I'll Never Get Drunk Any More" (4 texts, all somewhat mixed; the "A" text is cited above, and the "B" text is probably from the same family; "C" and "D" are "Oh, Once I Had a Fortune")
Roud #4625
File: Br3036
===
NAME: I'll Never Get Drunk Any More (II): see Oh, Once I Had a Fortune (File: R316)
===
NAME: I'll Never Leave Old Dixie Land Again
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a former slave, returns to Dixie and his beloved Dinah again, after having spent time living in Kansas. He says the weather there is enough to freeze him, and he misses his home, so he'll never leave old Dixie Land again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (recording, Bogue Ford)
KEYWORDS: homesickness loneliness love home return reunion separation slavery
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #15470
RECORDINGS:
Bogue Ford, "I'll never leave old Dixie land again" (AFS 4211 A1, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
NOTES: A minstrel-show song, without a doubt. Ford sings it in dialect.
A significant number of freed slaves did in fact settle in Kansas during the years after the Civil War. - PJS
File: RcINLODA
===
NAME: I'll Never Turn Back No More: see No More, My Lord (File: SBoA312)
===
NAME: I'll Never Wear the Red Any More: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: I'll Not Marry at All
DESCRIPTION: The single woman proudly proclaims her intent to die an old maid. She reels off the defects of all sorts of men -- rich, poor, fat, lean, farmer, e.g. "I'll not marry a man that's rich, He'll get drunk and fall in the ditch, I'll not marry at all...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: oldmaid
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Eddy 72, "Shab-i-da Ru-dy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 262-263, "I Wouldn't Marry" (2 texts)
Randolph 364, "The Old Maid's Song" (3 texts, 1 tune)
BrownIII 17, "I Wouldn't Marry" (7 text (some short) plus 6 excerpts, 1 fragment, and mention of 5 more, of which "H," "J," "O," and "P" apparently belong here)
Linscott, pp. 211-212, "I'll Not Marry at All" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 72, "The Old Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 91-92, "I'll Not Marry At All" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 99, pp. 208-209, "I'll Not Marry at All" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 78, "I Won't Marry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 100, "I Never Will Marry a Man Who Is Rich" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, NOTMARRY
Roud #2774
RECORDINGS:
Kentucky Thorobreds, "I'll Not Marry at All" (Paramount 3080, 1928; Broadway 8184 [as Old Smokey Twins], n.d.; rec. 1927)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Maid's Song (I)" and references there
cf. "A Young Virgin" (theme)
cf. "The Song of the Southern Volunteers" (form)
NOTES: Linscott, or her informants, thought this Irish. She cites no evidence, and the collections seem to be all, or nearly all, from the United States and Canada.
The idea of a catalog of undesirable occupations can be traced all the way back to ancient Egypt, though there it was a young man being advised against them. The "Instruction of Duauf" consists of a father telling the son what's wrong with each job, e.g. a smith smells worse than fish roe. (The piece was apparently used to train scribes; the one form of employment it approves of is scribe.) - RBW
File: E072
===
NAME: I'll Rise When the Rooster Crows
DESCRIPTION: Disjointed, some floating verses: "Going up yonder gonna put on my robes, gonna put on my golden shoes." "Where the duck chews tobacco and the goose drinks wine" Chorus: "I'll rise when the rooster crows... down where the sugar cane grows"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Disjointed, some floating verses: "Going up yonder gonna put on my robes, gonna put on my golden shoes." "Where the duck chews tobacco and the goose drinks wine/The old hen cackles while the rooster keeps the time." "What you gonna do when the women all dead/Gonna stand in the corner with a hung-down head/If I had to marry I wouldn't marry for riches/Marry a big fat girl who couldn't wear my britches." Chorus: "I'll rise when the rooster crows...I'm going back south where the sun shines hot, oh, down where the sugar-cane grows"
KEYWORDS: marriage drink floatingverses nonballad chickens
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers, "I'll Rise When the Rooster Crows" (Victor V-40048, 1929)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Rise When the Rooster Crows" (Vocalion 5097, 1926)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Devilish Mary" (floating verses)
cf. "Hopalong Peter" (floating verses)
cf. "Hen Cackle" (floating verses)
File: RcIRWTRC
===
NAME: I'll Sing You a Song
DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing you a song (that's not very long/the days are long) About a woodcock (or cuckoo) and a sparrow." A dog either burns its tail or bites the singer's ear and is to be hanged tomorrow.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1784 (Gammer Gurton's Garland, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: execution nonballad bird dog
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 485, "I'll sing you a song" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #72, p. 80, "(I'll Sing You a Song)"; cf. #256, p. 159, ("I'll sing you a song")
Roud #15095
NOTES: Opie-Oxford2: "Since this rhyme dates at least from the eighteenth century, the statement in the last line that the dog must be hanged on the morrow may be based on more than poetic fancy. The trial of animals and the judicial hanging of dogs, although uncommon, appears at one time to have been considered reasonable." - BS
The Baring-Goulds give examples of this phenomenon, noting that it applied particularly to animals which killed or maimed people. They fail to note that this is essentially a Biblical policy: A bull which fatally gored a person was to be stoned (Exodus 21:28). - RBW
File: OO2485
===
NAME: I'll Sing You One Ho!: see Green Grow the Rushes-O (The Twelve Apostles, Come and I Will Sing You) (File: ShH97)
===
NAME: I'll Sit Down and Write a Song: see The Sailor Boy (I) [Laws K12] (File: LK12)
===
NAME: I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen
DESCRIPTION: The singer promises to take Kathleen home across the ocean. He says that -- even though she has lost her looks and her voice is sad -- he still loves her as she loves him. Once home (in Ireland?), they will visit their old haunts
AUTHOR: Thomas P. Westendorf
EARLIEST_DATE: 1876
KEYWORDS: home love travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 83-86, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Geller-Famous, pp. 5-10, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 259, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 296, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen"
DT, KTHLEN
ST RJ19083 (Full)
Roud #12907
RECORDINGS:
Kaplan's Melodists w. Vernon Dalhart, voc. "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" (Edison 51666, 1925)
Bradley Kincaid, "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen" (Bluebird 5569, 1934)
Shannon Quartet, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" (OKeh 40302, 1925)
Zack [Hurt] & Glenn [?], "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen" (OKeh 45240, 1928)
NOTES: This song has produced a its own folklore (that it's traditional, that it was written in 1900, that the author's wife was named/nicknamed/renamed Kathleen, that it has something to do with Ireland, etc.). The facts, which rarely resemble the folklore, have been summarized in Richard S. Hill's article "Getting Kathleen Home Again" in the June 1948 issue of _Notes_, the journal of the Music Library Association.
Spaeth (History of American Popular Music) summarizes the facts as follows: Westerndorf's wife was named Jennie, not Kathleen; he was a Virginian then living in Indiana; and the song was supposedly inspired by something called "Barney, Take Me Home Again." - RBW
File: RJ19083
===
NAME: I'll Tell My Ma
DESCRIPTION: "I'll tell my my when I go home, The boys won't leave the girls alone; Pulling their hair and breaking their combs...." In some texts, the story ends there; in others, the girl says, "But that's all right till I go home"; we are told of her true love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry)
KEYWORDS: courting hair fight
FOUND_IN: Ireland Australia Britain(England(North)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H48e, p. 11, "I'll Tell My Ma" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 146, "(Polka)" (1 fragment, consisting solely of the "I'll Tell My Ma" stanza, 1 tune)
Roud #2649
RECORDINGS:
Em Elliott, "I'll Tell My Ma When I Get Home" (on Elliotts01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wind (Rain, Rain, the Wind Does Blow)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The Clancy Brothers version of this involves a girl, "the belle of Belfast city," setting her heart on a man. This doesn't seem to happen in the other versions I've seen, which are just the complaints about the boys teasing the girl. 
The question is, does is this a conflate of "I'll Tell My Ma" with some other song (presumably "The Wind (Rain, Rain, the Wind Does Blow)," or is the Clancy version the original which broke in half? Roud lumps them, but I'm not sure that means much.
I eventually ended up splitting them, but I'm none too happy about the situation. - RBW
File: MCB146
===
NAME: I'll Tell You What I Saw Last Night: see Wicked Polly [Laws H6] (File: LH06)
===
NAME: I'll Tell Your Daddy
DESCRIPTION: "John, John, John, I'll tell your daddy (x3), So early in the morning." "The blue-eyed girl is dead and gone (x3) So early in the morning."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 100, "I'll Tell Your Daddy" (1 text)
NOTES: The editors of Brown link this implicitly to "Going to Boston," but that appears to be on the basis solely of a floating verse. - RBW
File: Br3100
===
NAME: I'm a Decent Boy from Ireland
DESCRIPTION: The "decent boy" has been forced to roam. Brought up by good parents, he urges, "Be kind to your parents when their locks are turning gray... You'll never know their value till they lay beneath the soil."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1971
KEYWORDS: age family poverty rambling
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Doerflinger, pp. 278-279, "I'm a Decent Boy from Ireland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9420
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Don't Leave Your Mother When Her Hair Turns Gray" (theme)
File: Doe278
===
NAME: I'm a Good Old Rebel: see The Good Old Rebel (The Song of the Rebel Soldier) (File: Wa193)
===
NAME: I'm a Long Time Travelling Here Below: see When I Can Read My Titles Clear (Long Time Traveling) (File: DTlongti)
===
NAME: I'm a Man That Done Wrong to His Parents
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a man that's seen trouble and sorrow, Oh I once was light-hearted and gay, Not a dime in this world can I borrow Since my own I have squandered away." The singer tells how he wronged his parents. Now they despise him, and he must beg for shelter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes family father
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 839, "I'm a Man That Done Wrong to His Parents" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #1386
File: R839
===
NAME: I'm a Minder
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a minder [i.e. miner], I'm a minder, In de col' ground, Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, Lawd."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: work mining
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 216, (no title) (1 fragment)
File: ScNF216B
===
NAME: I'm a Nachel-Bawn Reacher: see Natural Born Reacher (File: ScNF232B)
===
NAME: I'm a Poor Old Chimney Sweeper
DESCRIPTION: "I am a poor old chimney sweeper, I have but one daughter and now I can't keep her. So since she has resolved to marry, Go choose you one and do not tarry." Once the girl has chosen her love, the couple is told to join hands, step over a broom, and be wed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917
KEYWORDS: courting marriage playparty work worker courting family
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Warner 189, "Chimbley Sweeper" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Randolph 571, "The Chimney Swallow" (1 fragment)
Roud #7023
RECORDINGS:
Rebecca King Jones, "Chimbley Sweeper" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
NOTES: The Warners (on the basis of the television miniseries "Roots"!) credit jumping over a broom as a Black wedding ceremony. But I have also seen (in, I must admit, a science fiction story) what appears to be a British rhyme on the same subject.
Elsewhere, however, a "broomstick wedding" is one not given formal or clerical recognition.
Randolph's text is shorter and rather different in tone from the Warners', but there are too many lyric similarities for me to separate them. - RBW
File: Wa189
===
NAME: I'm a Rambler, I'm a Gambler: see The Wagoner's Lad (File: R740)
===
NAME: I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober
DESCRIPTION: The singer is seldom sober but on a starless night he can find his way to his lover. He goes to her window. He is "drenched to the skin." She lets him in and they lie together until cock crow. Then he gets up because he must be early at the plow.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (recording, Tom Newman)
KEYWORDS: lover drink nightvisit bird farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, IMAROVER*
Roud #3135
RECORDINGS:
Tom Newman, "I'm Often Drunk and I'm Seldom Sober" (on Voice13)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" (two verses) and references there
NOTES: The description is from Ewan MacColl, "I'm a Rover" (on Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Bothy Ballads of Scotland," Folkways Records FW 8759 (1961))
MacColl's notes: "This night-visit song is almost certainly related to The Grey Cock (The Lover's Ghost), a ballad in which a girl is visited by the ghost of her dead lover. As A.L. Lloyd has observed: 'Generally the song is found either with the bedroom-window theme or the cockcrow theme but not the two together. In this version the bedroom-window theme is clearly established and what remains of the cock-crow theme has lost its supernatural significance."
Tom Newman's version on Voice13 leaves out enough detail to hide the connection to "Mary's Dream," "The Ghostly Lover" and other ghostly night-visit ballads. Its description is
Singer is a drunk rover. At break of dawn in Galway he falls in love with Molly Bann. That night he goes to her window. He answers her complaint saying he is her lover, tired after a long journey, and wants to come in. "I'm soaking love, unto the skin"
The only connection to, say, "Mary's Dream" is the "soaking" line. - BS
File: DTimarov
===
NAME: I'm a Stranger Here
DESCRIPTION: "Ain't it hard to stumble When you got no place to fall? (x2) In this whole wide world I got no place at all. I'm a stranger here... I would go home, but... I'm a stranger here." The singer takes his mule -- all this baby left -- and seek a fair shake. 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: home abandonment hardtimes
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 81, "I'm a Stranger Here" (1 text)
File: FSWB081C
===
NAME: I'm a Stranger in this Country (The Darger Lad)
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a "darger loon" from a distant land, meets a "Scottish lass" in an alehouse. They drink. He takes her to his lodgings and they spend the night together. Next morning he leaves on the train as she cries on the station. At home he drinks her health 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, Jimmy McBeath)
KEYWORDS: sex parting Scotland separation train
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #3388
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy McBeath, "I'm a Stranger in this Country" (on Voice15)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Indian Lass" (theme, verses) and references there
cf. "Little Mohee" [Laws H8] (theme, verses) and references there
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice15, translates the text "darger loon" as "day-labourer lad."
Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 15" - 13.9.02: "It appears to be related to 'The Indian Lass,' a song collected by Frank Kidson - see Traditional Tunes (1891) pp.109-11." I'm convinced. Compare first verses:
Kidson's first version "from a person's singing in North Yorkshire":
As I was a walking on a far distant shore,
I went into an ale-house to spend half-an-hour;
And as I sat smoking beside of my glass,
By chance there came in a fine young Indian lass.
Jimmy McBeath's version on Voice15.
I'm a stranger in this country from a far distant land.
I went into an ale-house for half an hour to spend.
And as I sat a-drinking, a-musing in my glass,
Wha stepped in but an old Scottish lass.
Kidson, or his informant, has elided the sex -- which can be found in Creighton-NovaScotia 51 -- but, at the end, 
So early next morning we were going to sail;
This lovely young Indian on the beach did bewail;
I took off my hankercheif and wiped her eyes, -- 
"O, do not go leave me, my sailor," she cries.
which McBeath has as
It was early next morning I ran to catch the train.
I left my bonnie lassie in the station to remain.
In drawing out her handkercheif, the tears dropped fae her ee.
'Oh, dinna gang and leave me, my darger loon,' cried she.
Neither of Kidson's tunes, nor Creighton's, match McBeath's. - BS
File: RcIASITC
===
NAME: I'm a Tight Little Irishman
DESCRIPTION: "Tight Little Irishman" Larry O'Broom does well enough on his father's inheritance until he marries a wife, who abuses him and apparently bankrupts him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: marriage poverty shrewishness
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Eddy 144, "I'm a Tight Little Irishman" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ST E144 (Full)
Roud #5344
File: E144
===
NAME: I'm a Workin' Chap
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a workin' chap, as you may see, You'll find an honest man in me." The singer is thrifty and industrious, for poor folks are "working life out to keep life in." The singer describes various poor people, and hopes listeners will not despise them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: work poverty clothes
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 51-52, "I'm a Workin' Chap" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5591
NOTES: Roud links this song with "Tak It, Man, Tak It" as found in Ford, etc. I flatly don't see it. - RBW
File: Ord051
===
NAME: I'm A-Goin' down This Road Feelin' Bad: see Going Down this Road Feeling Bad (File: LxU072)
===
NAME: I'm A-Leavin' Cheyenne: see Goodbye, Old Paint (File: LxU063A)
===
NAME: I'm Alabama Bound: see Alabama Bound (II) (File: PSAFB044)
===
NAME: I'm All Out an' Down
DESCRIPTION: "Honey-y-y, I'm all out an' down, Honey-y-y, I'm broke, babe, an' I ain't got a dime, Ev'ry good man gets in ha'd luck sometime, Don't they, baby?" Blues complaining of poverty, the noise made by women and hungry animals, work in the mud, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes poverty
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 307, "I'm All Out an' Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15203
File: LoF307
===
NAME: I'm Alone, All Alone (I)
DESCRIPTION: "I have no father (mother, sister, brother, sweetheart) in this world...Take me home, dear Saviour, take me home" Cho: "I'm alone all alone in this world...Take me home, dear Saviour take me home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (recording, Ernest V. Stoneman)
KEYWORDS: loneliness nonballad religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Ernest V. Stoneman w. Mike Seeger, "I'm Alone, All Alone"; Ernest Stoneman and Eddie Stoneman, "I'm Alone, All Alone" (ARC, unissued, 1934)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Free Little Bird" (lyrics)
cf. "Shivering in the Cold" (theme)
NOTES: My first thought, upon seeing Paul Stamler's description, was that this was religious version of "Free Little Bird." But it's a much simpler form, though there is likely some sort of dependence. It may also have something to do with "Shivering in the Cold," with which it shares some ideas and even an alternate title. - RBW
File: RcIAloAA
===
NAME: I'm Alone, All Alone (II): see Shivering in the Cold (File: R327)
===
NAME: I'm An Irish Boy: see My Irish Jaunting Car (The Irish Boy) (File: HHH592)
===
NAME: I'm Bidding Adieu
DESCRIPTION: The singer, a poor farmer from Tralee, must emigrate. "They say there's luck in a foreign land, there's health and wealth galore." "We'll toil both night and day" He will return "of course" and dance "on the good old barn floor"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: poverty emigration return Ireland nonballad dancing work
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 10, "I'm Bidding Adieu" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: McB1010
===
NAME: I'm Bound Away
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "For the sake of you, my lassie, I'm bound away, my lassie. For the sake of you, my lassie, I'm bound away." Only this one verse given by Hugill
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (C. F. Smith, _A Book of Shanties_)
KEYWORDS: shanty farewell
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, p. 497, "I'm Bound Away" (1 excerpt, 1 tune, quoted from C.F. Smith) [AbEd, p. 365]
Roud #11254
File: Hugi497
===
NAME: I'm Bound for the Promised Land: see Bound for the Promised Land (File: LxU099)
===
NAME: I'm Bound For the Rio Grande: see Rio Grande (File: Doe064)
===
NAME: I'm Bound to Cross the Jordan
DESCRIPTION: "I'm boun' to cross the Jordan(x5), Hallelujah!" "Oh, brothers, won't you join me? Sisters, won't you join me? Sinners, won't you join me? For I'm bound to cross the Jordan, Hallelujah!" "Oh, my brother's over Jordan, My sister's...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 532, "I'm Boun' to Cross the Jordan" (1 text)
Roud #11872
File: Br3532
===
NAME: I'm Bound to Follow the Long Horn Cow: see I'm Bound to Follow the Longhorn Cows (File: LoF186)
===
NAME: I'm Bound to Follow the Longhorn Cows
DESCRIPTION: "I'm bound to follow the longhorn cows until I git too old. It's well I work for wages, boys, I git my pay in gold." The singer boasts of his skills as a cowboy. He describes the difficulties of stampedes. He hopes to save up money to be married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work bragging money gold loneliness love marriage
FOUND_IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Larkin, pp. 162-163, "I'm Bound to Follow the Long Horn Cow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 186, "I'm Bound to Follow the Longhorn Cows" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson 97, pp. 228-229, "The Jolly Cowboy" (1 text, much shorter than Lomax's)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 104, "The Lone Star Trail" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 114, "Lone Star Trail" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5765
RECORDINGS:
Ken Maynard, "The Lone Star Trail" (Columbia 2310-D, 1930; on AAFM3, WhenIWas1)
NOTES: This song was featured in the film "The Wagon Master"; Ken Maynard is described as the "pioneer of cowboy singing stars" in the movies. - PJS
If the texts printed by the Fifes are any indication, this piece can take on almost any form, and the incidents can take place in almost any order; the only line their texts have entirely in common is "My trade is cinches and saddles and ropes and bridle reins." And the Lomax text is again very different, with changes in all the verses, much new material, and a different order. - RBW
File: LoF186
===
NAME: I'm Crossing Jordan River
DESCRIPTION: "I'm crossing Jordan river, Lord I want my crown (x2)." "Oh when I'm crossing Jordan River, I want my crown." "Jordan river chilly and cold, The love of Jesus is in my soul." "Jordan river deep and wide, None can cross but the sanctified." And similarly
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: religious river nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 258-259, "I'm Crossing Jordan River" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" (floating lyrics)
File: CNFM258
===
NAME: I'm Despised for Being Poor
DESCRIPTION: "Farewell, false girl(s), I leave you In sorrow and in pain, My absence cannot grieve you, Soon you'll bear a stranger's name." He recalls courting the girl; though it grieves her, she has abandoned him for a rich stranger. He will enlist as a soldier
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love courting betrayal money soldier
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp.194-195, "I'm Despised for Being Poor" (1 text)
Roud #7944
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Was Despised Because I Was Poor
NOTES: Nearly every word of this has close parallels elsewhere, except for the final line of each verse, "I'm despised for being poor" (or variants). But since that's the key to the whole song, the result probably should stand on its own. - RBW
File: Beld195
===
NAME: I'm Dying for Someone to Love Me
DESCRIPTION: The girl reports "I am dying for someone to love me." Flirting and friendship are not enough; she wants the real thing. None of the local young men are up to the task. Mother calls her crazy, but the girl recalls that she was once much the same
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1887 (The Wonderful Eight Book of Poetry and Song)
KEYWORDS: love loneliness family
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 373, "I'm Dying for Some One to Love Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 303-305, "I'm Dying for Someone to Love Me" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 373)
Roud #7620
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight" (lyrics)
NOTES: Quite a few of the lyrics to this remind me of "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight" -- enough so that I suspect this may be a parody. But the thrust of the song is different.
The version in the "Wonderful Eight Book" is credited to W. F. Shaw, but Cohen notes that a song with this same title (not necessarily the same song) was copyrighted 1877.
Randolph's informant, Booth Cambell, thought he learned it around 1880. - RBW
File: R373
===
NAME: I'm From Over the Mountain: see The Trip Over the Mountain (File: HHH161)
===
NAME: I'm Gaein in the Train
DESCRIPTION: "I'm going in a train, And you're not coming with me; I've got a lad of my own, and his name is Kilty Jimmy." "Jimmy wears a kilt, He wears it in a fashion, And every time he twirls it around, You cannot keep from laughing!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: clothes
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 153, "(I'm going in a train)" (1 text)
Roud #18663
NOTES: Roud lumps this with something similar to "I Know Where I'm Going," and that certainly was what I thought of when I first read the piece. Still, the evidence is thin. I'm including it in the Index, hesitantly, and giving it its own entry, hesitantly. - RBW
File: MSNR153
===
NAME: I'm Goin' Away to Texas
DESCRIPTION: "I'm goin' away to Texas, Oh dear me...." "Just go on an' just keep a-goin'." "When I get there I'll write you a letter." "I don't want you nor none of your letters." "You'll be sorry for all this." "If I am, you never will know it." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: dialog husband wife separation rejection shrewishness
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 363, "I'm Going Away to Texas" (3 texts, 1 tune, but only the "A" text and tune really belong here; "B" is "I Love You And I Can't Help It" and "C" is perhaps "The Quaker's Courtship" )
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 327-329, "I'm Going Away to Texas" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 363A)
Lomax-FSNA 166, "I'm Going Away to Texas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6691
File: R363
===
NAME: I'm Goin' Back to North Carolina: see My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains (File: Wa124)
===
NAME: I'm Goin' Down the River Befo' Long: see Chilly Winds (File: MWhee029)
===
NAME: I'm Goin' Down the Rivuh: see I'm Going Down the River (File: MWhee050)
===
NAME: I'm Goin' to Beat This Rice
DESCRIPTION: "I'm goin' to beat this rice, Goin' to beat 'em so, Goin' to beat 'em till the husks come off, Ah hanh hanh!" "Goin' to cook this rice when I get through." "Goin' to eat my belly full."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: work food nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 116, (no title) (1 text)
File: CNFM116B
===
NAME: I'm Goin' to Pick my Banjo (Old Woman in the Garden)
DESCRIPTION: The singer watches his wife hoe the garden and cook while the lazy hound sits. He picks the banjo. The preacher tells him he'll never get to heaven; he repeats his refrain: "I'm goin' to pick my banjo... pick it while I can... right to the Promised Land."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: music clergy work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 125, "I'm Goin' to Pick my Banjo (or, Old Woman in the Garden)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa125 (Partial)
Roud #7478
RECORDINGS:
Frank Profffitt, "Old Woman in the Garden" (on USWarnerColl01)
File: Wa125
===
NAME: I'm Going Away to Texas (II): see The Quaker's Courtship (File: R362)
===
NAME: I'm Going Away to Texas (III): see I Love You And I Can't Help It (File: R363B)
===
NAME: I'm Going Down the River
DESCRIPTION: "I'm going down the river before long, Ba-baby..." "I know you're going to miss me when I'm gone." "Miss me from rollin' in your arms." "I think I heard the Joe Fowler blow." "She blowed like she ain't going to blow no more."  And so forth
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: river ship separation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, p. 50-51, "I'm Goin' Down the Rivuh" (1 text, 1 tune); also p. 29, "I'm Goin' Down the Rivuh Befo' Long" (1 text, 1 tune, a combination of this blues with "Chilly Winds"); also presumably pp. 46-50, "The Joe Fowler Blues" (1 text, 1 tune, with all of the lyrics found in this song; compare p. 116, "The Kate Adams," with many of the same lyrics) and pp. 114-115, "I'm Goin' Down the Rivuh, Baby" (1 text, 1 tune, with still another set of verses)
Roud #10004, etc.
NOTES: According to Wheeler, the Joe Fowler was one of the large stable of boats built by the Fowler family for use on the Mississippi. Built in 1888, she burned in 1920. Her single-tone whistle was reportedly famous.
Like most pieces in Wheeler, her version of song is more blues than ballad, and consists  mostly of words which could appear in any blues. But the reference to a specific boat hints that there might be something more complete out there somewhere.
It is possible that the "Joe Fowler Blues" is a separate song which was taken up entirely in the Wheeler text of "I'm Going Down the River" (after all, she has another "Going Down the River" text which swallowed part of "Chilly Winds" and still a third which is mostly about a man leaving home while boasting of his sexual prowess). But I know of no other versions to prove this, so for the moment they are combined. Roud splits them (10004, 10014, 10043), but they're all one-shots. - RBW 
File: MWhee050
===
NAME: I'm Going Down This Road Feeling Bad: see Going Down this Road Feeling Bad (File: LxU072)
===
NAME: I'm Going Home: see Homeward Bound (I) (File: Doe087)
===
NAME: I'm Going Home to Die No More: see The Road to Heaven (File: R600)
===
NAME: I'm Going to Be Married on Monday: see Next Monday Morning (File: ShH38)
===
NAME: I'm Going to be Married on Sunday: see Next Monday Morning (File: ShH38)
===
NAME: I'm Going to be Mother Today
DESCRIPTION: Singer's wife is ill so he cooks and watches the children: is mother. He cooks bacon, spills milk, the frying pan catches fire. The water boils over, he bumps his head and gets a black eye. He tells his wife "you can _ing well do the cooking yourself"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1976 (recording, Johnny Doughty)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad children wife food
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #8093
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Doughty, "I'm Going to be Mother Today" (on Voice14)
File: RcIGTBMT
===
NAME: I'm Going to Buy Me a Little Railroad
DESCRIPTION: "Well, I'm goin' to buy me a little railroad of my own, Ain't goin' to let nobody ride it but the chocolate to the bone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: railroading
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 240, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: Scarborough explains this as a reference to the singer's love. My instinctive reaction, though, was that the piece is political: In a day when Blacks were denied equal access to transportation, they might want to have a railroad where *they* were the ones with the rights. - RBW
File: ScaNF240
===
NAME: I'm Going To Cross the Sea
DESCRIPTION: "I'm going to cross the sea, my love, Oh how I hate to start, I'll shake your hand in a long farewell, And then we have to part." "Sift your meal and save your bran, There's gonna be a wedding down in Alabam." "Slice your bread and butter fine...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty separation food
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 587, "I'm Going To Cross the Sea" (1 text)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 40-42, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7674
NOTES: Although there are many songs with similar lines, there is no reason I can see (based on Randolph's fragmentary text) to link this with any other "Going Cross the Sea" song.
Thomas's text is similar in scope: Three stanzas, sharing the first few lines with Randolph's and then being mostly floating. She does not list it as a playparty, rather as a chantey -- but her clasifications are suspect. - RBW
File: R587
===
NAME: I'm Going to Georgia: see On Top of Old Smokey (File: BSoF740)
===
NAME: I'm Going to Get Married: see Next Monday Morning (File: ShH38)
===
NAME: I'm Going to Get Married Next Sunday: see Next Monday Morning (File: ShH38)
===
NAME: I'm Going to Join the Army: see The Girl Volunteer (The Cruel War Is Raging) [Laws O33] (File: LO33)
===
NAME: I'm Going to Ride in Pharaoh's Chariot
DESCRIPTION: "I'm goin' to ride in Pharaoh's chariot (x2), One of these days God knows that, I'm going to ride in Pharaoh's chariot One of these days." Similarly, "I'm goin' to cross the river of Jordan," "...walk the golden streets," "talk with Paul and Silas," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Bible
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 591, "I'm Goin' to Ride in Pharaoh's Chariot" (1 text)
Roud #11906
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Hope I'll Join the Band (Soon in the Morning)"  (lyrics, theme)
cf. "Welcome Table (Streets of Glory, God's Going to Set This World on Fire)" (form)
NOTES: The reference to riding in Pharaoh's chariot is presumably to Genesis 41:43, where Joseph, after being made viceroy of Egypt, is made to ride "in [Pharaoh's] second chariot." - RBW
Paul Stamler mentions the possibility that this is a version of the "Welcome Table" group. This is very possible, though we can't prove it without a tune. But the emphasis seems to be a little different. I am, for the moment, keeping them separate, though I'm far from sure. - RBW, (PJS)
File: Br3591
===
NAME: I'm Going to Stand In My Back Door
DESCRIPTION: "I'se gwine to stan' I my back do', An' I'se gwine ter hab -- Let de Debbil blab! -- Dat gal wid de blue dress on. Oh, swing dat gal wid de blue dress on, Swing, you niggers, swing!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: home clothes love
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 231, (no title) (1 short text)
File: ScaNF231
===
NAME: I'm Going Uptown: see Goin' to Have a Talk with the Chief of Police (File: CNFM098)
===
NAME: I'm Gwine Away to Georgia
DESCRIPTION: "I'm gwine away to Georgia, U'm gwine away to roam, U'm gwine away to Georgia, chile, Fer to make it my home." "The turkle dove is a hollerin' 'Cause he hears my sad cry, U'm gwine away to Georgia now Fer to live till I die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love home separation bird
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 449, "I'm Gwine Away to Georgia" (1 text)
Roud #413
NOTES: Roud links this with "The Cuckoo." I've no idea why. - RBW
File: Br3447
===
NAME: I'm Gwine to Alabamy
DESCRIPTION: "I'm gwine to Alabamy, Oh, For to see my mammy, Ah!" "She went from Old Virginny And I'm her pickaninny." "She lives on the Tombigbee, I wish I had her with me." "Now I'm a good big nigger, I reckon I won't get bigger." "But I'd like to see my mammy..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison, "Slave Songs of the United States")
KEYWORDS: slave mother separation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 904-905, "I'm Gwine to Alabamy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12047
File: BAF904A
===
NAME: I'm Just A-Going Over Jordon: see Wayfaring Stranger (File: FSC077)
===
NAME: I'm Just from the Fountain
DESCRIPTION: "I am just from the fountain, I'm just from the fountain, Lord, I'm just from the fountain that never runs dry, Oh fathers, I love Jesus, I love him, yes I do, Oh fathers, I love Jesus, and you must love him too." "Oh mothers, I love Jesus," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 636, "I'm Just from the Fountain" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7562
File: R636
===
NAME: I'm Just Going Down to the Gate
DESCRIPTION: Though the singer's sweetheart's parents think she is too young to marry, she's allowed to wander as far as the garden gate, where the two lovers meet regularly. Someday they will slip off to the parson's.
