NAME: James Campbell: see Bonnie George Campbell [Child 210] (File: C210)
===
NAME: James Connolly
DESCRIPTION: "Where O where is our James Connolly? Where O where is that galland man? He's gone to organize the Union." Conolly's Union and a citizen army fight for freedom, but he is wounded, imprisoned, and killed; Ireland buries and mourns him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion death labor-movement prison execution IRA
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1916 - Execution of James Connolly, Irish patriot, union leader, and socialist
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 99-100, "James Connolly" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JMCONNLY (JIMCON -- probably a sequel to the remainder, but not part of the original poem)
Roud #12495
NOTES: James Connolly (1868-1916) was one of the first labor organizers in Ireland. Brought up in Scotland, and a veteran of the British army, he was interested in Marxism and believed that Ireland's political freedom was linked to the strength of her labor movement.
In 1913, Connolly and James Larkin (1876-1947, for whom see "Jim Larkin, R.I.P.") organized a great strike against the United Tramway Company. It eventually spread to most of Ireland, but some political blundering cost them support in Britain, and the strike fizzled in 1914. Larkin fled to America, not to return until 1923, leaving Connolly as Ireland's leading labor figure.
Incidentally, the reference to a "citizen army" is probably not a reference to the 1916 rebels. according to Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being Volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 199, "A so-called 'Irish Citien Army' was officiallly formed on 23 November 1913 (in reaction to an army crackdown on August 21).
By 1916, Connolly was leading rebels in Dublin; he commanded the assault on that city's GPO which ended with Padraic Pearse proclaiming the Irish Republic. Connolly was one of the signers of the proclamation. But less than a week later (April 29), Connolly was directing his forces to surrender to the overwhelming British forces.
(It should be noted that the failure of the rebellion was expected, at least by Pearse and some of his associates. In a way, they didn't even want to succeed. They thought Irish independence could only be achieved by a sort of mystic sacrifice -- and set out to make it. Their timing was bad, as well; with millions of British troops fighting in France, Britain had to end the rebellion with all possible speed -- i.e. with great brutality.)
In the process of the fighting, Connolly received an ankle wound which turned gangrenous. He was executed on May 12, 1916, already so ill that he had to be strapped into a chair to be shot. He had had to be taken to the site of the execution in an ambulance (see Robert Kee, _Ourselves Alone_, being volume III of _The Green Flag_, p. 6).
Kee also notes (p. 57) that Connolly's influence lasted after his death. The Dail -- the Sinn Fein congress elected in 1918 had as one of its early acts "the unanimous adoption of a so-called Democratic Programme containing vague socialistic phrases which claimed to emanate from 'our first President, Paraic Pearse,' but were more truly an acknowldegement to the memory of Connolly." - RBW
File: PGa099
===
NAME: James Ervin [Laws J15]
DESCRIPTION: The singer enlists in the British Army, but deserts because he is worked too hard. Helped by his sweetheart, he escapes, fights off his pursuers, and takes up shoemaking. Discovered and taken, he again escapes, proud of his ability to outfight the English
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1841 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(24))
KEYWORDS: soldier desertion prison escape
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 26, 1798 - Beginning of the Wexford rebellion
May 27, 1798 - The Wexford rebels under Father John Murphy defeat the North Cork militia
June 5, 1798 - The Wexford rebels attack the small garrison (about 1400 men, many militia) at New Ross, but are repelled
June 21, 1798 - The rebel stronghold a Vinegar Hill is taken, and the Wexford rebellion effectively ended
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws J15, "James Ervin"
OLochlainn 25, "The Bold Belfast Shoemaker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 79, "The Bold Belfast Shoemaker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 92, "James Ervin" (1 text)
Eddy 116, "On the Eighth Day of November' (1 text, 1 tune) (The first stanza of this version goes with "Saint Clair's Defeat," but the last two verses come from "James Ervin")
Creighton-NovaScotia 83, "Rambling Shoemaker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 93, "Bold Irvine" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 766, BLFSTSHO* JAMERVIN
Roud #982
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(24), "Belfast Shoe-maker," J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840; also 2806 c.15(252), "The Belfast Shoe-maker!"; Harding B 25(167), "Belfast Shoemaker!"; Firth c.14(130), "Bold James Irvine"
LOCSinging, sb10038a, "The Bold Shoemaker," H. De Marsan (New York), 1859-1860; also as101350, "The Bold Shoemaker" 
SAME_TUNE:
What You Will (per broadside Bodleian Firth c.14(130))
NOTES: Daithi Sproule has a version of this ballad in which James Erwin is one of Father Murphy's Irish rebels; so also the Digital Tradition text BLFSTSHO. The latter is said to be the OLochlain version; it's similar but not identical to Sproule's. For information about this phase of Irish history, see the notes to "Boulavogie," "Father Murphy (I)," and the references cited there. - RBW
Re the Father Murphy connection: the following is from OLochlainn 25/Moylan 79. O Lochlainn has it from a broadside.
I next joined Father Murphy as you will quickly hear
And many a battle did I fight with his brave Shelmaliers. 
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Bold Belfast Shoemaker" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
The whole piece is rather peculiar in its incompleteness; one can understand an Irishman boasting of some of it, but how could someone at New Ross not admit it was a defeat, and how did the singer escape from Vinegar Hill?
Some parts make sense: There were, for instance, many Irish youths serving in the British army in 1798; with land scarce, it was hard for them to make a living otherwise. And quite a few deserted in 1798, and some did indeed serve with Father Murphy.
Lord Mountjoy was a British militia commander who had actually been popular with his Irish soldiers. But he was killed at New Ross, perrhaps while trying to reason with the Irish.
New Ross itself was not a victory for the Irish, though it should have been. The rebels fought their way into town, and seemed to have the militia defeated -- but, having fought like regular soldiers to that point, their command arrangements broke down and they ended up fleeing the town. From that point, the tide of the Wexford rebellion began to ebb.
There is also the interesting problem of what "Orangemen" were doing in Wexford. The Orangemen were a well-known Belfast group who fought against the Catholic defenders, so a man from Belfast would doubtless know them -- but there were no Orangemen in the south; the handful of Protestants were Anglican landowners.
Chapelizod was the site where the English forces in Dublin kept their artillery. There were, naturally, soldiers there, many of them Irish. The United Irishmen, after their leadership was captured, hoped to grab it. The mention of the site may be a confused recollection of this -- but it definitely seems confused. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb10038a: 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: LJ15
===
NAME: James Grant [Child 197]
DESCRIPTION: James Grant is besieged; he tells his attackers, the folk of Ballindalloch, that he has no quarrel with them. Despite this, he is forced to the hills
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1878
KEYWORDS: feud fight escape
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1628 - John Grant of Carron killed by John Grant of Ballindalloch
1630 - James Grant of Carron, the uncle of John Grant, takes revenge on Ballindalloch and turns outlaw. The authorities authorize Clan Chattan to bring him to justice, and later others, but none could catch him. In 1639 Grant made peace with the king
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 197, "James Grant" (1 text)
Roud #3918
NOTES: This ballad exists only in a fragment -- so brief that it is hard to be certain that it pertains to the events described, let alone which phase of the chase is mentioned. Child's notes say just about all there is to say about the piece. - RBW
File: C197
===
NAME: James Harris: see The Daemon Lover (The House Carpenter) [Child 243] (File: C243)
===
NAME: James Hatley [Child 244]
DESCRIPTION: (Hatley) is accused of stealing the king's jewels, though (Fenwick) is in fact the thief. One of the king's children convinces the king to let Hatley fight for his honor; (Hatley/the prince) kills Fenwick. Hatley is made a high official
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1859 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: nobility royalty thief lie fight accusation help
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 244, "James Hatley" (3 texts)
Leach, pp. 606-608, "James Hatley" (1 text)
DT, JHATLEY
Roud #4022
NOTES: This more-than-usually-romantic ballad seems to have no basis in fact. The negotiations surrounding Hatley's release remind me strongly of "Hughie Grame" [Child 191], though there seems to be no actual relationship, and of course the context and outcome are different.  - RBW
File: C244
===
NAME: James Kennedy
DESCRIPTION: James Kennedy goes to visit his sweetheart; he comes to the Moyola and, unable to swim, is swept away. None is brave enough to rescue him. His parents wonder why he was visiting Moyola on the Sabbath. His fiancee is told they will meet at his grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love river drowning death
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H633, p. 147, "James Kennedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #189
NOTES: Roud treats this as a variant of Laws Q33, "The Lake of Cool Finn (Willie Leonard)." But this song is explicit: Kennedy could not swim. "Cool Finn" lacks any such theme. - RBW
File: H633
===
NAME: James MacDonald [Laws P38]
DESCRIPTION: James promises his pregnant sweetheart Annie that he will marry her, and bids her meet him secretly. When he has her alone he attacks her and flees. She is found the next day and lives just long enough to tell what happened. James is sentenced to death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 19(109))
KEYWORDS: murder execution pregnancy betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws P38, "James MacDonald"
Peacock, pp. 622-623, "The Murder of Ann O'Brien" (2 texts, 1 tune)
SHenry H37, pp. 485-486, "[Pat O'Brien]" (1 fragment in the notes, tune referenced)
Creighton-NovaScotia 21, "James McDonald" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 6, "The St. Albans Murder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 477-479, "The Longford Murder" (1 text)
DT 515, JIMMACD*
Roud #1412
RECORDINGS:
Theresa White, "The Murder of Ann O'Brien" (on NFMLeach)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 19(109), "James M'Donald, Who Was Executed in Longford for the Murder of Anne O'Brien," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.15(230), "James M'Donald, Who Was Executed in Longford for the Murder of Anne O'Brien"; 2806 c.15(309)[some lines illegible], "James M'Donnell"
Murray, Mu23-y1:079 "James M'Donnell," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John T. Williams"
NOTES: Yet another John T Williams gallows-confession type: Peacock includes a fragment "My name is James MacDonald, from life I must now part, For murdering of young Ann O'Brien I'm sorry to the heart; I hope the Lord will pardon me all on the Judgement Day, And when I'm on the gallows, good Christians for me pray."
The Peacock fragment is the last verse of the Murray broadside. It is also the fragment quoted in SHenry from the Houston collection [see SHenry, p. 485], the only significant difference being that the murderer's name is [mis]stated as Pat O'Brien; the note to "Henry, the Sailor Boy," referring to the tune printed for that song, is that "almost all the [Irish] murder ballads [including 'Pat O'Brien'] were composed to it." [In so far as they can be read, the Bodleian broadsides have the last verse but omit the last line.]
Leach (notes to NFMLeach) believes "that the murder took place in Longford Co. Ireland, and that, as was customary, a broadside was published at the time." - BS
File: LP38
===
NAME: James Magee (McKee)
DESCRIPTION: The singer, sentenced to New South Wales, gives his name as James Magee. An orphan brought up by his grandmother, his aunt brings charges against him to gain his inheritance. He laments for his wife and children, and curses the aunt
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: crime accusation trial punishment transportation separation family
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H136, p. 125, "James Magee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2492
NOTES: Sean O'Boyle lists this as the same tune as "Henry Joy (McCracken)."  The two are indeed nearly identical in meter, but I would not call them the same, though they are close. - RBW
File: HHH136
===
NAME: James McKee: see James Magee (McKee) (File: HHH136)
===
NAME: James Munks's Confession
DESCRIPTION: Munks tells the story of how he turned from his parents' good ways. He killed Reuben Guile, took his horse and money, hid his body, and fled. Captured and taken, he has been sentenced to die. He now reveals details of the murder
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: murder execution robbery
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Eddy 113, "James Munks's Confession" (1 text)
ST E113 (Full)
Roud #4100
NOTES: This song is item dE40 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: E113
===
NAME: James Phalen: see James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC07)
===
NAME: James Reilly: see John (George) Riley (II) [Laws N37] (File: LN37)
===
NAME: James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy
DESCRIPTION: James Stephens is born in Marble City, wounded at 16 fighting in Killenaule, wounded at Ballingarry, subject of a mock funeral as he sails, in disguise, to Paris, imprisoned on testimony of "Nagle the informer," escapes and is not caught again, and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: battle rebellion betrayal prison escape disguise trick death France Ireland memorial patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: April 2, 1901 - James Stephens (1825-1901) dies in Dublin
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 3, "James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Escape of James Stephens" (subject)
NOTES: The Fenians were an organization devoted to freeing Ireland. The organization was founded in 1858 by James Stephens, who in that year began to coordinate with O'Donovan Rossa's Phoenix Society (for whom and for which see "Rossa's Farewell to Erin").
Stephens himself was quite the character: He was involved in the attempted revolution of 1848, which of course was a complete fiasco. He was reported dead at the time, and he did leave the country, finally -- like many other Irishmen -- deciding that he couldn't stay away.
He seems to have been quite moody, and his return home depressed him; there seemed little hope of reviving Irish nationalism. He set out on a walking tour to verify this for himself, and estimated that he walked three thousand miles in 1856 (see Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 8).
Based on his accounts of the trip, one suspects that the real reason for his change of heart was simply the improved attitude that comes with exercise; he found little encouragement. Despite the seemingly-poor prospects, he still decided to found an independence organization. One of the groups he founded would become the Irish Republican Brotherhood, of which much would be heard in the next half century.
Technically, the term "Fenian" should refer to the American society founded by Stephens. Stephens went to the United States in late 1858 on a fundraising tour, returning in 1859 with very little money -- but having set up an organization led by John O'Mahoney and known as the Fenians (a name given by O'Mahoney, who was more attracted to Gaelic than Stephens). Although it's O'Mahoney's term for O'Mahoney's organization, it came to be used of both the American and Irish societies.
The Fenian Society quickly spread; and by 1865 was getting close to the point of rebellion. Unfortunately, it suffered the usual batch of informers. The British government felt the need to suppress the Irish version in 1865. Their newspaper _The Irish People_ closed down, and many leaders arrested. Stephens managed to remain free for two months, but he too was taken eventually.
What followed was arguably the high point of the Fenian movement: Stephens was rescued from prison. Kee, p. 26, observes that "[s]ometimes it seems that all the bungling during these years was on the Fenian side. But the escape was a masterly achievement."
Indeed, it upset the British, who went after the leaders of the rescue with vigor. Their capture of Captain Thomas Kelly, a leader of the rescuers and later declared shadow head of the Irish Republic, led to the affair of the Manchester Martyrs, for which see "The Smashing of the Van (I)."
Unfortunately, his time in prison had changed Stephens; he no longer had the nerve to take aggressive action. Plus the American version of the movement, which provided much of its money and energy had split into two halves, led by John O'Mahony and Thomas Sweeney. Stephens had closer ties to O'Mahony, but both groups disagreed with him on methods (see Kee, pp. 26-28, and Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_), and both would be involved in madcap invasions of Canada (see "A Fenian Song(I)"). The group had promised to rebel by the end of 1865, but Stephens managed to postpone that. In response, he was forced out of the leadership (Kee, p. 31).
His followers carried on, but that pretty well killed the group as an active set of rebels; their attempt at an Irish rebellion failed in 1867. They spent many  more years trying various stunts in America; some were very showy, and others somewhat deadly; none helped the cause of Irish independence.
Kee says of Stephens (pp. 8-9) that "he lacked almost all the qualities of a great revolutionary leader, being jealous and boastful, capable of small-mindedness and untruthful at least to the point of self-deception," but credits him with "an extraordinary capacity for organization and work." (Among his organizational methods was a cell system in which hardly anyone knew anyone else, so that informers couldn't betray much. He also avoided recruiting the upper classes, meaning he had fewer members capable of detailed planning but also fewer capable of being paralyzed by doubts.) It is probably his strength at an organizer that allowed the Fenians to survive a series of failures that would have caused any normal organization to curl up and die of embarrassment at its utter ineptitude. - RBW
File: OLcM003
===
NAME: James Wayland: see James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC07)
===
NAME: James Whaland: see James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC07)
===
NAME: James Whalen [Laws C7]
DESCRIPTION: Jim Whalen is told by his foreman to help clear a logjam. When the jam breaks, he is thrown into the rapids and drowned.
AUTHOR: John Smith (?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning lumbering
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws C7, "James Whalen"
Doerflinger, pp. 243-244, "Whalen's Fate (George Whalen)"
Rickaby 3, "Jim Whalen" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 110, "James Wayland" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 82-83, "Jim Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #31, "Jimmy Whelan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 25, "Jimmy Whelan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 39-41, "James Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 389, "James Whaland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 53, "James Whalen" (1 text)
DT 601, JMMYWHEL*
Roud #638
RECORDINGS:
Emerson Woodcock, "Jimmie Whelan" (on Lumber01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lost Jimmie Whalen" [Laws C8] (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
James Phalen
NOTES: Rickaby reports this to be based on an actual incident, in which James Phalen (so spelled; pronounced Whalen) died at "King's Chute" on the Mississippi River. (That's the Canadian Mississippi, a tributary of the Ottawa). Rickaby's informant, Cristopher Forbes, is the source of the claim that John Smith of Lanark wrote the song.
The date of the event is uncertain; Rickaby states it was in 1878, but Fowke quotes Phalen's grand-niece to the effect that the date was 1876. - RBW
File: LC07
===
NAME: Jamestown Flood, The: see The Johnstown Flood [Laws G14] (File: LG14)
===
NAME: Jamestown Homeward Bound, The
DESCRIPTION: Forecastle song. Verses describe voyages to the Mediterranean and wishes for home. Chorus ends "So fill out sails with the favoring gales and with shipmates all around. We'll give three cheers for our Starry flag and the Jamestown homeward bound."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: foc's'le sailor home travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Colcord, pp. 133-134, "The Jamestown Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JAMETOWN*
Roud #4700
NOTES: [According to Colcord, the] vessel referred to here is *not* the Confederate gunboat _Jamestown_, but a sloop of war built in 1844. She was lent by the US government to a relief organization and sailed from Boston to Cork in March, 1847 loaded with food and supplies to help the victims of the famine in Ireland. - SL
That voyage to Ireland, which Colcord claims is the shipÕs only claim to fame, is not mentioned in her (seemingly unique) version. I must admit that I am not convinced that the song is about the _Jamestown_; it could merely be about a ship with its homeport there. - RBW
File: Colc133
===
NAME: Jamie and Jeanie
DESCRIPTION: Jeanie asks why Jamie looks so sad. He replies that she danced with three other men at the ball. She asserts it means nothing; when he remains doubtful, she gives back his ring. He offers it again, and they reconcile
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection dancing ring
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 108-109, "Jamie and Jeanie -- A Duet" (1 text)
Roud #3952
NOTES: This has all the hallmarks of a composed piece: Ornateness, stupidity, and non-folk idiom. But Ord and Grieg both collected it, so here it is.
I'm not betting anything on the success of that marriage, though. - RBW
File: Ord108
===
NAME: Jamie and Mary: see The Faithful Rambler (Jamie and Mary, Love's Parting) (File: HHH825)
===
NAME: Jamie and Nancy
DESCRIPTION: Jamie and Nancy meet; she reports that her parents "had proved severe."  He tells her that she is always welcome to him. She dreams Jamie is slain, and sets out to find him. When she does, they agree to marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love father mother separation dream reunion
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H738, p. 478, "Jamie and Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9056
NOTES: I have to think there is something missing in this song -- presumably something which parts the two lovers. But until another version turns up, we can hardly reconstruct it. - RBW
File: HHH738
===
NAME: Jamie Douglas [Child 204]
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments that her happy marriage to Lord James Douglas has been ruined by accusations made by (Blackwood). She tries to convince her husband that she is true. He will not be convinced, and sends her away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: marriage separation lie infidelity
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 204, "Jamie Douglas" (17 texts)
Bronson 204, "Jamie Douglas" (8 versions including "Waly, Waly")
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 469-474, "Jamie Douglas" (notes and scattered stanzas, plus a text of "Waly Waly" and a part of Child A)
Leach, pp. 546-551, "Jamie Douglas (3 texts, but the third is "Waly Waly")
Friedman, p. 101, "Jamie Douglas" (2 texts, but the second is "Waly Waly")
OBB 87, "Jamie Douglas" (1 text)
Roud #87
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Waly Waly (The Water is Wide)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Although based on actual events, the stress of this song seems rather different from the history outlined by Child. That this song is akin to "Waly, Waly" is beyond doubt; too many of the lyrics of the former show up in the latter. "Waly, Waly" has, however, achieved a life of its own (despite the near-compete loss of plot), and so is listed separately.
Most scholars think this the older song, but there are those who hold out for the influence passing the other way -- i.e. that verses from "Waly Waly" have entered "Jamie Douglas." - RBW
File: C204
===
NAME: Jamie Foyers
DESCRIPTION: During the Peninsular War, volunteers from Wellington's army led by militiaman Foyers storm Blucher's castle in Spain. Foyers is wounded. He asks a comrade to tell his father of his death, recalls his home life, then dies. All mourn him as he is buried.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: grief request battle violence war farewell death dying funeral mourning Spain lament father soldier Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1812 - siege of Burgos during the Peninsular War
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 18-20, "Young Jamie Foyers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 294-295, "Young Jamie Foyers" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 84, "Jamie Foyers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 71, "Jamie Foyer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 32-34, "Young Jimmy Foulger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 103, "Jimmy Folier" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JAMFOYE2 JAMEFOYR*
Roud #1941
RECORDINGS:
Sheila Stewart, "Young Jimmy Foyers" (on Voice08)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(7), "Jamie Foyers" ("Far distant, far distant, lies Scotia the brave"), unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.14(195) View 4 of 5, "Young Jamie Foyers"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(080), "Jamie Foyers," unknown, c. 1875
NOTES: To quote MacColl & Seeger, "The Duke of Wellington's investment of Marshal Marmont's French forces and the retreat which followed were not particularly bloody by modern standards -- a mere 10,000 or so died. Wellington gained an earldom and a Perthshire militiaman gained an epitaph which is still sung round the campfires of travelling people." Note that Blucher, an enemy of Napoleon, is here described as his ally. - PJS
That seems to be a peculiarity of the John MacDonald's version, though; neither Ford nor Ord have such a reference. Ford, who reports collecting the song c. 1870, reports a newspaper item listing John MacNeill as author.
Burgos, almost due north of Madrid and about two-thirds of the way from there to the ocean, is not one of the great cities of Spain, but it lies in a gap in the mountains and thus guards the most direct path between France and Madrid. As long as Napoleon's enemies held Burgos, most of Spain (except the Ebro valley and cities such as Zaragosa and Barcelona) were safe, and as long as France held it, she could operate armies in Spain freely.
Early in the Peninsular War, Napoleon directed several campaigns toward Burgos, and later on, it became one of the chief Coalition objectives. Capture Burgos, and the French garrisons in Spain would be cut off from reinforcements.
Wellington besieged Burgos in September and October of 1812, but -- despite the indirect implication of the song -- did *not* capture it; he abandoned the siege as a relief army approached. - RBW
Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03: "Some authorities cite one James MacNeil as a possible author for the song." - BS
File: McCST084
===
NAME: Jamie Judge (or, Bonshee River): see Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4] (File: LC04)
===
NAME: Jamie Raeburn (Caledonia)
DESCRIPTION: "My name is (Jamie Raeburn), in Glasgow I was born." Convicted (of a crime he did not commit), he has been sentenced to transportation. He bids farewell to family, sweetheart, and his beloved home in Caledonia. He hopes to return when free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: transportation separation farewell Scotland
FOUND_IN: Australia Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord))
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 243-244, "Jamie Raeburn's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 85-86, "Caledonia"; 245-246, "Caledonio" (2 texts, 2 tunea)
SHenry H151, p. 124, "Jamie Raeburn's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 43, "Jimmy Leeburn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 357-358, "Jamie Raeburn's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 94, "Jamie Raeburn" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JIMRAEBN
Roud #600
RECORDINGS:
 Tom Scott, "Jimmy Raeburn" (on Borders1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(19), "James Raeburn," unknown, n.d.
Murray, Mu23-y1:106, "Jamie Raeburn" James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(75a), "Jamie Raeburn," unknown, c.1875; also RB.m.143(121) "Jamie Raeburn," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890
NOTES: Ford claims that this is based on an actual incident c. 1840, though the details he offers are scant. - RBW
Charters says this has been traced to "a penny broadsheet published in the 1840s," but offers no further details. - PJS
It [may be] possible to date broadside Bodleian 2806 c.14(19) from its note to the ballad shared on the broadside with "James Raeburn." Specifically, for "The Lament of Andrew Brown," there is a note that Brown "is at present lying under Sentence of Death in Forfar Jail for the Murder of Captain Greig [Creig?], on board the Nymph [illegible; perhaps "while"?] on her passage from Montrose to London"; the broadside itself dates the crime as September 6 and the execution January 31. - BS
File: MA085
===
NAME: Jamie Raeburn's Farewell: see Jamie Raeburn (Caledonia) (File: MA085)
===
NAME: Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead [Child 190]
DESCRIPTION: The Captain of Bewcastle raids the Fair Dodhead. Jamie Telfer, the victim, races about the countryside in search of assistance. Some refuse, but he gathers enough friends to fight the raiders. The avengers suffer casualties, but Bewcastle is defeated
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: violence robbery revenge help
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 190, "Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead" (1 text)
OBB 141, "Jamie Telfer in the Fair Dodhead" (1 text)
PBB 67, "Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead" (1 text)
Roud #3364
NOTES: Child lists several speculations about this song (derived mostly from Scott, who is the only source for this piece). These tie it, very tentatively, to an event of 1582, at which time Bewcastle was a well-known haunt of robbers and sundry criminals. All of this, however, must be treated as little more than speculation. Nor is there any real evidence that the piece is traditional. - RBW
File: C190
===
NAME: Jamie, Lovely Jamie: see The Plains of Baltimore (File: Wa005)
===
NAME: Jamie's on the Stormy Sea
DESCRIPTION: "Ere the twilight bat was flitting, in the sunset at her knitting, Sang a lonely maiden... Fitful rose the tender chorus, 'Jamie's on the stormy sea.'" The singer listens to the girl praying -- and at last steps out and reveals himself as Jamie
AUTHOR: Bernard Covert
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection; written c. 1850)
KEYWORDS: sailor love separation reunion
FOUND_IN: Ireland US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H78, p. 484, "Jamie's on the Stormy Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9048
NOTES: At least he didn't dress up to trick her into thinking he was someone else. - RBW
File: HHH078
===
NAME: Jane Jenkins: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: Jane Shore
DESCRIPTION: Jane Shore, "that was beloved of a king," laments her fate. She had come to the attention of Edward IV, who loved her long but died young. Now she is at the mercy of his successor Richard III, who harries her relentlessly
AUTHOR: Thomas Deloney?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy); reference in the Stationer's Register in 1603, but no copy recovered
KEYWORDS: love royalty death prison adultery
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1461-1470 AND 1471-1483 - Reign of Edward IV
1483-1485 - Reign of Richard III
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 263-273, "Jane Shore" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1391, "If Rosamund that was so fair"
cf. BBI, ZN2929, "Why should we boast of Lais and his Knights"
NOTES: Jane Shore, the wife of a London merchant, seems to have been the last great love of Edward IV's life (though Edward IV was truly prodigal with his energies). She is said to have been charming as well as beautiful, but this simply meant that she was feared as having too much influence over the king.
When Edward IV died, his friend Lord Hastings seems to have become involved with Mistress Shore, but Richard III soon had Hastings executed. From that time on, Shore had no protector. The Marquess of Dorset wanted her, but he was in no great case himself.
Richard's persecution was severe and probably unfair; rather puritanical himself, and (despite Shakespeare) seemingly devoted to Edward IV, he seems to have blamed Shore for much of Edward's dissipation, which resulted in Edward's death at about 42. He responded by depriving her of property, imprisoning her, and forcing her to perform severe penances.
Desmond Seward, _The Wars of the Roses_, makes Jane Shore one of his main "viewpoint characters." According to Seward, Jane was born around 1450, with the actual name "Elizabeth Lambert" (this based on very recent research linking Mistress Shore with Mistress Lambert; I don't know if it is universally accepted). Elizabeth Lambert's father John Lanbert was a London alderman. Her surname, it is generally accepted, came from her husband William Shore, a successful mercer who was probably at least ten years older than his wife (Seward, p. 88). They were divorced in 1476 (Seward, pp. 225-231). After the fall of Richard III, she took one Thomas Lynom (listed by Seward, p. 16, as Richard's solicitor) as her second husband.
It is not likely that this or any other Jane Shore ballad went into tradition, but there seem to have been enough of them that they deserve an entry here. The main reference is to the "If Rosamund that was so fair" text; the cross-references are to other Jane Shore pieces. - RBW
File: Percy2263
===
NAME: Jane, Jane
DESCRIPTION: "Hey, hey, Jane, Jane, My Lordy, Lord, Jane, Jane, I'm gonna buy, Jane, Jane, Three mocking birds, Jane, Jane, One a-for to whistle...." "I'm gonna buy... Three hunting dogs... Three muley cows... Three little blue birds...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: bird playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 392, "Jane, Jane" (1 text)
File: FSWB392A
===
NAME: Janet: see Lady Maisry [Child 65] (File: C065)
===
NAME: Janet Jamieson
DESCRIPTION: Listeners are warned of the sad fate of Janet Jamieson. A rich hunter sees the beautiful girl and begs her to come with him. At last he convinces her -- but a week later casts her out. She wanders alone, then dies. He is killed in Hindustan
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction betrayal abandonment death soldier exile warning
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 470-471, "Janet Jamieson" (1 text)
Roud #5623
NOTES: This song has the curious characteristic of being a warning song that doesn't really warn against any particular action. - RBW
File: Ord470
===
NAME: Janey Ferguson: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: Janey on the Moor: see Janie of the Moor [Laws N34] (File: LN34)
===
NAME: Janie of the Moor [Laws N34]
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets Janie and proposes marriage. She says that she has promised to remain true to her love Dennis Ryan/Riley. He pulls out Dennis's ring and says he has died in battle. She faints; she revives when he reveals that he is Dennis
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3134))
KEYWORDS: courting brokentoken
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 20, 1854 - Battle of Alma (Crimean War). The Anglo/French/Turkish forces win an expensive victory over the Russians
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws N34, "Janie of the Moor"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 89, "Jennie on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 125, "Janie on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H107, p. 320, "Jennie of the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 70-71, "Sweet Jinny on the Moor" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 61, "Janey on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 66, "Janie on the Moor" (2 texts)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 96, "Dennis Ryan" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 58, "Sweet Jenny of the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 461, JANEMOOR
Roud #581
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3134), "Sweet Jenny of the Moor," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1855-1861; also Firth b.25(286), "Sweet Jenny of the Moor"; Harding B 16(336a), Firth c.12(287), Harding B 11(1864), Harding B 11(1865), "Jenny of the Moor"
LOCSinging, as203560, "Sweet Jenny of the Moor," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also sb40502a, Firth b.25(177), "Sweet Jenny of the Moor"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there, especially N29
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sweet Jenny of the Moor
NOTES: The texts seem rather uncertain as to the battle in which Dennis didn't get himself killed. The Sam Henry text mentions Alma, a battle of the Crimean War. Mackenzie's Nova Scotia text mentions "Vendons Town"; I cannot find this in either the history or the atlas, unless it is an error for something such as Vendome. - RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield has Dennis "fighting with the allied boys" while Leach-Labrador has it "in a battle of Nor Amerikay." Some of the Bodleian broadsides simply mention "while in the war while fighting" but others -- as well as the America Singing copies -- do refer to "fighting at the Alma." Since I can't definitely date a "while in the war" broadside before the Crimean War I can't say which is the older version.
Broadside LOCSinging as203560: 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: LN34
===
NAME: Janie on the Moore: see Janie of the Moor [Laws N34] (File: LN34)
===
NAME: Janie Sharp Ballet, The
DESCRIPTION: After leaving "sin's way" at 16, Janie Sharp made friends with all she met, but at 18 "by criminal beast her journey ceased." The singer theorizes about her last hours, thinking she warned the murderer, was killed, and taken to heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: murder rape
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hudson 68, pp. 194-195, "The Janie Sharp Ballet" (1 text)
Roud #4115
NOTES: Hudson reports, "Some thenty-five or thirty years ago [i.e. c. 1910] a young girl named Janie Sharp was brutally murdered in the Rural Hill neighbourhood near French Camp. Her former lover, Swinton Permenter, was charged with the murder and was prosecuted on circumstantial evidence, but was not convicted."
Hudson also comments that is was "A poor composition, perhaps, at the outset," and hardly improved by some years of garbling. I'd have to agree; the result is at once poor in style, weak in detail, and monotonous in its description of Janie's hypothesized transport to heaven.
This is item dF43 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Hud068
===
NAME: Jawbone Song, The
DESCRIPTION: ""Dance all night with a bottle in my hand/Just 'fore day give the fiddler a dram."  "Jawbone walk and jawbone talk/Jawbone eat with a knife and fork" "My old Miss is mad at me, Cause I wouldn't live in Tennessee" 'I laid that jawbone on the fence...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: music marriage nonballad nonsense floatingverses dancetune
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 259, "The Jawbone Song" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 222-223, "The Jawbone Song" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 259)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 103, (no title) (1 fragment, without the chorus); also p. 103, "Dweley" (1 text, a collection of floating verses including one from this song, one from "Crawdad," and others); also p. 104, "Lula Gal" (1 text, 1 tune, at least partly this song though the chorus appears to be something else)
SharpAp 246, "Give the Fiddler a Dram" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7728 and 3657
RECORDINGS:
Carter Bros. & Son, "Old Joe Bone," "Give the Fiddler a Dram" (both on OKeh 45289, 1929)
Willie Chapman, "Jaw Bone" [instrumental] (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Crazy Hillbillies Band, "Danced All Night with a Bottle in My Hand" (OKeh 45575, 1934)
Clayton McMichen & his Georgia Wildcats, "Give the Fiddler a Dram" (Joe Davis 3510, n.d.)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Old Joe Bone" (on NLCR13, NLCRCD2)
Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers, "Jaw Bone" (Victor 21577, 1928)
Stripling Brothers, "Dance All Night with a Bottle In My Hand" (Vocalion 5395, 1930)
Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett, "Alabama Gal Give the Fiddler a Dram" (Columbia 119-D, 1924)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Dance All Night with a Bottle in your Hand" (Columbia 15108-D, 1926)
Tennessee Ramblers, "Give the Fiddlers a Dram" (Vocalion 5363, 1929)
Tweedy Brothers, "Dance All Night with a Bottle in your Hand" (Supertone 9174, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Yellow's Dead" (chorus format)
NOTES: I'm including versions of "Give the Fiddler a Dram/Dance All Night With a Bottle In Your Hand" here, because many of them share the same tune and several verses. A case could be made for splitting as well, but in practice the two branches of the family are hard to distinguish. - PJS
This is an instance where, unusually, Roud does not lump; "Jawbone" is Roud #7728 and "Give the Fiddler a Dram" is #3657. But Paul has heard far more of the 78 recordings than I have. My initial description of "Jawbone" was as follows:
"My old Miss is mad at me, Cause I wouldn't live in Tennessee, Wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang, An' a wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang." "I laid that jawbone on the fence, An' I ain't seen that jawbone since. Wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang...." - RBW
File: R259
===
NAME: Jay Gould's Daughter: see Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)
===
NAME: Jaybird Died With the Whooping Cough
DESCRIPTION: "Jaybird died with the whoopingcough, Sparrow died with the colic, On came a frog with a fiddle on his back, Inquiring the way to the frolic." Other verses tell other stories about the lives of other birds, or perhaps predators or other animals
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: bird death disease nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 153, "The Jaybird" (4 short texts, of which "B" and "C" are this piece; "D" is "The Jaybird"; "A" mixes the two)
Roud #748
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Buckeye Jim" (lyrics)
File: Br3153A
===
NAME: Jaybird Up a Simmon Tree: see Bile Them Cabbage Down (File: LoF269)
===
NAME: Jaybird, The
DESCRIPTION: Songs about the exploits about the jaybird and how it cheekily survives, e.g. "The jaybird a-setting of a swinging limb, He winked at me and I winked at him, He laugh at me when my gun 'crack.' It kick me on the flat o' my back."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Talley)
KEYWORDS: bird humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 153, "The Jaybird" (4 short texts, of which ""D" is this piece; "B" and "C" are "Jaybird Died With the Whooping Cough; "A" mixes the two)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 190-191, (no title) (2 fragments, the first having the verse of "The Jaybird" and the chorus of "The Blue-Tail Fly" [Laws I19])
File: Br3153B
===
NAME: Jaybird's Altar, The (I've Been to the East)
DESCRIPTION: "I've been to the east, I've been to the west, I've been to the jaybird's altar, But the prettiest girl I ever seen Was Temmie Slinkard's daughter."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (JAFL 24)
KEYWORDS: courting travel
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 574, "The Jaybird's Altar" (1 text)
Roud #7664
File: R574
===
NAME: Jealous Brother, The (The Jealous Lover)
DESCRIPTION: When Mary "dressed herself in men's attire" to meet Jimmie, he mistakes her for his brother whom, he assumed, had been "to enjoy my dear." He shoots Mary. When he realizes Mary is dying he shoots himself, saying "be ye ware of jealousy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: jealousy courting murder suicide cross-dressing
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 103, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2706
File: CrMa103
===
NAME: Jealous Brothers: see The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)
===
NAME: Jealous Husband Outwitted, The
DESCRIPTION: A (hosier) from Leicester has "a handsome witty wife," but he does not trust her, and threatens to set her aside. She disguises herself as the devil, and with the help of two boys, frightens him so much that he never dares mistreat her again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869
KEYWORDS: husband wife trick disguise Devil
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Logan, pp. 385-387, "The Jealous Husband Outwitted" (1 text)
DT 452, KATEHRN3*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kate and Her Horns" [Laws N22] (plot)
NOTES: The Digital Tradition editors consider this to be a version of Laws N22, "Kate and Her Horns." There is the obvious similarity that both involve the woman disguising herself as the Devil. However, the motivation (in "Kate," the woman is betrayed BEFORE marriage), method, and ending all differ. This song may have been inspired by Laws N22 (or vice versa), but they are not the same. - RBW
File: Log385
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C]
DESCRIPTION: The jealous lover lures (Florella/Pearl Bryan) into the woods with the promise that they will discuss wedding plans. Once there, he stabs her. When captured, he is imprisoned for life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: murder prison jealousy death lover
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb 1, 1896 - Discovery of the headless body of Pearl Bryan, killed along with her unborn child by Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling, near Fort Thomas, Kentucky
1901 - Murder of Ella Maude "Nellie" Cropsey, presumably by her former lover Jim Wilcox
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (29 citations)
Laws F1, "The Jealous Lover (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II)"
Belden, pp. 324-330, "Florella (The Jealous Love)" (2 full texts plus 7 fragments which may be this piece and references to 9 others, 2 tunes)
Randolph 138, "The Jealous Lover" (7 texts plus 3 excerpts, 4 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 158-161, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 138A)
Eddy 104, "The Murdered Girl" (8 texts, 2 tunes; the D and E texts apparently belong here)
Gardner/Chickering 21, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text plus an excerpts and mention of 2 more, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 146, "Sweet Fair Ella" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 67, "Fair Florella" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 287-288, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 250, "Florella (The Jealous Lover)" (5 texts plus 7 excerpts, 2 framents,  and mention of 9 more; Laws places the "A", "B", "C" (apparently), "H," and "L" texts with F1A and "U" with F1B)
Chappell-FSRA 64, "Nell Cropsey, IV" (1 text plus 2 fradments, 2 tunes, apparently a local adaption to the Nell Cropsey story, for which see Nell Cropsey (I); Chappell's seem to be the only known versions of this adaption)
Fuson, pp. 65-66, "Edward" (1 text, probably this although it has at least hints of the "Willow Garden" versions of "Rose Connolly")
Brewster 46, "Florella" (3 texts plus mention of 3 more, all of the F1A type though Laws does not list them); 61, "Pearl Bryan" (3 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 3 more; 1 tune; the "C" text is this piece (of the F1B group) while "A" and "B" are Laws F2)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 59-60, "The Fair Flo-ella" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 180, "Florella" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 632-633, "Sweet Florella" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, p. 31, "(Pearl Bryan)" (1 stanza)
Leach, pp. 787-789, "Fair Florella or The Jealous Lover" (2 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 85-87, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 203, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 63D, pp. 174-175, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 137-138, "[Fair Ellen]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 29-31, "Fair Florella/Pearl Bryan" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 43, pp. 101-102, "The Jealous Lover"; pp. 102-103, "The Weeping Willow" (2 texts, of which the first is "The Jealous Lover (II)" but the second could well be this)
JHCox 38, "The Jealous Lover" (5 texts plus mentions of three more; of these, Laws identifies D and E as this song, belonging to the Pearl Bryan group)
JHCoxIIB, #5A-B, pp. 130-132, "The Jealous Lover," "Blue-Eyed Ellen" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "A" fragment might be this or "The Jealous Lover (II)"; the "B" text is probably the latter)
Darling-NAS, pp. 197-198, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text)
DT, JLSLOVR2*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 204, "(The Jealous Lover)" (1 text)
Roud #500
RECORDINGS:
Burnett & Rutherford, "Pearl Bryan" (Columbia 15113-D, 1927 (rec. 1926); on BurnRuth01)
Isabel Etheridge, "Nellie Cropsey" (on OBanks1)
Eugene Jemison, "Fair Florilla" (on Jem01)
David Miller, "Sweet Floetta" [Floella?] (Champion 15413, 1928/ Conqueror 7839, 1931)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lily of the West"
cf. "Pearl Bryan I" [Laws F2]
cf. "Pearl Bryan III" [Laws F3]
cf. "Pearl Bryan IV"
cf. "Nell Cropsey (I)" (subject of some versions) and references there
cf. "The Jealous Lover (II)"
SAME_TUNE:
The Philadelphia Lawyer (by Woody Guthrie) (File: Grnw283)
[The Drew Murder] (Hudson, no number or title, pp. 233-234)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Lone, Lone Valley
Down in a Lone Valley
The Love Valley
NOTES: The antecedents and relationships of this ballad are immensely complex, and cannot be described here. There are many related pieces.
There is some debate over whether the ballad is in fact a "native American" piece. Although most of its present forms are uniquely American, Barry points to a connection with the British piece, "The Murder of Betty Smith." For this song, see e.g. the broadside NLScotland, L.C.Fol.73(126), "Murder of Betty Smith," Robert McIntosh (Glasgow), c.1850.
(Belden also mentions a possible connection to T. H. Bayley's "She Never Blamed Him." This seems a stretch even in the versions where the girl forgives the murderer.)
Given the number of similar songs, the reader is advised to check references under Laws F2, Laws F3, "The Jealous Lover II," etc.
Fuller details on the story of Pearl Bryan may be found in the entry on Pearl Bryan (I) [Laws F2].
Laws breaks this ballad up into three subgroups. F1A is "The Jealous Lover" (Florella, Floella, Blue-Eyed Ella, etc.); F1B is the Pearl Bryan group; F1C is the Nell Cropsey song. I decided to "lump" the songs, however, as they differ in very little except names.
The "Pearl Bryan" versions of this song (Laws F1B) are told from other Pearl Bryan songs by a first verse similar to this:
Way down in yonder valley
There the violets fade and bloom,
There lies our own Pearl Bryan
In a cold and lonesome tomb. - RBW
Peacock is another who believes "this is an American ballad freely based on an English broadside and a sentimental English song by T.H. Bayly called She Never Blamed Him [sic], written in the 1820's and widely popular during the American Civil War." You can read the lyrics of "She Never Blam'd Him, Never," by Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1829), on the Library of Congress American Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets site, digital id as203280. Judge the likelihood for yourself.
Here's a description of "She Never Blam'd Him, Never": He visits and she receives him, vainly trying "to look the same." Though she was dying, only losing him made "her sweet voice ... faulter." She never blamed him for luring her "from the isle where she was born" into "the cold world's cruel scorn." He leaves and "she heard the bugle's sound... and strangers found her Cold and lifeless on the ground." 
In any case, T.H. Bayly's name has appeared in this index in connection with other songs [sometimes as Bayley]. What kind of poet writes songs that do pass into tradition? You can find out more about him and his songs in Andrew Lang's _Essays in Little_ - BS
File: LF01
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The jealous lover takes his girlfriend down to the woods. (She grows weary, and asks to return home.) He (tells her she will never return home, and) stabs her. With her dying breath she forgives him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Kelly Harrell)
KEYWORDS: murder jealousy
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Eddy 104, "The Jealous Lover" (8 texts, 2 tunes, but only the F, G, and H texts belong with this ballad; the others all go with the other ballads listed in the cross-references)
Hudson 62, pp. 185-187, "The Jealous Love" (2 texts plus mention of 8 more)
Lomax-ABFS 47, "The Lone Green Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 43, pp. 101-102, "The Jealous Lover"; pp. 102-103, "The Weeping Willow" (2 texts, of which the first is this but the second is short and could well be Laws F1)
JHCox 38, "The Jealous Lover" (5 texts plus mentions of three more; of these, Laws identifies D and E as "The Jealous Lover (I)"; since he does not catalog the other three, it appears they belong here)
JHCoxIIB, #5A-B, pp. 130-132, "The Jealous Lover," "Blue-Eyed Ellen" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "A" fragment might be this or "The Jealous Lover (I)"; the "B" text is probably this song)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 121-122, "Blue-Eyed Ellen, or The Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 122, "Come, Emily" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 104, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 198-199, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, filed with "The Jealous Lover (I) but belonging here by  the criteria outlined below)
DT 626, JLSLOVER*
Roud #500
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley" (Brunswick 143, 1927; Supertone S-2012, 1930)
Kelly Harrell, "Blue Eyed Ella" (OKeh 7010, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Posey Rorrer and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Blue Eyed Eller" (Edison, unissued, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II)" [Laws F1A, B, C]
cf. "The Banks of the Ohio" [LawsF5]
cf. "The Wexford Girl" [Laws P35]
NOTES: Given the number of similar songs, the reader is advised to check references under Laws F1, Laws F2, Laws F3, etc.
The element that most clearly distinguishes this from "The Jealous Lover (I)" is that the girl forgives the murderer. At least, that's my guess, based on the "Jealous Lover" texts Laws does not catalog.
I agree, it's a mess; Laws accuses students of persistently confusing his F1 and F2, but gives no method for distinguishing them, and does not treat this close relative at all! If it were me, I'd lump the Jealous Lover songs; even if they originated separately, they trade verses at an incredible rate. - RBW
File: E104
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (III), The: see Oxford City [Laws P30] (File: LP30)
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (IV), The: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (V), The: see The Jealous Brother  (The Jealous Lover) (File: CrMa103)
===
NAME: Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley, The: see The Jealous Lover (II) (File: E104)
===
NAME: Jealous Woman, The: see An Sgeir-Mhara (The Sea-Tangle, The Jealous Woman) (File: K003)
===
NAME: Jean and Caledonia: see Caledonia (III -- Jean and Caledonia) (File: FVS237)
===
NAME: Jean of Ballinagarvey
DESCRIPTION: "The first place that I saw my love was Ballymoney town... " He describes "lovely Jean's" beauty, and says that all the young men love her. He wishes he had riches to share with her. He says he will do his best to win her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H822, p. 239, "Jean of Ballinagarvery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9475
File: HHH822
===
NAME: Jeanette and Jeannot
DESCRIPTION: "You are going far away from your poor Jeanette. There is no one left to love me now and you too may soon forget." The singer laments her lover's departure to be a soldier. She wishes she had the power to end war
AUTHOR: Charles Glover and Charles Jeffreys
EARLIEST_DATE: 1812 (Journal from the Minerva Smythe)
KEYWORDS: love separation soldier
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 245-246, "Genette and Genoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST SWMS245 (Partial)
Roud #391
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry and Mary Ann (Henry the Sailor Boy)"  (tune, per broadside Bodleian Firth c.12(284))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Conscript's Departure
NOTES: My sources do not agree on whether the (co-)author's last name was "Jeffreys," "Jeffreys," or "Jeffries." His poetry was not a great success; I have located only two other poems by him. One is a response to this, "Jeannot's Answer" (for which see Hazel Felleman _The Best Loved Poems of the American People_, which also contains a full text of "Jeannette and Jannot") and "We Have Lived and Loved Together" (also in Felleman). - RBW
File: SWMS245
===
NAME: Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair
DESCRIPTION: "I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair, Borne, like a vapor, on a summer's air." The singer praises her voice, her "day-dawn smile," etc., but sadly concludes, that he is "never more to find her where the bright waters flow."
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1854 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 249, "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 311-312, "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair"
DT, JEANBRWN
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Dream of Jeanie
NOTES: Jeanie was Foster's wife, Jane McDowell Foster. Had she known the uses to which her image would be put (from hair advertisements in the 1860s to idiotic television shows a century later), I can only think she would have filed for preemptive divorce.
Legman regards "Jeanie" as an adaption (he calls it plagiarism) of "To Daunton Me," found in the _Scots Musical Museum_ (#182). But Legman often saw kinship that others do not see; Fuld says there is "no similarity between the two songs," and I have to agree that I see no points of contact between either the text or the tune.
Spaeth (_A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 116) says of this song, "_Jeanie_ is the song that America discovered during those incredibly dull months when radio decided that it could get along without copyyrighted music. Before that it had been considered a choice bit of rather obscure Fosteriana." - RBW
File: FSWB249
===
NAME: Jeannie's Bawbee (Your Plack and My Plack)
DESCRIPTION: "Your plack and my plack (x3), And Je(a)nnie's bawbee." "We'll put them in the pint stoup, Pint stoup, pint stoup, We'll put them in the pint stoup, And join all three." "And that was all my Jenny had... was a bawbee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: money nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 67, "(Your plack and my plack)" (1 text)
Roud #13579
File: MSNR067
===
NAME: Jed Hobson: see The Cobbler (File: R102)
===
NAME: Jeff Davis: see The Southern Wagon (Union) (File: JHCox070)
===
NAME: Jeff Davis Rode a White Horse (Jeff Davis is a Gentleman)
DESCRIPTION: "Jeff Davis Rode a White Horse, Lincoln rode a mule, Jeff Davis was a gentleman, Lincoln was a fool." May be attached to floating sorts of lyrics about courting, traveling, food, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: political Civilwar
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 387, "Jeff Davis Rode a White Horse" (1 fragment)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 74, (no titles) (1 short text)
Roud #8813
File: Br3387
===
NAME: Jeff in Petticoats
DESCRIPTION: Jefferson Davis realizes he is in danger of capture by Union troops, and decides to dress in women's clothes to escape. The Union troops scorn him, saying, "Oh! Jeffy D. You 'flow'r of chivalree... Your empire's but a tinclad skirt...."
AUTHOR: George Cooper and Henry Tucker
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: cross-dressing disguise escape Civilwar
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: April 2, 1865 - Robert E. Lee evacuates Richmond. The Confederate government flees
April 8, 1865 - Lee's surrender
May 10, 1865 - Capture of Jefferson Davis
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Gilbert, pp. 11-12, "Jeff in Petticoats" (1 partial text)
DT, JEFFPETT*
NOTES: According to Jefferson Davis's account, he was wearing a shawl his wife had given him for warmth when he was captured. Union troops claimed he was trying to disguise himself as a woman. Although Davis's account is likely true, sarcastic Unionist songwriters could hardly leave it at that. - RBW
File: Gil011
===
NAME: Jefferson and Liberty
DESCRIPTION: Campaign song for Thomas Jefferson, to the tune of a reel: "The gloomy night before us flies, The reign of terror now is o'er; Its gags, inquisitors and spies, Its hordes of harpies are no more. Rejoice, Columbia's sons... For Jefferson and liberty"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1800
KEYWORDS: political nonballad
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1801-1809 - Presidency of Thomas Jefferson
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 100-101, "Jefferson and Liberty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 340, "Jefferson and Liberty" (1 text)
Arnett, pp. 42-43, "Jefferson and Liberty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 292, "Jefferson And Liberty" (1 text)
DT, JEFFLIB*
Roud #4668
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Jefferson and Liberty" (on PeteSeeger05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Adams and Liberty" (concept)
cf. "Lincoln and Liberty" (concept)
NOTES: The Jeffersonian ideal was a nation of small, independent farmers; this is alluded to in one of the verses. The "reign of terror" refers to the Alien and Sedition Acts, two pieces of Federalist policy designed to control dissent. Both passed in 1798; the former gave the President the power to arbitrarily expel foreigners while the latter made it illegal to speak against the federal government (!). Jefferson made good on his promises after the election; all victims of the Acts were freed.
Having finally sat down to read all dozen verses of this wordy piece, I must admit that listeners would probably have wanted liberty in the form of forcing the singer to just shut *up.* - RBW
File: SBoA100
===
NAME: Jekkel Walls
DESCRIPTION: "When Jekkel walls fell down, It's no difference whar I stand... Dere's someone always ready To point de finger of scorn at me." The singer says he will "soon end at home." The singer wants others to celebrate as he celebrates in heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 601, "Jekkel Walls" (1 text)
Roud #11911
NOTES: The name "Jekkel" for "Jericho" (cf. Joshua 6) is new to me -- but we find "Shorty" Love, the informant in this case, using the same pronunciation in "Christ Was a Weary Traveler." - RBW
File: Br3601
===
NAME: Jellon Graeme: see Jellon Grame [Child 90] (File: C090)
===
NAME: Jellon Grame [Child 90]
DESCRIPTION: (Jellon Grame) murders the woman he claims to love (because she carries his child and he fears discovery/because she loves another whose child she carries). (He/her sister) raises the boy. He later reveals the murder to the boy, who kills him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: love pregnancy murder revenge
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Child 90, "Jellon Grame" (4 texts)
Bronson 90, "Jellon Grame" (1 version)
Davis-More 27, pp. 207-213, "Jellon Grame" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 284-286, "Jellon Grame" (1 text)
OBB 49, "Jellon Grame" (1 text)
PBB 55, "Jellon Grame" (1 text)
DT 90, JELGRAEM
Roud #58
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Fause Foodrage" [Child 89] (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jellon Graeme
NOTES: Davis seems to have no doubts about the authenticity of his text, the lone representative outside Scotland of a ballad with only the weakest roots in tradition even there -- this even though, as he himself admits, it has a surprising similarity to Child A. Well, if he won't question it, I will. I'm not saying it's a fake -- but I wouldn't be surprised if it were influenced by print. - RBW
File: C090
===
NAME: Jemmy Joneson's Whurry
DESCRIPTION: "Whei cowers biv the chimley reek, Begox! it's all a horney, For thro' the world aw wisht to keek... Aw thowt aw'd myek a voyage to Shiels Iv Jemmy Joneson's whurry." The singer tells of the various sights along the trip
AUTHOR: Thomas Thompson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay); Thompson died 1816
KEYWORDS: ship travel
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  46-47, "Jemmy Johnson's Wherry"  (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR046 (Partial)
Roud #3061
NOTES: Stokoe/Reay calls this song by two different names: The first page labels the vessel a "wherry"; all other references are to a "whurry." - RBW
File: StoR046
===
NAME: Jemmy O'Brien
DESCRIPTION: Jemmy O'Brien destroyed patriots. "With his dagger ... would he slaughter The husband, the wife, and the daughter." "The braggart he is now pulled down And all the great lawyers of the Crown Could not save poor Jemmy O'Brien!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893 (McCall's _In the Shadow of St Patrick's_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: execution political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 166, "Jemmy O'Brien" (1 fragment)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet" (subject)
cf. "The Major" (characters)
NOTES: Given its date, this sounds rather like a warning to those who opposed Irish independence. For the background, see the notes to "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet" and "The Major." - RBW
File: Moyl166
===
NAME: Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet
DESCRIPTION: "De night before Jemmy was stretch'd" "de corps of informers and spies" commiserates with him and wonder that the Major can't save such a loyalist. The hangman finds him imagining the ghosts of his victims and their wives and orphans. He is hanged.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (_Paddy's Resource or the Harp of Erin_(Dublin), according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: execution humorous nonballad political recitation ghost
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 166, "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jemmy O'Brien" (subject)
cf. "The Major" (characters)
cf. "The Night before Larry was Stretched" (tune)
NOTES: Moylan has his text from Dublin _Paddy's Resource_: a spoken narrative interspersed with verses sung to "De night before Larry was stretched" and "Welcome, welcome brother debtor." The complete heading is "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet as performed At de Sheriff's Ridotto, No. 1, Green street."
For more on the relationship between Jemmy O'Brien and Town Major Sirr see the notes to "The Major." Jemmy O'Brien appears as an informer in "The Croppy Boy" [Laws J14] and as an incidental character in "Hevey's Mare." - BS
File: Moyl166
===
NAME: Jennie Ferguson: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: Jennie Jenkins: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: Jennie of the Moore: see Janie of the Moor [Laws N34] (File: LN34)
===
NAME: Jennie on the Moore: see Janie of the Moor [Laws N34] (File: LN34)
===
NAME: Jennifer Gentle: see Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1] (File: C001)
===
NAME: Jenny Dear: see Nancy (I) [Laws P11] (File: LP11)
===
NAME: Jenny Go Gentle: see The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin [Child 277] (File: C277)
===
NAME: Jenny Jenkins
DESCRIPTION: The young man/men try to invite Jenny to the dance by asking her what color she will wear: "Will you wear the (red), O ne'er, o ne'er, o, Will you wear the red, Jenny Jenkins?" She objects to most colors, but at last may agree to one of them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1823
KEYWORDS: dancing questions courting rejection clothes colors
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Randolph 453, "I'll Never Wear the Red Any More" (1 fragment, related to if not part of this song)
BrownIII 69, "Jennie Jenkins" (2 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 1 more)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 164-167, "Jennie Jenkins," "Jane Jenkins" (2 texts plus some odds and ends, 1 tune; one of the texts is from the Green Mountain Songster)
Linscott, pp. 299-300, "Will You Wear the Red? or Jennie Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 260, "Will You Wear Red?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 15, "Jennie Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 65, "Will You Wear Red?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 48-49, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 11, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 346, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text)
DT, JJENKINS JJENKIN2
Roud #731
RECORDINGS:
E. C. & Orna Ball, "Jennie Jenkins" (AFS 8, 1941; on LC02 [the latter listed as by Mr & Mrs. Estil C. Ball])
Warde Ford, "Jinnie Jenkins" (AFS 4198 B4, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Jinnie Jenkins" (on BLLunsford02)
Margaret MacArthur, "Jenny Jenkins" (on MMacArthur01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Jennie Jenkins" (on NLCR10)
Frank Proffitt, "Julie Jenkins" (on Proffitt03)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jillie Jenkins
NOTES: Often used as a courting game. The boy will ask the girl if she will wear a particular color. She is required to answer in rhyme (e.g. "Will you wear the blue... No, I won't wear the blue, for the color isn't true"). If she fails, she must kiss the boy or, perhaps, go to the dance with him.
This has been known to produce some rather strange rhymes -- "I won't wear purple; it's the color of a turtle"; "Orange I won't wear -- and it rhymes, so there!" "Oh, what do you care If I just go bare?" - RBW
File: R453
===
NAME: Jenny Jones (Jennie Jo)
DESCRIPTION: "We've come to see (Miss) (Jenny/Ginnie/Jennia) (Jones/Jan), Miss Jenny Jones, Miss Jenny Jones, We've come to see... And how is she today?" Mother answers she is busy/sick/dead. The discuss what color she shall wear
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty disease courting children colors
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Linscott, pp. 26-30, "Jennia Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1047
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jinny Jan
Miss Jennie Jones
Ginny Jones
Jenny Ann Jones
We've Come to See Miss Jennie Jones
NOTES: Newell and Linscott both trace the name of this song to "Jennie Jo," a title which survives in Scotland. Linscott, whose version describes Jennia's death and is a discussion of the clothes in which she shall be buried, ends with Jennia coming to life and trying to snatch one of the audience, who then becomes her mother for the next round of the game.
Paul Stamler asks if, given the catalog of colors mentioned in the song, it might not be somehow connected with "Jenny Jenkins." I see his point, but this song feels very different somehow -- in this song, our heroine is never even seen. Sort of Jenny Jenkins meets the mother in "The Lass of Roch Royal." - RBW
File: Lins026
===
NAME: Jenny Saviour, The
DESCRIPTION: Francis Kenny ships on Jenny Saviour "to fish the banks of Newfoundland." Near Sable Island he is swept overboard in a gale. The crew see him drown: "it was too rough to lower a boat for his young life to save"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: drowning fishing sea ship storm
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 115, "The Jenny Saviour" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB115 (Partial)
Roud #2783
NOTES: Sable Island, Nova Scotia, about 23 miles long, is about 110 miles, at its nearest point, from the Nova Scotia coast. - BS
File: CrSNB115
===
NAME: Jeremiah of Bartibogue
DESCRIPTION: Jeremiah from Bartibogue gets a job at Billy Muirhead's saw-mill in Chatham. He dresses "to the tip of fashion" He takes up politics, unsuccessfully. He is "forced to leave Chatham" and falls "to this low station, Cooking for Casey on Sprigman's Hill"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: vanity clothes work humorous political cook
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 24, "Jeremiah of Bartibogue" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi024 (Partial)
Roud #9190
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "The official spelling of this river and settlement is Bartibog, but the old inhabitants spell it Bartibogue, and it is so pronounced." - BS
Manny/Wilson also note that, while the author of this is unknown, it "resembled Martin Sullivan's productions." Sullivan also wrote "The Bluebird."
The song lists Jeremiah as supporting Peter Mitchell. Mitchell was a New Brunswick legislator who became a Father of Confederation, so presumably the song was written in the second half of the nineteenth century. Manny/Wilson, p. 35, claims that the following jingle comes from the period 1880-1890:
Michael Adams tall and thin,
He's the man you can't put in.
Peter Mitchell short and stout,
He's the man you can't put out. - RBW
File: MaWi024
===
NAME: Jerry Ryan
DESCRIPTION: "Now all you young men who go chopping, ... I was working With that foreman, well known Jerry Ryan." Work is scarce, so the boys go logging in Bishop's Falls. The price is low for scrub spruce; the charge exorbitant for saw, board, and doctor fees.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: lumbering ordeal hardtimes logger
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Peacock, pp. 748-749, "Gerry Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 68, "The Foreman, Well Known Jerry Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 58, "Jerry Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 118, "The Foreman, Well-Known Jerry Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4414
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Twin Lakes" (theme)
File: Doyl3068
===
NAME: Jerry the Mule: see Timber (Jerry the Mule) (File: FSWB130B)
===
NAME: Jerry, Go and Ile that Car [Laws H30]
DESCRIPTION: Larry Sullivan has spent forty years maintaining the railroads; he is proud of the state of the tracks and of never having had a wreck. As he lies dying, he asks to be buried by the tracks. His last words are, "Jerry, go and ile that car."
AUTHOR: (credited by Loomis to "Riley the Bum")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (article by Charles F. Loomis with Arthur G. Wells)
KEYWORDS: train death work
FOUND_IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws H30, "Jerry, Go and Ile that Car"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 543-546, "Jerry, Go Ile That Car" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 445-446, "The Old Section Boss" (1 text, very defective)
Sandburg, pp. 360-361, "Jerry, Go an' Ile That Car" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 216, "Jerry, Go and Ile that Car" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 441, "Jerry, Go and Ile That Car" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 691, JERRYILE
Roud #2192
RECORDINGS:
Warde H. Ford, "Jerry, will you ile that car" [fragment] (AFS 4215 B2, 1939; on LC61, in AMMEM/Cowell)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Jerry, Go Ile That Car" (Victor 21521, 1928; on RRinFS) (on GrowOn3) [the may be a pirate reissue of the Victor recording for all I know, but since McClintock was recording around the time this LP was issued, I class it separately. - PJS]
Art Thieme, "Jerry, Go & Oil That Car" (on Thieme06)
NOTES: Cohen's detailed examination of this song notes the earliest publication, by Loomis in 1904, which has been repeatedly reprinted, often without acknowledgment (e.g. by Lomax in _Cowboy Songs_). Loomis concluded, after much research, that the song was written in 1881 by "Riley the Bum," who could not otherwise be identified.
Despite the fact that very many of the texts now in circulation derive from Loomis, the handful of independent texts are just that -- independent, often with very different "feel." The description above is basically of the Loomis version.
Interestingly, the name Larry (O')Sullivan seems to be nearly constant, even as the song shifts around him. - RBW
File: LH30
===
NAME: Jerry, Go Ile That Car: see Jerry, Go and Ile that Car [Laws H30] (File: LH30)
===
NAME: Jersey City: see The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: LP24)
===
NAME: Jerusalem Moan: see Don't You Hear Jerusalem Mourn? (File: RcDYHJM)
===
NAME: Jerusalem Mourn: see Don't You Hear Jerusalem Mourn? (File: RcDYHJM)
===
NAME: Jerusalem, My Happy Home (Long Sought Home)
DESCRIPTION: "Jerusalem, my happy home, When shall I come to thee?" (Or "Oh how I long for thee.") The glories of the heavenly city are described, and the people to be found there listed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Ault); version from c. 1601 in "The Song of Mary"
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 325-328, "Jerusalem, My Happy Home" (1 text)
Roud #5053
NOTES: This is one of those pieces with a very difficult history. The printing in _A Song of Mary_ dates probably from 1601, and is anonymous; there is a different version in British Museum Add. MS. 15225. This latter is signed "F. B. P.," which probably refers to a presbyter with the initials F. B.
It has been claimed that the text is loosely based on St. Augustine. Since no one cites an actual *passage* in Augustine, this is hard to prove. (We should note that Augustine is one of the people listed as being found in heaven, so he probably isn't responsible for that part of the poem!)
The images of Jerusalem itself are largely from the Apocalypse -- e.g. the buildings of precious stones (Rev. 21:19f.), the gates of pearl (Rev. 21:21), the streets of gold (also 21:21).
Most of the characters in the song (David; "Our Lady"; [Mary] Magdalen; Simeon, for whom see Luke 2:25 and following; Zachary=Zacharias, for whom see esp. Luke 1:67 and following) are Biblical, but Ambrose is Bishop Ambrose of Milan, who lived in the time of the emperor Theodosius the Great (died 395), and Augustine (who is not really someone you'd want to meet, the stuck-up predestinarian pig) slightly later.
The original poem, of eighteen or so stanzas, is really rather pedestrian, and few anthologies print it in full. But the first few verses are popular.
Popular enough, in fact, to have been heavily adapted, and from there the waters get muddy. The song appears in the Sacred Harp hymnals, in very short and adapted form, as "Long Sought Home." The Original Sacred Harp, in fact, attributes it to "Francis Baker Priest, about 1750," (note the initials F.B.P.) which tells you how much its attributions are worth! Similarly, the Primitive Baptist Hymnal credits it to Cowper. The music is credited, both in the Sacred Harp and the Christian Harmony,  to William Bobo (1865). - RBW
File: NrecJMHH
===
NAME: Jesous Ahatonhia: see The Huron Carol (Jesous Ahatonia) (File: FJ130)
===
NAME: Jesse Cole
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "To one and all both great and small, the story I'll unfold/It makes me sad to think about the doom of Jesse Cole"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: grief death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SharpAp 195, "Jesse Cole" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #3615
NOTES: The text reprinted in the "Description" field is all that Sharp printed. - PJS
It's probably just coincidence, but it occurs to me that the maiden name of Jesse James's mother was Zerelda Cole. Could this somehow be tied in with the Jesse James legend? It's a low probability, to be sure.... - RBW
File: ShAp2195
===
NAME: Jesse James (I) [Laws E1]
DESCRIPTION: Jesse James's career is briefly described, with praise given to his (alleged) acts of charity. The story of James's murder is then told, focusing on the treachery of Robert Ford, "the dirty little coward that shot 'Mister Howard.'"
AUTHOR: unknown (many versions claim to be written by Billy Gashade)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1887 (Comic and Sentimental Songs)
KEYWORDS: outlaw death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,So,SE)
REFERENCES: (26 citations)
Laws E1, Jesse James (I)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 97-116, "Jesse James" (2 texts, 1 tune, plus sundry excerpts from various Jesse James songs and copies of two sheet music covers)
Belden, pp. 401-404, "Jesse James" (3 texts, of which only the first is this song)
Randolph 132, "Jesse James" (6 texts plus an excerpt, 6 tunes, but Laws refers the B version to Laws E2; the excerpt "C" may also go there)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 146-148, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 132F)
BrownII 243, "Jesse James" (4 texts plus 3 excerpts and mention of 3 more; of these, the "A" and "B" texts are certainly this, and probably "G" also though it has wandered far; "I" is "Jesse James (II)")
Chappell-FSRA 112, "Jesse James" (1 fragment, placed here by Laws although it's not typical of the type)
Hudson 99, pp. 235-237, "Jesse James" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 3 more; the "B" text and "C" fragment are Laws E1; the "A" text is Laws E2)
Gardner/Chickering 139, "Jesse James" (1 short text without a chorus plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Larkin, pp. 154-157, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 753-755, "Jesse James" (3 texts)
Friedman, p. 377, "Jesse James" (2 texts, but only the first is this ballad; Laws lists the second as Jesse James III, dE44)
Sandburg, pp. 374-375, "I Went Down to the Depot" (1 text, 1 tune, heavily folk processed); 420-421, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 80, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 183, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune, which Laws places here but which is noticeably different from most other texts of this type)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 128-131, "Jesse James" (2 texts, 1 tune, but only the first is this ballad; the second is Jesse James II, Laws E2)
Burt, pp. 191-192, "(Jesse James)" (1 excerpt)
Fife-Cowboy/West 93, "Jesse James" (5 texts, 2 tunes, of which the "A" and "B" texts are Laws E1 and the others are distinct)
LPound-ABS, 64, pp. 145-146, "Jesse James"; p. 146, "Jesse James" (2 texts)
JHCox 44, "Jesse James" (1 text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 36, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 190-191, "Jesse James" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 273, "Jesse James" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 202, "Jesse James" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 188-189, "Jesse James" (1 text)
DT  619, JESSJAME*
Roud #2240
RECORDINGS:
Bentley Ball, "Jesse James" (Columbia A3085, 1920)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Jesse James" (OKeh 45139, 1927)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Jesse James" (OKeh 40155, 1924)
Ken Maynard, "Jesse James" (1930, unissued; on RoughWays1)
Harry McClintock, "Jesse James" (Victor 21420, 1928; on WhenIWas2)
Clayton McMichen's Georgia Wildcats, "Jesse James" (Decca 5710, 1939)
Riley Puckett, "Jesse James" (Columbia 15033-D, 1925)
George Reneau, "Jesse James" (Vocalion 14897, 1924)
Almeda Riddle, "Jesse James" [fragment] (on LomaxCD1705)
Pete Seeger, "Jesse James" (on PeteSeeger16)
Ernest Thompson, "Jesse James" (Columbia 145-D, 1924)
Marc Williams, "Jesse James" (Brunswick 269, 1928)
Fields Ward, Glen Smith & Wade Ward, "Jesse James" (on HalfCen1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (II)" [Laws E2]
cf. "Jesse James (III)"
cf. "The Death of Jesse James"
cf. "Jesse James (IV)"
cf. "Jesse James (VI -- 'I Wonder Where My Poor Old Jesse's Gone')"
cf. "J. B. Marcum (A Kentucky Feud Song)" [Laws E19] (tune & meter)
cf. "Cooper Milton" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
Jesus Christ (by Woody Guthrie) (Greenway-AFP, pp. 301-302; DT, JESUSCHR)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Oh, People Ain't You Sorry
NOTES: It should probably be noted that Jesse James (1847-1882) wasn't as nice a person as this song depicts. He began his career with Quantrill's raiders (today we would say "terrorists"), and his behavior never improved much except that he eventually began to seek a more permanent residence.
"Thomas Howard" was the name used by James when he settled down in Saint Joseph, Missouri. It was not a "retirement name"; he was still committing robberies when he died.
The "Billy Gashade" mentioned in some texts as the author is unknown (the name "Billy Lashade" occurs in the 1887 songster text, for which see Cohen-LSRail).
This version is the "standard" Jesse James song, usually beginning "Jesse James was a lad who killed many a man, He robbed the Glendale train." The usual chorus runs, "(Poor) Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life, Three children, they were brave. But the dirty little coward who shot Mister Howard Has laid Jesse James in his grave."
For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: LE01
===
NAME: Jesse James (II) [Laws E2]
DESCRIPTION: The song starts with an account of James's robbery of the Pittsfield bank. The account of the murder is circumstantial and unflattering. James is planning a robbery; he knocks down his wife's picture; Robert Ford shoots him in the back
AUTHOR: Words: Roger Lewis? Music: F. Henri Klickmann?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911
KEYWORDS: outlaw robbery death marriage
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So,SE) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws E2, "Jesse James II"
Randolph 132, "Jesse James" (of Randolph's 6 texts plus 1 excerpt, Laws considers only Randolph's "B" text and tune to belong to E2, though the excerpt "C" is apparently also part of it)
BrownII 243, "Jesse James" (4 texts plus 3 excerpts and mention of 3 more; of these, only "I" is this song; "A,"  "B," and probably "G" are "Jesse James (I)")
Hudson 99, pp. 235-237, "Jesse James" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 3 more; the "A" text is Laws E2; the "B" text and "C" fragment are Laws E1)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 128-131, "Jesse James" (2 texts, 1 tune, but only the second text, to the tune of Casey Jones, is this ballad; the first text and tune is Jesse James I, Laws E1)
Burt, pp. 192-193, "(Jessey James)" (1 text)
Fife-Cowboy/West 93, "Jesse James" (5 texts, 2 tunes; this is the "D" text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 130-131, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 60-65, "Jesse James" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Fife-Cowboy/West 93, "Jesse James" (5 texts, 2 tunes, of which the "C" text is Laws E2 and the others are distinct)
DT 620, JESSJAM3*
Roud #2241
RECORDINGS:
Frank Luther, "The Death of Jesse James" (Conqueror 7377, 1929)
George Reneau [actually sung by Gene Austin], (Vocalion 14897, 1924; on RoughWays2)
The Vagabonds, "The Death of Jesse James" (Montgomery Ward M-4443, 1934)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] and references there
NOTES: Much more even-handed than the commonly-found Jesse James ballad, this song shows James as he really was: A robber whose deeds caused people in their homes to "shake with fright" when they heard of them.
Cohen and McNeil both report that this piece was copyrighted on April 3, 1911 by Klickmann and Lewis, then on May 15 by Will Rossiter. McNeil believes the Klickman/Lewis claim of authorship to be legitimate; Norm Cohen (more probably in my opinion) thinks they cashed in on an existing piece. The Klickman/Lewis words can be sung to the tune of "Casey Jones," and the text been collected with that melody, although that is not the tune indicated in the original sheet music. McNeil gives a third melody as well.
Laws lists the characteristic opening verse/chorus of this song as:
Now people may forget a lot of famous names
But every nook and corner knows of Jesse James.
They used to read about him in their homes at night;
When the wind blew down the chimney they would shake with fright.
However, it appears that the most characteristic first line is "Way down in Missouri lived a bold bad man."
For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: LE02
===
NAME: Jesse James (III)
DESCRIPTION: Jesse's home life is described: "His mother she was elderly; his father was a preacher." Bob Ford, described as an inept train robber, is shown in consultation with the governor. Ford kills James, but is shot by a drunken cowboy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: outlaw death betrayal family
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
1892 - Robert Ford is killed in a barroom brawl in Creede, Colorado
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Belden, pp. 401-404, "Jesse James" (3 texts, of which only the third is this song)
Friedman, p. 377, "Jesse James" (2 texts, but only the second is this ballad; the first is "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1])
ADDITIONAL: William A. Settle, Jr., _Jesse James Was His Name_ (Bison Books edition, 1977), [used as a key to the Table of Contents and quoted at the head of each chapter]
ST FR379 (Partial)
Roud #7819
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] and references there
NOTES: This ballad includes several accurate details of James's life not found in most of the other Jesse James songs: The fact that his mother had her arm blown off (by Pinkertons in 1875); "Governor C"=Governor Crittenden; and the fact that Robert Ford also died by gunfire.
The amount of literature on the James Gang astonishes me; it appears that at least four books were published just in the period 1980-2000, with many more before that. Many of these, however, appear to be pretty bad. For the sources I've used, see the Bibliography at the end of this note.
The James Boys certainly were not born to be criminals; Yeatman, pp. 25-27, gives a rather impressive family history. Their father, Robert Salee James (c. 1818-1850) was the son of a Virginia Baptist minister, John W. James (Brant, p. 4). John James died when Robert was nine, and he and his siblings moved in with their older sister, the newly-married Mary James Mimms (Brant, p. 5).  Mary Mimms was the mother of the future wife of Jesse James.
Robert Sallee James, despite being an orphan, managed an impressive education. He earned a B.A. in classics in 1843, and picked up a Masters in 1848. His library was not overly large, but in addition to theology, Latin, and Greek, it included volumes on mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, and philosophy (Settle, p. 7). In 1841, he married 16-year-old Zerelda Cole, who was blessed with a fairly substantial inheritance. (In case you're wondering -- no, the name Zerelda is *not* Biblical. It appears to be a family name in the Cole family, though I've seen no explanation of how it arose.) The young couple moved to Clay County, Missouri, in 1842.
Their residence in Clay County is significant. It's just east of Kansas City (the county seat is Liberty), and the settlers were mostly from border slave states like Tennessee. At the time of Lincoln's election in 1860, over a quarter of the residents of the county were slaves; clearly it was an area happy with slavery (Yeatman, p. 29). Indeed, one of the James stepfathers was a slaveowner (Yeatman, pp. 27-28), as was Robert James himself (Settle, p. 7).
After arriving in Missouri, Robert James became pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church, which during his time there grew to have several hundred members. He also farmed 275 acres. But, for some reason, he decided to follow the gold rush to California, leaving his family behind. He died of "fever" on August 18, 1850 at Hangtown, California.
From that time on, things were traumatic for the James boys, Alexander Franklin ("Frank"), born 1843, and Jesse Woodson, born 1847. (They had a sister Susan, born just before Robert went west.) Jesse had apparently been truly bothered when his father went away, and his mother's second and third marriages can't have helped; in 1852, she took the elderly Benjamin Simms as a second husband, but they separated and he died soon after (Brant, pp. 14-15; Settle, p. 8); her third, Dr. Reuben Samuel, whom she married in 1855, was the second slave owner among her husbands. Samuel and Zerelda would eventually have four children: Archie (of whom more below), John, Sallie, and Fannie (Brant, p. 8; Settle, p. 9).
When the Civil War came, Frank promptly joined the Confederate side, being part of the force (one hesitates, at that stage of the war, to call it an army) of General Sterling Price (1809-1867), for whom see, e.g. "Sterling Price." He was one of Price's rabble-in-arms (or, often, rabble-wishing-for-the-arms-they-didn't-have) at Wilson's Creek (for which see e.g. "The War in Missouri in '61" and "Jolly Union Boys"). Later that year, he came down with measles, was captured by Union troops, and paroled (Yeatman, p. 32; Settle, p. 20).
It's at this point that the James story starts to get genuinely ugly. Frank apparently took an oath to the Union in 1862. But Clay County was part of the area raided by both sides. Frank, even though he had sworn to support the union, joined Quantrill's Raiders (for whom see the notes to "Charlie Quantrell" as well as "The Call of Quantrell," "Quantrell," etc.), probably in 1863 (Yeatman, p. 35; Settle, p. 21-23, is not sure of the date though he notes that Cole Younger was in the band by the spring of 1862 and Jim Younger was acting as a guerrilla by 1864).
In May 1863, Frank managed to upgrade himself from oathbreaker to terrorist; in an ambush near Richfield, Missouri, he was part of an ambush in which a Lt. Graffenstein was killed after surrendering (Yeatman, p. 36). On August 7, Frank committed his first true robbery (Yeatman, p. 41). Meanwhile, the Federals were looking for Frank -- and they visited the James/Samuel home, with results hardly likely to endear them to the family. They beat up Jesse (who may already have been serving as a Confederate spy, and who some time during this period managed to shoot the end off one of his fingers; Settle, p. 31, suggests a date of June 1864, though accounts vary of how he lost it. According to Brant, the injury earned Jesse the nickname "Dingus," because he referred to the weapon that injured him as the "dodd-dingus pistol" he had ever used). Even more extremely, they half-hanged Dr. Samuel, perhaps as many as four times (Settle, p. 26); his voice was apparently affected for the rest of his life (Yeatman, p. 39).
By 1864, when Jesse joined the Quantrill Gang (Yeatman, p. 50), the band were effectively out of Confederate control, preferring bushwhacking in Kansas and Missouri to regular service in Texas (Yeatman, p. 49). Not even Quantrill controlled most of them any more.  Their recruiting methods were also irregular; while Frank was properly a member of the Confederate forces, it appears Jesse joined the terrorists entirely as a freelance (Yeatman, p. 52). That's not his age; by 1864, the Confederates were happy to have 17-year-olds in the military. But Jesse chose to be an irregular.
He certainly was quick to get in trouble. In an early raid, Jesse was shot through the chest, apparently while stealing a saddle (Yeatman, p. 53), though the claim was later made that he was fighting the Yankees.
By the end of the war, the irregulars were robbing trains; at Centralia they captured, looted, and destroyed a train of the North Missouri Railroad, killing two dozen Union soldiers who were aboard on furlough (Yeatman, p. 55). The James Boys were probably not present for this (Brant, p. 35, allows the possibility that Jesse was there, but as usual his evidence is thin), but they must have heard about it. And the James boys *were* present when a rescue party was slaughtered; many of the bodies of the rescuers were deliberately mutilated (scalped, beaten, and worse; Yeatman, p. 56).
By 1864, the entire James/Samuels clan was in exile -- Dr. Samuels evicted from his home (Yeatman, p. 62), Jesse James with ruffians under "Arch" Clement who were somewhere around Texas, having proved too rough even for Quantrill (Yeatman, pp. 73-74), and Frank James with Quantrill, who headed for Kentucky with the remainder of his force (Yeatman, p. 65). By 1865, the Federals were on Quantrill's heels; many of the guerillas were being killed, captured, or left behind when they lost their horses Yeatman, (pp. 66-68); Quantrill himself was mortally wounded on May 10 (Yeatman, p. 71).
The Clement gang, including Jesse, was meanwhile attacking Kingsville, Missouri, burning, looting, and murdering (Yeatman, pp. 73-74). Somewhat later, with the war clearly lost, Jesse suffered another bullet wound (reportedly making a spectacular escape before passing out; Settle, pp. 30-31); while still on his sickbed, he was paroled May 21, 1865 (Yeatman, pp. 76-77).
The wound kept him bedridden for months (Settle, p. 31); there were times when he was expected to die. The twice-injured lung apparently troubled him for the rest of his life (Yeatman, p. 95, on the basis of a statement by Cole Younger).  During his recovery, he was cared for by his aunt and uncle, and became secretly engaged to their daughter Zerelda ("Zee") Mimms (Settle, p. 34).
Frank James (who had apparently acquired the nickname "Buck" during the war) was finally forced to surrender, along with other Quantrill survivors, on July 26, 1865, by which time Quantrill had been dead seven weeks. They might have come in earlier, had not some members of the band raped a woman; the authorities demanded they find the perpetrators (Yeatman, pp. 80-81). Still, Settle, p. 32, notes that neither Frank nor Jesse was considered in any way noteworthy in 1865.
Yeatman speculates that the guerrilla fighting in Missouri (the most bitter in all the Civil War) left the two brothers suffering from post-traumatic stress (Yeatman, p. 104); like a number of other veterans (e.g. Tom Dula), they, or at least Jesse, seem to have come home intending to return to normal life (Yeatman, p. 91). For four years, they lived at home (Settle, p. 32), but there are hints that they occasionally vanished for a few days, and they lived in an area much affected by lawlessness. Their whereabouts in the period 1869-1874 are almost impossible to trace (Yeatman, p. 99), but they came to be famous as robbers in this period.
On February 13, 1866 occurred the robbery of the bank of Liberty, Missouri, which resulted in the loss of some $60,000 and cost a bystander his life; it was said to be the first daylight bank robbery in peacetime (O'Neal, p. 167; Settle, p. 34; Yeatman, pp. 85-86). Later folklore would connect this with the James Boys, though there is no real evidence for this. Several other robberies took place in the same area over the next few years (Settle, pp. 34-36). Some were more successful than others; none were connected with the Jameses, though some reportedly involved ex-Quantrill men. There is a stronger connection with the March 20, 1868 robbery of the Russellville, Kentucky bank; the James friend Cole Younger was probably part of this (Yeatman, pp. 93-95), and Settle, p. 38, notes that on the day of the robbery, the James Boys were reportedly suffering from "war wounds" -- which would make a lot more sense if the wounds in fact had a recent cause.
On December 7, 1869 came the robbery of the Davies County Savings Association in Gallatin, Missouri -- one of the robberies famously tied to the Jameses. Captain John W. Sheets, one of the bank owners, was shot to death during the attack (Settle, p. 38). At least two robbers were involved; one was said to resemble Frank James. The evidence was thin, but a posse turned up to arrest the James brothers, who would prove to have no real alibi. Apparently not willing to risk arrest, Frank and Jesse fled the Samuels farm on horseback (Settle, pp. 39-40; Yeatman, pp. 95-97). Eventually a price of several thousand dollars would be put on their heads. Soon after, a paper published a letter allegedly from Jesse, denying any crime but saying it was impossible to get a fair trial in Missouri (Settle, p. 41). There would be many more such letters in coming years. Most, however, appeared in papers associated with John Newman Edwards, who also published articles allegedly clearing members of the gang (Settle, pp. 51-52).
A later letter, signed "Jack Shepherd, Dick Turpin, Claude Duval" (after three famous English highwaymen) promised to pay the medical expenses of a girl hurt in the course of a robbery, and denied that the participants were thieves; they preferred the term "robber." This letter (Yeatman, p. 105; cf. Settle, p. 46) seems to be almost the sole foundation for the claim that the Jameses gave to the poor.
In 1873, robbers derailed and robbed a train in Adair, Iowa; the engineer was killed in the wreck. Again we cannot show that the Jameses were involved, but the method of removing rails and piling debris on the track fits their mode of operation (Yeatman, pp. 106-108). Settle, p. 47, observes that the gang did not invent this particular dirty trick, but it was to become a James/Younger signature. This particular robbery brought in about $2000. Descriptions of the robbers, an their behavior, caused Jesse to be called the head of the gang for the first time (Settle, p. 48). The robbery was considered important enough that the Pinkertons would be called in (Settle, p. 58).
1874 finally brings us back to relatively firm history, as both Jesse and Frank were married in that year. Jesse finally married his cousin "Zee" Mimms, nine years after they had become engaged, on April 24, 1874. The Methodist Reverend William James, uncle to both Jesse and Zee, agreed to marry them after trying and failing to talk Jesse out of his violent lifestyle (Yeatman, p. 119)
Frank married later that year, to Annie (Anna?) Ralston, who had earned a degree in science and literature in 1872. Ralston's father was a Unionist from Ireland; her parents reportedly were horrified to learn that she had eloped with such an outlaw (Yeatman, pp. 120-121). The Ralstons learned of it only indirectly (Annie's letter to her parents said only that she had eloped), and once they did so, they kept it secret from the community as much as possible (Settle, p. 42).
By the 1870s, with Missouri still feeling the after-effects of the Civil War, the various outlaws roaming the state were becoming a political issue; the legislature took various ineffectual steps to try to halt the depredations. The Pinkertons received another call (Yeatman, pp. 111-114) after another train robbery, at Gads Hill in 1874. (No, I'm not making that up; apparently Missouri has such a place as well as England; Settle, p. 49.) This was another robbery where the perpetrators could not absolutely be identified -- one Jim Reed confessed to it on his deathbed (Yeatman, p. 138) and denied the James Boys were there -- but it was widely credited to the brothers. And it is apparently certain that the Jameses were working with the three surviving Younger brothers (Cole, Jim, and Bob) by that time.
Unfortunately, the Pinkertons called in to deal with the problem were not up to the task; they didn't catch anyone, and a young agent named John W. Whicher was soon killed (Settle, pp. 59-60). Two other agents died trying to capture the Younger brothers, though they succeeded in killing John Younger (Settle, p. 60).
The detective agency would add another tragic page to the James story: on January 28, 1875, the Pinkertons (or someone; Yeatman and Brant are certain; Settle is not) firebombed the Samuels home, in the belief that Frank and Jesse were there. (According to Brant, p., 134, the explosion could be heard three miles away, and much of the house caught fire. Yeatman and Settle give no hints of major pyrotechnics.)
But the bombers did not catch their men. Instead, they killed Archie Peyton Samuel, the half-brother of Jesse and Frank (whose age is variously listed as eight [Brant], nine [Settle] and 13 [Yeatman]). In addition, a shell fragment hit Mrs. Samuel on the right wrist, shattering it and forcing the amputation of her hand (Yeatman, pp. 134-137; Settle, p. 76. Brant, of course, says that her hand was "blown off"). A grand jury eventually filed murder charges against Pinkerton and certain of his employees, not all named (Yeatman, p. 143). The charges were dismissed in 1877 (Settle, p. 80), mostly on the grounds that the case was not being actively pursued charges were stale.
The firebombing clearly disturbed the family. Dr. and Mrs. Samuels eventually tried to sell their property, but found no takers (Yeatman, pp. 149-150; Settle, pp. 86-101). And Jesse and Zee, who by this time was pregnant, moved to Nashville in early 1875. Jesse used the name "John Davis Howard" (which we will of course see again); Zee became "Josie." At the time, Mr. Howard listed his occupation as "wheat speculator," though he often vanished for weeks at a time.  During this period, Jesse apparently was trying to kill Allan Pinkerton (Yeatman, p. 151) -- but the result was rather Hamlet-like: He wanted Pinkerton to know and suffer, and he never had a chance to kill Pinkerton in such circumstances. If Jesse didn't get Pinkerton, the gang may still have committed murder: Daniel Askew, a neighbor of the Samuels family who may have helped the Pinkertons, was shot to death in April 1875 (Settle, p. 85). Most attribute the murder to the Jameses, though there was speculation the Pinkertons did it to silence a potential witness against them (Settle, p. 86).
In an interesting twist, Jesse also published several letters boasting (lying) about his whereabouts and activities. What is interesting is that they contain many more errors of grammar, spelling, and punctuation than the earlier letters he had supposedly published in the Edwards papers -- as if two different men had written them. If originals of any of these alleged letters survived, no one bothered to mention them.
In 1875, Zee gave birth to Jesse Edward James, publicly known as "Tim Howard"; he would answer to the nickname "Tim" all his life. (Yeatman, p. 161). There seems to be some dispute about the exact date; Settle, p. 129, says December 31; Yeatman, p. 161, has August 31.
At this time, the first known James associate was captured alive. Tim Webb, who had recently taken part in a robbery in Huntington, West Virginia, was captured, and though there is no evidence the Jameses or Youngers took part in this robbery (Settle, p. 87), Webb probably knew where Jesse was living in hiding. So Jesse and Zee moved to Baltimore for about a year (Yeatman, p. 162); Frank also spent some time there. But in 1876, the two returned to Missouri, leaving their wives behind (Yeatman, p. 164).
In Missouri, they met the Youngers, and for some reason decided to try a raid on Minnesota. On arriving in the state, they scouted various banks, according to Cole Younger, they eventually picked the bank in Northfield in part because former Union general and Mississippi carpetbagger governor Adelbert Ames was associated with the place, and the infamous general Benjamin "Beast" Butler (for whom see, e.g., "Hold On, Abraham") apparently had money there (Yeatman, p. 171; Settle, p. 95).
For the story of the disastrous Northfield raid itself, see the notes to "Cole Younger" [Laws E3]. Frank and Jesse were said to have been injured in the fracas (Settle, p. 98; cf. Brant, p. 179, who says that Frank's hand was crushed in the vault door), but it didn't slow them down; they were the only two to escape police. (Settle, p. 96, notes that, to this time, police still didn't have a reliable description of either brother.) After separating from the Youngers, Frank and Jesse  managed to reach the South Dakota border about ten days after the raid (Yeatman, p. 183).
(Lyle Lofgren tells me that the town of Garretson, South Dakota, on the Minnesota border northeast of Sioux Falls, has a "Jesse James's Leap," or some such thing, which Jesse is alleged to have ridden his horse across. Lyle adds that he thinks it too wide for any horse, and what are the odds that Jesse would have tried it on an unfamiliar horse?)
The brothers apparently decided that that was enough outlawry for a lifetime. Soon after that, they and their families found new homes and tried, at least for a while, to live quietly.
Frank apparently settled in Nashville. He seems to have used the name Ben J. Woodson. He reportedly worked very hard as a sharecropper, except perhaps for a brief time when he suffered from malaria (Yeatman, p. 202).
Jesse, still using the name "John Davis Howard," chose a more rural setting, in Humphries County some distance to the west. He didn't draw much attention except for owning a very fast horse, occasionally showing great skill with a pistol, and sometimes acting a little paranoid (Yeatman, pp. 196-197). Around this time, Zee gave birth to twin boys, Gould and Montgomery, who however died soon afterward (Yeatman, p. 201; Settle, p. 132). On February 8, 1878, Frank's wife Annie bore Robert Franklin James. In one of the strangest twists of the James saga, he was apparently called "Mary" as a baby (Yeatman, p. 203). Settle, p. 132, reports that Zee nursed Robert when Annie proved unable to produce enough milk.
Both Frank and Jesse were gamblers, but it appears Jesse wasn't nearly as good at it; he lost a lot, and also suffered from lawsuits over his financial dealings, and at least once bounced a check (Yeatman, p. 204). In December 1878, he moved again (Yeatman, p. 205). In 1879, it was his turn to suffer malaria (Yeatman, p. 207). In July of that year, his daughter Mary was born (Yeatman, p. 211; Settle, p. 129). This was Jesse's last child; note, therefore, that (contrary to most versions of "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1], he did *not* have three children when he died).
At about this time, Jesse seems to have decided it was time to return to outlawry. Frank, from what we can tell, just wanted to be left alone. (Reconstruction had ended with the disputed Hayes/Tildren election of 1876, and sympathy for unreconstructed rebels was less.) Frank in the years around 1880 was apparently deliberately courting friendships with pillars of the local community (Yeatman, p. 228), presumably to have character witnesses if he needed them.
Yeatman, p. 213, based on later testimony of Dick Liddil (cf. Settle, p. 148) says that Jesse's new gang consisted of his cousin Wood Hite (Robert Woodson Hite, a cousin of Jesse's whose family still lived in Kentucky), Ed Miller (the brother of the slain Clell Miller), Tucker Bassham, Bill Ryan, and Dick Liddil (this is the spelling of Settle, Yeatman, and even Brant; others have used "Liddell" or other forms). This gang in October 1879 robbed a train at Glendale (the one James robbery celebrated in song in which Frank played no part; Settle, pp. 133, 148). The take from this robbery, apart from non-negotiable securities, was about $6000 (Settle, p. 102).
Late in 1879, a report circulated that Jesse was dead (Settle, pp. 103-104). It was, of course, false.
Somewhat later, Tucker Bassham was arrested. It appears Jesse and Ed Miller rode off (to silence him?). Miller never returned; it is speculated that Jesse killed him (Yeatman, p. 218). On September 3, 1880, Jesse robbed a stagecoach in showy fashion, apparently trying to imitate the famous English highwaymen (and incidentally picking up some loot which would be found in his home after his death); other robberies followed (Yeatman, pp. 219-220).
In early 1881, Frank and Jesse were again briefly scared out of their homes; they went briefly to Alabama (Yeatman, pp. 229-230). This was fateful, because Jesse became aware of the large crew working on the Muscle Shoals canal. In March, he took Bill Ryan and Wood Hite and robbed the man carrying the workers' pay (Yeatman, pp. 233-234). The total haul was over $5000.
On March 25, Bill Ryan got drunk and turned rowdy. He was taken into custody carrying about $1400 and four firearms. Although he refused, upon being taken, to tell authorities anything, Frank, Jesse, and Dick Liddil concluded that they must again leave home. Frank would later confess to despair at "again becom[ing] a wanderer" (Yeatman, p. 240).
This is another vague period in the history of the James Boys; Jesse ended up in Kansas City using the name J. T. Jackson (Yeatman, p. 248), but witnesses disagree about where Frank was; he said he never went that far west, and stayed clean in this period (Yeatman, p. 260), but others claim he was part of the gang that, on July 16, 1881, attacked a train near Gallatin. Jesse, Dick Liddil, and Clarence and Wood Hite were very likely present. Two men including the conductor were killed; the total haul was about $700 (Yeatman, p. 249).
In the period around 1870, the press was split about outlaws. By 1880, it was more strongly against their depredations. Missouri governor Thomas T. Crittenden (1832-1909) had been elected in 1880 in part on a promise to settle the James Gang. (The Missouri Republican platform ha actually attacked the Democrats for failing to do what "a Republican state" had done, referring to Minnesota's prosecution of the Youngers; Settle, p. 106.) The law didn't permit him to set a price on their heads, but he induced the railroads and other businesses to offer a total of $50,000 for the members of the gang. For Jesse and Frank, the reward was $5000 each for their capture (if taken alive) and another $5000 upon conviction (Settle, p. 110; Yeatman, p. 252).
On September 7, 1881, a train was robbed at the "Blue Cut" curve. Along with the usual crew of Jesse, Clarence and Wood Hite, Dick Liddil, and perhaps Frank, there was a new recruit named Charlie Ford (Yeatman, pp. 253-254). Since the safe contained only about $400, the outlaws beat the express messenger, then robbed the passengers as well (Settle, pp. 111-112).
Bob Ford's first association with the gang seems to have been part of a robbery with brother Charlie, Dick Liddil, and Wood Hite; Jesse reportedly was not part of the crew (Yeatman, p. 261).
About this time, former gang member Tucker Bassham, sentenced to ten years, was offered full pardon in return for cooperation. He helped convict Bill Ryan, then fled the area, no doubt the fact that his home was burned added to his desire to depart. On September 28, 1881, Ryan was sentenced to 25 years (Settle, pp. 113-144; Yeatman, pp. 257-258).
Things finally started to come apart when the gang suffered from internal dissent. A young widow named Sarah Norris Peck had married the old widower George Hite, the father of Wood and Clarence. It appears the Hite children never liked her, and vice versa; eventually, she swore out a warrant against Wood Hite. The police captured Wood, but he escaped. However, when Wood met Dick Liddil, and Bob and Charlie Ford, Wood quarreled with Liddil (possibly over the affections of one Martha Bolton; Settle, p. 116). In the fight that followed, Liddil was hurt and Hite killed, reportedly by Bob Ford as he was shooting at Liddil (O'Neal, p. 143; Yeatman, pp. 261-262). Hite, recall, was Jesse's first cousin, so the Fords and Liddil now had reason to fear the leader of their former gang.
Liddil would surrender to authorities January 24, 1882, with promises of immunity if he could bring in the rest of the gang (Settle, p. 116) -- but the event was kept out of the papers to avoid rousing Jesse's suspicions. Clarence Hite, suffering from the tuberculosis which would kill him in 1883, and afraid of being caught, followed Liddil on February 11 (Settle, p. 117; Yeatman, p. 266). Thus, of the post-Younger Frank-and-Jesse-James Gang, only Frank and Jesse were still free; of the gang which followed that, which was really Jesse's alone, Jesse was the only one left.  Nor could he turn to Frank any more; Frank had decided to leave the west, possibly forever. In October 1881, he and his family, after visiting various spots in Virginia and North Carolina (trying to find a place that was safe, prosperous, and not troubled by disease), settled in Lynchburg, Virginia; he used the name "James Warren" (Yeatman, p. 263).
Jesse wasn't done with crime. On November 9, 1881, he went to St. Joseph, Missouri; he would settle at 1318 Lafayette Street. Jesse's companion on his first visit to the town was Charlie Ford. It was to be a short-lived but fateful partnership.
Ford family patriarch James Thomas Ford had been born in 1820 in Virginia; he moved back and forth from Missouri to Virginia several times (Yeatman, p. 264). He was in Missouri at the start of the Civil War, but moved back to Virginia in 1862; his son Bob was a newborn at the time. An older brother of Charlie and Bob, John Ford, would fight for the Confederacy with Mosby's Rangers (Yeatman, p. 265).
Around 1869, the Ford family returned to Missouri. Bob and Charlie apparently were introduced to Jesse in 1881 by Ed Miller. Charlie, as noted above, was the first to join the James Gang. But Jesse soon asked Charlie to recruit another man for his diminished gang, and Charlie recruited Bob (Yeatman, p. 267).
Bob was soon in touch with the authorities; he apparently didn't like Jesse's management (he is reported to have said that Jesse was "dead" as a gang leader; Yeatman, p. 265). Bob Ford met with Governor Crittenden on January 13, 1882 in Kansas City; he reports that he was offered $10,000 dead or alive for Jesse (and the same for Frank). Frank was out of reach, but Jesse was available.
The motivations of the Ford Brothers are rather unclear at this point. When word finally slipped out that Liddil had been taken, they may have feared that Jesse would try to get rid of them, too. Yeatman says, Jesse and the Fords were tending their horses when Jesse said he was too hot and took off his coat; he apparently also took off his gun belt. He turned his back to brush off some pictures, and the Fords pulled out their pistols. Bob apparently fired first; he hit Jesse in the back of the head (Yeatman, p. 269). Settle's account is more like the traditional one of Jesse climbing a chair to hang a picture, and mentions only Bob drawing his gun (p. 117). Brant's account (pp. 224-225) also mentions the chair, claiming that the Fords became suspicious when Jesse took off his guns, which Brant claims he never did. Whatever the exact events (for which, of course, we have only the accounts of the two brothers), Jesse was dead by gunshot When Zee arrived, Charlie claimed it was an accident -- but he and Bob quickly headed off to report to the authorities.
Some people were not convinced that the body was really Jesse's, but his mother and wife, and several others, attested to it -- and many relics of his robberies were found in his home (Settle, p. 1180.
Jesse's relics quickly became highly sought-after items; if eBay had existed in 1882, the Samuels would have been set for life. The owner of the house Jesse was renting did a fine business giving tours, though the visitors did much damage carving off souvenirs (Settle, p. 127). Jesse was initially buried on the family farm, apparently to protect his body; later he was moved to the family plot -- and his grave monument soon chiseled away by more relic-hunters (Settle, p. 166).
After Jesse's death, the Fords claimed that Governor Crittenden had offered the reward for Jesse dead or alive; Crittenden of course claimed he had demanded the capture of the Jameses (Yeatman, p. 271). According to Settle, it is still not known what money was paid to whom. Crittenden's role remains ambiguous -- he encouraged the betrayal of Jesse, but ended up treating Frank with tender loving care.
The Fords ended up facing murder charges, first for Jesse, then for Wood Hite, whose body was exhumed (Yeatman, p. 272). On April 17, 1882, Bob and Charlie pled guilty to the murder of Jesse. Sentenced to death, they were pardoned by Crittenden (Settle, p. 1189). They eventually were acquitted in the death of Hite (Yeatman, p. 275).
In October of that year, after complicated but obscure negotiations probably involving Crittenden, assorted prosecutors, and James apologist John Newman Edwards, Frank James finally turned himself in (Settle, pp. 130-131; Yeatman, p. 279). It took some time to decide on charges, since the statute of limitations had passed for many of his crimes. Eventually he was charged with a murder at Gallatin. The result was circus-like. A newspaper ascerbically remarked that it wasn't clear if Frank had surrendered to the State of Missouri or Missouri to Frank (Settle, p. 134).
There were few left to testify against Frank. Clarence Hite was dead. Bill Ryan had given no testimony against Frank. The Fords had not worked with him. The charges against him were mostly for crimes committed after Northfield, so the Youngers could not testify even if they wanted to. That left only Dick Liddil, who by this time was on trial in Alabama. And he was claiming he had not taken any part in Frank's crimes, which (it appears to me) would make his testimony hearsay. Authorities tried to award him clemency to get the real truth out of him; President Chester A. Arthur refused (Settle, pp. 137-138). The main case had to be tried in an opera house to provide seats for spectators (Settle, p. 139). Liddil was the only real witness. The jury needed less than four hours to reach a not guilty verdict.
It was then decided that Liddil's testimony could not be used further, since he was a felon, and the other Missouri charges dropped (Settle, p. 150). Frank then was sent to Alabama for the Muscle Shoals robbery. Again it was just Liddil's word, and Frank had an alibi; he was again found not guilty (Settle, pp. 152-153).  On February 21, 1885, the last of the charges based on Missouri crimes was dropped (Yeatman, p. 289). There was still the matter of the Northfield robbery, but no one from Minnesota was pursuing the matter. Frank was free.
It is interesting to note that Crittenden failed of renomination in 1884, partly because of the James affair (Settle, p. 154).
Frank seems to have stayed straight for the rest of his life. He moved to Dallas in 1887 and became a successful salesman for a time, then turned to other odd jobs. Eventually he was turned down for a patronage job he thought he deserved as a token of his reform (Settle, p. 163; Yeatman, p. 299), after which he went into acting. In 1903, he and Cole Younger (now out of jail and given a conditional pardon) opened a Wild West show that was named after them. It was to be surrounded by controversy and quarrels among the performers; at one point even Cole and Frank were indicted, though they got off by noting that they did not own, manage, or bankroll the show; they were simply paid performers lending their names to the production. When matters grew too troublesome, the two quit the show (Yeatman, pp. 302-311).
By that time, Frank's political disillusionment was so extreme that he publicly declared himself a Republican (generally regarded as unthinkable for a Confederate veteran) on August 20, 1904 (Settle, p. 164; Yeatman, p. 311); he would in time come out in favor of women's suffrage (Yeatman, p. 318). In 1907 he bought  farm in Fletcher, Oklahoma (Yeatman, p. 314). After stepfather Reuben Samuels died in 1908 in a mental hospital, suffering some sort of dementia, and Zerelda Samuels died February 10, 1911 (Yeatman, p. 317), Frank inherited the Samuels farm and turned it into a tourist attraction. It has served that function for much of the time since, though different owners have devoted different degrees of attention to it.
Frank never really told his story; once, when asked about his past, he said, "I neither affirm nor deny.... If I admitted that those stories were true, people would say, 'There's the greatest scoundrel unhung,' and if I denied 'em they'd say, 'There's the greatest liar on earth," so I just say nothing" (Yeatman, p. 319). He died February 18, 1915, the next to last of the Northfield robbers; Cole Younger, the last, would die in 1916.
Frank was certainly the most fortunate of the gang. The Youngers served long terms in prison; Bob died there, and Jim committed suicide after his release; Cole had some modest success as a showman. The other two Northfield raiders were dead. Wood Hite was dead. Clarence Hite died of tuberculosis (there were suspiciously many TB cases among the James Gang; one suspects someone carried the disease. Probably Jesse, given his lung problems. And the fact that several of them were related may have meant that they had the same genetic lack of immunity).
Charlie Ford also suffered from tuberculosis, and he apparently became addicted to morphine as a result; he killed himself on May 4, 1884 (Yeatman, p. 291). One suspects that this is the main reason why the Jesse James songs mention Bob and not Charlie.
Bob Ford wandered around the west, trying a short stint as a police officer before taking to saloon-keeping. He was at his third of these, in Creede, Colorado, when a man named Ed Kelly (Ed O. Kelly? Ed O'Kelly?) shot him on June 8, 1892 (Yeatman, p. 292). Ironically, Kelly himself would be shot to death in 1904 in Oklahoma City.
Jesse's wife Zee died on November 13, 1900 (Yeatman, p. 296). There were various imposters over the years -- a fake Zee arose as early as 1885, when Zee was obviously still around. A later Zee apparently was credited with charismatic gifts! (Yeatman, p. 297). There were also an assortment of fake Jesses over the years, including one John James in 1931 (easily discredited). One J. Frank Dalton was still making a claim as late as 1950, more than a century after Jesse's birth. (Fans of science fiction will be chagrined to note that the infamous Raymond F. Palmer, responsible for _Amazing Stories_ in its worst years, helped to promote this legend, mentioning it in a radio conversation; see Yeatman, pp. 328-333). A fake Frank arose while Frank was still alive (Settle, p. 164).
That was typical of the stories about the James Family: No lie was too outlandish to be told. The rumors that Jesse had not been assassinated were not really put to rest until the end of the twentieth century. In the 1990s, an autopsy showed that the body buried as Jesse James had bullets in the right places to be Jesse, and the mitochondrial DNA was properly matched to several of his relatives. Brant, p. 266, calls this proof that the body was Jesse's. The scientists quoted by Yeatman, pp. 371-376, in fact repeatedly denied that the matter was proved, but the evidence was "consistent" with the conclusion that it was. Under the circumstances, the probability is extremely high.
Jesse Jr. eventually studied law, and at one point became involved in a divorce proceeding and custody battle with his wife; they managed to reconcile, but he had a nervous breakdown in 1924 and was never really the same afterward. He died in 1951 (Yeatman, p. 320).
Mary James Barr died March 11, 1935 (Yeatman, p. 321). Anne Ralston James died in July of 1944 (Yeatman, p. 326), seventy years after she married Frank.
Books about the James Gang were beginning to appear even in their lifetimes, though the amount of fiction included was astonishing. Yeatman, p. 223, tells of one book that described a cave carefully fitted out as a hideout, with a stove, a panelled ceiling, beds, and stalls for horses. The Youngers were subject of a book published 1875 (Settle, p. 180); this book, by Augustus P. Appier, was reprinted as late as 1955 despite being highly inaccurate. The first book to include the Jameses seems to have been _Noted Guerilla_ by none other than John Newman Edwards; this 1877 book included many outlaws in addition to the James Brothers, but the James and Younger brothers were prominent. The James/Younger Gang was the sole subject of a book by J. A. Dacus in 1880; Settle, p. 184, notes 16 editions of this book. Even Frank Triplett's biography, which was assembled after some contact with the Samuels family, was cobbled together hastily after Jesse's death and contained a lot of false reports from the newspapers (Settle, p. 192; Yeatman, p. 275); if the family had any influence on it, it came in the form of the strong sympathy Triplett's book shows the Jameses. The various chapbooks about the Jameses were of course pure fiction.
Settle, p. 197, says that the first relatively sober history was not published until 1926 -- and eve it veered too far toward the dramatic. To this day, there are books being published treating Jesse as an unreconstructed Confederate rather than a plain and simple robber. The fact that Jesse worked mostly in former slave states, and shot quite a few Southerners, makes no difference.
Jo Frances James (daughter of Jesse Junior) once sold a manuscript to Hollywood, which supposedly underlay the Tyrone Power/Henry Fonda film "Jesse James."  But Jo Frances said of the result, "I don't know what happened to the history part of it. It seems to me the story was fiction from beginning to end.... About the only connection it had with fact was that there once was a man named James and he did ride a horse" (Yeatman, pp. 326-327). That strikes me as a pretty good last word on the whole legend.
>>*BIBLIOGRAPHY*<<
In writing this summary, in addition to the standard references such as the _Concise Dictionary of American Biography_, I have heavily consulted the following works:
Brant: Marley Brant, _Jesse James: The Man and the Myth_, 1998. Despite its title, which might seem to indicate scholarly caution, this book strikes me as incredibly credulous, taking as certain many things where the sources conflict, and often relying on the less reliable sources. It also has a very clear sympathy with any Confederate Good Ol' Boys who just might be terrorists on the side. I have been cautious in using it except where it coincides with information in other books, or where it reports some third-hand absurdity which might have influenced the James legend. (Frankly, I eventually started checking the index rather than finish reading the thing).
O'Neal: Bill O'Neal, _Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters_, 1979. A general work, and as with most such things it appears to have a few details wrong, but a handy source for dates and such.
Settle: William A. Settle, Jr., _Jesse James Was His Name_, 1966 (I used the 1977 Bison edition) was one of the first serious James biographies. It is relatively short, but carefully documented, and pays more attention to the songs than the other James books I've seen.
Yeatman: Ted P. Yeatman, _Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend_, 2000, is among the newest and most authoritative books; although clearly intended for popular consumption, it is well-footnoted, very large, and new enough to include the results of DNA investigations. - RBW
File: FR379
===
NAME: Jesse James (IV)
DESCRIPTION: "You've heard of heroes brave in all their glory...." These heroes are contrasted with James, who "joined the bad guerrillas," robbed banks, "invented robbing trains," avoided the Pinkertons -- and finally was shot by Robert Ford
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: outlaw death train betrayal
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 93, "Jesse James" (5 texts, 2 tunes; this is the "E" text)
Roud #11225
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] and references there
NOTES: For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: FCW093E
===
NAME: Jesse James (VI -- "I Wonder Where My Poor Old Jesse's Gone")
DESCRIPTION: Jesse James song recognized by the chorus, "Oh I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone... I will meet him in that land where I've never been before." Jesse is killed by Robert Ford; his life is recalled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963 (The Golden Ring)
KEYWORDS: outlaw death betrayal
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Darling-NAS, pp. 187-188, "Jesse James" (1 text)
DT, JESSJAM1
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] and references there
NOTES: I don't know if this version is actually traditional; the Golden Ring text is collated, and I believe someone (Mitchell Trio?) attributed it to Paul Clayton. I've never seen a pure dyed-in-the-wool text from tradition.
For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: DarNS188
===
NAME: Jesse James (VII - "Jesse James Was a Bandit Bold")
DESCRIPTION: Jesse and Frank James come to town with ponies for sale. While there, they attend a ball, and have great success with the girls. The local men try to attack them, but Jesse and Frank out-fight them and escape to Mexico
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (University Missourian)
KEYWORDS: outlaw dancing escape
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 401-404, "Jesse James" (3 texts, of which only the second, called "A Missouri Ballad" in the original publication, is this song)
Roud #2242
NOTES: This is item dE44 in Laws's Appendix II.
For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: Beld419b
===
NAME: Jessey James: see Jesse James (II) [Laws E2] (File: LE02)
===
NAME: Jessie and Jimmie: see The Sons of Liberty [Laws J13] (File: LJ13)
===
NAME: Jessie at the Railway Bar: see Jessie, the Belle at the Bar (File: R051)
===
NAME: Jessie Munroe [Laws P40]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny is entranced by Jessie and asks her too marry, offering her houses and land. She says that his holdings are poor and he unattractive. Johnny returns to Betty, less attractive but more faithful
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: courting beauty virtue
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws P40, "Jessie Munroe"
Peacock, pp. 291-292, "Jessie Munro" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 78, "Jessie Munroe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 72-73, "Jessie Munro" (3 texts, 1 tune)
DT 517, JESSMUNR
Roud #1807
File: LP40
===
NAME: Jessie of Ballington Brae: see Bessie of Ballington Brae [Laws P28] (File: LP28)
===
NAME: Jessie, the Belle at the Bar
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees Jessie working at the railroad bar. He courts her. Though warned that she is fickle, he offers to wed; she accepts -- then runs off with the costly wedding dress and marries a newspaper publisher
AUTHOR: G. Ware
EARLIEST_DATE: 1884 (broadside L.C.Fol.70(121b))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage abandonment
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 51, "Courting Jessie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 169, "Pretty Jessie of the Railway Bar" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 70-72, "(Jessie, the Belle at the Bar)" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "Jessie at the Railway Bar" (source notes only)
Roud #3265
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(121b), "Jessie at the Railway Bar," unknown (probably Glasgow), 1884
NOTES: The commentary for broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(121b) states "the location of the railway station in 'Jessie at the Railway Bar' occasionally varies, with one version placing the events in Moorgate station rather than Brighton station." - BS
File: R051
===
NAME: Jest Talkin': see Talking Blues (File: LoF224)
===
NAME: Jesus and Joses: see notes under The Bitter Withy (File: L689)
===
NAME: Jesus At Thy Command
DESCRIPTION: "Jesus at Thy command I launch into the deep And leave my native land Where sin lulls all asleep." Singer trusts Christ to save him and asks for a heavenly wind to take him to a heavenly port.
AUTHOR: Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1796 (see note quoting William Allen)
KEYWORDS: religious sea ship ship nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Frank Verrill, "Jesus At Thy Command" (on Voice02)
NOTES: Re: The London Missionary Society: "The first missionary party, consisting of over thirty persons, sailed down the Thames in the ship 'Duff' on the 10th August, 1796, singing, 'Jesus at Thy command we launch into the deep.'" (source: _The History of Revivals of Religion_ by William Allen, "Chapter I - The History of Revivals of Religion - Part III," at The New Revival Library site)
"['Jesus At Thy Command'] is in the Primitive Methodist Hymnal of 1889 and was written by Augustustas[sic] Montigue Toplady." (source: The Veteran "traditional folk music label" site). - BS
Augustus Montague Toplady is most famous for writing the words to "Rock of Ages." Charles Johnson's _One Hundred & One Famous Hymns_ gives a brief biography of Toplady which seems to consist mostly of denomination-jumping. He is said to have been "always in frail health," which explains his early death.
He is credited with two volumes of religious lyrics. Nonetheless _Granger's Index to Poetry_ lists only seven of his works which made it into their voluminous database  (and it appears that two of those are actually alternate names for "Rock of Ages"). This is not one of the works they cite. - RBW
File: RcJeATCo
===
NAME: Jesus Born in Bethlehem: see Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)
===
NAME: Jesus Born in Galilee: see Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)
===
NAME: Jesus Borned in Bethlea: see Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)
===
NAME: Jesus Christ I Want to Find
DESCRIPTION: "Jesus Christ I want to find; Pray tell me where he is, 'Cause him alone can ease my mind And give my conscience peace." "Tell me which way my redeemer's gone." The singer describes how to recognize Jesus, and is thanked for his lecture
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 602, "Jesus Christ I Want to Find" (1 text)
Roud #11913
File: Br3602
===
NAME: Jesus Done Taken My Drifting Hand
DESCRIPTION: "Hush, little baby, and don't you cry; Yo' mudder an' fader is bo'n to die! Jesus done taken my driftin' han'. Good Lord, Lord, Lord! Over de hills bright shinin' lan'." "Mind out, Sister, how you step on de cross...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 580, "Hush, Little Baby" (1 text)
Roud #11896
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "All My Trials" (floating lyrics) and references there
File: Br3580
===
NAME: Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dyin' Bed (Tone the Bell Easy)
DESCRIPTION: "When you hear dat I'se a-dyin', I don' want nobody to mo'n... Well, well, well, tone de bell easy, Jesus gonna make up my dyin' bed. The singer recounts Jesus's death, prays that Jesus be with him, and remembers the faith of his dead mother
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Blind Willie Johnson)
KEYWORDS: Jesus death farewell religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 605-608, "Tone de Bell Easy" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
DT, TONEBELL
Roud #10975; also 15557
RECORDINGS:
Blind Willie Johnson "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed"  (Columbia 14276-D, 1927; on BWJ01, BWJ02)
Jubilee Gospel Team, "Lower My Dying Head" (QRS, 1928; on Babylon) 
Charley Patton, "Jesus is a Dying-Bed Maker" (Paramount 12986, 1930; rec. 1929)
Dock Reed, "Jesus Goin' to Make Up My Dyin' Bed" (on NFMAla2)
Horace Sprott, "Jesus Going to Make Up My Dying Bed" (on MuSouth04)
Unknown artists, "Jesus Goin' Make Up My Dyin' Bed" (AFS CYL-5-8, 1933)
NOTES: Josh White sings a much, much simpler version of this song, with the same chorus and some of the same verses. The Lomaxes admit that their very long (fourteen stanza) version is composite. I can't really tell how much comes from tradition and how much they mortared in. - RBW
File: LxA605
===
NAME: Jesus Is a Rock
DESCRIPTION: "Jesus is a rock in a wearied land, In a wearied land, in a wearied land... A shelter in a time of storm, in a time of storms." "He is whom I fix my hopes upon, A narrow way till in my view...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SEmSo)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 657, "Jesus Is a Rock" (1 fragment)
Roud #7580
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
My God is a Rock in a Weary Land
NOTES: This reminds me somewhat of "My Father's Gone to View That Land," but Randolph's fragment doesn't seem to have any actual words in common with that piece. - RBW
File: R657
===
NAME: Jesus Lover of My Soul
DESCRIPTION: Original hymn: "Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly." Parody: "Jesus, lover of my soul, Set me on top of telegraph pole. When the pole begins to break, Take me down for Jesus's sake."
AUTHOR: Original words: Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1740 (publication); parody collected 1919
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 347, "Jesus Lover of My Soul" (1 short text, the "telegraph pole" form)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), p. 41, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" (1 text, 1 tune, credited to John B. Dykes)
Roud #11737
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Jesus Lover of My Soul" (Vocalion 5316, 1929; on CGospel1)
Rambling Rangers, "Jesus Lover of My Soul" (Vocalion 04628, 1939)
NOTES: The Charles Wesley lyric seems to be very popular in churches; the Sacred Harp has it to the tune "Martin" (listed as by S. B. Marsh); I have seen a Baptist hymnal with both that tune (listed there as "Marsh") and the tune "Refuge" (by Joseph P. Holbrook). A Lutheran hymnal has the Marsh tune (called "Martyn"). And a Methodist hymnal reveals two texts, one to "Martyn" and one called "Hollingside" by John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876). My best guess is that the Dykes tune is the only one written for these lyrics.
However, I have yet to find any of these texts in tradition. The "telegraph pole" parody, by contrast, *is* from tradition, though it's not clear how widespread it is. - RBW
You wanted it from tradition? Uncle Dave Macon! - PJS
File: Br3347
===
NAME: Jesus Met the Woman at the Well
DESCRIPTION: Jesus meets a (Samaritan) woman as she comes to draw water, and tells her "everything [she] has ever done." She proclaims him a prophet, and announces the news in the town
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (recorded by the Selah Jubilee Quartet)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 59-60, "(Jesus Met the Woman at the Well)" (1 text plus a fragment); p. 252, "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" (1 tune, partial text)
RECORDINGS:
Pilgrim Travelers, "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" (Specialty 329, n.d.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Maid and the Palmer" [Child 21] (subject)
cf. "See the Woman at the Well" (subject)
cf. "Lift Him Up That's All" (subject)
NOTES: For the story of Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, see John 4:5-26 - RBW
File: CNFM059
===
NAME: Jesus Never Come in the Morning
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Jesus never come in the morning, Neither in the heat of the day, But come in the cool of the evening And wash my sins away." The singer warns against riches, looks forward to the end of the war, and is willing to die for God
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, p. 72-73, "Jesus Nevuh Come in the Mornin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10023
File: MWhee072
===
NAME: Jesus Nevuh Come in the Mornin': see Jesus Never Come in the Morning (File: MWhee072)
===
NAME: Jesus Says Go
DESCRIPTION: Singer is told that if he wants to be converted he should pray. He does, until his heart melts, then "my hands was tied, my feet was bound...." Cho: "Jesus says go -- I'll go with you/Preach the gospel and I'll preach with you...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recorded by Mississippi Jubliee Singers)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer is told that if he wants to be converted he should pray. He does, until his heart melts, then "my hands was tied, my feet was bound/The elements opened and the Lord come down/The voice I heard sounds so sweet/The love run out at the sole of my feet" Cho: "Jesus says go -- I'll go with you/Preach the gospel and I'll preach with you/Lord if I go, tell me what to say/For they won't believe on me"
KEYWORDS: ordeal religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #6984
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "Jesus Says Go" (on Chandler01)
Heavenly Gospel Singers, "You Go and I'll Go With You" (on Bluebird B-6928, 1937)
George Herod, "Lord, When I Was a Sinner" (on MuSouth07)
Mississippi Jubliee Singers, "Jesus Said If You Go I'll Go" (on Paramount 12495, 1927)
Sparkling Four Quartette, "They Won't Believe in Me" (on OKeh 8741, 1929)
NOTES: This song was also in the repertoire of Cas Wallin; he said that it was often sung by members of Holiness churches. Mary Sands, one of Cecil Sharp's most valuable ballad sources, claimed to have written it; the fact that it was also collected in 1954 from George Herod, an African-American from near Scott Station, Alabama, and recorded in 1927 by the Mississippi Jubilee Singers, makes this unlikely although not impossible. - PJS
File: RcJeSaGo
===
NAME: Jesus Says, "You Goes and I Goes Wid  You"
DESCRIPTION: Jesus says, "You goes and I goes wid you; Preach de gospel and I'll preach wid you." The singer asks Jesus to tell him what to say. After some back-and-forth, the singer reports, "De elements opened and de Lawd come down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 603, "Jesus Says, 'You Goes and I Goes Wid You" (1 text)
Roud #11912
NOTES: This starts with elements of the commissioning of the Twelve (Matthew 10, and parallels; Matt. 28:19-20), but the ending is pure apocalyptic imagination. - RBW 
File: Br3603
===
NAME: Jesus Setta Me Free
DESCRIPTION: "Let's go and tell it on the mountains (x3), Jesus setta me free." "It's come on everybody in the marvelous light, Jesus setta me free, Where the yoke is easy and the burden is light, Jesus setta me free." "Let's go and tell it on the mountains...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Forbes)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 100, "Jesus Setta Me Free" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST ChFRA100 (Full)
Roud #16941
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Go Tell It on the Mountain (I -- Christmas)" (lyrics)
cf. "Go Tell It on the Mountain (II -- Freedom)" (lyrics)
File: ChFRA100
===
NAME: Jesus Walked in Galilee: see Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)
===
NAME: Jesus, Won't You Come B'm-By?
DESCRIPTION: "You ride dat horse, You call him Macaroni; Jesus, won't you come b'm-by? You ride him in de mornin' And you ride him in de evenin'; Jesus, won't you come b'm-by? De Lord knows de world's gwine to end up...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: religious horse nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sandburg, p. 469, "Jesus, Won't You Come B'm-By?" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 11, (no title) (1 fragment, a single stanza that might be this)
Roud #12021
File: San469
===
NAME: Jeune Fille Sans Amant, La (The Young Girl Without a Lover)
DESCRIPTION: French. A girl says she must have a lover. Mother says wait; go to the convent. The girl wants to go to a lover. Mother says here's money to get to the convent; the girl says with that money I will buy myself a man. You will be sorry, says the mother.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sex warning dialog humorous lover mother
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 293-294, "La Jeune Fille Sans Amant" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (theme)
File: Pea293
===
NAME: Jeune Fille si Amoureuse, La (The Girl So In Love)
DESCRIPTION:  French. A girl says she must have a lover. Her mother sends her to a convent. At the convent a Brother consoles her. A Sister says that the Father would marry them. The girl says that her lover is not here but is a slave among the barbarians.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage captivity love separation lover sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 525-526, "La Jeune Fille si Amoureuse" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Belfast Sailor" (theme)
File: Pea525
===
NAME: Jeune Militaire, Le (The Young Soldier)
DESCRIPTION:  French. After years in the army a soldier stops at an inn. The hostess cries; she recognizes him as her husband. He asks why she has more children. She had reports that he had died and so remarried. He asks about her husband. She gives him gold to leave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1983 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage marriage reunion children wife soldier adultery
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 59, "Le Jeune Militaire" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best, "Le Jeune Militaire" (on NFABest01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brave Marin" (theme)
cf. "Jack Robinson" (theme)
NOTES: [According to] Lehr/Best, "Le Jeune Militaire" is a version of "Brave Marin"; while the themes are very close the words are not. - BS
File: LeBe059
===
NAME: Jew Lady, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Jew's Daughter, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Jew's Garden, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Jeweled Ring, The: see Hind Horn [Child 17] (File: C017)
===
NAME: Jewish Lady, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Jigger, Rigger, Bumbo: see Ole Marse John (File: LoF271)
===
NAME: Jilson Setters's Blind Song
DESCRIPTION: "In sorrow and sadness I'm destined to roam, Distracted and forsaken I wander alone." The singer hears the birds and feels the breezes but cannot see nature or people. He prays God to take him to heaven "where the blind may all see."
AUTHOR: Jilson Setters (James W. Day)?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS:  injury hardtimes music rambling
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 181-183, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blind Fiddler" (theme) and references there
File: ThBa181
===
NAME: Jilson Setters's C.I.O. Song
DESCRIPTION: "I am going to tell you people, Perhaps you do not know, We all should work together And protect the C.I.O." The singer urges men to "stick together And defend the union plan." He points out that laborers do all the work
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: labor-movement nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 244-245, (no title) (1 text)
File: ThBa244
===
NAME: Jilson Setters's Courting Song
DESCRIPTION: "It was all in the month of winter, I arrived by wagon to this place; I chanced to meet with a youthful lady...." He courts the girl and asks her to come away; her mother refuses and he is forced to depart; he hopes to meet the listeners in heaven
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: courting rambling rejection
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 184-185, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: Said to be built around a Riley ballad, though it's not clear which one.
Setters told Thomas that he used this song to make his wife jealous so she would court him. I wonder, though -- according to Thomas, it was his wife Rhuhamie who urged him to sing it to Thomas. - RBW
File: ThBa184
===
NAME: Jilson Setters's Indian Song
DESCRIPTION: "In an early day folks crossed the sea To explore the Indians' land." The Indians befriend the Whites; "Little did the Indian think They would spoil his hunting ground." "The white man done the Indian wrong"; they go to war -- but lose for lack of guns
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) hunting exploration war technology
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 186-187, (no title) (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Logan's Lament" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Although this doesn't seem to be very anthropoligically correct, it is quite sympathetic to the Indians -- rather surprising for the time. - RBW
File: ThBa186
===
NAME: Jim Along Josey: see Jim Along Josie (File: R575)
===
NAME: Jim Along Josie
DESCRIPTION: Originally a blackface minstrel piece, now often reduced to odd lyrics held together by the refrain, "Hey jim-along, jim-along Josie; Hey jim-along, jim along Jo." Sample verse: "Any pretty girl that wants a beau, Just fall in the arms of Jim Along Joe"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1840 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: nonsense lyric playparty
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 575, "Jim Along Josie" (1 text plus a fragment)
Warner 180, "Git Along Josie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 105, "Jam A-long, Josey" (1 text, 1 tune); also probably p. 106 (no title), (1 text, using this chorus in some instances; theverses include the terrapin and the toad, "My ole missus promise me When she die she set me free," "You get there before I do....")
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 103-104, "Jim Along Josey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4618
RECORDINGS:
Lawrence Older,  "Jim Along Josie" (on LOlder01)
Pete Seeger, "Jim Along Josie" (on PeteSeeger3, PeteSeegerCD03)
Tom Smith, "Hey, Get Along, Josie" (on USWarnerColl01)
NOTES: Spaeth suggests that this is a minstrel tune, and he's probably right. He suggests that it was written by Edward Harper, who presented it in his 1838 play "The Free Nigger of New York."
But it has entered oral tradition -- though perhaps in a filed-down form; Spaeth's text has a four-line verse while the traditional forms often use two-line stanzas. The choruses are the same. - RBW
File: R575
===
NAME: Jim and Me
DESCRIPTION: Singer says that he and his old friend Jim used to be sinners, smokers and drinkers, but that God has saved them, and their money is now spent on their families. "What our God has done for us/He's done for Jim and me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (unissued recording, Kentucky Thorobreds)
KEYWORDS: virtue sin drink religious family gods
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #7381
RECORDINGS:
Garner Brothers, "Jim and Me" (JGS 20088, n.d.)
Kentucky Thorobreds, "Jim and Me" (Paramount, unissued, rec. 1927)
Preston & Hobart Smith, "Jim and Me" (on LomaxCD1704)
NOTES: Again fragmentary, but a narrative. - PJS
File: RcJaM
===
NAME: Jim Blake
DESCRIPTION: "'Jim Blake, your wife is dying,' came over the wires tonight." Railroad engineer Blake wires back that he is coming. But his train is wrecked, "derailed by an open switch." Blake's last message to his wife says they'll meet in heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (_Railroad Man's Magazine_, according to Cohen)
KEYWORDS: train wreck disaster death husband wife
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 332-337, "Jim Blake's Message" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 139-140, "Jim Blake" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "Jim Blake" (source notes only)
Roud #3531
RECORDINGS:
The Carter Family, "Jim Blake's Message" (Decca 5467, 1935)
Vernon Dalhart, "Jim Blake" (Brunswick 173, 1927); "Jim Blake the Engineer" (Columbia 15192-D [as Al Craver], 1927)
File: GC479b
===
NAME: Jim Blake's Message: see Jim Blake (File: GC479b)
===
NAME: Jim Crack Corn: see The Blue-Tail Fly [Laws I19] (File: LI19)
===
NAME: Jim Crow (I): see Hop High Ladies (Uncle Joe) (File: R252)
===
NAME: Jim Crow (II): see Jump Jim Crow (File: Gilb018)
===
NAME: Jim Crow Car: see She Gets There Just the Same (Jim Crow Car) (File: DarNS355)
===
NAME: Jim Fisk [Laws F18]
DESCRIPTION: Jim Fisk, though a rich and fine man, still remembers the poor and gives aid to many at the time of the Chicago fire. Fisk is shot by Edward Stokes (his rival for a girl); the singer is afraid that Stokes's wealth will allow him to win his freedom
AUTHOR: William J. Scanlon ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: murder trial money
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 6, 1872 - Edward Stokes shoots Jim Fisk, "his rival for... the actress Josie Mansfield." Stokes (who, despite the song, was not rich) spent four years in prison for manslaughter
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws F18, "Jim Fisk"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 90-96, "Jim Fisk" (2 texts, 1 tune, plus a copy of the cover of the sheet music)
Belden, pp. 415-416, "Jim Fisk" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 207, "Jim Fisk" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, p. 75, "Jim Fiske" (1 fragment, linked to this mostly on the strength of the line "He never went back on the poor.")
Burt, pp. 49-50, "(no title)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 416-419, "Jim Fisk" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 550-552, "Jim Fisk" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 101-102, "Jim Fisk or He Never Went Back on the Poor" (1 text)
DT 631, STOVRDCT*
Roud #2215
NOTES: Belden calls "Jubilee Jim" Fisk (1834-1872)  "Jay Gould's fellow bandit in Wall Street."
He did in fact work with Jay Gould to secure control of the Erie Railroad from Cornelius Vanderbilt, and also helped manipulate the "Black Friday" gold crash of Sept. 24, 1871, but his business practices do not appear to have been unusual for the time -- and, unlike many speculators, he did try to appeal to the public (he has been called "the most opulent of the robber barons"). According to Gilbert, he sent supplies to help the survivors of the Chicago Fire (October 8, 1871). It is ironic that it is his murder, rarely mentioned in the histories, that gained him a place in oral tradition.
Fisk's assassin, Stokes, died in 1901, reportedly having spent his last years in neurotic fear of Fisk's ghost (e.g. Stokes would only sleep in lighted rooms).
Much additional information can be found in Cohen, who notes incidentally that the recorded versions of this song are generally much shorter than the original "Stokes' Verdict" text.
Botkin, apparently quoting Barry, claims there are three Jim Fisk songs. This one (which exists in many variants, but is recognized by the fact that most stanzas end with the word "poor") is said to be the "most popular" -- and is, as of this writing, the only one I have encountered.
Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, mentions this song several times, noting on p. 217 both the fact that this song was attributed to William J. Scanlon (whom he calls a typical composer of the era) and the difficulty with this attribution: The first sheet music, published in 1874, has the initials "J. S.," rather than "W. J. S.," and Scanlon in any case was only 15 at the time. - RBW
File: LF18
===
NAME: Jim Fiske: see Jim Fisk [Laws F18] (File: LF18)
===
NAME: Jim Haggerty's Story
DESCRIPTION: The speaker and his companion go down to town, where the companion will confront a man hired to kill him. They enter the bar. The hired gun's girlfriend begs him not to shoot; the other is her father. But both men draw and fire and are killed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: death father family murder
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 135-136, "Jim Haggerty's Story" (1 text)
Roud #15550
NOTES: While this may be legitimate folklore (it has rather a tall tale feel), there is no evidence that it was ever a song, or traveled in the same traditional circles as ordinary folk songs. - RBW
File: LxA135
===
NAME: Jim Harris
DESCRIPTION: Famous captain Jim Harris, in Ronald P out of St Kyran's, runs down the Irene anchored in Paradise Sound. "It's all right when the wheel goes up, till it turns for to come down And you might make that same mistake as Jim Harris in Paradise Sound."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: sea ship crash
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 60, "Jim Harris" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: St Kyran's and Paradise Sound are in Placentia Bay, west of the Avalon Peninsula and on the south coast of Newfoundland. The song places the incident on May 31, 1934. It appears neither ship was lethally damaged and there was no loss of life. - BS
File: LeVe060
===
NAME: Jim Hatfield's Boy
DESCRIPTION: "You're sending me for life, judge, For killing Bill McCoy, But maybe you don't know, Judge, that I'm Jim Hatfield's boy." The singer, unnamed, describes the history of the Hatfield/McCoy feud and his need for revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: feud death mother children revenge trial judge punishment
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1880 - Beginning of the Hatfield/McCoy feud
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 13-16, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, p. 248, "(Jim Hatfield's Son)" (1 excerpt)
ST ThBdM013 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Death of Fan McCoy" (subject) and references there
NOTES: For details on the Hatfield/McCoy feud, see "The Death of Fan McCoy." - RBW
File: ThBdM013
===
NAME: Jim Jones at Botany Bay
DESCRIPTION: The singer, Jim Jones, is taken, tried, and sentenced to transportation. En route, his ship is attacked by pirates, but the crew holds them off. Arriving in Australia, Jones vows to escape, join the bushrangers, and get revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907
KEYWORDS: outlaw poaching trial transportation pirate
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
PBB 96, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (1 text)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 28-29, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 12-13, "Jim Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST PBB096 (Partial)
Roud #5478
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Jack Donahoe" (tune) and references there
File: PBB096
===
NAME: Jim Larkin, R.I.P.
DESCRIPTION: Jim Larkin fought the Peelers in 1913 and "was treated to the batons by the Forces of the Crown." "The worker is a freeman now by his persevering fight." "R.I.P"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 ("Sold in the streets of Dublin the day of James Larkin's funeral," according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: strike violence labor-movement Ireland memorial death police
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 30, 1947 - "James Larkin died in his sleep." (source: _James Larkin_ on the Spartacus Educational site)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 20, "Jim Larkin, R.I.P" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Larkin founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union in 1909.
"By 1913 so many Dublin workers had joined the IT&GWU that employers refused to employ unionised workers, resulting in the infamous Dublin Lock-Out when over 100,000 workers were sacked and many more refused admittance to their workplace for over eight months. After the Lock-Out the IT&GWU was firmly established."
From 1914 to 1920 he organized workers in New York anLarkin founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union in 1909.
"By 1913 so many Dublin workers had joined the IT&GWU that employers refused to employ unionised workers, resulting in the infamous Dublin Lock-Out when over 100,000 workers were sacked and many more refused admittance to their workplace for over eight months. After the Lock-Out the IT&GWU was firmly established."
From 1914 to 1920 he organised workers in New York and was jailed until 1923 for "criminal syndicalism." He returned to Ireland and established the Worker's Union. He was later elected to the Dublin City Council and Dail Eireann. (source: Searc's Web Guide to 20th Century Ireland - James Larkin (1876-1947)). - BS
That Dublin needed organization around the turn of the twentieth century is hardly to be denied. According to Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 207, prior to the activities of Larkin, "nearly half of all annual deaths [in Dublin] took place in workhouses, asylums, and prisons"; he points out that many workers were putting in seventy hour weeks to earn pay equivalent to what we would now call only about half of the "poverty line."
Similarly, Robert Kee (_The Bold Fenian Men_, being Volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 195) writes, "The poverty and squalor of much of Dublin in the early years of the twentieth century appalled all who encountered it. A government report issued in 1914 assessed that of a Dublin population of 304,000, some 194,000, or about sixty-three percent, could be recokined 'working classes'. The majority of these working classes lived in tenement houses, almost half of them with no more than one room to each family. Thirty-seven per cent of the entire working class of Dublin lived at a density of more than six persons per roon; fourteen per cent in houses declared 'unfit for human habitation.'"
Larkin's troubles with the British police were not entirely related to his union activities, though. Born in Liverpool, he did not settle in Ireland until 1906/1907, when James Sexton (head of the National Union of Dock Labourers) sent him to Belfast to organize the dock workers there.
Larkin was a fine choice for the role. According to Ulick O'Connor, _Michael Collins & The Troubles_, pp. 54-55, "Larkin was a remarkable orator and journalist who could lift the people from their knees woth a brilliant phrase. He had a voice that could carry across a prairie, and a towering, crag-like presence. His quivering face... became the symbol of hope to the downtrodden and hungry masses who listened to him."
Larkin did manage to bring many of the workers into a union, leading them on strike late in 1907. The strike turned violent, though some of the police sided with Larkin. With the union going bankrupt, Sexton settled over his head. Larkin therefore broke away from Sexton's group to form the IT&GWU in 1908.
Socialist in principles, Larkin was associated with James Connolly (1868-1916; for more on him, see "James Connolly") in the United Tramway Company strike. This turned into a lockout as William Martin Murphy, who was responsible for management bargaining, set out to destroy Larkin.  (see Charles Townshend, _Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion_, p. 48; O'Connorm pp. 55-56).
Larkin, who had spent a few weeks in prison before the government relented (Townshend, p. 49), rose to fine heights of oratory (when the Catholic hierarchy opposed his union, he declared, "They cannot frighten me with hell. Better to be in hell with Dante and Davitt than to be in heaven with [Ulster leader Edward] Carson and Murphy"; see O'Connor, p. 57). But strikers were starving, and the government blocked all attempts to help them (O'Connor, p. 56). Larkin fled Ireland after the strike fizzled in 1914 -- while Connolly stayed, and was one of the instigators of the Easter Rising. Larkin of course went to America, where he was imprisoned during a "Red Scare" in 1916 (O'Connor, p. 55).
Larkin came back to Ireland in 1923, to find that his own Union -- which was about twenty times as big as when he left home -- had no leadership place for him. He founded a socialist political party; though he eventually joined the Labour Party, he spent most of the rest of his life feuding with his old associates. Still, he was remembered by the people as a founder of the union movement.
Regarding his relations with other leaders, Kee writes (p. 198), "Subsequent dramatic events... have had the effect of making Connolly seem the major labour figure in twentieth-century Irish history.... But the fact that Connolly was to be cut off in his prime and win a martyr's crown in 1916, while Larkin, accidentally missing the heroics, was to live on to 1948 through years of Irish disillusion, political quarrelling, and personal identification with Soviet Communism, should not blind one historically to the other fact that it was Larkin who first effectively brought the old incoherent national emotions into Irish twentieth-century labour relations."
The song's description of fighting the Peelers in 1913 appears to be a reference to events of August 31, 1913. Larkin had been arrested for seditious libel on August 28, but was released on bail. He was supposed to speak in Dublin on August 31. He appeared in disguise, but it was clear it was him. Once the crowd started cheering him, the police attacked the crowd, resulting in one death and many injuries (O'Connor, p. 56). - RBW
File: OLcM020
===
NAME: Jim Porter's Shanty Song: see The Lumber Camp Song (File: Doe210)
===
NAME: Jim Ross Song, The
DESCRIPTION: Ross, "an elderly gent" courts Mary Ann, "the pride of Dundas," offering "houses and lands" because he has little money. She agrees to marry but does not appear for the wedding. She explains why she changed her mind [the song breaks here].