AUTHOR: Gus. Williams
EARLIEST_DATE: 1882 (sheet music published)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer describes his sweetheart as a "sly little fairy"; though her parents are protective and think she's too young to marry, she's allowed to wander as far as the garden gate, where of course she meets him. They talk sweet nothings while the parents debate weighty matters inside; she tells them "there's no sign of a storm, and the night is so warm." Someday they will slip off to the parson's. Chorus: "I'll just go as far as the gate, dear ma...The moon is so bright, and it's such a fine night/I love to stand here by the gate"
KEYWORDS: age courting elopement marriage nonballad family lover
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #6407
RECORDINGS:
Sid Harkreader, "Only As Far As the Gate" (Paramount 3035, 1927)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Only As Far As the Gate Dear Ma" (Vocalion 15323, 1926)
Murphy Brothers Harp Band, "When Katie Comes Down to the Gate" (Champion 16455, 1932)
NOTES: Chris Valillo has documented that this was taught at a singing school in Badet, IL as early as 1884. I've used the title of the original song, although it has apparently not been used much in tradition. - PJS
File: RcJGDttG
===
NAME: I'm Lonesome Since My Mother Died
DESCRIPTION: Mother dies and father remarries. My stepmother "beat me and she turned me out When I speaks of my mother dear." "If I could only call her back, Once more to sit down by her side, I would like her better than before; I'm lonesome since my mother died."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: grief death mourning lament mother stepmother youth
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 181, "I'm Lonesome Since My Mother Died" (1 text)
Roud #6361
File: GrMa181
===
NAME: I'm Looking Over My Dead Dog Rover
DESCRIPTION: Concerning the death of Rover, usually caused (inadvertently, one hopes) by the singer (e.g. by hitting Rover with a power mower). The text varies extremely, as does the cause of death; the only constant element seems to be the title line.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988
KEYWORDS: dog animal death humorous parody
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 136, "I'm Looking Over My Dead Dog Rover" (2 texts, tune referenced)
DT, DEADROVR
Roud #15720
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover" (tune)
NOTES: I've never seen two versions of this song alike, and none of the printed versions matches my father's text. Looks to me like a genuine folk song, even if the plot is completely unfixed. - RBW
File: DTdeadro
===
NAME: I'm My Own Grandpa
DESCRIPTION: Singer marries a pretty widow; his father marries her red-haired daughter. By tortuous logic, the singer explains that this makes him his own grandfather. Chorus: "I'm my own grandpa...It seems funny, I know/But it really is so/I'm my own grandpa"
AUTHOR: Dwight Latham & Moe Jaffe
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (recordings, Grandpa Jones, Korn Kobblers); reportedly copyright 1947
KEYWORDS: marriage nonsense paradox family father mother
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, OWNGRNPA
Roud #10444
RECORDINGS:
Grandpa Jones, "I'm My Own Grandpa" (King 694, 1948)
Korn Kobblers, "I'm My Own Grandpaw" (MGM 10136, 1948)
Lonzo & Oscar, "I'm My Own Grandpa" (RCA Victor 20-2563, 1947)
NOTES: This is included because it seems to have begun passing into oral tradition [or at least universal folklore - RBW] -- certainly it appears often enough on the internet (in geneology sites!) without attribution. The song is based on a short story by Mark Twain. - PJS
To make matters even more complicated, Fiddlin' John Carson's song "Papa's Billy Goat" (a version of what we index by its "urban" name of "Bill Grogan's Goat"), first recorded in 1923, concludes with this verse:
Then I acted an old fool, married me a widow,
And the widow had a daughter and her name was Maude;
Father being a widower married her daughter,
And now my daddy is my own son-in-law.
Obviously that isn't the whole burden of "I'm My Own Grandpa," but it's getting there, and Carson's version was popular enough that he was asked to re-record it twice. - RBW
Incidentally, Robert A. Heinlein eventually went this one better, and produced a story in which (by means of time travel and gender surgery) the main character became his own mother. And father. And, hence, grandmother and grandfather and.... (Wouldn't cloning have been easier?)
Not too surprisingly, that story ("All You Zombies," from 1959) mentions this song. It is, incidentally, the next-to-last short story Heinlein ever wrote (the last being "Searchlight," from 1962), and the last not associated with his "Future History" series. - RBW
File: DTowngrn
===
NAME: I'm No' Comin' Oot the Noo
DESCRIPTION: "O a nice wee lass, a bonnie wee lass Is bonnie wee Jeannie McKay," but when she and the singer are to go out, her says "My mother's ta'en my claes tae the pawn... And I'm no comin' oot the new." In any situation, the singer pleads poverty and stays in 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (recording, the Stewarts of Blair)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes bug poverty humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
ST RcINCOtN (Partial)
Roud #5298
RECORDINGS:
Belle, Sheila, and Cathie Stewart, "I'm No' Comin' Oot the Noo" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
File: RcINCOtN
===
NAME: I'm Nobody's Darling on Earth: see Nobody's Darling on Earth (File: R723)
===
NAME: I'm Not Myself At All
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I'm not myself at all, Molly dear, Molly dear." At confession the singer asked Father Taff for half a blessing because his other half belongs to Molly Brierly. The singer wants her to marry him before he disappears entirely.
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1861 (broadside, LOCSinging as201450)
KEYWORDS: courting love humorous nonballad clergy
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 22, "I'm Not Myself At All" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(267), "I'Am Not Myself At All", H. De Marsan (New York), 1859-1860 [same as LOCSinging as201450]; also Harding B 11(3984), "I'm Not Myself At All"; Harding B 11(4325), "Molly Dear" or "I'm Not Myself At All" 
LOCSinging, as201450, "I'am Not Myself At All", H. De Marsan (New York), 1859-1860 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(267)]; also sb20205a, "I'am Not Myself At All"
NOTES: Broadsides LOCSinging as201450 and Bodleian Harding B 18(267): H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: OCon022
===
NAME: I'm Often Drunk and I'm Seldom Sober
DESCRIPTION: 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: 
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober
File: DTimarov
===
NAME: I'm Often Drunk and Seldom Sober
DESCRIPTION: Singer is seldom sober and "a rover in every degree," He says his lover is "as clever a woman as ever trod upon London ground." He wishes he were in Dublin or across the sea beyond lawyers' reach. She says her love is clever. They both love drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1831 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(894))
KEYWORDS: drink floatingverses nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #3135
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(894), "I'm Often Drunk and Seldom Sober" ("Many cold winter nights I've travelled"), R. Walker (Norwich), 1780- 1830; also Harding B 25(893), Harding B 11(1731), "I'm Often Drunk, and Seldom Sober ("The sea is wide and I can't get over")
NOTES: Description is from broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(1731). - BS
File: BdIODASS
===
NAME: I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes himself as a happy old gentleman whom the girls adore. Chorus consists mostly of laughing
AUTHOR: Cal Stewart?
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1900 (recording, Cal Stewart)
KEYWORDS: age humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #15460
RECORDINGS:
Cal Stewart, "I"m Old But I'm Awfully Tough" (Columbia A-299, 1909; rec. 1900) (Victor ----, 1901; Zonophone C-5321, n.d.) (Victor 16403, 1909; rec. 1907)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Laughing Song" (chorus)
NOTES: This is a pop song, pure and simple, and I wouldn't include it in the Index, except that a massively folk-processed version of the song was collected in the 1970s from the Arkansas singer Tip McKinney (former member of Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers, who made 78s of traditional music in 1928). It's a classic example of a song moving from popular music into tradition. - PJS
File: RcIOBIAT
===
NAME: I'm On My Way
DESCRIPTION: "I'm on my way, and I won't turn back! I'm on my way, great God, I'm on my way." "I'm on my way to Canaan's land." "I ask my sister to go with me." "If she says no, I'll go alone." "I ask my boss to let me go." "If he says no, I'll go anyhow."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (recording, Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: religious travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greenway-AFP, p. 100, "I'm On My Way" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 302, "I'm On My Way" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "On My Way to Canaan's Land" (Bluebird B-8167, 1939)
Pete Seeger, "I'm On My Way" (on PeteSeeger04) (on PeteSeeger15) (on PeteSeeger26); "I'm On My Way to Canaan's Land" (on PeteSeeger44)
File: Grnw100
===
NAME: I'm Sad and I'm Lonely
DESCRIPTION: "I'm sad and I'm lonely, My heart it will break. My sweetheart loves another; Lord I wish I were dead." The singer warns against the lies that young men tell, which are more numerous than "cross-ties on the railroad or stars in the skies."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: love separation lie desertion floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 243-245, "I'm Sad and I'm Lonely" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 167, "I'm Sad And I'm Lonely" (1 text)
ST San243 (Full)
RECORDINGS:
Eller Family, "I'm Goin' to Georgia" (on FolkVisions1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Troubled In My Mind" (floating lyrics)
cf. "On Top of Old Smokey" (floating lyrics)
cf. "A Warning to Girls" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This appears to be another of those collections of floating verses that has taken on some life of its own. - RBW
The Eller Family recording is actually a mishmosh of floating verses from here, "On Top of Old Smoky," "The Cuckoo" and, if I'm not mistaken, "Poor Ellen Smith." But I put it here because, well, why not? It has to go somewhere. - PJS
File: San243
===
NAME: I'm Scarce Sixteen Come Sunday: see Seventeen Come Sunday [Laws O17] (File: LO17)
===
NAME: I'm Seventeen 'gin Sunday: see Seventeen Come Sunday [Laws O17] (File: LO17)
===
NAME: I'm Seventeen Come Sunday: see Seventeen Come Sunday [Laws O17] (File: LO17)
===
NAME: I'm Seventy-Two Today
DESCRIPTION: "I'm seventy-two today, my boys; They say I'm growing old. I feel as young as I used to be; My heart is strong and bold." The old man says he can and will ride and court as well as ever (if perhaps a bit faster), and expects to enjoy the process
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: age courting
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 433, "I'm Seventy-Two Today" (1 text)
Warner 158, "Seventy-Two Today" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R433 (Full)
Roud #4387 and 7485
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "If I Were As Young As I Used to Be (Uncle Joe)" (plot)
File: R433
===
NAME: I'm Sitting on the Stile, Mary (The Irish Emigrant II)
DESCRIPTION: "Oh I'm sitting on the stile, Mary, where we sat side by side." He thinks of their life together and the graveyard where he buried her "with your babe all on your breast." He promises not to forget her "in that land I'm going to"
AUTHOR: Words: Lady Helena Selina Blackwood Dufferin (1807-1867), Music: William R. Dempster (1843?)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1835 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(4048))
KEYWORDS: marriage emigration burial lament baby wife separation promise
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Peacock, pp. 462-464, "I'm Sitting on the Stile, Mary" (1 text, 2 tunes)
O'Conor, p. 156, "The Irish Emigrant" (1 text)
BrownII 133, "I Was Sitting on a Stile" (1 fragment, which the editors apparently regard as a part of this song -- though with only four lines, it's almost unfileable)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, pp. 302-303, "The Lament of the Irish Emigrant"
ST Pea462 (Partial)
Roud #2661
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4048), "The Irish Emigrant" ("I'm sitting on the stile, Mary"), G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also 2806 c.14(195) View 4 of 5, Harding B 11(1773), Firth b.25(157), Johnson Ballads 1690, Firth b.27(499), Firth c.12(134), Harding B 11(2181), Firth c.26(135), Harding B 11(465), 2806 c.16(140), Harding B 11(1778), Harding B 11(1777), Firth b.25(303), Harding B 11(239), Harding B 26(270), Harding B 6(18), 2806 b.10(93), 2806 b.10(76), Harding B 20(74), Harding B 15(139a), Harding B 11(1776), "The Irish Emigrant"
LOCSinging, as107440, "Lament of the Irish Immigrant," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859
Murray, Mu23-y4:016, "Irish Emigrant," John Ross (Newcastle), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70.(2a), "The Irish Emigrant," Robert McIntosh (Glasgow), c. 1875
SAME_TUNE:
Parody on The Irish Emigrant (broadside Murray, Mu23-y1:068, "Parody on "The Irish Emigrant" ("I'm sitting on a rail Judy, Where oft across ye'd stride"), James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Irish Emigrant's Lament
NOTES: Not the song by William Kennedy.
GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador site is one of many sources for the author of the words; Museum of the City of New York site refers to sheet music source for tunesmith.
Killeagh County Down site: The village of Killyleagh grew up around a fortified tower, built in the 12th century by a Norman knight, John de Courcy....Lady Helen Dufferin wrote the famous poem "The Lament of the Irish Emigrant" in the castle, It is still possible to visit Mary's Stile in the shadows of the Castle today.
Murray, Mu23-y1:068, "Parody on the Irish Emigrant," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C (the singer stays in Ireland, glad his wife has died)
Bodleian, Firth b.26(206), "Answer to the Irish Emigrant" ("I'm coming back to you, Mary, Australia's shores I find"), A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1845-1859; also Harding B 11(88), "Answer to the Irish Emigrant" (the singer returns from Australia)
LOCSinging, as107460, "Lament of the Irish Gold Hunter," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as107450, "Lament of the Irish Gold Hunter!!" (Tune: "I'm Sitting on the Stile, Mary"; the singer is digging for gold but expects to return to Ireland, if he survives "sitting on the stile, Mary, Away up in the mines")
LOCSinging, hc00011a, "Paddy's Lament" ("I'm sitthin on de sthile, Molly, wid a grape shot in my leg"), Charles Magnus (New York), 1864 (Tune: "I'm sitting on the stile &c."; attributed to John Ross Dix; the singer is fighting in America for the Union but hopes to return "when peace returns once more."
Broadside LOCSinging as107440 and LOCSinging as107460: J. Andrews dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: Pea462
===
NAME: I'm Sticking to the Murphys
DESCRIPTION: "I'm sticking to the Murphys, I'll fight 'em till I die; I can't help spitting cotton Because I am so dry. You'll bust your lips with laughter; Stick to the pledge I must, But the more I drink cold water The more I'm belching dust."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Springfield News and Leader)
KEYWORDS: drink promise
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 340, "I'm Sticking to the Murphys" (1 text)
Roud #7811
NOTES: The Murphy movement was a temperance program of the 1870s or so. Men signed a pledge to avoid alcohol (and to try to convince others to do the same), and were rewarded with a blue ribbon. - RBW
File: R340
===
NAME: I'm the Man That Kin Raise So Long: see Alabama Bound (Waterbound II) (File: BMRF598)
===
NAME: I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World: see I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago (Bragging Song) (File: R410)
===
NAME: I'm the Man that Rote Ta Rarra Bumdia: see I'm the Man that Wrote Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay (File: R409)
===
NAME: I'm the Man that Wrote Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay
DESCRIPTION: "I am the Man that Wrote Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay, Promise me you won't give it away...." The singer was a poor showman until he produced the famous song. Now the police seek him, people throw brickbats, and not even Shakespeare can equal his claim
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: parody music
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 409, "I'm the Man that Wrote Ta Rarra Bumdia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7614
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ta-ra-ra Boom-der-e"
NOTES: For the actual (uncertain) authorship of "Ta-ra-ra Boom-der-e," see that song. - RBW
File: R409
===
NAME: I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes: see Broken Ties (I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes) (File: BrII156)
===
NAME: I'm Tired of Living Alone
DESCRIPTION: "I'm tired of living alone. I went to the river, and I saw a pretty rose, I plucked it and called it my own. A rose will fade, and so will a maid; I'm tired of living alone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: flowers loneliness
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 272, "I'm Tired of Living Alone" (1 fragment)
Roud #15744
NOTES: No doubt a part of something longer and perhaps widely familiar. But I can't identify it from the stanza in Brown. - RBW
File: Br3272
===
NAME: I'm To Be Marrit in May
DESCRIPTION: "The win' at the window is rattlin', The sheep huddle close on the brae... But what care I for the weather, I'm happy's a queen a' the day... And I'm to be marrit in May." The girl praises her love Johnny and describes the joy she feels
AUTHOR: James M. Taylor
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love marriage
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 164, "I'm To Be Marrit in May" (1 text)
Roud #5559
NOTES: Since Ord had this from the (reported) author, there is no real reason to think it exists in oral tradition. - RBW
File: Ord164
===
NAME: I'm Troubled: see Troubled In My Mind (File: LoF102)
===
NAME: I'm Troubled in Mind: see Troubled In My Mind (File: LoF102)
===
NAME: I'm Working My Way Back Home
DESCRIPTION: If "the boat keep steppin'" and his back doesn't give out, the singer will get back to his woman in Memphis. "All that I crave fo' many a long day Is yo' lovin' when I git back." He urges the fireman to make speed, and describes the route the boat follows
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: river work love separation ship
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
MWheeler, pp. 13-14, "I'm Wukin' My Way Back Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 575, "I'm Wukin' My Way Back Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST BMRF575 (Full)
Roud #9991
File: BMRF575
===
NAME: I'm Wukin' My Way Back Home: see I'm Working My Way Back Home (File: BMRF575)
===
NAME: I'se Gwine Back to Dixie
DESCRIPTION: Singer, having left Dixie, pines for the usual things: home, food, etc. He swore that if he left, he'd never return, but now "time has changed the old man, his head is bending low." "I'm going back to Dixie...I'm going where the orange blossoms grow...."
AUTHOR: Charles A. White
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874 (sheet music publication)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, having left Dixie, pines for the usual things: home, the old plantation, hominy, punkin, and red gravy. He says that, working on the farm and on the river, he swore that if he left, he'd never return, but now "time has changed the old man, his head is bending low" and his heart turns back to Dixie. Chorus: "I'm going back to Dixie...I'm going where the orange blossoms grow...My heart turns back to Dixie, and I must go"
KEYWORDS: age homesickness loneliness home return travel farming river work food nonballad family
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, HEARTDIX
RECORDINGS:
Leo Boswell, "My Heart's Turned Back to Dixie" (Columbia 15748-D, 1932)
Climax Quartet, "Ise Gwine Back to Dixie" (Columbia [Climax] 753, 1902)
Haydn Quartet, "I'se Gwine Back to Dixie"  (Berliner 024-N, rec. 1899; Victor 657, 1901)
Leake County Revelers, "I'm Gwine Back to Dixie" (Columbia 15409-D, 1929)
Uncle Dave Macon, "I'se Gwine Back to Dixie" (Vocalion 5157, 1927)
Peg Moreland, "Going Back to Dixie" (Victor 21653, 1928)
Grover Rann & Harry Ayers, "I'se Gwine Back to Dixie" (Columbia 15638-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Gwine Back to Dixie
File: DTheartd
===
NAME: I'se Gwine Land on Dat Shore: see I Don't Love Old Satan (File: Br3584)
===
NAME: I'se the B'y that Builds the Boat: see I'ze the B'y that Builds the Boat (File: FJ116)
===
NAME: I've Always Been a Rambler: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: I've Been a Foreign Lander: see Foreign Lander (File: JRSF064)
===
NAME: I've Been a Wild Boy: see Wild Rover No More (File: MA069)
===
NAME: I've Been All Around This World: see Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Been All Around This World) (File: R146)
===
NAME: I've Been Buked and I've Been Scorned: see Hell and Heaven (I've Been Buked and I've Been Scorned) (File: LxA588)
===
NAME: I've Been to Australia, Oh!
DESCRIPTION: The singer warns, "So now my friends, take my advice, and never think to go Or you will rue the day you went to Australia-oh." While there, his wife, money, and clothes were stolen. Facing with high prices, he has to do manual labour. He hopes to go home
AUTHOR: (Music added by Declan Affley, 1981)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1981
KEYWORDS: Australia poverty work hardtimes emigration robbery
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 106-107, "I've Been to Australia, Oh!" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Pommy's Lament" (theme)
File: FaE106
===
NAME: I've Been Working on the Railroad
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes working on the railroad "all the live-long day" and waiting for Dinah to blow the horn. He describes someone being "in the kitchen with Dinah, strumming on the old banjo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1894 (Carmina Princetonia)
KEYWORDS: railroading work courting
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 537-542, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 234, "Working on the Railroad" (1 text plus two unrelated fragments, probably of "Roll on the Ground (Big Ball's in Town)"; the "A" text is a jumble starting with this song but followed up by what is probably a "Song of All Songs" fragment)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 248, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" (1 text, with the first verse being this and the second being probably some sort of courting song)
Silber-FSWB, p. 103, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" (1 text, including some parody verses)
Fuld-WFM, p. 209, "I've Been Working on the Railroad -- (The Eyes of Texas)"; p. 513, "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah"
DT, WORKRAIL
RECORDINGS:
Blankenship Family, "Working on the Railroad" (Victor 23583, 1931)
Art Mooney, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" (Vogue R-713-32, n.d. but prob. 1930s)
Sandhills Sixteen, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" (Victor 20905, 1927)
Pete Seeger, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" (on PeteSeeger21) (on PeteSeeger32)
SAME_TUNE:
We've Enlisted in the Navy (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 151)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Levee Song
NOTES: Although this is surely a composed song, Fuld cannot find any references to the "Railroad" verses prior to 1894 (when it was twice published as "The Levee Song," and in both instances associated with Princeton). No composer is listed in the extant materials.
The "Dinah" verses are dated by Fuld to the period before 1850. How they came together is a mystery; they don't fit all that well -- but as I've never heard the halves done separately (though Scarborough's text consists only of the first part, and the Cohen text, from the Blankenship family omits the"Dinah Won't You Blow" stanza, substituting something Cohen thinks is a school rouser), I keep them together here.
Cohen cites Theodore Raph as claiming the song became popular in 1881. But Cohen himself agrees with Fuld's 1894 date. Probably it will take a much more detailed study than any undertaken so far to finally settle the matter. - RBW
File: FSWB209
===
NAME: I've Bin to the 'Bama and I Just Got Back
DESCRIPTION: "I've bin to the 'Bama and I just got back. I didn't bring no money but I brought the sack."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: money travel
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 498, "I've Bin to the 'Bama and I Just Got Back" (1 fragment)
Roud #11765
NOTES: Roud lumps this with the "Hesitation Blues." Tough to prove either way. - RBW
File: Be3498
===
NAME: I've Built Me a Neat Little Cot, Darling: see Kitty Tyrrell (File: R788)
===
NAME: I've Buried Three Husbands Already (Wherever There's a Goose There's a Gander)
DESCRIPTION: "Oh I buried three husbands already ... And now I am mostly all ready For another young son to come on." "Wherever there's a goose there's a gander." "The older the bow and the fiddle, The sweeter the tune it can play"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (IRTravellers01)
KEYWORDS: age marriage death humorous nonballad husband
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #16725
RECORDINGS:
Mary Delaney, "I've Buried Three Husbands Already" (on IRTravellers01)
NOTES: Did someone set the Wife of Bath's Tale to music? - RBW
File: RcIB3HA
===
NAME: I've Got a Brother in the Snow-White Fields
DESCRIPTION: "I've got a brother in the snow-white fields, Praying all night long. I want to go to Heaven when I die, Oh my Lawd (x2), I want to go to...." "I want to go to Heaven and I want to go right... dressed in white." "I want to go to heaven at my own expense."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious death brother nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 535, "I've Got a Brother in the Snow-White Fields" (1 text)
Roud #11822
File: Br3535
===
NAME: I've Got a Master and I Am His Man
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I've got a master and I am his man, Galloping steadily on, Oh, I've got a master and I am his man, I'll marry me a wife as soon as I can, With a higglety pigglety, gambling gay, Higglety pigglety, gambling gay, Galloping steadily on."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: servant work horse
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 148, "I've Got a Master and I Am His Man" (1 fragment)
Roud #15768
File: Br3148
===
NAME: I've Got a Mother Gone to Glory: see probably The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)
===
NAME: I've Got No Use for the Women
DESCRIPTION: "I've got no use for the women; A true one can never be found. They use a man for his money...." The singer tells how his partner  killed a man who insulted his sweetheart's picture, and was himself killed and buried on the prairie.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Travis B. Hale)
KEYWORDS: death murder revenge love burial
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 65, "I've Got No Use for the Women" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4104
RECORDINGS:
Edward L. Crain, "Bury Me Out on the Prairie"  (Crown 3239, 1932; Homestead 22991, c. 1932; on MakeMe)
Crowder Brothers, "Got No Use for Women" (Perfect 8-03-57, 1938)
Vernon Dalhart, "Bury Me Out on the Prairie" (Conqueror 7729, 1931)
Delmore Bros. "Oh Bury Me Out on the Prairie" (Montgomery Ward M-4060, 1933)
Travis B. Hale, "Oh Bury Me Out on the Prairie" (Victor 20796, 1927)
Harry Jackson, "I Ain't Got No Use for the Women" (on HJackson1)
Bradley Kincaid, "Bury Me Out on the Prairie" (Silvertone 8218, 1928) (Conqueror 8091, 1933)
Ranch Boys, "Bury Me Out on the Prairie" (Decca 5341, 1937)
Carson Robison's Trio, "Oh Bury Me Out on the Prairie" (Broadway 4060, n.d.)
Roy Shaffer, "Bury Me Out on the Prairie" (Bluebird B-8213, 1939)
Tune Wranglers "I've Got No Use for the Women" (Bluebird B-7089, 1937)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl)" (lyrics)
cf. "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (lyrics)
NOTES: What an excuse for not being able to find a girlfriend. - RBW
This uses more phrases from "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" than can be explained by coincidence. - PJS
File: FCW065
===
NAME: I've Just Come from Sydney
DESCRIPTION: "I've just come from Sydney across the range of mountains Where the nanny goats and the billy goats and the moo cows do dwell." He looks for his girl. Informed she has run off, he says he will wander by the sea and lay himself down and -- get up!
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: love separation elopement humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manifold-PASB, p. 143, "I've Just Come from Sydney" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: From the language, this sounds like a children's song; from the tone, it's clearly a gag. I suspect it's a parody of something, but I've no idea what. - RBW
File: PASB143
===
NAME: I've Just Got in Across the Plains
DESCRIPTION: "I've just got in across the plains, I'm poorer than a snail, My mules all died but poor old Chip." The singer tells of his terrible troubles on the way to California, and warns those who would follow that gold is hard to find
AUTHOR: Enuel Davis?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1912 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: travel hardtimes animal gold warning
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 345-346, "I've Just Got in Across the Plains" ( 1 text)
Roud #7775
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Miner's Song
NOTES: Belden mentions that this was written "on the California Trail around 1850 by Enuel Davis," who contributed other complaints about the trail to California. But in context, it appears possible that Davis was the transcriber or publisher. - RBW
File: Beld345
===
NAME: I've Rode the Southern and the L & N
DESCRIPTION: Blues; singer says he's ridden the Southern & L&N railroads, has been treated badly, is a rambling man, and has found his "two blue eyes" at last. He has had to offer her his watch, his chain, and all he had before she would agree to marry him
AUTHOR: Possibly Homer Callahan, but since it's mostly floating verses...
EARLIEST_DATE: early 1930s (recording, Homer Callahan)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage bargaining rambling train floatingverses
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #8589
RECORDINGS:
Homer Callahan, "I've Rode the Southern and the L & N" (Conqueror 8557, 1935; Romeo 351011 (1935), also issued on Banner, Melotone, Oriole and Perfect; some issued under the name Callahan Bros.)
Merle Lovell, "I Rode Southern, I Rode L & N" (AFS 4111 A1, 1940; on LC61)
NOTES: The "L & N" was the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.
This barely qualifies as a ballad, but the narrative thread, though thin, is present, and while some of the floating verses come from Jimmie Rodgers via Homer Callahan, they've floated through enough places to become part of tradition. - PJS
File: RcIRtSLN
===
NAME: I've Travelled This Country (Last Friday Evening)
DESCRIPTION: "I've traveled this country both early and late; Hard has been my fortune and sad has been my fate." He comes to his love's home and sees her with another man. He gets drunk and/or questions her and wishes he were a fisherman and could catch her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal drink
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Belden, p. 194, "Last Friday Evening" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 333, "Lovely Polly" (1 text; tune on p. 447)
Roud #1795
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "If I Were a Fisher" (floating lyrics) and references there
File: Beld194
===
NAME: I've Two or Three Strings To My Bow
DESCRIPTION: "I am a fair maiden forsaken, but I have a contented mind." Her love has forsaken him, but she does not intend to mourn; she has other options. She warns girls against men, and says she will "care no more for him than he cares for me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1768 (Ramsey)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H70a+b, pp. 340-341, "I've Two or Three Strings To My Bow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4788
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Frugal Maid
File: HHH070
===
NAME: I'ze the B'y that Builds the Boat
DESCRIPTION: "I'ze the b'y that builds the boat, And I'ze the b'y that sails her; I'ze the b'y that catches the fish And takes 'em home to Liza." Stories of a Newfoundland life and diet -- and of the odd things that can happen at a Newfoundland party
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: nonballad ship sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 116-117, "I'se the B'y that Builds the Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 43, "I'se the B'y that Builds the Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, p. 64, "I's the B'y That Builds the Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 30, "I'se The B'y" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 40-41, "I'se the B'y" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 78, "I'ze the Bye" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 129, "I'se The B'y" (1 text)
DT, ISTHEBY*
Roud #4432
NOTES: Gordon Bok reports the following anecdote:
"A friend of mine came back from fishing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and he told me he was sitting in a bar in Cornerbrook when the fellow beside him punched him in the arm and said, 'How do you kill a Newfoundlander?'
"My friend says: 'I dunno.'
"The fellow says, 'You nail his boots to the floor and play "I'ze the B'y."'" - RBW
File: FJ116
===
NAME: I'ze the Bye: see I'ze the B'y that Builds the Boat (File: FJ116)
===
NAME: Ibby Damsel
DESCRIPTION: "Some old Robin Down they call me/But I'm a weaver by my trade/In this fair berth, in which I'm dwelling/And Ibby Damsel my heart betrayed." Two succeeding verses praise Ibby Damsel's beauty, and note that "from her chamber I can't get free"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (collected from Rosie Hensley by Cecil Sharp)
KEYWORDS: captivity love betrayal beauty weaving
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SharpAp 119, "Ibby Damsel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3635
NOTES: A fragment, but it just avoids nonballad status by its hint of a narrative. There are no further notes on this song in Sharp's collection. - PJS
File: ShAp2119
===
NAME: Ice Bound Hunting Seals
DESCRIPTION: "The wind was still from the nor'east As we sat down to out humble feast" as the sealers talk of days gone by. They recall happier voyages; finally old "Garge" "Cried out, 'it's the "infarnal" steal -- that's what done it.'"
AUTHOR: probably James Murphy
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Ryan/Small)
KEYWORDS: hunting technology
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, p. 67, "Ice Bound Hunting Seals" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: A manuscript text, with no author cited, but thought to be the work of James Murphy. - RBW
File: RySm067
===
NAME: Ice Was Thin, The: see Three Little Girls A-Skating Went (File: R588)
===
NAME: Ice-Floes, The
DESCRIPTION: The Eagle sails for the ice and sends out sealing parties. The crews find many animals. After several successful expeditions, the singer and colleagues are unable to find the ship. Some eventually find their way back, but 60 die
AUTHOR: E. J. Pratt
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Pratt, Here the Tides Flow)
KEYWORDS: storm disaster death hunting
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, pp. 59-62, "The Ice-Floes" (1 text)
NOTES: Not traditional, not true, and not a song. As written, the poem cannot be set to music, and the event, while similar to some actual events (see, e.g., the several "Greenland Disaster" songs), was made up by the author.
Don't ask me what induced Ryan and Small to include it in their book. - RBW
File: RySm059
===
NAME: Ida Red (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Ida Red, Ida Red, I'm in love with Ida Red." Verses often concern Ida, but are frequently silly and exaggerated: "Ida Red, she ain't a fool, Bigger'n an elephant, stronger'n a mule."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (recording, Fiddlin' Powers & Family)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad humorous
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 442, "Ida Red" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 36, "Ida Red" (1 text)
Rorrer, p. 83, "Shootin' Creek" (1 text, with verses from this song but music and chorus from "Cripple Creek (I)")
MWheeler, p. 14, "Ida Red" (1 text, 1 tune, somewhat removed from the standard version but too close to list as a separate song)
DT, IDARED
Roud #3429
RECORDINGS:
Dykes Magic City Trio, "Ida Red" (Brunswick 125, 1927)
Land Norris, "Ida Red" (OKeh 45006, 1925)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Shootin' Creek" (composite, with tune and chorus from "Cripple Creek (I); Columbia15286-D, 1928; on CPoole01, CPoole05)
Fiddlin' Powers & Family, "Ida Red" (Victor 19434, 1924)
Pete Steele, "Ida Red" (on PSteele01)
Riley Puckett, "Ida Red" (Columbia 15102-D, 1926)
Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers, "Ida Red" (Montgomery Ward M-4846, 1935)
"T" Texas Tyler, "Ida Red" (4-Star 1228, n.d. but post-World War II)
Wade Ward, "Ida Red" [instrumental] (on GraysonCarroll1)
Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, "Ida Red" (Vocalion 05079, 1939/Columbia 37725, 1947)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cripple Creek (I)" (floating verses)
NOTES: Wheeler's version has the chorus, "Ida Red, I'm gettin' tired uv eatin' that shortnin' bread." Not enough reason to call it a separate song, to my mind -- though Roud, for once, appears to split (it's his #9992). Of course, he lumps this with "Ida Red (II)." - RBW
File: R442
===
NAME: Ida Red (II)
DESCRIPTION: "I went down one day in a lope, Fool around till I stole a coat." In love with Ida Red, the singer turns criminal (against Ida's wishes). He winds up in prison, and she cannot raise his bail. He regrets his mistake, and looks forward to seeing Ida again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: love prison separation theft
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 110-111, "Ida Red" (1 text)
Roud #3429
NOTES: This song is item dI23 in Laws's Appendix II.
Roud lumps this with Ida Red (I), which is a humorous item; this is a crime ballad. - RBW
File: LoA110
===
NAME: Idaho Cowboy Dance, An: see At a Cowboy Dance (File: FCW105)
===
NAME: Idaho, The
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "She was laden with slates and heavy crates And was bound for New Orleans"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship wreck commerce
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 127, "The Idaho" (1 text)
NOTES: Apparently not the Idaho that struck Coningmore Rock on June 1, 1878. - BS
File: Ran127
===
NAME: Idumea: see Am I Born to Die? (Idumea) (File: LoF125)
===
NAME: Idyl of the Plains: see The Cowboy (File: FCW028)
===
NAME: Ierne United
DESCRIPTION: "When Rome, by dividing, had conquered the world," Ireland, united, escaped. Eventually "our domestic dissensions let foreigners in.... our freedom was lost.... Let us firmly unite, and our covenant be, Together to fall, or together be free"
AUTHOR: Theobald Wolfe Tone (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1792 (according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 120, "Ierne United" (1 text)
NOTES: The claim of this song is a half-truth: Ireland was never conquered, or even attacked, by Rome. But it wasn't because Ireland was united; it was because Ireland was *remote*. The Romans never finished conquering Britain, and had no harbors on her west coast; of course they didn't go after Ireland. But Ireland was not united at any time in its history prior to the Tudor conquest; there were always at least the four kingdoms of Leinster, Munster, Ulster, and Connaught, and those usually subdivided. A king like Brian Boru could say he ruled all as High King, but at best his authority resembled that of the modern British monarch: Respected, bowed to -- and utterly ignored.