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: age courting wedding rejection
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 112-113, "The Jim Ross Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12459
NOTES: Dundas is near the east coast of Kings, Prince Edward Island. - BS
File: Dib112
===
NAME: Jim the Roper
DESCRIPTION: "The dug him a grave at the set of the sun, His riding was over, his roping was done." The cowboys bury Jim, and return to "their cabins, deserted and lorn." "No sound save the Yellowstone dashing a-foam." Jim's ghost is seen be the rive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Larkin)
KEYWORDS: death burial cowboy ghost
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Larkin, pp. 164-165, "Jim the Roper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5764
File: Lark164
===
NAME: Jim Whalen: see James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC07)
===
NAME: Jim, the Carman Lad: see Jim, the Carter Lad (File: FSC096)
===
NAME: Jim, the Carter Lad
DESCRIPTION: The carter/driver reports on his happy life: "Crack, crack, goes my whip, I whistle and I sing, I sit upon my wagon, I'm as happy as a king." He ignores bad weather, recalls being trained by his father, and tells of courting his sweetheart in the cart
AUTHOR: E. H. Harding?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1870
KEYWORDS: work travel courting
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Ireland Britain(England(North,South),Scotland)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
FSCatskills 96, "The Stage Coach Driver's Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 244-245, "Jim the Carter Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 228, "Jim, the Carter Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H171, p. 40, "Jim, the Carman Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JIMCART*
Roud #1080
RECORDINGS:
Jack Goodfellow, "Jim The Carter Lad" (on FSB3)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (lyrics)
File: FSC096
===
NAME: Jimmie and Nancy: see Nancy of Yarmouth (Jemmy and Nancy; The Barbadoes Lady) [Laws M38] (File: LM38)
===
NAME: Jimmie Brown the Newsboy
DESCRIPTION: Singer, Jimmie Brown, the newsboy of the town, wears no hat or shoes, and is cold and hungry. [He wanders from place to place.] He tells of his drunkard father, who  has abandoned the family. His mother says he will "sell the gospel news" in heaven
AUTHOR: A. P. Carter?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Carter Famiy)
KEYWORDS: poverty travel abandonment work drink father worker
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, JIMBROWN
Roud #4996
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "Jimmie Brown, the Newsboy" (Victor 23554, 1931; Montgomery Ward M-5027, 1936; rec. 1929)
Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & the Foggy Mountain Boys, "Jimmie Brown, the Newsboy" (Columbia 20830, 1951)
NOTES: Almost no one lists a composer for this song, but the Harry Fox Agency has two separate listings. One is for A. P. Carter, the other is for Jimmy Rodgers and George Vaughan. I'm inclined to believe the former, since I've found no evidence Rodgers ever recorded the song, but on the other hand he seems to have collaborated with Vaughan on at least one other song. - PJS
File: RcJBtNew
===
NAME: Jimmie Crack Corn: see The Blue-Tail Fly [Laws I19] (File: LI19)
===
NAME: Jimmie Jones: see Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)
===
NAME: Jimmie Jot: see Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4] (File: LC04)
===
NAME: Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4]
DESCRIPTION: Jimmie tries to break a logjam and is drowned. His badly cut up body is recovered the next day. He is mourned by sweetheart, family, and fellow workers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws C4, "Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River)"
Warner 18, "Jamie Judge (or, Bonshee River)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 55, "The Beau Shai River" (2 texts, one entitled "Jimmie Jot")
Gardner/Chickering 112, "Jimmie Judd" (1 fragmentary text)
Fowke-Lumbering #29, "Jimmy Judge" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
DT 680, JIMJUDGE
Roud #636
NOTES: Fowke quotes Gravelle to the effect that James Angus Dudge was born in Quebec in 1846, but Gravelle can only speculate about the date of his death; he suspects the date was c. 1866. - RBW
File: LC04
===
NAME: Jimmie Rendal: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jimmie Whalen: see Lost Jimmie Whalen [Laws C8]; also James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC08)
===
NAME: Jimmie Whalen's Girl: see Lost Jimmie Whalen [Laws C8]; also James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC08)
===
NAME: Jimmie-Ma-Riley-Oh!: see Jimmy My Riley (File: Br3195)
===
NAME: Jimmy: see On Top of Old Smokey (File: BSoF740)
===
NAME: Jimmy and his Own True Love [Laws O30]
DESCRIPTION: Jimmy and Annie are out walking one fine day just before he sets sail. She bids him farewell and gives him a diamond ring as a token of her love. He promises to return to her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1841 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(276))
KEYWORDS: courting sea farewell ring
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws O30, "Jimmy and his Own True Love"
Mackenzie 44, "Jimmy and His Own True Love" (1 text)
DT 485, JIMMTRUE
Roud #958
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(276), "Sailor and his Truelove," J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840; also Firth c.12(147), Harding B 17(266b), "[The] Sailor and his Truelove"; Firth c.12(149) , "Jemmy's Farewell" ("As a sailor and his true love one morning in May") 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jimmy and Nancy (III)" (plot)
File: LO30
===
NAME: Jimmy and I Will Get Married: see The Lover's Curse (Kellswater) (File: HHH442)
===
NAME: Jimmy and Nancy (I): see Nancy of Yarmouth (Jemmy and Nancy; The Barbadoes Lady) [Laws M38] (File: LM38)
===
NAME: Jimmy and Nancy (II): see A Seaman and His Love (The Welcome Sailor) [Laws N29] (File: LN29)
===
NAME: Jimmy and Nancy (III)
DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells his true love "It is all for your sweet sake I am bound to cross the ocean." Her mother and father are against them but she will not turn against him. He promises to be true. They kiss and part; she wishes him well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: love separation dialog lover sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 528-529, "Jimmy and Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 52, "Jimmy and Nancy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #958
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jimmy and his Own True Love" [Laws O30] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jimmy and Nancy the Departure
Lisbon
NOTES: Roud lumps this with Laws O30, "Jimmy and his Own True Love." It's a difficult question, since the only field collection of O30 in Laws is from Mackenzie. But the Mackenzie version revolves around the giving of the ring. Until and unless I see the broadsides Laws cites, I'm keeping them separate.
In addition, it appears that at least one version of this song is entitled "Lisbon," a title usually reserved for "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)" [Laws N8]. Laws did not know any of the Newfoundland collections cited for this song. Again, we separate, because this has no cross-dressing theme or promise by the girl to come with him.  - RBW
This is not
Bodleian, Harding B 12(155), "William and Nancy's Parting" ("Come all you pretty maidens that have a mind to go"), Burbage and Stretton (Nottingham), 1797-1807; also Johnson Ballads 1597, Harding B 11(1999), Harding B 25(2062), Johnson Ballads 1059, 2806 c.18(336), Firth c.12(172), "William and Nancy's Parting"
or
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(332), "William and Nancy's Farewell," unknown, n.d. - BS
File: Pea528
===
NAME: Jimmy and Nancy on the Sea: see William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8] (File: LN08)
===
NAME: Jimmy Bell's in Town
DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy Bell's in town, Lordy, walkin' round, He got greenbacks enough, sweet babe, to make a man a suit." Bell preaches a sermon, warning of the dangers of hell; "All them sisters sittin' in the back corner Cryin' Jimmy Bell my man."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: clergy nonballad Hell
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 75, "Jimmy Bell's in Town" (1 text, probably partial)
File: CNFM075
===
NAME: Jimmy Folier: see Jamie Foyers (File: McCST084)
===
NAME: Jimmy Hughes's Feastio
DESCRIPTION: "Come, let us all to Georgetown go .. At Jimmy Hughes's feastio"; 100 are expected but only 30 show up. "The Senator arose with pride ...My son shall run the countrio. They turned him down, my darling boy, They did not know his worthio"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: rejection food party humorous political
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 12-13, "Jimmy Hughes's Feastio" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12484
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee: "When Senator J.J. Hughes received his appointment to the Senate he wanted his son to replace him as the local Member but his son was not nominated. A Testimonial dinner was held for the Senator in Georgetown but very few people showed up. It was written circa 1930." - BS
File: Din012
===
NAME: Jimmy Judge: see Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4] (File: LC04)
===
NAME: Jimmy Leeburn: see Jamie Raeburn (Caledonia) (File: MA085)
===
NAME: Jimmy Loud: see The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)
===
NAME: Jimmy Mo Veela Sthore (Jimmy, My Thousand Treasures)
DESCRIPTION: The singer misses Jimmy, who "travels the wide world o'er" on a quest for wealth. Her parents "never do give me ease." They want her to marry someone rich. She would go to the woods where no one will tease her and stay there until Jimmy returns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: courting separation money father mother
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 28A, "Jimmy Mo Veela Sthore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9782
File: OLcM028A
===
NAME: Jimmy Murphy
DESCRIPTION: "On the banks of Kilkenny... Is Joe Jimmy Murphy Who is lost and forsaken." "Tomorrow he will ride... through the city." "Tomorrow he will hang; But it's not for sheep-stealing But for courting a pretty girl By the name of Moll Figen"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: death execution playparty courting
FOUND_IN: US(So) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Belden, p. 291, "Joe Jimmy Murphy" (1 text)
Moylan 119, "Little Jimmy Murphy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7951
NOTES: Belden calls his text "possibly a game song, but certainly originally a song about a hanging, and evidently Irish." To me, his version looks like a serious song that took on a game-song chorus. - RBW
Moylan has "the serious song." From the description of Belden, I think the "game song" is close enough to Moylan that the songs should be kept together. [Perhaps more decisive is the fact that Belden's text seems to be nearly unique, though it has wandered far from the Irish roots. - RBW] Here is some more of Moylan
We gathered our pikes and flintlocks and green branches
And into old Wexford we soon were advancing.
Chorus: Skinny-ma-link, killy-ma-jo, whiskey, frisky too-ra-loo
Rank-a-diddle-i-doe, ding-doora-lie-o.
We fought through New Ross, Vinegar Hill and through Gorey
But it was the boys of the Cork Militia that deprived us of glory. 
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Luke Cheevers, "Little Jimmy Murphy" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes) 
Moylan: "This unusual piece appeared in the Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society in 1913. The note to the song says that it was heard by the informant being sung by a street-singer in Liverpool in 1830." - BS
For the battles of New Ross, Gorey, etc., see the notes to "Father Murphy (I)" and the various cross-references there. - RBW
File: Beld291
===
NAME: Jimmy My Riley
DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy-my-Riley was a grand old rascal, Jimmy-my-Riley ho (x2)." "Pick it up and shuck it up and throw it over yonder." "The cows in the old field hornin' Jimmy Riley." "The mules in the old field kickin' Jimmy Riley."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad food work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 195, "Jimmy My Riley" (1 text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 188, "Jimmie-Ma-Riley-Oh!" (1 short text); Scarborough has another stanza which she files here though it looks to me as if it might be a much-debased version of "Reuben Ranzo" or something like that
NOTES: As often happens with items like this, the Borwn and Scarborough verses don't have quite the same format. But the chorus line seems enough reason to lump. - RBW
File: Br3195
===
NAME: Jimmy Randal: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jimmy Randolph: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jimmy Ransome: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jimmy Rose
DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy Rose he went to town (x3) To 'commodate the ladies." "Fare ye well, ye ladies all (x3), God Almighty bless you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 100, "Jimmy Rose" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, p. 211, "Jimmy Rose" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST SBoA211 (Full)
Roud #11596
File: SBoA211
===
NAME: Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo
DESCRIPTION: "If you want a situation and you'd like to know the plan To get on a station... Pack up the old portmanteau and label it Paroo, with a name that's aristocratic -- Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo." The song details how the "aristocratic" name can bring benefits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: Australia work
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 130-131, "Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8394
File: MA130
===
NAME: Jimmy Walsh and Stephen: see Two Jinkers (File: Doy11)
===
NAME: Jimmy Whelan: see Lost Jimmie Whalen [Laws C8]; also James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC08)
===
NAME: Jinger Blue: see Ginger Blue (File: R298)
===
NAME: Jingle at the Window (Tideo)
DESCRIPTION: Playparty. "Jingle at the window, (tideo/dideo)....' "Pass one window, tideo...." Pass two windows, tideo...." "You swing heads... I swing feet... Ain't dat nice... walkin' on de ice."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (JAFL 24)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 525, "Jingle at the Window" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 208, "Tideo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 115-116, "Dance Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3597
NOTES: For the possible relationship of this to "Sugar in My Coffee," see the notes to that song.
Scarborough's version of this has stanzas twice as long (eight lines) as Randolph's, but presumably this is just the usual story of half the tune being lost. - RBW
File: R525
===
NAME: Jingle Bells
DESCRIPTION: In praise of sleighing in the snow. Taking his "one horse open sleigh," the singer courts Miss Fanny Bright. Even a brief detour into a snowbank does not deter his ardor. The singer urges others to get a horse and sleigh and go courting
AUTHOR: James Pierpont
EARLIEST_DATE: 1857
KEYWORDS: horse nonballad courting
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 93-96, "Jingle Bells Or the One horse open Sleigh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Krythe (16), pp. 219-220, "Jingle Bells" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 376, "Jingle Bells" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 313+, "Jingle Bells"
DT, JNGLBLL*
File: RJ19093
===
NAME: Jingle-Berry Tea
DESCRIPTION: "Buck-skin moccasin tow-headed Bill, Once went a-courtin' up on the hill, The first one he courted was a pretty gal to see, Set right down to Jingleberry tea."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 416, "Jingleberry Tea" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7613
NOTES: Randolph informs us that "This is a fragment of a ribald song popular in the [1870s], and is said to have been brought west from Tennessee." However, he fails to give us enough additional detail to identify the song.
He also knew an informant who suggested the name be changed to "sassifras," on the grounds that "It's ag'in the law to print words like jingle-berry in a book." - RBW
File: R416
===
NAME: Jingo Ring (Merry-Ma-Tanzie, Around the Ring)
DESCRIPTION: "Here we go around the ring; Choose you one while we do sing; Choose the one that you love best, And she will come at your request." "Now you've got her, and I wish you much joy, You are my son and childish joy... Kiss her quick, and that will do."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap) Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fuson, p. 173, "Around the Ring" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 65, "(Here we go round the jing-a-ring" (1 text)
ST Fus173 (Full)
Roud #12970
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lipto" (lyrics)
File: Fus173
===
NAME: Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad: see Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad (File: FVS045)
===
NAME: Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, ken ye my love Johnnie, he lives doon on yonder lea, and he's lookin', and he's joukin', and he's aye watchin' me." The singer describes her deep fondness for (Johnnie/Jockie), and looks forward to a happy life despite his poverty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 45-47, "Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNLAD
Roud #6131
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Johnny Lad" (on SCMacCollSeeger01)
File: FVS045
===
NAME: Jinny Get Your Hoecake Done
DESCRIPTION: Fiddler's mnemonic for a moderately well-known tune: "Jinny, get your hoecake done, my love, Jinny, get your hoecake done; Jinny, get your hoecake done, my love, Jinny, get your hoecake done."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: dancetune nonballad food
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 158, "The Hoe-Cake" (eighth of 12 single-stanza jigs) (1 short text)
ST Fus158C (Full)
Roud #16825
File: Fus158C
===
NAME: Jinny Go Round and Around
DESCRIPTION: "Where did you get your whisky? Where  did you get your dram?.... Down in Rockingham. Cho: Jinny go round an' around (x3) Way down in Rockingham." The remaining verses may give reasons why the singer will not marry or describe river life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage drink dancing playparty floatingverses river
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 272, "Jinny Go Round and Around" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 233-234, "Jinny Go Round and Round" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 272)
BrownIII 389, "The Privates Eat the Middlin'" (1 fragment, probably a Civil War adaption of this piece)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 589, "[Number Ninety-Nine]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 711, "Where'd You Get Yo' Whisky?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 121-122, "(Number Ninety-nine)" (1 text, 1 tune)
MWheeler, pp. 24-25, "Master Had a Bran' New Coat" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R272 (Full)
Roud #836 (etc.)
RECORDINGS:
Earl Johnson & His Dixie Entertainers, "I Get My Whiskey From Rockingham" (Okeh 45183, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cindy" (floating lyrics)
cf. "A Railroader for Me (Soldier Boy for Me)" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Way Down in Rockingham
Rockingham Cindy
NOTES: This is an extremely problematic piece, recognized by the "Where did you get your whiskey" stanza. The rest is no unity, but the results are too fragmentary to classify as separate songs.
Almost all of these lyrics of some versions show up in one or another version of the "Cindy/Jubilee" family, but the chorus is different, so I've separated them. The Botkin Mississippi River piece (compare Courlander's) is almost equally remote from both "Cindy" and "Jinny," but not worth another entry, so I file it here.
Paul Stamler notes another piece, "Rockingham Cindy"; I suspect that to be a variant of this one.
The chorus "Jinny go round..." does not appear in all versions; I don't know if it is an addition to the Randolph text or if it dropped out of the usual versions sung by old-time singers. - RBW
File: R272
===
NAME: Jinny Jenkins: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: Joan and John Blount: see Get Up and Bar the Door [Child 275] (File: C275)
===
NAME: Joan's Ale Is Good: see When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)
===
NAME: Job: see Come All You Worthy Christian Men (File: ShH91)
===
NAME: Job, Job
DESCRIPTION: "Oh Job, Job, good Lord, Tell me how you feel, good Lord." Sundry Biblical incidents are narrated: Pilate's wife and her dream of Jesus, Joshua stopping the sun, etc. Verses are very long, with variable numbers of lines 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recordings, Rich Amerson, Dock Reed-Vera Hall Ward)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 53-56, "(Job, Job)" (1 text); pp. 225-226, "Job, Job" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10964
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "Job Job" (on NFMAla4)
Dock Reed & Vera Hall Ward, "Job Job" (on NFMAla5) (on ReedWard01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Swing Low" (a few lines)
NOTES: The account of Joshua stopping the sun is found in Joshua 10:12-13. Pilate's wife's dream is found in Matthew 27:19 (only; the other gospels have no hint of the story). - RBW
File: CNFM225
===
NAME: Jock Gheddes and the Soo
DESCRIPTION: Jock's mother warned him to "Come hame sober" but Jock "as usual soon forgot." Arriving home he falls in a dung hill where a sow, liking the smell, licks his mouth. Jock wakes, "spat for near an hour," has the pig killed, and has not had whisky since.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, Willie Scott)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous animal death
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5130
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "Jock Gheddes and the Soo" (on Voice13)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Courtin' in the Stable (The Workin' Steer)" (plot)
cf. "Doran's Ass [Laws Q19]" (plot)
File: RcJGatSo
===
NAME: Jock Hawk
DESCRIPTION: "One night I into Glesga went To spend my penny fee, Twas then a girl gave consent To bear me company." They go to a tavern. A crowd of sailors comes in -- then are called away. Jock is left to pay the entire bill. He warns others of the trick
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: drink money trick sailor warning
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 278-279, "Jock Hawk's Adventures in Glasgow" (1 text)
Roud #2311
File: Ord278
===
NAME: Jock o Hazeldean: see John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)
===
NAME: Jock o the Side [Child 187]
DESCRIPTION: Jock o the Side has been taken prisoner in a raid. His neighbors hope to ransom him, but (Hobie Noble/The Laird's Jock) will free him with five men. They make their way to Jock's prison, break down the doors and perform other feats, and bring Jock away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1774 (Percy papers)
KEYWORDS: borderballad prisoner escape rescue
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 187, "Jock o the Side" (4 texts)
Bronson 187, "Jock o the Side" (4 versions)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 145-147, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text, 1 tune) {Compare Bronson's #3, a variant of the same tune but with different text}
Friedman, p. 246, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
OBB 138, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
Warner 191, "Bold Dickie and Bold Archie" (1 text, 1 tune, primarily Child 188 but possibly with elements of 187)
TBB 25, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
DT (187/188), JOCKSIDE JOHNWEBB*? BOLDARCH*?
Roud #82
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hobie Noble" [Child 189] (characters)
cf. "Archie o Cawfield" [Child 188] (plot)
NOTES: Jock o' the Side (Side is a region in Liddesdale) was a well-known thief and raider of the 1560s. - SF
It is interesting to note that (apart from Jock himself), the characters in this drama are completely unfixed; in one version, Robin Hood's companion Much the miller's son is one of the raiders (and not a very bold one). - RBW
File: C187
===
NAME: Jock o' Rhynie (The Praise o' Huntley)
DESCRIPTION: "I've been abroad, I've been at hame... But noo I've come to Huntley." The singer escapes his parents and sets out to earn his fee. His parents offer no support. After working with Mr. Stephen and Jock o' Huntley, he vows to be "mair wiser."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: work farming father mother
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 338-339, "In Praise o' Huntley" (1 text)
Roud #3943
File: Ord338
===
NAME: Jock Scott
DESCRIPTION: Jock recalls the first time he saw Mary, whose beauty ensnared him. He takes a job with her father, and wins her heart. They plan to flee. Her father follows and drags her away. When they try again, he is accused of forgery. He hopes to win free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting servant father punishment trick
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 448-450, "Jock Scott" (1 text)
Roud #5620
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry Connors" [Laws M5] (plot)
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" [Laws M6] (plot)
cf. "William Riley's Courtship [Laws M9]" (plot)
cf. "Jock Scott" (plot)
cf. "The Footboy" (plot)
File: Ord448
===
NAME: Jock Sheep
DESCRIPTION: A lady asks a knight not to lie with her "for spoilin' o' my goun." She asks that he take her to her father's castle first. Once there she shuts the door in his face. Disguised as a lady in labor the knight lures her out and rapes her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Jock Sheep, a knight, and a lady set a tryst but she asks him not to lie with her "for spoilin' o' my goun." She asks that he take her to her father's castle where "ye shall hae your wills o' me." Once there she shuts the door in his face. Then she taunts him by comparing him to a marigold, and impotent cock and impotent stallion. He disguises himself as a lady in labor in the wood. When his lady goes to "her" aid she finds Jock. He rapes her, repeating her taunts. She asks that "sin you've taen your wills o' me You may conduct me hame." He does.
KEYWORDS: seduction escape trick knight rape disguise
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kinloch-BBook V, pp. 17-21, "Jock Sheep" (1 text)
DT JOCKSHEP
Roud #5862
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Baffled Knight [Child 112]" (plot)
cf. "The Broomfield Hill [Child 43]" (first verse)
cf. "The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4]" (motif: "damsel in distress" as lure)
NOTES: Child notes to 112, "The Baffled Knight": "There is a Scottish ballad in which the tables are turned upon the maid in the conclusion. This being of comparatively recent, and not of popular, but of low literary origin, cannot be admitted here. It can be found in Kinloch's Ballad Book, 'Jock Sheep,' p. 16, and the Kinloch MSS, I, 229, communicated by James Beattie, Mearnsshire. Other versions are, in the Campbell MSS, 'Dernie Hughie,' II, 233; 'Jock Sheep, or, The Maiden Outwitted,' Buchan MSS, I, 155."
The first verse of Kinloch matches "The Broomfield Hill," Child 43A and Child 43C, which sets a different tone than Child 112: here Jock and the lady set the tryst; in Child 112 (as in other Child 43 versions) the meeting is not planned. What is not clear here is why the lady changes her mind; the lady's dilemna described in "The Broomfield Hill" is not stated here.
The version of Child 112 closest to "Jock Sheep" is version D.b. The taunts -- the marigold, impotent cock and shy stallion -- are only in that version of Child 112. In other versions of "Jock Sheep" references to an impotent bull and ram are added to the list (for example, Greig-Duncan). - BS 
File: C112A
===
NAME: Jock Stewart (The Man You Don't Meet Every Day)
DESCRIPTION: (Jock Stewart) invites the company to enjoy his generosity. "So be easy and free when you're drinking with me; I'm a man you don't meet every day" The singer may talk of his well-built hut, his hunting trips, or whatever people discuss in pubs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink hunting friend
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland US(So) Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 476, "The Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 161-162, 286, "A Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (2 texts, 2 tunes, heavily localized)
DT, JSTEWART*
Roud #975
RECORDINGS:
Cornelius O'Sullivan, "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (Victor 79126, late 1920s-early 1930s)
Belle, Sheila, and Cathie Stewart, "Jock Stewart" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bound to Australia" (meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "The First of the Emigrants" (tune, meter, chorus)
File: R476
===
NAME: Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant [Child 282]
DESCRIPTION: A "merry merchant" comes to a tavern and finds himself in a series of contests with (a disguised) Jock the Leg. They set out together, and Jock demands the merchant's pack. The merchant fights him off, then six of his men as well; they declare friendship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: robbery outlaw fight
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 282, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (1 text)
Bronson 282, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (7 versions)
DT, JOCKLEG*
Roud #3856
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" [Child 132] (plot)
NOTES: Child observes that this is essentially a Robin Hood ballad with the names changed. One wonders if it might not be a Scottish redaction of "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood." - RBW
File: C282
===
NAME: Jockey Hat and Feather
DESCRIPTION: "As I was walking out one day A-thinking of the weather I saw a pair of roguish eyes 'Neath a hat and feather." The girl asks how the singer likes her hat. He likes it (or her?) very much. She leaves; he misses her, and dreams of the hat
AUTHOR: Fred Wilson and W. H. Brockway
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: clothes dream loneliness separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 490, "Jockey Hat and Feather" (1 text)
Gilbert, p. 59, "Jockey Hat and Feather" (1 text)
Roud #7586
NOTES: Spaeth (_A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 173) says that this was "one of a large group of songs [in the 1860s] that discussed details of feminine attire," but mentions only this and "Tassels on Her Boots." - RBW
File: R490
===
NAME: Jockey to the Fair
DESCRIPTION: Jocky puts on his Sunday suit and goes to Jenny's house, wakes her by tapping at the window. Jenny says, "Everyone's asleep or out: are you going to hold to your vows?" He says yes. They run off to the Fair and get married. Returning, they bless the day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(118d))
KEYWORDS: love clothes elopement marriage courting sex promise family
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(England(South,West), Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 90-92, "Jockey to the Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 170-171, "Jocky to the Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3344
RECORDINGS:
Edmund Henneberry, "Jocky to the Fair" (on NovaScotia1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(118d), "Jocky and Jennys Trip to the Fair," J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 16(119a), Firth b.26(244), Harding B 11(1884), "Jocky and Jenny's Trip to the Fair"; Firth c.19(152), Firth b.26(407), Harding B 11(1886), Firth b.26(372), Harding B 25(972), Harding B 28(64), "Jockey to the Fair"; 2806 c.16(62), "Jockey and Jenny"; Harding B 21(13), "Trip to the Fair"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
With Jockey to the Fair
NOTES: There's also a fiddle tune, "Jockey to the Fair", to which these words can be sung. As for the keyword "sex" -- it's not mentioned in the song, but you can believe what you like. - PJS
For another version see Robert Bell, editor, [The Project Gutenberg EBook (1996) of] Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), "Jockey to the Fair" - BS
File: CrSe170
===
NAME: Jockey's Lament, The: see Alec Robertson (II) (File: MA146)
===
NAME: Jockey's Lamentation: see O'er the Hills and Far Away (I) (File: Arn017)
===
NAME: Jocky Said to Jeanie
DESCRIPTION: "Jocky said to Jeanie, wilt thou do't? Ne'er a fit, quo' Jeannie, for my tocher good." She says her dowry is too good for such as him. He says he has gold, gear, and land. She consents: "Ye're welcomer to tak me than to let me be."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1796 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: love courting dowry
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 22, "Jocky Said to Jinnie" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ST CrNS022 (Full)
Roud #1792
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jocky Said to Jeany
NOTES: Creighton-NovaScotia heard this song in Gaelic and French as well as English and always to the same tune. - BS
My feeling is that Creighton's version was a local adaption. Her tune (in 2/4 and with a range of only a fourth) bears no resemblance to that, e.g., in the Scots Musical Museum (in 3/2 and with a full octave range). My guess would be that a Gaelic drone went into French and English. - RBW
File: CrNS022
===
NAME: Jocky Said to Jeany: see Jocky Said to Jeanie (File: CrNS022)
===
NAME: Jocky Said to Jinnie: see Jocky Said to Jeanie (File: CrNS022)
===
NAME: Jocky to the Fair: see Jockey to the Fair (File: CrSe170)
===
NAME: Jody Chant: see Sound Off (Cadence Count, Jody Chant) (File: LoF317)
===
NAME: Joe Bowers [Laws B14]
DESCRIPTION: Joe Bowers leaves for California to raise money to marry Sally. Returning home, he is irritated to find that she has married another, a red-haired man, and has a red-haired baby
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1856 ("Johnson's Original Comic Songs")
KEYWORDS: travel marriage infidelity settler
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,So,SE,SW)
REFERENCES: (20 citations)
Laws B14, "Joe Bowers"
Belden, pp. 341-343, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, apparently a collation of four versions, 1 tune)
Randolph 187, "Joe Bowers" (3 texts plus an excerpt, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 190-193, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 187D with the tune re-transcribed)
BrownII 258, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Hudson 70, pp. 197-198, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 751-752, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 431, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Warner 63, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 421-423, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 174, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 12, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 88, pp. 186-188, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
JHCox 50, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCoxIIB, #24A-B, pp. 186-187, "Joe Bowers" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 63, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 171-172, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 207, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Joe Bowers" (source notes only)
DT 381, JOBOWERS*
Roud #2806
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "Joe Bowers" (on Cansler1)
Logan English, "Joe Bowers" (on LEnglish02)
Jean Ritchie, "Joe Bowers" (on Ritchie03)
Pete Seeger, "Joe Bowers" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The State of Arkansas (The Arkansas Traveler II)" [Laws H1] (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Ghost of the Peanut Stand (File: CrSNB070)
NOTES: Various suggestions have been put forward regarding the author of this song; Laws quotes Louise Pound's attribution to John A. Stone (Old Put). Friedman advocates John Woodward. The Lomaxes mention the Johnson of "Johnson's Original Comic Songs." Belden alludes to Merwin's attribution to Frank Swift. I suspect the matter can no longer be settled. - RBW
File: LB14
===
NAME: Joe Bowman
DESCRIPTION: Singer and friends meet hunt-master Joe Bowman at dawn; they go out in search of game, and flush a fox. He runs swiftly and cleverly, but is killed in the end. All gather around the fire and drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (recorded from John Dalton)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer and friends meet hunt-master Joe Bowman at dawn; they go out in search of game, and flush a fox. He runs swiftly and cleverly, but is killed in the end. All gather around the fire and drink. Chorus: "When the fire's on the hearth and the good cheer abounds/We'll sing to Joe Bowman and the Uilswater hounds/For we ne'er shall forget how he woke us at dawn/With the crack of his whip and the sound of his horn"
KEYWORDS: death hunting drink animal worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 252, "Joe Bowman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1858
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard ('A Good Many Gentlemen')" (theme)
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (theme)
cf. "The Innocent Hare" (theme)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
NOTES: Joe Bowman (1851-1940) was a well-known and well-liked character in the Lake District; he hunted the Uilswater foxhounds for forty years. - PJS
Kennedy claims there are "many" songs about Bowman -- but cites only one, which he does not quote, and cites only his own recording of "Joe Bowman." One thinks Kennedy, as so often, has been a bit on the overenthusiastic side. - RBW
File: K252
===
NAME: Joe Brady and Dan Curley
DESCRIPTION: The singer claims that Joe Brady and Daniel Curley are innocent of Burke's murder but that the informer Carey, a confessed killer is free: "Carey is more guilty than any of the rest ... the daggers which had done the deed he broke them into bits"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: betrayal execution murder trial political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Chronology of the Phoenix Park murders (source: primarily Zimmermann, pp. 62, 63, 281-286.)
May 6, 1882 - Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish and the Under Secretary Thomas Henry Burke are murdered by a group calling themselves "The Invincible Society."
January 1883 - twenty seven men are arrested.
James Carey, one of the leaders in the murders, turns Queen's evidence.
Six men are condemned to death, four are executed (Joseph Brady is hanged May 14, 1883; Daniel Curley is hanged on May 18, 1883), others are "sentenced to penal servitude," and Carey is freed and goes to South Africa.
July 29, 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell kills Carey on board the "Melrose Castle" sailing from Cape Town to Durban.
Dec 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell is convicted of the murder of James Carey and executed in London (per Leach-Labrador)
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 84, "Lamentable Lines on Joe Brady and Dan Curley" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders) and references there
NOTES: For broadsides on the same subject see
Bodleian, Harding B 14(186), "Lines on the trial & sentence of Joe Brady and Dew Curly and others for the Phoenix park murder" ("All in high and low station who dwell in this nation," unknown, n.d.
Bodleian, Harding B 40(6), "Lines written on the execution of Joe. Brady ("Good christians all on you I call to hear my lamentation"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?),1850-1899; I could not download the image for verification.
Zimmermann p. 62: "The Phoenix Park murders and their judicial sequels struck the popular imagination and were a gold-mine for ballad-writers: some thirty songs were issued on this subject, which was the last great cause to be so extensively commented upon in broadside ballads." - BS
File: Zimm084
===
NAME: Joe Brook
DESCRIPTION: The singer leaves Grey Rapids in October 1924 and takes the train for Deersdale to go logging with Coughlan on Joe Brook. The crew has men from every country. Key men in the crew are named.
AUTHOR: Frank O'Hara
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS:  lumbering moniker
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 77-80, "Joe Brook" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 25, "The Joe Brook Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST IvNB077 (Partial)
Roud #1948
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: The song "describes life at Coughlan's Camp in a lumber operation for Geo. Burchill & Sons of South Nelson" near the Miramichi River. - BS
File: IvNB077
===
NAME: Joe Fowler Blues, The: see I'm Going Down the River (File: MWhee050)
===
NAME: Joe Hill
DESCRIPTION: The singer "dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, Alive as you and me." He points out that Hill is dead. Hill replies, "I never died." The singer describes the details of Hill's death; Hill answers, "What they forgot to kill Went on to organize."
AUTHOR: Words: Alfred Hayes/Music: Earl Robinson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (music copyright; the words are older)
KEYWORDS: death dream labor-movement lastwill
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1879-1915 - Life of Joel Emmanuel Hagglund, known as "Joe Hillstrom" or "Joe Hill."
1902 - Hill emigrates to the United States
Jan 10, 1914 - The Salt Lake City robbery/murder for which Joe Hill was arrested
1915 - Execution of Joe Hill for the murder
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Arnett, p. 175, "Joe Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, p. 95, "(Joe Hill)" (1 fragment)
DT, JOEHILL
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Joe Hill" (on PeteSeeger39) (on PeteSeeger48)
NOTES: The innocence of Joel Emmanuel Hagglund, "Joe Hill," is such an article of faith in the folk community that it was stated as fact in the earlier editions of this index. This even though they knew so little about the case that different sources gave different dates for his execution.
An honest assessment has to admit uncertainty. Facts are sadly few -- indeed, little is known of Hill's dozen years of freedom in the United States; even before his death, he was legendary enough that he is said to have been part far more labor actions than any man could possibly have participated in. He rambled -- but probably not as much as the tales imply. All that is really certain is that he was the best and most important songwriter for the IWW.
The story of his execution is even more troubling.
What is known is that a murder took place in early 1914 at a grocery store in Salt Lake City. John G. Morrison and his son Arling were slain.Arling managed to kill one of the attackers; according to Morrison's surviving son Merlin, he shot another in the chest. The killers left without actually taking anything.
Hill later turned up at a doctor's with a bullet hole in his chest. It was a clean injury; the doctor treated and released him.
Still, when the police looked for a killer, they found Hill with an injury that fit the description, and he had no alibi. Arresting him was certainly not unreasonable; how many guys were there in 1915 Salt Lake City with bullet wounds in their chests?
The problem was not the arrest but the trial. Hill attempted to defend himelf, all the while claiming the trial was fixed. This is probably overblown, but certainly the judge was prejudiced against him, and allowed the prosecution undue liberties. Hill, a non-lawyer, didn't know when to protest. No evidence could be presented to directly connect Hill with the murder (Merlin Morrison could not identify him), but with the city convinced he was guilty, and with no alibi except a vague claim about a woman's honor, he was naturally convicted.
One of those convinced that he should die was the governor of Utah. So the various calls for clemency and a new trial were denied. He was executed on November 19, 1915. He had written that he didn't "want to be caught dead in Utah," so his body was cremated and the ashes sent all over the country as a rallying point.
A good summary of the case is found in the December 2005 issue of _American History_ magazine. Author Ben Lefebvre sums up the whole case pretty well: "Whether Hill was guilty of murder or not, he clearly did not receive a fair trial, one that might have credibly determined the truth" (p. 62). - RBW
File: Arn175
===
NAME: Joe Jimmy Murphy: see Jimmy Murphy (File: Beld291)
===
NAME: Joe Livermore
DESCRIPTION: Joe Livermore captains Columbia from Eastport. "When we got to Eastport it was on the lucky day, Each man took his chest and no longer would stay, If we can't do no better boys, we'll stay on the shore And we'll never go to sea with old Joe Livermore"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: ordeal sailor ship
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 124, "Joe Livermore" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS124 (Partial)
Roud #1826
NOTES: The tune as given by Creighton doesn't quite match any version of the Derry Down tune I know, but that is clearly the basis for the piece; looking at the lyrics, I suspect this is derived from "Red Iron Ore." The similarity is great enough that I instantly felt I had met this song before, even though (to the best of my knowledge) I haven't. - RBW
File: CrNS124
===
NAME: Joe Slinsworth: see Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth) (File: R219)
===
NAME: Joe Steinberg: see Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth) (File: R219)
===
NAME: Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth)
DESCRIPTION: The singer, (Joe Stiner), has apparently recently arrived in the West when he is induced to join the army. After various adventures under General Lyon, the army he is with is defeated and he flees back to Saint Louis, vowing not to fight again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar foreigner battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 10, 1861 - Battle of Wilson's Creek
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Belden, pp. 362-363, "Joe Slinsworth" (1 text)
Randolph 219, "Joe Stiner" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 223, "(Joe Steinberg)" (1 fragment)
Roud #3592
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jolly Union Boys" and references there (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
NOTES: This song describes, with fair accuracy, the campaigns of Captain (later General) Nathaniel Lyon in 1861. The action takes place in Missouri, which was the northernmost of all slave states. Although a minority favored secession, most Missourians probably wanted to stay with the Union.
Governor Jackson, however, was not one of them. Having the machinery of state government at his back, he moved to take Missouri from the Union.
The Union governor, John C. Fremont, did little to prevent him, so Lyon, with the political support of Frank Blair, Jr., set out to circumvent him. Lyon captured the Missouri arsenal, then took Camp Jackson from Confederate General Frost. He then drove the Confederates in rout from Rolla.
Then Lyon made his mistake. He decided to risk his 5000 men against 10000 Confederates in a surprise attack. This might have worked (especially as Confederate generals Price and McCulloch hated each other), but Lyon's outflanking force (led by the inept Franz Sigel-- the Siegel of the song) was routed with small loss to the enemy.
The Confederates were now warned, and had a better than five-to-two numerical edge. Even so, the remnants of Lyon's little army held on all day, until their commander was killed. The senior surviving officer, Major (later General) Curtis, ordered a retreat.
Wilson's Creek was not really a costly battle by later standards; the forces involved were small, and so badly trained that they were almost unable to inflict casualties. But the campaign had been a hard one (it succeeded, all by itself, in preserving most of Missouri for the Union); it would not be surprising if a few soldiers refused ever to return to the army. - RBW
File: R219
===
NAME: Joe Turner
DESCRIPTION: "They tell me Joe Turner he done come (or "done come and gone") (x2), Got my man and gone." "He come with forty links of chain (x2), Got my man and gone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (copyright, W. C. Handy)
KEYWORDS: separation police
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Sandburg, p. 241, "Joe Turner" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 137, (no title) (1 fragment)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 265, (no title) (1 fragment), followed by p. 266, (Joe Turner Blues) (1 text, the Handy version)
Handy/Silverman-Blues, p. 104-107, "Joe Turner Blues" (1 text, 1 tune, extremely heavily adapted; the original tune, with a single verse, appears on page 17)
DT, JOETURNR*
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Going Down the River for Long
NOTES: Courlander reports that this was based on an incident on 1892, when a flood cost a number of people their livelihood. A storekeeper named Turner (though not Joe Turner) anonymously supplied their needs until he died, whereupon the gifts stopped.
It should be noted, however, that this does not match Sandburg's song at all, though it has the same lyrics as Courlander's fragment. Presumably Courlander's source adapted an older song to a local need. In support of this, we note that Handy/Silverman, though dating the song to the same time, regard Turner (actually Joe Tourney, brother of the governor of Tennessee) as the leader of a chain gang.
Scarborough tells a variant on the same story: Joe Turner was the brother of one-time Tennessee governor Pete Turner, and seems to have been an enforcer of Jim Crow laws, grabbing Blacks seemingly at random and subjecting them to prosecution in kangaroo courts.
The notes in Handy/Silverman regard this as the archetypal folk blues -- perhaps even the ancestor of the entire genre. The former statement may arguably be true; the latter I must seriously doubt. It seems more like the ancestor of the popular blues. Handy, according to Scarborough, admitted to using the traditional piece and supressing Turner the corrupt policeman and turning him into a missing lover. - RBW
File: San241
===
NAME: Jog Along Till Shearing
DESCRIPTION: "The truth, it's in my song so clear Without a word of gammon: The swagmen travel all the year Waiting for the lambin'." The shearers work when they must, drink when they can, and scratch along until the next shearing season begins
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: sheep rambling Australia
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 86-87, "Jog Along Till Shearing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 142-143, "Jog Along 'til Shearing" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOGSHEAR*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bow Wow Wow" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Big Gun Shearer" (plot)
File: MA086
===
NAME: John (George) Riley (I) [Laws N36]
DESCRIPTION: A stranger urges a girl to forget her lover; she will not. He tells her that Riley had been aboard his ship, and that Riley had been killed in battle with the French. She is distressed; he reveals that he is Riley and will never again leave her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Shield's _Songs and Ballads in use in the Province of Ulster...1845_, according to Moylan) +1818 (William Garret, _Right Choyse and Merrie Book of Garlands_)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise reunion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws N36, "John (George) Riley I"
SharpAp 82, "George Reilly" (8 texts, 8 tunes)
Brewster 39, "George Reilly" (1 text)
Eddy 37, "George Riley" (2 texts, although Laws assigns only the A text to this ballad; the B text, which is fairly short, might go with this or N37)
JHCox 95, "George Reilly" (1 text plus mention of 2 more; Laws's citations are far from clear, since he cites the same page reference under both N36 and N37, but Cox's printed text is clearly this piece; presumably he thinks one of the unprinted texts to be N37)
Moylan 9, "George Reilly Who Fought at Port Royal Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 592, JREILLY6
Roud #267
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The New-Slain Knight" [Child 263]
cf. "The Banks of Brandywine"  [Laws H28]
cf. "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" [Laws H29]
cf. "Willie and Mary (Mary and Willie; Little Mary; The Sailor's Bride)" [Laws N28]
cf. "A Seaman and His Love (The Welcome Sailor)" [Laws N29]
cf. "William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer)" [Laws N30]
cf. "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32]
cf. "Lovely Nancy (I)" [Laws N33]
cf. "Janie of the Moore" [Laws N34]
cf. "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35]
cf. "John (George) Riley (II)" [Laws N37]
cf. "The Mantle So Green" [Laws N38]
cf. "MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe)" [Laws N39]
cf. "The Banks of Claudy" [Laws N40]
cf. "The Lady of the Lake (The Banks of Clyde II)" [Laws N41]
cf. "Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token)" [Laws N42] (one of the most common of the ballads of this sort, often known as "John Riley")
cf. "Blackbirds and Thrushes (I)"
cf. "As Broad as I was Walking"
cf. "Come All Ye False Lovers"
cf. "Skerry's Blue-Eyed Jane"
cf. "The Banks of the Clyde"
cf. "The Banks of the Dee (II)"
cf. "Lurgan Town (I)"
cf. "The Banks of the Inverness"
cf. "Cairn-o'-Mount"
cf. "Drumallachie"
cf. "Down by the Seaside" (part of plot, lyrics)
cf. "Yon Green Valley" (lyrics)
cf. "Bleacher Lassie o' Kelvinhaugh"
cf. "The Lass of Swansea Town (Swansea Barracks)"
cf. "The Soldier's Return"
cf. "Billy Ma Hone"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
George Riley
John Riley
Johnnie Riley
NOTES: The theme of a lover coming in disguise and testing his love is ancient; there is a version in Ovid's Metamorphoses (VII.685 and following). Cephalus doubts Procris, and (disguised by the goddess Diana) comes to her and tries to get her to be unfaithful to him. She utterly rejects his advances.
In that case, however, the ending is not happy. Although they are reunited, and happy for a time, she eventually starts to doubt him (prompted perhaps by his earlier doubts?). She follows him as he goes hunting, and he -- hearing a rustling in the leaves -- kills her with a cast of his javelin.
Even older, of course, is the version in the Odyssey. - RBW
See the notes to "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32] for Mackenzie's discussion of Laws N36 as source for "The Mantle So Green" [Laws N38] and "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32].
[On April 12, 1782], Admiral George Brydges Rodney defeated the French Admiral the Count De Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes in the Caribbean and brought the captured French ships into Fort Royal. (source} Moylan; _George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney_ at the Wikipedia site). [See also Arthur Herman, _To Rule the Waves_, pp. 316-318; Herman notes that Rodney pioneered the attack from the leeward side, assuring that the French could not escape him by running; Herman also considers the battle to have re-established British naval dominance, which was not broken even in the Napoleonic Wars. - RBW]
Both Laws and Moylan make fight the battle between Rodney and De Grasse. Laws has Reiley serving on _Belflew_; Moylan makes it _Balflour_. Moylan notes "The Formidable was Admiral Rodney's own vessel. The Barfleur was the ship which captured de Grasse's flagship, the Ville de Paris." - BS
Brewster's version also mentions the Rodney/De Grasse battle; the ship in his text is the _Belle Flower_, though the date is April 10. Eddy has the date right; the ship is the _Belflew_. Cox also lists the _Belflew_ (and has the April 12 date); presumably their agreement was the basis for the name in Laws.
File: LN36
===
NAME: John (George) Riley (II) [Laws N37]
DESCRIPTION: A stranger urges a girl to marry him; she replies that, having lost her chance to marry Riley, she intends to live single. He tries again, asking her to come to (Pennsylvania); she refuses. At last he reveals that he is Riley, and offers to marry her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1817 (The New American Songster)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Ireland Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws N37, "John (George) Riley II"
Randolph 56, "John Riley" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BrownII 93, "John Reilly" (1 text, presumably this song though Laws does not list it under any Riley ballad)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 267-270, "Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor" (3 texts; the second, "The Sailor," with tune on p. 427, is this song; the first, "Young Willie's Return, or The Token," with tune on pp. 426-427, is "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35]; the third, "Billy Ma Hone," with tune on p. 427, seems to be its own song)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 135-136, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 34, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 82-83, "Young John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 79, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 210-211, "[John Riley]" (1 text, 1 tune, sufficiently abbreviated that the plot does not allow us to say which Riley ballad it is, but the first verse implies it goes here)
JHCox 95, "George Reilly" (1 text plus mention of 2 more; Laws is difficult to interpret on this point, but it appears he means one of Cox's un-printed texts to go here while the printed text in N36)
SHenry H826, p. 309, "James Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 149, "John Riley" (1 text)
DT, JREILLY2
Roud #267
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "John Riley" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01) (on PeteSeeger29); "Johnny Riley" (on PeteSeeger40)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. esp. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
George Riley
John Riley
Johnnie Riley
NOTES: The characteristic first verse of this particular Riley ballad runs something like
As I walked out one summer's morning
To take the fine and pleasant air,
There I spied a most beautiful damsel,
She appeared to me like lilies fair. - RBW
The first two Seeger recordings have distinctly different tunes. - PJS
File: LN37
===
NAME: John Anderson, My Jo (I)
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells how, when she first saw John, he was young, handsome, and her first love; now his hair is white, but she loves him still. They've climbed the hill together and must now totter down, but they'll go hand in hand and "sleep together at the foot"
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST_DATE: 1790
KEYWORDS: love age death hair
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 141, "John Anderson, My Jo (I)"
DT, JOHNAND3*
ST FSWB141B (Full)
RECORDINGS:
Henry Burr, "John Anderson, My Jo" (Victor 4557, 1906; Victor 16213, 1909)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo, John"
cf. "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (tune)
cf. "Cruiskeen Lawn" (tune)
NOTES: This sounds like a version of "John Anderson, My Jo, John" that's been so thoroughly bowdlerized that nothing remains but the aging motif. The overall mood of the two songs is so different that I've split them. - PJS
This is actually the Burns rewrite, published in the Scots Musical Museum (and fairly often reprinted, e.g. in Palgrave's _Golden Treasury,_ item CXCVII). Apparently Burns didn't dare publish the bawdy original, but liked the feeling of ths song.
Those who want to see an even stranger rewrite should examine "John Barleycorn, My Jo, John" (Logan, pp. 221-222), a parody in which grain is the singer's love. Another broadside parody is "My Bonnie Meg, My Jo" [NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(105), "My Bonnie Meg, My Jo," unknown, c. 1875], which deals with a man's problems with an elderly shrew of a wife.
NLScotland L.C.Fol.60(15b), "John Anderson, My Jo (A New Reading)," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890, is also a raspy dialog between husband and wife, in which they decide to go to bed and fight another day; it is probably a rewrite of the Burns version, though there might be some bawdry from the traditional version.  - RBW
File: FSWB141B
===
NAME: John Anderson, My Jo, John
DESCRIPTION: Singer upbraids her lover for rising so early and coming to bed so late, tells him he's aging and risking being cuckolded. She describes his attributes fairly explicitly, and her own, saying "'Tis all for your conveniency/John Anderson, my jo"
AUTHOR: Attributed to Robert Burns
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: age marriage sex husband bawdy
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 131-133, "John Anderson My Jo" (1 text, short and probably bowdlerized; Percy's first and final editions have some differences)
Silber-FSWB, p. 155 "John Anderson, My Jo (II)
DT, JOHNAND*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo (I)"
cf. "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (tune)
cf. "Cruiskeen Lawn" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
John Anderson, My Jo (I) (File: FSWB141B)
Johnny Bull, My Jo, John (File: SBoA118)
John Bull's Epistle (Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 172-174)
O Jimmy Fisk, My Jo, Jim (fragment in Cohen-LSRail, p. 91)
NOTES: It's clear that "John Anderson, My Jo (I)" is a thoroughly bowdlerized version of this song, but their mood is so different that I've split them. - PJS
There is still a third version, the Digital Tradition's JOHNAND5, which is a temperance song.
Burns may have had his hand in some versions of this text, but it is not all his; the "official" version, in the Scots Musical Museum (filed in the Index as  "John Anderson, My Jo (I)") is entirely Burns's work. - RBW
File: FSWB155A
===
NAME: John B. Sails, The
DESCRIPTION: A description of a horrible journey on the "sloop John B." Refrain: "Let me go home! I want to go home; I feel so break-up, I want to go home." Among the problems on the voyage: A drunken first mate who is arrested for robbery and a cook who won't
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: ship sailor hardtimes cook Caribbean
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 22-23, "The John B. Sails" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 280, "The John B.'s Sails" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 93, "John B. Sails" (1 text)
DT, WRKJOHNB
Roud #15634
RECORDINGS:
Rex Allen, "Wreck of the John B" (Mercury 5573, 1951)
Cleveland Simmons Group: "Histe Up the John B. Sail" (AAFS 418 B2, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sloop John B.
The Wreck of the John B.
NOTES: Although I have yet to encounter a version of this song actually describing the sinking of the John B., the craft is said to lie at the bottom of Governor's Harbor in Nassau, where its remains are considered almost a historic monument. - RBW
File: San022
===
NAME: John Barbour: see Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)
===
NAME: John Barleycorn
DESCRIPTION: John Barleycorn is proclaimed dead but springs  to life when the rain/dew falls on him. At midsummer he grows a beard; then men with scythes cut him, bind him to a cart, wheel him to a barn, and brew him into beer. The last verse praises his merits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1625 (broadside from the reign of James I)
KEYWORDS: resurrection death magic drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(NE) Canada(Ont,Queb) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Sharp-100E 84, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 276, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 56-57, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 216-217, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 89, "The Barley Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 156, "Sir John Barleycorn" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 101, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 46-48, "John Barleycorn" (1 text plus some excerpts, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN282, "As I went through the North Country"
DT, JBARLEY* BARLEY1
Roud #164
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Barley Grain for Me" (on Abbott1)
Austin Flanagan, "The Barley Grain" (on Voice14)
Haxey Hood singers and customers at "The King's Arms," Haxey, Lincs. "John Barleycorn" (on FieldTrip1)
Fred Jordan, "John Barleycorn" (on Voice13)
A. L. Lloyd, "John Barleycorn" (on Lloyd3, Lloyd5)
Pete Seeger & O. J. Abbott, "Barley Grain" (on Newport59/60)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 1408[many illegible words], "Sir John Barleycorn"("There was three knights came from the north"), W. Jackson and Son (Birmingham), 1842-1855; also Harding B 11(1189), Harding B 15(386b), Johnson Ballads 2847[some illegible words], "Sir John Barleycorn"; 2806 b.9(38), "The Barley Corn"
LOCSinging, as100660, "The Barley Corn," P. Brereton (Dublin), 19C 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Barley Grain for Me
NOTES: A version of this was remade by Robert Burns, but it is obviously older. - RBW
MacColl & Seeger  speculate that "John Barleycorn" was derived from the Scots ballad "Allan-a-Maut," found in the Bannatyne manuscript, 1568; its theme is similar. - PJS
Of course, the legend of the eternal grain is old -- as is the legend of the dying-and-resurrected God. Jesus, obviously, is the prototype of this, but there is also the Greek Persephone legend and others.
Incidentally, when Prohibition was passed in the United States, John Barleycorn was given a bonus funeral, beyond the annual supply. The February 2005 issue of _American History_ magazine showed an actual tombstone:
In Memoriam
John Barleycorn
Born B.C.
Died Jan. 16, 1920
Resurrection?
There are also broadsides commemorating his death, e.g. NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(099), "A Hue and Cry After Sir John Barleycorn," unknown, after 1720. The notes to the broadside state that this was made in respone to Robert Walpole's 1725 imposition of the malt tax -- but, in context, it seems likely that the idea was lifted from an early form of this song. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as100660 appears to be the same as Bodleian 2806 b.9(38) printed by P. Brereton (Dublin). - BS
File: ShH84
===
NAME: John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold
DESCRIPTION: Singer praises Barleycorn; his robes are rich and green, his head speared with prickly beard; when stricken down, he uses his blood for England's good. Chorus: "Hey John Barleycorn/Ho John Barleycorn/Old and young thy praise has sung/John Barleycorn"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1899 (Ford)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer praises John Barleycorn for his heroic qualities; his robes are rich and green, his head speared with prickly beard; when stricken down, he uses his blood for England's good. All, great and small, find his aid valuable -- he "makes weak men strong and old ones young and all men brave and bold". The singer praises ale, scorning all other drinks. Chorus: "Hey John Barleycorn/Ho John Barleycorn/Old and young thy praise has sung/John Barleycorn"
KEYWORDS: age drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South), Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 277, "John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 227-229, "Hey! John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2141
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Barleycorn" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hey John Barleycorn
NOTES: Although this shares subject matter and a few words with "John Barleycorn", it lacks the explicit death-and-resurrection plot of the latter, so I split them. - PJS
More interesting to me is the extreme similarity between the Ford and Kennedy versions.  The only substantial difference might be a mishearing on Kennedy's part: He transcribes the near-nonsense "fit nigh to serve the queen" for Ford's "fit knight to serve the queen." There are other differences, but they are such as might arise simply in a singer's minor variations between sessions. I have to think there is literary dependence. - RBW
File: K277
===
NAME: John Brown Had a Little Indian: see Ten Little Indians (John Brown Had a Little Indian) (File: R594)
===
NAME: John Brown Had a Little Injun: see Ten Little Indians (John Brown Had a Little Indian) (File: R594)
===
NAME: John Brown's Body
DESCRIPTION: In stirring cadences, the story of anti-slavery zealot John Brown's death is told: "John Brown's body lies a-mould'ring in his grave (x3); his soul goes marching on." "He captured Harper's Ferry with his nineteen men so true...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1861
KEYWORDS: Civilwar Black(s) death execution memorial burial rebellion slavery
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1800 - Birth of John Brown
October 16-18, 1859 - John Brown and 20 others (fifteen of them, including Brown's three sons, are white) attack the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, hoping to gather the weapons needed for a slave rebellion. Forces led by Robert E. Lee soon attack the rebels; only Brown and four others live to be captured and placed on trial
Dec 2, 1859 - Hanging of John Brown at Charlestown, Virginia
FOUND_IN: US(SE,MA)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
BrownIII 378, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, mixed, plus two of the offshoot "Hang (John Brown/Jeff Davis) from a Sour Apple Tree")
Doerflinger, pp. 72-73, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune -- a curious sailor's version that mentions Brown only peripherally and replaces the "His soul goes marching on" with "Then it's hip, hip, hip, hurrah!")
Hugill, pp. 442-443, "John Brown's Body" (1 text plus fragments of a German version, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, p. 40, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, tune referenced)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 158-160, "John Brown" (1 text, slightly modified by Huntington, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 37, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 528-529, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 84-85, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 62, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 305, "John Brown's Body" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 131, "Battle Hymn of the Republic (Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us? -- John Brown -- Glory Hallelujah -- John Brown's Baby Had a Cold upon His Chest")
DT, JOHNBRWN*
Roud #771
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "John Brown's Body" (on PeteSeeger24) (on PeteSeeger28) (on PeteSeeger29)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (tune & meter)
cf. "Marching On" (tune & meter)
cf. "Solidarity Forever" (tune)
cf. "Marching Song of the First Arkansas" (tune)
cf. "James Brown" (tune)
cf. "On to Washington" (tune)
cf. "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School" (tune)
cf. "The Bulldog on the Bank" (tune)
cf. "Pass Around the Bottle (As We Go Marching Home)" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Battle Hymn of the Republic (File: RJ19022)
Solidarity Forever (File: SBoA282)
The Bulldog on the Bank (File: FSWB399B)
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School (File: PHCFS100)
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Horror of the Ending of the Term" (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 101)
James Brown (Greenway-AFP, p.p. 38-39)
On to Washington (Greenway-AFP, p. 62)
My Pink Pajamas (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 34; DT, PINKPAJ)
Chicken Sandwich (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 11)
Glory, Glory, Pork Superior (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 21)
The Bulldog and the Bullfrog (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 47)
Glory, Glory, How Peculiar (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 106)
The Bugs Marched Down the Aisle (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 154)
She Waded in the Water (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 209)
Birmingham's My Home (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 245)
Oh, Ay Liff in Minneapolis (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 246)
NOTES: The well-known tune of this piece, "Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us," is often credited to William Steffe, but I know of no absolute proof of this. The "John Brown" words were composed within months of the anti-slavery crusader's death, and had spread throughout the Union by the early stages of the Civil War. (Note that Huntington has a version from 1861!)
I have seen it argued that the "John Brown" of the song was not the abolitionist but an obscure American soldier (Irwin Silber describes him as "Sergeant John Brown, a Scotsman, a member of the Second Battalion, Boston Light Infantry Volunteer Militia," who later joined the Twelfth Massachusetts). I suppose this is possible -- but everyone interpreted it to mean the fanatic who captured Harper's Ferry. - RBW
File: Doe072b
===
NAME: John Bruce o the Forenit
DESCRIPTION: "At Martinmas term I gaed to the fair... I feed wi' a mannie to ca' his third pair, They ca' him John Bruse o' the (Fornit/Corner)." The song starts with a recitation of the poor conditions, then lists the folk found there -- including the pretty daughter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: farming work moniker hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
DBuchan 67, "John Bruce o the Forenit" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
Ord, pp. 229-230, "John Bruce o' the Corner" (1 text)
Roud #3937
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Bruce o' the Fornit
Jockey Bruce o' the Fornet
John Bruce
File: DBuch67
===
NAME: John Bruce o' the Corner: see John Bruce o the Forenit (File: DBuch67)
===
NAME: John Bull and His Crew: see The Irish Harvestmen's Triumph (File: CrSNB104)
===
NAME: John Bull Lives In England
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "John Bull lives in England, Taffy lives in Wales. Sandy lives in Scotland where there is all the girls. Paddy lives in Ireland as ev'rebody knows. There never was a coward where the little shamrock grows."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sternvall, _Sang under Segel_)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong home
FOUND_IN: Sweden Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 453-454, "John Bull" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13694
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy Magee's Dream" (theme of national comparison)
NOTES: The Swedish shanty book _Sang under Segel_ had the only previous printed version of this, but Hugill seems to think that it originated in England and migrated to Sweden. - SL
I think this is true at least of the words (though I don't know if they migrated to Sweden). Steve Roud collected a version of the text, and there are rather similar nursery rhymes floating about. - RBW
File: Hugi452
===
NAME: John Burke
DESCRIPTION: "Bad luck attend you Percy wherever you may be. You would not assist my Johnny for he's drownded ... in the flurry off Kerry Bay." His true love comes to the funeral "dressed in her rich robes" and they bid "adieu to Johnny as we all marched away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: death funeral disaster lament lover mother sister clothes
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 467-468, "John Burke" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea467 (Partial)
Roud #9791
NOTES: Peacock notes "I was unable to find any reference to this lament in the Irish collections at my disposal." Burke's name and "Bad luck attend you" seem Irish enough, but maybe it's not Irish. There's a Kerry Bay near Gairloch in northwest Scotland across the Minch from the Outer Hebrides. The ballad mentions a "far field of glory on the leeward shore"; what war is this about? - BS
The prevailing winds in Britain are generally from the west (northwest in summer, southwest in winter). So the windward shore is Britain, the leeward the Hebrides, or Ireland -- or, just possibly, North America. It's hard to imagine a battle in the Hebrides that would be commemorated in an English song. And Kerry is on the southwest coast of Ireland. So "Kerry Bay" might be Dingle Bay, or just possibly Bantry Bay (which is just south of modern County Kerry, but in the same general area).
The most noteworthy battle in County Kerry proper was probably Callan (1261), but that is surely too early. So my guess (and it's just a guess) is that this refers to 1796 and the Bantry Bay landing, for which see "The Shan Van Voght." This fits on other grounds, since Hoche's Bantry Bay fleet had suffered badly from a storm (December 1796) and did not attempt to land. - RBW
File: Pea467
===
NAME: John Cherokee
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Refrain: "Alabama John Cherokee, Way-aye-yah! Alabama John Cherokee." Slave who keeps running away is caught and put on board a ship, from which he escapes again. He's put in chains, and finally starves to death in the hold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917
KEYWORDS: shanty slave escape Indians(Am) ghost
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Colcord, p. 103, "John Cherokee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 439, "Alabama" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd,p. 330]
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "John Cherokee" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #4693
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Alabama John Cherokee
NOTES: Colcord and Hugill both state this is definitely of Negro origin, probably introduced to seaman by slaves stowing cotton. - SL
File: Hugi439
===
NAME: John Dameray
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus, "John come down the backstay... John Dameray." The singer's mother urges him to come home; he decides to do so, for he has "no money and no clothes." He vows, "From sea I will keep clear, and live by selling beer"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893
KEYWORDS: shanty drink poverty homesickness
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 8-9, "John Dameray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 272-273, "John Dameray," "Johnny, Come Down the Backstay" (2 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 201-202]
ST Doe008 (Partial)
Roud #9439
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Damaray
File: Doe008
===
NAME: John Done Saw that Number
DESCRIPTION: "John done saw that number, Way in the middle of the air." John the Baptist's preaching is summarized, and his baptism of Jesus described. The descent of the spirit on Jesus concludes the song.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Rev. Moses Mason)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible Jesus
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 61-64, (no title) (1 text)
Roud #11843
RECORDINGS:
Rev. Moses Mason, "John the Baptist" (Paramount 12702A, 1928; on AAFM2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel"
cf. "John Saw the Holy Number" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The feel of this is much like "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel," but the plot is purely New Testament (and the form argues that it is not the same as "John Saw the Holy Number," despite the similarity in first lines). The allusions include (where possible, I quote the text of Mark as the most primitive):
"John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance..." Mark 1:4; compare Matt. 3:1, Luke 3:2
"As it is written in the prophet Isaiah ["Esaias" in the song and the King James Bible]...
'The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
"Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight."'" - Mark 1:2-3; cf. Matt. 3:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23
"Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather girdle about his waist." - Mark 1:6; cf. Matt. 3:4
"In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." - Mark 1:9; cf. Matt. 3:13, (Luke 3:21)
"John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.'" - Matt. 3:14-15
"And just as [Jesus] was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit descending like a dove on him." - Mark 1:10; cf. Matt. 3:16, Luke 3:22, (John 1:32)
"The Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the Wilderness... [the Temptation]" - Matt. 4:1-11; cf.  (Mark 1:12-13), Luke 4:1-13. - RBW
File: CNFM061C
===
NAME: John Doolan: see The Wild Colonial Boy [Laws L20] (File: LL20)
===
NAME: John Dory [Child 284]
DESCRIPTION: John Dory gets a horse and sets out for Paris. There he meets King John. He offers to bring King John "all the churles in merie England" in return for a pardon. Dory  is overtaken by one Nicholl of Cornwall, who takes him prisoner after a sharp battle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1609 (Ravenscroft)
KEYWORDS: ship royalty pardon battle foreigner
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1350-1364 - Reign of John II of France (the only French king named John who lived during the Hundred Years' War)
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 284, "John Dory" (1 text)
Bronson 284, "John Dory" (7 versions)
OBB 133, "John Dory" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 93-96, "John Dory" (1 text, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #1d, #3, #1c}
ST C284 (Full)
Roud #249
NOTES: In addition to the citation from Ravenscroft, we find a reference to this song in Beaumont and Fletcher's _Knight of the Burning Pestle_; ActII, scene iv, line 35 reads, "Would I had gone to Paris with John Dory."
There is a fish, Latin name Zeus astralis, informally known as the "John Dory." It is apparently carniverous, approaching its prey cautiously and colored so as to resemble seaweed. I do not know if the name is in any way connected with this song. - RBW
File: C284
===
NAME: John Francois: see Boney (File: Doe006)
===
NAME: John Funston [Laws F23]
DESCRIPTION: Young, handsome John Funston robs and murders William Cartmell. Although an innocent man is first held, Funston spends money too freely; he is captured and condemned to die. His family claims his body from two doctors who want it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: murder robbery execution corpse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 9, 1825 - John Funston murders William Cartmell
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws F23, "John Funston"
Eddy 119, "John Funston" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Burt, p. 81-82, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 756, JONFUNST
Roud #2261
File: LF23
===
NAME: John Gilbert is de Boat
DESCRIPTION: "John Gilbert is de boat, di-de-o... Runnin' in the Cincinnati trade." Description of the boat's travels, her cargo, the crew. "You see dat boat a-comin', she's comin' round de bend, An' when she gits in, She'll be loaded down again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: ship travel commerce nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 276, "John Gilbert is de Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
MWheeler, p. 43-46, "John Gilbert" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 574, "John Gilbert" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10012
NOTES: Botkin reports (following Wheeler), "The _John Gilbert_ ran from Cincinnati to Florence, Alabama. She was built in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1881, and was named for Captain John Gilbert, of Evansville, Indiana, president of the Ohio and Tennessee River Packet Company." - RBW
File: LoF276
===
NAME: John Grumlie: see Father Grumble [Laws Q1] (File: LQ01)
===
NAME: John Hardy [Laws I2]
DESCRIPTION: John Hardy, a "desperate boy... who carried a (gun) every day," threatens to kill any man who wins his money. Finally he does lose his money and shoots the other. Hardy flees, but before he can leave the state he is taken, tried, and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1909 (JAFL22)
KEYWORDS: murder gambling execution
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 19, 1894 - Execution (in Welch, WV) of one John Hardy, convicted for committing murder during a gambling fight
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (18 citations)
Laws I2, "John Hardy"
Randolph 163, "John Hardy" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 244, "John Hardy" (3 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 103, "John Henry" (1 short text, which despite the title appears to have two "John Hardy" verses and only one of "John Henry")
Leach, pp. 759-761, "John Hardy" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 393, "John Hardy" (2 texts)
Lomax-FSUSA 85, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 141, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 124-126, "John Harty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 50, "John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 142, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 246, "John Hardy" (1 text)
JHCox 35, "John Hardy" (9 text, some of John Henry, some of John Hardy, some mixed: A is John Hardy with a John Henry second verse, B, C, and G are John Hardy with a John Henry opening verse, D, F, and I are pure John Hardy, E is John Hardy with material from John Henry and a "Pretty Little Foot" song, H is John Henry)
SharpAp 87, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 179, "(John Hardy)" (1 fragment)
Darling-NAS, pp. 235-236, "John Hardy" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 197, "John Hardy" (1 text)
DT 656, JOHNHARD
Roud #3262
RECORDINGS:
Clarence Ashley, "Old John Hardy" (Columbia 15654-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
Dock Boggs, "John Hardy" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1)
Carter Family, "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man"  (Victor V-40190, 1930; Zonophone [UK] 4294, n.d.; rec. 1928; Montgomery Ward M-4741, c. 1935; on AAFM1)
Eva Davis, "John Hardy" (Columbia 167-D, 1924)
Eve David [pseud. for Eva Davis?] "John Hardy" (Diva 6010-G, c. 1930)
Buell Kazee, "John Hardy" ((Brunswick 144, 1927; on BefBlues1, ConstSor1) (on Kazee01)
Frank Proffitt, "John Hardy" (on Proffitt03)
J. W. Russell, "John Hardy" (AFS 3163 A3, 1936)
Mike Seeger, "John Hardy" (on MSeeger01)
Pete Seeger, "John Hardy" (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger27)
Ernest Stoneman, "John Hardy" (OKeh 7011, 1925); "Justin Winfield" [Ernest Stoneman, Willie Stoneman, and the Sweet Brothers], "John Hardy" (Gennett 6619, 1928; on RoughWays1)
Fields Ward, Glen Smith & Wade Ward, "John Hardy" (on HalfCen1)
NOTES: Cox prints a copy of the execution notice for John Hardy, who was convicted of first degree murder. He follows this with assorted personal reminiscences about Hardy. Unfortunately, the texts he quotes are very confused (most include John Henry verses among the stanzas about John Hardy), and one has to suspect that the reminiscences are also confused.
We also note that Sharp was finding North Carolina texts of the song only 20 years after the murder -- a surprisingly quick diffusion. One is tempted to wonder if Cox's John Hardy is indeed THE John Hardy. - RBW
File: LI02
===
NAME: John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man: see John Hardy [Laws I2] (File: LI02)
===
NAME: John Harty: see John Hardy [Laws I2] (File: LI02)
===
NAME: John He Baptized Jesus
DESCRIPTION: "John he baptized Jesus; 'Twas all through his command. The Holy Bible tells us That John was a righteous man. Little children, our lodging's here tonight (x3), I know you by your little garments. Our lodging's here tonight."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 604, "John He Baptized Jesus" (1 fragment)
Roud #11914
NOTES: Unquestionably a composite. But of what elements? - RBW
File: Br3604
===
NAME: John Henry [Laws I1]
DESCRIPTION: The boss of a railroad crew has brought in a steam drill. John Henry, the best driver in the gang, vows he will never be outclassed by the machine. In a contest between the two, Henry is victorious (in most versions), but dies of the exertion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (JAFL)
KEYWORDS: train work death technology railroading worker
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (25 citations)
Laws I1, "John Henry"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 61-89, "John Henry" (2 texts plus many excerpts and a copy of the Blankenship broadside, 2 tunes)
BrownII 280, "John Henry" (2 texts plus 5 fragments, 1 excerpt, and mention of 1 more, but only the "A" text, plus probably the "C" fragment,  is this song; the fragments are of "Take This Hammer," "Swannanoah Tunnel," etc.)