Still, it is true that internal strife led to the English invasion: There was strife between Diarmat Mac Murchada (MacMurrough), king of Leinster, and Tigernan Ua Ruairk of Breifne/Breffni. There was also a conflict over who was High King of Ireland, which had lesser lords taking sides. In a complex multi-sided war, Diarmat was deprived of most of his power -- and sailed to England, where he offered to marry his daughter to Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, known as "Strongbow," the Earl of Pembroke.Pembroke invaded (1169, then in more force in 1170 as MacMurrough, successful in Leinster, decided to try for the High Kingship). King Henry II , who early in his reign had been granted a patent by the (English) Pope to straighten out the much-too-independent Irish church, later followed him to keep Strongbow under control (1172; Strongbow had become, in effect, King of Leinster when MacMurrough died, and Henry couldn't have that).
The Normans, by a combination of politics, marriage, and warfare,gradually took over eastern Ireland (see Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, _A History of Ireland_, pp. 58-73; Mike Cronin,_A History of Ireland_, pp. 11-15; Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 11). - RBW
File: Moyl120
===
NAME: If Ever I Cease to Love
DESCRIPTION: Singer's true love is perfect: "a modern Taglioni and Sims Reeves rolled into one." If he stops loving her, may these things happen: "little dogs wag their tails in front," "cows lay eggs and fowls yield milk," "we never have to pay Income Tax..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1871 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.21(153))
KEYWORDS: love nonballad parody
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.21(153), "If Ever I Cease to Love" ("In a house, in a square, in a quadrant"), The Poet's Box(Glasgow), 1871; also Firth b.27(343), "If Ever I Cease to Love"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "That the Stones of the Street May Turn Up the Pig's Feet" (subject and some text)
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Firth c.21(153) is the basis for the description.
A parody of the "if ever I prove false" theme floating among songs such as "When First Into this Country" and "I Live Not Where I Love."  The parody is carried further by a broadside on drinking, to the tune of "If Ever I Cease to Love": 
Bodleian, Firth c.16(407)[some lines illegible], "If Ever I Cease to Lush" ("I think its a sin, if ever there was one"), unknown, n.d. [but with a reference to the performers N.C. Bostock and Mark Alberts].
Maria Taglioni (1804-1884) was an Italian ballerina, most famous beginning in 1832; she retired in 1848 (source: "Maria Taglioni" in _Columbia Encyclopedia_, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2005).  She is named as the quintessential dancer in other humorous broadsides; for example, see: NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(48a), "Newhaven Fishwife"; LOCSinging, sb30394a, "The Obstinate Girl." 
John Sims Reeves (1818-1900) was an English opera singer who "made a great sensation" in 1848; he retired in 1891 (source: "John Sims Reeves" at the Wikipedia site). - BS
File: BdIEICTL
===
NAME: If Ever You Go to Kilkenny
DESCRIPTION: "If ever you'll go to Kilkenny Enquire for the Hole-in-the-Wall" for free or inexpensive food: the governor comes around with it in the morning. The singer was drunk there last Friday and the governor insisted he strip before entering.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (IRTravellers01)
KEYWORDS: drink food nonballad clothes
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #16989
RECORDINGS:
Mary Delaney, "If Ever You Go to Kilkenny" (on IRTravellers01)
NOTES: Jim Carroll's notes to IRTravellers01: "'The Hole in the Wall' was, from the middle of the eighteenth century to 1850, one of Ireland's more renowned supper-houses.... There was another 'Hole in the Wall' in Kilkenny ... where, before the existence of the public market, farmers used to sell ... farm produce. It is quite possible that Mary's song refers to this latter location although her text gives the impression that the premises referred to was a prison." The notes also mention the first verse of a song, referring to the supper-house, that is very close to the first verse here. - BS
File: RcIEYGTK
===
NAME: If I Die a Railroad Man
DESCRIPTION: "They took John Henry to the steep hillside, He looked to the heaven above, He said, 'Take my hammer and wrap it in gold And give it to the girl I love." "If I die a railroad man, go bury me under the tie So I can hear old Number 4 As she goes rolling by"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: train railroading death nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp. 362-363, "If I Die a Railroad Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Green Bailey, "If I Die a Railroad Man" (Supertone 9320, 1929)
Tenneva Ramblers, "If I Die a Railroad Man" (Victor 21406, 1928)
File: San362
===
NAME: If I Die in Arkansas
DESCRIPTION: "If I die in Arkansas (x2), Ship my body to my mother-in-law." "If my mother refuses me, ship it to my paw." "If my paw refuses me, ship it to my girl." "If my girl refuses me, shove it in the sea, Where the fishes... make a fuss over me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (recording by Bill Atkins)
KEYWORDS: death corpse burial family rejection humorous
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 351, "If I Die in Arkansas" (1 text)
BrownIII 495, "If I Die in Tennessee" (1 text)
Roud #7628
File: R351
===
NAME: If I Die in Tennessee: see If I Die in Arkansas (File: R351)
===
NAME: If I Had a Scolding Wife (I): see Lucy Long (I) (File: R279)
===
NAME: If I Had It You Could Get It
DESCRIPTION: "I went right down to my old friend Joe," (to ask for money?), but Joe has none to spare. "If I had it, you could get it, But I am very sorry I haven't got it. For I am all in and down and out." The singer says he will hold his money if he ever gets more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: money poverty hardtimes begging
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 494, "If I Had It You Could Get It" (1 short text)
Roud #11761
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (lyrics)
File: Br494
===
NAME: If I Had My Way: see Samson and Delilah (File: LoF251)
===
NAME: If I Had the Gov'ner
DESCRIPTION: "If I had the gov'ner Where the gov'ner has me, Before daylight I'd set the gov'ner free. I begs you' gov'ner, Upon my soul: If you won't gimme a pardon, Won't you gimme a parole?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: prisoner request pardon
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 31, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: Scarborough reports having gotten this from Texas governor Pat Neff, who heard it as the refrain of a song by a prisoner requesting help. I rather doubt this; it looks like a loose fragment of something else -- perhaps "Take This Hammer." But until something more definite emerges, it has to file separately. - RBW
File: ScaNF031
===
NAME: If I Lose, I Don't Care
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses; singer is clearly a rambler, but the song has no cohesion. "I can't walk/Neither can I talk/Just getting back from the state of old New York/One morning, just before day." Chorus: "If I lose, let me lose/I don't care how much I lose."
AUTHOR: credited to Tom Delaney
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Maggie Jones)
KEYWORDS: rambling gambling nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 187, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 75, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 284-285, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (1 text)
DT, IFILOSE*
Roud #12399
RECORDINGS:
Maggie Jones, "If I Lose, Let Me Lose" (Columbia 14059-D, 1925)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "If I Lose, Let Me Lose" (Bluebird B-7471, 1938)
New Lost City Ramblers, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (on NLCR05)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (Columbia 15215-D, 1927; on CPoole02 as "If I Lose, Let Me Lose")
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Battleship of Maine" (tune, floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
If I Lose, Let Me Lose
Let Me Lose
File: CSW187
===
NAME: If I Lose, Let Me Lose: see If I Lose, I Don't Care (File: CSW187)
===
NAME: If I Was On Some Foggy Mountain Top: see Foggy Mountain Top (File: CSW042)
===
NAME: If I Were a Blackbird: see I Am a Young Maiden (If I Were a Blackbird) (File: FSC38)
===
NAME: If I Were a Fisher
DESCRIPTION: Composite of floating material: The singer goes to the garden to pick flowers. He wishes he were a fisher, to catch Molly, a salmon; he wishes he were a scholar. He would build Molly a castle. But he lost her by courting too slow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection flowers bird floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H709, p. 348, "If I Were a Fisher"; H24a, pp. 248-349, "The Star of Benbradden" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 46, "Pretty Polly" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6873
RECORDINGS:
Betty Garland, "Lovin' Nancy" (on BGarland01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pretty Saro" (floating verses)
cf. "The Cuckoo" (floating verses)
cf. "The Streams of Lovely Nancy" (floating verses)
cf. "The False Bride (The Week Before Easter; I Once Loved a Lass)" (floating verses)
cf. "On Top of Old Smokey" (floating verses)
cf. "As I Walked Out (I) (A New Broom Sweeps Clean)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I've Travelled This Country (Last Friday Evening)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I Once Had a True Love" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Another composite of floating verses; see the cross-references. Sam Henry's earlier text, "The Star of Benbradden," starts with an original verse, but the rest is the same as "If I Were a Fisher." Since they're both composites, I decided to lump them -- and use the "If I Were a Fisher" name as more memorable.
I tossed Betty Garland's "Lovely Nancy" here on the same principle; it's massively composite, in the "Pretty Saro/If I Were a Fisher" mold.
Creighton's single stanza is really just a floating verse, but it's a floating verse often found with this song; this is as good a home for it as any. - RBW
File: HHH709
===
NAME: If I Were As Young As I Used to Be (Uncle Joe)
DESCRIPTION: The singer is now (84/92); his black hair has turned gray, and youngsters call him "Uncle Joe." But he still feels young, and promises "If any girl here is in love with me, She'll find me as young as I used to be."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1882
KEYWORDS: age humorous
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 434, "Uncle Joe" (1 texts, 1 tune, plus two fragments that might or might not belong with this song)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 337-338, "Uncle Joe" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 434A)
FSCatskills 150, "If I Were As Young As I Used to Be" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 7-8, "Not So Young As I Used to Be"  (1 text)
DT, UNCLEJOE
Roud #4377
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Seventy-Two Today" (plot)
File: R434
===
NAME: If I were back 'ome in 'Ampshire: see If I Were Back Home in Hampshire (File: CoSB296)
===
NAME: If I Were Back Home in Hampshire
DESCRIPTION: "If I were back 'ome in 'Ampshire, Where they birds do flock round I, I'd clap my 'hands an' laugh like buggery, An' all they birds would fly away." "I wonder where that blackbird be... 'E see I an' I see 'e an' I be after 'e...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: home England bird nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 296-297, "If I were back 'ome in 'Ampshire" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16931
File: CoSB296
===
NAME: If the River Was Whiskey: see Rye Whisky (File: R405)
===
NAME: If the Seaboard Train Wrecks I Got a Mule to Ride: see Alabama Bound (II) (File: PSAFB044)
===
NAME: If You Don't Believe I'm Sinking
DESCRIPTION: "If you don't believe I'm sinking, just look what a hole I'm in. If you don't believe I love you, just look what a fool I've been. You made me love you and now your man have come, I'll see you later when I've got my gun."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love fight
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 447, "If You Don't Believe I'm Sinking" (2 fragments)
Roud #11783
File: Br3447
===
NAME: If You Get There Before I Do
DESCRIPTION: "If you get there before I do, all right, all right, Jesus will make it all right. Just tell them that I am coming too, all right, all right. If you get there before I do, all right, Just scratch a hole and pull me through, all right, all right."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 531, "If You Get There Before I Do" (1 fragment)
Roud #11821
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wade in the Water" (floating lyrics) and references there
NOTES: The title line, of course, is common and floats (see the cross-references). But the chorus and form implies that this is a separate piece. - RBW
File: Br3531
===
NAME: If You Meet a Woman in the Morning
DESCRIPTION: "If you meet a woman in the morning, Bow yo' head, buddy, bow yo' head." "When you hear that turkle-dove a-hollerin', Sign it's gwi' rain, buddy, sign it's gwi' rain." Other bird calls indicate other times: Whip-poor-will planting, screech owls cold
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: bird
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 446, "If You Meet a Woman in the Morning" (1 text)
Roud #11792
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Swannanoa Tunnel" (form, lyrics)
NOTES: The notes in Brown suggest a link to "Swannanoa Tunnel." The form is obviously the same. But this, at the very least, is used for other purposes. - RBW
File: Br3446
===
NAME: If You Want to Go A-courting: see Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.) (File: R342)
===
NAME: If You Want to Go to Heaven: see Talking Blues (File: LoF224)
===
NAME: If You Want to Know Where the Privates Are: see The Old Barbed Wire (I Know Where They Are) (File: San442)
===
NAME: If You Want to See the Captain: see The Old Barbed Wire (I Know Where They Are) (File: San442)
===
NAME: If You'll Only Let Liquor Alone
DESCRIPTION: The singer reminds her husband that he promised when they married "that you would leave liquor alone." Nevertheless, he breaks his vows "to your kind wife and baby at home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963 (Ives-NewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: promise drink baby husband wife betrayal lie marriage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 90-92, "If You'll Only Let Liquor Alone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1951
File: IvNB90
===
NAME: If Your Gal Gets Mad
DESCRIPTION: "Ef yore gal gits mad an' tries to bully you (x2), Jes' take your automatic an' shoot her through an' through! (x2)"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection murder
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 275, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: Needless to say, this method has not been shown to cause women to be come more amenable to men's wishes.
I suspect this may be the ending of a longer ballad in which the woman provokes the man until he shoots her, but I cannot recall seeing such a song. - RBW
File: ScNF275A
===
NAME: Ike Brown's Song
DESCRIPTION: "There is a few songsters, Their like could not be found, Who have been making a song Upon old Isaac C. Brown." The singer tells "how I tended my crops." He leaves home to "dredge the big canal." He describes other canal workers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes farming canal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 118, "Ike Brown's Song" (1 text)
ST ChFRA118 (Partial)
Roud #16942
NOTES: As it stands, the song in Chappell is singularly incoherent; at first glance, it appears to borrow parts of at least three songs. But until we can find another Ike Brown song, we can't say much with certainty. - RBW
File: ChFRA118
===
NAME: Il Faut Voir Que Je Me Sauvais (So I Ran Away)
DESCRIPTION: French. A reaper says "Quelle chaleur!" The singer thinks it said "Here is the robber." He runs. A mill says "Tri que traque." He thinks it said "Catch him." He runs. A priest says "Dominus vobiscum." The singer thinks he said "Here he is." He runs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage humorous wordplay
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 62-63, "Il Faut Voir Que Je Me Sauvais" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea062
===
NAME: Ilka Blade o' Grass Keps Its Ain Drap o' Dew
DESCRIPTION: "What is't that gars ye hang your heid and quit the cheery sun?" The depressed listener is urged to cheer up; troubles are certain but can be overcome, and there is a place for everything: "Ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 385, "Ilka Blade o' Grass Keps Its Ain Drap o' Dew" (1 text)
Roud #5612
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, R.B.m.143(128), "Ilka Blade o' Grass Keps Its Ain Drap o' Dew," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
File: Ord385
===
NAME: Ilkley Moor Baht 'At: see On Ilkla Moor Bah T'at (File: K303)
===
NAME: Imaginary Trouble: see The Crying Family (Imaginary Trouble) (File: Wa062)
===
NAME: Immortal Washington
DESCRIPTION: "Columbia's greatest glory Was her loved chief, fair Freedom's friend." Listeners are urged to respect and praise the (recently deceased?) Washington, and God is asked to "Receive into thy bosom Our virtuous hero -- Washington"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1836 (The American Songster)
KEYWORDS: patriotic death nonballad recitation
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1732-1799 - Life of George Washington
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
JHCox 59, "Immortal Washington" (2 texts, though only the first is from tradition)
Roud #5465
NOTES: Almost makes you forget, in your nausea at such saccharine stuff, that Washington was a slaveowner who lost more battles than he won in his career.
I've tagged this with the "recitation" keyword because the only traditional text seems to be the badly garbled version in Cox. Even this is from manuscript, but certainly from memory (it contains too many senseless errors to be taken from print). There is no indication that it ever possessed a tune (it is hard to imagine a tune to this metrical pattern anyway). - RBW
File: JHCox059
===
NAME: Improbability: see Things Impossible (File: GC158)
===
NAME: In 1795: see In Seventeen Ninety-Five (File: RcIn1795)
===
NAME: In 1845: see The Backwoodsman (The Green Mountain Boys) [Laws C19] (File: LC19)
===
NAME: In a Boxcar Around the World
DESCRIPTION: "I'm the man that rode the boxcar around the world, boys, it's a pleasure to me." The singer tells of travelling around the world a dozen times by train. He asks, when he dies, to be left aboard the train and allowed to "ride forevermore."
AUTHOR: Cliff Carlisle
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (recording and copyright by Cliff Carlisle)
KEYWORDS: train rambling death nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 397-399, "In a Boxcar Around the World" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Cliff Carlisle, "In a Box Car around the World" (Bluebird B-6438, 1936)
File: LSRai397
===
NAME: In a Cottage by the Sea: see The Widow in the Cottage by the Sea (File: R702)
===
NAME: In and Around Nashville: see In Kansas (File: EM049)
===
NAME: In and Out the Window: see Go In and Out the Window (File: R538)
===
NAME: In Arkansas: see In Kansas (File: EM049)
===
NAME: In Bohunkus, Tennessee
DESCRIPTION: The singer's father was responsible for cleaning up horse refuse in the streets of (Bohunkus). In the process, he once found "diamond(s) in the dung," which allowed the singer to pledge to the Beta (Theta Pi) fraternity
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: scatological
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 354-356, "In Bohunkus, Tennessee" (4 texts, 1 tune; the "D" text is not obviously related to the other three)
File: EM354
===
NAME: In Bonny Scotland: see The Paisley Officer (India's Burning Sands) [Laws N2] (File: LN02)
===
NAME: In Bristol There Lived a Fair Maiden: see The Lover's Curse (Kellswater) (File: HHH442)
===
NAME: In Burnham Town: see The Man of Burningham Town (File: VWL068)
===
NAME: In Camden Town
DESCRIPTION: William seduces Polly. She becomes pregnant and asks that he marry her. He sends her home to her parents. "I'll not go home to my parents For to bring them to disgrace But I will go and drown myself Down in some secret place." He says he'll die with her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: seduction rejection pregnancy suicide drowning
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 53, "In Camden Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1414
File: CrSNB053
===
NAME: In Cameltoon Once More: see Swansea Town (The Holy Ground) (File: Doe152)
===
NAME: In Canso Strait: see Canso Strait (File: Doe183)
===
NAME: In Castyle there Lived a Lady: see The Lady of Carlisle [Laws O25] (File: LO25)
===
NAME: In Collon I Was Taken: see Michael Boylan (File: Zimm015)
===
NAME: In Contempt
DESCRIPTION: "Build high, build wide your prison wall, That there may be room enough for all Who hold you in contempt." The song asks how the wardens can imprison people for their consciences, and says they can never lock up all who dissent 
AUTHOR: Words: Aaron Kramer / Music: Betty Sanders
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950
KEYWORDS: political nonballad prison
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scott-BoA, pp. 370-371, "In Contempt" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "In Contempt" (on PeteSeeger05)
File: SBoA370
===
NAME: In Courtship There Lies Pleasure: see Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly) (File: R749)
===
NAME: In Cupid's Court
DESCRIPTION: Fishing, the singer meets a maid. She asks if he is a stranger "brought up in Cupid's court ... an angler ... Or was it Cupid sent you here Young virgins to ensnare?" He asks her to marry, she agrees. "Instead of catching salmon He caught a prudent wife"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage fishing love beauty wife
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 52, "In Cupid's Court" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2731
RECORDINGS:
Grace Clergy, "In Cupid's Court" (on MRHCreighton)
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Cupid's Garden" or variants thereon. - PJS
File: CrMa052
===
NAME: In Days When We Went Gipsying: see In Days When We Went Gypsying (File: SWMS220)
===
NAME: In Days When We Went Gypsying
DESCRIPTION: "In days when we went gypsing A long time ago, The lads and lasses in their best Were dressed from head to toe." The singer looks back on the gay times of his early life. (He wishes he were back under the old oak tree.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: home travel nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 220-221, "In Days When We Went Gipsying" (1 text)
Roud #1245
File: SWMS220
===
NAME: In De Mornin': see Ain't No Use Workin' So Hard (File: DarNS329)
===
NAME: In de Vinter Time
DESCRIPTION: "In de vinter, in de vinter-time, Ven de vin' blows on de vindow-pane, An' de vimmen, in de vaud'vil, Ride de veloc'pede in de vestibule,Ah, vimmins! Ah, mens!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonsense
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sandburg, p. 334, "In de Vinter Time" (1 short text, 1 tune)
DT, VINTIME
File: San334
===
NAME: In Dem Long, Hot Summer Days: see Old Rattler (File: CNFM104)
===
NAME: In Dessexshire As It Befell: see On Christmas Day It Happened So (File: PBB006)
===
NAME: In Duckworth Street There Lived a Dame
DESCRIPTION: The singer courts an ugly woman on Duckworth Street. One night "I found her faithless she Fryin' sausages fer he." When he tells her "we must part ... With a fryin' pan she broke my head."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: infidelity sex bawdy humorous wordplay lover
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, p. 287, "In Duckworth Street There Lived a Dame" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9969
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Rich Old Miser" [Laws Q7]
cf. "A Week's Matrimony (A Week's Work)" (imagery)
cf. "Charming Sally Ann" (imagery)
NOTES: If "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" maybe there is no double entendre here about frying sausages. On the contrary, this seems a song in which the writer let the metaphor get away. Peacock points out that Duckworth Street is one of the main commercial streets in St John's. - BS
File: Pea287
===
NAME: In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty
DESCRIPTION: "In eighteen hundred and sixty I used to go to see A pretty little gal in Georgy, How dearly she loved me, She wanted me to marry, Soon as the war was over, She said we'd live together Like chickens in the clover, Tr la la la la la...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 530, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #6616
File: R530
===
NAME: In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One: see Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One) (File: R227)
===
NAME: In Eighteen-Forty-Five: see The Backwoodsman (The Green Mountain Boys) [Laws C19] (File: LC19)
===
NAME: In Eighteen-Forty-Nine
DESCRIPTION: "When I came to this country in 1849, I saw many a true love, but I never saw mine... I am a poor soldier and a long way from home." Floating verses of longing: "Farewell to my old father" "If... I could write a fine hand" "I wish I were a lark"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation courting family rambling floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 745, "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (2 texts, 2 tune)
Hudson 48, pp. 164-165, "Pretty Saro" (1 text, beginning with stanzas from "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" and ending with "Pretty Saro," plus mention of 1 more text)
DT, CAME1865
Roud #417
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pretty Saro" (floating lyrics, tune)
cf. "The Rebel Soldier"  (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell, Sweet Mary" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Backwoodsman (The Green Mountain Boys)" [Laws C19] (floating lyrics)
cf. "I Came to this Country in Eighteen Sixty-Five" (floating lyrics)
cf. "In Seventeen Ninety-Five" (lyrics)
cf. "When First To This Country (I)" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics) and references there
NOTES: This has so many floating stanzas (see the cross-references, and even that list is probably incomplete) that I'm not even sure, based on the fragments in Randolph, if this is a true song or just a sort of anthology.
Hudson's text of "Pretty Saro" mixes with this piece, and Randolph's texts also have lyrics from "Pretty Saro"; Roud lumps the songs. It's likely enough that there is a full-blown composite somewhere -- but I haven't seen it, and can't file it until I do. - RBW
File: R745
===
NAME: In Frisco Bay (A Long Time Ago; Noah's Ark Shanty)
DESCRIPTION: Pulling shanty. "In Frisco Bay there lay three ships, To my way-ay-ay-o. And one of those ships was Noah's Old Ark, A long time ago." Up to 30 verses describing the ship, the animals and the conditions on the ark.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: 
FOUND_IN: Britain US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Sharp-EFC, LIV, p. 59, "In Frisco Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 66-67, "A Long Time Ago" (fragments quoted from Sharp-EFC)
Hugill, pp. 99-100, "A Long Time Ago" (1 text, version "C" of "A Long Time Ago") [AbEd, pp. 90-91]
DT, NOAHARK
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Long Time Ago" (partial chorus)
cf. "Old Uncle Noah" (subject) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Frisco Ship
NOTES: Sometimes listed as a variant of "A Long Time Ago," but this has a distinct and (for a shanty) an unusually coherent story line. - SL
File: Hugi099
===
NAME: In Good Old Colony Times
DESCRIPTION: Three rogues (king's sons? miller, weaver, and tailor?) "fell into mishaps / because they could not sing." Eventually they turn to robbery. "The miller drowned in his dam / the weaver was hung in his yarn, and the devil clapped his claws on the tailor..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1804 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 84)
KEYWORDS: robbery punishment death
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,North,South)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Belden, pp. 268-269, "The Three Rogues" (3 texts)
Randolph 112, "In the Good Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 80, "The Three Rogues" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
FSCatskills 116, "The Three Rogues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 80, "The Three Sons" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 307, "Three Scamping Rogues" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 188, "The Three Rogues" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 1 more)
Chappell-FSRA 108, "The Old King and His Three Sons" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 1, "In Good Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 116, pp. 234-235, "In Good Old Colony Times" (1 text)
JHCox 166, "The Three Rogues" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Flanders/Brown, p. 103, "The Farmer's Three Sons" (2 fragments)
Linscott, pp. 213-214, "In Good Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 7, "Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, p. 531, "Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROGUES3* ROGUES2* (ROGUES32)
Roud #130
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Three Sons of Rogues" (on Maynard1, Voice07)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 84, "The Miller, Weaver, and Little Tailor ("In good king Arthur's days")," Laurie and Whittle (London), 1804
LOCSheet, sm1878 07980, "Old Colony Times," John Church & Co. (Cincinnati), 1878 (tune)
LOCSinging, as104730, "Good Old Colony Times," L. Deming (Boston), n.d.
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
King Arthur
Three Jolly Rogues
Three Jolly Rogues of Lynn
When Bold King Edward
King Arthur's Servants
In Good King Arthur's Days
When Arthur Ruled this Land
NOTES: Botkin has a report that this was quoted by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to the Reichstag in 1888. Allegedly Bismarck learned it from a friend in 1832. I do not know how this could be verified, however.
One has to suspect that this has had a complex history of moving between the broadside press and the folk; how else can one explain its tendency to take on new settings, from King Arthur's court (very common in British settings) to the American colonies to "Lynne" (King's Lynn?).
The song is quoted by Thomas Hardy in _Under the Greenwood Tree_ (a single "King Arthur" stanza in chapter 2, "Honey-taking, and Afterwards," of Part IV, "Autumn"). - RBW
Broadside Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 84: "A much admired song sung by Mr Chas Johnston, & proper to be sung at all Musical Clubs." In this version "Three Sons of Whores were turn'd out of doors ...." - BS
File: R112
===
NAME: In Jersey City: see The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: LP24)
===
NAME: In Kansas
DESCRIPTION: A quatrain ballad, this describes the unseemly, unsanitary, unhealthy conditions and people in that state, at Yale, in Mobile, in Zamboanga or any other place disliked by the singer.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1844, when a version of the song was published in New York City by Atwill. Said to date from a song about the Irish famines, "Over Here."
KEYWORDS: bawdy scatological humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada Britain(England) US(MA,MW,NE,So,SW) New Zealand
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Cray, pp. 49-53, "In Kansas" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 428-429, "Kansas" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph 344, "In Arkansas" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 280-282, "In Arkansas" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 344A)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 265-267, "In Kansas" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 32, "In Kansas" (2 texts, 1 tune; the first belongs here, while the second is "Way Out West in Kansas")
Lomax-FSNA 204, "In Kansas" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 212-213, "In Kansas" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 43, "In Kansas" (1 text)
ST EM049 (Partial)
Roud #4455
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "In Kansas" (Conqueror 7894, 1931)
Art Thieme, "In and Around Nashville" (on Thieme06)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)" (tune & meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "Way Out West in Kansas" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The 'Taters They Grow Small
NOTES: Cray and Legman have historical notes, disagreeing on the origin of the American bawdy song. - EC
Given that this appears to be a clear parody of "The Praties They Grow Small," but that the 1844 version precedes the worst of the potato blights,  the song origins are indeed mysterious. One suspects that the 1844 text is not the "full version," but a predecessor (the more so as Kansas was beyond the usual settlement line in 1844).
Randolph reports that "several old-timers have told me that this piece was written by an Missourian named Beecham or Beecher, shortly after the Civil War." He does not believe the story, however, and certainly this can only refer to the local adaptation.
There is no clear dividing line between this and "The Praties They Grow Small"; there are versions of this piece that are short enough and clean enough to belong with either. But, as often happens, we must classify them separately because the extremes are so distinct. - RBW
File: EM049
===
NAME: In London so Fair
DESCRIPTION: A girl goes to serve a lady whose son is a sea captain. They fall in love; when he must go to sea, he pledges to be true. She dresses as a man and enlists on his ship. He says she reminds him of his love. She reveals her identity and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love sailor disguise cross-dressing marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H203, pp. 330-331, "The Sailor on the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2989
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Carolan, "In London So Fair" (on Voice02)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Up in London Fair
The Ship that I Command
File: HHH203
===
NAME: In Lonely Belvedere
DESCRIPTION:  "My love he was a fine young man ... he lies within his grave in lonely Belvedere. 'My curse upon you Major Grant,' in anger she did say. 'My curse upon you Bennett ... Was you that caused my sorrow In lonely Belvedere'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: murder love burial soldier
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 209, "In Lonely Belvedere" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 61-62, "Lonely Belvedere" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2725
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime: "[The singer] said that the young man was killed in a riot in Newfoundland between the Orangemen and Roman Catholics." This could refer to the Belvedere Cemetery in St John's, Newfoundland. - BS
File: CrMa209
===
NAME: In Low Germanie
DESCRIPTION: "As I sailed past Jura's isle, Among the waters lone, I heard a voice, a sweet low voice Atween a sigh and moan" as a girl with babes on her knee laments her husband fighting in Germany. Her brothers and her love have all been called away
AUTHOR: Allan Cunningham ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love separation soldier war
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 360-361, "The Wars o' Germanie" (1 text)
Roud #5609
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "High Germany" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: Ord credits this to Allan Cunningham, and it's perfectly reasonable to assume Cunningham padded out a fragment of an existing song (probably "High Germany"). I do think there was that traditional fragment, though. - RBW
File: Ord360
===
NAME: In Measure Time We'll Row
DESCRIPTION: A song for rowing, listed as a round: "Then you'll see our oars with feathered spray, As they sparkle in the beam of day, In our little bark we glide, Swiftly o'er the silent tide... The warrior his heritage to restore... Oh, in measure time we'll row."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: river work
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Doerflinger, pp. 172-173, "In Measure Time We'll Row" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9432
File: Doe172
===
NAME: In Memorial of 77 Brave Newfoundland Sealers
DESCRIPTION: "Sad comes the news from o'er the sea, To fill our hearts with dread, To tell us that the ones we loved Are numbered with the dead." The poem briefly mentions their home lives, and hopes that God will make things well
AUTHOR: probably Johnny Burke
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Ryan/Small), from an undated broadside probably contemporary with the event
KEYWORDS: death hunting disaster religious
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Mar 31, 1914 - date of the disaster, according to the broadside
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, p. 93, "In Memorial of 77 Brave Newfoundland Sealers" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Newfoundland Disaster (I)" (subject)
cf. Pat Maher, "The Story of the Sealing Vessel, The Newfoundland" (on NFMLeach)
cf. "The Newfoundland Disaster (II)" (subject)
NOTES: This is one of those every-word-is-found-somewhere-else songs, but if there is an exact inspiration, I can't recall it. - RBW
File: RySm093
===
NAME: In Memoriam
DESCRIPTION: The supply boat has to stand by and watch Ocean Ranger sink. ODECO collects its eighty million from Lloyd's acknowledging no blame. The singer hopes the inquiry and "days when lives are sacrificed to corporate greed" end soon.
AUTHOR: Jim Payne
EARLIEST_DATE: 1983 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea disaster storm memorial
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb 15, 1982 - The Ocean Ranger oil rig, 225 miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland, sinks in a storm. All 84/86 are lost. NSDB: "It's said everyone in NF was related to, or knew, someone onboard" (Lehr/Best, Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 55, "In Memoriam" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Lehr/Best: "ODECO, or the Ocean Drilling and Exploration Company, is the American company that owned the Ocean Ranger."
For a detailed account of the disaster and its causes see _Inviting Disaster: Lessons from the Edge of Technology_ by James R. Chiles (HarperBusiness paperback, 2002), pp. 18-36. While Lehr/Best sees the ballad as questioning the courage of the crew of the supply ship _Seaforth Highlander_, Chiles has them doing the best they could. - BS
File: LeBe055
===
NAME: In My Father's House
DESCRIPTION: "There ain't no liars there in my Father's house (x3), Oh, there's peace, peace everywhere." "There ain't no crapshooters there...." "There ain't no cardplayers there...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad virtue cards
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 483, "In My Father's House" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "There'll Be Joy, Joy, Joy" (Bluebird B-5911/Montgomery Ward M-4547, 1935)
File: San483
===
NAME: In My Garden Grew Plenty of Thyme
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments the loss of her thyme. She had spent her life making herself fair, only to find her thyme stolen by a sailor. Now "I gaze on the willow tree," and "I would I were clasped in my lover's arms fast, for 'tis he who has stolen my thyme"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: loneliness sailor seduction virginity gardening
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,So) Britain(England) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 90, "Keep Your Garden Clean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 122-124, "Keep Your Garden Clean" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 90)
Eddy 28, "Once I Had Plenty of Thyme" (2 texts, 1 tune, although both texts are largely derived from "The Seeds of Love")
Sharp-100E 34, "The Sprig of Thyme" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 138, "The Green Willow Tree: or, Once I Had Plenty of Thyme" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 26, "When I Was in My Prime" (1 text, 1 tune, more like this than the other thyme songs, though it's long and has probably picked up some outside elements)
DT, THYMEGAR THYMSEED (THYMTH2)
Roud #3
RECORDINGS:
Cyril Poacher, "Plenty of Thyme" (on Voice12)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2793), "Sprig of Thyme," J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1855-1858
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Seeds of Love"
cf. "Thyme, It Is a Precious Thing"
cf. "The Gowans are Gay"
cf. "Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme)"
NOTES: In flower symbolism, thyme stood for virginity. For a catalog of some of the sundry flower symbols, see the notes to "The Broken-Hearted Gardener."