Chappell-FSRA 103, "John Henry" (1 short text, which despite the title appears to have two "John Hardy" verses and only one of "John Henry")
Leach, pp. 756-759, "John Henry" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 383, "John Henry" (6 texts, but only three are true versions of "John Henry"; the rest appear to be variants of "Take this Hammer")
PBB 109, "John Henry" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 150-153, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 24-25, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 81, pp. 164-165, "John Henry (The Steel-Driving Man)" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 74, "John Henry" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax-FSNA 298, "John Henry-I"; 299, "John Henry-II" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the first containing a large portion of "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me/Been All Around This World" or a relative)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 3-10, "John Henry" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 240-241, "[John Henry]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 52 "Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand (John Henry)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 243, "John Henry" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 111, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 748, "The Death of John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune -- a strange version, sung, and partly spoken, by Dave Macon. It starts with the death and funeral, then goes back to the familiar story)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 111-115, "(John Henry)" (1 text); pp. 280-285, "John Henry" (3 tunes, partial texts); also pp. 137-138, "(John Henry)" (1 text, with a fragment of the plot of "John Henry" but many lyrics from "Take This Hammer")
JHCox 35, "John Hardy" (9 text, some of John Henry, some of John Hardy, some mixed: A is John Hardy with a John Henry second verse, B, C, and G are John Hardy with a John Henry opening verse, D, F, and I are pure John Hardy, E is John Hardy with material from John Henry and a "Pretty Little Foot" song, H is John Henry)
Darling-NAS, pp. 230-234, "John Henry" (3 texts plus a text of "Take This Hammer")
PSeeger-AFB, p. 82, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 107, "John Henry" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 123, "John Henry" (1 text)
DT 317, JHNHENRY* JOHNHENR
Roud #790
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "John Henry" (on NFMAla3)
DeFord Bailey, "John Henry" (Victor 23336, 1932/Victor 23831, 1933; rec. 1928)
James "Iron Head" Baker, "Little John Henry" (AFS 202 A1, 1934) (AFS 1853 B1, 1853 B2, 1937)
Dock Boggs, "John Henry" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
Big Bill Broonzy, "John Henry" (on Broonzy01)
Callahan Brothers, "John Henry" (Decca 5998, 1941)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "John Henry Blues" (OKeh 7004, 1924)
Bill Cornett ,"John Henry" (on MMOKCD)
(Joe) Evans & (Arthur) McClain, "John Henry Blues" (Oriole 8080/Perfect 181/Romeo 5080/Conqueror 7876, all 1931; on BefBlues3)
G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter, "John Henry the Steel Driving Man" (Gennett, unissued, 1927)
Fruit Jar Guzzlers, "Steel Driving Man" (Broadway 8199, 1928; on TimesAint03)
Woody Guthrie, "John Henry" (Stinson 628, mid-1940s)
Willie Hamilton, "John Henry" (on HandMeDown1)
Vera Hall, "John Henry" (AFS 1320 A2, 1937) [Note: Dixon/Godrich/Rye also identifies this AFS number with a Vera Hall recording of "Po' Laz'us"; one of them is clearly in error, but I don't know which - PJS]
Sid Harkreader, "John Henry" (Broadway 8114, c. 1930)
Sid Hemphill, "John Henry" (on LomaxCD1700)
Furry Lewis, "John Henry" (on FLewis01, DownHome)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "John Henry Blues" (OKeh 45101, 1927; on TimesAint02, ConstSor1)
Buell Kazee, "John Henry" (on Kazee01)
Ed Lewis, "John Henry" (on LomaxCD1705)
Furry Lewis, "John Henry (The Steel Driving Man), parts 1 & 2" (Vocalion 1474, 1930; rec. 1929)
Uncle Dave Macon, "The Death of John Henry" (Vocalion 15320, 1926) (Brunswick 112, 1927; Brunswick 80091, n.d.)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "John Henry was a Little Boy" (Bluebird B-6629, 1936); "John Henry" (King 550, 1946)
Earl McCoy, Alfred Meng & Clem Garner, "John Henry" (Columbia 15622-D, 1930)
New Lost City Ramblers, "John Henry" (on NLCR05)
Virgil Perkins & Jack Sims, "John Henry" (on FMUSA, AmSkBa)
Pete Seeger, "John Henry" (on PeteSeeger05) (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger47) (on PeteSeeger23)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "John Henry" (Edison 51869, 1926) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5194, 1926)
Glen Stoneman, George Stoneman & James Lindsay, "John Henry" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1702)
Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett, "John Henry"  (Columbia 15019-D, 1924; Silvertone 3262, 1926 [as Gibbs & Watson]) 
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "John Henry" (Columbia 15142-D, 1927)
Henry Thomas, "John Henry" (Vocalion 1094, 1927)
Welby Toomey, "Death of John Henry" (Champion 15198/Silvertone 5002, 1927)
Willie Turner, "John Henry" (on NFMAla6)
Doc Watson, Gaither Carlton & Arnold Watson, "John Henry" (on WatsonAshley01)
Williamson Bros. & Curry, "Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand" (OKeh 45127, 1927; on AAFM1, TimesAin't3)
Martin Young & Corbett Grigsby, "John Henry" [instrumental] (on MMOKCD)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Take This Hammer" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
Shelton Brothers, "New John Henry Blues" (Decca 5173, 1936)
NOTES: The popularity of this song is shown by its influence on other songs: Not only is John Henry's hammer mentioned in "Take this Hammer" and relatives, but it also inspired W. C. Handy's "John Henry Blues." Quite a record for a song which came into existence only well into the railroad age.
The bibliography of this song is huge, and no attempt is made to reproduce it here. Extensive attempts have been made to locate the historical John Henry; the latest, by John Garst, appears finally to be adding up to a sufficient case. But we may never have a "last word." - RBW
File: LI01
===
NAME: John Henry Hammer Song, The: see Take This Hammer (File: FR383)
===
NAME: John Hinks: see Jack Hinks (File: Doy09)
===
NAME: John J. Curtis [Laws G29]
DESCRIPTION: John J. Curtis, a coal miner, is trapped in an avalanche of coal after setting a dynamite explosion. When he succeeds in lighting a match, he discovers he is blind. He asks his listeners for kindness
AUTHOR: Joseph Gallagher
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: mining begging injury
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1888 - John Curtis, age 28, is blinded in a mine in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. He made his living thereafter by singing and selling broadsides of this song, made for him by Joseph Gallagher
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Laws G29, "John J. Curtis"
DT 711, JJCURTIS JOHNCURT
Roud #7724
File: LG29
===
NAME: John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
DESCRIPTION: "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt His name is my name too. Wherever we go out, The people always shout, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Da da da da da da da."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 240, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 199, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" (1 text)
DT, JJJSCHM*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "John Jacob Jinglehaimer Schmitt" (on PeteSeeger11)
File: FSWB240B
===
NAME: John James O'Hara
DESCRIPTION: John James O'Hara from Tara and Mickey McNamara from Mayo "are famous Irishmen no matter where they go." Now "we're returning back to dear old Erin's Isle"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: return Ireland nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 54, "John James O'Hara" (1 text)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
O'Hara From Tara, McNamara From Mayo
NOTES: This sounds to me as if O'Hara and McNamara were musical performers who went to the United States. There was a John O'Hara responsible for a 1941 music, "Pal Joey" (see Gilbert, LostChords, p. 353); with so little background from Tunney's song, I doubt we can tell if they are the same. It doesn't seem very likely. I can't find any candidates for McNamara. - RBW
File: TSF054
===
NAME: John Jasper
DESCRIPTION: "John Jasper was a man, as you all do understand, And he preach-ed to de people with a vengeance... And he preache'ed to de people dat de sun do move." Concerning the power of the preaching of Jasper
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious clergy
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1812-1901 - LIfe of John Jasper, originally a slave, who became a preacher in 1839 after a conversion experience and often preached a sermon, "De Sun Do Move"
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 605, "John Jasper" (1 text plus a fragment)
Roud #11915
File: Br3605
===
NAME: John Kanaka
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "John Kanaka-naka, too-li-ay." The sailors describe how they will "work tomorrow but no work today!" Some details of their trip around the horn on a Yankee ship are given
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977
KEYWORDS: sailor shanty work
FOUND_IN: Barbados
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Hugill, pp. 288-289, "John Kanaka" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p.212]
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 50-51, "John Kanaka" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JONKANAK*
Roud #8238
NOTES: "Kanaka" was a term applied to Hawaiian men. Whether this song is referring to that or to "Canucks" (French-Canadians) is obscure. - PJS
The term is used in Australia for Polynesians in general, especially those who worked in the Queensland sugar plantations. (It is said to mean simply "man.") I have to suspect that the song originally referred to the Polynesians, though of course northern sailors might have thought it meant Canucks. - RBW
File: FaE050
===
NAME: John Ladner
DESCRIPTION: John Ladner leaves PEI to find work in Saint John. Failing that, he goes to Maine and works six years in Madison. Thanksgiving morning he is crushed by logs he is rolling to a stream to be floated to the mill. Doctors cannot save him. He dies at 23.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: death lumbering memorial
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 29, 1900 - probable date of the death of John Ladner (see NOTE)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 40-41, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 60-61,248, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 26, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Din040 (Partial)
Roud #4061
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Peter Amberley [Laws C27]" (plot)
NOTES: This song is item dC40 in Laws's Appendix II.
Dibblee/Dibblee have a report that the grave "is in the Victoria West, P.E.I. Cemetery and it was dated circa 1895."
Ives-DullCare: "John Ladner, 33, of Victoria West was killed in a logging accident in Madison, Maine, on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1900." - BS
Manny and Wilson note a version which dates the accident to 1884. One must suspect confusion with something else - RBW
File: Din040
===
NAME: John MacAnanty's Courtship (The Fairy King)
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees MacAnanty courting a pretty girl, promising to make her his queen. She says she is too poor, and her parents and friends would be angry. He says they can sail around the world and return in a night, and that he has found no other like her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1873 (Joyce)
KEYWORDS: love courting magic beauty rejection
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H56, p. 354, "John MacAnanty's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6875
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Fairy King's Courtship
File: HHH056
===
NAME: John Malone
DESCRIPTION: "I'm going with Captain Murphy ... There's nothing to be had by us in this neglected Isle ... The Irishman that stays at home must wear the Union brand ... I'm sailing for Columbia's shore; may God send fair the wind ... pray for John Malone"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell sea ship America patriotic Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 81, "John Malone" (1 text)
File: Ran081
===
NAME: John Marshall
DESCRIPTION: "We're glad to see you, John Marshall, my boy, So fresh from the chisel of Rogers. Go take your stand on the monument there Along with the other old codgers." The singer tells Marshall of all that has gone wrong since his death.
AUTHOR: Innes Randolph?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: America judge political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1801-1835 - John Marshall serves as Chief Justice of the United States
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 236, "John Marshall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7709
NOTES: This song came out of the post-Civil War reconstruction of Virginia, when the southern states were still treated as occupied territory. The song portrays a state held in subjection, against what the singer views as the requirements of the constitution.
In defense of the Radical Republicans -- who put Virginia in this suppressed condition -- it should be pointed out that their view was that the Confederate states, by withdrawing from the Union, had committed governmental suicide and had therefore to be recreated.
John Marshall (1755-1835), of Virginia,  was not the first Chief Justice of the United States, but he was the first great head of the judiciary. At the very beginning of his term (1803, in the case "Marbury vs. Madison") he established the principle of "judicial review," i.e. that the Supreme Court was the ultimate guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. Although not explicit in the Constitution, this capacity is one of the chief regulators of the U.S. balance of power. - RBW
File: R236
===
NAME: John Martin, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye jolly fishermen a-going to the ice, Beware of the John Martin and don't go in her twice." Skipper Nick Ash is cruel; he throws the singer's teapot overboard and makes the crew work ever harder. They still gather many seal.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Murphy, Songs Sung by Old Time Sealers of Many Years Ago)
KEYWORDS: hunting ship hardtimes work
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, pp. 20-21, "The Song of the John Martin (1)," "The John Martin (2)" (2 texts)
ST RySm020 (Partial)
Roud #12524
NOTES: Doyle, who published this song in his 1927 edition, claims it was written by "in 1845 by John Reardon of Perry's Cove," but the earlier publication by Murphy does not list an author. Doyle also says the _John Martin_ was captained by John Bransfield, who is not mentioned in the song. - RBW
File: RySm020
===
NAME: John McBride's Brigade
DESCRIPTION: "In far-off Africa to-day the English fly dismayed Before the flag of green and gold born by McBride's Brigade." The Irish Brigade fights with Kruger against the English in Transvaal. "Remember '98". The flag will fly with McBride on Ireland's soil.
AUTHOR: (published by Arthur Griffith)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (_United Irishman_, April 7 edition)
KEYWORDS: army war Africa Ireland patriotic
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 92, "John McBride's Brigade" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune) and references there
NOTES: Zimmermann: The _United Irishman_ claimed the ballad "is being sung throughout Mayo" in 1900. "John McBride had become a major in the Boer army after forming an Irish Brigade in South Africa. He stood as a candidate for Mayo in the election of 1900, but was not elected. He was sentenced to death and shot after the rising of 1916." 
For more information about McBride's Brigade and the Irish support for the Boers see the book review of _MacBride's Brigade_ by Donald McCracken at the Republican Sinn Fein site. - BS
The reference is evidently to the second Boer War (the 1899-1902 conflict people usually think of when one mentions the Boer War). The first war (1880-1881) was almost more of a demonstration, in which the Transvaal and Orange Free State won something approximating what the Irish would have called Home Rule: they ran their internal affairs but let Britain handle foreign policy.
The second war was very complicated: The Boers had discovered gold, which the British wanted; on the other hand, the Boers were treating the Black natives even worse than the British.
But there was a lot more to it. The Boers of course wanted independence -- and, after the disastrous stunt known as the Jameson Raid (a private attempt in 1895 to control the Boers, but widely viewed as inspired by the British government), Kaiser Wilhelm II sent a telegram of support to Paul Kruger (1825-1904), the most important Boer leader. What should have been a colonial affair became an international incident.
The Boers were initially very successful, forcing the British to bring in a real army to suppress them. Many of these troops, ironically, were Irish; see "South Down Militia" for one of their songs. But, since the Boers were fighting the British, naturally a lot of Irish radicals supported the Boers.
It should be noted, however, that the two "Irish Brigades" which fought with the Boers were not from Ireland; they were locals. There was a pro-Boer movement in Ireland, but few men enlisted.
One of the Irish Brigades was insignificant; organized by a "Colonel' Lynch, it existed for only a few months, did not fight, and had few even of South African Irishmen (see Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being volume II of _The Green Flag,_ p. 148.)
The other Irish force was more significant. It even had an Irish-born Irishman: John MacBride (1865-1916). Upon his arrival, he was commissioned major, making him the second-in-command behind "Colonel" John Blake (an American emigrant to Africa who did at least have West Point training; see Eversley Belfield, _The Boer War_, p. 23); MacBride did command for a time when Blake was wounded.
Kee, p. 149, notes that MacBride's brigade "played, by comparison with those Irishmen in the British army, a totally insignificant part in the war. It existed only for one year, from September 1899 to September 1900, when it was disbbanded by the Boers and the men gave themselves up to the Portugese frontier post at Kamati."
Charles Townshend, in _Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion_, p. 10, comments on these troops that the "aid of a few hundred Irish miners was probably less valuable as military than as moral support to the Afrikaners."
MacBride would estimate that his unit would suffer 30% casualties -- yet, according to Kee, it lost only about 80 men, of whom 17 were killed. This implies that the "brigade" had an actual strength of 300-350 men, making it not a brigade but an understrength battalion. Presumably it was called a brigade because, well, there were lots of Irish Brigades. At least it makes it less unreasonable to have a major in command.
MacBride continued to find trouble even after coming home. In early 1900, he was nominated for parliament in a South Mayo by-election -- but was crushed by 2401 votes to 427 (Kee, p. 149).
This song may have been written in connection with that election, though it wasn't published until some weeks too late. Kee, who cites it on page 149, isn't clear on whether future Irish president Arthur Griffith -- at that time considered to be a rather militant nationalist, though he would come to be much more conservative -- wrote the piece or just published it.
MacBride in 1903 married the famous nationalist Maud Gonne; their son Sean was a major force in the IRA and in Irish politics after the Civil War.
MacBride did not participate in the planning of the 1916 rebellion (according to Michael Foy and Brian Barton, _The Easter Rising_, p. 89, the leaders "did not trust him to keep a secret"), but he joined the fighting "at the last moment" (see Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 240), and was executed on May 5, 1916. It will tell you something about Maud Gonne that she divorced MacBride after their son was born, then adopted his name only after his execution. To be sure, Golway, p. 204, calls him "a boor, often drunk and menacing"; Yeats would call him "a drunken, vainglorious lout" (Foy and Barton, p. 89).
If this song was indeed published in 1900, it was written at a time when the Boers seemed to be well on their way to expelling the British. The tide would soon turn. - RBW
File: Zimm092
===
NAME: John McGoldrick and the Quaker's Daughter
DESCRIPTION: John McGoldrick loves a Quaker's daughter. Her father opposes McGoldrick and frames him to hang as a radical. The girl gets the jailer and turnkey drunk. The couple escape and are captured. They are freed on the friendly testimony and marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1826 (Sparling)
KEYWORDS: love marriage manhunt prison escape freedom father
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn 98, "John McGoldrick and the Quaker's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 319-320, 512, "John M'Goldrick's Trial for the Quaker's Daughter"
Roud #3047
File: OLoc098
===
NAME: John McKeown and Margaret Deans
DESCRIPTION: "John McKeown and Margaret Deans, they were a matchless pair." As they sneak out, shortly before their wedding, she asks him to pick flowers. He trips and nearly falls off a cliff. She comes to his aid, falls over herself, and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting flowers death
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H129, pp. 141-142, "John McKeown and Margaret Deans" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9447
NOTES: This really sounds like it ought to have a moral at the end (though "don't sneak out to pick flowers on a clifftop" sounds a little strong). It's just that sort of banal-tragic song. There is no hint of such a conclusion in the Henry text, though. - RBW
File: HHH129
===
NAME: John Mitchel
DESCRIPTION: "I am a true-born Irishman, John Mitchell is my name... I laboured hard both day and night to free my native land." He is taken, claiming he committed no crime except loving Ireland. He is transported to Bermuda, but hopes a free Ireland will remember him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1848 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion punishment transportation
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 27, 1848 - John Mitchel is "kidnapped, and carried off from Dublin, in chains, as a convicted 'Felon'." (source: Zimmermann, quoting Jon Mitchel's _Jail Journal_)
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
PGalvin, p. 45, "John Mitchel" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H179a, pp. 125-126, "John Mitchel's Farewell to His Countrymen" (1 text, 1 tune); H179b, pp. 126-127, "John Mitchell (b)" (1 text, tune referenced)
OLochlainn-More 27, "John Mitchel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 59, "Mitchel's Address" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 92-93, "John Mitchell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5163
RECORDINGS:
"Pops" Johnny Connors, "John Mitchel" (on IRTravellers01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2467), "Mitchells Address," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also Harding B 11(1908), 2806 b.10(55), Harding B 15(205a) , "John Mitchell's Address"
LOCSinging, as108900, "Mitchell's Address," Taylor (Bethnal Green), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Granua's Lament for the Loss of her Blackbird Mitchel the Irish Patriot" (subject: John Mitchel)
cf. "The Wee Duck (The Duck from Drummuck)" (subject: John Mitchel)
NOTES: John Mitchel (1815-1875) was one of the leading literary lights of the Young Ireland movement of the early-to-mid nineteenth century -- a movement which at the start was generally peaceful and liberal, but earnest in its appeal for better conditions.
Mitchel came to prominence in 1847 when he founded the journal _The United Irishman_. This came in the aftermath of the potato famines. (For the background on the Rebellion and the Blight, see the notes on "Skibbereen.") Until that time, Irish nationalism, led by Daniel O'Connell (for whom see "Daniel O'Connell (I)"), had been relatively cautious and had worked in a constitutional framework. There were disagreements -- the Young Ireland party, which published _The Nation_, was a little more radical than O'Connell.
The famines changed that. O'Connell, the pure constitutionalist, was unable to get help from Britain, and then died. Some Irish stayed true to his memory, but the crisis was so severe that many took a harder line. _The Nation_ was one such, but they didn't really have a coherent strategy. That left room for a true radical: Mitchel.
Not only did he found a publication, he also founded United Irish Society. And he used is paper to publish tactical articles on how to fight oppressors.
It is interesting to note that many later leaders were inspired by Mitchel, but they viewed him very differently; some regarded him as a peaceful reformer, others as a fighter for Irish rights at any cost. (In the song, he campaigns for "Repeal," i.e. repeal of the Union with Great Britain; this was the slogan of O'Connell, and supporters of Repeal were generally peaceful.) According to Robert Kee (_The Most Distressful Country_, being Volume I of _The Green Flag_, p. 262), though, even such militants as Meagher (for whom see "The Escape of Meagher") tried to talk him into more peaceful methods.
Kee's comment on the situation (p. 263) seems to me to sum up the disastrous situation pretty well: Young Ireland and Mitchel "can be seen doing the wrong thing when no right thing was discernable. Cautious and sensible as was the main group, audacious as was Mitchel, both were utterly ineffectual. Mitchel was anxious to provoke a climax as quickly as possible. The others... continued to 'bide their time.' What they were really waiting for was a miracle." What they got was a fizzle.
In 1848, almost all of Europe was afire, with revolts in Italy, the Habsburg Empire, France. Few of the revolts were very successful; the Habsburgs, e.g. changed Emperors but not policies, and France got rid of Louis Philippe but soon replaced him with Napoleon III. And, unfortunately for the Irish, Britain was one of the few countries not so afflicted; she had the leisure to crush the abortive rising easily.
Not that it was a serious revolt; a more moderate man, William Smith O'Brien, eventually was pushed to try to raise a mob, but the whole thing ended with a scuffle in a cabbage patch; see the notes to "The Shan Van Voght (1848)."
Mitchel by then was out of circulation. He, Meagher, and Smith O'Brien had all been arrested early in 1848. Meagher and Smith O'Brien were released when the juries in their cases deadlocked (Kee, p. 268). But Mitchel, the most extreme, was convicted May 26 of "treason-felony," and sentenced the next day to fourteen years' transportation.
Despite the song, Mitchel and most of the other leaders of the rebellion ended up in Australia, not Bermuda.
[John Mitchel was indeed exiled to Bermuda in 1848 and subsequently moved to Cape Colony and finally to Van Dieman's Land (source: "John Mitchel of Newry" by John McCullagh (2003) on The Newry Journal site). - BS]
We should note, though, that he suffered far less in Bermuda than most. Although he was taken from Dublin in chains, from the time he went aboard ship he was in "minimum security" -- no shackles, no beating, and, when he arrived in Bermuda, no work ashore; he was allowed to stay aboard the convict hulk. (According to Kee, p. 269, the House of Commons actually inquired into why he was treated so well.)
Ironically, Mitchel was from a Protestant family, as was Smith O'Brien.
Lest someone claim that Mitchel was a man of true liberal principles, it should be noted that, after transportation to Van Dieman's Land, he escaped to the United States, where he edited various journals. And used those journals to advocate slavery -- in fact, according to Allan Nevins, _The Emergence of Lincoln: Douglas, Buchana, and Party Chaos 1857-1859_ (Scribner's, 1950), p. 438, Mitchel in fact produced something called the "honest human flesh program," His plan was to re-open the African slave trade, so as to drive the price of slaves so low that everyone could afford one.
Kee, p. 269, also reports that Mitchel approved of flogging prisoners I'd love to hear him explain how he would reconcile that with the Golden Rule -- or even with his own relatively kind treatment. - RBW
File: PGa045
===
NAME: John Mitchel's Farewell to His Countrymen: see John Mitchel (File: PGa045)
===
NAME: John Mitchell: see John Mitchel (File: PGa045)
===
NAME: John Morgan
DESCRIPTION: "The Baptists think they're a mighty big bug, But behind the door you'll find a jug. John Morgan! Till I die, I'll feed my niggers on chicken pie!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 432, "John Morgan" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Roud #7609
File: R432
===
NAME: John Morgan, Where You Been?
DESCRIPTION: "Says I, 'John Morgan, where you been?' (x2) 'Down on the Ohio a-tryin' to swim.' Says I, 'John Morgan, where's your hoss?' Says he, 'I lost it swimmin' across.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle questions horse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 2-26, 1863 - John Hunt Morgan's Ohio Raid (which also saw him operate in Kentucky and Indiana)
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', p. 66, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: Presumably a reference to confederate general John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864), perhaps the raid-happiest soldier in the western armies. In July 1863, he took a picked force on a raid into Kentucky. Although his superior Braxton Bragg had ordered him not to cross the Ohio, he did so on July 7, and continued chasing around until he and the remnants of his command were captured on July 26. Morgan would later escape, but this was his last major exploit, and he was killed in 1864. - RBW
File: ThBa066
===
NAME: John Morrissey and the Black: see Morrissey and the Black [Laws H19] (File: LH19)
===
NAME: John o Badenyond: see John of Badenyon (File: FVS51)
===
NAME: John o' Badenyon: see John of Badenyon (File: FVS51)
===
NAME: John of Badenyon
DESCRIPTION: "When first I came to be a man, of twenty years or so, I thought myself a handsome youth, and fain the world would know." The young man wanders, meeting girls and getting in trouble; after each disappointment, he "tuned my pipe to John o' Badenyon"
AUTHOR: Rev. John Skinner?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1806 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: rambling youth courting hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 51-55, "John o' Badenyon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2592
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John o Badenyond
NOTES: Ford is unable to explain "John of Badenyon," suggesting such possibilities as a mournful tune or a relative of the author. Personally, I suspect a figure of folklore who had a sad and difficult life.
John Wilkes (1725-1797) and John Horne Tooke (1736-1812), whom the singer professes to have followed, were radicals who fought for liberal causes. Both were arrested and imprisoned at one time or another, as were some of their followers. Wilkes was, in fact, elected to Parliament from Middlesex (producing the slogan "Wilkes and Liberty") but barred from serving. - RBW
File: FVS51
===
NAME: John of Hazelgreen [Child 293]
DESCRIPTION: A lady is weeping for John of Hazelgreen, whom she is not permitted to marry. She is offered marriage to another; this is little to her liking. By some means or other she meets Hazelgreen, and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: elopement love marriage separation
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) US(MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Child 293, "John of Hazelgreen" (5 texts)
Bronson 293, "John of Hazelgreen" (29 versions)
SharpAp 43, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5a}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 369-371, "Willie of Hazel Green" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #27}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 237-238, "Young Johnny of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 281-284, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Davis-Ballads 49, "John of Hazelgreen" (7 texts plus 2 fragments; the J text appears to have print influence; 3 tunes entitled "John o' the Hazelgreen," "John of Hazelgreen"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #3, #26, #2}
Davis-More 45, pp. 350-355, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 225-227, "John of Hazelgreen" (2 short texts, with local titles "John over the Hazel Green"; 2 tunes on pp. 415-416) {Bronson's #8, #7}
Peacock, pp. 537-538, "Johnny from Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 674-678, "John of Hazelgreen" (3 texts)
Friedman, p. 143, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 91-92, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 63, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 95-96, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
DT 293, JOCKHZLD* JOCKHZL2*
Roud #250
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nancy Dawson" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jock o Hazeldean
John over the Hazel Green
Jock o Hazledean
NOTES: Rewritten by Sir Walter Scott as "Jock o Hazeldean" -- a poem which has become perhaps more popular than the original ballad, and which is included in many poetic works (e.g. it is item CCXXVII in Palgrave's _Golden Treasury_).
Scholars since Child have debated the extent to which the Scott text (said to take only a single stanza from the traditional song) is influenced or has influenced tradition. One thing appears certain: The Scott text and some of the traditional versions are related (e.g. Davis's "J" is about 85% identical to the corresponding stanzas of Scott's text). Either the Scott text used more than the single stanza claimed, or his text has influenced tradition. - RBW
File: C293
===
NAME: John Peel: see D'ye Ken John Peel? (File: FSWB208)
===
NAME: John Randolph: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: John Reilly: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: John Reilly the Sailor Lad: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: John Riley: see John (George) Riley (I) [Laws N36] AND John (George) Riley II [Laws N37] (File: LN36)
===
NAME: John Riley (III): see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: John Robertson
DESCRIPTION: When Joe comes to the camp to seek work to help his sick mother, John Robertson trains the boy to be a talented lumberjack. But one day Joe chops a tree with a bad core; Robertson is mortally hurt saving Joe.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: John Robertson is an experienced lumberjack. When a greenhorn comes to camp, seeking work to help his sick mother, Robertson persuades the foreman to take him on, then takes the greenhorn under his wing. The young man, Joe, becomes a talented lumberjack, but one day he chops a tree with a rotten core. The tree falls on him; Robertson pushes him out of the way, but is fatally injured. Dying, he tells Joe that he's "glad 'twas me, not you" because of the sick mother (who recovers)
KEYWORDS: lumbering logger work friend family mother death dying disease apprentice
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 57, "John Robertson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4062
NOTES: This song is item dC41 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Be057
===
NAME: John Saw de Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand: see probably The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)
===
NAME: John Saw the Holy Number
DESCRIPTION: "John saw the holy number, Sitting on the golden altar." "Fishman Peter, fish no more, fish no more, fish no more, Fishman Peter, fish no more, Sitting on the golden altar." "Weeping Mary, weep no more...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 538, "John Saw the Holy Number" (1 text)
Roud #11843
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Done Saw that Number" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The notes in Brown explain, "The chorus apparently refers to John 7:4: 'And I heard the number of them that were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand."
This is a mess. First, this isn't John 7:4; it's Revelation 7:4. And there is no hint that they were sitting on a golden altar -- though in 8:3 they apparently worship before it. But in that case, the holy number is probably seven for the seven angels. Or so it appears to me.
It may appear, from the title line, that this is the same as "John Done Saw that Number," but the form is distinct. - RBW
File: Br3538
===
NAME: John Singleton [Laws C15]
DESCRIPTION: Singleton, chief sawyer in a lumber mill, is killed by the sawmill's machinery. His body is sent home to be buried.
AUTHOR: John Morrison?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: logger death technology lumbering
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws C15, "John Singleton"
Beck 62, "John Singleton" (1 text)
DT 837, JONSINGL
Roud #2223
NOTES: Laws quotes Beck to the effect that the song was by "John Morrison," but Paul Stamler observes that Beck spells the name "Morison." Chances are that Dave D. Smith, who made the attribution, did not spell out the name, and Back and Laws used different spellings. - RBW
File: LC15
===
NAME: John Smith My Fellow Fine
DESCRIPTION: "John Smith, fellow fine, Can you shoe this horse of mine? Ay, sir, and that I can, As well as ony man. There's a nail upon the tae, To make the pony climb the brae; There's a nail upon the heel... There's a horsie well shod."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: horse nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 445, "Robert Barnes Fellow Fine" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 26, "(John Smith, fellow fine)" (1 text)
Roud #12964
File: SNR026
===
NAME: John Sold the Cow Well: see The Crafty Farmer [Child 283; Laws L1] (File: C283)
===
NAME: John Styles and Susan Cutter
DESCRIPTION: John and Susan are popping corn. At last "said she, 'John Styles, it's three o'clock, I'm dying of digestion; Instead of always popping that old corn, Why don't you pop the question?'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: humorous food courting
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 155, "John Styles and Susan Cutter" (1 text+additional composed verses; tune referenced)
ST FSC155 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Gray Goose (Lookit Yonder)" (tune)
NOTES: Cazden et al note that this piece is sung to the tune of "The Old Gray Goose (Lookit Yonder)," and was sung continuously with it; the two might form one ballad. - RBW
File: FSC155
===
NAME: John Sullivan (The Moncton Tragedy)
DESCRIPTION: Sullivan kills a widow and her son, takes her cash, and sets the house afire. A daughter survives and blames Sullivan. He flees to Calais, is caught, brought back, tried, convicted and condemned to hang on Friday, March 12.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: execution murder robbery trial gallows-confessions
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 57-58, "John Sullivan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 35, "The Moncton Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Dib057 (Partial)
Roud #9267
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sullivan Murder
The Meadow Brook Tragedy
The Dutcher Murder
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "This sordid crime took place in mid-September, 1896, at Meadow Brook, eight miles from Moncton, New Brunswick."
Manny/Wilson note to "The Moncton Tragedy" has more details about the murder and trial, including further references. - BS
File: Dib057
===
NAME: John T. Williams
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you jolly soldiers, I'll sing to you a song... Concerning my troubles... And how I got around them." "With a bottle of good whiskey I put the guard to sleep." The escaped rebel flees south, apparently making it back to Confederate lines
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: prisoner escape Civilwar
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 74-78, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
cf. "James MacDonald" [Laws P38]
NOTES: Though perhaps based on a historical incident, this of course is built around older materials. Thomas's informant, "Rebel Jack," claimed John T. Williams was his captain, but while he offered many details about Confederate army life, I failed to notice any documentation of the regiment in which Jack served. - RBW
File: ThBa074
===
NAME: John the Baptist: see John Done Saw that Number (File: CNFM061C)
===
NAME: John the Boy, Hello: see The Old Gray Mare (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull) (File: R271)
===
NAME: John the Revelator
DESCRIPTION: "My Lord called John while he was a-writing... Oh, John, John" "Who's that writing? John the Revelator." The song describes what and how John wrote: The book of "Revelations," "The book of Seven Seals," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, Blind Willie Johnson)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So,SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 252, "John the Revelator" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 72, "John the Revelator" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 66, "(John the Revelator)" (partial text)
Roud #6701
RECORDINGS:
Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, "John, the Revelator" (Bluebird B-7631, 1938; Montgomery Ward M-7912, 1939; Victor 20-2073, 1946; rec. 1938)
Blind Willie Johnson, "John the Revelator" (Columbia 14530D, 1930; on AAFM2, BWJ03)
Spiritual Four Quartet, "John the Revelator" (AFS 5160 B1, 5163 A1, 1941; on in AMMEM/FortValley)
Trumpeteers, "John de Revelator" (Score 5012, n.d.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Adam in the Garden Pinning Leaves" (theme)
cf. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (theme)
NOTES: For the record, it is the "Book of Revelation," or properly the "Revelation to John" (Greek APOKALYPSIS IOANNOU), not the "Book of Revelations." - RBW
File: LoF252
===
NAME: John Thomson and the Turk [Child 266]
DESCRIPTION: John Thomson is fighting the Turks when his wife appears. She then sets off and willingly joins the household of Violentrie. When Thomson learns she is missing, he finds her in the Turk's home. He attacks the Turk, burns his castle, and hangs his wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1801
KEYWORDS: love separation war fight foreigner punishment disguise trick
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 266, "John Thomson and the Turk" (2 texts)
Bronson 266, "John Thomson and the Turk" (1 version)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 91-95, "The Trooper and the Turk" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 45-49, "John Thomson and the Turk" (1 text)
DT 266, TROOPTRK
Roud #110
File: C266
===
NAME: John Webber: see Billy Broke Locks (The Escape of Old John Webb) (File: LoF004)
===
NAME: John Whipple's Mill
DESCRIPTION: The singer, goes to work in (John Whipple's) mill and finds himself in a race. He vows to "keep up if I did myself kill." After work, he goes out, fills his pipe, and relaxes. (Probably there is more of a story here, but it has been lost)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958
KEYWORDS: work contest
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
FSCatskills 171, "John Whipple's Mill" (4 fragments, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #50, "Shanelly's Mill" (1 text, tune referenced)
ST FSC171 (Partial)
Roud #3675
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Harper's Hill
Trickeyside Hill
NOTES: Roud equates this song with item dC54, "Shanel's Mill," in Laws's Appendix II. But he does not cite the one reference in Laws (NYFQ 11); I cannot verify the connection. Fowke, however, accepts the equation, so here we lump them. - RBW.
File: FSC171
===
NAME: John Yetman
DESCRIPTION: "... a hero brave from St. Mary's Bay, John Yetman was his name" who spent many years fishing alone in his dory. A Yankee captain shoots Yetman but is taken by Newfoundlanders, tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years at hard labor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: murder trial punishment fishing sea ship memorial
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doyle3, p. 34, "John Yetman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 71, "John Yetman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7299
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "John Yetman" (on NFOBlondahl02, NFOBlondahl03)
File: Doyl3034
===
NAME: John, John Crow
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Every Sunday mornin', John, John Crow. When I go a-courtin', John, John Crow." Rhyming verses on courting, working, and eating. Written in dialect.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong courting
FOUND_IN: US Barbados
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 199-200, "John, John Crow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9171
NOTES: Harlow's brief notes say this is a Barbadian negro shanty for unloading cargo. - SL
File: Harl199
===
NAME: Johnie Armstrong [Child 169]
DESCRIPTION: Johnie Armstrong "had nither lands nor rents," but "kept eight score men in his hall" by raiding. The king summons Armstrong to court. Armstrong comes; the king orders his execution. Armstrong instead dies fighting. His young son vows revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1658
KEYWORDS: outlaw royalty punishment execution battle death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1530 - James V of Scotland puts down the Armstrongs
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Hebr))
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Child 169, "Johnie Armstrong" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #6, #7}
Bronson 169, "Johnie Armstrong" (10 versions)
Leach, pp. 475-477, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 240, "Johnie Armstrong" (2 texts)
OBB 89, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 127-129+329, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 106, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 153-158, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text, from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition)
TBB 22, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 101-103, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1503, "Is there never a man in all Scotland"
DT 169, JARMSTR1 JARMSTR2
Roud #76
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, S.302.b.2(064), "John Armstrong's Last Farewell," unknown, after 1700
SAME_TUNE:
Fare Thou Well Bonny Gilt Knock Hall (per broadside NLScotland, S.302.b.2(064))
NOTES: Several English texts claim that Armstrong lived in Westmoreland, and raided the Scots. This is, of course, not true; he was a Scot. But neither side had much use for such an outlaw. - RBW
File: C169
===
NAME: Johnie Cock [Child 114]
DESCRIPTION: Johnie, despite his mother's advice, goes out to hunt the king's deer. He brings the deer down, but is betrayed by a passer-by. Seven foresters attack him; he kills all but one (and wounds that one), but is himself mortally wounded
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1780 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: hunting fight death
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber,Bord,High)) US(MA,SE) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Child 114, "Johnie Cock" (13 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4}
Bronson 114, "Johnie Cock" (16 versions)
Dixon XVI, pp. 77-81, "Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 467-469, "Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 29, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 65-67, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 324-332, "Johnie Cock" (4 texts)
Friedman, p. 233, "Johnie Cock" (2 texts)
OBB 136, "Johnnie of Cockerslee" (1 text)
PBB 174, "Johny Cock" (1 text)
Niles 41, "Johnie Cock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 123-126+328, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 108, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
TBB 28, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 83-86, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
DT 114, BRAIDSLY
Roud #69
RECORDINGS:
 John Strachan, "Johnie Cock" (on FSB5) {Bronson's #12}
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnnie o' Braidesley
Fair John and the Seven Foresters
NOTES: The motif of one man fighting and defeating seven adversaries is almost a commonplace (see "Earl Brand," Child #7, and "Erlinton," Child #8, as examples). But this one has an interesting parallel to the French Song of Roland (especially in Motherwell's long text, Child's F):
Like Roland, Johnie sets out freely, despite cautions; like Roland, he is defeated and mortally wounded but defeats his attackers, whose few survivors flee; like Roland, he sends a message of his need only when it is too late; like Roland, he is given great honor after his death. - RBW
File: C114
===
NAME: Johnie Scot [Child 99]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny, serving at the English court, gets the king's daughter with child. He goes back to Scotland and sends for her; she sends word she is imprisoned. He comes with 500 men, fights the king's champion, and gains his lady.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1794 (Ritson-Tytler-Brown ms.)
KEYWORDS: royalty pregnancy prison rescue battle love
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(Ap,NE,SE) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Child 99, "Johnie Scot" (20 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #10, #11}
Bronson 99, "Johnie Scot" (12 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 213-224, "Johny Scot" (2 texts plus 1 fragments and sundry quotations, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #5, #1}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 45-55, "Johnssy Scot" (3 texts, the first being from "The Green Mountain Songster"; 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 101-104, "Johnny Scott" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 15-17, "Johnie Scot" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 303-308, "Johnie Scot" (2 texts)
SharpAp 29, "Johnie Scot" (3 texts, 3 tunes){Bronson's #2, #12, #4}
DBuchan 19, "Johnie Scot" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #10}
SHenry H736, p. 489, "Johnny Scot" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 99, JSCOTT1* JSCOTT2*
Roud #63
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1921), "Johnny Scot," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lang Johnny More" [Child 251] (plot)
File: C099
===
NAME: Johnnie and Molly (I): see Farewell, Charming Nancy [Laws K14] (File: LK14)
===
NAME: Johnnie and Nancy: see William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8] (File: LN08)
===
NAME: Johnnie Cope
DESCRIPTION: "Cope sent a letter frae Dunbar, Said, 'Charlie, meet me, an ye daur, And I'll learn ye the art o' war." Prince Charles accepts the challenge; Cope makes sure his horse is ready to fly. Quickly defeated, Cope is the first to escape to (Dunbar/Berwick)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #234)
KEYWORDS: Jacobites battle abandonment humorous royalty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 21, 1745 - Battle of Prestonpans. Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army routs the first real Hannoverian force it encounters
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Canada
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, JOHNCOPE* JOHNCOP2*
Roud #2315
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:119, "Johnny Cope," unknown, unknown
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Barns o' Beneuchies" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Barns o' Beneuchies (File: Ord231)
Jemmie Forrest (broadside NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(106), "Jemmie Forrest," unknown, 1842?; same broadside as L.C.Fol.74(219a), ABS.10.203.01(151))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hey Johnnie Cope
NOTES: This song, with its slanging lyrics and sprightly tune, is extremely well known (I have two histories of the Forty-Five Rebellion, and both title their chapters on Prestonpans "Hey Johnnie Cope"), but traditional collections are few and far between. It seems to have survived mostly in texts that borrow the tune.
The song is not as accurate as might be desired. The two armies, although both desired battle, almost blundered into each other. Tactics were minimal; the Jacobites took the field, charged, and routed the army of Lieutenant-General John Cope.
This is not as surprising as it sounds. Cope's army was in most respects inferior. Although theoretically composed of "regulars," in fact the troops were mostly raw. Nor were the units cohesive; it was a company from here and a battalion from there; officers and units had not worked together.
And the army was small. Stuart Reid, in _1745 -- A Military History_, offers evidence implying that the Hannoverian army was only about 2000 strong. It had a few artillery pieces, mostly in rather bad state -- but with no one except two officers to man them, and no ammunition, they played little part in the battle.
Nor is there evidence that Cope (1688-1760) was a coward; his courageous conduct at Dettingen (1743) had earned him a knighthood. If he had a problem, it was lack of brains, not of courage. He assuredly tried to stem the rout. But the disaster was too complete.
Cope would be court-martialed but acquitted for his conduct at Presponpans. - RBW
File: DTjohnco
===
NAME: Johnnie Gallacher: see Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly) (File: Pea469)
===
NAME: Johnnie Johnson's Ta'en a Notion: see Johnny Todd (File: FSWB174A)
===
NAME: Johnnie Lad: see Johnny Lad (File: Log443)
===
NAME: Johnnie o' Braidesley: see Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)
===
NAME: Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir: see Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)
===
NAME: Johnnie O'Rogers: see Jolly Old Roger (File: R496)
===
NAME: Johnnie of Cockerslee: see Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)
===
NAME: Johnnie Sangster
DESCRIPTION: A harvest song about binding sheaves and Johnnie Sangster the bandster. The first part of the song is apparently sung by Johnnie or one of his companions; the end is sung by a girl who wants to marry Johnnie.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: farming work harvest
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
DBuchan 69, "Johnnie Sangster" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
Ord, pp. 265-266, "Johnnie Sangster" (1 text)
ST DBuch69 (Full)
Roud #2164
NOTES: Ewan MacColl's version of this is sung to a Lydian melody -- the only such I can recall in traditional Scottish music. This is not universal; Ord's melody is generally quite close to MacColl's, but with that Lydian (sharpened) fourth reduced to an ordinary Ionian fourth.
Ord quotes Greig to the effect that this is by one William Scott, but the evidence is thin enough that I don't cite him as author. - RBW
File: DBuch69
===
NAME: Johnnie Troy: see Johnny Troy [Laws L21] (File: LL21)
===
NAME: Johnnie, Wontcha Ramble: see Johnny, Won't You Ramble (File: LoF275)
===
NAME: Johnnie's Got His Jean, O: see The Birken Tree (File: FVS088)
===
NAME: Johnny: see The Girl Volunteer (The Cruel War Is Raging) [Laws O33] (File: LO33)
===
NAME: Johnny and Betsy: see Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)
===
NAME: Johnny and Jane
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny and Jane had a falling out; Johnny run Jane right outta sight." She promises to come; he beats and runs her naked around town. She's sentenced to Moundsville (VA) jail. She escapes. Refrain: "Johnny don't allow no lowdown hanging around."
AUTHOR: Frank Hutchison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (recording, Martin & Roberts)
KEYWORDS: fight abuse prison escape humorous lover
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 59, "Johnny and Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNJANE*
RECORDINGS:
[Asa] Martin & [Doc] Roberts, "Low Down Hanging Around" (Conqueror 8207-B, 1933)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. ""Mama Don't 'Low" (lyrics)
cf. "Salty Dog" (tune)
File: CSW059
===
NAME: Johnny and Mary
DESCRIPTION: "Down the burn and thro' the mead, His golden locks wav'd o'er his brow, Johnnie, liltin', tuned his reed, And Mary wiped her bonnie mou'." The poor but handsome couple find happiness and treasure in each other's company
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: love courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 272-273, "Johnnie and Mary" (1 text)
Roud #8498
NOTES: This is either incredibly bawdy or incredibly dumb. I'm betting on the latter.
Ford reports that it is from Bickerstaff's 1762 opera "Love in a Village." The obscurity of this work is shown by the fact that I checked eight different reference works (six devoted solely to classical music) without finding a single reference to opera or composer. - RBW
File: FVS272
===
NAME: Johnny Appleseed's Song
DESCRIPTION: "I love to plant a little seed Whose fruit I never see; Some hungry strange it will feed, When it becomes a tree." "I love to sing a little song... And round me see the children throng." "So I can never lonely be." "The tree will tell my deed"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Allsopp)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad travel children
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 272, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: Checking _Granger's Index to Poetry_, I find half a dozen "Johnny Appleseed" songs, none of which are this piece. The way Allsopp presents the poem, it might be traditional, so I've indexed it -- though I suspect it's just Allsopp not documenting sources.
Whether the poem actually goes back to John Chapman (c. 1775-1847) is obviously open to doubt.
It's ironic to note that Johnny Appleseed, though his work brought him fame and praise, in fact was introducing non-native species in many areas, and hence damaging the environment. - RBW
File: FORA272
===
NAME: Johnny Barbour: see Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)
===
NAME: Johnny Bathin: see Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33] (File: LQ33)
===
NAME: Johnny Blunt: see Get Up and Bar the Door [Child 275] (File: C275)
===
NAME: Johnny Bobeens: see The Swapping Boy (File: E093)
===
NAME: Johnny Boker (I)
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: " Do, my Johnny Boker (Booker/Poker), do!" Often with lyrics about the sailor's girl (Sally) or about the abuse inflicted by the Captain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Robinson)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 9, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 44, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 97-98, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 289-290, "Johnny Bowker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EFC, XL, p. 45, "Johnny Bowker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, p. 141, "Johnny Boker" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 168, "Jolly Poker" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 28, "Johnny Boker" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 86, "Johnny Boker" (1 text)
DT, JONBOKER*
Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Johnny Boker" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #353
RECORDINGS:
Capt. Leighton Robinson, "Johnny Boker" (AFS, 1951; on LC26)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Polka
Johnny Poker
NOTES: A blackface piece of the same name is also known, and is felt by some to be the original, but the relationship between the two is difficult to determine precisely. - RBW
File: Doe009a
===
NAME: Johnny Booker (Mister Booger)
DESCRIPTION: About the troubles experienced by a teamster/sailor along the way: A broken yoke, a stalled cart, etc. Chorus something like "Do, Johnny Booker, oh do, do me do, Do, Johnny Booker, oh do" or "So walk a Johnny Booger to help that nigger...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress)
KEYWORDS: work travel
FOUND_IN: US(So) Britain(England(North,South))
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 268, "Mister Booger" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 100, "(Johnny Booker)" (1 fragment, 1 tune, probably this although it's short enough that it might be "Johnny Boker (I)")
Lomax-FSNA 258, "Knock John Booker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 194, "Johnny Booker" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JNBOOKER
Roud #3441
RECORDINGS:
Gus Cannon, "Old John Booker, You Call That Gone" (on AmSkBa, DownHome)
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (Brunswick 2883, 1925)
Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "Johnny Booker" (Decca 24214, 1947; on CrowTold01)
Jack Elliott, "Old Johnnie Booker" (on Elliotts01)
Earl Johnson & his Clodhoppers, "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (OKeh 45171, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Old Johnny Booker Won't Do" (on NLCR17, NLCRCD2)
Walter "Kid
 Smith, "Old Johnny Bucker Wouldn't Do" (Gennett 6825/Supertone 9407 [as by Jerry Jordan], 1929)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse)" (lyrics)
cf. "Went to the River (I)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: "Johnny Booker" includes key verses from "Poor Old Man": "Said an old man come riding by/Said, young man, your mule's gonna die/If he dies I'll tan his skin/If he lives I'll ride him again." This probably entered minstrel tradition via African-American sailors -- or entered the shanty tradition from minstrel shows.
The Chitwood-Landress recording is a bit of a conundrum: it doesn't include most of the canonical mule verses, nor the canonical chorus, but the tune and gestalt are the same. I classify it as a proto-Johnny Booker, and assign it the earliest date, but note its peculiarities; it may be a Chitwood-Landress composition, built on the skeleton of this song. - PJS
File: R268
===
NAME: Johnny Bull, Irishman, and Scotchman: see Paddy Magee's Dream (File: OCon099)
===
NAME: Johnny Bull, My Jo, John
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Johnny Bull, my jo John, I wonder what you mean, Are you on foreign conquest bent, or what ambitious scheme?" The Americans warn their "brother" (England) that their invasions have failed. John is advised to "remain on your fast-anchored isle."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: war patriotic political derivative
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 10, 1813 - Battle of Lake Erie. The Americans under Perry defeat the British.
Aug 24, 1814 - A British force under Robert Ross captures Washington, D.C. after brushing aside the incompetent defenders. (Madison's administration had already fled). Two days later the British leave for Baltimore.
Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which British General Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulse Pakenham.
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 118-120, "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 291, "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (1 text)
DT, JOHNAND4*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo, John" (tune)
NOTES: A broadside from the War of 1812, based on Burns's "John Anderson My Jo, John." This tune seems to have been very popular for political songs at the time; Huntington (pp. 172-174) has another such song, "John Bull's Epistle" (which we might subtitle "Colly Strong"). - RBW
File: SBoA118
===
NAME: Johnny Cake: see Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.) (File: R342)
===
NAME: Johnny Carroll's Camp
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes details of life in a lumber camp.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (recording, Bill McBride)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 13, "Johnny Carroll's Camp" (1 text)
Roud #6516
RECORDINGS:
Bill McBride, "Johnny Carroll's Camp" (AFS, 1938; on LC56)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" and references there
NOTES: There is an entire genre of songs describing life in a lumber camp and the characters to be found there; check the cross-references. - PJS
File: Be013
===
NAME: Johnny Come Down to Hilo: see Johnny Walk Along to Hilo (File: Doe072a)
===
NAME: Johnny Come to Hilo: see Johnny Walk Along to Hilo (File: Doe072a)
===
NAME: Johnny Coughlin: see Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly) (File: Pea469)
===
NAME: Johnny Dhu: see The Little Beggerman (Johnny Dhu) (File: K345)
===
NAME: Johnny Doyle (II): see The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile) [Laws C5] (File: LC05)
===
NAME: Johnny Doyle [Laws M2]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny and his sweetheart plan to elope, but the girl's servant reveals the plan. The girl is taken and forced to wed another. She becomes sick to death. The mother relents and offers to send for Johnny, but it is too late; the girl bids farewell and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1857 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.18(85))
KEYWORDS: elopement love marriage death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (19 citations)
Laws M2, "Johnny Doyle"
Randolph 87, "Johnny Doyle" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 80-81, Johnny Doyle"" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 87A)
SharpAp 83, "Johnny Doyle" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hudson 44, pp. 159-160, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 248-250, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, locally titled "Johnny Dile"; tune on pp. 421-422)
Eddy 73, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 15, "The Lost Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 279-285, "Johnny Doyle" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Warner 81, "Young Johnnie" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H137, pp. 431-432, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 129, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 687-690, "Johnny Doyle" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 16, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 67, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 34, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 16, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
DT 430, JONDOYLE*
Roud #4430
RECORDINGS:
Burzilla Wallin, "Johnny Dial (Doyle)" (on OldLove)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(85), "Johnny Doyle" ("There's one thing that grieves me and that I must confess"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1857; also Firth c.18(84), Firth b.25(291), Harding B 11(1911), "Johnny Doyle" ("I am a fair maiden what's crossed in love"); Harding B 18(324), "Johnny Doyle!" [same as LOCSinging as201890]
LOCSinging, as201890, "Johnny Doyle!," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(324) ]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" [Child 239] (plot)
SAME_TUNE:
The Heart That Can Feel for a Suffering Maiden (per broadside Bodleian Firth c.18(85))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Dial
Johnny Dye
It's of a Tender Maiden
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Johnny Doyle II," a variant of Laws C5, "The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile)." Flanders, in Flanders-Ancient3, included this song based on the thematic similarity to "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" -- but Coffin's notes confess "Certaimly 'Johnny Doyle' has little but its basic motif in common with Child 239." - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as201890: 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: LM02
===
NAME: Johnny Dunlay
DESCRIPTION: Johnny Dunlay meets the singer "by the side of Aymer's haunted hall." They part and he rides to battle. The "fair Saxon soldiers" ambush him. He kills the Saxon leader. She curses the traitor who shot Johnny by Aymer's hall. He dies in her arms.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting battle betrayal death lover soldier
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 471-472, "Johnny Dunlay" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea471 (Partial)
Roud #6457
File: Pea471
===
NAME: Johnny Faa: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Johnny Fell Down in the Bucket
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny fell down the bucket, The bucket fell down the well, His wife cut the rope... And Johnny fell down into -- (nonsense chorus)." "Johnny was walking in Hades, As meek and calm as a lamb, She stepped on a red-hot poker, And said, Well, I'll be --"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous Hell wordplay
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 420, "Johnny Fell Down the Bucket" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7631
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hallelujah"
NOTES: Like "Hallelujah" or "Hopalong Peter," this is one of those "hidden word" songs -- the verse leads you to expect the last word, which is usually not fit for polite company. But instead of saying the word, it breaks off into the chorus. - RBW
File: R420
===
NAME: Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One)
DESCRIPTION: "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty One, Hurrah, Hurrah (or "Skiball" or "Football" or some such)... The great rebellion is begun, and we'll all drink stone blind, Johnny, fill up the bowl." A catalog of the events of the Civil War
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1863
KEYWORDS: Civilwar fight army rebellion war death freedom slavery
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 12, 1861 - Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, opening the Civil War
Sept 23, 1862 - Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation published (to be formalized Jan. 1, 1863)
Apr 9, 1865 - Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrenders
May 13, 1865 - General Edmund Kirby Smith surrenders all remaining Confederate forces
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 227, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 222, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 10, "The Three Ravens" (the two texts in the appendix are this song)
Thomas-Makin', p. 54, (no title) (1 text, though the chorus line is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home")
DT, ABEWASH* FORBALES*
Roud #6673
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "In 1861" (on Thieme02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (tune) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
For Bales
Football
NOTES: For what little can be said about the ancestry of this tune, see the entry on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
Davis for some reason thinks this song a parody of "The Three Ravens." He offers no explanation. It's not the tunes, which are not given. - RBW
File: R227
===
NAME: Johnny Fool: see Martin Said To His Man (File: WB022)
===
NAME: Johnny from Hazelgreen: see John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)
===
NAME: Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly)
DESCRIPTION: Johnny takes the bounty to join the army and a shilling to buy ribbons for his sweetheart or cockade. He complains of his cruel stepmother, his uncle "the ruin and downfall of me," and his father -- or recruiting sergeant -- who never "learnt me a trade"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1912))
KEYWORDS: farewell father mother stepmother soldier recruiting
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 469-470, "Johnny Coughlin" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H574, p. 80, "Pat Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea469 (Partial)
Roud #920
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1912), "Johnny Golicher" ("As I was walking through Newry one day"), H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Firth c.14(119), Firth b.25(358), Firth c.14(120), "Johnny Golicher"; 2806 c.15(312), "Johnnie Gallocher"; 2806 c.15(263), "Johnny Gallacher"; Harding B 17(147b), "Johnny Gallocher"; 2806 c.15(242), Firth c.14(121), Firth c.26(208)[some lines illegible], 2806 c.15(311), "Johnny Gallagher"; 2806 c.15(312), "Johnnie Gallocher"
File: Pea469
===
NAME: Johnny German [Laws N43]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor meets a girl who tells him she is sad because of her lover's long absence. When he hears that Johnny is her lover, he tells her Johnny died months before. She takes to her bed; he reveals himself as Johnny
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1856
KEYWORDS: sailor separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,So,SE) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws N43, "Johnny German"
Belden, pp. 155-156, "Johnny German" (1 text)
FSCatskills 23, "The Rainbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H156, p. 315, "Johnny Jarmin/The Rainbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 97, "Johnny Germany" (1 text)
BrownII 94, "Johnny German" (2 texts)
SharpAp 181, "Johnny German" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 55, "Johnny German" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 65, "Johnny German" (1 text)
Chase, pp. 179-181, "Johnny Jarmanie" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 467, JONGERMN
Roud #557
File: LN43
===
NAME: Johnny Germany: see Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)
===
NAME: Johnny Get Your Gun (I)
DESCRIPTION: "One evenin' in de month of May, Johnny get your gun, get your gun, I met old Peter on the way... Moses wept and Abram cried... Satan's coming don't you hide." Johnny is advised to get his gun  and fight Satan "to get to Heaven in de good ole way"
AUTHOR: F. Belasco (Monroe H. Rosenfeld)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1886
KEYWORDS: Devil nonballad fight religious
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 97-101, "Johnny Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 113-114, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 313, "Johnny Get Your Gun"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Get Your Gun (II)" (chorus, tune)
NOTES: This piece does not really belong in a folk song catalog; the song in its original form does not seem to have gone into oral tradition. Rather, pieces of the complex whole survived. There is a nonsense version ("Johnny Get Your Gun (II)"), and the "dance" which concluded the piece provided the tune for George M. Cohan's "Over There." - RBW
File: RJ19097
===
NAME: Johnny Get Your Gun (II)
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly to do with guns and animals: "Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded/Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded." Chorus: "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun/Johnny get your gun, I say."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly having to do with guns and animals: "Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded/Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded"; "Johnny got his gun, says turn me loose/Shot a crow and hit an old goose/Crow went caw, the duck went quack/Ought to seen the goose balling the jack." Plus the perennial "My ol' Johnny was a great ol' man/Washed his face in a frying pan/Combed his hair in a wagon wheel/Died with a toothache in his heel." Chorus: "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun/Johnny get your gun, I say."
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad nonsense floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 198, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (Brunswick 2883, 1925)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (OKeh 45171, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (on NLCR10)
Fate Norris & his Playboys "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (Columbia 15435-D, 1929)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny, Get Your Gun (I)" (chorus, tune, structure)
cf. "Old Dan Tucker" (floating lyrics)
File: CSW198
===
NAME: Johnny Get Your Oatcake Done: see Whip Jamboree (Whup Jamboree) (File: Br3230)
===
NAME: Johnny Grey
DESCRIPTION: A bailiff and soldiers arrive at Johnny's door, announcing, 'Johnny, the court has a warrant for you." He is to be transported, but takes up his gun and fights. Johnny is killed, but he slays bailiff and captain first. Listeners are urged to fight also
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: soldier death rebellion transportation
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
PGalvin, pp. 37-38, "Johnny Grey" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: PGa037
===
NAME: Johnny Harte
DESCRIPTION: A rich farmer's daughter falls in love with Harte, a poor soldier. Her parents complain to his colonel, who threatens to send Harte away. He answers boldly. The colonel is impressed and offers him promotion. The parents consent to the marriage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.14(207))
KEYWORDS: love soldier courting father mother 
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H106, pp. 443-444, "Johnnie Hart" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 88, "Johnny Harte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2929
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy Halpin, "Johnny Harte" (on Voice15)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(207), "Johnny Hart," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also Harding B 26(298), Harding B 19(94)[a few illegible words], "Johnny Hart"
NOTES: At the time this song probably originated, it was still possible for soldiers to gain commissions in the British army by purchase. An ambitious soldier might marry to gain the money to earn a commission, which would make him socially acceptable (more so, anyway). One wonders if that might not be related to what happened here. - RBW
File: HHH106
===
NAME: Johnny Is My Darling
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny is my darling, my darling, my darling, Johnny is my darling, the Union Volunteer." The girl extols the virtues of Johnny, who marched through town to save the Union. She hopes he will return as "Cupid's volunteer." Tune: "Charlie Is My Darling."
AUTHOR: Words: Father Reed
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: Civilwar courting soldier
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-CivWar, p. 11, "Johnny Is My Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: SCW11
===
NAME: Johnny Jarmanie: see Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)
===
NAME: Johnny Jarmin: see Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)
===
NAME: Johnny Lad (I)
DESCRIPTION: Sundry verses about Johnny, biblical themes, King Arthur, and Scottish politics, with refrain "And wi you, and wi you, And wi you, Johnny lad, I'd drink the buckles o my sheen Wi you, Johnny lad."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (quoted in Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: wife commerce Bible talltale royalty food humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Bronson 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (37 versions, but #21 is a fragment of "Johnny Lad")
Logan, pp. 443-445, "Johnny Lad" (1 text)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 45-47, "Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad" (a fragment of this song is quoted in the notes to that)
Ord, pp. 168-169, "Johnnie Lad" (1 text)
ST Log443 (Full)
Roud #2587
NOTES: The account of Samson fighting with "cuddie's jaws" is in Judges 15:15-16. There is, of course, no Biblical basis for the statement that he "focht a score of battles wearing crimson flannel drawers." While Samson spent most of his life battling the Philistines (mostly by accident), the clothing hardly fits an Israelite of the time.
The story of the Queen playing "fitba' with the lads on Glesga green" is unhistorical; by the time football/soccer became a major sport, Scotland's queen was a German lady living in England -- who, in any case, had no power to order an arbitrary arrest.
The story of King Arthur buying/stealing barley-meal to make pudding seems to have been imported from a nursery rhyme (known to Halliwell; see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #207, p. 144, "(When good King Arthur ruled this land)." Roud seems to lump these verses with "In Good Old Colony TImes"; this strikes me as an extreme stretch.
The man of Ninevah (Thessaly, Bablyon) who scratched out his eyes is unbiblical. But it may be the oldest part of the song, and may have originated independently. The lines appear, in rather different form, in _Tom Thumb's Pretty Song Book_ Volume II  (c. 1744); others appear in the second edition of _Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus_ (c. 1799). These verses can be found in Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #28, p. 40, ["There was a Man so Wise"].
These verses seem to have provoked a great deal of discussion. Katherine Elwes Thomas, who never met a tall tale she didn't blow all out of proportion, connects this to the career of Dr. Henry Sacherevell (died 1724), who for a time was forbidden from preaching, then restored to favour.
It has also been argued that this verse was known to Shakespeare; in _Twelfth Night_, act II, scene III, line 79 (Riverside lineation), Sir Toby sings "There dwelt a man in Babylon, lady, lady." But this is more likely from a broadside known as "The Ballad of Constant Susanna" (BBI ZN2467), which is of course from the deuterocanonical additions to the Book of Daniel (Daniel chapter 13 in Catholic Bibles; it even begins "There was a man living in Babylon"). - RBW
File: Log443
===
NAME: Johnny Lad (II): see Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad (File: FVS045)
===
NAME: Johnny Lowre
DESCRIPTION: "Of a' the lads in Tinwald toun... There never was sae droll a loon As bonnie Johnnie Lowrie." The singer describes the ways she visits Johnnie (e.g. "I took the flax unto the mill, My jewel follow'd after still"). They marry and are happy though poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 193-196, "Bonnie Johnnie Lowrie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13112
File: FVS193
===
NAME: Johnny McEldoo
DESCRIPTION: McEldoo and friends are on a drinking spree. They stop at Swann's for food and McEldoo eats everything in sight. McEldoo thinks the bill too high and starts a fight. The police arrive and march the boys away. The boys pay the bill and go home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem01)
KEYWORDS: fight drink food humorous police
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #3390
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Johnny McEldoo" (on IRClancyMakem01)
Jimmy McBeath, "Johnny McIndoe" (on Voice14)
File: RcJoMcEl
===
NAME: Johnny Murphy: see The Banks of the Little Eau Pleine [Laws C2] (File: LC02)
===
NAME: Johnny My Man: see Farewell to Whisky (Johnny My Man) (File: K272)
===
NAME: Johnny Randall: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Johnny Randolph: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Johnny Riley: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Johnny Riley (III): see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Johnny Sands [Laws Q3]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny says he is tired of life and asks his wife to help him drown. She is to tie his hands and push him into the river. As she comes running down the slope, he steps aside and falls in. When she calls for help, he points out that she has tied his hands
AUTHOR: unknown (claimed by John Sinclair in an 1842 broadside)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1842
KEYWORDS: suicide trick death river drowning
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Ireland Britain(England(South),Scotland) Canada(West)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Laws Q3, "Johnny Sands"
Belden, pp. 237-239, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, but only the first text, "A", is this piece; there are references to 4 more, probably this but some might be "Marrowbones")
Randolph 754, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, 2 tunes, but the "B" text goes with "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2])
BrownII 181, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus excerpts from 2 more and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 71, pp. 198-199, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Brewster 51, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more; 1 tune)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 13-14, "The Drowning Lady (The Witch Song)" (1 fragment, 1 tune, which might be either "Marrowbones" or "Johnnie Sands")
Eddy 29, "Johnnie Sands" (1 text)
Warner 54, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 93, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 451, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 222-223, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 575-576, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 48, pp. 114-115, "Johnny Sands"; pp. 115-116, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Johnny Sands" (source notes only)
DT 344, MARBONE4
Roud #184
RECORDINGS:
Grace Carr, "Johnny Sands" (on Saskatch01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Vands
NOTES: A number of editors confuse "Johnny Sands" [Laws Q3] and "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2]. They obviously have thematic similarity, and probably have exchanged parts. But the "gimmick" is different in each case; there seems no doubt that they are now separate songs. - RBW
File: LQ03
===
NAME: Johnny Shall Have A New Bonnet: see Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be? (File: FSWB150B)
===
NAME: Johnny Siddon: see The Collier Lad (Lament for John Sneddon/Siddon) (File: HHH110)
===
NAME: Johnny Stiles: see The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile) [Laws C5] (File: LC05)
===
NAME: Johnny the Sailor: see Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)
===
NAME: Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny comes from sea and asks the innkeeper for a bed and the chance to see her daughter (Molly). Neither is granted. He reveals that his last trip made him rich; the innkeeper offers him all he asked. He ignores the offer; he will go where he is wanted
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian, Harding B 25(1124))
KEYWORDS: sea money courting greed landlord sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South)) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (18 citations)
Laws K36, "Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds)"
Belden, pp. 160-162, "Green Beds" (2 texts plus reference to 1 more)
Randolph 53, "Johnny the Sailor" (3 texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 70-72, "Johnny the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 53A)
Eddy 32, "The Green Bed" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 24, "The Green Beds" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Warner 49, "Captain John" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 108, "Green Beds" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 42, pp. 156-158, "Young Johnny" (1 text)
Brewster 31, "Young Johnny" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 430-431, "Jackson" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 58, "The Green Bed" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 48-49, "The Green Bed" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H779, p. 54, "The Sailor in the Alehouse" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 124, "Young Johnny" (1 text)
Mackenzie 93, "Green Beds" (2 texts, 1 tune); "The Liverpool Landlady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 142, "Jackson" (1 text)
DT 323, JACKBEDS* JACKBED2*
Roud #276
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Johnny" (AFS 4200 A1, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1124), "Liverpool Landlady," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(2177), Harding B 11(2178), Firth c.13(178), Firth c.13(177), "Liverpool Landlady"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wild Rover No More" (plot)
cf. "The Saucy Sailor (Jack and Jolly Tar II) [Laws K38]"
cf. "Snapoo" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jack Tar
NOTES: Laws's numeration of the ballad subfamily known as "Jackson" is confused. In _Native American Balladry_ he lists it as an American song, with no known relatives, and numbers it as dH40. However, in _British Broadsides_, he lists it as a version of "Johnny the Sailor." The latter identification is clearly correct, even though Sandburg describes his text as a "survivor of the years of the War with Mexico." - RBW
File: LK36
===
NAME: Johnny Todd
DESCRIPTION: Johnny Todd ships out, leaving his sweetheart in Liverpool. She meets another sailor, who offers to marry her. She accepts; Todd returns to find his love married. The moral: "Do not leave your love like Johnny/Marry her before you go"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950s (recording, Bob Roberts)
KEYWORDS: infidelity marriage warning travel return sailor
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 174, "Johnny Todd" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 106, "(Johnnie Johnson's ta'en a notion)" (1 text)
DT, JOHNTODD*
Roud #1102
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "Johnny Todd" (on LastDays)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: I include the cross-reference because the verses in which the rival sailor courts the lady seem to be lifted from a broken-token song such as "John Riley (I)". - PJS
Interestingly, the Montgomerie text also has this bit, so it appears to be genuinely traditional.
The group Ossian has recorded a version of this in which Johnny Todd returns to his girl. They admit, however, to having rewritten the ending. To my mind, it doesn't add much.... - RBW
File: FSWB174A
===
NAME: Johnny Troy [Laws L21]
DESCRIPTION: Irishman Troy, a convicted robber, is sent to Australia. He and his fellow convicts escape as they are being taken ashore. Troy turns robber, but steals only from the rich, giving to the poor and transportees. At last he is taken and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Gardner/Chickering )
KEYWORDS: robbery transportation prison execution
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws L21, "Johnny Troy"
Gardner/Chickering 134, "Johnny Troy" (1 text)
Beck 88, "Johnnie Troy" (1 text)
DT 574, JOHNTROY
Roud #3703
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Try
File: LL21
===
NAME: Johnny Walk Along to Hilo
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus, "Johnny walk along to Hilo, Oh, poor old man, Oh, wake her, oh, shake, her, Oh, wake that gal with the blue dress on!" The verses usually consist of a scattering of lines from assorted Black and minstrel songs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 72, "Johnny Walk Along to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 102, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 266-268, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo," "The Gal With the Blue Dress" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 196-197]
Sharp-EFC, XVI, p. 19, "O Johnny Come to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 483-485, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNHILO*
Roud #650
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (on PeteSeeger04)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Uncle Ned" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Come Down the Backstay
Johnny Come to Hilo
Shake Her, Johnny, Shake Her!
NOTES: Doerflinger says of this song that it was "doubtless invented by colored shellbacks, but [was] just as popular with whites" -- and indeed, Doerflinger's version is in white dialect while Lomax has a Black text. Even more interestingly, they don't have any lyrics in common except the chorus -- Doerflinger's only lyric is from "Uncle Ned," which the Lomax version does not quote. - RBW
File: Doe072a
===
NAME: Johnny Was a Baptist
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny was a Baptist, O yes, Johnny was a Baptist, O yes, Johnny was a Baptist, Baptist, Baptist, Johnny was a Baptist, O yes." "He baptized Jesus, O yes." "Crying, Lord have mercy, O yes." "Sign J on your ticket, O yes."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 540, "Johnny Was a Baptist" (1 text)
Roud #11876
File: Br3540
===
NAME: Johnny Will You Marry Me
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny will you marry me and take me out a danger?" "I won't marry you because you are a stranger." "Why didn't you tell me that before you told O'Farrell?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (for USBallinsloeFair, according to site irishtune.info, Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Alan Ng's Tunography, ref. Ng #2618)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection dialog nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Murty Rabbett and Dan Sullivan, "Johnny Will You Marry Me" (on USBallinsloeFair)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Standard on the Braes o' Mar" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Won't You Marry Me
Love Will You Marry Me
Love Won't You Marry Me
File: RcJWYMM
===
NAME: Johnny, Come Down the Backstay: see John Dameray (File: Doe008)
===
NAME: Johnny, Come-A-Long
DESCRIPTION: "Oh Johnny, Johnny, John, come a-long, come a-long (2X)" Nonsensical verses, with Johnny playing with his gun and playing hide n' seek with the ladies. Long chorus begins: "Down by the sea where the watermelons grow, back to my home I shall not go."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonsense
FOUND_IN: Britain Germany US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 285-286, "Johnny Come-A-Long"
NOTES: Hugill called this a "runaway chorus," possibly referring to the fast pace of the tune and words, and says that it was a popular sea shore song in America. It is in fact, so quick and full of syllables that I think it would be difficult to sing while doing anything but sitting down. - SL
File: Hugi285
===
NAME: Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye
DESCRIPTION: The girl meets her Johnny returned from the wars. She can barely recognize him; he has lost arms, legs, and eyes. She tells him "With your drums and guns and guns and drum, the enemy nearly slew ye... O, Johnny, I hardly knew ye."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(218))
KEYWORDS: soldier disability injury war
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
PBB 94, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 329-330, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew You" (1 text, tune referenced)
Hodgart, p. 212, "Johnny, I hardly knew ye" (1 text)
O'Conor, pp. 92-93, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 388-389, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, pp. 278-279, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 271-274, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye"  (1 text plus excerpts from 3 parodies)
Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, p. 90, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye (1 text)
Roud #3137
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Johnny I Hardly Knew You" (on IRClancyMakem02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(218), "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" ("While going the road to sweet Athy"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 c.8(265), Firth c.26(233), "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye"; Harding B 26(297), 2806 b.9(118)[some illegible words],"Johney I hardly knew ye"[inconsistent spelling throughout]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Wars of America" (plot)
NOTES: Scholars continue to argue whether "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" or the cheerful "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is the original. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," by Patrick S. Gilmore, can be firmly dated to the beginning of the Civil War, while "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" does not appear until slightly later (reportedly 1869, though the earliest date I've been able to verify is 1885).