Thyme songs are almost impossible to tell apart, because of course the plot (someone seduces the girl) and the burden (let no man steal your thym) are always identical. For the same reasons, verses float freely between them. So fragmentary versions are almost impossible to classify.
The Digital Tradition has a version, "Rue and Thyme," which seems to have almost all the common elements. Whether it is the ancestor of the various thyme songs, or a gathering together of separate pieces, is not clear to me.
The first line here, "In my garden grew plenty of thyme," is diagnostic but sometimes absent. The thrust of the song is how hard the woman worked to make herself beautiful, only to spoil it by losing her virginity.
To show how difficult all this is, Randolph and Ritchie have texts of this called "Keep Your Garden Clean" which are pretty much the same except for the first verse. On the basis of that distinction, I filed Randolph' with "In My Garden Grew Plenty of Thyme" and Ritchie's with "Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme)."
Many, including Randolph, Ritchie, and Roud, simply lump the whole business as versions of "The Seeds of Love."
Child prints a text (additions and corrections to "The Gardener", p. 258 in Volume V of the Dover edition) which conflates this song, or something similar, with that ballad. - RBW
File: R090
===
NAME: In North America
DESCRIPTION: "Wine sparkles in our glasses, We have no debts to pay, We spend our time in pleasure In North America."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: nonballad money drink
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 196, "In North America" (1 fragment, seventh of seven "Quatrains on the War")
ST Fus196C (Full)
File: Fus196C
===
NAME: In Old Pod-Auger Times
DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing to you of the good old times When people were honest and true, Before their brains were rattled and crazed By everything strange and new." The singer grumbles about modern ways, and longs for "old pod-auger times"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Flanders/Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1829-1837 - Presidency of Andrew Jackson
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 69-71, "In Old Pod-Auger Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 251-253, "In Old Pod-Auger Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PODAUGER*
ST FlBr069 (Partial)
Roud #3739
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Good Old Days of Adam and Eve" (theme) and references there
NOTES: We really need a keyword "Whining-about-the-end-of-the-good-old-days." See the cross-references for similar songs.
The song lists the time of Andrew Jackson as the ideal, but I can't see anything in it that's specific to that era.
Linscott states that this comes from _Comical Brown's Songs_, after "Comical Brown," whom she describes as a nineteenth century solo performer. She gives no other details, however. - RBW
File: FlBr069
===
NAME: In Old Virginny: see East Virginia (Dark Hollow) (File: JRSF134)
===
NAME: In Oxford City: see Oxford City [Laws P30] (File: LP30)
===
NAME: In Praise o' Huntley: see Jock o' Rhynie (The Praise o' Huntley) (File: Ord338)
===
NAME: In Praise of Christmas: see Drive the Cold Winter Away (In Praise of Christmas) (File: Log293)
===
NAME: In Praise of John Magee: see Sale of a Wife (File: HHH226)
===
NAME: In Praise of the City of Mullingar
DESCRIPTION: "Ye may strain your muscles to brag of Brussels" or any other great city "But they're all far inferior" to Mullingar. The singer describes many scenes, the Royal Canal, the courthouse and workhouse, railway station, and finally "the beauteous females"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874 (_Songs and Fables_ by Professor W.J. Rankine, according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 87, "In Praise of the City of Mullingar" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Mullingar is in County Westmeath, Ireland. - BS
File: OLcM087
===
NAME: In Praise of the Glen: see Lovely Glenshesk (II) (File: HHH028a)
===
NAME: In Robin Hood's Churchyard: see Scarboro Sand (The Drowned Sailor) [Laws K18] (File: LK18)
===
NAME: In Seaport Town: see The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)
===
NAME: In Search of Silver and Gold: see Lord Lovel [Child 75] (File: C075)
===
NAME: In Seventeen Ninety-Five
DESCRIPTION: Singer comes into the country in 1795; considers himself lucky just to be alive. He knocks at a girl's door; she lets him in and says not to ramble any more. They marry and live happily, "And the stars sang a banjo tune/When she said that she'd be mine"
AUTHOR: unknown (additional words by Art Thieme)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966 (learned by Art Thieme)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage emigration wife
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "In 1795" (on Thieme06)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "In Eighteen Forty-Nine" (lyrics)
cf. "The Backwoodsman" (lyrics)
NOTES: Thieme learned the first verse from Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, added the second verse several years later. Despite a few similarities to "In Eighteen Forty-Nine," the song and its gestalt are sufficiently different that I've classified them separately. - PJS
File: RcIn1795
===
NAME: In Sheffield Park: see The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: LP24)
===
NAME: In Smiling June the Roses Bloom: see The Champion of Coute Hill (File: LeBe018)
===
NAME: In Some Lady's Garden (I)
DESCRIPTION: "In some lady's fine brick house, In some lady's garden, You walk so high you can't get out, So fare you well, my darling." "Oh, swing a lady ump-tum, Swing a lady round, Swing a lady ump-tum, Promenade round."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: dancetune nonballad playparty
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 114-115, "In Some Lady's Garden" (1 short text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 270, "Swing a Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11590
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Do, Do, Pity My Case" (lyrics) and references there
File: ScNF114B
===
NAME: In Some Lady's Garden (II)
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, somebody come and let me out of here, I'se in some lady's garden. I'll roll like a log if you let me out of here, I'se in...." "Oh, somebody come... I'll pant like a lizard if you let me out...." "I'll run like a rabbit." "I'll kick like a donkey."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: playparty captivity rescue animal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 140, "In Some Lady's Garden" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Do, Do, Pity My Case" (lyrics) and references there
File: ScaNF140
===
NAME: In Springfield Mountain: see Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)
===
NAME: In Tarrytown: see Died for Love (I); also The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: McST055)
===
NAME: In that Great Gettin' Up Morning
DESCRIPTION: "In that great gettin' up morning, Fare thee well, fare thee well...." Call and answer about the deeds of Gabriel (the Annunciation to Mary and the Last Trumpet). The refrain "Fare thee well" occurs throughout
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947
KEYWORDS: religious resurrection
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSUSA 106, "Great Gittin' Up Mornin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 349, "Great Getting Up Morning" (1 text)
Roud #15228
RECORDINGS:
Four Dusty Travelers, "Great Gittin' Up Mornin'" (Columbia 14499, 1930; rec. 1929; on VocalQ2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We've Come to Judgment" (lyrics)
File: LxU106
===
NAME: In That Morning
DESCRIPTION: Spiritual: "In that morning, what a beautiful morning that shall be... Everybody got to rise for your Master Jesus in that morning...." Chorus: "...rise for your Master Jesus in that morning"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (Creighton/Senior)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 280-281, "In That Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3349
NOTES: Surely a fragment of something else -- but given the amount of text, it's not clear what. - RBW
File: CrSe280
===
NAME: In the Baggage Coach Ahead: see The Baggage Coach Ahead (File: R704)
===
NAME: In the Bar-Room (The Celebrated Working-Man)
DESCRIPTION: Singer boasts of his abilities as a coal miner, saying he can hew more coal than anyone in the region, and if anyone doubts him, they should check out his abilities -- "and haven't I often proved it in the bar-room (public bar)"
AUTHOR: Ed Foley
EARLIEST_DATE: 1892 (reported to have been sung by the author at the wedding of a niece in that year)
KEYWORDS: pride bragging drink mining work drink nonballad worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North)) US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, CELEBWRK*
Roud #3486
RECORDINGS:
Jack & Reece Elliott, "In the Bar-Room (The Celebrated Working-Man)" (on Elliotts01)
Jack Elliott, "In the Bar-Room" (on Voice20)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Celebrated Working-Man" (on IronMuse1)
NOTES: This song, written by an American anthracite miner, took up residence in the mining districts of northern England and entered the tradition almost instantaneously. For once we have an idea of the connection; apparently the person who carried it across the water was Yankee Jim Roberts, an anarchist miner from Kentucky who settled in Co. Durham and became a union activist. The song also became part of the tradition in its native Pennsylvania, and was collected there by the Archive of Folk Song. - PJS
File: RcITBRCW
===
NAME: In the Days of '76: see The Days of Seventy-Six (File: LoF019)
===
NAME: In the Days of Old Rameses
DESCRIPTION: "In the days of old Rameses, are you on, are you on, They told the same thing... In the days of old Ramesis, that story had paresis...." The story sarcastically mentioned was told by Adam in Eden, by Joshua at Jericho, etc., and now is old and tired
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonballad Bible
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp. 202-203, "In the Days of Old Rameses" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Reported by Sandburg to be the theme song of the Whitechapel Club, "a group of thirsty intellectuals who were opposed to everything." - RBW
File: San202
===
NAME: In the Days when I Was Hard Up
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls how difficult life was when he faced poverty. He was scorned by family, and forced to all sorts of tricks to keep alive. He barely overcame the temptation to steal. His consolation was that he wore his ragged clothes honestly.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1860
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 99, "In the Days when I Was Hard Up" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC099 (Partial)
Roud #4621
File: FSC099
===
NAME: In the Dense Woods
DESCRIPTION: The singer is lost and alone in the woods in a storm. He laments, "The cold wet ground must be my bed... The tempest howls, the rain descends. Oh Jesus, must my life here end?" After breathing his final prayers, he dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: death storm
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1860 - Death of James Fernald, said to be the hero of this song
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 243-245, "In the Dense Woods" (2 texts)
ST FO243 (Partial)
Roud #4686
File: FO243
===
NAME: In the Evening by the Moonlight
DESCRIPTION: "In de ebening by de moonlight when de darkies work was over... Dat's de only time we had to spare.... Uncle Gabe would take de fiddle down...." "All dem happy times we used to hab, will ne'er return again... In de ebe'ning...."
AUTHOR: James A. Bland
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880
KEYWORDS: Black(s) nonballad fiddle music
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 87-90, "In the Evening by the Moonlight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Geller-Famous, pp. 22-26, "In The Evening By The Moonlight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 250, "In The Evening By The Moonlight" (1 text)
ST RJ19087 (Full)
Roud #9591
NOTES: James A. Bland (1854-1911), one of the leading songwriters of the 1870s, was a university-educated Black (born in New York) who spent many years in England. That he wrote songs about slaves and slavery days says more about the climate of the time than about his feelings. Even so, there is a slight dig at slavery in the remark that the time after supper was "de only time we had to spare, to hab a little fun."
Bland also wrote "[Oh, dem] Golden Slippers" and "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny." - RBW
File: RJ19087
===
NAME: In the Garden
DESCRIPTION: "I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear, Falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses. And he walks with me...." The singer would stay and listen to the voices forever, "But he bids me go."
AUTHOR: C. Austin Miles (1868-1946)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1912 (published, according to Johnson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp, 188-189, "In the Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #18847
File: bdIthGar
===
NAME: In the Good Old Summertime
DESCRIPTION: "There's a time in each year that we always hold dear, Good old summertime." The singer recalls the happy days, "In the good old summertime (x2), Strolling through the shady lanes with that baby mine." He describes life as a child in summer
AUTHOR: Words: Ren Shields / Music: George Evans
EARLIEST_DATE: 1902 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: nonballad courting
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 257, "In The Good Old Summertime" (1 text)
Geller-Famous, pp. 191-194, "In the Good Old Summertime" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 300, "In the Good Old Summertime"
DT, OLSUMMER
NOTES: This is another of those parlour songs whose chorus has entered tradition without reference to the verse. The result, however, seems popular enough to warrant inclusion here. - RBW
File: FSWB257A
===
NAME: In the Hills of Roane County
DESCRIPTION: Singer courts and marries;  his wife's brother Tom stabs him. Three months later, he kills Tom. He's sentenced to life in prison. His family mourns; he tells prison friends that when they write home, "put one of my songs in your letter for me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (recording, Blue Sky Boys)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer courts and marries; for unknown reasons, his wife's brother Tom stabs him. Three months later, he kills Tom. Tried, no one will speak up for him, and he's sentenced to life in prison. His mother weeps and his sister watches as his train departs; he now works in a prison foundry and awaits death, telling prison friends that when they write home, "put one of my songs in your letter for me"
KEYWORDS: grief courting love marriage fight violence farewell crime punishment prison revenge brother wife
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,So)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #3387
RECORDINGS:
Blue Sky Boys, "In the Hills of Roane County" (Bluebird B-8693, 1941; on ConstSor1)
Jimmie Osborne, "Hills of Roane County" (King 1231, 1953)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cruel Brother" (theme, sort of)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rhone County Prison
Hills of Rome County
NOTES: I could *swear* we did this one someplace else. - PJS
That happens to me all the time. The interesting thing, to me, is whether the song was known prior to the Blue Sky Boys recording. Roud has an interesting mention of a collection by Beck, possibly in the 1930s, but this does not seem to be well-documented or publicly available. - RBW
File: RcItHoRC
===
NAME: In the Jailhouse Now
DESCRIPTION: Bill Campbell disregards warnings and keeps gambling; he's in the jailhouse now. Bill Austin tries to vote twice; he's in the jailhouse now. Singer meets a girl; after a spree, he finds her hand in his pocket. She's in the graveyard, he's in the jailhouse
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer's friend (Bill Campbell) disregards warnings and keeps gambling; he's in the jailhouse now. Another friend (Bill Austin) tries to vote twice (in the white folks' election); he's also in the jailhouse now. Singer meets a girl (Ivy); they go out and paint the town, but when it comes time to pay, he finds the girl's hand in his pocket. She's in the graveyard now, and he's in the jailhouse
KEYWORDS: captivity warning crime murder prison punishment theft death gambling drink humorous prisoner thief
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Pink Anderson, "He's in the Jailhouse Now" (on PinkAnd1)
Gene Autry, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Champion 16141, 1930)
Blind [Arthur] Blake, "He's in the Jailhouse Now"  (Paramount 12565, 1927; Broadway 5053 [as Blind George Martin; as "He's in the Jailhouse"], n.d.)
Bill Bruner, "He's in the Jail House Now" (OKeh 45438, 1930)
Walter Dalton, "In the Jail House Now" (Perfect 12468, 1928)
John Dilleshaw, "She's in the Jailhouse Now" (recorded for OKeh, 1929, unissued)
Adelyne Hood, "He's On the Chain Gang Now" (Columbia 2158-D, 1930) (Oriole 1935, 1930)
Jim Jackson, "He's in the Jailhouse Now" (Vocalion, unissued, 1927) (Vocalion 1146, 1928)
Frankie Marvin, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Edison 20002, 1929) (Brunswick 248, 1928) (Cameo 8328/Conqueror 7164 [both as Frankie Wallace], 1928)
Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band, "She's In the Graveyard Now" (Columbia 14255-D, 1927; on Ruckus1)
Billy Mitchell, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Bluebird B-6651, 1936)
Luther Ossenbrink, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Champion 15852 [as West Virginia
Rail Splitter]/Supertone 9570 [as Arkansas Woodchopper], 1929; Champion
45058 [as West Virginia Rail Splitter], 1935)
Jimmie Rodgers, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Victor 21245,1928; Bluebird B-5223, 1933; Montgomery Ward M-4721, c. 1935)
Memphis Sheiks [pseud. for Memphis Jug Band], "He's in the Jailhouse Now" (Victor 23256, 1930)
SAME_TUNE:
Gene Autry, "He's in the Jailhouse - No. 2" (Romeo 5035/Oriole 8035/Perfect 12667, 1931; Picadilly 872 [UK], 1932)
Frankie Marvin, "I'm in the Jailhouse Now - No. 2" (Crown 3026/Homestead 22992, 1930)
Jimmie Rodgers, "In the Jailhouse Now - No. 2" (Victor [US & Can.] 22523, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4315, 1933; RCA Victor 20-6092, 1955)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
He's In That Jail House Now
NOTES: I'm astonished we haven't indexed this song yet -- looking at the keyword list, it has every important ingredient except, perhaps, trains and Mama. While Jimmie Rodgers' version is probably the best-known, the song was also current in African-American tradition; a very different version was recorded by blues singer Luke Jordan. - PJS
I've encountered this phenomenon many times: Songs well-known in folk revival circles don't always have much currency in books. I don't know if it's lack of collections or lack of respect for the songs; perhaps it's something of each. - RBW
File: RcItJHN
===
NAME: In the Lonely Glens of Yarrow: see The Dowie Dens o Yarrow [Child 214] (File: C214)
===
NAME: In the Month of October: see Moosehead Lake (File: LoF058)
===
NAME: In the Morning by the Bright Light
DESCRIPTION: "I'se gwine away by the light of the moon, Want all the children to follow me, I hope I'll meet you darkies soon, Oh, hally, hally hallelujah!..." Chorus: "In the morning, morning by the bright light Hear Gabriel blow his trumpet in the morning."
AUTHOR: James Bland
EARLIEST_DATE: 1892
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 304, "In the Morning by the Bright Light" (1 text)
BrownIII 569, "Going to Heaven by the Light of the Moon" (1 fragment)
Roud #7776
File: R304
===
NAME: In the Pines
DESCRIPTION: Usually about a man whose girl has left him (on a train) (to meet another) ("in the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines, And I shivered the whole night through"). The girl, who rides the "longest train I ever saw,"  may die in a wreck
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: train separation loneliness love death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 491-502, "The Longest Train/In the Pines" (3 texts containing many floating verses, 1 tune)
BrownIII 283, "In the Pines" (2 text plus a fragment; the "A" text, though very full, is damaged and probably mixed; the "B" text is mostly floating verses; "C" is only three lines, and may not belong here); also 297, "You Caused Me to Lose My Mind" (1 fragment, mostly of floating lyrics but with hints it goes here); also 301, "High-Topped Shoes" (2 texts, both mixed; "A" is mostly "Pretty Little Foot" with verses from "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" while "B" is a hash of "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down," ""More Pretty Girls Than One," "In the Pines," and others)
SharpAp 203, "Black Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 290, "The Longest Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 28, "Little Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 103 "In The Pines" (1 text)
DT, INPINES*
Roud #3421
RECORDINGS:
Gerald Duncan et al, "In the Pines" (on MusOzarks01)
Roscoe Holcomb, "In the Pines" (on Holcomb1, HolcombCD1)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "To the Pines, to the Pines" (on BLLunsford01)
Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, "In The Pines" (Bluebird B-8861, 1941); (Decca 28416, 1952)
Riley Puckett, "The Longest Train I Ever Saw" (Decca 5523, 1938) (Bluebird B-8104, 1939)
Arthur Smith & his Dixieliners [or Arthur Smith Trio], "In the Pines" (Bluebird B-7943, 1938)
Pete Seeger, "Black Girl" (on PeteSeeger18) (on PeteSeeger43)
Tenneva Ramblers, "The Longest Train I Ever Saw" (Victor 20861, 1927)
Dock Walsh, "In the Pines" (Columbia 15094-D, 1926)
Ephraim Woodie & the Henpecked Husbands, "Last Gold Dollar" (Columbia 15564-D, 1930) [Filed here by Paul Stamler despite the title - RBW]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Long Lonesome Road" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
NOTES: This song became the basis of "Blue Diamond Mines" in the 1970s. -PJS
The elements in this song may vary widely, and it is best recognized by its form and the references to the pines. The plot described above is common but by no means universal.
Cohen briefly summarizes Judith McCulloh's Ph.D. dissertation ("In the Pines": The Melodic-Textual Identity of an American Lyric Folksong Cluster), which analyses pver 150 texts she identified with this song. She seems to have identified three common textual motifs: "In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines" (118 texts), "The longest train I ever saw" (96 versions), and "(His/her) head was (found) on the driver's wheel, (His/her) body never was found." There is also a fairly characteristic tune. Still, the boundaries of this type are very vague; long versions almost always include very many floating verses and have no overall plot except perhaps a feeling of loneliness. - RBW
File: LoF290
===
NAME: In the Pit from Sin Set Free
DESCRIPTION: "In the pit from sin set free, Sudden death would glory be, That is why I sing with glee, Jesus saves." The miner, even as he struggles to bring up the coal, is thankful to Jesus.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious mining
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 27, "In the Pit from Sin Set Free" (1 text, 1 (non-traditional) tune)
ST Wa027 (Partial)
Roud #7467
NOTES: The tune to the Warner recording was supplied by Sam Bayard, as the only one he knew to fit the words supplied by Benjamin S. Davies. The composite is not traditional, and the words may not be. - RBW
File: Wa027
===
NAME: In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree (II)
DESCRIPTION: A girl shows the singer her anatomy "in the shade of the old apple tree," and he makes the appropriate reply
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: sex bawdy parody
FOUND_IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 277-278, "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (2 texts)
Roud #10242
SAME_TUNE:
So I Climbed Up the Old Apple Tree (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 146)
File: EM277
===
NAME: In the Shadow of the Pines: see Shadow of the Pines (File: MN1135)
===
NAME: In the Summer of Sixty
DESCRIPTION: "In the summer of sixty as you very well know The excitements at Pike's Peak was then all the go." The singer buys a ranch, but a miner jumps his claim. He gets into a crooked card game, loses all his money, and flees the area
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911
KEYWORDS: hardtimes gold poverty gambling cards
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
LPound-ABS, 89, pp. 189-190, "In the Summer of Sixty" (1 text)
Roud #4978
File: LPnd189
===
NAME: In the Sweet By and By: see Sweet By and By (File: RJ19198)
===
NAME: In the Sweet Bye and Bye: see Sweet By and By (File: RJ19198)
===
NAME: In the Town of Oxford
DESCRIPTION: 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: 
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
The Sheffield Apprentice [Laws O39]
File: LO39
===
NAME: In the Township of Danville: see The Queenstown Mourner (In the Town of Danville) [Laws H14] (File: LH14)
===
NAME: In the Tunnel: see The Harvard Student (The Pullman Train) (File: R391)
===
NAME: In the Valley
DESCRIPTION: "I was in Judah's(?) land by God's (immortal) hand That Jesus Christ was born in the vally, In the valley, in the valley, That Jesus Christ was born in the valley." The early life of Jesus is recounted, and listeners advised to heed and rejoice
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Library of Congress recording)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 534, "In the Valley" (1 text)
Roud #11874
NOTES: This is a rather odd song; most of the early verses are based on the Biblical accounts of the Nativity in Matthew and Luke -- but the reference to "the valley" has no Biblical connection that I can see. Unless it refers to the Jordan valley, where John the Baptist, and presumably Jesus, began his ministry.
Jean Ritchie learned this song early in life, but forgot most of the words and composed new ones. - RBW
File: Br3534
===
NAME: In the Wilderness: see The Old Gray Mare (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull) (File: R271)
===
NAME: In Town
DESCRIPTION: "Whee-oop! Whoop-ee! Does anyone find any flies on me?" The cowboy arrives in town with his check, having worked for six months on the trail. He can't find a girl who really wants him, so he intends to spend his money on drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: cowboy drink
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 416, "In Town" (1 text)
Roud #15582
File: LxA416
===
NAME: In Zepo Town: see The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)
===
NAME: Inconstant Lover (I), The: see The Wagoner's Lad (File: R740)
===
NAME: Inconstant Lover (II), The: see On Top of Old Smokey (File: BSoF740)
===
NAME: Inconstant Lover, The: see The Broken Engagement (II -- We Have Met and We Have Parted) (File: Beld212)
===
NAME: Indeed Pretty Polly: see No Sign of a Marriage [Laws P3] (File: LP03)
===
NAME: India's Burning Sands: see The Paisley Officer (India's Burning Sands) [Laws N2] (File: LN02)
===
NAME: Indian Chief, The
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "My curse upon the timber with the wood in which it grew, That built the Indian Chief to drown Tom Cannon and his crew"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 126, "The Indian Chief" (1 text)
NOTES: Before January 1, 1846 the _Indian Chief_ was lost at Blackwater Bank, Wexford (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 61)
Ballads of "The Wreck of the Indian Chief," by Charles Steer and by Sir William Topaz McGonagall, are about a different wreck and rescue (January 8, 1881 in the English channel). - BS
File: Ran126
===
NAME: Indian Fighters, The: see The Sioux Indians [Laws B11] (File: LB11)
===
NAME: Indian Hunter (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh come with me in my light canoe While the sea is calm and the sky is blue, Come with me for I long to go To the isle where mango apples grow. Then come with me and give my love...." The hunter describes how he will care for the girl
AUTHOR: Words: Eliza Cook / Music: Henry Russell ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph); the Cook/Russell sheet music (which I cannot verify as the same song) was published 1836/7
KEYWORDS: love travel home hunting
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 781, "The Indian Hunter" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #2843
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gum Tree Canoe" (theme)
NOTES: Randolph's text sounds like a cross between "Gum Tree Canoe" and Christopher Marlowe. Ick. - RBW
File: R781
===
NAME: Indian Hunter (II), The: see White Man, Let Me Go (File: FJ032)
===
NAME: Indian Hymn
DESCRIPTION: Alone in the wood the singer looks to heaven; God looks down and says "Poor Indian never fear, I'm with you night and day." When he dies he'll go "above the sky" with no need of blanket or wigwam, "the better habitation share With Jesus good and kind"
AUTHOR: Rev. Silas Tertius Rand ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious Indians(Am.)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 171, "Indian Hymn" (1 text)
Roud #2729
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Indian Maid" (theme)
cf. "When I Go Up to Shinum Place" (theme)
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime: "Apparently this was a hymn written by Rev. Silas Tertius Rand who ministered to the Micmac Indians."
See "When I Go Up to Shinum Place" for similar phrases. - BS
File: CrMa171
===
NAME: Indian Lament, The: see The Sioux Indians [Laws B11] (File: LB11)
===
NAME: Indian Lass, The
DESCRIPTION: At a foreign ale house the singer meets "a young Indian lass [from] a place near Orleans." She invites him home, offers him a drink and they spend the night. She begs him not to leave but he sails away and offers "a health to the young Indian lass!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1852 (broadside, Bodleian Harding Harding B 11(1759))
KEYWORDS: love sex farewell drink sailor Indians(Am.)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Creighton-NovaScotia 51, "Young Indian Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 57, "The Indian Lass" (1 text)
ST CrNS051 (Partial)
Roud #2326
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1759), "Indian Lass" ("As I was wa[l]king on a far distant shore"), Samuel Russell (Birmingham), 1840-1851; also Harding B 11(1752), Harding B 11(1754), Firth c.12(279), Johnson Ballads 2288, Harding B 11(1756), Harding B 11(1757), Harding B 11(1758), Johnson Ballads 436, "The Indian Lass"
LOCSinging, sb20217b, "The Indian Lass," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Mohee" [Laws H8] (theme, some verses, and references there)
cf. "I'm a Stranger in this Country (The Darger Lad)" (theme, verses)
NOTES: Tune for Creighton-NovaScotia is 4/4 and no relation to the "On Top of Old Smoky" waltz common for "The Little Mohee."
The known dates for the broadsides for "The Indian Lass" don't help decide which came first,: "The Indian Lass" or "The Little Mohee"; in any case, one is clearly a derivative of the other.
In all of these broadside versions except what is -- so far -- the earliest, [the text has] "She was born and brought up in a place near Orleans"; for Bodleian Harding B 11(1759) "She was born and brought up in the place New Orleans."- BS
For discussion of the relationship of this song to "The Little Mohee," see the entry on that song. I must admit, looking at this, that I wonder if "The Little Mohee" isn't older; this looks like a version of that crossed with "The Lakes of Ponchartrain." - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb20217b: H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: CrNS051
===
NAME: Indian Song, The: see The Sioux Indians [Laws B11] (File: LB11)
===
NAME: Indian Song: Ah, Pore Sinner
DESCRIPTION: "Ah, pore sinner, under the rock, Till the moon goes down in blood, You can hide yo'self on the mountain top, To hide your face from God. Um, ah, ta-alk about Jesus! Halle, halle, lu, there's glory in my soul."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 593, "Indian Song: Ah, Pore Sinner" (1 fragment)
Roud #11907
File: Br3593
===
NAME: Indian's Death Song, The
DESCRIPTION: The Indian tells his captors "Begin, ye tormentors, your threats are in vain, For the son of Alknomook shall never complain." He tells how his valor hurt the white men. Death will free him of pain and take him "to the land where my father is gone."
AUTHOR: Mrs. John Hunter
EARLIEST_DATE: 1840 (The Social Lyrist)
KEYWORDS: death Indians(Am.) captivity punishment
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 40, "The Indian's Death Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11212
File: FCW040
===
NAME: Indian's Lament, The: see An Old Indian (The Indian Song) (File: Wa030)
===
NAME: Indian's Song: see An Old Indian (The Indian Song) (File: Wa030)
===
NAME: Indians' Farewell
DESCRIPTION: "When shall we all meet again? (x2) Oft shall glowing hope expire, Oft our wearied love retire, Oft shall death and sorrow reign, Ere we all shall meet again." Though the company is parted, and will in time grow old, they will meet again hereafter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 216, "Indians' Farewell" (1 text)
ST Fus216 (Partial)
Roud #16410
NOTES: No, there is no hint in the text why Fuson's informant called it "Indians' Farewell." - RBW
File: Fus216
===
NAME: Inglewood Cocky, The
DESCRIPTION: "'Twas an Inglewood cocky of whom I've been told, Who died, it is said, on account of the cold." He divides his estate, in the form of assorted animals, among his children, and tells them to raise their children on "pumpkin and beer"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: father death lastwill
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Manifold-PASB, p. 109, "The Inglewood Cocky (or, The New England Cocky)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, INGLCOCK*
File: PASB109
===
NAME: Ingo-Ango Fay
DESCRIPTION: "Go fay, go fay! Ingo-ango fay! Circle this house in a hoo-sal lay, In a ingo-ango fay. Go fay, go fay! Ingo-ango fay! Will hew my 'ligion away, Mimbi, kiki, joki lo, In a ingo-ango-fay!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: nonsense foreignlanguage nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 26, "Ingo-Ango Fay" (1 short text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Scarborough says this "seems to be a combination of African and English." Apart from the fact that "African" isn't a language, the formulaic nature of the text implies that it is either nonsense or, just possibly, a code version of English. Without more text, though, we can't establish the latter. - RBW
File: ScaNF026
===
NAME: Injy-Rubber Overcoat
DESCRIPTION: "Injy rubber overcoat, hip-te-doo-den-doo (x3), Injy rubber overcoat, molasses candy shoe. Oh what's the matter Susan, Oh what's the matter, my dear? Oh what's the matter Susan? I'm goin' away to leave you."
AUTHOR: (chrous from Dan Emmett's "What's de Matter, Susy?")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919
KEYWORDS: nonballad clothes separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 254, "Injy-Rubber Overcoat" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7820
File: R254
===
NAME: Inky Dinky Derby Town: see The Derby Ram (File: R106)
===
NAME: Innishowen
DESCRIPTION: The singer, a resident of Magilligan, crosses Greencastle Ferry to live in Innishowen "where the purty girls go neat and trim in every degree." He describes the girl he loves. Assured of his character, she agrees to marry him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty home marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H209, pp. 465-466, "Innishowen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9458
NOTES: Sam Henry reports that this is based on the actual story of John Smith of Magilligan. Given that the song seems to have had only very local currency, it may even be true. - RBW
File: HHH209
===
NAME: Inniskillen Dragoon, The: see Fare Ye Well, Enniskillen (The Inniskillen Dragoon) (File: E150)
===
NAME: Inniskilling Dragoon, The: see Fare Ye Well, Enniskillen (The Inniskillen Dragoon) (File: E150)
===
NAME: Innocent Hare, The
DESCRIPTION: Sportsmen and hounds hunt the hare; after searching, the game is found. She takes off running; the huntsman blows his horn; the hare is killed. The singer declares she has led them a noble run, drinks success to all sportsment and to the "innocent hare"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (recorded from Mark Fuller & Luther Hills)
KEYWORDS: death hunting sports drink animal dog
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 251, "The Innocent Hare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1216
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hare of Kilgrain" (theme)
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (theme)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
cf. "Joe Bowman" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sportsmen Arouse
Sportsmen Arise
File: K251
===
NAME: Innocents, The
DESCRIPTION: A tale of the birth of Jesus. In the time of Octavian and Herod, Isaiah's prophesy comes true and the King of the Jews is born. Brutal Herod orders the children of Bethlehem slain. Jesus escapes, but there is great mourning in Bethlehem
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (Oxford Book of Ballads)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious Bible execution death Jew
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 44 B.C.E. - Death of Julius Caesar brings Octavian to the front of Roman politics
37-4 B.C.E. - Reign of Herod the Great in Palestine
31 B.C.E. - Battle of Actium. Octavian gains sole control of Roman world
27 B.C.E. - Octavian named "Augustus" and declared "Princeps" by the Senate
6 B.C.E - Approximate date of the birth of Jesus
14 C.E. - Death of Octavian/Augustus
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OBB 108, "The Innocents" (1 text)
ST OBB108 (Partial)
NOTES: Loosely based on the story of Herod and the Massacre of the Innocents in Matt. 2:1-18.
However, this is very obviously a literary production. It shows an apparent knowledge of Josephus (at least indirectly), since it refers to Herod as a "Paynim born" -- which is technically true (Herod was of Edomite ancestry) but rather unfair; Herod regarded himself as Jewish.