For further details, see the entry on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."  - RBW
File: PBB094
===
NAME: Johnny, I Hardly Knew You: see Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye (File: PBB094)
===
NAME: Johnny, Lovely Johnny
DESCRIPTION: Annie complains that Johnny had promised to marry her when they courted in her father's garden in County Tyrone. Johnny says "it was all but a jest ... I never intended for to make you my wife." She says she will kiss him if he ever returns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (IRPTunney01)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction sex lie promise separation nonballad lover rake infidelity abandonment
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5168
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Haynes, "Lovely Johnny" (on Voice01)
Paddy Tunney, "Johnny, Lovely Johnny" (on IRPTunney01) (on Voice15)
File: RcJoLoJo
===
NAME: Johnny, Oh Johnny
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny, oh Johnny, you are my darling, Like a rose that grows in the garden...." The girls father offers her wealth to marry another; he mother scorns her for wanting Johnny. She intends to follow Johnny anyway, and bids her family farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1970
KEYWORDS: love separation father mother money
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Darling-NAS, pp. 277-278, "Johnny, Oh, Johnny" (1 text)
NOTES: A commonplace theme, but this doesn't look quite like any of the other versions. - RBW
File: DarNS277
===
NAME: Johnny, Won't You Ramble
DESCRIPTION: "Well, I went down to Helltown To see the Devil chain down. Johnny, won't you ramble, Hoe, hoe, hoe!" The singer tells how the masters plan to make the slaves work harder. The slave offers money to avoid a whipping; master would "rather hear you holler"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: slave work prison hardtimes abuse
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 275, "Johnny, Won't You Ramble" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 96, "Johnnie, Wontcha Ramble" (1 text)
Roud #6708
File: LoF275
===
NAME: Johnny's Gone for a Soldier: see Shule Agra (Shool Aroo[n], Buttermilk Hill, Johnny's Gone for a Soldier) (File: R107)
===
NAME: Johnny's Gone to Hilo
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "If I should die and be buried at sea, A mermaid's sweetheart I would be. Johnny's gone to Hilo! Heelo! Hilo! My Johnny's gone, what shall I do? Johnny's gone to Hilo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956
KEYWORDS: shanty mermaid/man sailor death separation
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chase, p. 157, "Johnny's Gone to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #481
NOTES: Possibly a fragment of another Hilo shanty, though the form is unusual -- but the text is so short that I can't identify the original. It is not (based on its form) a version of "Tommy's Gone to Hilo." -  RBW
File: Cha157
===
NAME: Johnny's The Lad I Love: see The False Young Man (The Rose in the Garden, As I Walked Out) (File: FJ166)
===
NAME: Johnson: see The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4] (File: LL04)
===
NAME: Johnson Boys
DESCRIPTION: "I hear the Johnson boys a-coming, Singing and a-hollering and shooting off their guns." A list of exploits of the minimally civilized Johnson Boys, who shoot, court, wash, farm, and fiddle in extravagant ways (but don't know how to court)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: talltale family humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
BrownIII 338, "Johnson Boys" (2 text plus mention of 2 more)
Warner 129, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 115, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 170, "The Johnson Boys" (1 text)
DT, JHNSNBOY* JHNSNBY2*
Roud #6676
RECORDINGS:
Grant Brothers, "Johnson Boys" (Columbia 15460, 1929; rec. 1928)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters [or John Hopkins], "Johnson Boys" (Brunswick 179, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Johnson Boys" (on NLCR03)
Frank Proffitt, "Johnson Boys" (on Proffitt03) (on USWarnerColl01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnson Boys (II)"
cf. "Aunt Sal's Song (The Man Who Didn't Know How to Court)" (theme)
File: Wa129
===
NAME: Johnson Boys (II)
DESCRIPTION: Description of the Johnson boys, who were boys of honor and DID know how to court; song describes their heroic service to the Confederacy as scouts: "When the Yankees saw them coming, They throw down their guns and hide."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: Civilwar family soldier
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 155, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnson Boys"
NOTES: This is an anti-parody, I guess -- a serious takeoff on a song that was originally humorous. - PJS
And if it describes actual people, I have been unable to determine who they are. - RBW
File: CSW155
===
NAME: Johnson's Ale: see When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)
===
NAME: Johnson's Motor Car
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets another Irish rebel, with orders to go to Dunbar. They decide to requisition the car driven by Doctor Johnson. They send a message urgently calling for his services, then ambush him. They promise to return the car when Ireland is free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: IRA rebellion technology travel
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 320, "Johnson's Motor Car" (1 text)
DT, JHNMTR
Roud #4833
NOTES: It probably says something about the state of Anglo-Irish relations that a tale of deception, intrigue, and highway robbery, all in support of terrorism, is regarded as humorous.
It is certainly true that cars were highly valued in the period of the Irish quest for independence. Calton Younger, in _Ireland's Civil War_, tells a story on page 376 of a doctor who had a car -- and deliberately disabled it to prevent theft, before recommissioning it briefly to help Free State leaders. - RBW
File: FSWB320A
===
NAME: Johnson's Mule: see The Old Gray Mule (Johnson's Mule) (File: LPns213)
===
NAME: Johnston's Hotel
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes conditions at "Johnston's Hotel," which smells like corn-flakes; one is sent there by the magistrate Langley. Policemen who scout for boarders are described; all boarders are required to clean up the park and do other odd jobs all day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer sarcastically describes conditions at "Johnston's Hotel," which smells like corn-flakes; one is sent there by the magistrate Langley. The furnishings and carpets are praised, while the beefsteak must be cut with a sword. Some policemen who are scouting for boarders are described; all boarders are required to clean up the park and do other odd jobs all day
KEYWORDS: prison punishment drink humorous moniker nonballad prisoner food
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1920s-1950: Dalton Johnston serves as governor
Late 1940s: Langley retires as magistrate
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #4819
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. Tom Sullivan, "Johnston's Hotel" (on Ontario1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Vilikens and his Dinah (William and Dinah) [Laws M31A/B]" (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "The Mountjoy Hotel" (subject, tune)
cf. "The Banks of the Don" (subject, lyrics)
NOTES: "Johnston's Hotel" is actually the Peterborough County Jail on the banks of the Otonabee River, just across from the Quaker Oats plant. While the resemblance to "The Banks of the Don" is patent, it's a separate song. Edith Fowke met the self-declared author, who said he wrote it in the 1930s (although he clearly derived its tune from "The Mountjoy Hotel" and some lyrics from "The Banks of the Don"). As the author had been an inmate of the establishment at the time of composition, she thought it prudent not to reveal his identity. - PJS
File: RcJohHot
===
NAME: Johnstown Flood, The [Laws G14]
DESCRIPTION: A distraught father tells a stranger about his share of the Johnstown tragedy. He, his wife, and his children had sought shelter from the flood in the upper part of the house, but the waters tore them from his grasp. He was rescued, but his family died
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: flood death family
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 31, 1889 - The Great Flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, kills about 2500 people
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws G14, "The Johnstown Flood"
LPound-ABS, 61, pp. 135-138, "The Jamestown Flood" (1 text)
DT 825, JAMESFLD
Roud #3254
NOTES: Laws believes this to be too literary to be a purely folk composition; he suspects it of having been originally printed in a newspaper.
A popular piece of 1889 was "The Johnstown Flood" of Joe Flynn; I haven't seen a copy to compare. - RBW
File: LG14
===
NAME: Join the C.I.O.: see I Am a Union Woman (File: Arn174)
===
NAME: Jolly Barber Lad, The
DESCRIPTION: A lady sends for a barber to come and curl her hair. He comes to the door; the lady says to send him up, for "My husband he's a yeoman, and I might as well have no man." She pays the barber; now he goes to shave her, but never takes his razor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1969 (collected from John MacDonald)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A young lady sends for a jolly barber lad to come and curl her hair; he goes to "shave the lady, don't you know what I mean?" He comes to the door; the maidservant answers, and the lady says to send him up, for "My husband he's a yeoman, and I might as well have no man/He's just like a lady when he goes to bed with me." After the job is finished, she gives the young barber a sovereign and a crown; now he always goes to shave her, but he never takes his razor
KEYWORDS: infidelity sex wife husband work worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 37, "The Jolly Barber Lad" (1 tune, 1 text)
Roud #2515
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Chandler's Wife" (theme)
cf. "The Coachman's Whip" (theme)
cf. "The Farm Servant (Rap-Tap-Tap" (theme)
cf. "My Husband's Got No Courage in Him" (theme)
cf. "Fogan MacAleer" (see notes)
NOTES: Ives-DullCare re "Fogan MacAleer" makes "The Jolly Barber Lad" Lawrence Doyle's "model" for "Fogan MacAleer." Was "The Jolly Barber Lad" ever current in the Canadian Maritimes? Roud #2515 refers to a tape-recording from Ontario of "There Was a Jolly Barber and He Lived in Aberdeen." - BS
File: CcCST037
===
NAME: Jolly Beggar, The [Child 279]
DESCRIPTION: A beggar asks lodging. He is admitted to the house, but wants more than his beggar's fare. Receiving much of what he asks, he at last receives the daughter of the house into his cloak. He then reveals that he is a nobleman; (perhaps he marries the girl)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1769 [Herd]
KEYWORDS: begging courting escape money sex nobility mother children
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(West),Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Ireland US(NE,So)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Child 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (3 texts)
Bronson 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (37 versions, but #21 is a fragment of "Johnny Lad" and #28 is "Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw)"; it is likely that several of the other texts also belong with other songs.)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 475-476, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 songster text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 47-48, "Hind Horn" (1 short text, properly titled "The Jolly Beggar," which might be "Hind Horn" [Shild #17] or "The Jolly Beggar" [Child #279] or a mix; 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 223-225, "Hind Horn" (1 short text, properly titled "The Jolly Beggar," which might be "Hind Horn" [Shild #17] or "The Jolly Beggar" [Child #279] or a mix; 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 9-12, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Randolph 37, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 short text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
SHenry H183, p. 268, "The Rambling Suiler" (1 text, 1 tune, in which the visitor is not a nobleman but the colonel of a visiting headquarters; there might be a bit of "Pretty Peggy-O" mixed in)
MacSeegTrav 18, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-More 41, pp. 328-332, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 fragment, which Davis believes to be this song but which in fact could be almost anything)
JHCoxIIA, #14, pp. 61-63, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, but not from West Virginia) {Bronson's #2}
BBI, ZN2500, "There was a jovial Begger-man"
DT 279, BEGGAR1* BEGGAR2 BEGGAR3* BEGGR4* BEGGAR5* BEGGAR6
Roud #118
RECORDINGS:
Jeannie Robertson, "The Jolly Beggar" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #6}
Lucy Stewart, "The Beggar King" (on LStewart1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.13(1), "The Jolly Beggar" ("There was a jolly beggar and a begging he had been"), unknown, n.d.; also Firth c.26(57)[some lines illegible], Firth c.26(57), "Was a Jolly Beggerman" 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gaberlunzie Man" [Child 279A]
cf. "The Beggar-Laddie" [Child 280]
cf. "The Tinker"
cf. "The Pedlar"
NOTES: Although this ballad is associated in tradition with James V of Scotland, there is no evidence that he ever courted in a manner such as this. James V in fact married a noble foreign lady, Mary of Guise-Lorraine.
Child draws a distinction between this and "The Gaberlunzie Man" (which he calls "The Gaberlunyie-Man" -- and, indeed, his texts are metrically distinct ("Gaberlunzie Man" uses eight-line stanzas with four feet per line; "The Jolly Beggar" typically has the standard four-line 4-3-4-3 stanza). In addition, his "Gaberlunyie-Man" lacks the ending. However, both songs occur in tradition and have so heavily cross-fertilized that it is often not possible to distinguish.
If there is a distinction to be drawn, it is probably in the form of the ending. In "The Jolly Beggar," the beggar sleeps with the girl and then reveals his status the next morning (perhaps abandoning her); in "The Gaberlunzie Man," he lures the girl away (as opposed to sleeping with her on the spot), and only later returns and reveals his wealth.
Due to the degree of cross-fertilization of these ballads, one should be sure to check both songs to find all versions. - RBW
Of the Bodleian broadsides listed, "Was a Jolly Beggerman" lacks the usual ending. - BS
File: C279
===
NAME: Jolly Best Lad: see Wrap Me Up in my Tarpaulin Jacket (File: FR439)
===
NAME: Jolly Boatman: see The Boatsman and the Chest [Laws Q8] (File: LQ08)
===
NAME: Jolly Boatsman, The: see Blow the Candle Out [Laws P17] (File: LP17)
===
NAME: Jolly Boatswain, The: see The Boatsman and the Chest [Laws Q8] (File: LQ08)
===
NAME: Jolly Butchermen, The: see The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4] (File: LL04)
===
NAME: Jolly Cowboy (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "My lover, he is a cowboy, he's brave and kind and true"; when he comes home, the two meet joyfully and the boy talks about his life on the trail. She says they will marry when he returns; he is quoted as promising to quit herding when he marries
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: love cowboy work separation reunion promise marriage
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 209-210, "The Jolly Cowboy" (1 text)
DT, JOLLCWBY*
Roud #4482
NOTES: In print, with quotation marks, this song makes sense, though even in print, the transitions seem abrupt. In song, without such helps, it strikes me as hard to comprehend. I wonder if it isn't composite -- after all, it was published by Lomax. - RBW
File: Saffe209
===
NAME: Jolly Cowboy (II), The: see Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys (File: R189)
===
NAME: Jolly Cowboy (III), The: see I'm Bound to Follow the Longhorn Cows (File: LoF186)
===
NAME: Jolly Farmer, The
DESCRIPTION: The farmer sings about the joys of farming, even as a renter, and drinking with friends. "Here I am king so I'll dance, drink and sing, Let no man appear as a stranger, But show me the ass That refuses his glass And I'll order him hay in a manger"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1831 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(88a))
KEYWORDS: farming drink flowers food nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn 30, "The Jolly Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3043
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(88a), "The Farmer" ("Come each jolly fellow"), R. Walker (Norwich), 1780-1830; also 2806 c.8(171), Harding B 25(622), Harding B 11(1150), Johnson Ballads 822 [illegible lines], "The Farmer[!]"
File: OLoc030
===
NAME: Jolly Fisherman (I)
DESCRIPTION: With a storm coming up, Captain Williams of Veronia sends a dory after halibut. Oars are lost and a buoy line parts. To save the dory, they cast halibut oil on the water and bale with their sou'westers until they are picked up next morning by Veronia.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: rescue fishing sea ship storm sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 125, "Jolly Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS125 (Partial)
Roud #1827
NOTES: This song is item dD47 in Laws's Appendix II. - BS
File: CrNS125
===
NAME: Jolly Fisherman (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer says he is a fisherman, and "Fish just like men I've often caught -- crabs, gudgeon, poor John Codfish." He compares various sorts of people to various fish --- e.g. "false friends to eels" and the lawyer like a pike striking
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: work fishing nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H639, p. 59, "The Jolly Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13361
NOTES: Sam Henry claimed this was once a popular song around 1800, but gives no supporting evidence. - RBW
File: HHH639
===
NAME: Jolly Good Ale and Old (Back and Sides Go Bare)
DESCRIPTION: With chorus, "Back and sides go bare, go bare, Both hand and feet go cold...." The singer laments his sad state: "I cannot eat but little meat, My stomach is not good." He discusses his lack of clothing. But he, and his wife, revive for ale.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1575 (Gammer Gurton's Needle)
KEYWORDS: drink clothes hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 190-192, "Jolly Good Ale and Old" (1 text)
DT BACK&SID*
ADDITIONAL: Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 41-42, "Of Jolly Good Ale and Old" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Let the Back and Sides Go Bare" (chorus)
NOTES: This has a literary look, and has been attributed to William Stevenson. But there appear to be variant forms. In the 1575 version in _Gammer Gurton's Needle_ (found in Ault), there are only four stanzas, and the singer's wife is Tib. The version in the Harvard Classics has eight stanzas and gives the wife's name as Kit. Unfortunately, though the Harvard version occurs in a number of anthologies in my library, none of them state their source! (Maybe they stole it from each other.)
The Gammer Gurton version, if I read Ault correctly, was also found in a play, "Diccon of Bedlam." A play of this name was registered 1562-1563 -- though, if it was printed (not all things registered went to the press), no copies seem to have survived.
The "back and sides go bare" chorus seems to have been quite popular; in this index, see also "Let the Back and Sides Go Bare." Granger's Index to Poetry, if I read this right, cites six different poems with this first line. - RBW
File: DTbcksid
===
NAME: Jolly Gos-Hawk, The: see Jolly Old Hawk (File: K298)
===
NAME: Jolly Grinder, The
DESCRIPTION: "There was a jolly grinder Once lived by the river Don. He worked and sang from morn till night, And sometimes he worked none." The grinder rails against teetotalers, informing them, "Attend to your work if you've ought to do And don't interfere with me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (recording, Ian Robb)
KEYWORDS: drink work
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, JOLLGRND*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Miller of Dee" (tune)
cf. "These Temperance Folks" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
The Miller of Dee (File: K229A)
NOTES: This is quite obviously an answer to, and parody of, "The Miller of Dee," providing a somewhat sarcastic response to the (really rather tame) moralizing of that song. - RBW
File: DTjollgr
===
NAME: Jolly Harper, The: see The Lochmaben Harper [Child 192] (File: C192)
===
NAME: Jolly is the Miller (I): see The Miller Boy (Jolly is the Miller I) (File: R518)
===
NAME: Jolly Jack: see Will You Wed with a Tarry Sailor? [Laws K37] (File: LK37)
===
NAME: Jolly Jack Tar: see Jack the Jolly Tar (I) (Tarry Sailor) [Laws K40] (File: LK40)
===
NAME: Jolly Jack the Sailor
DESCRIPTION: "It's Jolly Jack the sailor on board of a man-o'war" returns after seven years and takes the train to Lincolnshire to see his sweetheart. "Won't she jump for joy when she hears the news Jack has come home from sea" "We will set the bells a-ringing"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1975 (recording, George Ling)
KEYWORDS: love wedding war return reunion sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #1785
RECORDINGS:
George Ling, "Jolly Jack the Sailor" (on Voice12)
File: RcJoJaSa
===
NAME: Jolly Lumbermen, The: see Canaday-I-O/Michigan-I-O/Colley's Run I-O [Laws C17] (File: LC17)
===
NAME: Jolly Miller (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a miller, says "I care for nobody, no not I, and nobody cares for me." His back is bent with work; his mill has strange new machinery, but he's content with a drop of whisky. He has engaged with Dr. Ramsey, the landlord, and does his bidding
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: work drink nonballad miller worker technology
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(North,Lond)) US(NE,So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Belden, p. 271, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 220-221, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 229, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 352, "There was a jolly miller once" (1 text fragment)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #124, p. 103, "(There was a jolly miller once)"
DT, JOLMILLR
Roud #503
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "The Jolly Miller" (on FSB3)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(449), "Their [sic] was a jolly miller" [error in title, not in text], J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), c.1850; also Harding B 11(450), "Their [sic] was a jolly miller" [error in title, not in text]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Miller of Dee" (refrain, subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Miller o' Straloch
NOTES: The Baring-Goulds report that this song, "a favorite of Sir Walter Scott's," was included in Bickersaffe's 1762 opera "Love in a Village." They also say that it may have been based on the owner of the Dee Mill in Chester, which dated back to around the Conquest but burned down in 1895.
All of these references, however, may be to "The Miller of Dee"; the Baring-Gould fragment is only a single stanza. See Ben Schwartz's note on "The Miller of Dee."  - RBW
File: K229M
===
NAME: Jolly Miller (II), The: see The Miller Boy (Jolly is the Miller I) (File: R518)
===
NAME: Jolly Old Hawk
DESCRIPTION: "Jolly (old hawk/goshawk) and his wings were grey." Cumulative song: The singer asks who will win his love, and recites the animals he gave as gifts: One hawk, two birds, three cocks (or a three-thistle cock), four pigs (or a four-hoofed pig), etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Sharp)
KEYWORDS: cumulative love animal
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 298, "The Jolly Gos-Hawk" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOLLHAWK
Roud #1048
File: K298
===
NAME: Jolly Old Roger
DESCRIPTION: "Oh there never was yet a boy or man Who better could mend a kettle or pan, A bucket, a dipper, a skillet or can, Than jolly old Roger the tinker man." Roger lives in New Amsterdam; the song describes the funny old man
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Flanders and Brown)
KEYWORDS: tinker work
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 496, "Roger the Tinker Man" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Brewster 74, "Johnnie O'Rogers" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 171-173, "Jolly Old Roger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 222-224, "Jolly Old Roger" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Jolly Old Roger" (source notes only)
ST R496 (Partial)
Roud #3733
File: R496
===
NAME: Jolly Pinder of Wakefield, The [Child 124]
DESCRIPTION: "Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John" trespass on the fields guarded by the Jolly Pinder. The Pinder challenges them; they fight. The Pinder holds off all three. Robin offers the Pinder a place in his band. The Pinder agrees to come once his present job is done
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663 (Stationer's Register entry from 1558)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 124, "The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield" (2 texts)
Bronson 124, "The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield" (2 versions)
Leach, pp. 365-366, "The Jolly Pinder of Wakefield" (1 text)
BBI, RZN16, "In Wakefield there lives a jolly pinder"
Roud #3981
NOTES: A pinder was an official charged with preventing trespassing and gathering strayed/lost/stolen livestock.
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
Bronson notes that his two tunes for this song are both associated with Rimbault, whose handling of other Robin Hood melodies was, at best, cavalier.
There are other mysteries associated with the piece, which survives only in very defective forms. There is a play, noted by Child, seemingly related to this. And Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #816, p. 304, notes a stanza which does not seem to appear in the canonical texts:
The hart he loves the high wood,
The hare she loves the hill;
The knight he loves his bright sword,
The lady loves her will. - RBW
File: C124
===
NAME: Jolly Ploughboy, The: see The Jolly Plowboy (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy) [Laws M24] (File: LM24)
===
NAME: Jolly Plowboy, The (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy) [Laws M24]
DESCRIPTION: A plowboy and a rich girl fall in love. When the girl's father finds out, he sends a press gang for the boy. The girl dresses in men's clothes and rows out to her lover's ship. She bribes the captain to return her lover
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1808 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 12(155))
KEYWORDS: love pressgang cross-dressing reprieve
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland,England(Lond,South,West)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Laws M24, "The Jolly Plowboy (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy)"
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 284-286, "The Jolly Plowbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leather, pp. 208-209, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 103, "Little Plowing Boy" (1 text plus a fragment)
Chappell-FSRA 71, "The Little Plowing Boy" (1 text)
SharpAp 59, "The Simple Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 233-234, "The Jolly Plowboy" (1 text)
SHenry H105, pp. 331-332, "The Jolly Plowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 176-178, "The Jolly Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 224-225, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 46, "The Simple Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 45, "The Jolly Ploughboy" (1 text)
OBB 167, "The Simple Ploughboy" (1 text)
DT 584, JOLLPLOW (BRSKLIVE -- listed as Laws A15, but this is impossible; it appears to be this song with some odd verses about the boy being wounded)
Roud #186
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "The Pretty Ploughboy" (on Voice02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 12(155), "The Pretty Plough Boy," Burbage and Stretton (Nottingham), 1797-1807; also Harding B 11(3164), Firth c.12(288), Harding B 11(1400), 2806 c.17(335)[some words illegible], Firth b.25(108), Harding B 12(135), "The Pretty Plough Boy"; Harding B 25(1506)[almost entirely illegible], "Plough Boy"; Johnson Ballads 1403, Johnson Ballads 1450, "[The] Pretty Ploughboy"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cawsand Bay" (plot)
cf. "Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser)" [Laws N6]
cf. "Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany)" [Laws N7]
File: LM24
===
NAME: Jolly Poker: see Johnny Boker (I) (File: Doe009a)
===
NAME: Jolly Raftsman O, The
DESCRIPTION: "I am sixteen, I do confess, I'm sure I am no older O, I place my mind, it never shall move, It's on a jolly raftsman, O." She praises his work and calls him "brave as Alexander," though someone (her mother?) wants her to marry a freeholder
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: love logger courting mother
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fowke-Lumbering #58, "The Jolly Raftsman O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 51, "The Jolly Raftsman O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2318
NOTES: No particular storyline here, a short (three verses) love song wherein the singer repeatedly states her conviction to wait for and marry her jolly raftsman. [Fowke's source was] Mrs. A. Fraser of Lancaster, Ontario, who said she learned it from her mother. - RBW
File: FowL58
===
NAME: Jolly Roving Tar (II), The: see Get Up, Jack! John, Sit Down! (File: Wa071)
===
NAME: Jolly Roving Tar [Laws O27]
DESCRIPTION: Susan fondly recalls her sailor love. She sets out to ensure that her father's ships are well equipped for his sake. Finally she bids farewell to the local ladies and sets out to follow her "jolly roving tar."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(119c))
KEYWORDS: sailor parting rambling reunion
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws O27, "Jolly Roving Tar"
SHenry H670, p. 293, "The Jolly Roving Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, p. 178, "Jolly Roving Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 12, "Jolly Roving Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 744, JOLROVTR
Roud #913
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(119c), "The Jolly Roving Tar," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.13(77), 2806 c.16(242), Harding B 11(859), Harding B 11(860), Harding B 26(302), Harding B 11(3444), Firth c.13(78), "The Jolly Roving Tar"
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(302), "The Jolly Roving Tar ("As I roved out one evening in the pleasant month of May"), Haly (Cork), 19C, while undated, dates itself by its last add-on verse: "So now these lines are at an end the truth I will unfold Young Susan she got married to her young sailor bold With him she faced the Russians and feared no wound or scar, But now she lives contented with her jolly roving tar." - BS
[To clarify, the above verse probably implies a Crimean War date. But it could well be a late add-on -- note that there were few battles between British and Russian navies. - RBW]
File: LO27
===
NAME: Jolly Sailors Bold (I)
DESCRIPTION: The singer ridicules farmers on land and compares their easy life with the dangers faced by sailors. But "we'll sail into all parts of the world ... And we'll bring home all prizes ... We spend our money freely, And go to sea for moreÓ
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: bragging farming sea ship ordeal nonballad sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Mackenzie 95, "Jolly Sailors Bold" (1 text)
Roud #3289
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Maids of Simcoe (Ontario)" (theme)
cf. "Ye Gentlemen of England (I)" [Laws K2]
cf. "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7] (lyrics)
NOTES: Mackenzie: "The source of this song, and of a great many similar ones, is the famous broadside 'Ye Gentlemen of England, or When the Stormy Winds Do Blow,' composed by Martin Parker, and first issued about 1635."
This is a sailor's version of "Maids of Simcoe" (it has the same Roud number). It is also "Ye Gentlemen of England (I)" [Laws K2], but without a disaster of any kind. - BS
File: Mack095
===
NAME: Jolly Sailors Bold (II): see Pretty Nancy of London (Jolly Sailors Bold) (File: R078)
===
NAME: Jolly Shanty Boy, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer boasts of being a jolly (and jauntily dressed, if ragged) shanty boy, to whom women are always attracted. He sings, "For I don't care for rich or poor/I'm not for strife and grief/I'm ragged, fat and lousy, and/As tough as Spanish beef."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: bragging lumbering work logger poverty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Beck 21, "The Jolly Shanty Boy" (1 text)
Fowke-Lumbering #54, "The Gatineau Girls" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Be021 (Partial)
Roud #4351
File: Be021
===
NAME: Jolly Soldier, The: see The Rambling Soldier (File: ShH43)
===
NAME: Jolly Stage Driver, The: see The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen [Laws O13] (File: LO13)
===
NAME: Jolly Tester, The: see I Love Sixpence (File: OO2480)
===
NAME: Jolly Thrasher, The: see Jolly Thresher, The (Poor Man, Poor Man) (File: R127)
===
NAME: Jolly Thresher, The (Poor Man, Poor Man)
DESCRIPTION: The rich man asks the poor man how he can support such a large family with so many young children. The poor man answers, "I make my living by the sweat of my brow." In some texts the rich man gives him some sort of reward for all his hard work
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1685 (broadside); 1792 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: dialog work poverty
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(All),Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Randolph 127, "Poor Man, Poor Man" (1 text)
BrownIII 58, "The Thresherman" (1 text)
JHCoxIIA, #21A-B, pp. 85-88, "Poor Man, O Poor Man," "There Was a Rich Englishman" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Kennedy 253, "The Jolly Thresher" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  118-119, "The Nobleman and Thrasher" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 146, "The Jolly Thresher" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 92, "The Jolly Thresher" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 156-159, "Poor Man's Song," "The Labourer" (2 texts, the second being the Green Mountain Songster version)
SHenry H622, p. 44, "The Jolly Thresher"; H117, pp. 44-45, "As the King Went A-Hunting" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, pp. 48-49, "The Hedger" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, POORMAN*
Roud #19
RECORDINGS:
Harry Holman, "There Was a Poor Thresherman" (on Voice20)
Eleazar Tillett, "The Jolly Thresher" (on USWarnerColl01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 15(311b), "Squire and Thrasher" ("A nobleman liv'd in a village of late"), W. Jackson and Son (Birmingham), 1839-1855; also Harding B 15(312a), "The Squire and Thrasher"; Harding B 16(258b), "The Squire and Thrsherman" [sic]
NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(040), "The Noble Man's Generous Kindness" or "The Country-Man's Unexpected Happiness," unknown, 1701 
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Thresherman (and the Squire)
File: R127
===
NAME: Jolly Tinker (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The tinker comes to town to mend the pots. He observes that "A tinker never marries, has a girl in every town...." "I've never stored much gold, but I have a lot to spend." "My life is wild and free, and I do not seek renown. I'm just a jolly tinker..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: work sex rambling
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Warner 72, "The Jolly Tinker" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOLITNK2*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Tinker"
NOTES: Tinkers had a reputation for wantonness, and a large bawdy repertoire built up around them. It is often difficult to decide if the songs are related or not. Since this song is "clean" and "The Tinker" is dirty, I decided to separate them. But I'm not confident about it.
Warner for some reason links this with Laws F24, "The Peddlar and His Wife" -- but that is a song about a murder! - RBW
File: Wa072
===
NAME: Jolly Tinker (II), The: see The Tinker (File: EM029)
===
NAME: Jolly Tinker (III), The
DESCRIPTION: A London lady tells a tinker she has kettles to mend. He asks if there are holes that need blocking; they fall to work. She bangs a pan "to let the servants know that he was hard at work." Refrain: "And I'll be bound she had (he could, they did, etc.)"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (recorded from Billy Dickeson)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A London lady, desiring the company of a tinker, writes and tells him she has kettles to mend. He comes, asking if there are any rusty holes that need blocking; she leads him to the bedroom and they fall to work on the feather-bed. She picks up a pan and he bangs it "to let the servants know that he was hard at work"; she pays him, saying they'll have another round. Refrain: "And I'll be bound she had (he could, they did, etc.)"
KEYWORDS: sex work bawdy tinker
FOUND_IN:  Britain(England(South),Scotland),Ireland(South)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 177, "The Jolly Tinker" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOLLTNK4* JOLLTNK3
Roud #863
RECORDINGS:
Thomas Moran, "The Jolly Tinker" (on FSB2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Tinker" (plot)
File: K177
===
NAME: Jolly Union Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you jolly Union boys. To you the truth I'll tell, Concerning Governor Jackson Who I know very well." A curious and compressed account of events in Missouri from the beginning of the Civil War to the Battle of Pea Ridge
AUTHOR: B. Locke?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 10, 1861 - Battle of Wilson's Creek
Mar 7-8, 1862 - Battle of Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 242, "The Jolly Union Boys" (1 text)
Roud #3598
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Joe Stiner" (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (Confederate Version)" (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
cf. "Sterling Price" (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
cf. "The War in Missouri in '61" (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
NOTES: To try to explain the complicated events which took place in Missouri in the period under discussion is impossible in the space of any reasonable note. Suffice it to say that both Union and Confederacy sought to control Missouri (though Unionists were probably the majority in the state), but that the Union efforts were somewhat more efficient and succeeded in the end.
The key players mentioned in the song are:
Governor (Claiborne) Jackson -- The governor of Missouri in 1861, he tried to seize the Federal arsenal to bring the state into the Confederacy. He was thwarted primarily by the efforts of Captain (later General) Nathaniel Lyon. Jackson did, as noted, manage to walk off with a large part of the state's cash reserves
Thomas Price -- A Missouri congressmen and Unionist, one of those who helped organize against Jackson
Harney -- William S. Harney. A regular army Brigadier, he was the Federal officer in charge in St. Louis when the war broke out. Rather sympathetic to the Confederacy, his behavior was so lethargic that Congressman Frank Blair maneuvered his ouster and gave most of his powers to General Lyon
"Billy" Frost -- Daniel M. Frost. Appointed by Governor Jackson to seize the Federal arsenal, he instead fell into Lyon's hands. He was later exchanged and served in the Confederate armies, but his failure badly hurt the Confederate cause in Missouri.
"A lion" -- Obviously a reference to General Lyon, the bulwark of the Federal forces until his death at Wilson's Creek
"McCulla brought up artillery" -- refers to General Benjamin McCulloch, who was Confederate commander at Wilson's Creek (sort of; he led the Arkansas troops. The Missouri troops were under Sterling Price. Price actually had a higher rank -- he was a Major General, McCulloch only a Brigadier -- but McCulloch had a commission from Jefferson Davis, and finally Price decided to accept his orders rather than leave their armies to be defeated in detail. But the two never worked together well).
At Wilson's Creek, Lyon (outnumbered two to one) tried an enveloping attack, with Sigel's brigade arriving from a different direction. Sigel's troops fell apart after coming briefly under fire, and Lyon's remaining troops had to face a heavy assault from the Confederates. The Federals held on all morning -- the southerners had almost no training as soldiers -- but retreated when Lyon was killed
Sigel -- Franz Sigel, who kept getting commands because German immigrants respected him, but who never did much with his troops. At Carthage (July 5, 1861) he fled without a fight; at Wilson's Creek his troops fell apart. Only at Pea Ridge was his performance respectable
"a little old Creek bottom" -- the battlefield at Wilson's Creek. Each side lost about 1200 men (of some 5500 Federals and 11,500 Confederates engaged)
Price #2 -- Sterling Price, Confederate commander of Missouri troops. Leader of half the troops at Wilson's Creek (see under McCulloch)
"It done for old Ben" -- Ben McCulloch was killed at Pea Ridge (Arkansas) in 1862. At this battle, a strong Confederate force under Earl Van Dorn was unable to dislodge a weaker Union force. This finally dashed Confederate hopes in Missouri. - RBW
File: R242
===
NAME: Jolly Wagoner, The
DESCRIPTION: "When first I went a-wagonin', a-wagonin' I did go, I filled my parents' hearts full of sorrow, grief and woe." The singer recalls being rained on, seeing birds in summer, driving hard roads in the winter. He rejoices to reach home and wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (recorded from Fred Jordan by Peter Kennedy)
KEYWORDS: home travel wife hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(West))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 230, "The Jolly Waggoner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1088
NOTES: Kennedy lists a number of earlier versions of this song -- but much of his text is floating-type material, and he is known to lump completely unrelated songs. So I have not listed any of the versions in his bibliography; most are probably this piece, but chances are that at least a few are not. And I don't know which. - RBW
File: K230
===
NAME: Jolly Wat
DESCRIPTION: Jolly Wat, a shepherd, sits on a hill and plays his pipes. He is awakened by an angel announcing the birth of Jesus. He finds the baby and offers him all he has. Mary and Joseph send him back to his flocks with their blessing
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OBB 103, "Jolly Wat" (1 text)
ST OBB103 (Partial)
NOTES: The tale of the shepherds is found in the Bible in Luke 2:8-20. - RBW
File: OBB103
===
NAME: Jolly Young Sailor and His Beautiful Queen, The: see The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen [Laws O13] (File: LO13)
===
NAME: Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen, The [Laws O13]
DESCRIPTION: A rich girl has turned down many suitors, but becomes entranced when a (sailor) wanders by. She urges him to stay (ashore) and marry a rich girl. He doesn't want to give up his rambling ways, but finally consents when she offers him her hand and wealth
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage rambling money sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) US(MA,NW) Ireland
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws O13, "The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen"
Doerflinger, pp. 298-299, "The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 30, "The Jolly Stage Driver" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 188-189, "The Journeyman Tailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H620, p. 476, "The Journeyman Tailor" (1 text, 1 tune [text incorrectly states that this is Laws B6, but the notes give the correct Laws number])
Warner 66, "William the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 179-183, "Jovial Young Sailor" (5 texts, 3 tunes)
Peacock, pp. 582-583, "The Sailor and the Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 33, "The Jolly Young Sailor and His Beautiful Queen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 73, "Bound Down to Derry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 38, "It Is of a Rich Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 53, "Jovial Young Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 476, SAILQUEN
Roud #671
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Brisk Jolly Sailor
File: LO13
===
NAME: Jolly Young Sailor Boy: see The Bonny Sailor Boy [Laws M22] (File: LM22)
===
NAME: Jonah: see Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale) (File: R286)
===
NAME: Jonah and the Whale (II): see Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale) (File: R286)
===
NAME: Jonah and the Whale (III): see Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble) (File: FSWB386B)
===
NAME: Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble)
DESCRIPTION: The story of Jonah in song, recognized by the chorus, "Living humble, humble, humble, Living humble all your days" or "Humble, humble, humble my soul." Unlike most Jonah songs, this appears to be "straight"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible whale
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 346, "Jonah and the Whale" (6 text and/or fragments, but only the "A" and "B" texts, both short, are this piece; "C" is "Hide Away" and "D"-"F" are "Who Did Swallow Jonah?")
Roud #15215
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale)" (subject) and references there
File: Br3346
===
NAME: Jonah Fishing for a Whale
DESCRIPTION: "Cheer up, cheer up, my lively lads, Don't let your spirits fall; For Jonah's down in Sampson pond A-fishin' for a whale." "And when he ain't a-whaling, He's at some other fun, Down in the swamp a-cuttin' reeds To string his whales upon."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: fishing
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 184, "Jonah Fishing for a Whale" (1 text)
NOTES: Needless to say, this has nothing to do with the Biblical account of Jonah and the fish. Frankly, it sounds like a bunch of kids making fun of a poor foolish kid who doesn't know what a whale is or how to catch one. - RBW
File: Br3184
===
NAME: Jonathan, Joseph, Jeremiah: see Too Much of a Name (File: GrMa170)
===
NAME: Jones Boys (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh the Jones Boys! They built a mill on the side of a hill, And they worked all night and they worked all say But they couldn't make that gosh-darn sawmill pay."
AUTHOR: Probably Millet Salter
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: technology logger commerce
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Manny/Wilson 27, "The Jones Boys - I" (1 fragment, 1 tune); cf. also the fragment on p. 15
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 183-184, "The Jones Boys" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 24, "The Jones Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4528
RECORDINGS:
Nick Underhill, "The Jones Boys" (on Miramichi1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jones Boys (II)" (lyrics, people)
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "John Jones, father of the Jones boys, came out from Camborne, Cornwall, in 1840 .... [The] Jones family moved up to a brook flowing into the Nor'West Miramichi, which then took the name of Jones's Brook. There John Jones built a grist mill to serve the community, and raised a family of ten children. John Senior died in 1866, and his sons, James and John Junior took over the business, James managing the grist mill, and John a sawmill near by."
Are Manny/Wilson 27 [this song] and Manny/Wilson 28 [The Jones Boys - II]  the same song? There is no question but that the entire Manny/Wilson 27 text is part of the Manny/Wilson 28 chorus. Wilson's comment on Manny/Wilson 27: "[The tune] slightly resembles the beginning of the chorus of Mr Underhill's complete version [Manny/Wilson 28]. However, this fragment has apparently been in circulation for several generations. The late Lord Beaverbrook knew it as a child in Miramichi. It is unusual to find a fragment assuming its own personality and coexisting with a complete version in the same area." - BS
File: FMB183
===
NAME: Jones Boys (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The two Jones Boys each "owned a mill in the side of a hill.... They worked all night and they worked all day But they couldn't make the gosh-darned saw-mill pay." The song goes through the seasons. The singer hopes to work for them again in the spring.
AUTHOR: probably James Barry of Derby Junction (Manny/Wilson)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: commerce lumbering hardtimes work
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 28, "The Jones Boys - II" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi028 (Partial)
RECORDINGS:
Nick Underhill, "The Jones Boys" (on Miramichi1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jones Boys (I)" (lyrics, people)
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "John Jones, father of the Jones boys, came out from Camborne, Cornwall, in 1840 .... [The] Jones family moved up to a brook flowing into the Nor'West Miramichi, which then took the name of Jones's Brook. There John Jones built a grist mill to serve the community, and raised a family of ten children. John Senior died in 1866, and his sons, James and John Junior took over the business, James managing the grist mill, and John a sawmill near by."
Are Manny/Wilson 27 [The Jones Boys (I)] and Manny/Wilson 28 [this piece] the same song? There is no question but that the entire Manny/Wilson 27 text is part of the Manny/Wilson 28 chorus. Wilson's comment on Manny/Wilson 27: "[The tune] slightly resembles the beginning of the chorus of Mr Underhill's complete version [Manny/Wilson 28]. However, this fragment has apparently been in circulation for several generations. The late Lord Beaverbrook knew it as a child in Miramichi. It is unusual to find a fragment assuming its own personality and coexisting with a complete version in the same area." - BS
File: MaWi028
===
NAME: Jones's Ale: see When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)
===
NAME: Jones's Ghost
DESCRIPTION: "Come list ye doctors all to me, For Jones's ghost I truly be.... I am that slaughtered, mangled man." Murderer Jones accuses Doctors Thorp and French of violating their promises to care for his body and threatens them with punishment after death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt); reportedly published c. 1880
KEYWORDS: murder execution punishment doctor corpse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: August 1838 - Joshua Jones murders his wife
May 29, 1839 - Execution of Jones
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 20-21, "Jones's Ghost" (1 text)
NOTES: According to Burt, after Joshua Jones was convicted of murder, he sold his body to Dr. Amos French, adding the stipulation that French care for his child and also try to bring him back to life.
The former condition was fulfilled. French naturally failed to revive Jones, and eventually stripped the flesh from his bones; he wanted a skeleton for his own use. This poem arose out of public protest at what appears, from the records in Burt, to have been a perfectly legal behavior on French's part.
There is no evidence that the poem ever entered tradition; it was printed in a newspaper, and it's really very bad. - RBW
File: Burt020
===
NAME: Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel
DESCRIPTION: About the difficulties of getting to heaven. Chorus: "(So) take off your overcoats and roll up your sleeves; Jordan am a hard road to travel (x2) I believe." The original contains assorted political references to the 1850s.
AUTHOR: Music: Daniel D. Emmett/Words: T. F. Briggs?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1853 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: religious travel nonsense political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1842 - Webster-Ashburton Treaty settles the boundary between Britain (Canada) and the states of Massachussets and Maine
1846 - Oregon Treaty settles the boundary dispute between the U.S. and Britain (Canada). Minor uncertainties were settled by arbitration in 1872.
1852-1870 - Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) Emperor of France
1853-1857 - Presidency of Franklin Pierce
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 305, "The Other Side of Jordan" (1 text)
DT, JRDNHRD*
Roud #2103
RECORDINGS:
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" (on McClintock01) (on McClintock02)
Riley Puckett, "On the Other Side of Jordan" (Columbia 15374-D, 1929)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Richmond Is a Hard Road to Travel"
cf. "Jordan is a Hard Road To Travel (II)" (words, music)
cf. "Ain't No Bugs on Me" (words)
cf. "Pull Off Your Old Coat" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel (File: RcRIHRTT)
Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel (II) (File: CSW188)
Rail-road Song (by Jacob P. Weaver) (Cohen-LSRail, p. 43)
NOTES: Napoleon III (1808-1873), the son of Napoleon Bonaparte's brother Louis, was chosen President of France in 1848, then in 1852 (the same year Franklin Pierce was elected President) upgraded himself to Emperor.
The "fish question" is slightly less clear; the settlement which ended the War of 1812 and the diplomacy which followed did not provide American fishermen with all the rights they wanted in Canadian waters -- but this was a perennial problem which was not solved until 1910. In addition, there were some disputes over the Columbia River (which in the complex logic of diplomacy gave the U.S. its claim to Oregon), and hence presumably its salmon. - RBW
File: R305
===
NAME: Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel: see Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel (I) (File: R305)
===
NAME: Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel (II)
DESCRIPTION: Uncle Dave Macon gives his opinions about automobiles, evangelists, Henry Ford, and other matters. Chorus is "Haul [take] off your overcoat, roll up your sleeves/Jordan is a hard road to travel I believe"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: technology humorous nonballad derivative
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 188-189, "Other Side of Jordan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 55, "The Other Side of Jordan" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel" (Vocalion 5153, 1927)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. ""Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" (words, music)
cf. "Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel"
NOTES: Uncle Dave Macon, who had little good to say about automobiles, ran a horse-and-wagon drayage business.
Although this song derives its chorus and structure from "Jordan am a Hard Road to Travel," in Uncle Dave's hands it becomes a completely different song from Dan Emmett's. - PJS
File: CSW188
===
NAME: Joseph Looney
DESCRIPTION: Joseph Looney, dying, tells his family not to grieve, for God has called him and he is prepared to go. He tells them to trust in and follow Jesus, so that they will meet him in heaven
AUTHOR: Elihu Gray
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (recording, Ollie Gilbert)
KEYWORDS: death dying religious family
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #12366
RECORDINGS:
Ollie Gilbert, "Joseph Looney" (on LomaxCD1704)
NOTES: This song was said to have been made by Elihu Gray from the deathbed speech of his neighbor. - PJS
And the result is actually traditional? Yikes. - RBW
File: RcJLoon
===
NAME: Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16]
DESCRIPTION: Engineer Joseph Mikel is determined to remain on schedule. As a result, he runs too fast to avoid a collision with another train. The result was disastrous: "Some were crippled and some were lame, But the six-wheel driver had to bear the blame"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: train wreck disaster crash
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1836-1892 - Life of Jay Gould. He made his fortune in railroads, largely by stock manipulation, and was worth an estimated $100,000,000 when he died
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws I16, "Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16]"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 385-389, "Milwaukee Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 317, "Joseph Mica" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 364-365, "Jay Gould's Daughter and On the Charlie So Long" (2 texts, 1 tune); 368-369, "Mama, Have You Heard the News" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 36-42, "Casey Jones," "The Wreck of the Six Wheel Driver," "Ol' John Brown," "Charley Snyder" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 238, (no title) (1 fragment, beginning "Jay Gooze said befo' he died); p. 247, (no title) (a fragment beginning "Great big tie an' little bitty man, Lay it on if it breaks him down"; the form appears to be a member of this family); p. 250, (no title) (1 short text, about "Joseph Mica")
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 64, "Kassie Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 114-115, "Jay Gould's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 456, "Been on the Cholly So Long" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 209-213, "Casey Jones"; "Casey Jones"; "Kassie Jones" (3 text, with the first two belonging here and the third being the full "Kassie Jones" text of Furry Lewis)
Silber-FSWB, p. 103 "Jay Gould's Daughter" (1 text)
DT 791, JOEMICA JGOULD1
Roud #3247
RECORDINGS:
Furry Lewis, "Kassie Jones, Parts 1 & 2" (Victor 21664A&B, 1928; on AAFM1; Part 1 is on BefBlues3)
Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers, "Milwaukee Blues" (Supertone 2626, early 1930s)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Milwaukee Blues" (on NLCREP1)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Milwaukee Blues" (Columbia 15688-D, 1931, rec. 1930; on CPoole03, GoingDown)
Pete Seeger, "Jay Gould's Daughter" (on PeteSeeger16)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1] (plot)
cf. "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" (lyrics)
cf. "Little John Henry"
cf. "On the Road Again" (floating verses)
cf. "Crow Wing Drive" (lyrics)
NOTES: Laws says of this piece, "I have included 'Joseph Mica' not so much to establish its identity as a distinct ballad [as opposed to being a relative of 'Casey Jones'] as to emphasize the extreme instability and confusion which are characteristic of Negro balladry."
To put this in simpler terms, Laws has broken "Casey Jones" up into two ballads. The full forms are filed with G1; the fragments file here. How one establishes the dividing line is not clear; the "hero" of "Joseph Mica" may well be Casey Jones.
To make matters worse, Laws has garbled the entry and the information about Lomax and Sandburg. I did the best I could, but one should check "Casey Jones (I)" for additional versions.
To top it all off, Laws distinguishes "Jay Gould's Daughter" as a separate song (dI25), but ALSO files it here; given the things Laws files under "Joseph Mica" and their fragmentary state, I consider his distinction hopeless, or at least incomprehensible, and file those texts here. - RBW
I don't think it's hopeless at all to separate out "Jay Gould's Daughter/Milwaukee Blues" from "Joseph Mica". If it has a wreck in it, it's Mica; if it doesn't, it's Gould. - PJS
It should be noted that Furry Lewis' "Kassie Jones" is a fragmentary stream-of-consciousness incorporating a single verse from "Casey Jones" and many floating verses, including a couple from "On the Road Again." (Which is why I filed it here - RBW.) - PJS
Note: I *still* think we should split off, "Jay Gould's Daughter" from the other songs. - PJS
The correct answer, ultimately, is to have some system for filing floating fragments -- somehow there needs to be a way to track everything with the "Pretty Little Foot" verses, and the "Jay Gould" fragment, and so forth. A suggestion for the next generation Ballad Index, I suppose. - RBW
File: LI16
===
NAME: Josephus and Bohunkus: see Bohunkus (Old Father Grimes, Old Grimes Is Dead) (File: R428)
===
NAME: Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
DESCRIPTION: Joshua comes to Jericho, orders the horns to blow, and sacks it after the walls fall down. Chorus: "Joshua (fit/fought) the battle of Jericho... And the walls came a-tumbling down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Paul Robeson)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious battle
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Lomax-FSUSA 110, "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 45-46, "(Joshua)" (partial text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 37, "Joshua Fought The Battle Of Jericho" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 303, "Joshua Fought The Battle Of Jericho" (1 text)
DT, BATJERCO
Roud #10074
RECORDINGS:
Cotton Pickers Quartet, "Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho" (OKeh 8878, 1931)
Delta Rhythm Boys, "Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho" (Decca 25019, c. 1950)
Dixie Jubilee Singers, "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" (Columbia 14329-D, 1928)
Eureka Jubilee Singers, "Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho" (Sharon X-507, n.d.)
Hall Johnson Choir, "Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho" [medley with "Walk Together Chillun"] (Victor 4460, 1940)
Nazarene Congregational Church Choir, "Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho" (Herschel Gold Seal 2016, c. 1927)
Paul Robeson w. Lawrence Brown, "Joshua Fit de Battle ob Jericho" (Victor 19743, 1925)
Pete Seeger, "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" (on PeteSeeger04) (on PeteSeeger23)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Slavery Chain Done Broke at Last" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Slavery Chain Done Broke at Last (File: SCW41)
NOTES: The siege of Jericho takes up most of the sixth chapter of Joshua, with the fall of the city's walls, and the city itself, being detailed in 6:15f. - RBW
File: LxU110
===
NAME: Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho: see Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho (File: LxU110)
===
NAME: Joshua Stevens
DESCRIPTION: "From Squawky Hill two Indians came, To Bennett's Creek to hunt for game...." "Come, solemn muse, assist my song... To sing of Stephens, lately fell...." "The Indian shot him in the side." After his body is found, wife, children, neighbors mourn
AUTHOR: M. Tymeson?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder family mourning Indians(Am.)
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 131-133, "(Joshua Stevens)" (1 text)
File: Burt131
===
NAME: Josie: see Frankie and Albert [Laws I3] (File: LI03)
===
NAME: Journeyman Tailor, The: see The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen [Laws O13] (File: LO13)
===
NAME: Journeyman, The: see The Roving Gambler [Laws H4] (File: LH04)
===
NAME: Jovial Beggar, The: see A-Begging I Will Go (File: K217)
===
NAME: Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove, The: see Sir Lionel [Child 18] (File: C018)
===
NAME: Jovial Tinker, The: see When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)
===
NAME: Jovial Young Sailor: see The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen [Laws O13] (File: LO13)
===
NAME: Joy to the World
DESCRIPTION: "Joy to the world, the Lord is come; Let earth receive her king...." The world is told to hymn to God to rejoice in the arrival of Jesus, who brings love, joy, wonder
AUTHOR: Words: Isaac Watts. Music: Lowell Mason (based partly on phrases from Handel's "Messiah")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1719 (Watts, "The Psalms of David"; music published 1837)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Christmas
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 375, "Joy To The World" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 314, "Joy to the World"
DT, JOYWORLD
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), p. 37 (cf. also pp. 34-36), "Joy to the World" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Alleged to be derived loosely from the final verses of Psalm 98. If so, it is a *very* free adaption. - RBW
File: FSWB375A
===
NAME: Joys of Mary, The: see The Seven Joys of Mary (File: FO211)
===
NAME: Joys Seven: see The Seven Joys of Mary (File: FO211)
===
NAME: Ju Tang Ju (Utang)
DESCRIPTION: "Ring up four , ju tang ju (or "Jew string jew," etc.), Ring up four in a ju tang ju." "Right and left...." "Do se do...." "Once and a half...." "Swing that gal...." "Back to your partner..." "Circle four...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Texas Folklore Society)
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 576, "Ju Tang Ju" (2 texts)
Roud #7665
File: R576
===
NAME: Juanita
DESCRIPTION: "Juanita, I must leave you, I have come to say farewell." She says that, if he loves her, he will never leave her. He claims he didn't think she would get so involved. The next morning, he is found dead with her dagger in his heart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: love betrayal murder abandonment corpse
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 51, "Juanita" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11210
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "She Said She Was Only Flirting" (theme)
NOTES: "What we have here is a failure to communicate." - PJS
The middle stanzas of this piece are almost identical in meaning (except with genders reversed) to "She Said She Was Only Flirting," though the wording is somewhat different. The endings, however, are completely different. - RBW
File: FCW051
===
NAME: Juba
DESCRIPTION: A dance and patting song: "Juba, Juba, Juba up 'n' Juba down, Juba all aroun' the town." "Juba jump, Juba sing, Juba cut that pigeon wing. Juba kick off this old shoe, Juba dance that Jubilo." Variations, as one might expect, are extreme
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 263, "Dinky" (1 short text, 1 tune, which Randolph believes to be this piece; in any case, it's too short to really deserve a separate entry)
BrownIII 201, "Round It Up a Heap It Up" (a "Juba" fragment follows the main text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 98-99, "Juba" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 708, "Juba" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 192, "(Juba)" (1 text)
Handy/Silverman-Blues, p. 53, "Juba" (1 text, 1 tune; notes on p. 204)
MWheeler, p. 96, [no title] (1 fragment, filed under "Uncle Bud")
Roud #5748
RECORDINGS:
Lee Wallin, "Juba" (on OldLove)
NOTES: Described in Frederick Douglass,  _My Bondage and My  Freedom_, 1855.  (Pp.252-253 in the Dover Reprint edition of 1936). Also fully described in _Step It Down_ (Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax  Hawes,1971: Harper & Row. pp. 27-30.)
"Juba" often refers to the patting pattern rather than the words. The 
words may contain disguised complaints about the treatment of Black people. 
Some of the words -- without the "patting" -- were used as a "dandling rhyme" in 
my family, in Oklahoma, at least as early as 1909. - SHi
File: BSoF708
===
NAME: Juberlane
DESCRIPTION: The singing of the birds reminds the singer of the days (s)he spent listening to the birds in Juberlane. She wishes she were home, "But miles and miles divide me, and duty here hath tied me/" She wishes she had wings to fly home
AUTHOR: Nellie Crowley (Corrigan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: bird homesickness
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H507, pp. 213-214, "Juberlane" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Scarborough Settler's Lament" (theme) and references there
File: HHH507
===
NAME: Jubilee
DESCRIPTION: "It's all out on the old railroad, All out on the sea... Swing and turn, jubilee, Live and learn, Jubilee." Unrelated stanzas about courting: "Hardest work I ever done was working on a farm, Easiest work I ever done was in my true love's arms." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1949
KEYWORDS: love courting work nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 11, "Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 231, (no title) (1 fragment, possibly of this)
Lomax-FSNA 122, "Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 40, "Jubilee" (1 text)
DT, JUBLEE
Roud #7403
RECORDINGS:
Jean Ritchie, Doc Watson & Roger Sprung, "Jubilee" (on RitchieWatson1, RitchiteWatsonCD1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Up and Down the Railroad Track" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Crow, Black Chicken" (words)
File: LoF122
===
NAME: Jubilee Guild, The
DESCRIPTION: Canadian McLellan and two other "girls from St John's ... go out to Burnt Islands and start our Jubilee Guild." They have elections, find a place "old felt hats, house slippers we will make."
AUTHOR: Arthur Keeping
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: work clothes
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 66-67, "The Jubilee Guild" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9947
NOTES: [According to Peacock,] "The Jubilee Guild is a women's organization in St John's, formed in 1935 as a service club to give instruction in handicrafts, domestic science, home nursing, and so forth, to women of the outports."
Burnt Islands is about 12 miles east of Port aux Basques, at the southwest corner of Newfoundland. - BS
File: Pea066
===
NAME: Judas [Child 23]
DESCRIPTION: Judas is sent on an errand by Jesus. As he does so, he is cheated (by his sister!) of thirty pieces of silver. He therefore betrays Jesus to get his money back.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1300 (ms. Trinity College B 14.39, f. 34a)
KEYWORDS: Jesus betrayal
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: April 6, 30 C.E. - most likely date for the arrest of Jesus (the crucifixion took place the following day)
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 23, "Judas" (1 text)
Leach, pp. ,108-109 "Judas" ( text)
Friedman, p. 56, "Judas" (1 text plus interlinear modern English translation)
OBB 97, "Judas" (1 text)
Niles 16, "Judas" (3 texts, 2 tunes, of which only the first could possibly be this ballad, and even it looks suspicious)
ADDITIONAL: Kenneth Sisam, editor, Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose (1925), pp. 168-169, "Judas" (with notes on pp. 256-258). This is now considered the best transcription of the original manuscript, replacing Skeat's transcription quoted by Child.
Brown/Robbins, _Index of Middle English Verse_, #1649
DT 23, JUDAS
Roud #3964
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Judas and Jesus" (listed by Niles as a version of this ballad)
cf. "Oh, Judy, My Judy" (listed by Niles as a version of this ballad)
NOTES: The betrayal of Jesus by Judas is told in Matt. 26:14-16, 47f.; Mark 14:10-11, 43f.; Luke 22:3-6, 47f.; compare also John 13:2, 27, 18:2f. The story of the thirty pieces of silver is found only in Matt. 26:15 and the sequel in 27:3-10 (it is based on Zech. 11:12-13). The notion of Judas as treasurer and thief occurs only in John 12:4-6, (13:29)
Even though this piece exists only in the Trinity College manuscript, it should not be assumed that Child's transcription is authoritative. The text in volume 1 was printed without reference to the manuscript (which had been temporarily lost). As a result it contains many orthographic innaccuracies (e.g. concerning u/v, i/j, and the use of th rather than the runic thorn |> -- as well as seven conjectural emendations replacing s with h). It also omitted the duplicated lines at lines 8, 25, 30. Also, the manuscript was written without stanza divisions and with (at best) imperfect word divisions, all of which are editorial. In addition, the script is sometimes unclear. And finally, the copyist may not have been perfectly familiar with the dialect of the original.
Child later printed a corrected version, giving the readings of the manuscript verbatim (as read by Skeat). However, modern ballad scholars have almost always followed at least one of the imperfections of Child's original text (omitting duplicated lines, modifying the thorns, exchanging u and v, using Child's h instead of s, etc.)
Scholars should keep in mind that even Child's corrected text, so badly reproduced by later scholars, is open to reinterpretation. Kenneth Sisam, in _Fourteenth Century Verse and Prose_, prints a text which differs in hundreds of particulars from Child's original version. It shows several differences even from Child and Skeat's manuscript collation:
* five places where the editors break words differently,
* two major variants (in line 6 Sisam reads "cunesman" for "tunesman"; in line 16, "top" for "cop")
* Sisam also notes that in line 22 omits "Crist" was originally written by the scribe but then marked for erasure. This MAY indicate comparison of two texts of the ballad.
* Sisam also considers line 27 to be intact ; Child implies it is defective.
Sisam's notes are twice as long as the ballad itself; they are well worth consulting.
Niles claims that his informant ("Mayberry Thomas," of Tennessee) had seen this piece in broadsheets, but there is no evidence of this, and many scholars hold that Niles made up his text 16A based on the old British text. - RBW
File: C023
===
NAME: Judas and Jesus
DESCRIPTION: "Judas 'trayed Jesus, and Jesus hung the cross, Yes, Judas 'trayed Jesus, what a loss, what a loss!" On the night of the last supper, Jesus tells Judas he will betray him for money; Peter will betray him, but not for money
AUTHOR: unknown ("collected" by John Jacob Niles)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961
KEYWORDS: Jesus betrayal death money
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Niles 16B, "Judas and Jesus" (1 text, 1 tune, which Niles considers part of Child 23, but this is clearly not the case)
NOTES: All the gospels agree that Judas betrayed Jesus, but only Matthew (16:14f.) states directly that money was the reason (although John 12:6 calls Judas a thief, and implies that this was the motive for his treachery).
All four gospels agree that Peter betrayed Jesus out of fear (cf. Mark 14:66-72, etc.). They also agree that Jesus foretold his death repeatedly, although only in John do we find Jesus implicating his betrayer (John 13:21-30) - RBW
File: Niles16B
===
NAME: Judge and Jury, The: see The Prisoner at the Bar (The Judge and Jury) (File: R828)
===
NAME: Judgment Day Is Comin'
DESCRIPTION: "Judgment day is comin', Time is drawin' near. Don't you  hear God callin' you?" God calls with thunder and lightning. The singer is on his way to heaven.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII Judgment Day Is Comin', "" (1 text)
Roud #11916
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Judgment Day is Rolling Around" (theme)
File: Br3606
===
NAME: Judgment Day is Rolling Around
DESCRIPTION: "Got a good old mother in the heaven, my Lord, how I long to go there too (x2)." "King Jesus a-settin' in the heaven, my Lord." "Big camp meetin' in the heaven, my Lord." Chorus: "Judgment, judgment, judgment day is rollin' around... How I long to go."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 598, "Judgment Day is Rolling Around" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7551
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Judgment Day Is Comin'" (theme)
File: R598
===
NAME: Judie My Whiskey Tickler
DESCRIPTION: "Judie, my whiskey tickler, Judie, you debbil, you bother me so. Woe! Woe! Woe! Like a red-hot potato you are all aglow." "By faith, you are elegant in form and face, You walk with such stately magnificent grace...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 35, "Judie My Whiskey Tickler" (1 text)
Roud #7857
NOTES: Described in the notes to Brown as a college drinking song from the 1830s. Which just shows that some things don't change. - RBW
File: Br3035
===
NAME: Judy McCarty
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets Judy McCarty at Donnybrook fair , asks her to dance, falls in love and she agrees to marry. They go to a party that night, sleep together, marry next day; 12 months later have "a pair of twins as like their dad As ever soup's like broth"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1884 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1696))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage sex childbirth humorous twins
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 18, "Judy McCarty" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1696), "Judy M'Carty", H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Harding B 11(1946), 2806 b.11(34), Firth c.26(37), Firth c.14(219), "Judy Mc.Carty"
File: OCon018
===
NAME: Jug of Punch, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer (hears a thrush singing "A jug of punch"; he too) describes the pleasures of drink: "What more pleasure could a boy desire Than to sit him down by a roaring fire, And on his knee a tidy wench And in his hand a jug of punch."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1897
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Kennedy 278, "The Jug of Punch" (1 text+ 1 in appendix, 1 tune)
SHenry H490, p. 48, "The Jug of Punch" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 154, "Jug of Punch" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 95, "Mush a Doody" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 230, "The Jug Of Punch" (1 text)
DT, JUGPUNCH* JUGPUN2
Roud #1808
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "A Jug of Punch" (on IRClancyMakem01); "The Jug of Punch" (on IRClancyMakem02)
Margaret Loughram & Edward Quinn, "The Jug of Punch" (on FSB3)
Pete Seeger, "Jug of Punch" (on PeteSeeger27)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.27(162), "The Jug of Punch" ("As I was sated in my room"), unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 11(1949), Harding B 25(1013), "Jug of Punch" ("'Twas on the 24th of June")
NOTES: Creighton-NovaScotia['s] first verse seems like a floater but I know no other source
There was an old woman, she had na bairns,
She took the punch jug in her arms,
And she sang, "Mush-a-lula boo,
Will you ne'er be empty till I be fu'. - BS
I don't recognize it earlier, but I wonder if it might not be a separate song which has picked up a single "Jug of Punch" verse. Unless another version surfaces, we probably will never know. - RBW
File: K278
===
NAME: Jug of This, A: see Ye Mariners All (File: VWL103)
===
NAME: Juice of the Forbidden Fruit, The
DESCRIPTION: A story of all the people who drank: "And ever since then all manner of men... Will drink the juice of the forbidden fruit." Henry Ward Beecher  is among those accused of tippling, and the drinking habits of many notorious figures are outlined 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: drink political
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Belden, p. 441, "The Juice of the Forbidden Fruit" (1 text)
Randolph 403, "The Juice of the Forbidden Fruit" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 340-342, "The Juice of the Forbidden Fruit" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 403B)
Roud #3533
RECORDINGS:
Neil Morris, "The Juice of the Forbidden Fruit" (on LomaxCD1706)
NOTES: Among the various figures accused in this song of drinking are:
* Henry Ward Beecher - Congregational minister who campaigned against slavery
* Cleveland and Blaine - The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates of 1884. It was not an attractive campaign; Blaine was (regarded as) corrupt and Cleveland had an illegitimate child
* Ben Butler - Politician turned Civil War general turned politician again. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives for most of the period 1866-1879, and became Governor of Massachusetts in 1883. In 1884 he ran, unsuccessfully, for a presidential nomination
* Frank James - The brother of Jesse
* Charles and Bob Ford - Friends, relatives, and betrayers of Jesse James
* Oscar Wilde - the author/playwright
* Grant - Ulysses S. Grant, widely accused of being a drunkard although he apparently did not drink during the Civil War itself or during his presidency.
On the evidence, it would appear that Randolph's "B" version, at least, was crafted during the 1884 Presidential election. - RBW
File: R403
===
NAME: Juley: see Walkalong, Miss Susiana Brown (File: Hugi391)
===
NAME: Julia
DESCRIPTION: Norwegian shanty. Chorus: "Julia! Julia! hop-ra-sa!" Hugill gives only one verse, which translates "A sailor's greatest pleasure, is Julia! Julia! Beloved of girls so dear..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (L. A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: shanty foreignlanguage love
FOUND_IN: Norway
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 392-393, "Julia" (2 texts-Norwegian & English, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Upidee, Upidah" (similar tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Julia Hopsasa
File: Hugi392
===
NAME: Julia Grover (Miss Julie Ann Glover)
DESCRIPTION: "As I was goin' to the mill one day, I met Miss Julia on the way, She 'spressed a wish that she might ride.... Sit down there, Miss Julia Grover, Play on your banjo, I'm your lover....." She gets in; the oxen start; the cart tips; she attacks him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: courting travel
FOUND_IN: US(NE,SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 410, "Miss Julie Ann Glover" (1 short text)
Linscott, pp. 224-225, "Julia Grover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3734
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Julie Ann Grover
File: Lins224
===
NAME: Julian's Death
DESCRIPTION: Julian, an Indian slave who ran away and killed John Rogers when Rogers tried to stop him, makes his confession: "The prisoner owns his bloody act, And saith the sentence... Was passed on him impartially." He narrates his sins
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) slave escape murder punishment gallows-confession
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1732 - "Julian" tries to escape from his owner, Major Quincy of Brigewater, Massachusetts. Tracked by John Rogers, Julian finally killed his pursuer, but was captured and executed
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 150-152, (no titles) (excerpts from two pieces about Julian)
NOTES: Reading this account, I find my sympathies all with Julian. I have to think this is even more removed from the slave's last words than the usual goodnight. - RBW
File: Burt150
===
NAME: Julie Ann Grover: see Julia Grover (Miss Julie Ann Glover) (File: Lins224)
===
NAME: Julie Ann Johnson
DESCRIPTION: "O Julie Ann Johnson, oho! (x2)." "Gwineter catch dat train, boys, oho! (x2)" "Gwineter fin' Julie, oho! (x2)" "She gone to Dallas, oho! (x2)" "Gwineter hug my Julie, oho! (x2)"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: love separation courting travel
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 244-245, "Julie Ann Johnson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 9, "July Ann Johnson" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ST LxA244 (Full)
Roud #11604
NOTES: The Lomaxes note that "Lead Belly... made it doubtful whether this was a dance tune or a work chant." Whether and to what extent Leadbelly reworked this is unclear.
Knowing the Lomaxes, I initially lumped this with "Julia Grover (Miss Julie Ann Glover)." I still wonder if there isn't some cross-fertilization. But that has rather more narrative than this. - RBW
File: LxA244
===
NAME: Julie Plante, The: see The Wreck of the Julie Plante (File: FJ174)
===
NAME: July Ann Johnson: see Julie Ann Johnson (File: LxA244)
===
NAME: Jumbo (Mama Sent Me to the Spring)
DESCRIPTION: "Mama sent me to the spring, Told me not to stay. I fell in love with a pretty little boy And stayed till Christmas day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting nonsense
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 142, "Mama Sent Me to the Spring" (1 text)
Roud #4245
NOTES: The notes in Brown say that the fragment cited is part of a Kentucky song called "Jumbo." I suspect it's part of a singing game -- but since "Jumbo" apparently is not in any accessible collection, I can't do anything with my suspicions except complain that the editors should have given more details.