Even more interesting is the reference to Octavian as Roman Emperor. It is true that Octavian was Roman Emperor when Jesus was born (so explicitly Luke 2:1, but we would have known it even without that reference). But the Bible refers only to "Caesar Augustus," never "Octavian." So the author either got the name from Josephus (though this is unlikely; Josephus usually says "Augustus" or "(Young) Caesar") or a Roman history. This effectively precludes the possibility of folk composition.
Overall, the language of the whole rather over-stylized business strikes me as probably being of the seventeenth century. - RBW
File: OBB108
===
NAME: Inquisitive Lover, The
DESCRIPTION: Woman asks her sweetheart when he intends to marry. He says he will when all sorts of impossible events take place. The woman comments that if all men were of his persuasion, we'd be waiting a long time.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: marriage nonsense paradox
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 106, "The Inquisitive Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10914
File: WB2106
===
NAME: Inspiration (The Rowan County Teachers)
DESCRIPTION: "The Rowan County teachers Convened the other day... I thought I would attend... And watch our modern teachers." He describes the meeting in the courthouse, praises the teachers' abilities, and hopes they will continue to spread learning
AUTHOR: Words: Edgar Hamm
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 252-253, "Inspiration" (1 text)
NOTES: I can't say with certainty that this is the most trivial thing I've ever seen memorialized in song -- but, other than Edgar Hamm's other school song, "Welcome (to Lyda Messer Caudill)," I haven't a better candidate off the top of my head.
The claim that the Rowan County school superintendant Lyda Messer Caudill was descended from Mary Queen of Scots is certainly possible (the song being written some three and a half centuries after her death, she would have uncounted descendants) -- but since Mary had only one child, James VI and I, the link to the British royal line must be more recent than Mary Stuart. - RBW
File: ThBa250
===
NAME: Internationale, The
DESCRIPTION: Communist anthem, translated into most major languages. English: "Arise, you pris'ners of starvation, Arise you wretched of the earth...." The workers are urged to rise up, throw off their chains and their overlords, and work toward a united human race
AUTHOR: Words: Eugene Pottier/Music: Pierre Degeyter
EARLIEST_DATE: 1887 (Chants Revolutionnaires)
KEYWORDS: political nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 297, "The Internationale" (1 (English) text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 303, "L'Internationale"
DT, INTERNAT*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "L'Internationale, " [sung in French] (on PeteSeeger47)
NOTES: Obviously not a "folk song" in the ordinary sense, and not as popular as it once was. But enough people have sung it at one time or another (in many languages, though the original is French) that it probably belongs here.
Ironically, this song was not written for Communism as such but for the Paris Commune of 1871 -- a movement which failed miserably, had no influence on future French policy, and wasn't "Communist" in the Leninist sense anyway. - RBW
File: FSWB297B
===
NAME: Intoxicated Rat, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer spills rum on the floor; rat licks it up, gets drunk and carries on. The cat comes out; the rat sobers up and runs back to his hole (or gets caught)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (recording, Dixon Brothers)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous animal
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 234 "The Intoxicated Rat" (1 text)
DT, INTOXRAT
Roud #11257
RECORDINGS:
The Dixon Brothers, "Intoxicated Rat" (Bluebird B-6327, 1936)
Farley Holden & his Six Ice-Cold Papas, "Intoxicated Rat" (King 628, 1947)
Cisco Houston, "Drunken Rat" (Disc 5067, 1940s)
New Lost City Ramblers, "The Intoxicated Rat" (on NLCR08)
NOTES: The first verse of this is apparently derived from "Four Nights Drunk," and the metre of the whole song implies that "Four Nights"  may have been the source -- but it clearly has gone in its own direction. - RBW
File: FSWB234
===
NAME: Invasion Song, The
DESCRIPTION: 'Sad and dismal is the tale I now relate to you, 'Tis all about the cattlemen, Them and their murderous crew." Nate and Nick are "murdered by Frank Canton and his crew" as they defend the town of Buffalo. The singer tells how cattle raiders were repelled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: cowboy murder war outlaw
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 173-174, "Invasion Song" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blood-Stained Diary" (subject)
NOTES: Burt links this with an event she calls the Johnson County War, a conflict in Wyoming between honest herders and cattle rustlers. There are, apparently, conflicting versions of what happened; see Burt for details.
This is item dB40 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Burt173
===
NAME: Inverness-Shire
DESCRIPTION: "O as I came in by Inverness-shire, It was to view the brave Loch Ness, It was there I met wi' a fair young maiden...." The singer tries to induce her to marry. She says she had her chance years ago, and refused. He urges her to change her mind.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (recording, Belle Stewart)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #6856
RECORDINGS:
Belle Stewart, "Inverness-shire" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
NOTES: This sounds like it ought to have a broken-token-and-reunion ending, but in the Stewart version at least, it ends with the girl rejecting the sailor and the sailor saying she should change her mind. - RBW
File: RcInvSh
===
NAME: Iomairibh eutrom ho ro (Row Lightly)
DESCRIPTION: In Scots Gaelic; "The milkmaid went to the seashore/And she did a thing that others would not do there/She gathered shell-fish at high tide there/And she broke her leg and cut her hand there." Chorus: "Row lightly, ho ro"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (recording, Allan MacDonald)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sea work injury worksong worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Allan MacDonald, "Iomairibh eutrom ho ro (Row Lightly)" (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743)
NOTES: Why do I get the feeling something else happened to the milkmaid? - PJS
File: RcIEHR
===
NAME: Iounndrain-Mhara, An (Sea-Longing)
DESCRIPTION: Scots Gaelic. The singer laments being far from the sea, "For in the glen I am a stranger." She recalls her brother on the ocean, and asks where is the ship to carry her home. No joy can reach her far from the sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Kennedy-Fraser)
KEYWORDS: ship exile foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 11, "Fath Mo Mhulaid a Bhith Ann (Being Here Has Caused My Sorrow)" (1 text+English translation, 1 tune)
Kennedy-Fraser II, pp. 225-229, "Sea-Longing (An Iounndrain-Mharra)" (1 text+English translation, 1 tune)
NOTES: The Kennedy text of this is long and conveys better than anything I've seen the emptiness they say sea-folk feel away from the waves. The Kennedy-Fraser text is shorter and more lyric, probably somewhat trimmed. - RBW
File: K011
===
NAME: Ireland's Glory
DESCRIPTION: In 1776 "we were lazy and slavish," "Our woman were sluts and their husbands all slovens" and "The King was a god." But "Our peasants grew smart," "We could look at a King without much admiration" and "From a nation of slaves we've emerg'd into glory"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1783 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: pride nonballad patriotic royalty
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Zimmermann 3, "Ireland's Glory" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 11, "Ireland's Glory" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The complete title of Zimmermann's text is "Ireland's Glory" or "A Comparative View of Ireland, in the Years 1776 and 1783." 
Zimmermann p. 36: "Street ballads we were used then [1724 and 1725] as a form of protest by the Anglo-Irish "garrison," but this protest was not so much nationalism as the reaction of planters merely demanding the same rights as were enjoyed by the people of Britain. A spirit of independence awoke among the Anglo-Irish when a Volunteer army was raised, in 1779, to check a possible invasion from the combined forces of France, Spain and Holland. Martial enthusiasm extended to the Catholic population. Eventually some 80,000 men were in arms. With the example of the revolution achieved by their "fellow subjects" in America, they became conscious of their force and began to claim the removal of economic disabilities, (song [Zimmermann] 2). They enforced freedom of trade in 1780 and legislative independence in 1782. Songs reflected the increased feeling of self-confidence, (song [Zimmermann] 3)."
The text states
But great was the change in the year seventy-seven.
We then were inspired by a spark sent from heaven.
Moylan speculates that the Battle of Saratoga may have been that spark. - BS
Possibly, but there were plenty of events in Ireland which might have inspired it. For example, 1778 saw the repeal of most of the anti-Popery act of 1704, giving Catholics much greater land and worship rights (see Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, _A History of Ireland_, pp. 183-184); I believe this was proposed in 1777. The same period saw the rise of the Volunteers, which included Catholics; Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 51, reports that there were 40,000 armed Volunteers by 1778, and Mike Cronin, _A History of Ireland_, p. 99, says there were 80,000 two years later. Cronin, p. 98, mentions much other legislation passed in the late 1770s. Obviously this was largely in response to the American rebellion, but any of these several events might have helped inspire the song. (See the notes to "The Song of the Volunteers.")
1782 was indeed the year of Irish semi-independence, as Grattan's Parliament gave Ireland what would later be called "Home Rule." The economy also improved.
(We should note that Ireland had had a parliament before that, but had had very little real power. For one thing, the British had held absolute veto power on legislation through a trick known as Poynings's Law, which had hobbled the parliament since 1494. Plus the British parliament retained the right to deal with Irish surpluses -- see, e.g., Cronin, p. 95. And, until Lord Townshend changed the rules in 1767, parliaments were elected for the life of the monarch, which of course made it completely unresponsive to events; see Cronin, p. 96).
The old Irish parliament had to be absolutely unified to accomplish anything, and even then, the British could find ways to get around their legislation. Grattan's more independent parliament changed that. 
There were, sadly, three problems. One was that the parliament and electorate were still Protestant. The second was that England still controlled Irish trade -- and still had a veto under Poynings's Law.
And third, while it was an independent parliament, it wasn't a particularly representative parliament. As in England, there were many "rotten" boroughs. Robert Kee, in _The Most Distressful Country_ (volume I of _The Green Flag_), p. 36, notes that "once the independence of the Irish parliament had been technically granted, the English government's hold over it was actually tightened by its systematic ever-increasing outlay of Crown patronage in Ireland."
Gradually Irish optimism turned to disillusionment, ending in the 1798 rebellion and the Act of Union. The truly sad part is, Grattan's Parliament *did* represent progress, and the biggest single concession England made until the 1920s. Had Ireland been a little more patient, a century of violence could perhaps have been saved. - RBW
File: Zimm003
===
NAME: Ireland's Liberty Tree
DESCRIPTION: A tree has been planted in Ireland ... 'Tis called 'Ireland's Liberty-Tree!'" Protect the tree. Emmet, Fitzgerald and Grattan died in its defence. Sheil and O'Connell forsee freedom. "Heaven will surely protect those Who guard Ireland's Liberty-Tree!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: second half 19C? (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 67, "Ireland's Liberty Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Robert Emmet (1780-1803) "Irish nationalist rebel leader. He led an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1803 and was captured and executed." (source: "Robert Emmet" at the Wikipedia site)
Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798) Irish revolutionary. "As a member of the United Irishmen, he helped organize the Irish Rebellion of 1798 against British rule in Ireland." He was arrested and died of his wounds in Newgate prison. (source: "Lord Edward Fitzgerald" at the Wikipedia site)
Henry Grattan (1746-1820) Lead the campaign leading, in 1782, to an Irish parliament in Dublin. He advocated Catholic emancipation in 1793. He opposed Union, which ended the Irish Parliament in 1801. In the English House of Commons he continued supporting Catholic emancipation. (source: "Henry Gratton: 1746-1820" in _The Age of George III_ at the Web of English History site)
Richard Lalor Sheil (1791-1851) Was instrumental in the 1828 election of the "Liberator," Daniel O'Connell, over Vesey Fitzgerald. He himself served in Parliament for eighteen years. (source: "Richard Lalor Sheil" by M.J. Flaherty in _The Catholic Encyclopedia_ at the New Advent site.) 
Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) tried to convince the British to reform administration of Ireland and was the leading figure on behalf of Catholic Emancipation. - BS
For Emmet, see also "Bold Robert Emmet." Fitzgerald is the subject of "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)." Grattan role is covered in the notes to "Ireland's Glory." And Daniel O'Connell is the subject of a vast array of songs; see the notes and references under "Daniel O'Connell (I)." - RBW
File: Zimm067
===
NAME: Irene: see Goodnight Irene (File: LoF315)
===
NAME: Irene, Goodnight: see Goodnight Irene (File: LoF315)
===
NAME: Irish Barber, The: see The Love-of-God Shave (Lather and Shave) [Laws Q15] (File: LQ15)
===
NAME: Irish Boy, The: see My Irish Jaunting Car (The Irish Boy) (File: HHH592)
===
NAME: Irish Colleen, The
DESCRIPTION: A party of four girls, from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland each toasts her own land and national flower. "Though the flowers all resemble there's a vast gulf between The rose, leek, and thistle, and the Irish colleen"
AUTHOR: W. C. Robey
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.28(10a/b) View 2 of 8)
KEYWORDS: party wine England Ireland Scotland nonballad patriotic flowers
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 366-368, "The Irish Colleen" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
ST Pea366 (Partial)
Roud #6459
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(10a/b) View 2 of 8, "The Irish Colleen," R. March and Co. (London), 1877-1884
NOTES: The authorship claim is from the broadside: "Written and composed by W.C. Robey Sung by Miss Lizzie Howard Music, Francis, Day & Hunter, London, W."
Library of Congress American Memory 19th century song sheets collection lists 13 different songs, not including this one, attributed to W. C. Robey and published in New York between 1882 and 1884. - BS
File: Pea366
===
NAME: Irish Emigrant (I), The: see Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go) (File: Doe062)
===
NAME: Irish Emigrant (II), The: see I'm Sitting on the Stile, Mary (The Irish Emigrant II) (File: Pea462)
===
NAME: Irish Emigrant's Lament, The
DESCRIPTION: "I never will forget the sorrows of that day," when the singer sailed from home. He knows he will miss the land, the friends, "the trusty heart [of the girl] I once could call my own." He will eat strangers' bread, and feel their scorn, and wish for home
AUTHOR: William Kennedy
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration separation farewell
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H235, p. 203, "The Shamrock Sod No More" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 352-353, "The Irish Emigrant's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST HHH235 (Full)
Roud #2747
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Emigrant (I)" (subject)
NOTES: William Kennedy, a contemporary of William Motherwell, is reported by Ord to have been one of the Whistle-Binkie poets. For a composed song, even one composed a century before, it's amazing how much variation there is, in both text and tune, in the Henry and Ord versions (the former in G major, the latter listed as being in F major but apparently in D minor). - RBW
File: HHH235
===
NAME: Irish Familie, The: see The Irish Family (File: K275)
===
NAME: Irish Family, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes his family: "Me father had a horse/And me mother she'd a mare... So we'd a ride from father's horse/And a gallop from mother's mare." Cho: "So the more we have to drink/And the merrier we shall be/For we all do belong/To an Irish family"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Sharp mss.)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer describes life in his family: "Me father had a horse/And me mother she'd a mare/Sister Susie had a rabbit/And Johnny he'd a hare/So we'd a ride from father's horse/And a gallop from mother's mare/We'd a pie from Susie's rabbit/And a course from Johnny's hare." Successive verses follow the same pattern of ownership and use. Chorus: "So the more we have to drink/And the merrier we shall be/For we all do belong/To an Irish (happy) familie"
KEYWORDS: farming drink food nonballad animal bird bug horse sheep brother family father mother sister
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 275, "The Irish Familie" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HAPFAMLY
Roud #850
RECORDINGS:
Harold Covill, "The Happy Family" (on FSB10)
Jasper Smith, "Father Had A Knife" (on Voice11)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
My Father Had a Horse
NOTES: It's worth noting that although the song was collected twice under the name of "The Irish Family," it's never been found in Ireland. - PJS
Kennedy claims that this tune is "similar" to "Click Go the Shears." There are certainly points of contact, but it's not close enough (in my opinion) to list them as the same. - RBW
File: K275
===
NAME: Irish Free State, The
DESCRIPTION: "I went to see David, to London to David, and what did he do? He gave me a Free State, a nice little Free State, A Free State that's bound up with Red, White, and Blue." The singer rejects any British influence and demands freedom from the crown
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland freedom
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec. 6, 1921 - Negotiations for the Irish Treaty  concluded. (It will be accepted by a bare majority of the Irish government, with the minority, including President de Valera, demanding more)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 71-72, "The Irish Free State" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, IRSHFREE*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ash Grove" (tune)
NOTES: In the aftermath of the 1916 Dublin Rising, Irish opinion was strongly divided about what came next. Had the British responded with concessions, Ireland might still be part of the Commonwealth. But it was World War I, and the British in any case have never been good at understanding the needs of their colonies. Gradually, the quiet Irish hostility turned to open warfare.
The result was mass rebellion and mass reprisal (for this, see e.g. "The Bold Black and Tan" and "General Michael Collins"). Eventually, the British had to make a decision. They decided to treat with the Irish govenment.
"David" is David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister at the time. The Irish negotiators were a divided group; the two most distinguished were Arthur Griffith, who simply wanted peace and self-determination, and Michael Collins, the de facto head of the guerrilla army, who was much more determined to have independence.
Notably missing was Eamon de Valera, who was head of the Irish government insofar as it existed. He had named his arch-rival Collins, who didn't want the job, but was unwilling to go himself. Tim Pat Coogan, in _Michael Collins_, p. 228, says that that was the "worst single decision of de Valera's life, for himself and for Ireland." (And that, frankly, is saying a lot, because de Valera made quite a few irrational choices.)
The negotiators were stuck ended up with divided opinions and no real list of demands. (According to Coogan, p. 230, de Valera eventually admitted to deliberately creating a delegation he expected to deadlock: Griffith the moderate, Collins the fire-breather who was nonetheless a realist, Erskine Childers the extremist.) In the end, the deal they worked out involved withdrawal of British forces from Ireland, and complete internal self-government; the only limitations were in defence and external affairs, and those very limited. They also got their way on trade relations with England.
It was a great deal by rational standards. But not by de Valera standards. The Treaty contained two objectionable provisions: Ulster was given the right to remain British (a boundary commission was promised, but it never did its work; the British refused to set it up with Ireland in conflict, and other attempts to a solution were halted by intransigence either in Dublin or Ulster; in any case, Lloyd George had made irreconcileable informal promises about it to the Ulster and Nationalist Irish), and Ireland was to become a Dominion, with internal autonomy but still formally under the British crown.
For more on the evolution of this problem, see especially "A Loyal Song Against Home Rule."
Robert Kee, in _Ourselves Alone_, being volume III of _The Green Flag_, pp. 156-157, defines the internal Irish problem pretty well, in my view: As long as there was no serious hope of an Irish republic, the rebels (Fenians, Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, Volunteers) didn't have to resolve their differences. Now, though....
"There had always been moderates and extremists in the movement though the difference had been fairly efficiently concealed. More important: there had always been realists and fantasists and this difference was now revealed clearly for the first time as some of the toughest of the extremists in the past -- Commandants of the IRA like MacEoin, of Ballinalee, and Mulcahy the Chief of Staff -- followed Collins, the toughest of them all, in support of the Treaty." He notes, sadly, that it was the often the widows and family who were the worst fantasists: The mother of Padraic Pearse, the widow of Tom Clarke, the sister of Terence MacSwiney.
The Ulster question was an ironic one in that the compromise it produced sounded good and was unworkable. The Ulster Unionists had initially wanted all nine counties of Ulster; had they had their way, Ireland might well be united now (if still highly uncomfortable), because Ulster would have had a Catholic majority. On the other hand, some of the British, including Winston Churchill, had been willing to give away Ulster (see, e.g., Coogan, p. 334); they knew it would bring more trouble than it was worth. But they couldn't simply hand Ulster to the Irish; parliament wouldn't stand for it and the Ulster Unionists would fight (Randolph Churchill said, "Ulster will fight; Ulster will be right").
The temporary compromise -- a six county Ulster still part of Britain -- might have been adjusted had Ireland been organized enough for further negotiations (a boundary commission, religious protections, some self-government). Or Michael Collins, who had had thoughts of conquering Ulster, might have pulled another rabbit out of his hat. But Collins died, the Irish Civil War came, and further negotiations had to wait until after Ulster Protestants and Catholics had hunkered down and come to hate each other.
In the interim, the British has insisted on maintaining Ulster as a six-county unit (rather than ceding the two Catholic counties while retaining the four Protestant areas). Even so, Ulster actually was a safer place for both Catholics and Protestants during the twenty years after the Treaty was accepted than was the Irish Republic. In any case, Britain and the provisional Irish government were both willing to try to solve Ulster; this was not the final cause of Ireland's war.
The worst of it was, if Ireland had not descended into war, the problem might have solved itself. The boundary commission, if done properly, would have left Ulster with only about four and a half counties -- and would quite possible have split off (London)derry, the second city of the province. Nearly everyone agreed that this rump would be economically unviable (indeed, a lot of people thought the six counties unviable); they would be forced in time to turn to Ireland. That question was never to be resolved.
The idea of Dominion status, and the loyalty to the crown it required, proved the bigger sticking point at the time; de Valera was only one of many who refused to acknowledge any ties to Britain (de Valera in fact resigned his Presidency). It was only words -- they were supposed to pledge fealty to the King, but they didn't have to *act* on that fealty -- but, to the Irish radicals, they were fighting words.
Kee, p. 150, says that the real problem in the negotiations with Britain was that the issues of Crown and Partition somehow came to be linked, which forced the outcome as it came out. His opinion is that, with more "give" on each side, Ireland could have been more strongly linked to the crown while being kept united. For the majority of the Irish people, this would probably have been a better solution. It's less clear that it would have satisfied the radical nationalists.
Given the course the negotiations had taked, the commissioners insisted (probably rightly; Lloyd George's government, after all the disasters it had faced, was shaky) that the deal they brought home was the most Britain would offer, and on January 7, 1922 the Irish Dail voted (by 64 votes to 57) to accept the treaty. The population was almost certainly much more heavily in favor, since opponents of Sinn Fein generally had not dared to run in the election which had created this Dail.
If there were defects in the Treaty, one may lay much of the blame on the Irish government. It gave its negotiators plenipotentiary powers, but never told them what to ask for, and then tried to change the results. De Valera's conduct was particularly suspect -- he had hinted that he would accept dominion status, but when the commissioners came back with something that was essentially that, he condemned it out of hand.
The result was a civil war which lasted until 1923. It took two new constitutions, a split within Sinn Fein, the founding of the Fianna Fail and Sine Gael parties, sundry assassinations (including that of Collins), and many restrictive government measures to bring political stability to Ireland.
This even though the people clearly supported the Treaty and the Free State; they wanted an end to war. (Kee makes the valid point, p. 158, that the IRB and other militants hadn't paid any attention to the people's wishes until that point; there was no logical reason why they should start now.) Calton Younger (_Ireland's Civil War_, pp. 313-314) gives vote totals for the election which follows (which was largely a referendum on the treaty): "pro-Treaty panel candidates gained 239,193 votes of a total of 620,283 votes cast [39%]; anti-treaty panel candidates... polled 133,864 [22%]; and Labour, Independents and Farmers won between them 247,226 votes [40%]."
Coogan, p. 329, notes that this election cost both the de Valera and Collins factions in parliament, but the former much more heavily: "Certainly the result was a severe blow to the de Valera faction which held only thirty-six seats, a loss of twenty-two. The Collins/Griffith party won fifty-eight seats, a loss of eight, but which taken with the pro-Treaty Labour Party's seventeen seats, the Farmers' Party's seven, the six independents, and the four Unionists represented a solid pro-Treaty majority."
Still, the government that was elected was fragile, and there had already been some shooting. It would get worse.
"King George and Queen Mary" are, of course, George V of England and his wife Mary of Teck, to whom, under the Treaty, the Irish still owed technical allegiance.
The term "Free State" is an interesting one. The Irish were pushing for the establishment of the "Saorstat Eireann." That's usually translated as the "Republic of Ireland," and of course the more vehement Irish nationalists called themselves "Republicans."
The British, however, proposed to translate it as "Free State" (see Coogan, p. 263). This little bit of wordplay solved a major problem on the British side while technically giving the Irish what they wanted. At least, what the Irish-speaking ones wanted. Evidently not all that the Anglophones (which were, of course, all of them) wanted.
Although Galvin lists no author for this piece, it definitely looks contemporary with the events described; it appears that someone is putting words in the mouth of either Collins or Griffith. - RBW
File: PGa071
===
NAME: Irish Girl, The
DESCRIPTION: (The singer meets a girl by the river, lamenting her love gone to America). (She describes the pain of love.) (She) wishes she were far away with her love, or were a butterfly or a nightingale or a rose to be with her lover
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2654))
KEYWORDS: love separation bird loneliness floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain US(Ap,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Belden, pp. 292-293, "The Irish Girl" (3 texts)
SHenry H711, pp. 234-235, "The Manchester Angel" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment with no beginning)
OLochlainn-More 2, "The New Irish Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 131, "The Irish Girl" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 21, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (The "F" text in the appendix appears to be this, though heavily mixed with floating stanzas)
SharpAp 180, "The Irish Girl" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 3 tunes, but the "A" text is "Handsome Molly"; "B" and "C" are single-verse fragments which may or may not be this song)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 44, "The Irish Girl" (1 text, 1 tune, a confused and conflate mix of this song and "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)")
Greenleaf/Mansfield 98, "The Lament" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 195-198, "Pretty Polly" (2 texts, 2 tunes, even more infected by floating material than most songs of this group, but it appears to be this piece)
Creighton-NovaScotia 81, "My Irish Polly" (1 text, 1 tune, a long but very confused and mixed version)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 46, "Ruby Were Her Lips" (1 text, 1 tune)
OConor, p. 15, "The Irish Girl" (1 text)
Green-Miner, p. 230, "The Irish Girl" (1 text)
DT, IRISHGRL* IRISHGR2*
Roud #454
RECORDINGS:
Walter Pardon, "Let the Wind Blow High or Low" (on Voice10)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2654), "The New Irish Girl," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 25(1341), "The New Irish Girl" 
LOCSinging, as106240, "The Irish Girl," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as106250, "The Irish Girl" 
Murray, Mu23-y1:025, "The Irish Girl," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C 
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(065), "The Irish Girl," James Lindsay (Glasgow), c.1875
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line" (lyrics)
cf. "Bonny Tavern Green" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Lover's Resolution" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Wish I Were Yon Red, Red Rose
NOTES: This mostly-lyric piece easily degrades and easily mixes. Sedley and Sharp both had versions which mixed with "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)"; it appears that Roud lumps them. Sharp compounded the problem by tacking on verses from another version. And because the song is so lyric, it often loses parts (e.g. the Henry text has lost the first verses which describe the whole motivation). What tends to survive is the handful of "I wish I were" lyrics, e.g.
I wish I were a butterfly, I would light on my love's breast.
I wish I were a linnet, I would sing my love to rest.
I wish I were a nightingale, I'd sit and sing so clear,
I wish I were a red, red rose... and (he) to be the gardener.
Based on the contents, this could well be a degenerate fragment of "Erin's Flowery Vale (The Irish Girl's Lament)" [Laws O29]; at least some versions of this scattershot song seem to presuppose the situation described in that. But Laws ignores all the various versions of this song he should have known (e.g. Sharp, Belden, Brown). It must therefore be assumed that he either separates them or that he thinks these versions too lyric to include in his list. In any case, we've separated them. - RBW
Some clarity is provided for this confusing song by the LOCSinging broadsides as106250 and as106250. Their description, omitting floating verses and floating themes, is: The singer meets an expensively dressed Irish girl, crying and tearing her hair. Her lover has left and she won't follow. The lover says "I was of some noble blood and she of low degree." Her lover still loves her.
All of the broadsides I have seen include the floating verse "I wish I was in Dublin town [or Manchester, or Monaghan], and sitting on the grass, With a bottle of whiskey in my hand and on my knee a lass, We'd call for liquors merrily, pay before we go, And fold thee in my arms let the winds blow high or low."
Among the floating verses is this by Walter Pardon on Voice10, connecting to "The Manchester Angel" version:
I wish I were in Manchester, a-sitting on the grass
With a bottle of whisky in my hand and upon my knee a lass.
Broadside LOCSinging as106240: J. Andrews dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: HHH711
===
NAME: Irish Girl's Lament, The: see Erin's Flowery Vale (The Irish Girl's Lament) [Laws O29] (File: LO29)
===
NAME: Irish Girl's Opinion, An
DESCRIPTION: "An Irish girl, and proud of it, a word I'd like to say... Paddy fights for England.... Then give to him old Ireland." No longer are Irishmen hung for wearing of the green, thanks to Dan O'Connell.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1775-1847 - Life of Daniel O'Connell
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 66, "An Irish Girl's Opinion" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2942), "An Irish Girl's Opinion", unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Daniel O'Connell (I)"  (subject: Daniel O'Connell) and references there
File: OCon066
===
NAME: Irish Harvestmen's Triumph, The
DESCRIPTION: Irishmen that "reap the English harvest" should be prepared to fight "with John Bull and his crew." Irish harvestmen beat some Englishmen and go to look for work. At a railway line they fight navvies and beat them with bricks, stones, scythes, and hooks.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1860 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: fight harvest drink England Ireland patriotic
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Zimmermann 66, "A New Song on the Irish Harvest Men's Triumph Over the English" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 104, "John Bull and His Crew" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #13468
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 2235a, "The Irish Harvests Triumph Over the English ," P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.8(223), "The Irish Harvestmen's Triumph" [title spelled "Thriump"]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boys of Old Erin the Green" (subject)
NOTES: Zimmermann's variant last verse and other comment identifying the "holy priest" as Father Maguire are both illustrated by Bodleian broadside 2806 c.8(223).
The navvies were British railway workers [see Coleman, Terry _The Railway Navvies:A History of the Men Who Made the Railways_ (BCA, 1972)] 
Zimmermann guesses at the tune: "The final words of the last stanzas suggest "The Shamrock Shore," Joyce, No. 415." Creighton's tune, with an Angelo Dornan fragment, is probably a better bet. - BS
The name "John Bull" as a symbol for England or the English comes from John Arbuthnot's 1712 satire _The History of John Bull_, and does not represent a real person. (It's interesting to note that "The Roast Beef of Old England" by Richard Leveridge [c. 1670-1758] was an anthem of the Royal Navy.)
Dornan's fragment ("Be sure you're well provided for With comrades stout and true, For you'll have to fight both day and night With John Bull and his crew") initially made me think of a navy song -- a boast to the French, perhaps, during the Napoleonic Wars. Which just shows how hard it can be to identify what songs are about. - RBW
File: CrSNB104
===
NAME: Irish Jaunting Car, The: see My Irish Jaunting Car (The Irish Boy) (File: HHH592)
===
NAME: Irish Jubilee, The
DESCRIPTION: "A short while ago An Irishman named Doherty Was elected to the Senate By a very large majority." This is cause for a tremendous party, described in loving and silly detail, e.g. those invited included "Old men, young men, Girls who were not men at all."
AUTHOR: Words: James Thornton / Music: Charles Lawler
EARLIEST_DATE: 1890 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: party humorous political
FOUND_IN: US(So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 472, "The Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 363-366, "The Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 472)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 160-162,247, "Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 225-228, "The Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2916
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Auld Lang Syne" (tune for final half-verse)
cf. "The Kelligrews Soiree"
cf. "O'Dooley's First Five O'Clock Tea" (theme)
File: R472
===
NAME: Irish Laborer, An
DESCRIPTION: Singer is an Irish laborer, willing to work but told "No Irish wanted here". He retains his pride, praising the Irish for their generosity and their willingness to fight for America. He asks Americans to welcome the Irish.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: emigration discrimination Ireland nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Beck 84, "An Irish Laborer" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 123, "Irish Labourer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, IRSHLABR*
Roud #1137
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "No Irish Need Apply" (subject)
cf. "The Honest Irish Lad" (subject)
cf. "There Is Na Luck About the House" (tune)
NOTES: The potato famine of 1845 brought millions of Irish emigrants to America; they were often resented by nativists and segments of the American labor movement.
This is clearly related to "No Irish Need Apply," sharing a few lines, but as it consists mostly of praise and exhortations, and lacks the narrative of that song, I've classified it separately. - PJS
File: Be084
===
NAME: Irish Mail Robber, The [Laws L15]
DESCRIPTION: The Irish youth turns bad despite his father's warnings. To support his wild habits, he turns to crime and is at last convicted of mail robbery. He is sentenced to transportation for nine years, forcing him to leave his father and sweetheart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: father crime robbery separation transportation punishment
FOUND_IN: US(NE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws L15, "The Irish Mail Robber"
Randolph 164, "A Prisoner for Life" (4 texts, 3 tunes, but only the "A" text is this piece)
DT 424, IRSHMAIL*
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 76-77, "A Prisoner for Life" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 164A)
Roud #1905
File: LL15
===
NAME: Irish Molly-O: see My Irish Molly-O (File: FSC062)
===
NAME: Irish Molly, O: see My Irish Molly-O (File: FSC062)
===
NAME: Irish Mother's Lament, An
DESCRIPTION: The Irish mother nurses her child and laments for her dead husband, "Won't you come back to your fond wife's arms? Have you no care for your sweet babe's charms?" She says she has no friends and no hope; "Cushla mavourneen, why did you die?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love death children father mother abandonment mourning
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H600, pp. 140-141, "An Irish Mother's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9448
File: HHH600
===
NAME: Irish Patriot, The
DESCRIPTION: "On Africa's burning shore" an old Irishman says an English lord killed his wife and baby because he would not join the rebels. In the army in Africa, he kills the lord and hides. The singer takes the old man home; he is buried near his wife and baby
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: age murder revenge return escape help Africa Ireland patriotic soldier baby wife
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 90-91, "The Irish Emigrant" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 142-144, "The Irish Patriot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12486
NOTES: The singer considers the old man "a true [Irish] patriot" although his crime was killing an English lord who wanted him to "join the rebel horde." I suspect that a broadside source for this ballad might have a different story.