The Carter Family text of "Fond of Chewing Gum" contains a stanza very like this one, but that text is full of other intrusions, so it's not clear that they should be identified; none of the other texts of "Chewing Gum" (e.g. those in Randolph) include the stanza. - RBW
File: BrII142
===
NAME: Jump Her, Juberju: see The Bigler's Crew [Laws D8] (File: LD08)
===
NAME: Jump Jim Crow
DESCRIPTION: Disconnected verses about a rambler's exploits, held together by the chorus "I wheel about I twist about I do just so, Every time I turn about I jump Jim Crow."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1835 (pubished by E. Riley)
KEYWORDS: nonballad dancing dancetune floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 126-127, "Jim Crow", (no title), "Jump Jim Crow" (1 text plus two fragments, 1 tune; the full text lacks the chorus, while the fragments consist mostly of the chorus)
Gilbert, p. 18, "Jim Crow" (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 274, "Twist about, turn about, jump Jim Crow" (2 texts)
ST Gilb018 (Partial)
Roud #12442
RECORDINGS:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 115, "Jim Crow," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 15(149a), Firth b.34(154), Harding B 11(1472), Harding B 11(1877), "Jim Crow"
LOCSinging, as106690, "Jim Crow," L. Deming (Boston), 19C; also as106700, "Jim Crow complete in 150 verses"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hop High Ladies (Uncle Joe)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Said to have been originated by Thomas D. Rice, who allegedly watched a negro sing and dance the refrain and imitated it. This proved so successful that Rice spent the rest of his life as "Jim Crow" Rice, using the song as his primary attraction. - RBW
File: Gilb018
===
NAME: Jump Jim Crow (II): see Hop High Ladies (Uncle Joe) (File: R252)
===
NAME: Jumpin' Judy
DESCRIPTION: "Jumpin Judy, Jumpin Judy (x3) Was a mighty fine gal (or: All over this world)" The singer describes prison life, and the hope for escape. He hopes the guards will stop abusing him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 289, "Jumpin' Judy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 82-84, "Jumpin' Judy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JUMPJUDY*
Roud #6712
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Midnight Special"
cf. "Take This Hammer"
NOTES: The version of this song in _Folk Songs of North America_ looks like a version of "The Midnight Special"; that in _American Ballads and Folk Songs_ rather resembles "Take This Hammer." Lead Belly sang a version which seems unrelated to either. I leave it to the reader to draw conclusions about the Lomax texts. - RBW
File: LoF289
===
NAME: Jungle Mammy Song
DESCRIPTION: "Ah yah, tair um bam, boo wah, Kee lay zee day, Nic o lay, mah lun dee. Nic o lay ah poot a way, Nic o lay ah wah mee-- Ah yah, tair um bam, boo wah, Kee lay zee day, Nic o lay, mah lun dee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonsense nonballad lullaby
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 455, "Jungle Mammy Song" (1 short text, 1 tune)
File: San455
===
NAME: Juniper Tree, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh sister Phoebe, how merry we were The night we sat under the juniper tree...." "So put this hat on, it will keep your head warm, And take a sweet kiss, it will do you no harm." Phoebe and/or the boy are encouraged to get married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting clothes
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 540, "The Juniper Tree" (5 texts, 1 tune; the "D" text may be a parody)
Hudson 151, pp. 298-299, "Under the Juniper Tree" (1 text)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 9, "Sister Phoebe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4507
NOTES: A kising game, according to Ritchie, though a few texts are slightly fuller. - RBW
File: R540
===
NAME: Juniper Tree, The (The Wicked Stepmother, The Rose Tree)
DESCRIPTION: A boy is murdered by his stepmother. She feeds the body to his father and (half-)sister. The boy comes back to life as a bird, and gains revenge on his stepmother (giving gifts to his family in the process). He is restored to humanity
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956
KEYWORDS: stepmother murder death bird revenge recitation
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chase, pp. 47-50, "The Wicked Stepmother" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This tale is widely known -- reported by Chase to be known in England, Ireland, Australia, northwestern Europe, and the southern U.S. As "Von dem Machandelboom" it is #47 in the Grimm collection. As, however, the bird's accusation against his stepmother is generally sung, it perhaps deserves a place in this Index. - RBW
File: Cha047
===
NAME: Just a Closer Walk with Thee
DESCRIPTION: "Just a closer walk with thee, Grant it, Jesus, if you please." The singer prays to be closer to Jesus, to be strengthened in the face of work and trouble, and to be taken home upon dying
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (recording, Selah Jubilee Quartet)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 357, "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" (1 text)
DT, CLOSEWLK*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), p. 167, "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15986
RECORDINGS:
Eureka Brass Band, "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" [instrumental version] (on MuSouth10)
Red Foley, "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" (Decca 14505, 1949)
Lacy Colored Gospel Singers, "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" (Sacred 296, n.d.)
Selah Jubilee Quartet, "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" (Decca 7872, 1941)
Smith's Jubilee Singers, "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" (Sterling 1503, n.d.)
File: FSWB357A
===
NAME: Just a Poor Lumberjack
DESCRIPTION: Recitation. A youth pushes a drunken lumberjack into the gutter. Another lumberjack saves a child from a fire, but dies in the process. A third dies in the woods. All are mourned with the chorus, "'Twas only a poor old lumberjack"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Recitation. A drunken lumberjack is pushed into the gutter by a posh youth; a stranger warns the youth not to make wisecracks, or he'll get the same treatment. Another lumberjack saves a child from a fire, but dies in the process. A third, unknown, dies in the woods. All are mourned with the chorus, "'Twas only a poor old lumberjack."
KEYWORDS: lumbering logger warning fight rescue death work recitation
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 64, "Just a Poor Lumberjack" (1 text)
Roud #8846
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Only a Miner (The Hard-Working Miner)" [Laws G33] (theme)
NOTES: Pieces like this are easy to deride as mawkish melodrama, but they contain a spine of self-respect among men who were often ill-treated by the "respectable" society whose needs they supplied. - PJS
File: Be064
===
NAME: Just As I Was Going Away: see Braes of Strathblane (File: McCST053)
===
NAME: Just As the Tide Was Flowing
DESCRIPTION: A sailor and girl stop "Beneath the shade and branches round, What they done there will never be known So long as the tides are flowing." She gives him gold. He goes to the alehouse and drinks "to the girl that never said no" or spent it on other girls.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3634))
KEYWORDS: courting lover sailor gold
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 66, "Down Where the Tide Was Flowing" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #1105
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "Just As the Tide Was A-Flowing" (on Voice12)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3634), "Just As the Tide Was Flowing," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(1951), Harding B 11(1952), "Just As the Tide Was Flowing"; Johnson Ballads 1837, "Tide is Flowing"; Firth c.12(274), "Just As the Tide is Flowing"
File: GrMa066
===
NAME: Just Before the Battle, Mother
DESCRIPTION: "Just before the battle, Mother, I am thinking most of you.... Farewell, mother, you may never Press me to your heart again But O, you'll not forget me, Mother, If I'm numbered with the slain." The singer will be true to the cause despite missing Mother
AUTHOR: George F. Root
EARLIEST_DATE: 1862 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: war battle Civilwar mother nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 102-105, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 12-13, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hill-CivWar, pp. 230-231, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (1 text)
JHCox 74, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (1 text)
JHJohnson, p. 118, "Just Behind the Battle, Mother" (1 text, a parody)
Silber-FSWB, p. 280, "Just Before The Battle, Mother" (1 text)
DT, JSTBATTL* (JSTBATT2)
ST RJ19102 (Full)
Roud #4263
RECORDINGS:
James Doherty, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (Edison 51109, 1923)
Liberty Quartet, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (Emerson 943, 1912)
Monroe Quartet, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (OKeh 45133, 1927)
J. W. Myers, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (CYL: Columbia 32433, c. 1904)
Will Oakland, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (CYL: Edison 297, c. 1897) (CYL: Edison [BA] 1516, 1912)
Charlie Oaks, "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (Vocalion 15345, 1926) (Vocalion 5112, 1927)
Unidentified tenor, "Just Before the Battle Mother" (Busy Bee A-55, c. 1906)
Wheeler & Ballard "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (Resona 75074, 1920)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell, Mother" (tune)
File: RJ19102
===
NAME: Just from Dawson (Deadwood on the Hills)
DESCRIPTION: "A Dawson City miner lay dying in the ice." The miner tells his comrade to send him back to "Deadwood in the hills" (of South Dakota), where there is as much gold (i.e. not much) and it is warmer. He dies and freezes solid; they send his body home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: death mining gold humorous
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1898 - Yukon gold rush
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 440-441, "Just from Dawson" (1 text)
Roud #15540
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cremation of Sam McGee" (theme)
cf. "Bingen on the Rhine" (tune)
File: LxA440
===
NAME: Just Kick the Dust over my Coffin
DESCRIPTION: "Just kick the dust over my coffin, Say, 'There lies a jovial young lad'; Pile the earth upon my carcass, Then carve on the stone at my head, Oh ain't it a wonderful story That love will kill a man dead." Singer says not to bawl; tell his love he is dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death burial love humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 40, "Just Kick the Dust over my Coffin" (1 text)
Roud #7861
NOTES: I can't recall many humorous first-person died-for-live songs -- but this, if the two-stanza fragment in Brown is an indication, is one. - RBW
File: Br3040
===
NAME: Just One Girl
DESCRIPTION: "I'm in love with a sweet little girlie, only one, only one...." "Just one girl (x2), There are others, I know, but they're not my Pearl... I'll be happy forever with just one girl." He says that, though poor, they are of age to marry and will be happy
AUTHOR: Words: Karl Kennett / Music: Lyn Udall
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: love marriage
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 789, "Just One Girl" (1 text)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 146-147, "Just One Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 256-257, "Just One Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 252, "Just One Girl Waltz" (1 tune)
Roud #7419
File: R789
===
NAME: Just Plain Folks
DESCRIPTION: "To a mansion in the city came a couple old and gray To meet their son who left them long ago." The son, now rich, greets them coldly; the father says, "We're just plain folks, your mother and me." They leave him to his life; they are too ordinary for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (recording, Arkansas Woodchopper)
KEYWORDS: family age separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 862, "Just Plain Folks" (1 text)
Roud #7533
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink], "Just Plain Folks" (Conqueror 7881, 1931)
File: R862
===
NAME: Just Remember Pearl Harbor
DESCRIPTION: "Wasn't that an awful time at Pearl Harbor? What a time, what a time... When the Japs came passing by, Three thousand lost their lives." The bombings of the ships are mentioned, and the singer says, like Moses, the Americans won't give up
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: battle war death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: December 7, 1941 - Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor damages most of the battleships of the U. S. Pacific Fleet
December 8, 1941 - Japanese attack the Philippines and other Pacific targets
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 241, "Just Remember Pearl Harbor" (1 text)
Roud #6624
NOTES: This is a very strange piece, in that nearly every line is reminiscent of some traditional song or other (notably "Wasn't That a Mighty Time," but also "The Titanic (I - It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down)" [Laws D24] and "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" and others). But it doesn't seem to scan to any of them, or much of anything else for that matter.
The song was collected from schoolchildren apparently in 1943; is it possible that they or one of their teachers assembled it? It might explain the style of the piece.
It's hard to say how much after Pearl Harbor this song was written; there are no real dated items except the attack itself. The only person mentioned is MacArthur, and this is confusing. It does not mention his successful Pacific campaign. But neither does it mention his badly mismanaged defense of the Philippines, in which he let his entire air force be destroyed on the ground, and instead of retiring his inadequate garrison to Bataan at first opportunity, at first tried to slug it out with the Japanese, leaving him with neither the troops nor the supplies to defend himself. - RBW
File: BrII241
===
NAME: Just Tread on the Tail of Me Coat
DESCRIPTION: "I've licked all the Murphys an' Finnegans, And all the McCarthys afloat, If you're wanting a fight and a fraction, Just tread on the tail of me coat."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: fight
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 474, "Just Tread on the Tail of Me Coat" (2 fragments, 1 tune)
Roud #4879
NOTES: The tune given by Randolph is quite close to (the verse of) "Rosin the Beau"; one suspects this is a fragment of one of the myriad parodies based on that song. - RBW
File: R474
===
NAME: Jut Gannon
DESCRIPTION: ut Gannon is told to drive a mule team, so he does. The rest of the song consists of descriptions of other lumber-woods characters and short anecdotes about them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work animal moniker humorous
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 71, "Jut Gannon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6497
NOTES: The "moniker song" consists mostly of listing the names of one's compatriots, and perhaps telling humorous vignettes about each; it's common among lumberjacks, hoboes, and probably other groups. - PJS
File: Be071
===
NAME: K.C. Moan
DESCRIPTION: Song fragment, with two floating verses: "I thought I heard that K.C. when she blowed/She blowed like my woman's on board" and "When I get back on that K.C. road/Gonna love my baby like I never loved before"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Andrew and Jim Baxter)
KEYWORDS: separation railroading nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 406-412, "KC Railroad/KC Moan" (3 texts plus a mass of fragments, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 102, "K.C. Moan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 242, (no title) (1 short text)
Roud #4958
RECORDINGS:
Andrew and Jim Baxter, "Kansas City Railroad Blues" (Victor 20962, 1927)
Memphis Jug Band, "K. C. Moan" (Victor 38558A, 1929; on AAFM3, BefBlues2)
Riley Puckett, "Kansas City Railroad" (Bluebird B5471, 1934/Montgomery Ward M-7042 [probably as "K. C. Railroad"]
George Walburn and Emmett Hethcox, "K.C. Railroad" (OKeh 45004); probably also "Kansas City Railroad Blues" (OKeh 45178)
[Jess] Young's Tenesee Band, "The Old K.C." (Columbia 15431-D, 1929)
NOTES: The verses are vocal interludes in what is basically a slow dance tune, although they sound like they might well have originated in a work song. And, although it's located in Tennessee, Memphis is hardly part of Appalachia. Its music is more closely connected with the Mississippi delta region. - PJS
This sng shows, better than almost anything, the loose form of blues songs. Cohen's three versions all have roughly the same first verse: "Thought I/ought to hear that (old/lovin') KC blow... Blowed like she never blowed before/no more." But one of his versions goes on to include much of "Goin' down this road feelin' bad," plus the "Chilly winds" verse, a second is about a man rejected by a woman, and the third has verses about the KC train straining every nerve. It's one of those cases where there simply is no way to tell just where one song stops and another starts.
Cohen's three texts are at least held together by a common melody, but he notes that the Walburn/Hethcox recording has a different tune. - RBW
File: ADR102
===
NAME: Kafoozalem (I)
DESCRIPTION: Kafoozalem is the daughter of a Turk "who did the Prophet's holy work." A westerner, Sam, loves her and tries to steal her away. The father discovers the plot and has them strangled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945
KEYWORDS: love foreigner death murder
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 131-132, "Kafoozalem" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST SRW131 (Full)
Roud #10135
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kathusalem (Kafoozelum) (I)"
cf. "Laidy Maisry' [Child 65] (plot)
File: SRW131
===
NAME: Kafoozelum (I): see Kathusalem (Kafoozelum) (II) (File: EM204)
===
NAME: Kangaroo, The: see Carrion Crow (File: LoF072)
===
NAME: Kansas: see In Kansas (File: EM049)
===
NAME: Kansas Boys: see Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.) (File: R342)
===
NAME: Kansas City Blues
DESCRIPTION: "River is deep and the river is wide, Gal I love is on the other side. I'm gonna move to Kansas City... Move, honey babe, where they don't 'low you." Miscellaneous verses about women, prostitution (?), drugs, loneliness, the girl the singer loves....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, "Red" Willie Smith)
KEYWORDS: drugs love whore travel home
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 77, "Kansas City Blues" (1 text)
DT, KCBLES*
RECORDINGS:
"Red" Willie Smith, "Kansas City Blues" (on NFMAla1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ohio River, She's So Deep and Wide" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This song also became popular in jazz circles, after being popularized by Joe Turner and others. - PJS
File: FSWB077C
===
NAME: Kansas City Railroad: see K.C. Moan (File: ADR102)
===
NAME: Kansas Cyclone
DESCRIPTION: Singer used to own a ranch but he's now working as a cowboy; a "twisting cyclone" (tornado) has destroyed his farm and killed his family and herd. He's now punching cows to pay off the mortgage and "payin' for the cattle that the cyclone blew away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930s (collected by the WPA Writers' Project)
KEYWORDS: home death farming work disaster storm animal children wife family cowboy worker
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "The Kansas Cyclone" (on Thieme02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Shady Grove" (tune)
File: RcKansCy
===
NAME: Kansas Line, The: see A Soldier from Missouri [Laws A16] (File: LA16)
===
NAME: Karo Song
DESCRIPTION: Floating-verse song, with chorus "Oh, hear my true love weeping, Oh, hear my true love sigh, I was gwinging down to Karo town, Down there to live and die." Verses about Old Master's habits, the possum up the 'simmon tree, and courting Miss Sallie
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: courting floatingverses love
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 170-171, "Karo Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3444
NOTES: Roud lumps this with the "Lynchburg Town" family, based on little more that I can see than a line in the chorus. There is hardly a word in the piece that isn't paralleled elsewhere, but the chorus seems relatively unique.
Scarborough thinks the Karo of the title is Cuero ("Cwaro"), Texas, but given the composite nature of the piece, I think the reference -- as in most folk songs -- is to Cairo, Illinois. - RBW
File: ScaNF170
===
NAME: Kassie Jones: see Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)
===
NAME: Kate Adams, The: see notes under I'm Going Down the River (File: MWhee050)
===
NAME: Kate and Her Horns [Laws N22]
DESCRIPTION: Kate's intended husband suddenly jilts her for a rich girl. Kate obtains a cow's hide and horns, and meets her lover disguised as the devil. This "devil" threatens him if he does not return to Kate. He does; she reveals the truth as their child is born
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Belden; a broadside exists from c. 1690)
KEYWORDS: courting trick marriage Devil childbirth
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws N22, "Kate and Her Horns"
Belden, pp. 231-232, "Kate and her Horns" (1 text)
FSCatskills 125, "Kate and Her Horns" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 70, "The Clothier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 159, "Kate and the Cowhide" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 101, pp. 137-138, "Kate and the Clothier" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 184-186, "Kate" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 132, "Kate and Her Horns" (1 text)
BBI, ZN3130, "You that in merriment delight"
DT 452, KATEHORN* KATEHRN2*
Roud #555
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 3(15b), "Crafty Kate of Colchester" or "The False-Hearted Clothier Frighted into Good Manners" ("You that in merriment delight") [almost entirely illegible], J. White (Newcastle), 1711-1769
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jealous Husband Outwitted" (plot)
cf. "Maurice Kelly" (gimmick)
File: LN22
===
NAME: Kate and the Clothier: see Kate and Her Horns [Laws N22] (File: LN22)
===
NAME: Kate and the Cowhide: see Kate and Her Horns [Laws N22] (File: LN22)
===
NAME: Kate from Branch, The
DESCRIPTION: Kate out of Branch, at anchor five miles out, is run down at night by Royalist, "an English man-o'-war that's bound for St John's town"  The crew is lost and one body is found drifting, and the news and body taken to his parents at Salmonier
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: burial death sea ship crash
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 64, "The Kate from Branch" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The outports named, Branch, St Mary's, and Salmonier, are around St Mary's Bay on the south shore of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. I cannot find any record of the sinking.
The following information is quoted by permission from Michael Phillips (see the Maritime History site by Michael Phillips and Jane Phillips): "I include the career and list of captains for the first three Royalists in my sailing ship history and none of them visited Canada. The most likely candidate is number four which was a wooden, single screw, steam sloop, with sails, which was launched in December 1861 and broken up in 1875. She spent 1863-67 and 1868-72 on the North American and West Indies station with Cdr. Nelson '65-'66 and Cdr. Jones '68-'69.... [According to the Navy Lists] no officer named Butler ever served in Royalist, the only name that could sound vaguely similar is Cdr. Bateman who commanded her in the 1870s after Jones.... The fifth Royalist, 1883-1923, served in Africa and Australia." - BS
File: LeBe064
===
NAME: Kate Kearney
DESCRIPTION: Kate Kearney lives on the banks of Killarney. "Fatal's the glance of Kate Kearney; For that eye is so modestly beaming... Beware of her smile... And who dares inhale her sigh's spicy gale, must die by the breath of Kate Kearney"
AUTHOR: Charles Lever (1806-1872)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1843 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(431))
KEYWORDS: courting beauty nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 17, "Kate Kearney" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(431), "Kate Kearney", W. & T. Fordyce (Newcastle), 1832-1842; also Harding B 11(1960), Harding B 11(1966), 2806 b.11(173), Harding B 28(150), Harding B 11(2067), Harding B 11(430), Firth b.25(142), Harding B 11(1961), Harding B 11(1963) [torn], Harding B 11(1958), Johnson Ballads fol. 113, "Kate Kearney"
NOTES: O'Conor makes the attribution [to Charles Lever]. Kate Kearney is a character in Lever's _Lord Kilgobbin_ published as a serial in 1870-1872 (source: The University of Adelaide ebooks site). That would mean he created the character in song no later than 1842, 28 years before the serial was published. - BS
Hazel Felleman's _The Best Loved Poems of the American People_, p. 12, attributes this to Sady Morgan. I have found no other references to this author, so the attribution to Lever seems much stronger.
There is another broadside heroine named Kate Kearney (see broadside Murray, Mu23-y1:156, "Kate Kearney with the Silver Eye," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C); the song is not the same, but whether it inspired Lever, or was inspired by him, I cannot tell. - RBW
File: OCon017
===
NAME: Kate of Ballinamore
DESCRIPTION: Kate's father threatens to kill the singer rather than have him marry Kate. Kate recommends he enlist to escape; besides, "I'd like to be a brave young soldier's bride." He joins the Ninety-Eights and gets a letter that she has married a farmer's son.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (recording, Geordie Hanna)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity soldier father
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5172
RECORDINGS:
Geordie Hanna, "Kate of Ballinamore" (on Voice06)
File: RcKOBall
===
NAME: Kate of Glenkeen
DESCRIPTION: "By the banks of the Barrow residing Are girls of dark raven hair," but the queen of them all is Kate of Glenkeen. The singer describes her purity, her beauty, her fleetness of foot. He will meet her by the light of the starts
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H41, pp. 231-232, "Kate of Glenkeen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7984
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Green Shore" [Laws Q27] (tune)
NOTES: Sam Henry had no tune for this piece, so he set it to a traditional item he calls "Captain Black." This is equated with "She's a Daughter of Daniel O'Connell," i.e. presumably "Erin's Green Shore."
The tune, however, is curious, ending on the second rather than the tonic (or else it is in Dorian, and starts on the minor seventh, but it sounds as major to me). I've encountered three tunes for "Erin's Green Shore," only one of which (Connie Dover's; she doesn't list her source) has any real similarity to Henry's tune -- and they are by no means identical. - RBW
File: HHH041
===
NAME: Kate's Big Shirt
DESCRIPTION: Saturday night "Kate stopped up to iron her clothes" and "Tom stopped up for company." He asks "Kate does that big shirt belong to you?" It does. They strip and climb in the shirt together, but can't get out when they try.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: clothes bawdy humorous wordplay
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 69-70, "Kate's Big Shirt" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5866
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Great Big Sea Hove in Long Beach" (tune)
File: Pea069
===
NAME: Katey of Lochgoil
DESCRIPTION: "'Twas on the year Eleventy-nine, And March the fortieth day, That Katey of Lochgoil, my boys, To sea she'll bore away." The singer vows he will not sail again after  strange voyage with "Tonald More an' Tugald More, Shon Tamson an' Shon Roy."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: sailor ship talltale humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 241-243, "Katey of Lochgoil" (1 text)
Roud #13088
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Rover" (theme)
NOTES: Sort of a Scottish version of "The Irish Rover." There are no lyrics in common, but the feeling is identical. - RBW
File: FVS241
===
NAME: Kathaleen Ny-Houlahan: see Caitilin Ni Uallachain (Cathaleen Ni Houlihan) (File: SBoA094)
===
NAME: Katharine Jaffray [Child 221]
DESCRIPTION: Squire courts farmer's daughter; father forbids her to see him. She is to be wed to another. He invades the wedding. The bride's brother challenges him; he says he comes in friendship and asks to kiss the bride. He takes her away from the hall
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802
KEYWORDS: wedding nobility trick elopement disguise clothes
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland  US(SE)
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Child 221, "Katharine Jaffray" (12 texts)
Bronson 221, "Katharine Jaffray" (11 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 400-406, "The Squire of Edinburgh Town" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #8}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 261-268, "The Squire of Eninboroughtown" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
BrownII 39, "Katharine Jaffray" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 79-83, "Katharine Jaffray" (2 texts plus 1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4}
Creighton-NovaScotia 11, "Katharine Jaffray" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
Peacock, pp. 200-201, "Hembrick Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 20, "The Green Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 578-579, "Katherine Jaffray" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 271, "Katharine Jaffray" (2 texts)
OBB 88, "Katharine Johnstone" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 16, "The Green Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #6}
Gummere, pp. 263-264+357-358, "Katharine Jaffray" (1 text)
DT 221, LOCHNGAR* LOCHNGR2* (the latter listed in some versions as Child 211)
ST C221 (Full)
Roud #93
RECORDINGS:
Nora Cleary, "The Green Wedding" (on Voice06)
Cecilia Costello, "The Green Wedding (Catharine Jaffray)" (on FSBBAL2)
Thomas Moran, "The Green Wedding (Catharine Jaffray)" (on FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #11}
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2364), "The Squire of Edinburgh!," H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also 2806 c.11(72), "The Squire of Edinburgh!"; 2806 c.15(151), 2806 b.9(233), "The Squire of Edinburgh Town" 
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lochingar
Lochnagar
Katherine Jeffreys
NOTES: This is the inspiration for Walter Scott's poem "Young Lochinvar." - PJS, RBW
For the latter poem widely-reprinted poem (24 citations in _Granger's Index to Poetry_ -- though most of the anthologies are the type which never contain anything else with folklowing roots), see e.g. Iona & Peter Opie, The Oxford Book of Narrative Verse, pp. 160-161. The poem, according to the Opies, was rewritten to fit into the book _Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field_, where he needed the hero to carry his bride north.
Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth place "The Squire of Edinburgh Town" among the secondary ballads -- those derived from but not identical to the Child Ballads. Child himself seems to have thought that "Squire" was a rewrite of "Katherine Jaffray." But Bronson (and Roud) lump them, and given the amount of common material and the lack of individual identity in "Squire," it seems to me proper to do the same. - RBW
File: C221
===
NAME: Katharine Johns(t)on(e): see Katharine Jaffray [Child 221] (File: C221)
===
NAME: Kathleen Casey
DESCRIPTION: Kathleen Casey is buried in county Clare. Her lover had promised to be true but did not go to the wedding. No one knows where he went. She died before six months passed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: wedding betrayal death Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 45, "Kathleen Casey" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: McB1045
===
NAME: Kathleen Mavourneen
DESCRIPTION: "Kathleen Mavourneen! The gray dawn is breaking, The horn of the hunter is heard on the hill." The singer bids Kathleen to awake, as they must soon part. "It may be for years and it may be forever" before he can return to her and Ireland
AUTHOR: Anne Barry Crawford and Frederick William Nicholls Crouch
EARLIEST_DATE: 1840 (original publication)
KEYWORDS: love separation parting exile
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 253, "Kathleen Mavourneen" (1 text)
DSB2, p. 26, "Kathleen Mavourneen" (1 text)
DT, KMAVOURN*
ST FSWB253C (Full)
Roud #13858
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:069, "Kathleen Mavourneen," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1269(178a), "Kathleen Mavourneen," Robert M'Intosh (Glasgow), 1849
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dermot Astore" (characters)
SAME_TUNE:
The birth-place of wit, and the home of hospitality, Ireland (per broadside Murray, Mu23-y1:069)
File: FSWB253C
===
NAME: Kathusalem (Kafoozelum) (II)
DESCRIPTION: Kathusalem, the harlot of Jerusalem, has anal sex with a priest, and expels him in explosive fashion.
AUTHOR: "S. Oxon"
EARLIEST_DATE: 1866, when it was published by Frederick Blume in New York City as the satirical "Kafoozelum," and credited to "S. Oxon."
KEYWORDS: bawdy parody clergy sex whore
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada Britain(England) US(MA,SW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 204-210, "Kathusalem" (3 texts, 1 tune)
DT, KAFOOZLM*
Roud #10135
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kafoozelum (I)"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Daughter of the Rabbi
File: EM204
===
NAME: Kathy Fiscus
DESCRIPTION: "On April the eighth, the year forty-nine, Death claimed a little child so pure and so kind." Kathy Fiscus falls down a dry well. Workers try to dig her out, but she is dead when found. The singer "know[s] Kathy is happy up there with God now."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956 (collected by Paul Clayton)
KEYWORDS: death children
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1949 - Death of Kathy Fiscus
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Darling-NAS, pp. 224-225, "Kathy Fiscus" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Possibly related recordings:
Jimmie Osborne, "The Death of Little Kathy Fiscus" (King 788, 1949)
NOTES: This is a case where tradition is muddy. Kathy Fiscus died in 1949, and several songs were recorded about the event. This one, well-known in bluegrass circles, seems to have been the most popular. It seems likely that Paul Clayton's informant, Lily Maggard,  learned the song from radio play or a phonograph recording. Does that qualify as traditional? - RBW
File: DarNS224
===
NAME: Katie an' the Jim Lee Had a Little Race: see Katie and the Jim Lee Had a Race (File: MWhee018)
===
NAME: Katie and the Jim Lee Had a Race
DESCRIPTION: "Katie and the Jim Lee had a little race, Katie throwed water in the Jim Lee's face, (Oh babe)." The singer describes boats on the river and wishes he had a better life (or income, or woman, or whatever else seems worth complaining about)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: racing ship river gambling floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, pp. 19-20, "Katie an' the Jim Lee Had a Little Race" (1 text, 1 tune); pp. 55-56, "Katie an' the Jim Lee Had a Race" (1 text, 1 tune); also perhaps p. 22, "Vicksburg Round the Bend" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9996 and 10018
NOTES: Wheeler does not give an exact date for this race, but most of the boats involved were active around 1890. The "Katie" is probably the Kate Adams (second of that name), built in 1873. The Kate Adams set a record for the trip from Helena, Arkansas to Memphis, so it is reasonable to see her taking part in (and winning) a race.
The key verse about their race seems to float (though I've only seen it in Wheeler); her "Vicksburg Round the Bend" is a mish-mash: The first stanza is generic, with different cities being used; the second is standard blues, the third is found also in "What Does the Deep Sea Say,"  the fourth is from "Captain Jim Rees and the Katie," and the fifth is from this song. - RBW
File: MWhee018
===
NAME: Katie Bairdie
DESCRIPTION: "Katie Bairdie had a coo, Black and white about the mou, Wasna that a dainty coo, Dance, Katie Bairdie." "Katie Bairdie had a hen, cackled but and cakled ben...." "Katie Bairdie had a cock...." "Katie Bairdie had a grice...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: animal dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 92, "(Katie Beardie had a cow)" (1 text)
DT, KITBEARD
Roud #8945
File: MSNR092
===
NAME: Katie Beardie Had a Coo: see Katie Bairdie (File: MSNR092)
===
NAME: Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going)
DESCRIPTION: "When first I came to the town, They called me the roving jewel; Now they've changed my name; They call me Katie Cruel." The ending varies; the girl sets her heart on someone, but she may or may not get him and he may or may not rule over her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1611 (quoted by Beaumont & Fletcher)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 123-124, "Regimental Song," "Katie Cruel" (2 short texts, the first one having lost all references to Katie, the Leeboy, or any other proper noun)
Linscott, pp. 225-227, "Katy Cruel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 50-52, "Katie Cruel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 153, "I Know Where I'm Going" (1 text); p. 194 ,"Katy Cruel" (1 text)
DT, KATYCRUL KNOWHERE* LEABOYSL* LICHTBOB
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 267, "I Know Where I'm Going"  (1 text)
Roud #5701
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hexhamshire Lass" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Lichtbob's Lassie
NOTES: The forms and endings of this song are extremely diverse, although I've only heard three tunes, two of them clearly related. I might be tempted to break the piece up into separate entries, except that there is simply no way to draw the boundaries.
Paul Stamler observes, "I think ['I Know Where I'm Going'] may need its own entry, being as how it's only overlap with 'Katie Cruel' is the 'I know where I'm going' verse. On the other hand, it's a distinct nonballad, so maybe not." As usual, there is truth in this; the two basic families are "Katie Cruel" and "Leaboy's Lassie" (the latter clearly the forerunner of "I Know Where I'm Going"). However, there is much more in common between these two than just the "I know where...." verse.
My guess is that the original is Scottish, but I could well be wrong. Don Duncan points out a broadside, "A New Song, Called Harry Newell," which is clearly a form of the same thing and printed probably in the eighteenth or early nineteenth century. It is English or Irish, not Scottish.
Child alluded to this piece in his appendix of fragments, quoting a stanza from Beaumont and Fletcher's "Knight of the Burning Pestle," Act II, Scene viiii:
She cares not for her daddy,
Nor she cares not for her mammy;
For she is, she is, she is, she is
My lord of Lowgrave's lassy.
(This, incidentally, is the part of the play densest in traditional song; in my edition -- p. 335 of M. L. Wine's _Drama of the English Renaissance_ -- five songs are quoted in the space of thirty lines.)
Based on the date, this may well be very close to the original of this piece.
Linscott claims it "is a marching song used by the American troops in the Revolutionary War" (compare the Flanders/Brown title). But she was ignorant of most of the other versions.
Ritson printed the chorus, "O that I was where I would be, Then would I be where I am not, But where I am I must be, And where I would be I cannot," in _Gammer Gurton's Garland_, 1784 (see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #80, p. 82; see also Ben Schwartz's note below) .
One chorus is the same as Opie-Oxford2 246, "Oh that I were I would be" (earliest date in Opie-Oxford2 is 1784). - BS
File: SBoA050
===
NAME: Katie Dear: see The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)
===
NAME: Katie Dorey: see Katie Morey [Laws N24] (File: LN24)
===
NAME: Katie Lee and Willie Gray
DESCRIPTION: "Two brown heads with glossy curls... Little boy and girl were they, Katie Lee and Willie Gray." The pretty boy and girl are described. As they grew up, they fell/stayed in love and married; now she rocks a cradle where once she carried a basket
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love marriage family
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 773, "Katie Lee and Willie Gray" (1 text)
ST R773 (Partial)
Roud #5255
NOTES: Randolph's informant reported that this comes from the Hutchinson family. Felleman's _The Best Loved Poems of the American People_ lists attributions to Josie R. Hunt and J. H. Pixley. - RBW
File: R773
===
NAME: Katie Morey [Laws N24]
DESCRIPTION: The singer tries to seduce Katie. He lures her into the woods and threatens to kill her if she will not submit. She seems to consent, but warns the youth to climb a tree until her father passes. She then insults him and runs away, leaving him far behind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: seduction bargaining trick escape rape
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws N24, "Katie Morey"
Bronson 112, "The Baffled Knight" (40 versions) -- but #26-33 (his Appendix A) are "The New-Mown Hay," which may be separate, and #34-#39 (his Appendix B) are "Katie Morey" [Laws N24] which is certainly separate
Eddy 19, "The Baffled Knight" (1 text, 1 tune, listed as Child #112 but clearly this piece) {Bronson's #39}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 89-99, "The Baffled Knight" (5 texts, but the "A" text is from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition and "B-I" through "B-IV" are "Katie Morey" rather than "The Baffled Knight" [Child 112])
SharpAp 115, "Katie Morey" (2 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #34, #37, #35}
Gardner/Chickering 161, "Kitty O'Noory" (1expurgated  text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #36}
Randolph-Legman II, pp. 594-597, "Katey Morey" (5 texts)
FSCatskills 129, "Katey Morey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 52, "Katie Morey" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #34}
DT (112), KATYMORY*
Roud #674
RECORDINGS:
Betty Garland, "Katy Dory" (on BGarland01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Baffled Knight" [Child 112]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Katie Dorie
Miss Kitty O'Horey
The Shrewd Maiden
NOTES: Authorities differ on whether this ballad, in either its polite or bawdy versions, is related to "The Baffled Knight" (Child 112). - EC
As the notes to Bronson show, though, it is sometimes lumped with that ballad (e.g. by Eddy). As always, readers are advised to check entries under Child #112 for completeness. I unhesitatingly agree with Laws in considering them separate. - RBW
File: LN24
===
NAME: Katie's Secret
DESCRIPTION: "Last night I was weeping along, mother...." "Then Willie came down to the gate." "So out in the moonlight we wandered." Willie "called me his darling, his bride." Now she rejoices, gathering sweet roses and wondering "if ever Any were so happy as we."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love courting family
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Belden, p. 215, "Katie's Secret" (1 text plus reference to 1 more)
Randolph 778, "Katie's Secret" (2 texts, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 92, pp. 198-199, "Katie's Secret"; pp. 199-200, "The Hawthorne Tree" (2 texts)
BrownII 174, "Katie's Secret" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Katie's Secret" (source notes only)
Roud #4381
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Weeping Katie
File: R778
===
NAME: Katty Avourneen: see Barney and Katie (File: LO21)
===
NAME: Katy Cline
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, who has not seen (Katy Cline/Kitty Clyde)? She lives at the foot of the hill In a shy little nook by the babbling brook That carries her father's old mill."  He wishes he were a fish to be caught on her hook, a bee who could take honey from her, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love courting bird floatingverses fishing
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownII 198, "Kitty Clyde" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB 149, "Katy Cline" (1 text)
Roud #3768
RECORDINGS:
Cranford & Thompson, "Katy Cline" (Champion 45061/Supertone 2594, c. 1935)
R. C. Hedrich, "Kitty Kline" (AAFS 3763 B2)
Horace Helms, "Katy Kline (Katie Kline)" (on HandMeDown1)
Grandpa Jones, "Kitty Clyde" (King 772, 1949)
Vester Jones, "Katy Cline" (on GraysonCarroll1)
Monroe Brothers, "Katy Cline" (Bluebird B-6960, 1937)
Piper's Gap Ramblers, "Katie Kline" (OKeh, unissued, 1927)
Skyland Scotty, "Sweet Kitty Clyde" (Conqueror 8307, 1934)
Ernest Stoneman, "Katy Cline" (Gennett 3381, 1926/Challenge 151, 1927/Herwin 75528), "Katie Kline" (OKeh 45065, 1926)
Fields Ward & Bogtrotter Band, "Katy Kline" (AAFS 1360 B1)
Alice Williams, "Kitty Kline" (AAFS 1012 A3)
Ganos Williams & Ben Platt, "Kitty Kline" (AAFS 1014 B1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Free Little Bird" (floating verses)
cf. "Take Me Home, Poor Julia" (floating verses)
NOTES: Silber's version of this song is mysterious: Is it a collection of floating verses (from "Free Little Bird" and other courting songs), or is it a love ballad that has been so chopped down as to lose all meaning? I can't tell. Some of the verses remind me of some vague memories, so I suspect the latter -- but until I can remember details, I can't really say. - RBW
File: FSWB149
===
NAME: Katy Cruel: see Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going) (File: SBoA050)
===
NAME: Katy Wells: see Kitty Wells (File: MN2166)
===
NAME: KC Moan: see K.C. Moan (File: ADR102)
===
NAME: KC Railroad: see K.C. Moan (File: ADR102)
===
NAME: Keach i the Creel, The [Child 281]
DESCRIPTION: A clerk and a girl wish to keep company/marry, but she cannot escape her parents' home. He plans to pull her up her chimney in a creel. The suspicious mother enters the room and is pulled up in the creel instead, then dropped by the startled clerk
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: courting father mother elopement nightvisit humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Ireland US(MA,NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Child 281, "The Keach i the Creel" (4 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #12}
Bronson 281, "The Keach i the Creel" (38 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 336-339, "The Keach i' the Creel" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #5, #6}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 136-138, "The Keach i' the Creel" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 277-280, "The Wee Toun Clerk" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #13}
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  22-23, "The Keach i' the Creel" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #4}
FSCatskills 133, "The Little Scotch Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H201, pp. 265-266, "The Ride in the Creel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 92-93, "The Cetch in the Creel" (1 text)
Kinloch-BBook XVII, pp. 61-63, "The Covering Blue" (1 text)
DT 281, KEACHCRL*
Roud #120
RECORDINGS:
Michael Gallagher, "The Keach in the Creel" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2)  {Bronson's #36, with the title "Hurroo-Ri-Ah"}
Jamsie McCarthy, "Coochie Coochie Coo Go Way" (on Voice15)
SAME_TUNE:
Moody to the Rescue (File: FowM005)
NOTES: Kinloch's "The Covering Blue" omit the ride in the creel, but is obviously the same song (and Child included it as his "D" text). Thus, though most of the humor of the piece comes when the clerk hauls the auld woman up the chimney, the key point is the nightvisiting theme. - RBW
File: C281
===
NAME: Kearney's Glen
DESCRIPTION: The singer alludes to poets who have praised other places; he will praise Kearney's Glen. He urges visitors to come in spring, to see the flowers, hear the birds, watch the young people. There is also a holy old altar. The singer asks God's blessing
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H715, pp. 166-167, "Kearney's Glen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13478
File: HHH715
===
NAME: Keel Row, The
DESCRIPTION: "As I came through Sandgate, through Sandgate, through Sandgate, As I came through Sandgate... I heard a lassie sing, 'Weel may the keel row... That my laddi'es in.'" The singer wishes good luck to the boat and success to handsome Johnnie aboard it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: love ship sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  41-42, "The Keel Row" (1 short text plus a modern rewrite, 1 tune)
DT, KEELROW*
Roud #3059
File: StoR041
===
NAME: Keemo Kimo: see Kemo Kimo (File: R282)
===
NAME: Keemo-Kimo: see Kemo Kimo (File: R282)
===
NAME: Keep A-Inchin' Along
DESCRIPTION: "Keep a-inchin' along... Jesus will come by 'n by." "'Twas inch by inch I saved my soul." The singer makes plans for heaven, and for the festivities that will attend the arrival. "Ever since my Lord set me free, This old world's been a hell to me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: religious freedom nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 239, "Keep A-Inchin' Along" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11947
File: LoF239
===
NAME: Keep in de Middle Ob de Road
DESCRIPTION: "I hear the angels calling .... the road is rough and it's hard to walk.... Keep in de middle ob de road, den, chil'ren.... Don't you look to de right, Don't you look to de left, But keep in de middle ob de road"
AUTHOR: William S. Hays (1837-1907)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1878 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1878 11057)
KEYWORDS: religious worksong nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Smith/Hatt, p. 32, "Walking in de Middle of de Road" (1 text)
Roud #9413
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1878 11057, "Keep in de Middle ob de Road," Geo. D. Newhall & Co. (Cincinnati), 1878 (tune)
NOTES: Smith/Hatt: The fragment is part of the chorus and part of a verse. "'Heard this song sung by darkies at Philadelphia, digging pitch ... from the Brigintine Hamelin.' ... It is hardly a shanty but still a work song heard on ships." - BS
File: SmHa032
===
NAME: Keep It Dark
DESCRIPTION: "I am gwine to tell you some very queer news, But keep it dark, keep it dark." The singer describes various things which happened secretly: A fight between him and his wife, a fight with the Indians, the illumination supplied by the electric light
AUTHOR: Words: Fred Wilson / Music: E. M. Hall ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) technology
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 504, "Keep It Dark" (1 text)
Roud #7590
NOTES: Randolph says this is printed in "Sam MacFlinn's Great Clown Songster." I suspect the version there must make more sense than Randolph's version. Anyone have a copy? - RBW
File: R504
===
NAME: Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy
DESCRIPTION: Non-ballad, in which the singer displays his interest in food and drink and his lack of interest in work. Verses vary widely; the song is recognized primarily by the line "(Gonna) keep my skillet (good and) greasy all the time."
AUTHOR: (Credited to Uncle Dave Macon on the Henry Whitter recording)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: nonballad drink food
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Warner 122, "Gonna Keep My Skillet Greasy" (1 text, 1 tune, plus assorted excerpts not collected by the Warners)
Silber-FSWB, p. 157 "Keep My Skillet Good And Greasy" (1 text)
DT, SKILLTGR SKILLTG2*
Roud #7479
RECORDINGS:
Doc Watson & Ralph Rinzler, "Skillet Good and Greasy" (on Ashley02, WatsonAshley01)
John Henry Howard, "Gonna Keep My Skillet Good & Greasy" (Gennett 3124, 1925)
Uncle Dave Macon "I'll Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy" (Vocalion 14848, 1924) (Bluebird B-5873, 1935)
Pete Seeger, "Skillet Good and Greasy" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01)
Henry Whitter, "Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy" (OKeh 40296, 1925; rec. 1924)
File: Wa122
===
NAME: Keep On a-Walking (Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round)
DESCRIPTION: "Ain't gonna let nobody, Lordy, Turn me 'round (x3)... Keep on a-walking, Keep on a-talking, Marchin' on to freedom land." Similarly "Ain't gonna let no jailhouse... Turn me round," etc. Versions may refer to local events
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (source tune recorded by Jimmy Davis in 1936)
KEYWORDS: discrimination political nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 374-375, "Keep On a-Walkin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 303, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round" (1 text)
cf. Greenway-AFP, p. 234, "Don't Turn Around" (1 text, probably a union adaption of this song)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round" (on Selma)
SAME_TUNE:
Jimmie Davis "I Ain't Gonna Let Ol' Satan Turn Me Round" (Decca 5235, 1936) 
NOTES: This song, an activist hymn from the civil rights and labor movements, was clearly adapted from "I Ain't Gonna Let Ol' Satan Turn Me Round." Jimmie Davis recorded that song; in view of the later adaptation, it's ironic that his second successful run for governor was on a racist platform, pledging resistance to integration. - PJS
File: SBoA374
===
NAME: Keep Your Garden Clean (I): see In My Garden Grew Plenty of Thyme (File: R090)
===
NAME: Keep Your Garden Clean (II)
DESCRIPTION: 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: 
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme)
File: FSWB163
===
NAME: Keep Your Hand on the Plow
DESCRIPTION: Various events from scripture intended to encourage the troubled: Paul and Silas in jail, Jesus washing the disciples feet, Mary's chain. Chorus: "Hold on, hold on, Keep your hand on the plow, hold on."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious prison
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Lomax-FSUSA 111, "Keep Your Hand on the Plow" (1 text, 1 tune, plus the modern parody "United Nations Make a Chain")
SharpAp 209, "Hold On" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 362, "Hold On" (1 text)
DT, HANDPLOW*
Roud #10075
RECORDINGS:
Hall Johnson Negro Choir, "Keep Yo' Hand on the Plow, Hold On" (Victor 36020, 1930)
Pete Seeger with Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Big Bill Broonzy, Bill McAdoo, "Hold On" (on PeteSeeger15) 
Pete Seeger, "Hold On" (on Selma) (on PeteSeeger44) (on PeteSeeger48) (on PeteSeeger27)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Keep Your Hand upon the Chariot"
cf. "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" (song from the civil rights movement, adapted from "Keep Your Hand on the Plow")
NOTES: Paul and Silas's stay in prison is related in Acts 16:19-40. The footwashing is described in John 13:1-11. Mary's chain is apocryphal, perhaps a free extrapolation on Luke 2:35. - RBW
File: LxU111
===
NAME: Keep Your Hand upon the Chariot
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, you better run (x3), 'for the train done gone, Oh, keep your hand upon the chariot And your eyes upon the prize." "For the preacher's comin' an' he preach so bold, For her preach salvation from out of his soul, Oh, keep your hand upon the chariot"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious train nonballad clergy
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 256, "Keep Yore Hand upon the Chariot" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Keep Your Hand on the Plow"
File: ScNF256A
===
NAME: Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning
DESCRIPTION: "Keep your lamp trimmed and burning (x3) For this world is almost gone" "Brother, don't you get (a-)worried (x3) For this world is almost gone." "Sister, don't stop prayin'..." "Preacher, don't stop preachin'..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: Late 1928 (recording, Blind Willie Johnson & Angeline Johnson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 361, "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" (1 text)
Roud #10433
RECORDINGS:
Blind Willie Johnson & Angeline Johnson, "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" (Columbia 14425-D, 1929; rec. 1928; on BWJ01, BWJ02)
Fred McDowell, "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" (on LomaxCD1703)
NOTES: A reference to the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, Matt. 25:1-13. - RBW
File: FSWB361
===
NAME: Keep Your Saddle Tight
DESCRIPTION: The singer advises the mustang rider, "Don't step into that saddle Till you know that it's good and tight." He also notes, "Of all the crazy critters... A woman is the worst one." He therefore gives the same advice about women....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Carl T. Sprague)
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 88, "Keep Your Saddle Tight" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr088
===
NAME: Keeper of the Eddystone Light, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer's father, the keeper of the Eddystone Light, had three children by a mermaid. Now he is gone (deserted? eaten by cannibals?). The boy meets his mother, who asks of her children; they live the troubled lives of half-humans
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: humorous father mother mermaid/man animal reunion
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
PBB 120, "The Keeper of the Eddystone Light" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 27, "Eddystone Light" (1 text)
DT, EDDYSTON* EDDYNORE* (ASTERLT*)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Caviar Comes from Virgin Sturgeon" (theme)
NOTES: Perhaps the most-parodied song of all time. I know of "The Keeper of the London Zoo," "The Keeper of the Asteroid Light," and "The Man at the Nore" -- which is sort of a self-referencing parody.
Richard Dyer-Bennet has been credited with creating the final verse of the common version ("The phosphorus flashed in her seaweed hair..." -- bad science, incidentally, since there is almost no free phosphorus in the ocean; it's a necessary chemical for life, but not very common; every atom finds a home in some creature's DNA. Many ocean creatures are, of course, phosphorescent -- but not due to phosphorus).
The Eddystone Light is famous for representing a revolutionary design. It was the first lighthouse designed as a smooth cylinder -- important because it would help the lighthouse survive heavy seas and storms. Most later lighthouses, of course, have followed this design. - RBW
File: PBB120
===
NAME: Keeper of the Game, The: see Captain Wedderburn's Courtship [Child 46] (File: C046)
===
NAME: Keeper Would A-Hunting Go, The: see The Keeper (File: ShH79)
===
NAME: Keeper, The
DESCRIPTION: Keeper goes hunting for a doe. In some versions he chases several unsuccessfully.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: hunting animal dialog
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Sharp-100E 79, "The Keeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 59, "The Keeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 338, "The Keeper" (1 text)
DT, KEEPERGO*
Roud #1519
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "The Keeper and the Doe" (on PeteSeeger09, PeteSeegerCD02)  (on PeteSeeger18)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "En Jaeger Gik At Jage (A Hunter Went Out Hunting)" (general feeling)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Keeper Would A-Hunting Go
NOTES: Most of the song consists of back-and-forth singing of the chorus between two singers. B.J. Orton thinks there is a sexual or magical subtext to this song. I doubt it, myself. -PJS
I have to disagree with Paul; at least one text refers to the Keeper kissing a doe, and another doe "[running] away in a young man's heart." There is surely some sort of hidden meaning. The real question is, how far did Sharp bowdlerize what he found?- RBW
File: ShH79
===
NAME: Keepers and Poachers
DESCRIPTION: Singer and others are poaching when 12 keepers are seen. They decide to fight; in the course of battle, young William Taylor is taken. In court, he's told his life will be spared if he names his companions; he refuses, vowing to "die for them all."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (collected by Cecil Sharp)
KEYWORDS: fight bargaining crime execution poaching punishment trial hunting bird
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 254, "Keepers and Poachers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #851
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "William Taylor" (on Maynard1, Voice18)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Poacher's Fate" [Laws L14] (subject)
cf. "The Bold Poachers" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bold William Taylor
NOTES: This should not be confused with the "Bold William Taylor" whose girlfriend dresses as a man and shoots him (in "William Taylor" [Laws N11]). - PJS
File: K254
===
NAME: Kelley's Irish Brigade
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you that hold communion With southern Confederates bold." The singer tells how Union soldiers came to Missouri, but were routed by Kelley's brigade. He recalls their troubles in Ireland, and hopes for states rights
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1912 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Belden, pp. 355-356, "Kelley's Irish Brigade" (1 text)
DT, KELLBRIG (Belden's text, mistakenly said to come from Randolph)
Roud #7768
NOTES: This is a really, really strange piece. Belden notes that there are Union broadsides of Kelley's Irish Brigade. And the Union *did* have an Irish Brigade commanded by Col. Patrick Kelly; this unit, organized by General Meagher, was in fact, one of the most famous units in the Army of the Potomac. (For some background on this unit, see the notes to "By the Hush.")
If the spelling "Kelley" be accepted, there was also a union general Benjamin Franklin Kelley, who commanded troops (though seemingly not an Irish Brigade) in West Virginia.
But why adapt it to the Confederacy (which is what Belden suggests happened, and I can see no grounds for argument)? And why to Missouri?
The only general officer in the Confederacy named Kelly was John Herbert Kelly (1840-1864), and he *did* serve in Missouri in 1861 -- but he was only a captain at the time. By the time he achieved a brigadier's star in late 1863, he was in Braxton Bragg's army, and he commanded cavalry, not infantry, so he couldn't have led an Irish brigade. The song simply doesn't make sense. - RBW
File: Beld355A
===
NAME: Kelligrews Soiree, The
DESCRIPTION: "You may talk of... anything you choose, But it couldn't hold a snuff-box to the spree at Kelligrews." A thoroughly exaggerated account: "There was birch rine, tar twine, cherry wine, and turpentine," and so forth, ad nauseum.
AUTHOR: John Burke
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad party dancing
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 110-112, "The Kelligrews Soiree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 35, "The Kelligrews Soiree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 25-26, "The Kelligrews Soiree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, pp. 16-17, "The Kelligrew's Soiree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 36-37, "The Kelligrew's Soiree" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, KSOIREE
Roud #4430
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "The Kelligrews Soiree" (on NFOBlondahl01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Jubilee"
cf. "Finnegan's Wake" [Laws Q17]
SAME_TUNE:
The Teapots at the Fire (File: Blon027)
NOTES: Kelligrews is a small village southwest of St. John's, Newfoundland. - RBW
Is this a cleaned-up version of "The Ball at Kerrimuir"? -PJS
Based on form, it is not. (It's not all that cleaned up, either; while there are no explicit sexual references, there are all sorts of hints, plus references to drunkenness, sodden clergy, and the like.) Fowke and Johnston believe it to be based on "The Irish Jubilee," and the stanzaic form implies they are right. Of course, there are all sorts of songs on the theme of the Ultimate Uproarious Party. - RBW
While Doyle3 reports the song was sung in New York in 1938, GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador site shows that the author died in 1930. - BS
File: FJ110
===
NAME: Kellswater: see The Lover's Curse (Kellswater) (File: HHH442)
===
NAME: Kelly and the Ghost: see Maurice Kelly (File: GrMa078)
===
NAME: Kelly Gang Were Strong, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the Kelly gang were strong, And bent on doing wrong, In spite of Captain Standish and his men... And when they cross the border, They'll find bobbies all in order To beat them at the same old game."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: outlaw Australia police
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 28, "The Kelly Gang Were Strong" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Ye Sons of Australia" (subject)
cf. "Kelly Song (Farewell Dan and Edward Kelly)" (subject)
cf. "Kelly Was Their Captain" (subject)
cf. "Ballad of the Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Stringybark Creek" (subject)
cf. "My Name is Edward Kelly" (subject)
NOTES: This uses a tune reportedly similar to the music hall piece, "Strolling Down the Old Kent Road." - RBW
File: MCH028
===
NAME: Kelly Gang, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come, all young men with feeling! With regret I must unfold, I have a tale to tell of men Whose hearts are stout and bold." The song praises the Kelly gang for their stand against odds of fifty to one. Kate Kelly is praised for warning the gang
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: outlaw Australia
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1855 - Birth of Ned Kelly
1880 - Execution of Kelly. His last words are reported to have been "Such is life."
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 248-249, "The Kelly Gang" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "The Kelly Gang" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd4)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ye Sons of Australia" (subject)
cf. "Kelly Song (Farewell Dan and Edward Kelly)" (subject)
cf. "Kelly Was Their Captain" (subject)
cf. "My Name is Edward Kelly" (subject)
cf. "Ballad of the Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Stringybark Creek" (subject)
cf. "The Kelly Gang Were Strong" (subject)
File: MA248
===
NAME: Kelly of Killann: see Kelly, the Boy from Killane (File: PGa033)
===
NAME: Kelly Song (Farewell Dan and Edward Kelly)
DESCRIPTION: Fragment of a ballad about the Kelly gang: "Farewell Dan and Edward Kelly, Farewell Hart and Steve Byrne too, With the poor your memory liveth; Those who blame you are but few."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: outlaw Australia
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1855 - Birth of Ned Kelly
1880 - Execution of Kelly. His last words are reported to have been "Such is life."
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 28, "Kelly Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Ye Sons of Australia" (subject)
cf. "Kelly Was Their Captain" (subject)
cf. "My Name is Edward Kelly" (subject)
cf. "Ballad of the Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Stringybark Creek" (subject)
cf. "The Kelly Gang Were Strong" (subject)
NOTES: Edward "Ned" Kelly and his gang are perhaps the most famous of all Australian bushrangers. - RBW
File: MA028
===
NAME: Kelly the Pirate (I) [Laws K31]
DESCRIPTION: (Captain Cooper's ship Stag) meets Kelly's pirate ship. Kelly reminds the pirates that defeat means hanging, but this is not enough. The British ship sinks the pirate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1825 (broadsides, Bodleian Harding B 28(162), Harding B 25(1022))
KEYWORDS: pirate fight death
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws K31, "Kelly the Pirate I"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 43, "Kelly the Pirate" (1 text)
Mackenzie 81A, "Kelly the Pirate" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 151, "Kelly the Pirate" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 565, KELLPIR
Roud #529
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "Kelly the Pirate" (on Abbott1)
David Slaunwhite, "Kelly the Pirate" (on MRHCreighton)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(162), "Kelly the Pirate," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 25(1022), "Kelly the Pirate" ("Come listen awhile and give ear to my song"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool) , 1820-1824
NOTES: Several pirates named Kelly/Kelley are known from the late seventeenth century, notably James Kelley, an associate of Captain Kidd hanged in 1701. But their circumstances do not seem to match this song.
There is also a significant problem in the form of the "Kelly the Pirate" version sung by David Slaunwhite and printed in Creighton-Maritime. It is an open question whether it is the same as Laws K31.
Bennett Schwartz writes,"Creighton-Maritime: 'Novia Scotia place names have been substituted for those in the old English song.... it has undergone many changes in the course of oral transmission.' It is barely recognizable as the same ballad as Greenleaf/Mansfield 43."
But Paul Stamler writes independently, "The plot of this song [the Slaunwhite version] is extremely confused, and the point of view seems to shift in the last verse, but it's clear enough that I'm pretty sure it isn't one of the two 'Kelly the Pirate' songs listed elsewhere in the Index."
Laws does not seem to have known of Slaunwhite's recording. Roud lumps them. It may well be that Slaunwhite's version is composite, mixing "Kelly the Pirate (I)" with something else. I'm sticking it here, for now, since it seems to be a one-shot. That could easily change if more versions show up. - RBW
File: LK31
===
NAME: Kelly the Pirate (II) [Laws K32]
DESCRIPTION: A British warship is commanded to guard merchant vessels. The warship meets Bold Kelly, who refuses to surrender. The pirate ship is taken and Kelly sent to prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: pirate sea battle prison
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws K32, "Kelly the Pirate II"
Peacock, pp. 846-847, "Kelly the Pirate" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 81B, 81C, "Kelly the Pirate" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT 566, KELPIR2 KELPIR3
Roud #1625
NOTES: Several pirates named Kelly/Kelley are known from the late seventeenth century, notably James Kelley, an associate of Captain Kidd hanged in 1701. But their circumstances do not seem to match this song. - RBW
File: LK32
===
NAME: Kelly Was Their Captain
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of the "famous outlaw band that roamed this country round. Ned Kelly was their captain...." Ordered arrested by the governor of Victoria, Kelly took to the bush. After long eluding the police, he was betrayed by Aaron Sherritt and taken
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: outlaw Australia betrayal
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1855 - Birth of Ned Kelly
1880 - Execution of Kelly. His last words are reported to have been "Such is life."
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 203-204, "Kelly Was Their Captain" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Ye Sons of Australia" (subject)
cf. "Kelly Song (Farewell Dan and Edward Kelly)" (subject)
cf. "My Name is Edward Kelly" (subject)
cf. "Ballad of the Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Stringybark Creek" (subject)
cf. "The Kelly Gang Were Strong" (subject)
NOTES: Edward "Ned" Kelly and his gang are perhaps the most famous of all Australian bushrangers. - RBW
File: MA203
===
NAME: Kelly, the Boy from Killane
DESCRIPTION: "What's the news? What's the news? O my bold Shelmalier...." The singer is told how the rebels of Wexford, led by Kelly and others, at first triumphed over the British -- but at last were defeated and Wexford "stript naked, hung high on a cross."
AUTHOR: Words: P. J. McCall
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem03)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 5, 1798 - Battle of New Ross, in which a large force of United Irishmen overwhelm General Johnson's defenders but abandon the burning town, converting victory to defeat
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 33-34, "Kelly, the Boy from Killane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 72, "Kelly of Killann" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, KELLYKIL*
Roud #16908
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Kelly the Boy from Killane" (on IRClancyMakem03)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Father Murphy (I)" (subject of Father Murphy) and references there
cf. "Bagenal Harvey's Farewell" (subject of Bagenal Harvey) and references there
NOTES: This is one of those songs that sadly ignores the inept handling of the Wexford rebel army.
By early June, with Enniscorthy and Wexford in Rebel hands (the former captured by Father John Murphy's forces on May 28, the latter abandoned by loyalists on May 30 after the Battle of Three Rocks, for which see "Sweet County Wexford"), the rebels were moving generally from Wexford north toward County Wicklow; could they capture Arklow and Wicklow in that county, the road to Dublin would be wide open (hence the line that they marched "from the south toward the north").
Other rebel forces, though, were trying to expand from Wexford into Kilkenny to the west and Waterford to the southwest.
The thing stopping them was the garrison of Major General Henry Johnson at New Ross. The Irish commander, Bagenal Harvey -- who was Protestant despite being a United Irishman -- determined to clear out the garrison.
Unfortunately, Harvey -- called "Brave Harvey" in the song -- had no military training, and it showed. He ordered an ill-coordinated attach, exercised no control over the battle, made no real use of his captured artillery, and was unable to rally his troops when they fled.
John Kelly's part in the battle was brief. Harvey ordered him and his 800 men from Bantry to clear some loyalist outposts. They instead went straight for the Three Bullet Gate to New Ross. (The gate came to be known as "The Grim Gap of Death.") They broke in, but Kelly was wounded in the thigh and disabled. His troops continued on against orders, ran into the defenders and their artillery, were routed -- and fled the town, dragging undefeated soldiers with them. The notes on the Clancy Brothers "Irish Songs of Rebellion" record say Kelly was executed after the battle, though of course they don't cite a source.
Robert Kee, in _The Most Distressful Country_ (being Volume I of _The Green Flag_), p. 118, doesn't mention Kelly's death either. According to him, "a young United Irish colonel, who led the first rebel assault, was John Kelly, a blacksmith from Killan. He was to become the hero of a popular ballad... when these bloody events acquired the rather fusty veneer appropriate to the drawing-room heroics of purely political warfare."
The United Irish might still have won the battle (indeed, they almost did), but when their last push petered out, there was no reserve, which cost them the battle; the flight of Kelly's forces thus contributed greatly to the defeat.
As the song implies, wounded and defeated United men were killed on the field; this was sadly not unusual for the period. Harvey himself, who apparently had not wanted his command, gave it up and headed back into Wexford. He was eventually caught and executed.
Let no one say that the atrocities were one-sided, however. The United men burned much of New Ross deliberately. What is more, while the battle was shaping up, a force of United guards burned alive an estimated 90 loyalists, including women and children, in Scullabogue. This was in response to an unsubstantiated (and false) report of loyalist atrocities at New Ross. (For more information on this, see the notes to "Father Murphy (II) (The Wexford Men of '98).")
East and West Shelmalier were holdings in County Wexford. - RBW
File: PGa033
===
NAME: Kelly's Lamentation (The Deserter)
DESCRIPTION: Kelly quarrels with his parents and leaves home. On his way to a hiring fair, he meets a sergeant, who buys his drinks and tells him he has enlisted. His parents cannot buy his freedom. Kelly deserts and returns home, but soon takes sick and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (JIFSS)
KEYWORDS: home family soldier money drink desertion escape disease death
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H223, pp. 83-84, "The Deserter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2405
File: HHH223
===
NAME: Kelvin's Purling Stream
DESCRIPTION: "The summer time being in tis prime, The weather calm and clear, I left that town called Portadown." The singer travels to Glasgow, telling Kelvin's stream of his troubles. He promises never to "forget the girl I love Who lives near Lurgan Braes."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: home travel love separation river
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 345-346, "Kelvin's Purling Stream" (1 text)
Roud #3947
File: Ord345
===
NAME: Kemo Kimo
DESCRIPTION: Non-ballad. Some texts have brief stories (e.g. about "darkies" ten feet tall and too big for their beds), but the basic characteristic is the nonsense refrain pattern: sing song kitty kitchie kimeo / kemo kimo, Delaware, me hi me ho and in comes Sally...
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1854 (Christy & Wood, _New Song Book_)
KEYWORDS: nonballad nonsense animal
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (18 citations)
Randolph 282, "There Was an Old Frog" (2 texts plus an excerpt and a fragment, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 239-241, "There Was an Old Frog" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 282A)
Belden, pp. 494-499, "The Frog's Courtship" (7 texts in 3 groups, 2 tunes; several of the texts are short, and IB at least appears to be "Kemo Kimo")
BrownIII 120, "The Frog's Courtship" (3 texts in the appendix to this song)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 244-248, "The Frog He Went A-Courting" (3 texts; the third, with local title "The Gentleman Frog" and tune on pp. 420-421, is probably this piece the first two texts are "Frog Went A-Courting")
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 156-157, "Cree-Mo-Cri-Mo-Dorro-Wah" (1 text plus a fragent, 1 tune); also p. 201 (no title) (1 fragment); also p. 285, "Keemo Kimo" (1 text, the Christy/Wood version)
SharpAp 221, "The Frog in the Well" (4 texts, 4 tunes); 242, "The Opossum" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 67, "Bandyrowe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brewster 78, "Keemo-Kimo" (3 fragments)
Eddy 45, "The Opossum" (2 fragments, 2 tunes)
Linscott, pp. 204-206, "Frog in the Well" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 132-133, "Frog in the Well"; p. 135, "Get to Bed" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 84, "Kitty Alone and I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 68, "The Bull Frog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #69, pp. 77-79, "(There was a frog liv'd in a well)" (a complex composite with a short version of "Frog Went A-Courting" plus enough auxiliary verses to make an almost complete "Kemo Kimo" text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 193, "(There dwelt a puddy in a well)" (1 text, very long, containing a full "Frog Went A-Courting" version plus sundry "Kemo Kimo" type verses)
Gilbert, p. 42, "Polly Won't You Try Me O" (1 fragmentary text)
DT, FRGCORT3* KEMOKIMO PUDDYWL2
Roud #16
RECORDINGS:
Lawrence Older,  "Frog in the Spring" (on LOlder01)
Prairie Ramblers, "Beaver Creek" (c. 1935; on CrowTold02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Carrion Crow/A Kangaroo Sat on an Oak"
cf. "Raccoon" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Frog Went A-Courting" (floating lyrics, theme)
cf. "One Fine Day" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sing Song Kitty
NOTES: There is a songsheeet on the American Memory website which credits authorship to Charles White and states that the song was regularly sung by Dan Emmett; unfortunately, it is undated. - PJS
Several of these texts, such as Lawrence Older's "Frog in the Spring," have lyrics reminiscent of "Frog Went A-Courting," raising the possibility that this is a sort of a by-blow of that song, and some including Roud lump them.
The notes in Brown, in fact, state that this piece is a minstrel adaption created by Sam Cowell some time around 1850. (On this topic, see the notes to "Billy Barlow (II)"). Cohen accepts this attribution, though Christy and Wood claim that theirs is "the only authentic version." It mentions the frog only briefly in the third stanza, and in a way not at all reminiscent of "Frog Went A-Courting."
These sundry minstrel songs, however, have little plot and are really just thematic verses about animals. It appears that the two combined by mixture, rather than separated as a result of pieces breaking off. As a result, I classify them separately from "Frog...," with the understanding that this is a classification of the extremes. One should check the cross-references for related songs.
Lena Bourne Fish's version, collected by the Warners in 1941, has the extraordinary property of using only three notes of the major scale: Do re mi.
Roud separates the Ritchie "Bandyrowe" texts into its own number (#7402). The difference, though, is only one of name (apart from the two verses Jean Ritchie made up); her version is a fairly pure example of the "Kitty Alone" type, and I classify it here accordingly. - RBW
File: R282
===
NAME: Kemp Owyne [Child 34]
DESCRIPTION: When her mother dies, Isabel's father marries a vile woman who abuses and enchants her till Kemp Owyne shall rescue her. Owyne comes and sees a hideous beast. Despite her appearance, despite threats, he kisses her three times and restores her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: shape-changing magic separation love rescue stepmother
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Child 34, "Kemp Owyne" (3 texts)
Bronson 34, "Kemp Owyne" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 126-128, "Kemp Owyne" (1 text)
OBB 13, "Kemp Owyne" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 21, "Kemp Owyne" (1 text)
PBB 26, "Kemp Owyne" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 280-282+359, "Kemp Owyne" (1 text)
DBuchan 26, "Kemp Owyne" (1 text)
TBB 33, "Kemp Owyne" (1 text)
DT 34, KEMPOWYN KEMPOWN2*
Roud #3912
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Kempion
NOTES: "Kemp Owyne" means "Owen the Champion"; he appears in some of the medieval grail romances.
Child prints "The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs" as an appendix to this ballad, and later added a second version in his addenda. - RBW
File: C034
===
NAME: Kempy Kay [Child 33]
DESCRIPTION: A hideous maiden is courted by a deformed suitor. The grotesqueness of each is described in Rabelaisian detail. They exchange disgusting gifts, and the match is made.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: courting humorous marriage gift
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 33, "Kempy Kay" (7 texts)
Bronson 33, "Kempy Kay" (2 versions)
Kinloch-BBook XI, pp. 40-44, "Kempy Kaye" (1 text)
DBuchan 46, "Kempy Kay" (1 text)
DT 33, KEMPYKAY
Roud #32
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
King Knapperty
File: C033
===
NAME: Kenneth Cameron
DESCRIPTION: Reading and McRae are breaking a logjam when their boat washes away and they are left on the logs. Kenneth Cameron volunteers to go to their assistance. After strenuous efforts, all drown
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning ship river
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Rickaby 34-III, (third of three "Fragments of Shanty Songs") (1 fragment)
ST Rick131 (Partial)
File: Rick131
===
NAME: Kenny Madland
DESCRIPTION: "The great master has called From heaven above To take Kenny Madland, A cowboy we all loved." The poet recalls Madland's "fun-loving ways and quick little smiles," expects him to ride well in Heaven, and regards his death as "Heaven's own gain"
AUTHOR: Lois Green
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 ("Buckboard" magazine)
KEYWORDS: death cowboy recitation
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1950 - Death of Kenny Madland when his horse fell on him
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 37, "Kenny Madland" (1 text)
File: Ohr037
===
NAME: Kenny Wagner [Laws E7]
DESCRIPTION: Kenny Wagner kills a sheriff in Mississippi and heads for Tennessee, where he is captured. He escapes, but is again taken (this time by a female sheriff). He is imprisoned for life, and is offered as an example to potential lawbreakers
AUTHOR: Andrew Jenkins
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, "Al Craver")
KEYWORDS: murder escape prison punishment
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws E7, "Kenny Wagner"
Hudson 105, pp. 243-244, "Kenny Wagner" (1 text)
DT 778, KENWAGNR
Roud #978
RECORDINGS:
Al Craver [pseud. for Vernon Dalhart], "Kinnie Wagner" (Columbia 15065-D, 1926)
Warde Ford, "Texas Canyon" (AFS 4206 A3, 1938; tr. in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kenny Wagner's Surrender" [Laws E8] (plot)
NOTES: Evidently [this song] entered oral tradition quickly -- only a few years after Jenkins's recording, the name of the song has changed and so has the locale. The female sheriff, however, remains constant. - PJS
Hudson, who is the primary source for printed texts of both Kenny Wagner ballads, gives some details about his career but no dates. The notes in Brown (presumably from Hudson) calls Wagner simply a bad man of the 1920s. He notes that both songs were in circulation c. 1928; Wagner was apparently still alive at the time Hudson published in 1936.