Ives-NewBrunswick begins "As I strayed below those lofty paths on India's burning shore, A-listening to a tiger's howl or a savage lion's roar." India, rather than Africa [see Dibblee/Dibblee], is the place to find tigers. On the other hand, even Ives-NewBrunswick has the action taking place in Africa: "And to fulfill the oath I took I revenged on him to be, I sailed in that same ship with him to the coast of Cape Colony. When I arrived at Capetown, I was chosen for to be Lieutenant in the army, his lone bodyguard to be." Ives-NewBrunswick makes more sense with the problem coming up when "that cruel rebellion came and we were forced to go To fight for home and liberty with a [hated Saxon foe]." However, the []-bracketed words were inserted by Ives.
Ives says that this song "doesn't show up much (only twice, in fact) in published collections, [but] is very much a part of the old lumbercamp tradition." Ives's two other sources are Edward D Ives, _Folksongs from Maine_, 1965, 18, "The Irish Patriot" (collected 1962) and Horace P Beck, _The Folklore of Maine_, 1957, pp 93-95. Ives notes "that the song seems to have been reasonably popular in the lumbercamps" (p. 81). [Ives apparently did not know] Dibblee/Dibblee. - BS
File: Dib090
===
NAME: Irish Peasant Girl, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer thinks about widow Brown's daughter. She crosses the Atlantic to send money home. Her dying wish is that a letter be written to her mother and brother at home. Singer in Ireland thinks of "the lily of the mountain furze that withers far away" 
AUTHOR: probably Charles Joseph Kickham (1825-1882)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (Sparling)
KEYWORDS: emigration dying hardtimes Ireland separation money
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, p. 126, "The Irish Peasant Girl" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 261-262, 502, "The Irish Peasant Girl"
Roud #5687
RECORDINGS:
Tommy McGrath, "She Lived Beside the Anner" (on Voice04)
NOTES: O'Conor has the author as John Banim (1798-1842), who wrote "Aileen," "Soggarth Aroon," "The Reconciliation," "The Irish Maiden's Song," and "The Irish Mother in the Penal Days." Sparling makes Kickham the author and is supported in that by the article "Charles Joseph Kickham" at the New Advent site _Catholic Encyclopedia_. The first line is "She lived beside the Anner at the foot of Slievenamon"; _Catholic Encyclopedia_ notes that the same was true of Kickham. - BS
Colum's _An Anthology of Irish Verse_ also credits it to Kickham. For more on him, see the notes to "Patrick Sheehan" [Laws J11]. - RBW
File: RcTIrPGi
===
NAME: Irish Rebel Spy, The
DESCRIPTION: "In the city of Mialco, near the county of Leone There lived a comely maiden ... And the proper name she goes by is the Irish Rebel Spy." Her brother and true love die as Fenians. She outwits detectives, steals a horse, and warns the Fenians.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: rebellion trick Ireland patriotic
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 76, "The Irish Rebel Spy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi076 (Partial)
Roud #9178
NOTES: I have no idea what the names of city and county, in the first line, should be. Roud quotes a first line from a Fowke sound recording as "In the county of Malonta(?) in the city of Malone." - BS
Since a song approving of the Fenians is unlikely to have originated in Canada (the Fenians, after all, wanted to attack Canada!), we must assume the song is of Irish origin. There is no Irish county with no name anything like either Leone or Malone. My wild, wild guess is that the name is an error for "Athlone" -- not a county, but a well-known city, and one in the county of Roscommon, which isn't very singable.
The other name defeats me. Not too far from Athlone, but in Westmeath, is the town of Moate; I can't come up with anything closer. But I don't really believe it.
The other possibility would be to make the county "Mayo." In that case, the best emendation I can come up with is "In the city of Ballina in the county of Mayo." In this case, the song might be connected, somehow, with the activities of Michael Davitt (1846-1905), whose family  had been evicted from their home in Mayo in 1852. Having lost an arm in a factory accident, and brutally treated as a prisoner, he returned to Mayo in 1879, and was in prison again by 1881. But he doesn't fit the song very well. More likely it arises from the Fenian uprising (read: fiasco) of 1867.
The one historical figure we can identify with certainty is James Stephens (1824-1901), a participant in the rebellion of 1848 and the founder of the Fenians in 1858, for whom see "James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy." But he abandoned the movement in 1866, shortly before the Fenian rebellion. He was treated with scorn thereafter.
All in all, a very confusing, and confused, piece, this. - RBW
File: MaWi076
===
NAME: Irish Refugee, The (Poor Pat Must Emigrate)
DESCRIPTION: Leaving Ireland. "We have fought for England's queen ... why should we be so oppressed?" I'm going to America "for there is bread." "If ever again I see this land I hope it will be with a Fenian band, So God be with old Ireland, poor Pat must emigrate!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1884 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3100))
KEYWORDS: emigration hardtimes America Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 53, "The Irish Refugee" (1 text); pp. 106-107, "Poor Pat Must Emigrate" (1 text)
Roud #2558
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3100), "Poor Pat Must Emigrate", H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Harding B 11(3101), Harding B 11(3102), "Pat Must Emigrate"; 2806 b.10(79), Harding B 26(515), "Poor Pat Must Emigrate"; Harding B 18(297), "The Irish Refugee" or "Poor Pat Must Emigrate"; Harding B 19(78), "Irish Patt Must Emigrate "
SAME_TUNE:
Podgee and Rhu [i.e. Paudeen Rhu] (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 18(297))
Apple Potatoes (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 19(78))
Apple Praties (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(515))
NOTES: The famine year of 1848 is sometimes stated as 1854.
As for the tune it may be that there are a number of songs on "the latest travels of the raking Paudheen Rhu." - BS
File: OCon053
===
NAME: Irish Rover, The
DESCRIPTION: "In the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and six We set sail from the coal quay of Cork." The ship, with too many masts, too strange a crew, and too unusual a cargo, sinks on its own improbabilities; only the singer is left to tell the tall tale
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: sailor ship talltale humorous disaster wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, IRSHROVR*
Roud #4379
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Katey of Lochgoil" (theme)
File: DTirshro
===
NAME: Irish Sailor Boy, The
DESCRIPTION: "'My parents raised me tenderly, I being their only joy, When my first stroll I took to roam,' Cried the Irish sailor b'y"  The captain and eleven of a crew of twenty four survive a ship wreck and land in St Peter's, Newfoundland
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor disaster death
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 128, "The Irish Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6347
File: GrMa128
===
NAME: Irish Serenade, An: see Oh Molly, I Can't Say That You're Honest (File: HHH082)
===
NAME: Irish Sixty-Ninth, The
DESCRIPTION: A song telling the story of the 69th regiment, "The Irish Sixty-Ninth." The training of the regiment is described, then its long career in the Peninsula, at Antietam, Fair Oaks, Glendale, and perhaps Gettysburg
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (recorded from John Galusha)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar soldier
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Warner 14, "The Irish Sixty-Ninth" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 175-176, "The Gallant 69th" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa014 (Full)
Roud #7455
RECORDINGS:
"Yankee" John Galusha, "The Irish 69th" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
NOTES: Determining which regiment this song is about takes some research. The very name "The Irish Sixty-Ninth" immediately brings to mind the 69th New York regiment, a famous unit of the equally famous "Irish Brigade" that saw service through the entire Civil War. (For more about that unit, see the notes to "By the Hush.")
However, the unit in the song is said to have been commanded by "Colonel Owens," and the song refers several times to Philadelphia. Thus the 69th NY is not meant; we must look to the 69th Pennsylvania.
This regiment is not famous (and it certainly didn't suffer the extreme -- 90% -- casualties faced by the 69th NY), but it was mustered in in August 1861 (as in the song; the 69th NY mustered in in September) and its original commander was Col. (later Brig. Gen.) Joshua T. Owen. It is reported to have been mostly Irish. And it was a Philadelphia regiment -- in fact it was a member of what later came to be called the "Philadelphia Brigade."
The 69th PA fought in most of the battles in the east, starting with the 1861 fiasco at Ball's Bluff, and was one of the regiments that received Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg (possibly referred to in stanza 6, though this could refer to the Battle of Fair Oaks).
If there were only one version of this song, I might suggest that the name "Irish Sixty-Ninth" arose by confusion out of the World War I regiment with that nickname, in which Joyce Kilmer ("I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree") served and died. However, with multiple versions, all clearly Civil War, this does not seem possible.
Among the other references in the song:
"Little Mac": Gen. George McClellan, who commanded the Army of the Potomac for most of 1862 and directed the Peninsula Campaign.
Fort Monroe: The starting point of the Peninsular Campaign. Yorktown: besieged in the Peninsula Campaign (Apr. 5-May 4, 1862).
Pickett's guns: possibly a reference to Gettysburg, but this would be out of sequence; I think it more likely to refer to the Battle of Fair Oaks/Seven Pines (first major battle of the Peninsula Campaign, May 31-June 1, 1862), where Pickett faced a heavy Union attack.
Antietam: battle fought in Maryland, Sept. 17, 1862.
Fair Oaks: an inexplicable reference. If it points to Fair Oaks/Seven Pines, mentioned above, it is out of sequence; if it refers to the Fair Oaks battle of October 1864, the 69th PA was not present and the results were in any case unfortunate for the Federals. Probably this is an errant reference to some part of the Peninsula campaign.
Glendale (also known as White Oak Swamp): one of the Seven Days' Battles, fought June 20, 1862 at the end of the Peninsula Campaign. The 69th PA had a prominent part in this battle.
Speath's song "The Gallant 69th," sung by Harrigan and Hart, has none of the historical references of the Warner song, and may be a separate piece (frankly, the two have nothing in common) -- but what are the odds of two Civil War songs about an Irish 69th regiment? Even if they are distinct, we might as well file them together. - RBW
File: Wa014
===
NAME: Irish Soldier and the English Lady, The: see One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14] (File: LP14)
===
NAME: Irish Soldier Boy, The: see The Faithful Sailor Boy [Laws K13] (File: LK13)
===
NAME: Irish Spree, The
DESCRIPTION: The boys and girls go to Patsy Murphy's restaurant. A fight starts followed by a fire. A policeman has his head split. Soldiers are called, 16 are dead: warrants are issued for murder and robbery. "I set sail for Australia in the morning"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: violence murder drink fire police transportation
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 80, "The Irish Spree" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1796), "The Irish Spree", unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 11(1979), "The Irish Spree"
File: OCon080
===
NAME: Irish Stranger, The
DESCRIPTION: "I ne'er shall return to Hibernia's bowers.... It grieves me to ponder On the wrongs of thy injured isle... America might yield me some shelter from pain, I'm only lamenting whilst here I remain For the joys that I'll never see more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1240))
KEYWORDS: emigration hardtimes America Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, pp. 111-112, "The Irish Stranger" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 59, "The Irish Stranger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1629?
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1240), "Irish Stranger", J. Catnach (Durham), 1813-1838; also 2806 b.11(219), Harding B 16(334b), Harding B 11(1797), Harding B 11(1631), Harding B 11(1657), Harding B 11(1241), "[The] Irish Stranger"
NOTES: Bodleian, 2806 c.17(179),"Irish Stranger" or "Joys That Are Gone", W. Armstrong (Liverpool),1820-1824 may be the earliest for this ballad at Bodleian but is illegible. - BS
File: OCon111
===
NAME: Irish Wake, The [Laws Q18]
DESCRIPTION: Pat Malone, being "pressed for ready cash," decides to fake death to collect his life insurance. All goes well until the wake and funeral; he thinks they cost too much. At last, shortly before he is buried, realizing the consequences, he gives up the sham
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893
KEYWORDS: death funeral trick
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws Q18, "The Irish Wake"
Randolph 473, "The Irish Wake" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 366-368, "The Irish Wake" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 473A)
FSCatskills 121, "Pat Malone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 148-149, "Pat Malone" (1 text)
DT 529, PATFORGT*
Roud #1008
RECORDINGS:
Lawrence Older,  "Pat Malone" (on LOlder01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Finnegan's Wake" [Laws Q17]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Pat Malone Forgot that He Was Dead
NOTES: Laws lists this among the ballads of British origin, but cites no references. Cohen speculates that it is actually an American stage song. Given that it's been collected only on this side of the water (as best I can tell, and the Roud list supports this), I strongly suspect he's right. - RBW
File: LQ18
===
NAME: Irish Wedding, The
DESCRIPTION: "Sure won't you hear what roaring cheer was spread at Paddy's wedding, O?" All the boys and girls are named, there is music, food, dancing and drink. No fights! "Decadorous we'll have, says Father Quipes." A grand time is had by all.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: wedding humorous dancing drink food music party moniker
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, pp. 57-58, "The Irish Wedding" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(926), "The Irish Wedding", unknown, n.d. 
File: OCon057
===
NAME: Irishman (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer, a new emigrant wandering in New Jersey, comes across "an oasis" -- the home of an old Irishman. They stop and talk; the old man asks about all the places he left behind long ago
AUTHOR: James O'Kane
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: rambling emigration homesickness
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H712, pp. 221-222, "The Irishman" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH712
===
NAME: Irishman (II), The
DESCRIPTION: "Who a friend or foe can meet So generous as an Irishman?" He is warm-hearted, honest, forgiving, generous, open, honorable and fearless. "If the field of fame be lost It won't be by an Irishman"
AUTHOR: James Orr
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 871)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 119, "The Irishman" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 871, "The Irishman" ("The savage loves his native shore"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 18(294), Harding B 16(115a), 2806 c.8(153), "The Irishman"
SAME_TUNE:
Vive La (broadside Bodleian 2806 c.8(153))
File: OCon119
===
NAME: Irishman's Farewell to his Country, The (The Shamrock Shore IV)
DESCRIPTION: Farewell, dear Erin's native shore, For here I cannot stay." The singer is leaving for America. "As our ship she lies at anchor, boys, Now ready for to sail." He bids farewell to friends, parents, grandfather.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell sea ship America Ireland nonballad friend family
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 88, "The Shamrock Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1455
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman, "Farewell, My Own Fair Native Land" (on Voice04)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(157), "The Irishman's Farewell to his Country," Haly (Cork), 19C; also 2806 c.8(121), "The Irishman's Farewell to his Country"; 2806 b.10(89), "The Irishman's Farewell to his Native Land"
File: OLcM088
===
NAME: Irishman's Goldmine, The
DESCRIPTION: An Irishman comes to Australia and to look for gold. He innocently trusts to a man who points to a "gold" patch. The Irish boy sets to digging as the ants swarm out onto his skin -- and start biting. He concludes that gold *is* the root of evil
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: gold bug Australia injury
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 276-277, "The Irishman's Goldmine" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA276A
===
NAME: Irishman's Lumber Song: see The Monkey Turned Barber [Laws Q14] (File: LQ14)
===
NAME: Irishman's Shanty
DESCRIPTION: "Did you ever hear of an Irishman's shanty Where water was scarce and whiskey was plenty? A two-legged stool and a table to match A stick in the door instead of a latch?"
AUTHOR: George W. Osborn
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging sb20211b)
KEYWORDS: poverty drink humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 109, "Irishman's Shanty" (1 fragment)
O'Conor, pp. 118-119, "The Irishman's Shanty" (1 text)
Roud #4838
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(295), "The Irishman's Shanty," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as LOCSinging sb20211b]; also Harding B 18(296), "The Irishman's Shanty"
LOCSinging, sb20211b, "The Irishman's shanty," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(295)]; also as106270, as106280, as201680, "The Irishman's shanty"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Washerwoman" (tune and meter)
cf. "The Old Country Party" (tune)
NOTES: Broadsides LOCSinging sb20211b and Bodleian Harding B 18(295): H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: GrMa109
===
NAME: Irishtown Crew, The
DESCRIPTION: "On the first day of April, I'll never forget, / The Irishtown boys at Ratigan's met. / They filled up their glasses and swore solemnly / That that very day they'd go out on a spree!" The rest of the song is devoted to the participants and their antics
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: drink moniker
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 15, "The Irishtown Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa015 (Partial)
Roud #7466
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Campbell the Rover" (tune & meter)
File: Wa015
===
NAME: Iron Door, The [Laws M15]
DESCRIPTION: When the rich girl falls in love with a poor boy, her father locks her in a iron-doored prison. Her lover breaks in and sneaks her out (in men's clothing), but they meet her father. The boy prepares to die, but the father gives in
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: love prison escape mercy father
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,Lond)) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws M15, "The Iron Door"
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 220-221, "Her Servant Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H668, pp. 444-445, "Love Laughs at Locksmiths" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 61, "The Young Serving Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 100-101, "Mary Ann" (1 text)
Kennedy 161, "The Iron Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 590-591, "Since Love Can Enter an Iron Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 84, "Since Love Can Enter an Iron Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 54, "Since Love Can Enter an Iron Door" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT 580, IRONDOOR
Roud #539
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Locks and Bolts" [Laws M13] (theme)
cf. "The Gallant Shoemaker" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Young Servant Man
The Daughter in the Dungeon
Since Love Can Enter an Iron Door
NOTES: I'm sure it's not related, but it's interesting to note that Johannes Gutenberg (yes, that Gutenberg) was once involved with a girl names Ennelin zur Yserin Thure (in modern German, Annalein zur Eiseren Tur, or Little Anna of the Iron Door). Ennelin, or her mother, was apparently after him for breach of promise of marriage. (Source: John Man, _Gutenberg_, pp. 57-59). - RBW
File: LM15
===
NAME: Iron Horse (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "Come Hielandman, come Lowlandman... I'll tell you how I got atween Dundee and Perth, man, I gaed upon an iron road -- a rail they did it ca'...." The singer tells of his ride, the conductor, the demand for a fare. He says he will use his feet hereafter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: train technology humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
MacColl-Shuttle, p. 19, "The iron horse" (1 text (conflate), 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 158-160, "The Iron Horse" (1 text)
DT, IRONHORS*
Roud #5834
File: FVS158
===
NAME: Iron Merrimac
DESCRIPTION: The Merrimac starts from Norfolk to "make an end of Yankee Doodle Dandy-O." After sinking the Cumberland, the Merrimac confronts the Monitor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (recording, Judge Learned Hand)
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar navy war ship
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: March 8, 1862 - U.S. frigates Congress and Cumberland sunk by the CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimac). The Minnesota runs aground; had not the Monitor arrived the next day, the Merrimac would have sunk that ship also
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #4767
RECORDINGS:
Judge Learned Hand, "Iron Merrimac" (AFS, 1942; on LCTreas)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Constitution and the Guerriere" [Laws A6] (lyrics, structure, tune)
cf. "The Cumberland" [Laws A26] (subject)
cf. "The Cumberland Crew" [Laws A18] (subject)
NOTES: This song is a rewrite of "The Constituion and the Guerriere"; however, as it describes a different battle, with different ships, half a century later, I've given it a separate entry. - PJS
For the historical background on this battle, see the notes to "The Cumberland Crew" [Laws A18]. - RBW
File: RcIroMer
===
NAME: Iron Mountain Baby, The
DESCRIPTION: "I have a song I would like to sing, It's awful, and it's true, About a babe thrown from a train By a mother, I know not who." The injured child is found by Bill Helm, and cared for. The singer warns people to beware of judgment
AUTHOR: J. T. Barton
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (Belden); probably written 1902
KEYWORDS: train abandonment orphan
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 14, 1902 - Discovery of the baby later to be known as William Moses Gould Helm
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 419-420, "The Iron Mountain Baby" (1 text)
Roud #4162
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Preacher (Hick's Farewell)" (tune)
NOTES: Belden reports that J. T. Barton wrote this song to help support the infant it commemorates. One can but hope the parents were better at caring for children than was Barton at crafting lyrics.
Barton said that this piece was printed and sold, so there may be a broadsheet copy somewhere, but no one seems to have found one. It really is a lousy piece of poetry, as well as being obnoxiously moralizing; one suspects that it was preserved only by people who personally remembered the story or the sales pitch.
This is item dH43 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Beld419
===
NAME: Iron Ore by 'Fifty-Four
DESCRIPTION: "Come, ladies and gentlemen, listen to me, I'll sing you a song of our north Counteree... Bound north to Ungava for rich iron ore In July, nineteen fifty-four." The building of a railroad into Labrador, and the four years of work involved, are described
AUTHOR: Words: Alan Mills
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: work technology Canada
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 215-217, "'Iron Ore by Fifty-Four" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Iron Ore" [Laws D9] (tune)
File: FMB215
===
NAME: Iroquois Lullaby (Ho, Ho, Watanay)
DESCRIPTION: Iroquois: "Ho, ho, Watanay (x3), Ki-yo-ki-na, ki-yo-ki-na." Translation: "Sleep, sleep, little one (x3), Now go to sleep, now go to sleep."
AUTHOR: unknown (English translation by Alan Mills)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am) lullaby nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Queb)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 2-3, "An Iroquois Lullabye" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hey Hey Wataney
File: FMB002
===
NAME: Irrawaddy, The
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "The curse upon Crossgadden, likewise his robbing crew; They robbed the Irrawaddy and the John R Skiddy, too"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship wreck commerce theft shore
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 1, 1850 - "... Captain Shipley the master of the _John R Skiddy_ ... sailed his vessel ashore on Glascarrick beach .... he described the locals as 'the most abandoned set of villains that he had encountered'. They pillaged the wreck and anything brought ashore in defiance of both coastguard and police" (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 49)
Oct 13, 1856 - "... the _Irrawady_ was wrecked opposite Cahore Point on the Blackwater Bank. A fleet of local fishing boats was organised by the local coast-guards and rescued the crew and passengers.... The teak from her hull was used to form the pews at Ballyragget Church" (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 69)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 127, "The Irrawaddy" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mariposa" (theme)
cf. "The Teapots at the Fire" (theme)
cf. "The Middlesex Flora" (theme)
cf. "The Old Mayflower" (theme)
NOTES: Ranson: "The 'John R Skiddy' had 430 passengers aboard, all of whom were saved. When the 'Irrawaddy' ran aground ... between four hundred and five hundred people ... boarded the vessel and carried away a large quantity of goods from her.... The coast-guards, evidently, had a hand in the looting for Mr Crossgadden was a coast-guard."
It may be unusual on the Irish coast, but not elsewhere, for coastal inhabitants to consider the cargo and ship remains among wreckage to be a fair source of enrichment. See, for example, "The Old Mayflower" from Newfoundland and "Mariposa" from Labrador. On the other hand see Ranson's "The Middlesex Flora" for similar activity on the Wexford coast. - BS
File: Ran127
===
NAME: Irthing Water Hounds, The
DESCRIPTION: October 11, 1873, hounds from Irthing Water are on a fox hunt. Finally "the celebrated Mowdie" finds a fox in a hole. A terrier flushes Reynard and his trail flushes a vixen. Both foxes are killed. "Drink success to the Irthing lads"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, Willie Scott)
KEYWORDS: death hunting animal dog
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5692
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "The Irthing Water Hounds" (on Voice18)
NOTES: River Irthing is in Northumberland. - BS
File: RcIrtWaH
===
NAME: Is There for Honest Poverty: see A Man's A Man For A' That (File: FSWB297A)
===
NAME: Is Your Lamps Gone Out
DESCRIPTION: "Is your lamps gone out? (x2), Oh, what you going to do in Egypt When your lamps gone out?" "If you get there before I do, O what you going to do... When your lamps gone out?" "The tallest tree in paradise..." "The Christians call it the tree of life..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (field recording, unknown artists)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, pp. 75-77, "Is Yo' Lamps Gone Out" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10025
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "Is Your Lamps Gone Out?" (on Thieme06)
Unknown artists, "When Yo' Lamp's Gone Out" (AFS CYL-11-1, 1933)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wade in the Water" (floating lyrics) and references there
cf. "All My Trials" (lyrics)
cf. "Tell All the World, John" (lyrics)
cf. ""Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Almost all of this, except the chorus "Oh, what you going to do in Egypt When your lamps gone out," is paralleled in "All My Trials," and also in "Tell All the World, John." It is not clear to me which inspired the others. - RBW
From the ... verse "Come on sister and follow me/I will show you the man who set me free," it has been theorized that this may have been an Underground Railroad song. I don't think so, but it's worth mentioning. Thieme also suggests that "Egypt" may be a reference to the area of southern Illinois near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, known to boatmen as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt." The probable collection of this song in Texas makes that problematical.  - PJS
File: MWhee075
===
NAME: Isabeau S'y Promene (Isabel)
DESCRIPTION: French: Isabel goes walking by the sea side. She meets a sailor who sings sweetly to her. She joins him on his boat, but then grieves because she has lost her gold ring. He dives three times to try to find it; the third time he does not come up.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880 (E. Gagnon, Chansons Populaires du Canada)
KEYWORDS: courting ship death drowning ring foreignlanguage grief
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Hugill, pp. 515-517, "La Danae" (2 texts-French & English, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 297-300, "Isabeau S'y Promene (Isabel)" (2 texts (1 French, 1 English), 1 tune)
DT, ISABEAU
ADDITIONAL: Edith Fowke and Richard Johnston, Chansons de Quebec (Folk Songs of Quebec), 1957, pp. 74-75, "Isabeau s'y Promene (One day Isabel Wandered)" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Isabeau S'y Promeneau" (on PeteSeeger29)
NOTES: Reported by Scott to be sung in France, Quebec, and Louisiana, though his version is from New Brunswick. - RBW
File: SBoA297
===
NAME: Island Jacobite Song, An: see The Silver Whistle (File: K009)
===
NAME: Island Unknown, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer has led a reckless life; leaving home, he joins the US Navy. His ship is wrecked in a storm. The lone survivor, he makes his way to a desert island. Resigned to death, he writes his life story, hopes his body will be found, and bids farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Eck Robertson)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer says he has led a reckless life; leaving home, true love and parents, he joins the "jolly band" (of the US Navy). He sails, while they (and he) lament. After three weeks, his ship is wrecked in a storm. The lone survivor, he clings to wreckage, and makes his way to a desert island where no one has been before. Resigning himself to death, he writes his life story in a diary, and hopes his body will someday be found; he bids farewell to his loved ones
KEYWORDS: grief homesickness farewell parting separation travel death sea ship disaster storm wreck family lover sailor
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #17557
RECORDINGS:
Eck Robertson & Family, "The Island Unknown - Parts 1 & 2" (Victor 40166, 1929; on ConstSor1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "William and Harriet" [Laws M7] (some plot parallels)
NOTES: The parallel with "William and Harriet" is obvious: a desert island, starvation, death. But the circumstances of his leaving home are different, and he is traveling alone when shipwrecked rather than with his sweetheart. Those are enough differences for me to classify this as a separate ballad -- but see the cross-reference nonetheless. - PJS
File: RcIslUnk
===
NAME: Island(s) of Jamaica, The: see The Gallant Brigantine [Laws D25] (File: LD25)
===
NAME: Isle de France, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the sun went down, and the moon advanced When the convict came to the Isle de France." The Irish convict was on his way home when a storm cast him ashore on the Isle. A letter from the queen sets the convict free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Manifold; broadside printed probably c. 1890)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A convict is shipwrecked on the Isle of France; he had been sentenced to seven years' transportation (for unruly behavior), and was on his way home when his ship, the "Shamrock Green," foundered. Cast up on the island, he is offered sustenance and comfort by the Coast Guard, who sends a sympathetic letter to the Queen. The convict is pardoned; he blesses the Coast Guard and wishes success to the Isle of France
KEYWORDS: royalty ship wreck rescue freedom transportation captivity crime punishment mercy pardon wreck Australia France prisoner
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
MacSeegTrav 93, "The Isle of France" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 24-25, "The Isle de France" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1575
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.1270(009), "The Isle of France," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: The Isle de France mentioned here is not the Parisian region of France (the old crownlands of the French king), but (in the Australian version; the British versions may refer to one of the Channel Islands) the island of Mauritius.
The island was originally colonized by the Dutch (from 1638; they discovered it in 1507), then taken over by the French in 1721. The British occupied it in 1810, and renamed it Mauritius at about the same time. It became an independent member of the Commonwealth in 1968.
Mauritius was not a true prison colony, but it was uninhabited when the Dutch occupied it. The French brought in slaves from Africa to grow sugar. The British abolished slavery in 1834, but this left them with a need for workers, whom they imported primarily from India. Thus Mauritius was sort of a guarded colony even though it was not a destination for prisoners.
Manifold believes the Queen of the song to be Victoria, making the "Isle de France" of the song an anacronism. But it is at least possible that a non-ruling queen could have expedited the convict's appeal.
Alternately, it occurs to me that Ile-de-France has been the name of a number of French ships. Perhaps the name is a corruption of a version in which the sailor was rescued by a ship called Ile-de-France? - RBW
Perhaps it's not surprising, given our field of study, that we lack the keyword "kindness," but that is without question the subject of this ballad. - PJS
File: PASB024
===
NAME: Isle of Doagh (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is leaving Isle of Doagh "to taste the cup of freedom in Americay." He thinks about the island and the school "where my childhood days I spent." "It will break my heart full sore to part with my comrades one and all."
AUTHOR: Willie "Jack" McLaughlin (source: McBride)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: emigration America Ireland nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 41, "The Isle of Doagh" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Isle of Doagh is in Donegal.
McBride: the song was written around 1910. - BS
File: McB1041
===
NAME: Isle of Doagh (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is leaving Isle of Doagh for a foreign land. He recalls when he first arrived and how surprised he was to find it so lovely. He is sad to leave it now.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: emigration lyric home
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 42, "The Isle of Doagh" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Isle of Doagh is in Donegal. - BS
File: McB1042
===
NAME: Isle of France, The: see The Isle de France (File: PASB024)
===
NAME: Isle of Fugi
DESCRIPTION: "Then I'm bound for the Isle of Fugi; Fugi, Fugi; Then I'm bound for the Isle of Fugi; And from there to Tennessee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: nonballad shanty
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Smith/Hatt, p. 29, "Isle of Fugi" (1 text)
Roud #9417
NOTES: Smith/Hatt: Smith's comment is "Well-known shanty for general work." Fowke notes that Hugill suggests "Fiji" may be meant. - BS
Since we're talking about Pacific destinations anyway, how about "Fuji," which would mean Japan? (Japan also has a city "Fukui," for that matter.) There is also an anchorage off the Philippines known as "Fuga." - RBW
File: SmHa029
===
NAME: Isle of Man Shore, The (The Quay of Dundocken; The Desolate Widow) [Laws K7]
DESCRIPTION: The singer and her family set out for Liverpool. A storm strikes; the passengers abandon the ship. The boats are swamped; Willie sees his wife (the singer) ashore, but is lost trying to save his father. The singer and her children must turn to begging
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: ship storm family begging shore travel drowning sea wreck baby father husband wife
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws K7, "The Isle of Man Shore (The Quay of Dundocken; The Desolate Widow)"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 104, "The Quay of Dundocken" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 486-487, "Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 89-91, "The Desolate Widow" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 106-107, "The Quays of Belfast" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 818,ISLEMAN
Roud #525
File: LK07
===
NAME: Isle of Saint Helena, The: see Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena) (File: E096)
===
NAME: Isle of St. Helena, The: see Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena) (File: E096)
===
NAME: Israelites Shouting
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I wonder where's my sister, She's gone away to stay, Got hidden behind God's altar, She'll be gone till judgment day. Goodbye, the Israelites shoutin' in the heaven...." Remaining verses describe the departure of other family members
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson)
KEYWORDS: death religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 71, "Israelites Shouting" (partial text); pp. 248-249, "Israelites Shouting" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #16362
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "Israelites Shouting" (on NFMAla4)
NOTES: Although the title immediately makes me think of the fall of Jericho, there is no clear evidence of that in the song; the shouting seems simply to be joyous. - RBW
File: CNFM071
===
NAME: It Fell About the Martinmas Time: see Martinmas Time (File: DTmartin)
===
NAME: It Is of a Rich Lady: see The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen [Laws O13] (File: LO13)
===
NAME: It Makes a Long-Time Man Feel Bad
DESCRIPTION: "It makes a long-time man feel bad... When he can't-a get a letter... from home." There's a wreck out on the road somewhere...." "Captain George, don't you drive me all the time...." "Hattie Belle, don't you cry about a dime...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947
KEYWORDS: prison chaingang loneliness
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 291, "It Makes a Long-Time Man Feel Bad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15968
File: LoF291
===
NAME: It Rained a Mist: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: It Rains, It Hails and Snows and Blows: see Let Me In This Ae Nicht (File: DTaenich)
===
NAME: It Takes A Girl to Fool You Every Time: see notes under The Warranty Deed (The Wealthy Old Maid) [Laws H24] (File: LH24)
===
NAME: It Was a Lover and His Lass
DESCRIPTION: "It was a lover and his lass With a hey and a ho and a hey nonnie no." "In spring time (x3), the only pretty ring time, When the birds do sing... Sweet lovers ove the spring." The song alludes to courting in the rye, but there is little real plot.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1600 (Morley's "The First Book of Ayres or Little Short Songs")
KEYWORDS: love courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 114-115, "It Was a Lover and His Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 263-264, "A Lover and His Lass" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 155, "It Was A Lover And His Lass" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 290-291, "It Was a Lover and His Lass" (1 text)
DT, LOVERLAS
NOTES: This is quoted by Shakespeare in "As You Like It" (Act V, Scene III, lines 13-30 or so). I'm far from convinced it's traditional; it was obviously a popular piece of Shakespeare's time -- and is attributed to Shakespeare, e.g., in Palgrave's _Golden Treasury_ (item XI). But it shows up in enough songbooks that I decided to include it.
Morley, who in 1600 first published the lyrics, in 1599 published a tune called "O Mistress Mine" in _The First Book of Consort Lessons_. It is generally assumed, but cannot be proved, that they are to be connected. - RBW 
File: FSWB155B
===
NAME: It Was a Mouse: see Frog Went A-Courting (File: R108)
===
NAME: It Was A' For Our Rightful' King
DESCRIPTION: "It was a' for our rightfu' king We left fair Scotland's strand; It was a' for our rightfu' king We e'er saw Irish land...." "Now a' is done that men can do, And a' is done in vain." The defeated soldier must leave his love and go into exile
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST_DATE: 1796 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: Jacobites soldier separation exile
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1685-1688 - Reign of James II (James VII of Scotland), the last Catholic king of Britain
1688 - Glorious Revolution overthrows James II in favor of his Protestant daughter Mary II and her husband and first cousin William III of Orange
Mar 12, 1689 - James arrives in Ireland and begins, very hesitantly, to organize its defense. 