Hudson was not aware that Andrew Jenkins composed these ballads; that information comes from D. K. Wilgus. - RBW
File: LE07
===
NAME: Kenny Wagner's Surrender [Laws E8]
DESCRIPTION: Kenny Wagner has killed three men, including a Mississippi sheriff. Captured in Tennessee, he escapes but is retaken and sentenced to life
AUTHOR: Andrew Jenkins
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recordings, Vernon Dalhart, Ernest Stoneman)
KEYWORDS: murder escape prison punishment
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws E8, "Kenny Wagner's Surrender"
BrownII 245, "Kenny Wagner's Surrender" (1 text)
Hudson 106, pp. 245-246, "Kenny Wagner's Surrender" (1 text)
Burt, p. 216-217, "(Kenny Wagner's Surrender)" (1 text)
DT 779, KENWAGSR
Roud #979
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Kennie Wagner's Surrender" (Columbia 15098-D [as Al Craver] [as "Kinnie Wagner's Surrender"], 1926) (Edison 52020, 1927)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Kenny Wagner's Surrender" (matrix # GEX 495-A recorded 1927 and issued 1927-1928 as: Herwin 75535, Gennett 6044 [as by Ernest V. Stoneman and his Graysen County Boys], Champion 1522 [as by Uncle Jim Seany], Silvertone 5004/Silvertone 25004 [as by Uncle Ben Hawkins])
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kenny Wagner" [Laws E7] (plot)
NOTES: For the minimal background Hudson supplies for this song, see the notes to "Kenny Wagner" [Laws E7]. This is evidently a semi-sequel to "Kenny Wagner"; it refers to that song and adds more details but is told in the first person. - RBW
File: LE08
===
NAME: Kentucky Bootlegger: see Moonshine (File: Wa131)
===
NAME: Kentucky Moonshiner: see Moonshiner (File: San142)
===
NAME: Kerry Dance
DESCRIPTION: "Oh! the days of the Kerry dancing, oh! the ring of the piper's tune." The singer recalls the days of his youth, the summer night dances in the glen, old friends and Peggy, left behind. If he returns and "she has not resigned me" he'll stay with Peggy.
AUTHOR: James Lyman Molloy (1837-1909)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1879 (copyright); printed 1880 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1880 07527)
KEYWORDS: courting separation dancing music lyric nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, p. 46, "Kerry Dance" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 532-533, "The Kerry Dance" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1880 07527, "Kerry Dance", Oliver Ditson (Boston), 1880; also sm1880 19158, sm1881 09435, sm1882 09656, sm1882 22365, sm1883 19631,s m1884 10781, sm1885 23600, "[The] Kerry Dance" (tune) 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dancing in Glenroan (Rinnceoiri Ghleann Ruain)" (theme)
NOTES: Copyright date 1879 (source: Santa Cruz Public Libraries site sheet music collection); source for Molloy's birth date and date of death: Public Domain Music site [same dates found in Hoagland - RBW]). - BS
File: OCon046
===
NAME: Kerry Eagle
DESCRIPTION: O'Connell is the Kerry Eagle. His career is reviewed: elected MP for Clare, united Ireland for Emancipation, pursued Repeal until his death, killed D'Esterre, and died far from home. His heart remains in Rome but his body is buried in Glasnevin.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: death Ireland memorial patriotic political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 55, "Kerry Eagle" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(429), "The Kerry Eagle," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also 2806 b.10(30), 2806 b.10(21), Harding B 40(3), Harding B 11(1986), 2806 c.15(28)[barely legible], Firth c.26(288), Harding B 19(63), Firth b.27(279)[last two lines missing], Harding B 11(1984), Harding B 11(1985), Firth b.27(278)[some words illegible], Harding B 26(308)[some words illegible], "[The] Kerry Eagle"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Green Linnet" (subject: O'Connell's death)
cf. "Erin's King (Daniel Is No More)" (subject: O'Connell's death)
cf. "Daniel O'Connell (I)"  (subject: Daniel O'Connell) and references there
NOTES: O'Connell (1775-1847) was born in County Kerry. O'Connell was elected MP from County Clare in 1828 (cf. "The Shan Van Voght" (1828)) (- BS)."1829 saw Catholic 'emancipation,' allowing them every political right open to Protestants of equivalent position" (- RBW). O'Connell led the movement of 1840-1843 to repeal the act that joined Ireland and Great Britain as the United Kingdom (cf. "Glorious Repeal Meeting Held at Tara Hill" and "The Meeting of Tara"). Zimmermann: "D'Esterre, an Alderman of the Dublin Corporation, challenged O'Connell to a duel, and was killed, 1st February, 1815" (p. 235); "O'Connell died at Genoa, on his way to Rome, 15th May, 1847." (p. 233) "In accordance with his wish his heart was brought to Rome and his body to Ireland. His funeral was of enormous dimensions, and since his death a splendid statue has been erected to his memory in Dublin and a round tower placed over his remains in Glasnevin" (source: "Daniel O'Connell" by E.A. D'Alton in _The Catholic Encyclopedia_ on the New Advent site. - BS
For additional notes on O'Connell's last months, see the notes to "Erin's King (Daniel Is No More)." - RBW
File: Zimm055
===
NAME: Kerry Eviction, The
DESCRIPTION: Old McMahon in Kerry can't pay the rent and the agent, with soldiers and police, comes to evict him. To no avail, he asks that the children not be turned out in the snow and that he be given a week or two to pay. McMahon, evicted, dies in the snow. 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880's? (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness greed poverty death farming storm Ireland hardtimes children police soldier
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 87, "A New Song Entitled the Kerry Eviction" (1 text)
NOTES: This bit of brutality is a little extreme, in that evictions rarely happened in such unfortunate circumstances. But "rarely" is not the same as "never"; for about a century, English landlords had near-complete control over their Irish tenants, and did evict them for little reason or none. It was not until the nineteenth century that the English started supplying tenants' rights -- and the Land League (for which see "The Bold Tenant Farmer") helped support them. - RBW
File: Zimm087
===
NAME: Kerry Recruit, The [Laws J8]
DESCRIPTION: A Kerry lad enlists in the army and is introduced to the wonders of coats, guns, and horses. In some accounts he spends a quiet term in the service; in others, he loses a leg in the Crimea and returns home to live off his pension
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1849 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1454))
KEYWORDS: war soldier humorous
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1853-1856 - Crimean War (Britain and France actively at war with Russia 1854-1855)
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Ont) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws J8, "The True Paddy's Song (The Kerry Recruit)"
FSCatskills 11, "[The Kerry Recruit]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 477, "'Twas Nine Years Ago" (1 text, rather eroded with time -- e.g. the soldier runs without losing a leg)
Fowke/MacMillan 73, "Nine Years a Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 162, "Pat and the War"; p. 163, "Paddy Enlisted" (2 texts, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 95-96, "The Kerry Recruit" (1 text)
OLochlainn 1, "The Kerry Recruit" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 42, "The Kerry Recruit" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 274, "The Kerry Recruit" (1 text)
DT 393, KERRYRCT
Roud #520
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1454), "Paddy's Ramble" ("About nine years ago, I was digging of land"), J. Kendrew (York), 1803-1848; also Harding B 25(1456), Harding B 28(218), "Paddy's Ramble"; Harding B 19(83), 2806 b.9(240), Firth c.14(115), "The Kerry Recruit"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Felix the Soldier" (theme)
cf. "Mrs. McGrath" (theme)
cf. "The Boy on the Land" (hints of plot)
NOTES: The fullest version of this song I have seen includes explicit references to several events in the Crimean War:
"Balaclave" - The city of Balaclava, which gave its name to the battle of October 25, 1854
Alma - The river by which the British and French landed, and where the first battle of the Allied war with the Russians was fought on September 20, 1854
"Innerman" = Inkerman, a town on the Chernaya River which gave its name to the final field battle of the war (November 5, 1854)
Redan - One of the major defensive works around Sevastopol, assaulted by the British on June 18, 1855. The British suffered 25% casualties in the attack, and their French allies to the north did no better. From that time onward, the Allies settled down to besiege Sevastopol rather than trying to take it by storm. - RBW
O'Conor's version refers to "Vinegar Hill" (Irish convicts break out of Castle Hill Barracks in New South Wales, trying to reach Sydney harbor to seize ships and escape to Ireland, March 5, 1804. Source: Holyrood NSW site re 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Vinegar Hill) and "Ballinamuck" (Humbert with the French and Irish are defeated on September 8, 1798. Source: Irish Cultural Society of the Garden City Area site re The Battle of Ballinamuck). So, Kerry Recruit, whose "father and mother were two Kerry men," has been fighting the Irish around the world. "Now war is all over and peace is come in, I'm paid all my wages, and God save the King! I'm nine years in glory, and glad it's not ten, And now I'm back diggin' praties agin."
Of the Bodleian broadsides the "Paddy's Rambles" versions are pre-Crimean war and are in line with O'Conor; the "Kerry's Recruit" versions refer to the Crimean War.
For a study of the history of this and related songs see Roly Brown, _Glimpses into the 19th Century Broadside Ballad Trade No. 5: The Kerry Recruit_, 2003 at the Musical Traditions site among the articles. - BS
File: LJ08
===
NAME: Kevin Barry
DESCRIPTION: Eighteen year old Kevin Barry is hung, "another martyr for old Ireland, another murder for the crown." Despite torture, he will not betray his comrades. (Family and friends bid farewell.) (Barry asks to be shot as a soldier, but is hanged as a rebel)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: rebellion execution Ireland
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 1, 1920 - Execution of Kevin Barry
FOUND_IN: Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 42-43, "Kevin Barry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 218, "Kevin Barry" (1 text)
PGalvin, pp. 67-68, "Kevin Barry" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 49, "Kevin Barry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 324, "Kevin Barry" (1 text)
DT, KEVBARRY*
Roud #3014
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Kevin Barry" (on IRClancyMakem03)
Pete Seeger, "Kevin Barry" (on PeteSeeger11) (on HootenannyCarnegie)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Shall My Soul Pass Through Ireland" (tune)
cf. "Rolling Home" (tune)
NOTES: Patrick Galvin reports that "Kevin Barry, an eighteen-year-old student, [was] the first Irish patriot to be hanged in Ireland since Robert Emmet 117 years before. His death precipitated scores of his fellow-students into the I.R.A...."
Robert Kee's statement (in _Ourselves Alone_, being volume III of _The Green Flag_, pp. 122-123) gives him a slightly different distinction: Òthe first British execution of an Irishman in the post-war period.Ó
Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, has a photo of Barry (who looks like any other schoolkid) on page 258, and gives a less biased report than Galvin. Given a good education, he still tried to join a nationalist organization at the age of 13. At 17, he could no longer be restrained from joining the Voluneers.
On September 20, 1920, Barry -- now 18 and in his first year of studying medicine -- was called upon to take part in a hijacking. The rebels desperately needed weapons (a perennial problem in Ireland, dating back to the rebellions against the Tudors; G. A. Hayes-McCoy, _Irish Battles_, p. 111, reports that it then took six head of cattle to buy a single musket! Rifles were cheaper in the twentieth century, but they were also, according to Charles Townshend, _Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion_, p. 45, a fetish item for Irish volunteers of the time). To gain arms, a band of Volunteers set out to stop a British army truck. The Irish had only one gun, but somehow one of the British soldiers ended up being shot and killed. Barry's comrades fled; he was captured.
Threatened with death, though apparently suffering nothing worse than arm-twisting, Barry refused to give any information about his comrades. He was subjected to a military trial on October 20, and executed November 1.  We observe that, though Barry died as a rebel, he was, by modern legal standards, guilty of murder (though not premeditated murder).
Of course, if they'd hung everyone guilty of that sort of murder in 1920 Ireland, the country would have been depopulated.
Tim Pat Coogan, in _Michael Collins_, p. 154, notes that the British cabinet actually considered clemency but could find no grounds. There are said to have been five thousand people praying outside his prison at the end.
Kee makes the interesting point that Barry's death Òmade a considerable impact on public opinion. By contrast the fact the the soldier he had shot was as young as himself made virtually none" (p. 123)
There is at least one other Barry poem, "Kevin Barry" (by Terence Ward), for which see  Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 751-752.
There is also a 1989 biography, _Kevin Barry_, by Donal O'Donovan. Which mostly shows the power of songs like this; if Barry had lived in America a century later, he would probably be considered a "gang member." - RBW
File: San042
===
NAME: Keyhole in the Door, The
DESCRIPTION: Through a keyhole, the narrator spies upon a woman preparing for bed until the light is extinguished and "I knew the show was over."
AUTHOR: Attributed to Eugene Field
EARLIEST_DATE: 1879
KEYWORDS: hiding clothes
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(MW,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Cray, pp. 116-119, "The Keyhole in the Door" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 538-544, "The Keyhole in the Door" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 315-317, "The Keyhole in the Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, KEYDOOR KEYDOOR2*
Roud #2099
RECORDINGS:
Jimmie Davis, "The Keyhole in the Door" (Bluebird B-5156, 1933)
Holland Puckett, "The Keyhole in the Door" (Challenge 328 [as by Harvey Watson]/Gennett 6271/Silvertone 5064, 25064, 8153, 1927/Supertone 9254 [as by Si Puckett; issued 1928])
Jim Wilson, "The Keyhole in the Door" (on Voice07)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Whummil Bore" [Child 27] (plot)
NOTES: In Randolph-Legman I, Legman offers substantial notes on the relationship or lack of relationship of this song to "The Whummil Bore" (Child 27). - EC
File: EM116
===
NAME: Keys of Canterbury, The
DESCRIPTION: The young man comes to the girl and offers her his love or other gifts if she will marry him. She scornfully refuses. After several similar exchanges, he typically offers his MONEY. She accepts. He withdraws the offer: "You love my money but... not me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1849 (Halliwell)
KEYWORDS: bargaining courting rejection money dialog
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(All),Scotland) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (24 citations)
Belden, pp. 507-509, "A Paper of Pins" (3 texts)
Randolph 354, "The Paper of Pins" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 293-295, "The Paper of Pins" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 354A)
Eddy 39, "The Keys of Heaven" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 177, "A Paper of Pins" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 160-161, "Paper of Pins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 20-23, "I'll Give to You a Paper of Pins" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 1, "A Paper of Pins" (1 text plus 5 excerpts and mention of 7 more); 2, "Madam, Will You Walk" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Hudson 131, pp. 276-277, ""Paper of Pins (1 text plus mention of 11 more)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 299-304, "A Paper of Pins" (4 texts, 2 tunes on pp. 435-436)
Fuson, pp. 82-83, "The Lovers' Quarrel" (1 text); pp. 152-153, "I Will Give You a Red Dress" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 22-23, "A Paper of Pins" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 92, "The Keys of Heaven" (6 texts, 6 tunes)
Sharp-100E 66, "The Keys of Canterbury";  67, "My Man John" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #286, pp. 166-167, "(Oh, madam, I will give you the keys of Canterbury)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 88, "(I'll gie you a pennyworth o preens)" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 11-13, "The Keys of Canterbury" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 262-263, "The Silver Pin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 323-324, "Paper of Pins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 135, "Madam, Will You Walk" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 111, pp. 226-228, "Paper of Pins" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 346, "Paper of Pins" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 294, "I'll Give to You a Paper of Pins"
DT, PAPERPIN*
ST R354 (Full)
Roud #573
RECORDINGS:
Linda Brown & Donnie Stewart, "Paper of Pins" (on JThomas01)
Johnny Doughty, "Will You Marry Me?" (on Voice12)
Bradley Kincaid, "A Paper of Pins" (Gennett 6856/Supertone 9402, 1929; on CrowTold02)
Ray Napier & Margaret Winters, "Keys of Canterbury" (on JThomas01)
Vass Family, "Paper of Pins" (Decca 5425, 1937)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "No, John, No" (plot)
cf. "Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)"
cf. "The Courting Case" (theme)
cf. "The Lover's Quarrel" (plot, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Madam I Present You With Six Rows of Pins
Blue Muslin
I Will Give You The Keys of Heaven
If You Will Walk With Me
O Madam I Will Give to Thee
The Little Row of Pins
NOTES: Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 12" - 11.9.02: "Although versions of 'Will You Marry Me?' only appeared at the beginning of the 19th century ... it would seem certain that the song is based on an earlier pattern, namely the Elizabethan Stage Jig, a short dialogue song and dance performed by two or three characters." - BS
[In both of Sharp's versions], the lady accepts something and that's that. In "Keys of Canterbury" after rejecting various riches, she accepts a "broidered silken gownd," presumably a wedding gown, and the song ends there. In "My Man John", which also includes a servant who advises his master on how best to court the lady, she rejects all material things but accepts "the keys of my heart." - PJS
Although this certainly began as a true song, Linscott reports it as a singing game, adding "It was usually played by the girls alone, as it did not contain enough action for the boys." - RBW
File: R354
===
NAME: Keys of Heaven, The: see The Keys of Canterbury (File: R354)
===
NAME: Kicker, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, here's to the kicker whose liver is wrong, Whose bile has leaked into his veins...." The "kicker's" myriad ailments are described, but we are assured that he could be "in good health, who takes care of himself By using St. Joseph's Liver Regulator"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1897 (manuscript copy)
KEYWORDS: medicine disease trick nonballad commerce
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 505, "The Kicker" (1 text)
Roud #7591
File: R505
===
NAME: Kickin' Maude: see Whoa Mule (The Kickin' Mule) (File: LoF231)
===
NAME: Kicking Mule, The: see Whoa Mule (The Kickin' Mule) (File: LoF231)
===
NAME: Kid, The
DESCRIPTION: Recitation. Big Ed, a teamster, adopts a boy from town. A chain breaks Ed's spine; the boy drives him back; he dies on the way. The boy pushes on; he is killed by being thrown from the sledge. The narrator learns he's telling the story to the boy's father
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Recitation. Big Ed, a teamster, comes back from town with a boy he has adopted. He teaches the boy the ways of the woods. One day a chain breaks Ed's spine; the boy drives him back, but he dies on the way. The boy doesn't notice, and pushes on; the narrator watches as he, too, is killed by being thrown from the sledge. The narrator discovers, at the end, that he's telling the story to the boy's father
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger death recitation father
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 58, "The Kid" (1 text)
Roud #4058
NOTES: This song is item dC37 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Be058
===
NAME: Kidd's Lament: see Captain Kidd [Laws K35] (File: LK35)
===
NAME: Kidder Cole
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets Kidder Cole at a dance, wants to dance but she dances with Charlie Wright. He goes to another dance; she still won't dance (because he's drunk). He visits her; she cold-shoulders him; he vows he'll dance with her yet, and praises her beauty
AUTHOR: Felix Eugene Ally?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930
KEYWORDS: jealousy courting love beauty dancing drink 
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #9131
RECORDINGS:
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Kidder Cole" (Brunswick 230, 1928; on Cornshuckers1)
File: RcKidCo
===
NAME: Kielder Hunt, The
DESCRIPTION: Description of field trials at Kielder; owners and dogs are listed, and the dogs run a fox to earth. The singer drinks a toast to the "gallant sportsmen a'." Chorus: "Hark away! Hark away! O'er the bonnie hills of Kielder/Hark away"
AUTHOR: James Armstrong (source: Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 18" - 15.9.02)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1879 (in _Wannie Blossoms_, according to Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 18" - 15.9.02)
KEYWORDS: hunting drink moniker animal dog
FOUND_IN: Scotland(Bord)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5126
RECORDINGS:
Will & Sandy Scott, "The Kielder Hunt" (on Borders1)
Willie Scott, "The Kielder Hunt" (on Voice18)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (subject, phrase)
NOTES: There's actually little in common between this song and "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)"; I include the cross-reference only because of the "Hark away" phrase, and to differentiate them. - PJS
File: RcKielHu
===
NAME: Kilby Jail: see The Prisoner's Song (File: FSC100)
===
NAME: Kilkenny Cats
DESCRIPTION: "There once were two cats of Kilkenny, Each thought there was one cat too many, So they fought and they fit And they scratched and they bit, Till, excepting their nails, and the tips of their tails, Instead of two cats, there weren't any."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Baring-Gould-MotherGoose)
KEYWORDS: fight animal
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #835, p. 315, "(There once were two cats of Kilkenny)"
NOTES: I don't know if the poem of the Kiklenny Cats is traditional, but the legend certainly is, so I thought I should include this item.
According to David Pickering's _The Cassell Dictionary of Folklore_, there are at least two explanations offered for this legend. One is that, in Norman times, there were rival English and Irish towns in Kilkenny, which naturally were in competition. Another bases it on a story of two cats who had their tails tied together by soldiers during the 1798 rebellion. I can't say that I find either explanation very convincing. - RBW
File: BGMG835
===
NAME: Kilkenny Louse House
DESCRIPTION: Singer goes to Carrick-on-Suir looking for a place to sleep. He is taken to Buck St John's place on Cook Lane. When the lights were out he has to fight the bugs. The slaughter is described. The band plays The Dead March. Beware Buck St John's place.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (recording, Tommy McGrath and Gemma McGrath)
KEYWORDS: battle poverty hardtimes bug
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #9228
RECORDINGS:
Mary Delaney, "The Kilkenny Louse House" (on IRTravellers01)
Tommy McGrath and Gemma McGrath, "Burke's Engine" (on Voice07)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I'm No' Comin' Oot the Noo" (theme)
NOTES: Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 7" - 1.3.03: "Burke's Engine" on Voice07 is a version of "Kilkenny Louse House"; "the compilers mis-heard the name of the proprietor, one Buck St John, and transliterated it as 'Burke's Engine'." Taking the Musical Traditions statement as gospel I am using "Kilkenny Louse House" as the name of the piece. The description is based on the Voice07 text. - BS 
File: RcKiLoHo
===
NAME: Kill or Cure
DESCRIPTION: The singer, "a roving Irish boy," marries Kitty O'Shaughnessy. She gets sick. He makes a bargain with the doctor: "kill or cure for twenty pounds." She dies. The doctor wants his money but he didn't cure her, won't admit he killed her, and doesn't collect
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.14(191))
KEYWORDS: bargaining death humorous wife doctor money
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 40, "Kill or Cure" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(191), "Kill or Cure" or "Katty O'Shaughnessy", H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Firth b.25(160), "Katty O'Shaughnessy" or "Kill or Cure"; Harding B 11(1988), "Kill or Cure"
File: OCon040
===
NAME: Killafole Boasters
DESCRIPTION: The huntsmen around Newtown have a hunt for hare. The hounds are named as well as the landmarks passed. The local hunters succeed. The Killafole Boasters only follow false trails and "may go home with shame, And never come back for to hunt us again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1980 (recording, Jimmy Halpin)
KEYWORDS: death hunting animal dog moniker Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #12922
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy Halpin, "Killafole Boasters" (on Voice18)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fair of Rosslea" (subject: competitive hare hunt from the huntsman's point of view)
cf. "The Huntsman's Horn" (subject: competitive hare hunt from the huntsman's point of view)
NOTES: The hunt takes place in the area around Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
Hall, notes to Voice18: "In Co. Fermaanagh, the average hunt club of small-town working men and small farmers is loosely organized and meets monthly in a pub to plan the month's fixtures, some of which might be in competition with another club." Hall goes on to discuss attitudes toward individual hares ("they divert the attention of the dogs if there seems any chance of a hare being killed") and foxes ("they might even take a gun out on a fox-hunting day"). "After a good meeting they might gather in a pub and sing about hunting."
Tunney-StoneFiddle p. 84: "'No good sportsman would shoot a hare; it is for coursing only', we were often told...." - BS
File: RcKilBoa
===
NAME: Killarney
DESCRIPTION: "By Killarney's lakes and fells" the singer describes "that Eden of the West; Beauty's home, Killarney": "Innisfallen's ruined shrine... Castle Lough and Glenna Bay, Mountains Tore and Eagle's Nest." Sights that "charm the eye," "each sound a harmony"
AUTHOR: Edward Falconer?
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.26(71))
KEYWORDS: lyric nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 81, "Killarney" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.26(71), "Killarney", T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also Harding B 12(207), 2806 c.16(219), "Killarney"
NOTES: This is credited to Falconer in Ralph L. Woods's _A Second Treasury of the Familiar_."  - RBW
File: OCon081
===
NAME: Killeavy's Pride: see The Pride of Newry Town (File: HHH190)
===
NAME: Killer, The: see Dobie Bill (Dobe Bill, The Killer) (File: LxA403)
===
NAME: Killiecrankie: see Killy Kranky (File: JRSF111)
===
NAME: Killin' in the Gap, The (Stevie Allen)
DESCRIPTION: "It was on a Sunday night and the moon was shining bright, Stevie Allen held his baby in his lap." The child is sick (?); Allen says he will ride to the doctor despite his enemies. The baby dies; Allen's horse returns riderless
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: children death feud horse disease
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 21-22, "The Killin' in the Gap" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. " Bonnie George Campbell" [Child 210] (theme)
NOTES: Thomas indicates no tune for this, but it looks like "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane." - RBW
File: ThBa021
===
NAME: Killy Kranky
DESCRIPTION: "Killy Krankie is my song, Sing and dance it all day long, From my elbow to my wrist, Then we do the double twist." "Broke my arm, I broke my arm, a-swinging pretty Nancy." The dancers are encouraged into other difficult positions
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: playparty dancing
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 27, 1689 - Battle of Killiecrankie
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 111-112, "[Killy Kranky]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 4, "Killy Kranky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson 54, pp. 170-171, "Killiecrankie" (1 text)
DT, KILCRNK2*
Roud #2572
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sad Condition" (lyrics)
NOTES: Despite the Ritchie spelling, which I assume will be the best-known form of this piece, is no doubt in my mind that the title of this song derives from the battle of Killiecrankie (1689). But her words have obviously wandered far, and the tune does not match either of the two I know as "Killiecrankie."
Ritchie says that this "was both a game and a song and not much of either one. The players sang the song while they 'wound the grapevine,' ... all of which Uncle Jason [from whom she learned the song] avowed was just a good excuse to get their arms around each other."
Hudson's text (with no tune) doesn't appear to be a playparty, and clearly derives from a Scots original, but appears confused ("I've fought on land and I've fought on sea, At home I've fought my auntie O"?!). I'm still looking for an intact version of this song.
The Battle of Killiecrankie effectively ended the fight in Scotland on behalf of James II in the Glorious Revolution.
Dundee (John Graham of Claverhouse, first Viscount Dundee, 1648-1689) led a small Jacobite army in an attack on Williamite forces led by General Hugh Mackay. The Jacobite cause was entirely dependent on Dundee, but he fought in the front line of the battle (he had to prove his courage, and promised that, if he won, he would not join the fray again). The Jacobites won, but Dundee was killed, and that was that. The more so as the victory was not decisive; Mackay kept his forced together, and their losses were not extreme.
Peter Underwood in _A Gazetteer of British, Scottish & Irish Ghosts_, pp. 378-379, states that Dundee had a vision before the battle, seemingly of a mortally wounded man calling the general to the field of Killiecrankie. Supposedly, every July 27, a red haze can be seen by some (but not all) over the battlefield; this is linked to Dundee's vision. (If you think this sounds very much like the story of Duncan Campbell at Ticonderoga -- yes, it does. For the Campbell legend, in addition to Richard Nardin's "The Piper's Refrain," see Walter R. Borneman, _The French and Indian War_ Harper-Collins, 2006, pp. 136-137.)
Peculiarly, I recently heard a classical recording of the tune "Killiecrankie" (definitely the same melody as that recorded by Archie Fisher and others as a Jacobite tune) which claimed that it came from c. 1600, i.e. well *before* the battle. I have been unable to determine the source of this claim. But I also have heard a classical type call the piece "Gillycrankie" (not sure about the spelling, but the first consonant was pretty definitely a "G"), so what do they know?- RBW
File: JRSF111
===
NAME: Killyclare (Carrowclare; The Maid of Carrowclare)
DESCRIPTION: The singer deliberately spies on a couple courting under the moon. The boy says he is sailing to America. The girl fears the local women will cause him to forget her. He promises never to forget her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation emigration
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H169, pp. 298-299, "The Maid of Carrowclare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2939
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Butcher, "Killyclare" (on Voice04)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Flowery Vale (The Irish Girl's Lament)" [Laws O29] (plot) and references there
NOTES: I notice that the guy doesn't promise to be true -- just to remember.
"Luna" is the Latin name for the moon. Its use seems to indicate a literary origin. - RBW
File: HHH298
===
NAME: Kilrane Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: April 13, 1844: thirteen "matchless youths" -- all named -- leave Wexford's Quay "bound for Buenos Aires, the land of liberty." "Foul British laws are the whole cause of our going far away ... with one for Dan O'Connell they boldly sailed away."
AUTHOR: Walter McCormack of the Bing, Kilrane
EARLIEST_DATE: 1943 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell sea ship
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 74-75, "The Kilrane Boys" (1 text)
NOTES: Ranson: "A centenary celebration was held in Kilrane on April 11th, 1944, to honor the memory of the emigrants, when the cart, which brought some of the emigrants into Wexford, was drawn into the procession." The thirteen are twelve men and a bride. - BS
File: Ran074
===
NAME: Kilties in the Crimea, The
DESCRIPTION: "The Kilties are the lads for me, They're aye the foremost on a spree." The singer praises the Highland soldiers, and recounts their exploits in the Crimea, mentioning Alma, Sir Colin Campbell, and several Highland regiments
AUTHOR: John Lorimer
EARLIEST_DATE: 1856 (date of composition)
KEYWORDS: 
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1853-1856 - Crimean War (Britain and France actively at war with Russia 1854-1855)
Sept 20, 1854 - Battle of Alma
Oct 25, 1854 - Battle of Balaclava
Nov 5, 1854 - Battle of Inkerman clears the way for the siege of Sevastopol (the city fell in the fall of 1855)
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 223-227, "The Kilties in the Crimea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13083
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Heights of Alma (I)" [Laws J10] (subject)
cf. "Grand Conversation on Sebastopol Arose (II)" (subject)
NOTES: Among the various references in this song:
* The Royal Forty-Twa: The famous "Black Watch," which earned battle honours for Alma and Sevastopol. For more of its history, see the notes to "Wha Saw the Forty-Second." I can't help but add that this famous regiment, which held together despite service in the Crimea and the Sudan and so many other failures, has in the early twenty-first century been amalgamated into a "Super Scottish Regiment." The reason? People won't join because they refuse to go to Iraq.
* Alma: Battle of Alma. For history of this particular campaign, see "The Heights of Alma (I)"
* Sir Colin: Colin Campbell (1792-1863), commander of the Highland Brigade. He may have been the best soldier -- certainly the best brigade commander! -- in the British army at this time, but he was not a nobleman (he wasn't knighted until 1849) and wasn't rich, and so did not receive and could not buy the promotions he deserved.
According to Byron Farwell, _Queen Victoria's Little Wars_ (Norton, 1972), p. 110, Campbell was "born Colin Macliver in 1792, the son of a carpenter. He was educated by his uncle, a soldier named John Campbell." His uncle (his mother's brother) also managed to secure him a commission, though it was under the name Campbell. And so the young man became Colin Campbell. His early service was in the Peninsular Campaign, where he earned promotion to captain by merit -- and stalled. According to Oliver Thomson, _The Great Feud: The Campbells & the MacDonalds_, Sutton, 2000, p. 128, he was "invalided home in 1813. He recovered by by 1837 -- a bachelor in his late forties -- he was still only a colonel on garrison duty. Though recognized... 'as the best administrator and soldier since Wellington' he could not buy promotion and had to earn it." He gained much useful experience in Asia, but was still only a colonel when he resigned his command and went on half pay in 1853.
He was called back to duty for the Crimean War, and promoted Major General (the equivalent of a modern brigadier). His Highlanders made the key push at the Battle of Alma, and they blunted the initial charge at Balaclava. It will tell you something about the officers in the Crimea that, according to Alan Palmer, _The Crimean War_, Dorset, 1987 (originally published as _The Banner of Battle_), p. 250, he was ony of only two senior officers in the Crimea to do anything to improve their reputations afterward.
Having done much to win the Crimean War, he was appointed to command the Indian Army at the time of the 1857 rebellion. It was he who finally relieved Lucknow (Farwell, p. 112), the key event in the supression of the rebellion. He was rewarded with a peerage; according to the _Oxford Companion to British History_ becoming Lord Clyde in 1858. That's not really much of a compliment, considering how many awful soldiers were ennobled by the British over the years, but in his case, it was richly deserved.
* Ninety-Third: Another Highland regiment (93rd Highlanders, now the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders), with battle honours for Alma, Balaclava, and Sebastopol
* Balaclava: For the history of this incredible botch, see "The Famous Light Brigade." - RBW
File: FVS224
===
NAME: Kind Fortune
DESCRIPTION: A drummer proposes marriage to a maiden. She rejects him because her father "is a captain of honour and fame" and she would not "bind myself down to slav'ry." He threatens suicide. She relents. They elope. Her outraged father gives them an annual income
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1826 (broadside, Harding B 17(285a))
KEYWORDS: elopement soldier father money marriage suicide
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 74, "Kind Fortune" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 27, "The Drummer" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST KaNew074 (Partial)
Roud #2302
RECORDINGS:
Martin Gorman, "The Little Drummer" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(285a), "The Silly Drummer," Angus (Newcastle), 1774-1825; also Firth c.14(305), Harding B 25(677), "The Fortunate Drummer"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hard Times
NOTES: Karpeles-Newfoundland omits the broadside touch of the father's money after the elopement; we are left to believe that she is left to "follow the drum."
Grieg _Folk-Song of the North-East_, CLXXVIII p.2, "O Hard Fortune," adds the following elements to the beginning of the story: A company of soldiers is playing and a drummer among them falls in love with a beautiful lady. He asks his captain what he should do since "for love I must die." His captain advises him to tell her. The plot described in DESCRIPTION continues.
Martin Gorman's version on Voice01 follows Grieg. - BS
File: KaNew074
===
NAME: Kind Friends and Companions: see A Health to the Company (Come All My Old Comrades) (File: CrSe222)
===
NAME: Kind Miss: see Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) AND The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: E098)
===
NAME: Kind Sir: see The Courting Case (File: R361)
===
NAME: Kinding Wood (My Name is Dinah from South Carolina)
DESCRIPTION: "My name is Dinah From South Carolina And I'm selling kindling wood to get along." "If you don't believe me, come down to see me, For I'm selling kindling wood to get along." "And won't you buy some, Oh won't you buy some."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: commerce nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 324, "Kindling Wood" (3 short texts)
Roud #15888
NOTES: This reads like a street cry, but how many street cries are there from South Carolina? It may be a fragment of a longer ballad, perhaps of an orphan child -- but if so, it has not been located. - RBW
File: Br3324
===
NAME: King and Miller of Mansfield, The: see King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth [Child 273] (File: C273)
===
NAME: King and the Bishop, The: see King John and the Bishop [Child 45] (File: C045)
===
NAME: King Arthur and King Cornwall [Child 30]
DESCRIPTION: King Arthur, disguised, goes to King Cornwall's castle, where Cornwall boasts how he is better than Arthur.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1750 (Percy MS.)
KEYWORDS: royalty disguise bragging
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 30, "King Arthur and King Cornwall" (1 text)
OBB 18, "King Arthur and King Cornwall (A Fragment)" (1 text)
Roud #3965
NOTES: This ballad is known only from the Percy manuscript. Since the manuscript is heavily damaged, the detailed course of the ballad cannot be discerned. Child connects the ballad with the (twelfth century) romance of Charlemagne's visit to Jerusalem. - RBW
File: C030
===
NAME: King David: see Little David, Play on Your Harp (File: CNFM046)
===
NAME: King David had a Pleasant Dream [Laws O16]
DESCRIPTION: A soldier asks for a kiss. The girl refuses; her mother has told her to avoid soldiers. He replies with the story of David, who began as a shepherd but ended as a king and the killer of Goliath. The girl decides to kiss him after all
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: soldier courting Bible
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws O16, "King David had a Pleasant Dream"
Belden, p 170, "King David had a Pleasant Dream" (1 text)
SharpAp 175, "The Slighted Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 478, KNGDAVID
Roud #988
File: LO16
===
NAME: King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth [Child 273]
DESCRIPTION: The King goes out a-riding and meets the Tanner. The Tanner gives abrupt answers to the King's questions. The King tries to exchange horses; again the Tanner wants no part of the deal. Finally the King gives the Tanner a gift/pension
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy) (entered in the Stationer's Register in 1589)
KEYWORDS: royalty contest disguise trick gift money horse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1154-1189 - Reign of King Henry II
1399-1413 - Reign of King Henry IV
1461-1470 AND 1471-1483 - Reign of King Edward IV
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord)) Ireland Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 273, "King Edward IV and a Tanner of Tamworth" (4 texts -- though three of them are appendices)
Bronson 273, "King Edward IV and a Tanner of Tamworth" (3 versions)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 92-100, "King Edward IV. And Tanner of Tamworth"; III, pp. 178-188, "The King and Miller of Mansfield" (2 texts)
Leach, pp. 649-653, "King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth" (1 text)
PBB 73, "King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1472, "In summer time when leaves grow green"
Roud #248
NOTES: Thie king mentioned in this ballad varies. Child's primary text simply calls the king "Edward." Of the three texts in the appendices, the first gives no name. The second goes under the title "King Edward the Fourth and a Tanner of Tamworth," but again the King is simply called "Edward." The third text (from the Percy folio, but not the version printed in the _Reliques_) is "King Henry II and the Miller of Mansefield," but again no name is given. The records of 1564 also mention a printing of "The story of Kynge Henry IIIJth and the Tanner of Tamowthe."
No matter which king we choose, there is no historical record of an event such as this. There is at least some verisimilitude in assigning the piece to Edward IV.
Edward was a hunter (most English kings were), but could be easily distracted -- as witness the fact that he first met his wife, Elizabeth Woodeville, on a ride. (Elizabeth, who had been widowed by the Wars of the Roses, carefully stationed herself by the path where Edward was expected to ride, and she was pretty enough to get his attention. Edward never could resist a pretty girl....) In addition, Edward was a friendly, cheerful man who could easily be involved in games such as this.
On the other hand, Henry II was engaged in constant wars with France. Henry IV was an usurper who had to deal with periodic rebellions. And Edward IV lived during the Wars of the Roses. None of them had the petty cash to give the sorts of rewards mentioned here. - RBW
File: C273
===
NAME: King Edwards
DESCRIPTION: "There never was a king so great, but love cause him to abdicate. Ch: Love, love alone, cause King Edwards to leave the t'rone (repeat)." Verses sung in first person as Edward explains reasons for abdicating and marrying Wallace Simpson.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: shanty love royalty marriage
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1936 - Abdication of Edward VIII and his marriage to Wallis Simpson
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Colcord, pp. 186-187, "King Edwards" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Colc186 (Partial)
Roud #4707
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Edward's Abdication"  (theme of Edward VIII)
NOTES: I don't have a copy of Thomas-Makin', but based on the description of "Edward's Abdication" I'd say that even though they are covering the same subject, these are two different songs. [Yes, they are. And this is pretty definitely the better one. - RBW] Colcord gives a tune for the chorus but says that the verses were song in a droning monotone. The chorus tune, by the way, is not "House Carpenter," which was the tune supposed for "Edward's Abdication."
Brought back from the West Indies by a Prof. Samuel E. Morison, and said to have been sung by Negro boatmen in Basse Terre, St. Kitts. - SL
Morison is, of course, the great American historian who was particularly involved in naval history. I believe he published this in one of his own books also, though I don't know which one; I'm sure I've seen the text before.
For additional information on Edward VIII and his marriage, see the notes to "Edward's Abdication." This song in addition mentions the Duke of York, Edward's brother, who became George VI (reigned 1936-1952). Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947) was Conservative Prime Minister 1923-1924, 1924-1929, and 1935-1937. The Abdication Crisis of 1936 was in some ways his finest hour; by consulting with the royal family, his own party, the opposition, and the Dominions, he found an answer everyone could accept. He resigned immediately after, leaving the post to Neville Chamberlain -- and you *know* how that turned out....
To tell this from "Edward's Abdication," consider the first few lines of text:
King Edwards:
Love, love alone, Cause King Edwards to leave the t'rone
Love, love alone, Cause King Edwards to leave the t'rone.
Edward's Abdication:
Come hearken good friends to this story so tre
Of a lord of high degree;
Concerning the love of this bonny young prince.
The King of his own countree. - RBW
File: Colc186
===
NAME: King Estmere [Child 60]
DESCRIPTION: King Estmere, aided by his brother Adler Younge, seeks to wed the daughter of King Adland. He wins her troth; at threat of losing her to rival (heathen) king of Spain, he attends the wedding in guise of a harper, kills his rival, and wins the bride.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage disguise trick royalty
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 60, "King Estmere" (1 text)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 85-98, "King Estmere" (1 text)
OBB 41, "King Estmere" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 270-279+358-359, "King Estmere" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Iona & Peter Opie, The Oxford Book of Narrative Verse, pp. 100-108, "King Estmere" (1 text)
Roud #3970
NOTES: This ballad does not exist in any proper copy. It was found in the Percy manuscript, but Percy himself tore it out, and the pages have been lost. Thus the only reference is the text printed in the _Reliques_ -- and, from Percy's comments and his patently false claim to have another copy, it seems clear that he touched that up somewhere. Nor do Percy's two editions agree entirely.
The Opies note an item mentioned in _The Complaint of Scotland_, "How the King of Estmure land married the King's daughter of Westmure land." Possibly the same story -- but who knows? - RBW
File: C060
===
NAME: King Henry [Child 32]
DESCRIPTION: King Henry goes hunting and encounters a hideous woman. For courtesy he salutes her, only to find her making incredible demands -- first the flesh of his animals, and finally that he sleep with her. He does, to find her transformed into a beautiful woman
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: courting sex shape-changing
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 32, "King Henry" (1 text)
Bronson 32, "King Henry" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 124-126, "King Henry" (1 text)
OBB 16, "King Henry" (1 text)
DBuchan 4, "King Henry" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's {#1})
DT 32, KINGHENR*
Roud #3967
File: C032
===
NAME: King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France [Child 164]
DESCRIPTION: The English king sends to the French king a reminder of tribute due. The French king says our king is too young to be a threat and sends tennis balls instead. Our king takes an army, excluding married men and widows' sons, and succeeds against the French
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1832 (Nicolas); many undated manuscript copies predate this, and D'Urfey had something similar
KEYWORDS: war royalty battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1413 - Accession of Henry V
1415 - Henry V attacks France, captures Harfleur, and wins the Battle of Agincourt
1415-1421 - Continuing campaigns in France
1421 - Henry marries Catherine (the youngest daughter of Charles VI "the Mad," the king of France) and is declared the heir of France
1422 - Death of Henry V
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,NE,SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Child 164, "King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France" (1 text, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #6, #1}
Bronson 164, "King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France" (10 versions)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 145-148, "King Henry the Fifth's Conquest of France" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2 a/b, although the three transcriptions are all slightly different musically}
Leach, pp. 463-466, "King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France" (2 texts)
Niles 49, "King Henry Fith's Conquest of France" (3 texts, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN305, "As our King lay musing on his bed"
DT 164, HENRYV*
Roud #251
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Agincourt Carol" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Fency King and the English King
Henry's Tribute
The Tennis Balls
NOTES: The career of Henry V marked the high point, for the English, of the Hundred Years' War (which lasted from 1437 to 1453, more or less, although with frequent truces). The death of Henry almost instantly turned the course of the war around. In 1435 the French recaptured Paris, in 1450 they retook Normandy, and in 1451-1453 they threw the English out of Guyenne, which they had ruled since 1154. Except for Calais (which the English held for another century), the invaders had been driven from France.
It might be noted that, under English law, the king of England was also the rightful king of France. (Of course, there is the minor detail that Henry V was not the rightful king of England.) The French, however, managed to dig up a law that said that the throne of France could only be passed on through a male line -- and the English monarchs claimed the French throne through a female line.
The story about the tennis balls is widely told (including in some old chronicles), but there is no real reason to believe it true. Some have suspected that it derives from a story of Darius III of Persia and Alexander the Great: Darius send Alexander children's toys.
In any case, it wasn't modern lawn tennis back in the fifteenth century; modern tennis is a nineteenth century invention.... - RBW
File: C164
===
NAME: King Herod and the Cock: see The Carnal and the Crane [Child 55] (File: C055)
===
NAME: King James and Brown [Child 180]
DESCRIPTION: Douglas comes to attack the King. The ruler is saved by Brown. Brown convinces the king to pardon Douglas; Douglas reacts by attacking Edinborough. Brown once again defeats the renegade Earl; for this and other services, King James makes him an earl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1750 (Percy folio)
KEYWORDS: royalty nobility fight rescue
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: April 7, 1571 - hanging of James Hamilton, Archbishop of Saint Andrews, whom Child believes to the the Bishop of Saint Andrews whom Brown defeated
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 180, "King James and Brown" (1 text, with appendix "The King of Scots and Andrew Browne")
cf. Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 221-225, "King of Scots and Andrew Brown" (1 text, not from the folio manuscript even though the folio includes part of the piece; note that this is the piece Child puts in the appendix, not the main text, though both are from the Percy folio)
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 467, "King James and Brown" (notes plus a modified partial text from Child)
Roud #4009
File: C180
===
NAME: King John and the Abbot of Canterbury: see King John and the Bishop [Child 45] (File: C045)
===
NAME: King John and the Bishop [Child 45]
DESCRIPTION: King John tells the (bishop of Canterbury) he must answer the King's questions or die. The bishop, unable to answer, turns to a shepherd (his brother?). The answers are so clever the king rewards the shepherd and pardons both (makes the shepherd bishop)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1695 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: questions help riddle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1199-1216 - Reign of King John
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(MW,MA,NE,NW)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Child 45, "King John and the Bishop" (2 texts)
Bronson 45, "King John and the Bishop" (15 versions plus1 in addenda)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 303-312, "King John and the Abbot of Canterbury" (2 texts, one from the Percy folio and one as printed in the _Reliques_)
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 445, "King John and the Bishop" (brief notes only)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 111-112, "The King's Three Questions" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 200-203, "The King's Three Questions" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #11; note that Bronson has the wrong date in his headnotes}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 280-298, "King John and the Bishop" (5 texts plus 2 fragments, 3 tunes; the texts are listed A1, A2, B1, B2, B3, C, D, because A1 and A2 were both ultimately derived from the same singer through different informants and B1, B2, B3 are from the same informant at different times) {A1=Bronson's #11}
Gardner/Chickering 155, "King John and the Bishop" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Leach, pp. 154-158, "King John and the Bishop" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 2, "King John and the Bishop" (1 text: Newfoundland story related by theme to the ballad)
OBB 172, "King John and the Abbot of Canterbury" (1 text)
Niles 19, "King John and the Bishop" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN1364, "I'le tell you a story, a story anon"
DT 45, KJONCANT*
Roud #302
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "The Bishop of Canterbury" (AFS 4196A, 1938; tr.; on LC57, in AMMEM/Cowell) {Bronson's #4}
SAME_TUNE:
The Shaking of the Sheets (Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 228-229; British Library Add. MS. 15225; entered in the Stationer's Register for John Awdelay 1568/9; Playford, The Dancing Master, 1651; rec. by The Baltimore Consort on The Ladye's Delight)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The King and the Bishop
NOTES: King John did not have a good relationship with the Catholic Church; he refused to accept Stephen Langton, the Pope's choice for Archbishop of Canterbury. From 1208 to 1213 England was placed under Interdict by the Pope. John responded by removing bishops from their offices -- and taking away their mistresses (though he allowed them pensions). The historical story bears only the slightest similarity to the tale in the ballad, however, which may also have been influenced by the war of wills between John's father Henry II and Thomas Becket.
Bronson notes that the song has been in constant contact with broadside prints, and doubts that any of the versions arose entirely from traditional stock. Several of the broadsides list the tune as "The Shaking of the Sheets"; see the "Same Tune" reference.  - RBW
File: C045
===
NAME: King Knapperty: see Kempy Kay [Child 33] (File: C033)
===
NAME: King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-O: see Frog Went A-Courting (File: R108)
===
NAME: King o' Spain's Daughter, The: see Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)
===
NAME: King of the Cannibal Islands, The
DESCRIPTION: Sometimes a ballad about castaways marrying the daughter of the King of the Cannibal Islands, but often degenerates into a quatrain-ballad about the odd events on the islands. The use of the title phrase is characteristic.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 36(10) View 2 of 2)
KEYWORDS: humorous cannibalism
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 195, "The King of the Cannibal Islands" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #15695
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 36(10) View 2 of 2, "The King of the Cannibal Islands," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Johnson Ballads 536, Harding B 11(322), Harding B 11(1997), Firth c.17(312), Harding B 11(1496), Harding B 11(2830), "[The] King of the Cannibal Islands"
NLScotland, R.B.m.143(147), "The King of the Cannibal Islands," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1858
SAME_TUNE:
Hoke Pokee Wonkee Fum (per broadside, NLScotland, R.B.m.143(147))
NOTES: This doesn't show up in folk songbooks much, but it seems to me that I heard it somewhere in my youth; I suspect it qualifies as a children's folk song. At least, I'm putting it here on that assumption. - RBW
From the commentary for broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(147): "This ballad was written at a high-point of British Imperialism, and is a telling illustration of the superior attitudes which popularly existed among both those Brits who settled abroad, in countries such as Africa, and also among the broadside-buying public back in Scotland. As with another broadside in the National Library of Scotland's collection, 'The Queen of Otaheite', the 'natives' are portrayed as bigamous cannibals, with little regard for Western ways."
Opie-Oxford2 re 227, "Hokey, pokey, whisky, thum": Evidently derived from "King of the Cannibal Islands" by A.W. Humphreys. See broadside [Note however that the NLScotland broadside of 1858 states that the tune comes from "Hokee Pokee Wonkee Fum"] - BS
File: PHCFS195
===
NAME: King of the Fairies, The
DESCRIPTION: "A wee, wee man came to our toon en', Fiddledum, faddledum, fee, fee, fee," singing the men from their work despite his huge feet and mouth, odd clothes, very long arms, etc. He holds a dance, then frightens them; he becomes king of the fairies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: dancing talltale music
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 166-167, "The King of the Fairies (Nursery Song)" (1 text)
Roud #5561
File: Ord166
===
NAME: King Orfeo [Child 19]
DESCRIPTION: The wife of (King) Orfeo, perhaps in a fit of madness, flees from him and his court. Orfeo sets out to find her. Encountering her under guard in a high hall, he plays his pipes so well that his wife is returned to him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880
KEYWORDS: music magic separation madness
FOUND_IN: Britain(Hebr)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 19, "King Orfeo" (1 text)
Bronson 19, "King Orfeo" (1 version plus 1 in addenda)
Davis-More 11, pp. 79-80, "King Orfeo," comments only
OBB 15, "King Orfeo (A Shetland Ballad)" (1 text)
DT 19, KNGORFEO*
Roud #136
RECORDINGS:
John Stickle, "King Orfeo" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
NOTES: Loosely based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Euridice. Observe, however, that "King Orfeo" has a happy endings: Orfeo and the Euridice figure are successfully reunited.
The same is true of what may be the direct source of this piece, the Middle English romance "Sir Orfeo."
The interesting question is how "Sir Orfeo" evolved the ending it did. Of the 50-odd Middle English romances, it is generally considered the best not by Chaucer or the Gawain-Poet or Marie of France ("Sir Orfeo," like the works of Marie, is considered a "Breton Lei").
The story of Orpheus was known in the Middle Ages (from Virgil's Georgics and from Ovid -- indeed, it seems to have been better known from Latin than Greek sources), but it's not clear how it was converted to a romance, or how the ending changed. It has been theorized that there is a lost French version, but if so, it's definitely lost.
"Sir Orfeo" is now found in 3 MSS, with the earliest and best, the Auchinlek MS.,  from about 1330; the others, Harley 3810 and Ashmole 61, are of the fifteenth century. The language of this piece appears to be SW English but with some northern forms, perhaps introduced by a northern copyist; the whole is perhaps from a French or Breton original).
Sir Orfeo is, incidentally, one of the few Middle English romances to be generally praised by critics, for both its plot and for its well-handled poetry. It is #3868 in the Brown and Robbins Middle English Index.
A full apparatus criticus for "Sir Orfeo" has been published by A. J. Bliss. A critical text of the romance is available in Kenneth Sisam's _Fourteenth Century Verse and Prose_. (604 lines) Unfortunately, it is not glossed (though the book has a complete glossary by J. R. R. Tolkien). A glossed version is available in Donald B. Sands, _Middle English Verse Romances_ (580 lines). Tolkien later published a modernized verse version following the same lineation as Sisam (though it is not just a crib; it's a true translation, using almost none of the language of the original); it is available in the volume _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight * Pearl * Sir Orfeo_.
Several other ballads also derive loosely or from Middle English romance, or from the legends that underly it, examples being:
* "Hind Horn" [Child 17], from "King Horn" (3 MSS., including Cambridge Gg.4.27.2, which also contains "Floris and Blancheflour")
* "The Marriage of Sir Gawain" [Child 31], from "The Weddynge of Sir Gawe and Dame Ragnell" (1 defective MS, Bodleian MS Rawlinson C 86) 
* "Blancheflour and Jellyflorice" [Child 300], from "Floris and Blancheflour" (4 MSS, including Cambridge Gg.4.27.2, which also contains "King Horn," and the Auchinlek MS, which also contains "Sir Orfeo") - RBW
File: C019
===
NAME: King Pharim: see The Carnal and the Crane [Child 55] (File: C055)
===
NAME: King Solomon's Temple: see The Building of Solomon's Temple [Laws Q39] (File: LQ39)
===
NAME: King Stephen Was a Worthy Peer: see The Old Cloak (File: OBB170)
===
NAME: King Takes the Queen, The
DESCRIPTION: "The King will take the Queen, But the Queen will take the knave, And since we're in good company, More liquor let us have. Here's to you, Tom Brown, and to you me jolly soul." As cards take cards, so each reminds the singer of a happy life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1891 (collected by Frank Kidson)
KEYWORDS: drink cards nonballad game
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North,South)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 283, "Tam Broon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 64-66, "Tam Brown" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 232, "Tom Brown" (1 text)
Roud #884
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
With All My Heart
The Card Song
The Cards
The Two Beats the One
NOTES: Tunney-StoneFiddle has the song in a Mummers' Play. - BS
In 1857. Thomas Hughes published a novel, _Tom Brown's Schooldays_, about a fellow noted for skill, sportsmanship, and an imperfect grasp of academics. It is apparently based on the real Rugby School. Brown might well be the sort of person who would be the toast of a song like this. Given the distribution of versions of this song, I think it unlikely -- but just possible enough to be worth mentioning. - RBW
File: FSWB232
===
NAME: King William and the Keeper
DESCRIPTION: King William disguises himself as a poacher. He's caught by the keepers, who tell him no one may hunt this ground without leave of King William. He attempts to bribe the keepers, but they refuse (and beat him). He reveals himself and praises their loyalty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1676 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: virtue crime poaching hunting royalty money disguise
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1688-1702 - Reign of William III
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 116, "King William and the Keeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood" [Child 151] (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Suit of Russet Grey
The Loyal Forester or Royal Pastime
NOTES: [MacColl and Seeger write,] "Following the return of William III from his Irish campaigns, London balladmongers would appear to have been fully employed in creating an acceptable popular image for Ebsworth's 'saturnine' monarch. Old tales and ballads were refurbished with William represented as a roistering updated Prince Hal, consorting with sailors, farmers, shepherds and foresters." One hopes he carried adequate identification. - PJS
Few such songs seem to have survived in tradition, for which we should perhaps be thankful. I wonder how many merged with the songs allegedly about James V of Scotland?
Incidentally, there is little evidence that William III had any such "popular" tastes. - RBW
File: McCST116
===
NAME: King William was King James's Son
DESCRIPTION: "King William was King James's Son, Upon the royal race he run, Upon his breast he wore a star, (That points the way to the ocean far)." "Now this couple are married together... You must be kind, you must be good, And help your wife in kindling wood."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: nonballad playparty royalty
FOUND_IN: US(NE,So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Randolph 543, "King William was King James's Son" (15 texts, mostly short, 2 tunes; the "C" and "D" texts might be "Oats and Beans and Barley Grow")
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 402-403, "King William Was King James's Son" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 543A)
Hudson 142, pp. 289-290, "King William" (1 text plus mention of at least five others)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 263-264, "See This Pretty Little Girl of Mine" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. ,188-189 "King William Was King George's Son" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 181-182, "The White Cockade" (1 text, translated from the Gaelic with some lines surely inspired by this; the rest is not the usual "White Cockade." I rather suspect two-way translation)
ST R543 (Full)
Roud #4203
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oats and Beans and Barley Grow" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The White Cockade"
NOTES: Norm Cohen says succinctly of the Randolph version, "The title of the song is not true."
To clarify: There are no specific references in this song to which king is meant, but there has never been an actual case, in England or Scotland (or any other country, to my knowledge) of a King William who was the son of a King James. The closest thing to a parallel would be William III and Mary II; William III was the nephew, son-in-law, and deposer of James II.
Paul Stamler recalls a song "King William was King George's Son," and of course this is the title in Flanders/Brown; Newell also lists this as a variant reading. This is more possible (King William IV, reigned 1830-1837, was the song of George the III and the younger brother of George IV) -- but William IV was a dissolute, childless king who would hardly inspire a song.
Another known combination of father and son is the song is King Charles son of James (possible for James I and Charles I).
Gomme has two texts with William son of David; England never had a King David. Scotland did, but neither was succeeded by a William. David II Bruce died without legitimate offspring. David I was succeeded by his grandson Malcolm IV "the Maiden." When Malcolm died, he was succeeded by his brother William the Lion. This is therefore the closest example of a William-and-David in British history.
It has been claimed that this is a war recruiting song, but of Randolph's fifteen versions, only one (H, "This old slouch hat you must put on To follow the man with the fife and drum") supports this conclusion, and while Newell's text #177 gives hints of a soldier's life, it's directed to a young woman! The Flanders/Brown version appears to be just a singing game.
Newell tied his first text (#27) to the Swedish tale of Folke Algotson, but if so, there has been a lot of evolution along the way. - RBW
File: R543
===
NAME: King William's Son: see Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)
===
NAME: King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood, The [Child 151]
DESCRIPTION: King Richard, impressed by Robin's reputation, seeks him. Disguised as an abbot who is the king's messenger, he hears Robin's declarations of loyalty to king and of spite to clergy. Well treated for the king's sake, he reveals himself and pardons Robin.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1777
KEYWORDS: Robinhood royalty disguise clergy
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1189-1199 - Reign of King Richard I
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 151, "The King's Disguise, and Friendship with Robin Hood" (1 text)
Roud #3993
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "King William and the Keeper" (theme)
NOTES: Robin Hood is often portrayed as a loyal servant of King Richard I against his vile brother John. However, it should be noted that Richard was a rotten king (especially for England, where he spent only six months of his ten year reign -- and used those six months solely to gather money). Richard was rash, brutal, and indecisive -- and John never really rebelled against him; he merely succeeded him. In other words, the events in this ballad are historically almost impossible.
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C151
===
NAME: King's Dochter Lady Jean, The [Child 52]
DESCRIPTION: The king's daughter goes to the wood, where a man meets her and rapes her. After he is through, they exchange names. He is her brother came back from the sea! She stabs herself. She is carried home and dies. When he sees her body, he dies in her arms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: royalty incest rape suicide
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) US(MA)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 52, "The King's Dochter Lady Jean" (4 texts)
Bronson 52, "The King's Dochter Lady Jean" (5 versions plus 2 in addenda)
DT 52, KINGDAUJ KNGDAU2
Roud #39
RECORDINGS:
Sara Cleveland, "Queen Jane" (on SCleveland01) {Bronson's #1.1 in addenda}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf "The Bonnie Hind" [Child 50] (plot)
cf. "Sheath and Knife" [Child 16] (plot, lyrics)
cf. "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie" [Child 14] (plot)
cf. "Lizie Wan" [Child 51] (theme)
NOTES: On the scientific evidence that brothers and sisters raised apart are particularly likely to fall in love, and some further speculation as to why, see the notes to "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14]." - RBW
File: C052
===
NAME: King's Land, The
DESCRIPTION: "I'm on the King's land, The King's not at home! The King's gone to Boston, To buy his wife a comb."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: royalty commerce home playparty
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Linscott, pp. 30-31, "King's Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #14049
NOTES: Linscott describes this as being derived from an ancient game, "King of Cantland"; I can't find any records of such a thing. - RBW
File: Lins030
===
NAME: King's Three Questions, The: see King John and the Bishop [Child 45] (File: C045)
===
NAME: Kingdom Coming (The Year of Jubilo)
DESCRIPTION: "Say, darkeys, hab you seen de massa, Wid de muff-stash on his face, Go long the road some time dis mornin' Like he gwine to leab de place?" The slaves exult that the coming of Union soldiers is chasing Master away, leaving them free (and free to rejoice)
AUTHOR: Henry Clay Work
EARLIEST_DATE: 1862
KEYWORDS: slave slavery Civilwar freedom
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 230, "The Year of Jubelo" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 232, "Kingdom Coming" (3 texts)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 106-109, "Kingdom Coming" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 92-93, "Kingdom Coming" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 114-115, "Kingdom Coming" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 104, "The Year of Jubalo" (1 text)
DT, YRJUBILO*
ST R230 (Full)
Roud #778
RECORDINGS:
Frank Jenkins & his Pilot Mountaineers [Oscar Jenkins, Frank Jenkins, Ernest V. Stoneman], "In the Year of Jubilo" (Conqueror, unissued, 1929)
Chubby Parker, "The Year of Jublio" (Conqueror 7897, 1931)
Pete Seeger, "Kingdom Coming" (on PeteSeeger28)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Babylon Is Falling" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Massa's Gone Away
NOTES: This was the first song by Henry Clay Work (1832-1864) to be published. Work was a fervent abolitionist; his father had been jailed for his activities with the underground railroad. One day the younger Work showed up at Root and Cady. George F. Root described him as "a quiet and rather solemn-looking young man, poorly clad," but was astonished by the song he brought along.
"Kingdom Coming" was taken up by the Christy Minstrels in 1862, and soon became a runaway bestseller. Work's career was off to a fine start.
In a rather hilarious twist, the polemic _War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy_ (1904?) publishes this as "The Contraband," along with an explanation of how slaves loved their masters! Work's name, naturally, is omitted; it is offered as "A song of Mississippi negros in the Vicksburg campaign."
I have never seen an explanation of how this song originated, but there is an incident which might have played a tangential role, and which happened fairly early. In 1862, in the western theater of the war, Confederate commander Albert Sydney Johnston had played a vast game of bluff, occupying a line in Kentucky and northern Tennessee with forces he knew to be inadequate to the task. After U. S. Grant broke the center of his line by capturing Forts Henry and Donelson, he had no choice but to move the rest of his lines sharply south. In the process, he had to abandon his main supply base at Nashville (February 24, 1862, according to [no author], _The Civil War Almanac_, World Almanac/Bison Books, 1983, pp. 86-87).
When Federal troops entered Nashville, a reporter went to one of the leading hotels and pounded on the door. According to Shelby Foote, _The Civil War: A Narrative_ (Volume I: Fort Sumter to Perryville) (Random House, 1958), p. 217, "He kept on ringing, with the persistency of a tired and hungry man within reach of food and a clean bed. At last he was rewarded. A Negro swung the door ajar and stood there smiling broadly. 'Massa done gone souf,' he said, still grinning."
What's more, there *was* "a smoke way up de ribber" at that time. It came from two Confederate gunboats being burned (Foote, p. 216) -- but the civilians could hardly know that, and they *did* know that Federal gunboats had been responsible for the capture of Fort Henry and had attacked (though they had been repelled at) Fort Donelson. - RBW
File: R230
===
NAME: Kings of Orient: see We Three Kings (Kings of Orient) (File: OBC195)
===
NAME: Kingston Volunteers, The: see James Bird [Laws A5] (File: LA05)
===
NAME: Kinkaiders, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells us that the "place I like the best" is "the sand hills, O the sand hills, The place Kinkaiders make their home." He praises the corn, melons, cows, etc., and gives thanks "for the homestead law he made, This noble Moses P. Kinkaid."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915
KEYWORDS: home farming
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1903-1919 - Term of Congressman Moses P. Kinkaid, who introduced the homestead law which was so widely praised in Nebraska
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 278-279, "The Kinkaiders" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 85, p. 184, "The Kinkaiders" (1 text)
Roud #4982
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "O Tannenbaum (Oh Christmas Tree)" (tune) and references there
NOTES: Pound reports, "Moses P. Kinkaid was congressman of the sixth congressional distict [of Nebraska], 1903-1919. He was the introducer of a bill for 640-acre homesteads known as the 'Kinkaid Homestead Law.'"
Also known as the "Kinkaid Home Act," and passed in 1904, the Act applied originally only to unsettled areas of Nebraska, and granted the land in return for five years residence and $800 in improvement. It was extended in 1909.
Given that the song was collected while Kinkaid was still in office, one wonders if this might not be a campaign song. - RBW
File: San278
===
NAME: Kinmont Willie [Child 186]
DESCRIPTION: Kinmont Willie, a notorious raider, comes to the border under a truce, with few men at his back, and is treacherously taken by a large force under Lord Scroop and others. He is imprisoned as a raider, but finally rescued
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: betrayal prison rescue borderballad
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 13, 1596 - Rescue of William Armstrong of Kinmouth (Kinmont Willie) from the castle at Carlisle
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 186, "Kinmont Willie" (1 text)
Bronson 186, "Kinmont Willie" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 504-509, "Kinmont Willie" (1 text)
OBB 137, "Kinmont Willie" (1 text)
PBB 56, "Kinmont Willie" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 116-122+327-328, "Kinmont Willie" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 108-114, "Kinmont Willie" (1 text)
DT, KINMWILL
Roud #4013
NOTES: Kinmont Willie was a real person, and he caused a major border incident at a time when James VI of Scotland was really trying to stay on good terms with Elizabeth I of England, since he wanted to succeed her.
According to Roaslin Mitchison, _A History of Scotland_ (second edition), p. 158, "In 1597 [her date; Child's extensive note says 1596] there was the international incident of Kinmont Willie. The English broke Border law by capturing him at a day of truce, and refused from personal animosity to the Scottish Warden, Buccleuch, to hand him back. Buccleuch then rescued him from Carlisle castle. The subsequent outbreak of diplomatic huffiness was resolved by a joing English and Scottish commission."
This was typical of the problems of the time: The governments wanted peace, but the borderers wanted to keep on looting. - RBW
File: C186
===
NAME: Kintey Coy at Samsonville
DESCRIPTION: Tales of Old Abey Kelder's bar. The clientele is reported to have "kintey coyed and raised the devil; I bet they thought their heads was level." The behavior of various bar patrons is briefly described
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: drink moniker
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 162, "Kintey Coy at Samsonville" (1 text)
ST FSC162 (Partial)
File: FSC162
===
NAME: Kintyre Love Song, A
DESCRIPTION: "Like the violets in spring, like the lark on the wing... so sweet is she." The singer uses similar imagery to illustrate that "so fair is she," "so kind is she," "so dear is she."
AUTHOR: Words: James Hamish Dall Mactaggart
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: beauty nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H195, p. 234, "A Kintyre Love Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9468
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ned of the Hill" (tune)
File: HHH195
===
NAME: Kipawa Stream, The
DESCRIPTION: "I am a roving shantyboy -- the pinewoods is my home, Like every other fellow, from camp to camp I roam." The singer recalls his years of work on the rivers, noting "My muscle is my fortune." He wishes he could have revenge on the Indians
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger drink Indians(Am.)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #63, "The Kipawa Stream" (1 text)
Roud #4557
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Manistee River Song"
cf. "Boardman River Song"
NOTES: Although the final stanza of this song seeks revenge on the Indians, the singer gave no reason for wanting such revenge. It may be that this is a leftover from one of the various other versions of this song (see the cross-references). - RBW
File: FowL63
===
NAME: Kirtle Gaol: see County Jail (II) (File: Mack148)
===
NAME: Kishmul's Galley: see Beinn a' Cheathaich (File: K002)
===
NAME: Kiss in the Morning Early, A
DESCRIPTION: A maid goes to her cobbler "for her kiss in the morning early." They plan to marry. He gives her a fancy pair of shoes. She goes home and tells her father "I've got me a man." He wonders who but guesses it is only the cobbler when he sees the shoes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: courting father clothes
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 75, "A Kiss in the Morning Early" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3807
NOTES: Roud lumps this with "The Shoemaker's Kiss" which is also about relations between a girl and a shoemaker -- but the latter involves a pregnancy, on which basis we split them (at least until I find linking versions). - RBW
File: OLcM075
===
NAME: Kiss Me, Oh, I Like It
DESCRIPTION: "One morning rather dark as I strolled through the park, I met with a blushing young maid." They find their way beneath the trees, where she proclaims, "Kiss me, oh, I like it, Kiss me again, it's nice.... You are a dear, and no one is near....."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (recorded from Edith Perrin)
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #16398
RECORDINGS:
Edith Perrin, "Kiss Me, Oh, I Like It" [fragment] (on USWarnerColl01)
File: RcKMOILI
===
NAME: Kissing in the Dark
DESCRIPTION: "For lang I courted Jeannie... And whan she cam to see me, I wad kiss her in the dark." One night when she is away, he sneaks in and accidentally kisses her mother. This causes the mother to give consent to their marriage, and her money when she dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting humorous mother nightvisit
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 97-98, "Kissin' in the Dark" (1 text)
File: Ord097
===
NAME: Kissing Song (I)
DESCRIPTION: The loving young man "hangs all around the cabin door," kissing the girl "for (his/her) mother and her sister and her brother Till her Daddy comes...." Daddy threatens to shoot him; the girl objects. They continue courting much to the old folks' delight
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: love courting father family
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 374, "A Young Man's Love" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 305-307, "A Young Man's Love" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 374C)
DT, KISSNG
Roud #3642
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "The Kissing Song" (Conqueror 7891, 1931)
NOTES: According to Cohen, this song was copyrighted by Billy Carter in 1882 as "Kissing on the Sly." - RBW
File: R374
===
NAME: Kissing Song (II -- She Just Kept Kissing On)
DESCRIPTION: "I gave her kisses one, kisses one (x2), I gave her kisses one, And she said 'twas well begun, So we kept kissing on, kissing on." Similarly, "Kisses two... She said that would not do...." and so on, up to perhaps "ten... begin again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 313, "Kissing Song" (1 text plus a fragment)
Roud #4388
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "She Just Kept Kissing On" (Victor V-40095, 1929; on KHarrell02)
NOTES: The editors of Brown link this with the other "Kissing Song" found in Randolph. This is perverse -- this is a counting song, Randolph's a genuine courting song. - RBW
File: Br3313
===
NAME: Kissing's No Sin (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Some say kissing's a sin, but I think it's nane ava, For kissing has been in the world When there was but only twa." The singer points to all those who have engaged in kissing, noting that it must be lawful if lawyers do it, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kinloch-BBook XXIX, pp. 86-88, "The Mautman" (1 text, containing at least a fragment of this)
Roud #2579
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mautman" (lyrics)
cf. "The Hog-tub" (lyrics)
cf. "The Song of Temptation"  (theme of the antiquity of sexual relations)
NOTES: This is, quite simply, a tangle. This consists of two parts: "Some say that kissing's a sin" and "If it wasna lawful...." The former is shared with "The Mautman," which adds a story about a mautman demanding his pay; the latter is shared with "The Hog-tub," which adds a Mother Goose rhyme, "Once I courted a pretty lass." How all these grafts came together I don't know; the combination found in this song seems most logical, but what does that prove? - RBW
File: RcKiNoSi
===
NAME: Kissing's No Sin (II): see The Mautman (File: KinBB29)
===
NAME: Kitardine
DESCRIPTION: "One night ... Some rambling thoughts came in my mind And caused me for to roam." The singer leaves his girl, takes the train from Kitardine to the lumber camp, and takes a job as a cook. At season's end he signs on to help take the lumber to Bangor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: courting farewell lumbering
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 42-43, "Kitardine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12473
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee: Kitardine is in Maine. - BS
File: Dib042
===
NAME: Kitchey Coo: see Bill Wiseman (File: Doyl3014)
===
NAME: Kitchey-Coo: see Bill Wiseman (File: Doyl3014)
===
NAME: Kitchie-Boy, The [Child 252]
DESCRIPTION: A lady reveals her love to a kitchen boy. He begs her not to make it known; her father would kill him. She sends him over the sea; he rebuffs a lady's advances. He returns home in disguise and convinces the father to let him marry his daughter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: love separation nobility servant disguise marriage reunion return
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 252, "The Kitchie-Boy" (5 texts)
Bronson 252, "The Kitchie-Boy" (3 versions)
Leach, pp. 616-621, "The Kitchie-Boy" (1 text)
DBuchan 25, "The Kitchie-Boy" (1 text)
Roud #105
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Matt Hyland" (plot)
cf. "Richie Story" [Child 232] (plot)
cf. "The Prince of Morocco (The Sailor Boy II)" [Laws N18] (plot)
cf. "Hind Horn" [Child 17] (lyrics)
NOTES: Child views this as a "modern 'adaption' of 'King Horn'" (i.e. "Hind Horn," Child 17), from which it derives some stanzas. The plot, however, is by no means identical, sharing elements with a number of other ballads. - RBW
File: C252
===
NAME: Kite Abandoned in White Bay, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye rambling sailor boys And hearken please to me And hear what fishermen endure...." The Kite sets out with the sealing fleet, but her slow speed causes her to be left behind. 22 crew leave her to go home and seek better work
AUTHOR: probably Johnny Burke
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Ryan/Small)
KEYWORDS: ship hunting abandonment
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, p. 103, "The 'Kite' Abandoned in White Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of Newfoundland (II)" (tune)
NOTES: This apparently comes from a manuscript with no indication of author, date, or tune. Ryan and Small believe it to be by Johnny Burke. Looking at the form and certain of the words, I think it effectively certain that "The Banks of Newfoundland (II)" was his  model. - RBW
File: RySm103
===
NAME: Kitten Is Under the Sod, The
DESCRIPTION: "The kitten is under the sod, the sod, The kitten is under the sod."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal burial
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 179, "The Kitten Is Under the Sod" (1 short text)
File: Br3179
===
NAME: Kitty Alone (I): see Martin Said To His Man (File: WB022)
===
NAME: Kitty Alone (II): see The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin [Child 277] (File: C277)
===
NAME: Kitty Alone and I: see Kemo Kimo (File: R282)
===
NAME: Kitty Cain't You Come Along Too?: see Raccoon (File: R260)
===
NAME: Kitty Clyde: see Katy Cline (File: FSWB149)
===
NAME: Kitty Gray
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a girl and courts her "For she looked like an angel although she was poor." Her widowed mother consents to the marriage "as by flattery and deception I won Kitty Gray." But when she realizes his deception, she and the baby die
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Gardner/Chickering)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: "One morning as through the village churchyard I did stray," the singer sees a girl and courts her "For she looked like an angel although she was poor." Her widowed mother consents to the marriage "as by flattery and deception I won Kitty Gray." But when she realizes his deception, she and the baby dies
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty death children money trick
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Gardner/Chickering 32, "Kitty Gray" (1 text)
ST GC032 (Partial)
Roud #3692
File: GC032
===
NAME: Kitty Kline: see Katy Cline (File: FSWB149)
===
NAME: Kitty Kline (II): see Little Birdie (File: R676)
===
NAME: Kitty O'Noory: see Katie Morey [Laws N24] (File: LN24)
===
NAME: Kitty of Coleraine
DESCRIPTION: "As beautiful Kitty one morning was tripping" she sees the singer, stumbles, breaks her pitcher and spills its milk. He comforts her. "She vowed for such pleasure she'd break it again." Soon after not an unbroken pitcher could be found in Coleraine
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1809 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 10(8))
KEYWORDS: sex humorous food
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
O'Conor, p. 44, "Kitty of Coleraine" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Kitty of Coleraine" (source notes only)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 467, "Kitty of Coleraine" (1 text)
Roud #6534
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 10(8), "Kitty of Colerain", Laurie & Whittle (London), 1809; also Firth b.25(262), 2806 c.15(262), 2806 c.17(209), Harding B 28(149), "Kitty of Colerain"; 2806 b.11(176), Firth c.26(216), Harding B 25(1033), Harding B 12(49), "Kitty of Coleraine"; Harding B 28(265), "Kitty of Colerein"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Spotted Cow" (theme)
cf. "Blackberry Grove" (theme)
cf. "Three Maidens to Milking Did Go" (theme)
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 10(8) imprint: "Publish'd Apr. 4, 1809, by Laurie & Whittle, 53, Fleet Street, London. Sung with unbounded applause by John Johnstone, Esq of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, amongst his convivial friends in Ireland." - BS
The editors of _Granger's Index to Poetry_ list this as "wr[ongly] at[tributed] to Charles Dawson Shanley." Hoagland, at least, follows this incorrect attribution (giving Shanley's dates as 1811-1875, which obviously demonstrates why he couldn't have written a song published in 1809), though she admits some doubts. - RBW
File: OCon044
===
NAME: Kitty Tyrrell
DESCRIPTION: The singer comes to the girl, describing all he has to offer if she will marry. He concludes "Your silence I'll take for consent... Now all that I have is your own. This week you may be Kitty Tyrrell; Next week you'll be Mistress Malone."