April-July, 1689 - Siege of Londonderry. James's forces fail to capture the Protestant stronghold, leaving Ireland still "in play" for William
August, 1689 - Marshal Schomberg brings the first of William's troops to Ireland. James continues to be passive, allowing more troops to reinforce them
March, 1690 - James receives reinforcements from France but still does nothing
June 14, 1690 - William lands in Ireland
July 1, 1690 - Battle of the Boyne. William III crushes the Irish army of James, at once securing his throne and the rule of Ireland. Irish resistance continues for about another year, but Ireland east of the Shannon is his; James flees the country, and many of his followers also depart into exile, to become the "Wild Geese" of Irish legend
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, p. 89, "The Farewell" (1 text)
ST SMM5IWAF (Full)
Roud #5789
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mally Stewart" (tune)
File: SMM5IWAF
===
NAME: It Was at the Town of Caylen
DESCRIPTION: "It was at the town of Caylen this gelding we sold" then we stole a gallon of wine from Thomas Grant. "I and two more were condemned to the rope. But I led a scheme and the prison we broke."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: theft trial escape
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 101, "It Was at the Town of Caylen" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #2775
NOTES: The current description is based on the Creighton-SNewBrunswick fragment.
Creighton-SNewBrunswick: "If the music is any guide, this song in which the hero overcomes his difficulties must be a cheerful one." - BS
File: CrSNB101
===
NAME: It Was Early One Monday Morning: see William and Nancy I (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8] (File: LN08)
===
NAME: It Was One Summer Morning: see The Summer Morning (The White/Blue/Green Cockade) (File: StoR068)
===
NAME: It Wasna My Fortune to Get Her: see The False Bride (The Week Before Easter; I Once Loved a Lass) (File: K152)
===
NAME: It's a Long Way to Tipperary: see It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary (File: DTtiprar)
===
NAME: It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary
DESCRIPTION: Of an Irishman who comes to London then is called back home by his sweetheart. Know mostly for the chorus: "It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go, It's a long way to Tipperary, to the sweetest girl I know. Goodbye, Piccadilly...."
AUTHOR: Jack Judge (and Harry Williams?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1912
KEYWORDS: love separation return
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 308-309, "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary"
DT, TIPRARY*
Roud #11235
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Long Way to Tipperary" (OKeh 45077, 1927; rec. 1926)
Frank Hutchison, "Long Way To Tipperary" (Okeh 45089, 1927)
John & Emery McClung "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary" (Brunswick 136, 1927)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (Columbia 15249-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
SAME_TUNE:
The Harvest War Song (Greenway-AFP, p. 211)
It's a Long Way from Amphioxus (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 68-69)
NOTES: The folklore about this song is, if anything, better than the song itself (which, apart from the tune, is banal). Jack Judge came into a town on New Year's night and claimed he could write a song then and there. Challenged, he wrote "Tipperary."
Harry Williams was (like Judge) a vaudeville performer. The legend says that Judge owed Williams money, and offered this song in payment of the debt.
It is, of course, no longer possible to verify this. What is certain is that the song became immensely popular in the First World War, though more for the chorus (many, many Tommies came from London, after all) than the plot. - RBW
File: DTtiprar
===
NAME: It's a Rosebud in June: see Rosebud in June (File: ShH93)
===
NAME: It's a Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday
DESCRIPTION: "It's a shame to whip your wife on Sunday/When you've got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...." Subsequent verses "It's a shame to play cards on Sunday...." "It's a shame to get drunk on Sunday."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Fiddlin' John Carson)
KEYWORDS: abuse gambling drink humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 78, "It's A Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 22, "Ain't It a Shame" (1 text)
DT, AINTSHAM
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "It's A Shame To Whip Your Wife On Sunday" (Okeh 45122, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "It's a Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday" (on NLCR12)
Pete Seeger, "Ain't It a Shame" (on PeteSeeger32)
NOTES: Some joke. -PJS
I have to suspect this is funnier in concert than in print. (It would be hard for it to be LESS funny, after all.)
The version in the Folksinger's wordbook omits the crucial first verse, but I don't think it actually circulated in that form; I think it's just a case of political correctness. - RBW
File: CSW078
===
NAME: It's Advertised in Boston: see Blow Ye Winds in the Morning (File: LxU044)
===
NAME: It's All Night Long
DESCRIPTION: "Of all the animals in this world, I'd rather be a squirrel, I'd climb up on a telephone pole And peep all over the world. It's all night long. It's all night long."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 170, "It's All Night Long" (1 text)
NOTES: This song may be a version of one of the other "All Night Long" pieces, but I haven't seen the verse anywhere else, so it lists separately. - RBW
File: Br3170
===
NAME: It's Almost Day
DESCRIPTION: "Chickens crow for midnight and it's almost day (x2)" ""Christmas is a-coming and it's almost day." "Santa Claus is coming...." "Turkey's in the oven...." "I thought I heard my mother say...." 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 949 (recording, Lead Belly)
KEYWORDS: Christmas food nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 373, "It's Almost Day" (1 text)
Roud #11655
NOTES: This is about as silly as a song can be -- but the tune is good, and it's easy to improvise six-syllable lines with no rhyme for any occasion. There may even be some ballad-like versions out there. - RBW
File: FSWB373A
===
NAME: It's Almost Done: see Almost Done (File: LxU094)
===
NAME: It's Braw Sailin' on the Sea
DESCRIPTION: "There cam a letter late yestreen, Our ship maun sail in the morn." The girl gives back his ring, declaring, "Tak that, my bonnie lad, For I hae changed my mind." The song is largely comparisons: "It's braw sailing on the sea, It's better drinkin' wine."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love sailor separation betrayal ring
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 203, "It's Braw Sailin' on the Sea" (1 text)
Roud #5537
File: Ord203
===
NAME: It's Down in Old Ireland
DESCRIPTION: The singer was born in Limerick. In spite of his mother's pleading he "carried on with my wicked career." He marries and takes up highway robbery to care for her, is convicted and transported for seven years. Women are deceitful but he'd have no other
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: prison robbery transportation mother wife Ireland
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 161, "It's Down in Old Ireland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #490
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wild and Wicked Youth" [Laws L12] (theme)
cf. "Salisbury Plain" (theme)
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime includes this verse partly floated to/from "Old Kimball" (as sung by Texas Gladden):
Now ofttimes I've wondered how women loves man,
And more times I've wondered how men can love them,
For robbing by night and a-planning by day
Which caused me behind this prison walls for to lay. - BS
File: CrMa161
===
NAME: It's Down Where the Water Runs Muddy: see The Lover's Curse (Kellswater) (File: HHH442)
===
NAME: It's Gettin' Late over in the Evening: see It's Getting Late in the Evening (File: CNFM065)
===
NAME: It's Getting Late in the Evening
DESCRIPTION: "Lord, it's gettin' late over in the evenin'... The sun most down." The singer asks that John not seal his book until the singer's name is entered. The Spirit seals the book. The singer warns sinners against their ways and prepares to depart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 65-66, "(It's Gettin' Late over in the Evening)" (1 text); pp. 234-235, "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10967
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (on NFMAla4)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John the Revelator" (theme)
NOTES: The theme of sealed and unsealed books is not uncommon in the Bible; we see several instances in the Revelation to John, often based on hints in the prophets (e.g. Ezek. 2:9-10).
The Book of Life is mentioned in Rev. 20:12. There is also the scroll sealed with seven seals of Rev. 5-8 (note that the scroll was the ancient form of a book). A second, "little" scroll occurs in Chapter 10. Chapter 7 describes  another sort of seal -- the "sealing" of God's servants. - RBW
File: CNFM065
===
NAME: It's Good fuh Hab Some Patience
DESCRIPTION: "It's good fuh hab some patience, patience, patience, It's good fuh hab some patience, Fuh ter wait upon de Lawd." "My brudder, won't you rise en' go wid me (x3), Fuh ter wait upon de Lawd." "My sister...." "My fader...." "My mudder...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 597, "It's Good fuh Hab Some Patience" (1 text)
Roud #11910
File: Br3597
===
NAME: It's Hard to Leave You, Sweet Love: see Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove) (File: Wa097)
===
NAME: It's Lookin' fer Railroad Bill: see Railroad Bill [Laws I13] (File: LI13)
===
NAME: It's Me, Oh Lord: see Standing in the Need of Prayer (File: FSWB350A)
===
NAME: It's No Business of Mine
DESCRIPTION: The singer, while proclaiming "Of course it's no business of mine," criticises the girls who are "after the fellow that's got the cash," the "temperate" men who "wouldn't touch whisky" but have red noses "caused by the cold," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting drink money accusation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 392, "It's No Business of Mine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7616
File: R392
===
NAME: It's Once I Courted As Pretty a Lass: see Hog-tub, The (File: OO2298)
===
NAME: It's Raining Here
DESCRIPTION: "It's raining here, storming on the deep blue sea (x2) Ain't no black-headed mama Can make a fool out of me." "Now I can see a train coming...." "Talk about trouble, that's all I've ever known." The singer, despite poverty, will not sing the blues
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: poverty separation train
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 508, "It's Raining Here" (1 text)
Roud #11810
File: Br3508
===
NAME: It's Raining, It's Pouring
DESCRIPTION: "It's raining, it's pouring, The old man is snoring. (He) bumped his head and he went to bed And he couldn't get up in the morning."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 227, "It's Raining, It's Pouring" (1 text)
NOTES: Another of those things I learned too far back to remember and without really wanting to learn. Makes it a folk song in my book. - RBW
File: PHCF227b
===
NAME: It's Seven Long Years
DESCRIPTION: Willie the sailor is gone seven years with no letter to Nancy. She regrets "it was my trembling hand deceived you, Caused my youthful tongue to lie." She dreams "Willie was landed safe on shore" but wakes to reality, "stark despair to reign supreme"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: grief love separation dream sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 59, "It's Seven Long Years" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB059 (Partial)
Roud #2757
File: CrSNB059
===
NAME: It's the Same the Whole World Over: see She Was Poor But She Was Honest (I) (File: EM128)
===
NAME: It's the Syme the Whole World Over: see She Was Poor But She Was Honest (I) (File: EM128)
===
NAME: It's Time for Us to Leave Her: see Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her (File: Doe089)
===
NAME: It's Time I Was a Bride
DESCRIPTION: "I'd like mighty well to change my name And share another's home." The woman is of marriageable age, and tired of being alone. "But he must be a soldier, A veteran of the wars, One who has fought for southern rights Beneath the Stars and Bars."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic oldmaid marriage
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 241, "It's Time I Was a Bride" (1 text)
Roud #7711
NOTES: I can't help but suspect that this song is an old piece about a girl who misses a man. Someone then tacked on the final stanza to give it a Confederate twist. - RBW
File: R241
===
NAME: Italy: see Going Across the Sea (File: RcItaly)
===
NAME: Itisket, Itasket: see Atisket, Atasket (I Sent a Letter to My Love) (File: BAF806A)
===
NAME: Its G-L-O-R-Y to Know I'm S-A-V-E-D: see S-A-V-E-D (File: FSWB349)
===
NAME: Ivan Skavinsky Skevar: see Abdul the Bulbul Emir (I) (File: LxA341)
===
NAME: J. B. Marcum (A Kentucky Feud Song) [Laws E19]
DESCRIPTION: Curt Jett shoots J. B. Markham dead in the courthouse. Judge Jim Harkis allegedly tries to prevent a conviction by fixing the jury; this fails when the case is transferred to another county. Jett and accomplice Thomas White end up in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: murder trial prison feud
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1905 - Murder of J. B. Markham in Breathitt County, Kentucky
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws E19, "J. B. Marcum (A Kentucky Feud Song)"
Combs/Wilgus 60, pp. 159-160, "J. B. Marcum" (1 text)
Burt, pp. 249-251, (no title) (1 text)
DT 773, JBMARCUM
Roud #692
RECORDINGS:
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner ("Mac & Bob"), "The Murder of J. B. Markham" (Brunswick 305, 1929; Supertone S-2035, 1930; rec. 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] (tune & meter)
File: LE19
===
NAME: J. C. Holmes Blues
DESCRIPTION: "Listen, people, if you want to hear A story about a brave engineer, J. C. Holmes was the rider's name...." Floating verses about Holmes, the people who want to ride his trains, the freight he wants to carry, the rails he'd like to ride
AUTHOR: Gus Horsley (but based on older materials)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Bessie Smith)
KEYWORDS: nonballad railroading floatingverses
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 163-165, "J. C. Homes Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1] (form, lyrics)
NOTES: I suffered for quite a while trying to decide whether to list this as its own song or as a by-blow of "Casey Jones." Formally, I probably should have done the latter; the amount of original material in this song is almost nil. It's simply a fixup of the blues ballad version of Casey Jones/Joseph Mikel/Jay Gould's Daughter (which already constitute an almost impossible mess to untangle).
I finally decided to keep this separate because it appears "J. C. Holmes" is a sport: It split off from the main "Casey" stock, but did not go into tradition in any recognizable form. Neither does it seem to have further influenced the "Casey" tradition. - RBW
File: LSRa163
===
NAME: J. R. Birchell: see The Murder of F. C. Benwell [Laws E26] (File: LE26)
===
NAME: Ja, Ja, Ja!
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, aimed at sailors whose native language is not English. The chorus runs, "Ja, Ja, Ja!"; the rest may be deliberate gibberish or slurs on those who say "Ja" for "Yes" or talk of the usual sailor-ashore themes of drinking and chasing women
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: shanty foreigner
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 86, "Ja, Ja, Ja!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 504-505, "Yaw, Yaw, Yaw!" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 372-373]
ST Doe086 (Full)
Roud #8236
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rollin' Home by the Silvery Moon" (similar tune)
File: Doe086
===
NAME: Jack and Jill
DESCRIPTION: "Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1767 (Newbery)
KEYWORDS: injury
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #48, pp. 58-59, "(Jack and Gill)"
Roud #10266
NOTES: In line with her standard attempts to make mountains out of nursery rhymes, Katherine Elwes Thomas thought that this song was about Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (d. 1530). Evidently it isn't just Republican Presidents who live in fantasy worlds. - RBW
File: BGMG058
===
NAME: Jack and Joe
DESCRIPTION: Jack and Joe set sail to seek their fortunes. Jack is quickly successful. As he prepares to go home, Joe ask him to "Give my love to Nellie, Jack, Kiss her once for me." When Joe at last heads home, he finds that Jack has married Nellie
AUTHOR: William B. Gray
EARLIEST_DATE: 1894
KEYWORDS: love work exile return infidelity marriage
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,Ro,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 813, "Jack and Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 116-118, "Jack and Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 274, "Jack and Joe" (3 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 10 more)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 67-68, "Jack and Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #782
RECORDINGS:
John A. Bivens, "Jack and Joe" (on HandMeDown1)
Blue Ridge Mountain Singers, "Give My Love to Nell" (Columbia 15580-D, 1930)
Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers, "Give My Love to Nell" (Paramount 3065/Broadway 8080, rec. 1927)
Bradley Kincaid, "Give My Love to Nell" (Supertone 9350, 1929) (Brunswick 403, 1930)
[Asa] Martin & [Doc] Roberts, "Give My Love to Nellie, Jack" (Conqueror 7745 [as Asa Martin]/Banner 32246/Perfect 12744, 1931)
David Miller, "Give My Love to Nell, Jack" (Champion 15502 [as Oran Campbell]/Challenge 392 [as Don Kutter], 1928)
E. R. Nance Singers, "Jack and Joe" (ARC, unissued, 1930)
Riley Puckett, "Jack and Joe" (Columbia 15139-D, 1927)
George Reneau, "Jack and Joe" (Vocalion 15182, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Jack and Joe" (OKeh 40408, 1925)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Give My Love to Nell
NOTES: The author, William B. Gray, is also responsible for "She's More to Be Pitied Than Censured." - RBW
File: R813
===
NAME: Jack and Tom
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a North-countrie man, in Redesdale born... And two such lads to my house never com' As them two lads called Jack and Tom." The two decide to set out to sea. They visit various inns along the way. But both die overseas
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: drink sailor death
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 126-127, "Jack and Tom" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR126 (Partial)
Roud #3157
File: StoR126
===
NAME: Jack Barry
DESCRIPTION: Commodore Barry in Alliance meets the British Sibyl. "We fought them till our cannon brought the British ensign down." Alliance captures Sibyl and returns with their prize to Philadelphia.
AUTHOR: William Collins (1838-?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: battle navy war
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Mar 10, 1783 - John Barry on board Alliance defeats "Sybille" in the last battle of the Revolutionary war (source: _The Father of the American Navy_ by Richard M. Reilly in "The Journal of American History," 1907, quoted on Jeffrey C Weaver's New River Notes site)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 80, "Jack Barry" (1 text)
Roud #7348
NOTES: Ranson: "In searching for the songs of the Wexford coast I was very anxious to find something in ballad form about the Tacumshane man who was the founder of the American Navy. [This ballad is] attributed to William Collins, the Irish-American poet." - BS
John Barry (1745-1803) did not actually found the American navy, though he was its senior officer when he died. (Not admiral, we note; the American navy did not have its first admiral until the Civil War.)
Born in Tacumshane, he moved to Philadelphia in 1760, and was given his first ship, the _Lexington_, in 1776. He commanded the _Alliance_ from 1780-1782, though she did not make her first voyage under his command until 1781. Peace with Britain came in January 1783, but with communications so slow, neither Barry nor the commander of the 28-gun _Sybil_ knew of it, and so fought their battle during peacetime. The battle is usually dated March 10, but I've seen a source dating in March 11.
The _Alliance_ (36 guns), built in 1777, was initially named _Hancock_ but renamed when the French allied with the American revolutionaries. Her early career was not distinguished; Captain Pierre Landais seemed to have more interest in attacking his commander John Paul Jones than in fighting the British (at one point, he is thought to have deliberately rammed the _Bonhomme Richard_). He was eventually relieved, commandeered what had been his own ship, and was imprisoned by his crew.
_Alliance_ itself was paid off in 1785, the last ship in the American navy at the time. When the navy was revived a few years later, Barry became the commander of its first major ship, the _United States_. - RBW
File: Ran080
===
NAME: Jack Combs
DESCRIPTION: "As I passed by where Jack Combs was murdered, As I passed by there so early one day, I spied a cold corpse wrapped up in fine linen." The victim (?) discusses his burial and says "For I have been murdered and you know they've done wrong"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: cowboy murder burial
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Combs/Wilgus 49B, p. 180, "Jack Combs" (1 text)
Thorp/Fife XIII, pp. 148-190 (29-30), "Cow Boy's Lament" (22 texts, 7 tunes, the "M" text being in fact a version of this piece)
Roud #2
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Streets of Laredo" [Laws B1] (tune & meter, lyrics) and references there.
NOTES: This is almost certainly a localized form of "The Streets of Laredo" (itself an adaption of "The Unfortunate Rake") -- but the focus is different (note the last line, "and you know THEY'VE done wrong"), so it deserves a separate listing. - RBW
File: CW180
===
NAME: Jack Dolden: see The Wild Colonial Boy [Laws L20] (File: LL20)
===
NAME: Jack Donahoo: see Jack Donahue [Laws L22] (File: LL22)
===
NAME: Jack Donahue [Laws L22]
DESCRIPTION: Irish highwayman Jack Donahue, transported for life, soon escapes prison and returns to his trade. After a hair-raising career, he is confronted by a gang of police and shot after inflicting several casualties upon the constables
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: transportation crime death prison
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 1, 1830 - Jack Donahue, formerly of Dublin (transported 1823), is killed by police near Sydney. He was 23. None of the police were injured in the battle
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So,SW) Canada(Mar) Australia Ireland
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Laws L22, "Jack Donahue"
Hudson 103, pp. 241-242, "Jack Donahoo" (1 text)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 104-106, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text)
Mackenzie 123, "Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 97-98, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 76A, "Bold Jack O'Donohoe" (1 text)
PBB 99, "Bold Jack Donohue" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 59, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 82-83, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 71, pp. 158-159, "Jack Donahoo" (1 text)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 48-49, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 111-113, "Jack Donahue" (1 text -- the Lomax "Cowboy Songs" version)
Silber-FSWB, p. 198, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text)
DT 428, DONAHUE DONAHU2*
Roud #611
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Bold Jack Donahue" (on JGreenway01)
A. L. Lloyd, "Bold Jack Donahue" (on Lloyd4, Lloyd8)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Bold Jack Donahue" (on NLCR05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wild Colonial Boy" [Laws L20]
cf. "Bold Jack Donahoe" (subject)
NOTES: John Greenway believes this ballad to be the ancestor of "The Wild Colonial Boy" (see the notes on that song). On the other hand, it looks to me as if his version is a mixture of "Bold Jack Donahoe" and "The Wild Colonial Boy." 
This piece mixes frequently with the other Donahue ballad, "Bold Jack Donahoe." The key element to distinguishing them appears to be that the other song describes Donahue's desertion by his companions at the time of his fatal fight. This song does not mention the companions.
(Exception: The Lomax text in "Cowboy Songs" mentions the companions, but in very debased form. It might be another of the Lomaxes' deliberately muddied versions. But Laws files it here, so I do the same.)
Robert Hughes, in _The Fatal Shore_, notes that Jack Donahue was not the first bushranger -- in Van Diemen's Land, in fact, they existed from the start, because the only means the colony survived was by hunting kangaroos, which meant that the convicts were armed. But the Tasmanian bushrangers, even though they all but controlled the island, left little if any ballad record.
Bushranging came much later to Australia proper, and Jack Donahue was the first truly memorable example. Again according to Hughes, Donahue (1806-1830) was given a life term in 1823. Arriving in Australia 1825, he was assigned to work for a settler, misbehaved, spent time on a road gang, was assigned again, and took to the bush.
Donahue's crime in Australia was robbing bullock teams; at this time (December 1827), he had companions Kilroy and Smith. All three were taken, and Kilroy and Smith hung in March 1827 [Harry Nunn, in _Bushrangers: A Pictorial History_, p. 16, says 1832], but Donahue escaped. The price on his head eventually reached a hundred pounds.
When the police caught him, Donahue cursed them and tried to fight, but was shot in the head by a trooper named Muggleston. His confederate Walmsley would later turn informer, and led police to some thirty settlers who had traded with him.
According to Nunn, p. 76, Donohue was only 21 at the time of his death, which would mean he was barely in his teens at the time of his transportation. The Underwood Gang, to which he belonged, operated in the vicinity of "Campbelltown, Liverpool, Penrith, and Liberty Plains for nearly twelve years" [i.e. 1820-1832].
Nunn reports that Donohue was known as "The Stripper" but was "less violent than most bushrangers, gallant to women and had a sense of humour enough to make him a popular hero." He does not cite the source for this data.
Ironically, Donahue was the only famous bushranger of the transportation era. - RBW
File: LL22
===
NAME: Jack Dowling: see The Wild Colonial Boy [Laws L20] (File: LL20)
===
NAME: Jack Gardner's Crew
DESCRIPTION: Jack Gardner is the lumber camp's "champion boy of the day." When in town, the loggers (?) find themselves in a barroom fight. Thanks to Gardner, the loggers are victorious. Gardner moves on to still greater fighting triumphs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: logger fight
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
FSCatskills 7, "Jack Gardner's Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JACKGARD*
Roud #4617
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cumberland Crew" [Laws A18] (tune & meter)
File: FSC007
===
NAME: Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl) [Laws C25]
DESCRIPTION: Jack Haggerty has reformed his behavior to be a fit husband for the blacksmith's daughter. Following his long absence at work, she jilts him. He blames her mother, but gives up on women in general
AUTHOR: Dan McGinnis
EARLIEST_DATE: 1872
KEYWORDS: courting virtue separation love work
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE,So) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws C25, "Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl)"
Doerflinger, pp. 245-246, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 260, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text)
Rickaby 1, "Jack Haggerty's Flat River Girl" (3 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 108, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 4 more, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 214-217, "Jack Haggerty or The Flat River Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 6, "The Flat River Raftsman" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #63, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 421, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 392-393, "Flat River Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 566-567, "Jack Haggerty, or the Flat River Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 50, "The Flat River Girl" (6 texts, 1 tune)
DT 607, FLATRVR*
Roud #642
RECORDINGS:
 John Leahy, "Jack Haggerty" (on Lumber01)
John Norman, "Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl)" (AFS, 1938; on LC56)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Harry Bale (Dale, Bail, Bell)" [Laws C13] (tune)
cf. "I've Got No Use for the Women" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Platte River Girl
The Salt Creek Girl
NOTES: While this is usually a lumberjack's song, Beck reports a cowboy version from Texas. - PJS
It's actually a sort of a gag; see the report Geraldine J. Chickering (summarized by Laws, NAB pp. 58-59). Haggerty (fl. 1872) was an actual person, but he never had anything to do with the girl in the story; the author, Dan McGinnis, stuck Haggerty's name on another person's story.
Rickaby, interestingly, investigated in the Flat River area, where he reported that every singer claimed to have known Haggerty (whom he reports to have died c. 1915 -- obviously quite possible), giving additional details about the man's career. But Rickaby failed to uncover McGinnis's involvement in the song.
Linscott knew a report that the song was by Larry Gorman; this of course is just legend. - RBW
File: LC25
===
NAME: Jack Haggerty's Flat River Girl: see Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl) [Laws C25] (File: LC25)
===
NAME: Jack Hall: see Sam Hall (Jack Hall) [Laws L5] (File: LL05)
===
NAME: Jack Hinks
DESCRIPTION: Jack Hinks is described by the singer as a sailor with heroic qualities who is never short of money or fun and is successful with women. The singer finds himself and others wrecked on the rocks but Jack manages to save himself.
AUTHOR: Johnnie Quigley
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: sailor wreck rescue talltale
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 131, "Jack Hinks" (1 text)
Doyle2, p. 9, "Jack Hinks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 9, "Jack Hinks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 30-31, "John Hinks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4431
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "John Hinks" (on NFOBlondahl01,NFOBlondahl05)
NOTES: The song has a typical formulaic introduction where the singer asks the Muses to come to the aid of the "poor bard" which shows the humble attitude of the singer found in many songs from Newfoundland. - SH
Or maybe an imitation of Homer? - RBW
File: Doy09
===
NAME: Jack in London City: see Jack the Jolly Tar (I) (Tarry Sailor) [Laws K40] (File: LK40)
===
NAME: Jack Is Every Inch a Sailor
DESCRIPTION: "Jack is every inch a sailor; He'd see a pretty girl and hail 'er. He'd vow his love will never fail 'er, Then go sailing with his heart still free." All the girls come running when Jack is in town, all hoping to win his heart, but he will not settle down
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Frank Crumit)
KEYWORDS: sailor courting sex
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 84, "Jack Is Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text)
Roud #4541
RECORDINGS:
Frank Crumit, "Jack Is Every Inch a Sailor" (Victor 21668, 1928)
NOTES: This should not be confused with "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor," which has a similar first line and a some similarities in form and tune. The other song is a tall tale about a sailor who won a battle with a whale. - RBW
Although this song concerns Jack and the ladies, it's still clean -- but we have a hint that it was once bawdy. - PJS
File: FSWB084B
===
NAME: Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7]
DESCRIPTION: A rich girl loves a soldier/sailor; her father does not, and has the boy pressed to Germany. She disguises herself and enlists under the name (Jackie Monroe). When her lover is wounded, she nurses him. She reveals her identity; they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1818 (Garret, _Merrie Book of Garlands_)
KEYWORDS: love cross-dressing disguise injury medicine marriage
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So) Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (21 citations)
Laws N7, "Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany)"
Belden, pp. 171-177, "Jack Munro" (5 texts)
Randolph 42, "Men's Clothes I Will Put On" (Of Randolph's six texts, only two -- "C", with melody, and "F" -- belong  with this piece; "A" and probably "D" are variants of "The Banks of the Nile"; "B" and "E" may be "Banks of the Nile" or "William and Nancy I")
Eddy 35, "Jack Went A-Sailing" (2 texts plus fragments, 3 tunes) 
Gardner/Chickering 59, "The Wealthy Merchant" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 139, "Jack Munro" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 143, "Johnny's Gone A-Sailing" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 99, "Jack Monro" (2 texts plus 1 fragment and 1 excerpt )
Chappell-FSRA 59, "Jacke Went A-Sailing" (1 text)
Hudson 34, pp. 147-148, "The Wars of Germany" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. "203-210, The Silk Merchant's Daughter" (4 texts, which despite Scarborough's title are all this song; local titles are "Jackaroe," "Jacky Freasher," "Jackie Frazier," "Jackie Frazier"; 1 tune on p. 410)
Brewster 37, "Jackie Fraisure" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 38, "Jackaro" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 65, "Jack Went A-Sailing" (20 texts, 20 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 32, "Jack Went a-Sailing" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
Lomax-FSNA 82, "Lily Munroe" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 98, "Jackie Fraisure" (3 texts)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 30-31, "Across the Rocky Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune -- a rewritten and expanded version by Roscoe Holcomb)
Fife-Cowboy/West 59, "Roving Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune, which appears to be a much-filed-down version of this piece with the ending lost)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 82-83, "Jackie's Gone A-Sailing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 121-123, "Jack Monroe" (1 text)
DT 331, JACKROE* JACKROE2 JACKSAIL* JCKSAIL2* ACROSRCK*
Roud #268
RECORDINGS:
George Davis, "Love of Polly and Jack Monroe" (on GeorgeDavis01)
 Sarah Hawkes, "Ho Lilly Ho" (on Persis1)
Roscoe Holcomb, "Across the Rocky Mountain" (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Doug Wallin, "Jackaro" (on Wallins1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(152), "Jack Munro," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 25(934), Harding B 11(392), Johnson Ballads 2086, Harding B 11(1835), "Jack Munro"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jolly Plowboy (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy)" [Laws M24]
cf. "Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser)" [Laws N6]
cf. "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)" [Laws N8]
cf. "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9]
cf. "High Germany"
cf. "The Girl Volunteer (The Cruel War Is Raging)" [Laws O33]
NOTES: The Cohen/Seeger/Wood version, from Kentuckian Roscoe Holcomb, shares some words with "The Girl I Left Behind." - PJS
The version in Fife and Fife, "Roving Cowboy," at first glance bears no relationship with this piece, since it lacks the ending about the girl rescuing the young man. However, the earlier verses are clearly "Across the Rocky Mountains," which is evidently a version of this song. "Roving Cowboy" has simply lost the ending. - RBW
File: LN07
===
NAME: Jack Munro: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jack o' Diamonds: see Rye Whisky (File: R405)
===
NAME: Jack of Diamonds (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Jack o' diamonds, jack o' diamonds, Jack o' diamonds is a hard card to find." "Say, whenever I gets in jail, Jack o' diamonds goes my bail." The singer vows to get even for being worked too hard. He admits to losing his money to Jack o' diamonds
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: gambling cards hardtimes work chaingang
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 279-280, "Jack o' Diamonds" (1 text, 1 tune, with a final verse probably from a "Lula" song)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rye Whiskey" (lyrics)
NOTES: This is pretty definitely related to the "Jack of Diamonds" versions of "Rye Whiskey," but the direction is different enough that I decided to split them. But fragmentary texts might well have been filed with that song. - RBW
File: ScaNF280
===
NAME: Jack of Diamonds (II): see Rye Whisky (File: R405)
===
NAME: Jack of Tar, The: see The Saucy Sailor (Jack and Jolly Tar II) [Laws K38] (File: LK38)
===
NAME: Jack Reilly: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Jack Robinson
DESCRIPTION: Robinson lands in Portsmouth with "prize money." He recognizes the alehouse landlady to be Polly. He shows her the handkerchief she had given him. She says she married when someone told her he had died. "He was off before you could say Jack Robinson"
AUTHOR: Thomas Hudson(1791-1844)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Firth c.13(200))
KEYWORDS: return farewell sailor gold promise reunion marriage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 40, "Jack Robson" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS040 (Partial)
Roud #1794
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.13(200), "Jack Robinson," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(1847), Harding B 17(143b), Harding B 11(52), Johnson Ballads 2587, Harding B 16(117a), Harding B 11(51), Johnson Ballads fol. 132 [barely legible], Firth c.13(199), Harding B 11(53), "Jack Robinson"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brave Marin" (Brave Sailor) (theme)
cf. "Le Jeune Militaire" (The Young Soldier) (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
The College Hornpipe (per broadsides Bodleian Firth c.13(200), Bodleian Harding B 16(117a), Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 132, Bodleian Harding B 11(53))
The Heart of a True British Oak, or The College Hornpipe (per broadside Bodleian Firth c.13(199))
NOTES: Jack Robinson shares this theme with the (older?) French ballads: the sailor/soldier returns after a long absence, stops at an inn, recognizes the hostess as his sweetheart/wife, and leaves when she explains that she has married because he had been reported dead.
The attribution is from the wordorigins site explaining "faster than you can say Jack Robinson":"there was a very popular song by Thomas Hudson in the early 19th century that told the story of a sailor of that name who returns to find his lady married to another. Given the date, it is obviously not the origin."
A description -- posted by the bookseller Olde Musick & Cokery Books, Hobart, Australia, on the Abebooks site -- of _The Spider & the Fly and A Frog He Would a Wooing Go_ by Thomas Hudson and W Wilson: "The composer/singer Thomas Hudson (1791-1844) was one of the stars of the very early music hall/supper clubs and indeed for many years ran his own theatrical tavern near Covent Garden and is considered one of the original constituents that developed into the music hall . He published his songs yearly from 1818-31 and his most notable were Jack Robinson The Lively Flea and of course The Spider & the Fly written in the 1830s and most famously sung by Henry Russell. Here coupled with A Frog He would a Wooing Go made notable by amongst others the famous clown Grimaldi in 1837." - BS
File: CrNS040
===
NAME: Jack Robson: see Jack Robinson (File: CrNS040)
===
NAME: Jack Sheppard [Laws L6]
DESCRIPTION: Jack Sheppard, the apprentice of carpenter William Woods, is scorned by his master's daughter. After marrying two (!) women, he seeks to rob Woods, is captured, but is freed by an accomplice. Imprisoned, he escapes again, but is at last taken and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: courting robbery outlaw execution apprentice
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1724 - execution of Jack Sheppard
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws L6, "Jack Sheppard"
Mackenzie 127, "Jack Sheppard" (1 text)
DT 568, JCKSHEPP
Roud #1903
NOTES: There are a number of Jack Sheppard broadsides, including song collections, in the Bodleian catalog, but I don't find this song; see, for example, the eight songs headed "Jack Sheppard's Songs" [Bodleian, Harding B 11(1841),..., unknown, n.d.]. There is no question, though, that Mackenzie 127 is Laws L6: it is Laws's only reference. - BS
Nor does it seem to have turned up in tradition anywhere else; one wonders why Laws listed it as a current traditional song rather than relegating it to the list of doubtful songs.
Sheppard was a real person; according to Benet's _Reader's Encyclopedia_ he was born c. 1701 to a carpenter in Smithfield. He turned highwayman at a young age.
By 1724 he was captured; he twice escaped from Newgate, but was caught again and executed in that year. Daniel Defoe wrote a romance about him (titled, naturally, _Jack Sheppard_) in the year of his execution, and W. H. Ainsworth also wrote about him in 1839. - RBW
File: LL06
===
NAME: Jack Sprat
DESCRIPTION: "Jack Sprat could eat no fat, His wife could eat no lean, And so between the two of them They licked the platter clean."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1767 (Newbery)
KEYWORDS: food husband wife
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #52, p. 63, "(Jack Sprat)"
NOTES: This is probably only a nursery *rhyme*, and not a nursery *song*, and so properly does not belong in the Index. But Tony and Irene Saletan recorded it as part of their version of "Hail to Britannia" (which includes many nursery rhymes), so I decided to play it safe and include it.
The Baring-Goulds believe that the hero of this song was initially the dwarf "Jack Prat."
Katherine Elwes Thomas, who proves that scholars can produce tall tales as well as any entertainer, believes that this refers to Charles I of England (executed 1649) and his Catholic wife Henrietta Maria of France (died 1666). The events she attributes to some of Charles's early troubles with his parliaments. - RBW
File: BGMG052
===
NAME: Jack Tar (I) [Laws K39]
DESCRIPTION: Jack newly paid off from sea, enters an inn and calls for a party. All goes well until his money is spent, whereupon the landlady bids him to leave. Jack starts a brawl, but the watch at last persuades him to return to sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1891 (Ashton)
KEYWORDS: sailor party fight poverty
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Ont) Britain(England(Lond,South)) US(MA,NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws K39, "Jack Tar"
Creighton/Senior, pp. 168-169, "Jack Tar" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT 743, JACKTAR1* JACKTAR2
Roud #919
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "Jack Tar on Shore" (on LastDays)
Jim Doherty, "When the Shantyboy Comes Down" (on Lumber01 -- a version in which the sailor becomes a logger)
Walter Pardon, "Jack Tar Ashore" (on Voice02)
File: LK39
===
NAME: Jack Tar (II): see The Saucy Sailor (Jack and Jolly Tar II) [Laws K38] (File: LK38)
===
NAME: Jack the Guinea Pig
DESCRIPTION: "When the anchor's weigh'd and the ship's unmoored, And the landmen lag behind, sir, The sailor... prays for a wind, sir!" The singer compares sailors, who brave every danger, with landsmen who get sick, go below, and despair at sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: sailor bragging humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 132-135, "Jack the Guinea Pig" (1 text)
NOTES: I could imagine sailors singing this, since it certainly flatters their courage, but based on the evidence, I rather doubt they did. - RBW
File: ShaSS132
===
NAME: Jack the Jolly Tar (I) (Tarry Sailor) [Laws K40]
DESCRIPTION: Jack overhears a girl tell her lover that she will lower a string from her window to let him find her. Jack comes to her window early and enjoys the girl's charms until morning when she realizes the truth. Having had his romp, he returns gaily to his ship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: sailor love trick sex bawdy humorous
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws K40, "Jack the Jolly Tar (I)"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 50, "Tarry Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 288-290, "Jack the Jolly Tar" (1 texts, 3 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 38, "Jack in London City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 63, "Jolly Jack Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 168-169, "Do Me Ama" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 82-86, "Jack, the Jolly Tar" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 54-55, "Jack the Jolly Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 260-261, "The Squire's Lost Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 101-102, "Jack the Jolly Tar" (1 text)
DT 416, DUMIAMA*
Roud #511
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Jack the Jolly Tar-O" (on Maynard1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 22(169)[some words illegible], "The Merchant's Courtship to the Brazier's Daughter," unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Glasgerion" [Child 67] (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Dumiama
The Merchant's Courtship to the Brazier's Daughter
NOTES: In several versions, including [the Penguin text and the Copper text], the story ends: Jack offers to steal away quietly; the lady tells him not to stray too far for "I never will part from my jolly Jack Tar." - PJS
The first instance of this motif in English-language folklore appears to go back to none other than Shakespeare: according to a story in the diary of John Manningham, it came during a performance of Richard III.
A lady in the audience sent a note to Richard Burbage, who played Richard, inviting him to her bed. Shakespeare got wind of it, and he, rather than Burbage, enjoyed her charms. When Burbage arrived, Shakespeare allegedly said, "William the Conqueror was before Richard III."
Hey, I didn't say I believed it.
The notes in Flanders connect this with "Glasgerion" (Child 67).All we can say is, the theme is somewhat similar, but they're differentsongs.- RBW
File: LK40
===
NAME: Jack the Plowboy: see The Crafty Farmer [Child 283; Laws L1] (File: C283)
===
NAME: Jack the Rabbit: see Can'cha Line 'Em (File: LxU078)
===
NAME: Jack the Sailor (I): see The Sailor and the Tailor [Laws P4] (File: LP04)
===
NAME: Jack the Sailor (II): see Will You Wed with a Tarry Sailor? [Laws K37] (File: LK37)
===
NAME: Jack the Sailor (III): see Quare Bungo Rye (File: Log416)
===
NAME: Jack the Sailor Boy: see Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43)
===
NAME: Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor
DESCRIPTION: "Jack was every inch a sailor... He was born upon the bright blue sea." Having been brought up as a whaler, one day Jack is swept overboard and swallowed by a whale. He escapes by pulling the whale inside out
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: talltale sea humorous whaler
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 125, "Jack was Ev'ry Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 40-41, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 13, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 33, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 56, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 84, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text)
DT, EVRYINCH
Roud #4541
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (on NFOBlondahl01,NFOBlondahl05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ambletown" (occasional floating lyrics)
cf. "Paddy and the Whale" (theme)
cf. "The Catfish" (Banjo Sam) (fish story)
NOTES: This is almost certainly a cleaned-up bawdy song. - PJS
The versions I know all seem more in the Paul Bunyan vein -- extraordinary exaggerations. (But maybe I don't have imagination enough.) I suspect Paul is referring to "Jack Is Every Inch a Sailor," which is similar only in its first line and metrical form, and which IS sexual in theme. - RBW
File: FJ040
===
NAME: Jack Went A-Sailing: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jack Williams [Laws L17]
DESCRIPTION: Jack Williams, a boatman, meets a fine young girl. He turns to robbery to support her. He is captured and sent to prison; she scorns him, saying "I hate thievish company." He is sentenced (to transportation/execution) (but escapes and vows to avoid women)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: crime prison trial transportation courting
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Britain(England) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws L17, "Jack Williams"
Mackenzie 114, "Jack Williams" (1 text)
Eddy 62, "Jack Williams" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 136, "Jack Williams" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 67, pp. 152-153, "Jack Williams" (1 text)
DT 572, JCKWLLM
Roud #1906
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(223), "The Boatman" ("I am a boatman by my trade, Jack Williams is my name"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also 2806 c.17(48), "The Boatman"; Harding B 11(351), Harding B 11(734), Harding B 25(229), Harding B 11(1414), "The Boatsman"; Harding B 25(949), "Jack Williams, the Boatman"; Harding B 11(3265), "Jack Williams the Boatswain," Harding B 11(978), Harding B 20(268), Harding B 28(241), Harding B 11(1850), "Jack Williams" 
File: LL17
===
NAME: Jack Wrack: see Dixie Brown [Laws D7] (File: LD07)
===
NAME: Jack-a-Maria: see Aunt Maria (File: BSoF705A)
===
NAME: Jack-All-Alone: see The Shirt and the Apron [Laws K42] (File: LK42)
===
NAME: Jackaroe: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jacket So Blue, The (The Bonnet o' Blue)
DESCRIPTION: The girl sees a soldier marching past and falls in love. She meets him and offers to buy his discharge; he replies that he already has a girl at home. She asks for a portrait to console her; this at least is granted
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1806
KEYWORDS: love courting soldier clothes separation
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So) Ireland Britain(England,Scotland) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 212-214, "The Bonnet o' Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 43, "The Jacket So Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, p. 301, "The Wagoners" (1 text, fragmentary and localized to make the soldier a wagoner)
Logan, pp. 101-106, "Bonnet o' Blue" (1 text)
SHenry H644, p. 367, "The Bonnet sae Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 275-277, "The Bonnet of Blue" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 295-296, "The Bonnet o' Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 42, "His Jacket Was Blue" (1 text, 1 tune); 43, "His Jacket Was Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC43 (Full)
Roud #819
RECORDINGS:
Nathan Hatt, "His Jacket Was Blue" (on NovaScotia1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(393), "Bonnet So Blue" ("In Liverpool town in fair Lancashire"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 25(251), Harding B 28(160), Harding B 11(4088), Harding B 28(104), Firth c.14(187) , Firth c.14(188), Firth c.14(190), Harding B 11(2653), "Bonnet So Blue"; 2806 c.17(52), Harding B 11(392), "Bonnet So Blue" ("At Kingston upon Woolwich, a town near Yorkshire")
LOCSinging, as101360, "Bonnet So Blue" ("In Liverpool town, in fair Lancashire"), L. Deming (Boston), 19C; also as101360, "Jacket So Blue" ("A ship's crew of sailors as you shall now hear") 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Manchester Angel" (theme)
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as101360 includes both a "troop of soldiers ... from Scotland" version ("Bonnet So Blue") and a "crew of sailors ... from Greenwich" version ("Jacket So Blue"). These correspond to Creighton-SNewBrunswick 42 and Creighton-SNewBrunswick 43, respectively. - BS
File: FSC43
===
NAME: Jackets Green, The
DESCRIPTION: "When I was a maiden young and fair on the pleasant banks of the Lee," the girl loved young Donal in his jacket green. Donal serves under Sarsfield in the fight against the English and is slain. The singer urges Irish women to love only Irish patriots
AUTHOR: Michael Seanlan
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (for USBallinsloeFair, according to site irishtune.info, Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Alan Ng's Tunography, ref. Ng #2612)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1690 - Battle of the Boyne. William III crushes the Irish army of James, at once securing his throne and the rule of Ireland
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 97-98, "The Jackets Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 38-39, "The Jacket Green" (1 text, tune on pp. 20-21)
Roud #9520
RECORDINGS:
John Sheridan, "The Jackets Green" (on USBallinsloeFair)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 3214, "The Jacket Green," P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.7(38)[some words illegible], "The Jacket Green"
LOCSinging, as106510[barely legible], "The Jacket Green," unknown, 19C 
NOTES: Patrick Sarsfield, made Earl of Lucan by James II, was one of the Irish cavalry commanders.
After Aughrim (for which see "After Aughrim's Great Disaster"), he defended Limerick, but seeing that his cause was hopeless, he made a treaty with William III and surrendered. (This was not a betrayal of the Irish cause; Sarsfield gained significant concessions, including religious tolerance, in return for ending Irish resistance.) - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as106510 looks like the Bodleian Brereton broadsides but all are difficult to read. - BS
File: PGa097
===
NAME: Jackfish, The: see The Catfish (Banjo Sam) (File: Vr3182)
===
NAME: Jackie and Mossy
DESCRIPTION: When a mouse runs into the private parts of a farmer's wife, the farmer is forced to call upon Jackie the farmhand to use his much longer "root" to pry the rodent out.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1770, as published in Frisky Songster (London or Dublin, 1770, reprinted 1802) [according to G. Legman]
LONG_DESCRIPTION: When a mouse runs into the private parts of a farmer's wife, the farmer is forced to call upon Jackie the farmhand to use his much longer "root" to pry the rodent out. In older versions, Jackie makes the farmer agree to double his wages before he will consent to have sex with the wife, and when the woman has been sexually satisfied, she lets the mouse out of her sleeve.
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous farming wife animal
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 293-295, "Jackie and Mossy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11226
File: RL293
===
NAME: Jackie Fraisure: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jackie Frazer: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jackie Jackie
DESCRIPTION: "Jackie Jackie was a smart young fellow... Yet he sat by the river of his people Underneath a great gum tree." Jackie's ancestral life is described. It is pointed out that the whites took this away, substituting liquor and gambling
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: Australia discrimination
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 147, "Jackie Jackie" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "Jackie" is, of course, white slang for an Australian aborigine. The song is surprisingly balanced in its outlook -- probably because it is believed to be of aboriginal origin. - RBW
File: MA147
===
NAME: Jackie Rover: see Haselbury Girl, The (The Maid of Tottenham, The Aylesbury Girl) (File: K176)
===
NAME: Jackie's Gone A-Sailing: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jackison and Dickison: see The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4] (File: LL04)
===
NAME: Jackson: see Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)
===
NAME: Jacksons
DESCRIPTION: "As we started out from Nariel one early morn in spring," the group stops at "Jacksons on the road to Omeo." They have a wild spree, spend their money, and have to head home. The singer declares that he will not return to Jacksons
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: drink money rambling
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 272-272, "Jacksons" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lazy Harry's (Five Miles from Gundagai)"  (plot, lyrics, portions of tune)
NOTES: When I read this, I thought it was a version of "Lazy Harry's," but Meredith et al consider it distinct though clearly related. So it gets its own listing. Just barely. - RBW
File: MCB271
===
NAME: Jacky Me Lad
DESCRIPTION: Progressive rhymed chant: "Oh, Jacky me lad, he loved his dad, He put him in a peer flad [sic]; The peer flad it was so thick They put him in the bacon click; The bacon click it was so fat, They put him in old grand-dad's hat...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: nonballad nonsense humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 60, "Jacky Me Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA060A
===
NAME: Jacky Tar With His Trousers On
DESCRIPTION: After Jack sets out for sea, his love mourns. Even after peace is proclaimed, he is slow to return. At last he returns "with his trousers on." She greets him with joy. He tells of his far voyages. He promises he will travel no more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: sailor separation reunion
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Logan, pp. 52-53, "Jacky Tar" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 324-325, "Jacky Tar" (1 text)
ST Ord324 (Partial)
Roud #5603
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(130a), "Jackie Tar," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1855
NOTES: Ord lists the tune for this piece as the "Jack Tar Hornpipe." The NLScotland broadside has the economically interesting tune "I'd Rather Havea Guinea than a One Pound Note." Logan calls the tune by the more familiar title of "The Sailor's Hornpipe." But, since none actually prints a tune, we can't tell if this is the usual "Sailor's Hornpipe." - RBW
File: Ord324
===
NAME: Jacky-Jacky
DESCRIPTION: "Jacky-Jacky was a smart young fellow, Full of fun and energy." Jacky hunts in the wild till the white men come and fence the land. The white give government handouts until money runs short, then try to give the land back to Jacky instead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: Australia discrimination money
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 94-95, "Jacky-Jacky" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Presumably based on some particular incident in the long sad history of Aboriginal relations in Australia, but the details are vague enough that I can't tell what it refers to in particular. - RBW
File: PASB094
===
NAME: Jacob's Dream (Jacob's Ladder IV)
DESCRIPTION: "Jacob dreamt he seed a ladder, Climbing up the sky, Angels going up and down it, Climb up, children, climb." "Climb up, ye little children, Climb up, ye older people, Climb up to the sky. Go up in six and sevens, Climb up, children, climb."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 536, "Jacob's Ladder" (3 texts; this is the short "A" text)
Roud #2286
NOTES: In Gen. 28:12, Jacob dreams of a "ladder" (ramp/stairway) from earth with its top "reaching to heaven, and the angels of God climbing up and down it." - RBW
File: Br3536
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (I)
DESCRIPTION: "I am (we are) climbing Jacob's ladder... And I won't be troubled any more. As soon as my feet strikes Zion's walls, I won't be troubled any more." "Goin' to see my father/mother/sister/brother in the kingdom...." Alternate end: "Soldiers of the cross."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
BrownIII 536, "Jacob's Ladder" (3 texts, but only the "B" text could be this, and even it might be something else)
Combs/Wilgus 320, p. 190, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 235, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text, 1 tune, plus a union/liberal parody)
Fuson, p. 204, "Hide Thou Me" (1 text, probably a mix, with the form of "Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over Rock of Ages" but verses from "Jacob's Ladder"); p. 213, "I Am On My Way" (1 text)
SharpAp 212, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 358, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text)
DT, JACOBLDR*
Roud #2286
RECORDINGS:
Armstrong & Highley, "Climbing Jacob's Ladder" (Paramount 3291, 1931)
Chumbler Family, "Jacob's Ladder" (Columbia 15481-D, 1929)
Maddox Bros. & Rose, "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder" (4-Star 1473, n.d. but post-WWII)
Frank & James McCravy, "Jacob's Ladder" (Victor 21188, 1928) (OKeh 45128, 1927) (Brunswick 192, 1928)
Pete Seeger, "Jacob's Ladder" (on HootenannyCarnegie) (on PeteSeeger47) (on PeteSeeger26)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Don't You Weep After Me" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: In Gen. 28:12, Jacob dreams of a "ladder" (ramp/stairway) from earth with its top "reaching to heaven, and the angels of God climbing up and down it." - RBW
File: CW190A
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (II): see Don't You Weep After Me (File: R262)
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (III): see Welcome Table (Streets of Glory, God's Going to Set This World on Fire) (File: San478)
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (IV): see Jacob's Dream (Jacob's Ladder IV) (File: Br3536)
===
NAME: Jaeger Gik At Jage, En (A Hunter Went Out Hunting)
DESCRIPTION: Norwegian or Swedish pumping shanty. Translation: "A hunter went out a-hunting (2x) out in the woods so green. Chorus: Hali, halo, hali, halo, We sail and we pull (2x). Further verses were supposedly too obscene to print.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (L.A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty hunting
FOUND_IN: Sweden Norway
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 505-507, "En Jaeger Gik At Jage" (3 texts-Norwegian & English, 2 tunes)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Keeper" (general feeling)
NOTES: Hugill makes note that this shanty was originally a hunting song, though doesn't give a specific reference. - SL
File: Hugi505
===
NAME: Jailer's Daughter, The: see Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)
===
NAME: Jake and Roanie
DESCRIPTION: Jake and Roanie spot (a) steer and give chase; it lures them into a gulley and they are thrown by their horses. Forced to flee the steer, Roanie climbs a tree while Jake heads for a cave. Jake keeps popping out; there is a bear in the cave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse animal humorous
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 46, "Jake and Roanie" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr046
===
NAME: Jal Along
DESCRIPTION: Travellers' cant. Singer tells her girl to walk along; they hope to find a good house to beg food or cash from in exchange for matches. They've drunk up all their money in champagne
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 or 1966 (collected from Caroline Hughes)
KEYWORDS: poverty drink begging foreignlanguage children Gypsy
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 128, "Jal Along" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: According to Caroline Hughes, in the old days Travellers would make matches, sell them, buy champagne and get drunk. After recovering, they'd have no money left for food. The song is macaronic, incorporating cant and English. "Jal" = walk. - PJS
File: McCST128
===
NAME: Jam at Garby's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jam at Gerry's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jam on Gary's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jam on Gerrion's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jam on Gerry's Rock, The [Laws C1]
DESCRIPTION: Young Monroe and his crew do not wish to work on Sunday, but when a log jam forms, they turn out. The jam breaks and all are cast into the water, with foreman Monroe being drowned. In some accounts, his sweetheart dies for love and is buried with him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning lumbering
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,NW,SE) Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont,Que)
REFERENCES: (36 citations)
Laws C1, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock"
Doerflinger, pp. 238-239, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock"; pp. 239-240, "The Jam on Jerry's Rock" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 111-113, "Young Monroe at Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 213, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (3 texts)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 267-268, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 102, "The Jam at Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 57, "The Jam on Gary's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 163, "Young Monroe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 752-753, "The Jam at Garby's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 153, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (2 texts)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 33-35,247, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 26-29, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 23, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #27, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (2 texts, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 4, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Warner 16, "The Jam on Gerrion's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 51, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 51, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (2 texts plus mention of 2 more)
JHCoxIIB, #7, pp. 137-138, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Rickaby 2, "Gerry's Rocks" (2 texts plus 2 fragments, 4 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 109, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 217-220, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 771-773, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 418, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 78-79, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 394-395, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 175-178, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Lomax-FSUSA 50, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 448-450, "Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 847-849, "Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 240, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text)
Arnett, pp. 122-123, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 127-128, "The Jam on Jerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 176-178, "The Jam on Jerry's Rock" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 101 "Jam on Jerry's Rocks" (1 text)
DT 600, JAMGERR1* JAMGERR2*
Roud #256
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (on Lumber01)
Warde Ford, "Foreman Monroe / Young Monroe" (AFS 4214 A1, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Marie Hare, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (on MRMHare01)
Jim Kirkpatrick, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (AFS, 1948; on LC56)
Bill McBride, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (AFS, 1938; on LC56)
Pete Seeger, "Jam on Jerry's Rocks" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Death of Harry Bradford" [Laws C12] (plot, tune)
cf. "'Twas on the Napanee" (plot)
cf. "The Loss of the Antelope" (tune)
cf. "The Wreck of the Asia" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Death of Young Monroe
Garbey's Rock
Foreman Young Monroe
File: LC01
===
NAME: Jam on Jerry's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jamaica Girl: see The Gallant Brigantine [Laws D25] (File: LD25)
===
NAME: Jamboree: see Whip Jamboree (Whup Jamboree) (File: Br3230)
===
NAME: James A. Garfield: see Charles Guiteau [Laws E11] (File: LE11)
===
NAME: James and Flora (Flora and Jim, The United Lovers)
DESCRIPTION: Flora asks James to leave sailing. He won't. She breaks a ring and gives half to him. She dresses as a sailor and follows him until he is discharged. She tells the captain the story. The captain gives them gold to get married.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.12(254))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage ring promise cross-dressing sea ship brokentoken lover sailor money reunion disguise
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 190-191, "Flora and Jim" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1701
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(254), "James and Flora," H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Harding B 11(3887), "James and Flora"; Firth b.26(446), "James and Flora" or "The United Lovers"; 2806 c.15(60)[some illegible words], Firth c.12(256), "James and Flora United"
Murray, Mu23-y2:048, "James and Flora" unknown (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser)" [Laws N6] (plot)
File: Pea190
===
NAME: James Bird [Laws A5]
DESCRIPTION: James Bird leaves his family to join Perry's fleet on Lake Erie. In the battle, he fights valiantly, continuing to serve even after being wounded. Later, however, he tells his parents that he is to be executed for desertion.
AUTHOR: James Miner
EARLIEST_DATE: 1814 (newspaper, "The Gleaner")
KEYWORDS: execution war battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 10, 1813 - Battle of Lake Erie. The Americans under Perry defeat the British.
Oct 1814 - Execution of James Bird for desertion while on guard duty
FOUND_IN: US(All) Canada
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Laws A5, "James Bird"
Eddy 118, "James Bird" (1 text plus a gragment, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 296-297, "James Bird" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 18-21, "James Bird" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 9, "The Kingston Volunteers" (1 text, 1 tune, much more heavily "folk processed" than most other texts)
Warner 17, "James Bird" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 38-41, "James Bird" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 41, pp. 93-97, "James Bird" (1 text)
JHCox 62, "James Bird" (1 text)
BrownII 221, "James Bird" (1 text)
Rickaby 38, "James Bird" (1 tune, partial text)
Burt, pp. 183-184, "(James Bird)" (1 excerpted text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 158-159, "James Bird" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "James Bird" (source notes only)
DT 361, JAMEBIRD*
ST LA05 (Full)
Roud #2204
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "James Bird" (on GreatLakes1)
Warde Ford, "James Bird" [fragment] (AFS 4202 A1, 4202 A2, 1938; in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Fifer" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Dying Fifer (File: BrII227)
NOTES: The American victory on Lake Erie was something of a surprise due to the inexperience of the U.S. forces. To that point, the Americans had done very badly on the Canadian frontier (see the notes to "Brave General Brock [Laws A22]" and "The Battle of Queenston Heights"). If the Americans were to have any hope of reversing things, command of Lakes Erie and Ontario seemed crucial.
To make matters worse, both sides were concentrating most of their forces on Lake Ontario, which was downstream, easier to reach, and and has more people in the area. The naval force the British sent to Lake Erie, for instance, consisted of only about two dozen men headed by a 27-year-old Lieutenant by the Robert Heriot Barclay (see Walter R. Borneman, _1812: The War that Forged a Nation_, p. 121) -- who was, however, a veteran of Trafalgar, and he had lost an arm in later fighting. If nothing else, he was aggressive.
The commander of the American fleet was a 27-year-old Master Commandant (a rank later retitled "Commander") named Oliver Hazard Perry, who had accepted the Lakes command (considered a step down from the blue-water navy) in order to at least see some action (see see John K. Mahon, _The War of 1812_, Da Capo, 1972, p. 166). He was a friend of the James Lawrence who had recently died on the U.S.S. _Chesapeake_ (see the notes to "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20]). Perry would try to emulate Lawrence's spirit; fortunately he did not emulate Lawrence's inept tactics.
Perry initially suffered one major disadvantage: His ships were in Presque Isle Bay -- a good place to build a ship, but there was a bar in the harbor mouth which was too shallow to get his biggest ships out. Barclay blockaded the harbor entrance; had Perry tried to take his big ships out in those circumstances, they would surely have been destroyed and would have blocked the passage as well. But Barclay at the end of July 1813 briefly sailed away, and the Americans managed to get their ships out (Borneman, pp. 123-125; Donald R. Hickey, _The War of 1812_, p. 131; Mahon, p. 170; Fletcher Pratt, _A Compact History of the United States Navy_, p.86, opines that the British, who had not yet completed their flagship _Detroit_, thought the American fleet too large to fight, but most others think it was a supply problem or the like. Mahon mentions a folktale that Barclay went to a dinner in Dover). The Americans would settle at Put-In Bay, not far from the British base at Amherstberg (Mahon, p. 170). 
That may have been the decisive move of the campaign. Rather than the blockader, Barclay was now the blockaded. He had the single biggest ship on the lake, the _Detroit_, but it was not finished until mid-August, by which time the American blockade had made it impossible for the British to bring in big guns. The _Detroit_ ended up armed rather haphazardly, using the few guns at hand (taken from a land fort; Mahon, p. 171); according to Hickey, p. 132, most of them had to be fired by shooting a pistol over the fire-hole (Mahon, p. 176, blames this on bad matches, but the result is the same). The next-best British ship, the _Queen Charlotte_, had almost no long guns. To add to Barclay's problems, he had to supply not only his own ships but the sundry army troops and Indians in the vicinity (Hickey, p. 132).
The Americans had their own problems. The main force of their fleet consisted of the two brand-new brigs, the _Lawrence_ (named for James Lawrence) and the _Niagara_, both armed mostly with short-range carronades (these were the two ships that had been so hard to get out of Presque Isle Bay). He also had a medium-sized vessel, the _Caledonia_; the rest of his fleet was small schooners with only a few guns.
The fleets that fought at Lake Erie were probably about equal in practical strength. The American fleet had ten ships to six (so most sources; Mahon, p. 169, credits the Americans with only nine and gives numbers of guns I haven't seen elsewhere), but in ships larger than gunboats, the British had four and the Americans three. Worse, none of the Americans vessels had ever served as warships before, nor even had much of the way of a shakedown (all the British ships except the _Detroit_ had at least spend time maneuvering on Lake Erie) and the crews were inexperienced. And they were badly undermanned; it had initially been thought he would need about 740 crewmen, but apparently he decided to sail with only about 500 (Borneman, pp. 123, 125; Mahon, p. 169, says he had 490) -- and many of these were landsmen from General Harrison's army (Hickey, p. 132).
Barclay too had to put soldiers on his ships (Mahon, p. 169; p. 176 cites a British enquiry which claims there were no more than ten experienced seamen on each ship), but only Mahon seems to think this seriously handicapped him.
According to Mahon, the American vessels had a combined broadside of 896 pounds, the British 459 -- though Mahon has a tendency to magnify American competence, and no other source mentions quite such a discrepancy.
The battle was a rather disorderly affair. Perry had the advantage of the wind guage, letting him choose the time and distance of the fight (Hickey, p. 132); but Perry used that to change his fleet arrangements once he saw BarclayÕs fleet. In the confusion that followed, the two biggest British ships, the _Detroit_ and the _Queen Charlotte_, both turned on American flagship _Lawrence_, while the _Niagara_ (commanded by Jesse Duncan Elliot, formerly PerryÕs superior; Borneman, p. 125) stayed in its place far back in the line rather than doing something about _Queen Charlotte_. As a result, the _Lawrence_ would be crippled and out of the fight (Borneman, p. 128; Hickey, p. 133, reports that her crew suffered 80% casualties).
Perry eventually decided to leave the _Lawrence_ (which would suffer about two-thirds of the American casualties in the battle; Borneman, p. 132) and head for the _Niagara_, though he forbid his former flagship to surrender (she was still floating, but dismasted and unmaneuverable).
Barclay, meanwhile, had been wounded; he ordered his men to try to sink the boat in which Perry was fleeing, but then had to be taken below. And Perry  got lucky. _Queen Charlotte_ had lost her captain and the next two officers in command (Mahon, pp. 175-176), and Barclay was disabled on the _Detroit_ (which had itself suffered badly at the hands of _Lawrence_), and the two British ships ran afoul of each other. _Niagara_ was able to cross the T of the other two ships, and Elliot (who had left the _Niagara_ when Perry came aboard) brought up several smaller American ships to attack the other side, and the four smaller British ships were unable to stop him. _Queen Charlotte_ struck her colors, then _Detroit_ (Borneman, p. 132), and the other four British ships apparently preferered to give in rather than fight or flee (to be sure, _Niagara_, a square-rigged ship, should have been faster than the schooners and could probably have sunk most of them).
Perry's announcement of the battle result is famous; he reported to General William Henry Harrison, "We have met the enemy and they are ours."
This was fortunate for Harrison (one of many lousy American generals of 1812; with the military academy still new, most of the generals were political picks -- see Mahon, p. 103, which lists the four Major Generals, including Harrison, appointed in early 1813; all were old and well-connected. It says something that, by the standards of the time, Harrison was a *good* general; the others were basically disasters).
Harrison had already suffered badly at the hands of British commander Henry Proctor, who defeated pieces of Harrison's army in detail. After Lake Erie,  with his supply lines in danger, Proctor should have fallen back, but waited too long, then let his Indian allies talk him into battle at Moravian Town on the Thames River (about half way between modern Windsor and London, Ontario). And his forces were not very strong -- perhaps 800 regulars and 500 Indians, most of whom had been on short rations (Hickey, p. 137; Mahon, pp. 182-183). The Americans charged, and Proctor's thin line was broken; his surviving European troops were sent reeling back, and many of the Indians, including the brilliant Tecumseh, were killed (Borneman, pp. 158-161).
Harrison, though he couldn't advance much farther, had secured Detroit, and that, combined with his treacherous slaughter at Tippicanoe, would later make him President. Richard Mentor Johnson, who had trained up an elite cavalry unit (nearly every Kentucky regiment was mounted, but only Johnson's were allowed to take their horses into Canada; Mahon, pp. 181-182) led the charge that won the battle and took part in the slaughter of the Indians, would eventually end up in a presidential race against Harrison in 1836; he was Martin Van Buren's vice presidential candidate, with the absurd campaign slogan "Rumpsey dumpsey, Rumpsey dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh" (see Samuel Eliot Morison, _The Oxford History of the American People_, p. 454. Johnson almost certainly did not personally kill Tecumseh, but no one knew who had -- his body was reportedly never found, though Hickey, p. 139, talks of soldiers bringing home Tecumseh relics). As a result, Johnson was able to make at least an informal claim to have killed the Indian leader.
So strange was the 1836 election -- which featured three Whig candidates plus Democrat Martin Van Buren -- that, though Van Buren was elected directly, the electoral college did not settle on a Vice President and the matter was settled in the Senate, where the Democratic majority naturally picked Johnson over the leading Whig candidate).
James Bird seems to have been a fairly typical American soldier of the period: Brave, but completely impervious to discipline. After joining the army, he transferred to the marines to escape the regimentation of army life. He showed great courage at the Battle of Lake Erie, but hated the tedium of garrison work, neglected his duties, and was court-martialed and executed at Erie, Pennsylvania. - RBW
File: LA05
===