AUTHOR: Words: Charles Jefferys / Music: Charles W. Glover (died 1863)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1860 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2430))
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage home
FOUND_IN: US(So) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 788, "I've Built Me a Neat Little Cot, Darling" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 12, "Kitty Tyrrell" (1 text)
Roud #7418
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2430), "Kitty Tyrrell", Ryle and Co (London), 1845-1859; also Harding B 11(708), Harding B 18(333), Harding B 11(858), Harding B 11(3976), Harding B 11(2011), "Kitty Tyrrell"; Firth b.26(102), Firth c.26(154), "Kitty Tyrell"; Firth b.25(82), "Kitty Tyrrel"
NOTES: O'Conor attributes the words to [Samuel] Lover - BS
File: R788
===
NAME: Kitty Wells
DESCRIPTION: The singer weeps to remember Kitty Wells. The two were planning their wedding when she died
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1858
KEYWORDS: courting death nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
BrownIII 411, "Kitty Wells" (1 text plus mention of 12 more)
Brewster 92, "Kitty Wells" (2 texts plus an excerpt)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 166-168, "Kitty Wells" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 78, "Kitty Wells" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 94, p. 202, "Kitty Wells" (1 text)
JHCox 127, "Kitty Wells" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Kitty Wells" (source notes only)
ST MN2166 (Full)
Roud #2748
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Kitty Wells" (Victor 20058, 1926)
Sid Harkreader, "Kitty Wells" (Paramount 3043, 1927)
The Hillbillies, "Kitty Wells" (Vocalion 5018/Vocalion 5019, c. 1926)
Doc Hopkins, "Kitty Wells" (Decca 5983, 1941)
Bradley Kincaid, "Sweet Kitty Wells" (Champion 15502 [as Dan Hughey]/Gennett 6363/Silvertone 8218/Supertone 9208, 1928)
Pickard Family, "Kitty Wells" (Columbia 15141-D, 1927); (Conqueror 7517, 1930)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Kitty Wells" (Okeh 45048, 1926) (Edison 51994, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5341, 1927)
Virginia Ramblers, "Kitty Wells" (OKeh, unissued, 1929)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(110b), "Kitty Wells," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Kate Wells
Katy Wells
NOTES: This piece was repeatedly published in the mid-nineteenth century. The earliest copy (1858) credits it to Charles E. Atherton; the same publisher in 1861 issued an "authorized" edition as by T. Brigham Bishop. A third copy, from 1860, credits the piece to Thomas Sloan, Jr.
From the notes in Cox, it appears that this began life as a dialect song, but many of the texts (including Cox's own) are now in ordinary English. - RBW
File: MN2166
===
NAME: Klondike Gold Rush, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh come to the place where they strike it rich, Come where the treasure lies hid, Where your hat full of mud is a five pound note.... Klondike, Klondike, Label your luggage for Klondike." The singer tells the poor folks about easy wealth in Klondike
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959
KEYWORDS: gold mining nonballad money
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1896 - George Carmack and his companions discover gold near the Klondike River. By 1898 there were so many prospectors (an estimated 25,000) in the area that the Mounties turned back anyone not carrying a year's worth of supplies
FOUND_IN: Canada(West)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 186-188, "The Klondike Gold Rush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4527
NOTES: Fowke collected this song in British Columbia, but believed it was written by an Englishman (it refers to a "five pound note" and a "quid," although Canada went to dollars in 1858, even before Confederation). - RBW
File: FMB186
===
NAME: Knave, The: see The Rogue (File: RL187)
===
NAME: Knaves Will Be Knaves: see The Rogue (File: RL187)
===
NAME: Knickerbocker Line, The
DESCRIPTION: The earliest versions seem to involve a man who became involved with a seamstress who later stole his watch. In the U.S. this plot seems to have disappeared, replaced by sundry nonsense. The references to the Knickerbocker Line seems diagnostic
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911
KEYWORDS: nonsense robbery courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(West)) US(MA) Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 323, "The Knickerbocker Line" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 146, "The Knickerbocker Line" (2 texts, 2 tunes, plus a text of a published antecedant)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 195, "The Knickerbocker Line" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST K323 (Partial)
Roud #2149
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Great Northern Line" (tune & meter)
File: K323
===
NAME: Knife in the Window, The: see Creeping and Crawling (File: RL033)
===
NAME: Knight and the Labourman's Daughter, The: see The Laboring Man's Daughter (The Knight's Dream) (File: K132)
===
NAME: Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter, The [Child 110]
DESCRIPTION: A knight, drunk, lies with a shepherd's daughter. She goes to the king's castle and calls for justice. With the king's help, she finds the culprit. The king orders the knight to marry her; he laments his fate.  (She reveals that she is richer than he.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1769 (Percy); title mentioned 1656 (stationer's register; tune from "The Dancing Master," 1652)
KEYWORDS: marriage betrayal trial royalty seduction rape knight
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber)) US(NE,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Child 110, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (16 texts)
Bronson 110, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (24 versions+5 in addenda, though the last three are variants on each other and of dubious authenticity)
Percy/Wheatley III, pp. 76-80, "The Knight, and Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text)
BrownII 31, "The Knight and Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 17-18, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 15, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 230-232, "Sir William" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 315-320, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 150, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 3, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 40, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
DBuchan 32, "The Knight and Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 185-186, "The Shepherd's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 289, "The Shepherd's Daughter" (1 tune, called "Parson Upon Dorothy" in Chappell's sources) {Bronson's #22c}
BBI, ZN2533, "There was a Shepherd's daughter"
DT 110, SHEPDAU * SHEPDAU2 SHEPDAU3* SHEPDAU4* SHEPDAU5*
Roud #67
RECORDINGS:
Lizzie Higgins, "The Forester" (on Voice06)
John Strachan, "The Royal Forester (The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #17.1 in addenda}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Haselbury Girl, The (The Maid of Tottenham, The Aylesbury Girl)"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Knight William and the Shepherd's Daughter
The Shepherd's Daughter and the King
Eywillian
NOTES: What might be a fragment of this ballad is found in John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont's 1611 play "The Knight of the Burning Pestle", Act II, scene viii:
He set her on a milk-white steed,
And himself upon a gray;
He never turned his face again
But he bore her quite away.
Of course, it might be a fragment of "Lady Isabel" or "The Baffled Knight" or several other ballads as well. - RBW
File: C110
===
NAME: Knight in Green, The
DESCRIPTION: A knight pledges a fortune to win a beautiful girl. To raise this money he must borrow from a Jew, offering his own flesh as collateral. When the bill comes, he cannot pay, and flees. And on it goes, till they all live happily ever after
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1825 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: bargaining courting  exile poverty reprieve Jew
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 184-191, "Night in Green" (sic) (1 text)
ST FO184 (Partial)
Roud #303
NOTES: The theme here was, of course, used in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice." The text here shows no direct knowledge of that play, but the two probably derive from a common ancestor.
The notes in Flanders/Olney state that there is a broadside version in the Folger Shakespeate Library. Unfortunately, they give no other details.
It's worth noting that this very long item comes from manuscript, not singing. And, yes, the title listed by Flanders is "Night," not "Knight."  - RBW
File: FO184
===
NAME: Knight of Liddesdale, The [Child 160]
DESCRIPTION: Only one stanza extant: "The Countesse of Douglas out of her boure she came, And loudly there did she call: 'It is for the Lord of Liddesdale That I let all these tears downe fall.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: (1833)
KEYWORDS: death mourning nobility
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1353 - Assassination of William Douglas, "The Knight of Liddesdale," by his relative Lord William Douglas
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 160, "The Knight of Liddesdale" (0 texts!)
Roud #3999
NOTES: Child apparently included this ballad in his collection "on speculation"; Scott's "Minstrelsy" claimed there were "fragments" still current in his time. Child, however, had only one stanza, and nothing more has been recovered since.
Child has extensive notes on the Knight of Liddesdale, who is the probable subject of this ballad, but the possibility cannot be ruled out that the song at least mentions the complicated question of his successor -- or of Douglas's dealings to obtain his fief in 1342. These were, according to Stephen Boardman's _The Early Stewart Kings_,  p. 162, "somewhat dubious."
What followed was at least as dubious, since the other William Douglas (the assassin) became "Lord of Liddesdale" by a royal grant in 1354, and the grant was converted to an earldom in 1384. This even though the Knight had had a daugher, Mary, though she died in 1367 without issue.
Earl Liddesdale died in 1388, causing yet another squabble over the inheritance (since there was a major factional struggle in Scotland at the time); eventually the property went to Douglas of Dalkeith. - RBW
File: C160
===
NAME: Knight Templar's Dream, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer dreams of the burning bush. He picks up the fiery serpent and it becomes a rod which he takes to Jerusalem. He sees the knights of Malta. He is enlisted "to fight for Christian Liberty." He travels to Ararat and Enoch's temple before he wakes. 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 19C (broadside, NLScotland L.C.1270(010))
KEYWORDS: dream ritual religious
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 130-131, "The Knight Templar's Dream" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.21(38), "The Knight Templar's dream," unknown, no date
NLScotland, L.C.1270(010), "The Knight Templar's Dream," James Kay (Glasgow), c.1845
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Brilliant Light" (subject)
cf. "The Grand Mystic Order" (subject)
cf. "Sons of Levi (Knights of Malta)" (style)
cf. "The Grand Templar's Song" (subject)
NOTES: Zimmermann, p.303 fn. 39: "Some of those who founded the first Orange Lodges were 'unwarranted' Freemasons, and both institutions had much in common in the early nineteenth century. Other Protestant organizations ... were also the themes of allegorical songs which appeared, along with masonic texts, in Orange collections." - BS
Moses and the burning bush are found in Exodus, chapter three. Exodus 4 mentions the rod which became a serpent, and vice versa -- but this serpent is not fiery, though it swallowed other serpents (Exodus 7:12). We meet fiery sepents in Numbers 21:6-9, where Moses makes a bronze serpent to combat a plague of serpents. (Note that it's not the same rod!) This fiery serpent did end up in Jerusalem, because King Hezekiah later destroyed it (2 Kings 18:4); the people were worshiping it. But Moses didn't take it to Jerusalem; Moses was dead before the Israelites conquered Canaan. It cannot have been taken to Jerusalem before the time of David.
Enoch's Temple is even more curious. Enosh was notable in that he "walked with God," but there is no evidence that he built a Temple. Even if he had, it would, in the Biblical view, have been destroyed in the Flood. - RBW
File: BrdKnTeD
===
NAME: Knight William and the Shepherd's Daughter: see The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter [Child 110] (File: C110)
===
NAME: Knight's Dream, The: see The Laboring Man's Daughter (The Knight's Dream) (File: K132)
===
NAME: Knight's Ghost, The [Child 265]
DESCRIPTION: The lady comes to the seashore to meet her lord from sea; the sailors tell her he is slain. She gets them drunk and locks them away. Asleep in her room, the knight comes to her and tells her to release the sailors, then tells parts of her future
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: death sailor prison dream ghost reprieve knight
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 265, "The Knight's Ghost" (1 text)
Bronson 265, "The Knight's Ghost" (1 version)
Roud #3889
NOTES: Child says of this piece that it "has not a perceptible globule of old blood in it," and he may be right (Bronson's comment is that it is "pointless") -- but its only real defect is that the knight returns in a dream rather than his ghost walking to rescue his sailors from their unfair treatment. The ending is, in a way, realistic; the lady will live a normal life rather than pining away with grief. - RBW
File: C265
===
NAME: Knights of Malta: see Sons of Levi (Knights of Malta) (File: HHH146)
===
NAME: Knock a Man Down: see Blow the Man Down (File: Doe017)
===
NAME: Knock John Booker: see Johnny Booker (Mister Booger) (File: R268)
===
NAME: Knocklayde
DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing of a mountain, the pride of the north...." The singer describes the great summit of Knocklayde. It would take a surveyor to measure it. It is made of limestone, and supports good grass. The singer will stay there and enjoy its beauties
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H509, p. 168, "Knocklayde" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13481
NOTES: I think this is the only geological folk song I've ever encountered.
Knocklayde probably would not inspire non-Irish very much. A short distance south of Ballycastle (on the very northern coast of Ulster), it rises only 517 meters above sea level. - RBW
File: HHH509
===
NAME: Knot of Blue and Gray, A
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells why she wears upon her breast both blue and gray. She says that she had two brothers; one fought and died for the north, the other for the south -- "But the same sun shines on both their graves"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (recording, Loman D. Cansler)
KEYWORDS: grief army Civilwar war death mourning brother
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "A Knot of Blue and Gray" (on Cansler1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Blue and Gray
NOTES: This song, apart from being ridiculously schmaltzy [Not necessarily schmaltzy if sung well. See Barton & Para's version, for example. - PJS], has real historical problems. The oldest version is in the Dabney papers (Dabney Family Papers, MSS 9852, Box 21, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library), and in it, the southern brother "rode with Stonewall and his men," while the northern brother "followed Sherman's march, Triumphant to the sea."
The problem is, Jackson was not a cavalry general. And the number of battle casualties on Sherman's March to the Sea could be counted on one's finger. One has to suspect the author just plugged in some familiar names.
The Duke University collection has a text which eliminates the reference to Stonewall Jackson and credits the music to T. Brigham Bishop. Since Bishop's name appears on at least two other pieces ("Kitty Wells" and "Shoo Fly") which he almost certainly did not write, one suspects, in Paul Stamler's words, "an early-day Lomax in action." Particularly since the Cansler version is sung to "The Wearing of the Green." - RBW, PJS
File: RcAKOBAG
===
NAME: Knox's Farewell
DESCRIPTION: The singer (Sam Knox) now must leave the land where he long wandered; he will seek his fortune overseas. He bids his parents not to grieve, bids farewell to the land and his friends, and asks that he be remembered
AUTHOR: Words: Samuel Knox/Music set by Sam Henry
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H49, p. 200, "Knox's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH049
===
NAME: Knoxville Girl, The: see The Wexford (Oxford, Knoxville, Noel) Girl [Laws P35] (File: LP35)
===
NAME: Kock, De (The Cook)
DESCRIPTION: German shanty. Verses made up of short phrases, the cook describing himself, his habits, the meals he prepares. No chorus, but a pull on "seggt he" (says he) after each phrase. "Yellow peas, sez he. Cook for me, sez he. Keep them stirred, sez he," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (L.A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty cook food
FOUND_IN: Germany
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 537-539, "De Kock" (3 texts-German & English, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "In Berlin Sagt 'Er" (tune)
File: Hugi537
===
NAME: Kom Till Mig Pa Lordag Kvall, A (Come to Me on Saturday Night)
DESCRIPTION: Swedish hauling song. Chorus: "Viktoria, Viktoria! Kirre-verre-vipp-bom! Hurra sa!" Printed verses have rhymes about drinking, Hugill says there were 18 verses he couldn't print.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sternvall, _Sang under Segel_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty worksong
FOUND_IN: Sweden
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 427-428, "A Kom Till Mig Pa Lordag Kvall " (2 texts-Swedish & English, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
cf. "Halarvisa" (similar chorus)
NOTES: Hugill says the unprintable verses of this shanty are identical to a Chinese song which refers to the "18 points of feeling." They are quoted in _Sang under Segel._ - SL
File: Hugi427
===
NAME: Kookaburra
DESCRIPTION: "Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree, Merry merry king of the bush is he, Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra, Gay your life must be."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 413, "Kookaburra" (1 text)
File: FSWB413B
===
NAME: Kum Ba Yah: see Kum By Yah (File: FSWB368D)
===
NAME: Kum By Yah
DESCRIPTION: You know the drill: "Kum by yah, my Lord, kum by yah (x3), Oh, Lord, Kum by yah." "Someone's crying, Lord..." "Someone's singing, Lord..." "Someone's praying, Lord...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (recording, Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 368, "Kum Ba Yah" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Kum Ba Yah" (on SeegerTerry)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Come By Here" (form)
NOTES: Although almost the prototypical camp song, and certainly a folk song in that right, genuine field collections seem to be few and far between. - RBW
File: FSWB368D
===
NAME: Kyle's Flowery Braes: see Laurel Hill (File: HHH008)
===
NAME: L'amant a la Fenetre de sa Maitresse (The Lover at his Mistress's Window)
DESCRIPTION: French. The singer returned from war and knocked at his mistress's door. Her father and mother are in their bed, and they have barred the door and have the keys. She opens the window to her bedroom.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting love sex return father lover mother nightvisit
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 493-494, "L'amant a la Fenetre de sa Maitresse" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea493
===
NAME: L'il Liza Jane: see Li'l Liza Jane (File: FSWB037)
===
NAME: L'Internationale: see The Internationale (File: FSWB297B)
===
NAME: La Courte Paille: see Courte Paille, La (File: FMB041)
===
NAME: La Cucaracha: see Cucaracha, La (File: San289)
===
NAME: La Gaie-Annee: see Guillannee, La (La Gui-Annee) (File: BMRF584)
===
NAME: La Gui-Annee: see Guillannee, La (La Gui-Annee) (File: BMRF584)
===
NAME: La Guignolee: see Guillannee, La (La Gui-Annee) (File: BMRF584)
===
NAME: La Guillannee: see Guillannee, La (La Gui-Annee) (File: BMRF584)
===
NAME: La Rose Blanche (The White Rose): see Rose Blanche, La (The White Rose) (File: FMB118)
===
NAME: Laboring Man's Daughter, The (The Knight's Dream)
DESCRIPTION: A nobleman dreams of a beautiful girl. After seven years' searching he finds her, a poor laboring-man's daughter. He tells her he has seen her only in a dream, but is confident she will not deny him. He takes out a ring and proposes. (They happily marry)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Sharp, JFSS)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A nobleman's son dreams of "the beautiful-est girl in the nation." After seven years' searching he finds her, a poor laboring-man's daughter. He tells her he has only seen her once, as she lay by him in a dream, but he is confident she will not deny him. She asks what is his desire, that he's so afraid of denial; "Although I am poor, no scorn I'll endure/Do not put me under any such trial." He takes out a ring and proposes. (She worries that his parents will look down on her; he replies that they are both dead, and his friends will not object. They marry and are happy)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage ring travel dream nobility worker beauty
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,North)) Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 132, "The Labouring Man's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 540-541, "The Knight and the Labourman's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST K132 (Partial)
Roud #595
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Queen Among the Heather" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Knight and Labourman's Daughter
NOTES: I'm not certain "A Cornish Young Man" is the same song, but Kennedy lumps it in. - PJS
File: K132
===
NAME: Labourer, The: see Jolly Thresher, The (Poor Man, Poor Man) (File: R127)
===
NAME: Labouring Man's Daughter, The: see The Laboring Man's Daughter (The Knight's Dream) (File: K132)
===
NAME: Labrador
DESCRIPTION: The crew on the schooner Carey catch bait in Conception Bay and cash in at Holyrood. They hear fishing is exceptional on the Labrador. They fight bad weather to get there, are poorly equipped, and fare badly.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: fishing sea storm
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 138-139, "Labrador" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9965
File: Pea138
===
NAME: Lachlan Tigers, The
DESCRIPTION: The shearers wait eagerly for the shift to begin: "At his gate each shearer stood as the whistle loudly blew...." The expert shearers set out to be the fastest, while the boss tries to make sure they shear the sheep completely.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1960 (recording, A. L. Lloyd)
KEYWORDS: sheep work Australia
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 136-137, "The Lachlan Tigers" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LCHLNTIG*
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "Lachlan Tigers" (on Lloyd4, Lloyd8)
NOTES: The region along the Lachlan river is one of Australia's best sheep-raising areas. Naturally, it attracted the best shearers, who came to be known as the "Lachlan Tigers."
Jackie Howe holds the all-time (and probably unsurpassable) record of 328 sheep sheared in an eight hour day; hence the remark in the song "There's never been a better board since Jackie Howe expired." - RBW
File: FaE136
===
NAME: Lad and a Lass, A: see No Sign of a Marriage [Laws P3] (File: LP03)
===
NAME: Lad in the Scotch Brigade, The (The Banks of the Clyde)
DESCRIPTION: Geordie and Jean meet on the banks of the Clyde. She tries to dissuade him from "going to fight for his queen." She gives him a lock of her hair. In the battle a bullet "buried that dear lock of hair in his heart." Jean and his mother comfort each other.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Spelling)
KEYWORDS: courting army battle separation death lover soldier
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf,West)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leach-Labrador 133, "The Banks of the Clyde" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab133 (Partial)
Roud #1784
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2032), "The Lad in the Scotch Brigade" or "The Burning Plains of Egypt" ("On the banks of the Clyde stood a lass [sic] and a lassie"), unknown, n.d.
NLScotland, RB.m.143(125), "The Scotch Brigade," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1880-1900
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fair Town of Greenock" (theme)
cf. "The Paisley Officer (India's Burning Sands)" [Laws N2] (theme)
NOTES: This ballad is reported in _What We Sang Down on the Farm: A Forgotten Manuscript on Western Canadian Singing Traditions_ by David A.E. Spelling in Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1985). The article includes an anonymous undated manuscript collected in Alberta by Dr. Robert E. Gard in the 1940s. The author of that manuscript recalls that "our favourite war song was 'The Lad in the Scotch Brigade,' a product of the war in Egypt and the Soudan." The manuscript then summarizes the ballad and includes the chorus from the broadside omitted in the Leach-Labrador version.
The Alberta source, in placing the war "in Egypt and the Soudan" was probably imagining it to be about the recent (1884-1885 and 1896-1898) wars against the Dervish Empire. The ballad does not name the battle at which the hero is killed but refers only to "the great victory." In those "river wars" the "great victory" was the Battle of Omdurman, September 2, 1898. However, one of Roud's sources for #1784, as "The Scotch Brigade," was _Delaney's Song Book No.1_ published in 1892, before the second Dervish war. Too bad: the Scotch Brigade -- the 94th Regiment of Foot -- was in the second war against the Dervish Empire. It does not seem that the Scotch Brigade was in Egypt at any other time. You can find a history of the Scottish Brigade at the Dungarvan Museum site Historical Articles - BS
File: LLab133
===
NAME: Laddie That Handles the Ploo, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer praises the plowmen and farmers who provide others with food. He lists other occupations, and notes how much they are needed -- but none of them could survive "Gin it werena for the bonnie laddie that handles the ploo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: farming worker food
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 81, "The Bonnie Lad That Handles the Plough" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2170
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Farmer is the Man" (theme)
cf. "The Praise of Ploughmen" (theme)
File: Ord081
===
NAME: Ladies to the Center
DESCRIPTION: "Ladies to the center and a ding dong ding, Gents to the center and form a ring, Mile and a quarter round this ring, Meet your partner, balance and swing."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (JAFL 27)
KEYWORDS: playparty dancing
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 577, "Ladies to the Center" (1 fragment)
Roud #7666
File: R577
===
NAME: Ladle Song, The: see A Rich Old Miser [Laws Q7] (File: LQ07)
===
NAME: Lads of Wamphrey, The [Child 184]
DESCRIPTION: The Johnstones raid the stable of the Crichtons. William, nicknamed Galliard, the Johnstone leader, by mistake rides off on a blind horse. He is captured and hanged. His nephew gathers a gang which drives the Crichtons from their land
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1791
KEYWORDS: feud battle execution revenge
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 184, "The Lads of Wamphrey" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 495-497, "The Lads of Wamphrey" (1 text)
Roud #4011
File: C184
===
NAME: Lads that was Reared Among the Heather, The
DESCRIPTION: Girls: the best men are "the lads that was reared in the heather"; the best dances are in the barn, not the hall, with the lads ...; the best ship builders, the best soldiers and the best poets are the lads....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, Willie Scott)
KEYWORDS: bragging commerce dancing nonballad soldier
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5127
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "The Lads that was Reared Among the Heather" (on Voice05)
File: RcLTRATH
===
NAME: Lady Alice [Child 85]
DESCRIPTION: Lady Alice sees a beautiful corpse being carried by and learns it is her lover. She bids the bearers leave it; she will herself be dead by the next evening. They are buried apart but roses from his grave grow to reach her breast until severed by a priest.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1810
KEYWORDS: death corpse love burial flowers
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So,SW) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (22 citations)
Child 85, "Lady Alice" (4 texts)
Bronson 85, "George Collins (Lady Alice)" (43 versions)
SharpAp 25 "Giles Collins" (6 short texts, 6 tunes){Bronson's #13, #15, #14, #28, #5, #42}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 452-453, "Lady Alice" (notes plus a text derived from Child C)
Peacock, pp. 738-739, "Young Collins Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 12, "George Collins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 85, "George Collins" (1 text)
Randolph 22, "George Collins" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #27}
Davis-Ballads 25, "Lady Alice" (7 texts apart from the appendix, 5 tunes entitled "Johnny Collins," "George Collins"; 10 more versions mentioned in Appendix A)
Davis-More 26, pp. 199-206, "Lady Alice" (3 texts plus a fragment, 4 tunes -- but the fourth, fragmentary, text and tune could as well be "Fare You Well, My Own True Love" or something similar) {Bronson's #41, #32, #31, #29, #2}
BrownII 28, "Lady Alice" (8 texts plus 2 excerpts, a fragment, and mentions of 4 more)
Chappell-FSRA 14, "Georgie Collins" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Hudson 16, pp. 107-111, "Lady Alice" (4 texts)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 117-122, "Lady Alice," with individual texts titled "George Collins," "George Collins," (no title), "George Collins," (no title), "George Allien" (4 texts plus 2 excerpts, 4 tunes on pp. 393-394) {Bronson's #22, #19, #1, #11}
OBB 154, "Lady Alice" (1 text)
Warner 96, "George Collins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 37, "Lady Alice" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 246-247, "George Collins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 32, "George Collins" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 17, "Lady Alice" (5 texts)
Silber-FSWB, p. 151, "George Collins" (1 text)
DT 85, GEOCLLNS* GEOCOL2 GEOCLLN3
ST C085 (Full)
Roud #147
RECORDINGS:
Dixon Brothers, "Story of George Collins" (Montgomery Ward M-7580, 1938)
Henry Griffin, "George Collins" (on HandMeDown2)
Spud Gravely, "George Allen" (on Persis1)
Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers, "George Collins" (Brunswick 250, 1928; on ConstSor1)
Kelly Harrell, "The Dying Hobo" (Victor 20527, 1926; on KHarrell01 -- a rather strange version combining the first verse of "The Dying Hobo" with a plot, taken from "George Collins," of a girl mourning her dead lover) {Bronson's #30}
Dick Justice, "One Cold December Day" (Brunswick 367, 1929 -- like the Harrell recording, this starts with a "Dying Hobo" verse, then parallels "George Collins")
New Lost City Ramblers, "George Collins" (on NLCR02)
Frank Proffitt, "George Collins" (on Proffitt03)
Riley Puckett, "George Collins" (Montgomery Ward M-4551, 1934)
Enos White, "George Collins" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1, Voice03)
Henry Whitter, "George Collins" (OKeh 45081, 1927, rec. 1926) (Broadway 8024, c. 1931); Henry Whitter & Fiddler Joe [Samuels], "George Collins" (OKeh, unissued, 1926)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Earl Colvin
Young Collins
George Coleman
Dame Alice was Sitting on Widow's Walk
George Collum
George Promer
NOTES: A number of scholars (including Coffin and Lloyd, with some support from Bronson) believe that "Lady Alice" is a fragment of a larger ballad (called "George Collins" or the like). The first half is found in "Clerk Colville" [Child 42]; "Lady Alice" forms the second half. Lloyd writes, "Either these are two separate songs which have been combined to form George Collins or (which seems more likely) they are two fragments of the completer ballad."
Paul Stamler provides this description of the composite ballad:
George Collins, out walking, kisses a pretty maid, who warns him he won't live long. He kisses her, goes home and dies. His lover kisses his corpse goodbye; she dies too. In the last verse, it's said that six pretty maids died in one night for his sake. Many have interpreted the "pretty maid" as a water-fairy whom Collins has been trysting with; when she finds he's been betrothed, she gives him a poisoned kiss. - RBW, PJS
The supernatural explanation seems reasonable. But sudden death transmitted by a kiss -- has no one suggested communicable disease?
The ballad is found throughout western Europe, including a manuscript poem from Germany dated c. 1310. - PJS
[For discussions of the question of whether this is one ballad], see Barbara Craster in the _Journal of the Folk-Song Society_ 2:4 (15) (1910) pp. 106-109 (comparisons) and in Coffin, _Brit. Trad. Ballad in N. America_ (1977 edn.) p. 51 and pp. 86-88, 241 - JM
[Ewan] MacColl in The Long Harvest... feels there is little left to doubt and combines them.  He cites S.P. Bayard, "No two ballads in English are more closely allied."  Harbison Parker gives much detail and together, says MacColl, "make an almost watertight for the two Child ballads as springing from one and the same source. - AS
In general I have followed the policy of listing "George Collins" versions here, without further notes, as the "Lady Alice" portion is more integral to the story. - RBW
A curious thing is that Sharp calls the ballad "Giles Collins", but the protagonist is "George" in 5 of his 6 examples, and "Charles" in the sixth.
Again this [Silber's version] is fragmentary; George Collins, driving home, is taken sick and dies. His Nell opens his coffin to kiss him goodbye, then laments his passing. That's it; nothing else happens. Nothing to connect it to Lady A. except George's name. Arghh. - PJS
File: C085
===
NAME: Lady and the Dragoon, The: see The Bold Soldier [Laws M27] (File: LM27)
===
NAME: Lady and the Farmer's Son, The [Laws O40]
DESCRIPTION: A wealthy lady wants a youth to marry her, but he is pledged to one of the lady's servants. The lady brings her maid on a boat trip and throws her into the sea. She winds up in prison; the young man goes mad
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: murder drowning prison servant courting money
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws O40, "The Lady and the Farmer's Son"
Flanders/Olney, pp. 170-171, "The Lady and the Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 490, FARMSON*
Roud #994
NOTES: This is so close to Sharp's "Handsome Sally" that Paul Stamler lumped them. But Laws and Roud distinguish them, so I tentatively do the same. - RBW
File: LO40
===
NAME: Lady and the Glove, The: see The Golden Glove (Dog and Gun) [Laws N20] (File: LN20)
===
NAME: Lady and the Gypsy, The: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Lady and the Sailor, The: see Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser) [Laws N6] (File: LN06)
===
NAME: Lady and the Shepherd, The: see The Dowie Dens o Yarrow [Child 214] (File: C214)
===
NAME: Lady and the Soldier, The: see One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14] (File: LP14)
===
NAME: Lady Connolly
DESCRIPTION: Rebellion begins May 18, 1798. Lord Carhampton "burned our holy altars, and Dunboyne town also." Lady Connolly, "may her soul rest in glory, while Lord Carhampton's sent to hell." We'll keep Carhampton agitated until the French come, then we'll skin him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1970 (Healy's _Mercier Book of Old Irish Street Ballads Vol. 2_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion death France Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1798 - Irish rebellion against British rule 
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 51, "Lady Connolly" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Moylan: "Lady Louisa Connolly was the wife of Tom Connolly of Castletown House. She was the aunt of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and visited him in his cell in Newgate Prison a couple of hours before his death.... The Earl of Carhampton, of Luttrelstown House, was the Commander-in-Chief in 1795 and was responsible for the dragooning of Ulster in response to the outbreak of Defenderism. He was universally feared and hated...." - BS
According to Thomas Pakenham, _The Year of Liberty_, pp. 235-238, Lady Connolly did very little except write a rather pathetic account of Edward Fitzgerald's last hours (for Fitzgerald, see the notes to "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)"), which nonetheless made clear that the British had not mistreated him once he was in custody. Her position may have been somewhat equivocal; she was the aunt of Fitzgerald -- but she was also the wife of Tom Connolly, the commander of the Derry militia (Pakenham, p. 48).
Carhampton I think may be the Lord Lieutenant, John Jeffreys Pratt, second earl of Camden. He was appointed in 1795, and lasted until after the 1798 rebellion, when he was fired (Canning privately wrote that he had been rendered useless for anything) but promoted to marquis. I can't find any source that calls him "Carhampton," but there is no one else who seems to fit. Certainly theIrish did completely bamboozle him. - RBW
File: Moyl051
===
NAME: Lady Diamond [Child 269]
DESCRIPTION: The king's daughter Lady (Daisy) is with child by a kitchen boy. The king has the boy killed and a token (his heart) sent to Lady Daisy. She dies for love (prompting the king's deep regret)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1823 (Sharpe) 
KEYWORDS: royalty execution pregnancy death bastard
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 269, "Lady Diamond" (5 texts)
Bronson 269, "Lady Diamond" (4 versions)
Dixon XIV, pp. 71-72, "Ladye Diamond" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 635-636, "Lady Diamond" (1 text, correctly titled but erroneously numbered as Child 264)
PBB 37, "Lady Diamond" (1 text)
DT 269, LADYDIAM* LADYDIA2
Roud #112
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Willie o Winsbury" [Child 100] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lady Daisy
Lady Dysie
NOTES: [A. L. Lloyd writes,] "Boccaccio re-tells [this story] in his tale of Ghismonda and Guiscardo, and in later years it was made into a play in England and elsewhere. Versified into a ballad, it was widely known throughout Western Europe and Scandinavia." - PJS
The link to Boccaccio was noted long before Lloyd; Child mentions it and many non-English analogies, and the link to the Decameron goes back at least to Dixon.
The tale is the first story of the fourth day, told by Fiammetta. In outline, the Decameron account is precisely "Lady Diamond," but there are also substantial differences. In "Lady Diamond," the girl is pregnant and the father forces the truth out of her; in Boccaccio, she is already a widow and her father discovers the truth accidentally; in "Lady Diamond," she dies for love, whereas in the Decameron, she takes poison, and the Italian tale ends with the king's repentance, something rare in the ballad.
With all that said, it's hard to doubt that the two spring from the same sources. Much of the difference may be simply due to the fact that the Decameron version had to be fleshed out to a full story, while the ballad version, like most ballads, strips much inessential detail. - RBW
File: C269
===
NAME: Lady Elgin, The: see Lost on the Lady Elgin (File: R692)
===
NAME: Lady Elspat [Child 247]
DESCRIPTION: Lady Elspat and Sweet William plan a tryst, but Elspat's brother's page reports to her mother. The mother takes the boy to court on a charge of robbery. The judge concludes that his only crime is being relatively poor, and frees William to wed Elspat
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1783
KEYWORDS: courting trial reprieve
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 247, "Lady Elspat" (1 text, 2 tunes, but Bronson says the tunes are not proper to the text)
Bronson 247, "Lady Elspat" (2 versions)
OBB 86, "Lady Elspat" (1 text)
Roud #4023
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial)" [Laws M10] (plot)
cf. "Mary Acklin (The Squire's Young Daughter)" [Laws M16] (plot)
File: C247
===
NAME: Lady Fair (I): see The Suffolk Miracle [Child 272] (File: C272)
===
NAME: Lady Fair (II), A: see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Lady Franklin's Lament (The Sailor's Dream) [Laws K9]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor has a dream (. He hears Lady Franklin) telling of the loss of her husband, who disappeared in Baffin's Bay as he sought the Northwest Passage. He never returned, and is presumed dead, but Lady Franklin would give a great fortune to be certain
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1878 (Faulkner, _Eighteen Months on a Greenland Whaler_); broadside versions probably date from the period 1850-1853
KEYWORDS: sailor wife death exploration Eskimo
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1845-1847 - Lord Franklin's final expedition
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont) Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws K9, "Lady Franklin's Lament (The Sailor's Dream)"
Doerflinger pp. 145-147, "Lady Franklin's Lament" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 159-159, "Franklin's Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 154-156, "The Franklin Expedition" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H815, p. 103, "Franklin the Brave" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 151, "The Franklin Expedition" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 65-66, "Franklin In Search of the North-West Passage" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 145, "Franklin and His Ship's Crew"; p. 146, "Franklin and His Bold Crew" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 97, "Franklin and His Bold Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 401, LADYFRAN* LADYFRN2 LADYFRN3
Roud #487
RECORDINGS:
Pat Maher, "Franklin" (on NFMLeach)
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y2:005, "Lady Franklin's Lament for her Husband," unknown, 19C [there is a hand-written date of "1851" on the sheet, but this appears to be a later addition; the text itself says it has been seven years since Franklin sailed, making the year at least 1852]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lord Franklin
NOTES: This song is the chief musical relic of one of the saddest events in the history of arctic exploration: The last failed attempt in the nineteenth century to sail the "Northwest Passage" from the Atlantic to the Pacific north of Canada.
It was a popular theme in broadsides, but most of the results were terrible (for an example of just how bad they can be, see "A Ballad of Sir John Franklin," in Sandler, pp. 96-98. For the list of books cited in this note, see the bibliography at the end of this essay). It appears that none of these products survived in tradition -- except this song, which has proved enduringly popular.
Unfortunately, the song ends in the middle of the story, with an unsolved mystery. Most books about the Franklin Expedition, simply describe the quest for the Northwest Passage, Franklin's part in it -- and then the quest to discover what happened to Franklin. I'm going to try to do it from the standpoint of the song, telling the history of the quests for the passage, then discussing Franklin, then looking what the song has to say on the subject -- and only then talking of the search for and fate of Franklin. It's not a very coherent story this way, but it avoids "cheating." If you want a more orderly exposition, try one of the books listed in the bibliography (I'd recommend Delgado or Fleming-Barrow). 
The quest for the Northwest Passage began because the sea trip from Europe to Asia was so long -- going eastward, it required ships to not only sail the length of the continent but, in the period before the opening of the Suez Canal, also south around the Cape of Good Hope. The westward route was also long, and required making the dreadful trip around Cape Horn, which is perpetually stormy. Mariners desperately wanted a shorter, safer route. For that reason, the Northwest Passage had been a goal of mariners since Martin Frobisher in the sixteenth century -- but, at that time, the Little Ice Age almost certainly made it impossible.
As the climate warmed, and as ships improved, chances became better. Plus, despite centuries of failures, people were more willing to look. In the nineteenth century, following the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy had been dramatically reduced; some 90% of Navy officers were on "half pay" -- i.e. still on the books, but with no commands; in effect, they were in reserve -- and, often, going slowly bankrupt; Fleming-Barrow, pp. 2-3. The attempts at the Northwest Passage were in part an attempt to find something for them to do. With so many officers available, it is no surprise that many exploratory voyages, to all parts of the world, were ordered. Britain ruled the waves; now it wanted to know just what waves it ruled.
Some of these exploratory voyages were successful, but those to the Northwest Passage all failed, and most resulted in much privation and some death -- Cookman, pp. 221-222, examines eight Passage attempts between 1819 and 1836: Three under Parry, two under Franklin, one under John Ross, and two under Back. 15 men died out of a total force of about 450 embarked. His list is not comprehensive.
But most of these were relatively small attempts. Franklin's 1845 expedition was organized on a massive scale.
Someone compared the quest for the Northwest Passage to the 1960s Apollo lunar program. In terms of cost, the comparison is ridiculous, but in one sense, it's accurate: The quest pushed the limits of what was possible with current technology. It is unfortunate that the Admiralty tried to hurry the Franklin expedition due to budget constraints.
The comparison with NASA is instructive. NASA's lunar expeditions were preceded by every possible test -- three generations of manned hardware (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo), plus much detailed exploration (Ranger, Surveyor, Lunar Orbiter). Even so, there were disasters (Apollo 1) and near-disasters (Apollo 13). The Franklin expedition made no such preparations. No one tried to finish off the maps of the relevant area; no one tested the new equipment in Franklin's ships. The massive expedition thus became a massive disaster. What follows can only sketch the story as far as it is now known.
John Franklin, the leader of the expedition, was born on April 16, 1786; he joined the Royal Navy in 1801. His early career was distinguished; he fought as a junior officer at Copenhagen and Trafalgar (aboard the _Bellerophon_, one of the more heavily-engaged ships; the noise was so great as to cause permament damage to his hearing, according to Wilkinson, pp. 117-118).
He then became a noted explorer. In his late teens, he helped chart portions of the south Pacific -- and faced a shipwreck and his first experience of starvation. In 1818, as lieutenant in command of the of the _Trent,_ he was part of David Buchan's failed push from Spitzbergen toward the North Pole, narrowly surviving the encroachments of the ice (Fleming-Barrow, pp. 53-55, speaks of a "hair-raising series of near disasters"). The next year, on foot rather than by ship, he explored the north coast of Canada between Point Turnaround and the Coppermine River -- an expedition that nearly caused his death, and resulted in charges of cannibalism and murder, though by men who were separated from Franklin at the time.
Berton, p. 70, accuses Franklin of "ignor[ing] common sense," but also admits that his orders were faulty and the mission funding was inadequate. Fleming-Barrow, p. 125, says more charitably that he was "ordered to hitch-hike through a war zone into a wilderness," being forced to beg assistance from the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies, which at this time were engaged in a small-scale war of raids; they had no time for a Royal Navy interloper.
It would not be the last time John Barrow, the Second Secretary of the Admiralty who dreamed up most of these projects, sent Franklin on a mission that was not adequately prepared.
At least Franklin could learn. In 1825 he went on another expedition in northern Canada. This one charted the region from the Coppermine to the Mackenzie, and this time, his planning for the expedition was much better; Fleming-Barrow, p. 173, says he allowed "little scope for failure." There were no casualties, and much territory was charted.
Franklin was knighted for his work (Fleming-Barrow, p. 175. We should note that the song's title "Lord Franklin" is not correct; he was neither an admiral nor a peer. His highest title was "Sir John Franklin," and his wife was Lady Franklin).
Having made those three exploratory voyages, he went back to more normal sea duties for about a decade, serving for a time in the Mediterranean and earning the famous Franklin Medal from William IV for services to the Greek government.
Eventually, though, he was called home, and found he needed a job. Explorers were not needed at the time, and the navy still had lots of excess officers. It took him a while before he was given an offer he thought worthwhile -- and it was one for which he really wasn't competent.
From 1837-1843 Franklin served as governor of Van Diemen's Land, bringing much relief after the dreadful leadership of George Arthur -- Franklin, in a brutal age, was gentle enough that he trembled when seamen were flogged, and one of his subordinates on one of the Canadian expeditions told of him refusing to kill a mosquito that landed on him (Fleming-Barrow, p. 129). He even tried to learn about the few surviving Tasmanian natives, though it was far too late to help them. He also founded what would become the Royal Society of Tasmania, and made some efforts to treat prisoners humanely (Wilkinson, p. 128; Cookman, pp. 26-27).
Frankly, he was just what the colony needed -- except that he didn't have the deviousness to outmaneuver the local officials. And, unfortunately, his civilized attitude was resented by the local establishment; they quarrelled with him constantly, and still more with Lady Jane Franklin, who actually wanted to be a human being rather than a ceremonial ornament, and who did much exploring and even founded a local college.
(Franklin's career seemed jinxed, but he was very lucky in love: His two wives were both beautiful, forthright, and highly intelligent. His first, Eleanor Ann Porden, gave him his only child, a daughter, but died of tuberculosis six days after he set out on one of his expeditions. On his return, he married the former Jane Griffin. Lady Jane Griffin Franklin, 1791-1875, would prove one of the most determined women of the nineteenth century. It has been said that Franklin's wives were smarter than he was. Very likely true -- but at least he was a man enough to let them be the brilliant women they were.)
Franklin eventually was recalled from Tasmania in mild disgrace, though it's reported that thousands of non-government officials showed up to cheer him off. (In fact, the people of Tasmania would later contribute 1700 pounds to the search for Franklin; Berton, p. 140. This out of a relatively impoverished free population numbered in the tens of thousands.) But, when he got back to England, he again needed a job.
And, after years of ignoring the Arctic, the Royal Navy was getting interested again. It was clear the Passage would never be commercially useful with nineteenth century ships -- but Admiralty Second Secretary Barrow, who had sent out all those other missions of exploration, was in his eighties, and knew he wouldn't be around much longer; he wanted the Passage to finish off his career.
(How hard has it been to make it through the passage? Cookman, p. 197, counted only seven successful trips through the passage as of 2000. It's *still* not commercially viable -- MacInnis, p. 121, notes that in his first two years of hunting for the _Breadalbane_, there were only seven days of suitable weather. It's likely that global warming will change that in the next few years, though; I heard a recent report of a group of people canoeing the Northwest Passage in a single year. And the difficulty of the Passage does not mean that there is no traffic up there; oil has been discovered in the Artic Archipelago, so ships are frequently going in and out, and there are several icebreakers on regular arctic duty. It's just that they don't take the Passage; they go out the same way they came in.)
Once the Passage expedition was chartered -- and thrown together hastily to get it on the present budget -- someone had to run it. And there was Franklin, with Arctic experience and nothing else to do.
Franklin was not an obvious choice to command. He was elderly, overweight, not a strong physical specimen (Sandler, p. 32, says that he had had circulation problems even when in his twenties), and though he had long before explored northern Canada, he had not been part of any previous naval expedition to the Passage. But the admiralty's first choices, William Edward Parry and James Clark Ross, turned down the job. Ross's second-in-command, F.R.M. Crozier, also turned it down (Fleming-Barrow, p. 366) -- though this may not really have been his choice; as a self-educated Ulster Presbyterian, he had no political clout, and would likely have been rejected anyway by political hacks (Sandler, p. 72); he would, as we shall see, accompany the party as second-in-command. That left Franklin. He wanted the job, so he was appointed to command even though many simply didn't think him up to the task (Beattie, p. 36; Fleming-Barrow, pp. 366-368).
Franklin's last expedition was mounted in 1845, with the explorer acting as commodore commanding two ships (the reinforced bomb ships H.M.S. _Erebus_ and H.M.S. _Terror_). Not a single man ever returned. It has been claimed that they must have found the Northwest Passage. But they could not travel it. Their fate would not be learned for many years, and even now, much about it is unknown.
By the late 1840s, the world was growing very concerned about the Expedition. They had been given supplies for three years -- enough that they would probably last four. But that time was about up, and nothing had been heard. A vast effort was mounted to try to learn the expedition's fate.
Looking at the fuller versions of this song, including the Murray broadside, we observe that the texts detail rescue attempts but do not recount the fate of Franklin's crew. I think it nearly certain that the piece originated in this period -- probably in broadsides of 1850-1851, when almost nothing was known and before it became clear that M'Clintock and Rae and McClure, not Austin and Ross and Grinnell, were the most important of the searchers.
It is possible that the Murray broadside is the original of the piece; it looks like a partial adaption of another lost-sailor song (in it, Lady Franklin is seen wandering by the Humber looking for her husband!). Nearly every other version, though, is shorter and frankly better; I suspect that there is at least one other recension standing between the Murray text and the large majority of traditional versions.
This song is surprisingly accurate in its details (another indication that it is contemporary), though later texts have mangled some names badly -- e.g. I can't imagine who captains Hogg(s) and Winslow might be. Some examples of correct references in one or another text:
"I dreamed a dream, yes I thought it true": The idea of a sailor seeing Franklin in a dream is not just fiction; one W. Parker Snow had dreamed of finding Franklin near the North Magnetic Pole (which, amazingly and ironically, was actually about right; the Pole at that time was on the western side of the Boothia Peninsula, the expedition passed quite close to it shortly before Franklin's death. Had rescuers gone straight there at the first opportunity, they might have rescued some of his men, would almost certainly have learned his fate sooner, and might even have saved one of the ships). Snow joined one of the searches as a result, though he was of no other significance to the search for Franklin (Berton, p. 174, etc.). He later ended up having a major row with the later explorer Charles Francis Hall about a book they both wrote, but that is another story altogether (Sandler, p. 269; Berton, p. 370).
"In Baffin's Bay where the whale fish blow...": The Northwest Passage does begin from Baffin Bay -- up the Davis Strait, into the Bay, through Lancaster Sound (which separates Baffin and Devon Islands) and Barrow Strait (between Somerset Island on the south and Devon and Cornwallis Islands on the north), with several alternatives from there (the straight path is through Viscount Melville Sound and McClure Strait, but these are almost always blocked by ice; the best route is south through Peel Sound, passing to the east of Prince of Wales and King William Islands, and then west along the north coast of the Canadian mainland). On July 28, 1845, in Baffin Bay, the Franklin Expedition was seen for the last time by Europeans; they met the whalers _Enterprise_ and _Prince of Wales_ before heading into Lancaster Sound.
(Whalers, we should add, did most of the original exploring of these northern regions; indeed, it was the report of a whaler, William Scoresby, that the ice was melting in the north, that helped encourage the British voyages of exploration after the Napoleonic Wars; see Berton, pp. 24-26. Whales, and hence whalers, are common in far northern and southern latitudes, because that's where the food is -- cold water holds more dissolved oxygen than warm.)
"Three ships of fame": Franklin's expedition of course consisted only of two ships, _Erebus_ and _Terror_,  but they had initially had the supply ship _Barretto Junior_ along; it turned back before they went on the ice. In addition, H.M.S. _Rattler_, famous for being an early screw steamer, accompanied them as they left England; Cookman, p. 74. (Some versions say he had only two ships anyway.)
The ships were indeed famous, given their Antarctic adventures with James Clark Ross; Mt. Erebus and Mt. Terror in Antarctica are named for them. _Terror_ also participated in the bombardment of Fort McHenry that gave rise to "The Star-Spangled Banner"; as a bomb ship, she would have been responsible for at least some of the "bombs bursting in air." Since _Terror_ had been part of George Back's arctic expedition of 1836, and both had been to the Antarctic with James Clark Ross, they were already adapted for arctic service, and were selected because they would need relatively little modification.
But this is where the technology of the time became a problem. Bombs were immensely strong; no ships in use were better designed to withstand the pressure of the ice. But bombs -- tubby, heavy, low-riding vessels -- were probably the slowest class of ships in the navy, and the modifications for arctic service, which added to their weight and put them lower in the water, made them slower still. Almost painfully slow. _Terror_ even before her refit was capable of only nine knots before the wind and five when close-hauled; Cookman, p. 74. Those figures probably fell by a third as refitted.
It was hope that steam might provide the answer. The two ships had revolutionary engines -- removable screw propellers powered by locomotive engines -- but the supply of coal was finite and could not be replaced, and the engines developed only a few dozen horsepower anyway. This was the result of Barrow's hurrying the expedition along; the Admiralty had little time to fit engines more suited to the actual ships. The result was that their engines gave them a speed of only about four knots (Cookman, p. 41).
Franklin's _Erebus_ and _Terror_ were not the first ships to use steam power in the Arctic -- _Victory_, sailed by John Ross in 1829, also used steam. But he found the engine so useless in arctic conditions that he actually yanked it out of his ship in 1830 and left it on a beach! (Delgado, p. 91; Fleming-Barrow, p. 283). The technology had improved since then, but steam engines were still not mass-produced items; each had its own peculiar characteristics. And Cookman argues that, in this case, the engines used coal that the expedition really needed for heating. _Erebus_ and _Terror_ would be slow to make the passage even under ideal circumstances -- and ideal conditions never happen in the arctic, and the ships were very unhandy if there were a need for fast maneuvering.
"Captain Perry of high renown": Not one of Franklin's officers; Captain F. R. M. Crozier commanded the _Terror_, while _Erebus_ was under the immediate direction of Commander James FitzJames -- an officer so promising and so well-versed in current technology that Secretary Barrow had thought about giving him command of the expedition, but he was considered too young at 33 (Sandler, p. 72; Cookman, pp. 55-57). Instead, he was given the post of Commander aboard the ship where Franklin flew his flag -- making him, in effect, her captain, since Franklin, the nominal skipper, would be commanding the whole expedition. "Perry" refers rather to William Edward Parry (1790-1855), an explorer active mostly from 1819-1825 -- and one of the best in terms of ground covered and casualties avoided; his first voyage had disovered Barrow Straight and Viscount Melville Sound and made it farther west than any expedition for more than thirty years. He, like James Clark Ross, had been offered command of the Franklin expedition -- and turned it down; he was long since done with adventure.
"Captain Ross": Either John Ross or his nephew James Clark Ross. The elder Ross, who led expeditions in 1818 and 1829, had harmed the quest for the Passage by erroneously stating that Lancaster Sound was a closed inlet. His four-year second expedition (1829-1833 -- the one that resulted in him tossing his steam engine on the beach) learned survival techniques that the Franklin expedition ignored to its cost -- but also produced a distorted map of King William Island, with what proved fatal consequences (Delgado, p. 93; Fleming-Barrow, p. 288). At 72, he led an expedition to find Franklin in 1850.
Ross the younger, who had served under his uncle and under Parry, commanded _Erebus_ and _Terror_ on their antarctic expedition (1839-1843), making many important discoveries including the Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf (which were named for him). On his return, Ross, like Parry, was offered command of the new arctic expedition, but turned it down due to a promise to his wife -- though he took a turn hunting for Franklin in 1848-1849 (and broke his health in the process).
"Captain Austin": Horatio T. Austin of HMS _Resolute_, one of the search vessels. A man of great experience and courage (Sandler, p. 115), he nonetheless proved a not very inspiring leader.
Austin and Erasmus Ommaney of _Assistance_ were the first to find any traces of the Franklin expedition, in the form of discarded supplies  on Devon Island, and later three graves and other artifacts on the peninsula known as Beechey Island (Berton, p. 180). But they did not learn the expedition's fate (and met public scorn on their return home in 1851). The very fact that their early return is not mentioned in the earliest known broadside hints that it dates from before they made it back. Austin would not serve in the Arctic after his first mission, and spent the last years of his career in what amounted to desk jobs (Sandler, p. 252)
"[Captain] Osborn": Given its context and the timing, this is probably an error for "Captain Austin," but it might refer to Sherard Osborn, who as a lieutenant commanded the _Intrepid_ during Austin's expedition and also served under Edward Belcher during the expedition of 1852-1854. Osborn was arrested by Belcher for arguing about the commander's plans -- but it wasn't held against him, because Belcher's expedition was such a disaster.
All that can be said in defence of Belcher is that few men died on his watch. Otherwise, his expedition was an unmitigated disaster, learning nothing useful and resulting in the loss of four ships. And not to the ice -- Belcher (who had from the start indicated little interest in the arctic) after two hears decided he had had enough, and despite the arguments of his subordinates abandoned four of his five ships, even though they were still intact, Berton, p. 244, calls him "one of... the most detested figures in the Royal Navy" and Sandler summarizes his actions as a "disgraceful performance"; p. 253. Belcher of course faced a court-martial, which concluded that his actions fell within his discretion, but they gave him back his sword "in stony silence"; (Sandler, p. 145). Belcher was deprived of all future commands -- and his subordinate Osborn promoted for his actions. Indeed, Osborn would campaign for expeditions to the Pole long after the Admiralty had decided to stop wasting ships and men on the Arctic.
(It was, incidentally, during Belcher's expedition that the supply ship _Breadalbane_ was sunk off Beechey Island; MacInnis, p. 38. The search for the _Breadalbane_ was the subject of MacInnis's book; the ship was and is the northernmost known shipwreck. The ordeal of the ship shows clearly the problems or operating in the Arctic. _Erebus_ and _Terror_, despite a year and a half trapped in the ice, stayed afloat until abandoned, showing the strength of bomb ships. The unreinforced _Breadalbane_ was not supposed to enter the ice -- but you can't avoid ice in the Arctic. Off Beechey Island, she was "nipped" by the ice and sank in 15 minutes; MacInnis, p. 116. Had the rest of Belcher's expedition not been based there, the entire crew would probably have been lost.)
"[Captain] Penny": This might be an error for the more famous Captain Parry, but chances are it refers to captain William Penny, an experienced whaler. Lady Franklin managed to convince ("con" might be a better word) the Admiralty into sending this veteran arctic sailor on a search expedition in 1850-1851, but he didn't find much (Berton, p. 171.); he was sent into Jones Sound (north of Lancaster Sound, and far away from the path Franklin had been ordered to follow; Berton, p. 173). It was closed by ice, so he headed for Lancaster Sound, but that left him among all the other search vessels. His men were the first to find the graces on Beechey Island (Sandler, p. 115), but there is no doubt they would have been found soon anyway.
He then wanted to head north up Wellington Channel, but even had this been permitted, that wouldn't have found Franklin either. Berton thinks it might have caused the search to be directed in a better direction (pp. 190-191), but I can't see how.
Penny ended up in a dispute with Austin, and went back to whaling after his one experience with the navy (Simpson, p. 264).
"Granville": Probably Henry Grinnell, an American trader who was convinced by Lady Franklin to support the search. He paid for (but did not accompany) two expeditions; neither accomplished much except to make Elisha Kent Kane briefly famous for surviving a disaster he largely caused.
"With a hundred seamen he sailed away": Franklin's force initially totalled 134 men, one of the largest forces ever sent on an exploratory voyage; five were sent home sick before the ships entered Lancaster Sound and were the only survivors. Two of those initial losses were significant: the sailmaker from _Terror_ and the armorer (gunmaker) from _Erebus_. The loss of the latter would make hunting for provisions much harder (and fresh food was the only way to get the Vitamin C to avoid scurvy); the loss of the former meant that the two ships -- never speedy, as we saw above -- might end up even slower.
Another curious fact about the expedition is that, though the crew was hand-picked, it had very little useful experience. Apart from Franklin and Crozier, the only officer who had been to the arctic was Lt. Graham Gore of the _Erebus_ (Fleming-Barrow, p. 373) -- and his experience was slight; he had been on George Back's disastrous expedition on the _Terror_, which would have taught him a lot about shipwreck but little about arctic survival. Plus he, like Franklin, would die fairly early on. Crozier was the only one on the expedition to know about wintering in the arctic on a ship. And only about half a dozen sailors had arctic experience (Cookman, p. 61).
"To the frozen ocean in the month of May": The expedition left the Thames on May 19, 1845, to arrive in Baffin Bay in June (there was little point in arriving before June due to the ice, though a departure date a few weeks earlier might have allowed the expedition to make it a little farther before their first winter. But a departure date earlier than mid-May was impossible due to the rush with which the expedition was put together. In any case, it appears that there was ice in Barrow Straight in the first year of the Franklin expedition, causing them to make a useless circuit of Cornwallis Island before settling down to winter at Beechey Island. So an earlier start, in 1845, would have done no good at all. The really strange part is that they seem to have left no records at all at Beechey Island -- just empty cans and a few other artifacts and the three graves).
"On mountains of ice their ship was drove": The whole Northwest Passage is around 70 degrees north (as early as 1631, Luke Foxe had proved that there was no passage south of the Arctic Circle), and much of it, including Lancaster Sound, is north even of that. Even in summer, the waters are never entirely free of ice; in winter, they all freeze over, and it's a matter of luck which ones thaw out in any given spring.
Nearly every arctic expedition at some point found itself frozen in, and those which handled their ships badly would see them crushed by the ice. Franklin was neither the first nor the last to come to grief this way, though severe weather in 1847 probably sealed the expedition's fate. (Beattie, p. 128, notes that ice cores show that "the Franklin era was climactically one of the least favorable [i.e. coldest and iciest] peroids in 700 years.")
The history of ships in the passage shows how deadly the ice could be. Parry's H.M.S. _Fury_ was lost to it on his third expedition. The ice had trapped John Ross's _Victory_, forcing him to abandon the ship. _Terror_ herself had nearly been wrecked in George Back's expedition of  1833-1835 -- the ice "once hurled his battered vessel forty feet up the side of a cliff" (Berton, p. 130); the ship barely made it back across the Atlantic and had to be beached on the Irish coast. _Breadalbane_, mentioned above, lasted only a few days in the Arctic. And H.M.S. _Investigator_ never escaped Mercy Bay after being trapped in the Franklin search.
"Only the Eskimo in his skin canoe Was the only one to ever come through": The Inuit did indeed use skin kayaks, and they did know the paths through the ice -- and, as it turned out, saw at least some of the Franklin survivors. They had saved John Ross's 1829 expedition, which would have perished due to starvation and scurvy without them. But not every European commander had the diplomatic skills or wisdom to work with them (no one prior to Charles Frances Hall in the 1860s really tried to make friends with them), and no one bothered to talk to them about Franklin until Rae in 1854. Even more important, Franklin had too many men for the Inuit to be able to provide useful supplies; the natives travelled in small bands and were barely able to feed themselves even so.
"For my long-lost Franklin I'd cross the main": Lady Franklin did not physically participate in all the searches (Sandler, p. 86, says that she volunteered to join John Richardson's search, only to be politely rejected), but she did in fact go to the Americas during the hunt, and during the great push starting in 1850, she was hovering around the edges of the search.
"Ten thousand pounds would I freely give": The Admiralty for a time was offering twenty thousand pounds for anyone who could rescue the Franklin expedition, and half that for definitive word of Franklin's fate, but eventually dropped it, though Rae did manage to collect.
Lady Franklin spent much of her limited fortune financing search parties (and in the process having a major quarrel with her stepdaughter, Franklin's only child, who wanted the money for herself; Berton, pp. 202-203); M'Clintock's final expedition, which found the key evidence telling of the expedition's fate, was relatively small mostly because of Lady Franklin's need to keep costs down (Berton, pp. 317-318): it consisted of one small ship, with the officers servinge as volunteers. The exact amount she spent is unknown -- I've seen estimates as low as 3,000 pounds and as high as 35,000 (so Berton, p. 333, though this probably includes contributions from others) -- but it was substantial.
Lady Franklin's dedication did do some slight good for feminism: She would be the first woman to be given the Patron Medal of the Royal Geographic Society.
As we see, the song ended before the fate of Franklin was known. So what happened to him?
From what was learned later, we know that the ships were caught on the ice; eventually they were abandoned, but the men were unable to reach civilization.
Bad maps may have played a role. The Northwest Passage can be thought of as proceeding from Baffin Bay in four stages: The first is Lancaster Sound, then the Barrow Straight. Then third step is to somehow pass Prince of Wales and Victoria Islands. Then it's due west to the Beaufort Sea and out the Bering Strait. The first, second, and fourth parts were known, but no one had even mapped a complete route for the third stage. The straight path through Viscount Melville Sound (which runs north of Victoria Island) is usually frozen; Parry had made it part way on his first voyage, but had eventually been halted, and no one else had even come close. Another route was needed. After an unfruitful exploration of Cornwallis Island, Franklin properly headed south through Peel Sound and past Prince of Wales island.
The question then was whether to pass east or west of King William Island, which lies in the area between the Boothia Peninsula and Victoria Island. This was where Franklin had to make a guess. And the charts Franklin had were not just incomplete but inaccurate. John Ross's error, cited above, closed off the eastern passage around King William Island. Another error seemed to imply a useful passage further west which did not exist. (Lest we criticize, the Arctic Archipelago -- called the "District of Franklin" when they were still part of the Northwest Territories -- is among the hardest places on earth to map; I have an atlas from 1967 which still contains some fairly significant errors, such as showing Borden and Mackenzie King islands as one.)
Given that misinformation, Franklin chose to steer west of King William Island. That route, while short in air distance, is exposed to pack ice coming down M'Clintock Channel. While technically ocean, the route in fact almost never thaws -- there is so much ice that it periodically throws floes high up on King William Island (Fleming-Barrow, p. 288). Franklin seems to have entered it at one of the few times when it was open. His ships were frozen on the ice for almost two years before they were finally abandoned.
Franklin did not live long enough to know the worst. He died, of unknown but probably natural causes, aboard _Erebus_ on June 11, 1847; his body has not been found. His loss shouldn't have been fatal -- the second in command, F. R. M. Crozier, was an old arctic hand who had first visited the ice as a midshipman with William Edward Parry in 1822 and who had been second in command of Ross's great antarctic expedition a few years before; there was literally no man alive with more experience.
But the loss of their paunchy admiral seemed to take something out of the expedition. Crozier, though an intelligent self-made man, had never held an independent command. And -- he was a victim of unrequired love.
Crozier's may have been one of the strangest love triangles of all time. The woman he had fallen in love with was Sophia Cracroft, Franklin's niece (Cookman, p. 54). She served as a sort of general assistant to Lady Franklin. She met Crozier in Van Dieman's Land, when Franklin was Governor there; Crozier and James Clark Ross made a stop their during their antarctic voyage. Crozier promptly fell in love with her, but she just as promptly fell in love with his commander Ross, even though he was already spoken for (Fleming-Barrow, p. 351). Crozier apparently didn't hold that against Ross (they continued to serve well together, and Crozier kept writing to Ross after the expedition ended), nor seemingly against Franklin, but he continued to carry a torch for her. (Interestingly, Cracroft never did marry.)
Crozier apparently didn't expect to get back alive from the Franklin Expedition (Cookman, p. 73; Fleming-Barrow, p. 374). His last letters hint strongly at depression (Cookman, p. 54). He felt, with some justice, that his record should have earned him more recognition than he had been given. Bitter and pessimistic, he was hardly the man to save a bad situation.
After being frozen off King William Island for two winters, Crozier finally abandoned the ships and tried to head back to a possible rendezvous point by the Great Fish River. But there were no rescue ships there, and indications are that the crew broke up into smaller groups, none of which survived. Several bodies have been found which seem to come from the Franklin Expedition -- and which show obvious signs of cannibalism.
The last written record of the expedition comes from the spring of 1848, as they abandoned the ships, though we know some men lived longer -- possibly into the 1850s.
Franklin's problem, perhaps, could ultimately be put down to "bad luck" -- i.e. lack of actual genius; his 1819 expedition had ended in disaster through minor errors in what we would now call "staff work," and that is perhaps part of what happened here: When he needed to be inspired, he instead got bogged down, wasting much time circling Cornwallis Island, failing to leave cairns to mark his progress, and then dying before he could rectify his mistake.
All this of course was reconstructed from the findings of the expeditions sent to look for Franklin. There were many (Beattie, pp. 262-263, list some 17 ships sent out by 1850, plus some land expeditions; Delgado, p. 149, says that 32 expeditions were mounted from 1847 to 1859), but the initial searches were rather a failure; although the ships charted some new territory, few discovered anything and several managed to come to grief themselves.
Lady Franklin did not get any useful word until 1854. At that time, John Rae -- who wasn't even searching for Franklin; he was exploring the Boothia Peninsula for the Hudson's Bay Company -- met a band of Inuit who had collected a few relics (including the Franklin Medal) and had also seen a company of perhaps forty white men struggling south in the snow. The Europeans had starved to death, and the Inuit had collected the relics.
While that located the expedition in the waters off the Boothia Peninsula -- an area that no one had bothered to search -- it left at least two-thirds of the men unaccounted for, though Franklin on the evidence was surely one of the casualties. The Admiralty was satisfied; it closed the books (Cookman, pp. 1-2, prints the preliminary Admiralty order to pay off the men's widows after a certain date if no word was heard. This was before Rae reported; obviously his report just made it official). The Navy declared the seamen dead, passed out a few knighthoods, and sent its fleet to fight in the Crimean War (where the British forces suffered more wastage than they ever did in Lancaster Sound, and for even less use. The Northwest Passage expeditions not only charted new ground, but they made biological, geological, and anthropological discoveries, though hardly enough to justify the lives they cost).
Lady Franklin wasn't satisfied, but from now on, she was entirely on her own. She would finally learn her husband's fate in 1859.
In 1857, Lady Franklin had chartered one last expedition, under Francis M'Clintock -- one of the most industrious of the early explorers, though he didn't become famous at the time. They had only a single small ship, the _Fox_ -- but they finally went to the right place, searching (mostly by sledge) around King William Island and the Boothia Peninsula. They also talked to quite a few Inuit.
During their search, they found skeletons, more relics -- and two of the expedition's summary reports (Franklin had had orders to leave reports, sealed against water, at regular intervals, though only a handful were ever found, most from very early in the expedition; in effect, we have only one document of the last stages). These two summaries were both written on the same sheet of paper, and found in a cairn by one of McClintock's officers (for details of the finding, see e.g. Sandler, pp. 182-185).
The first report, from May 28, 1847, was still optimistic. The expedition, after wasting most of 1845 circling Cornwallis Island, had spent the winter of 1845-1846 at Beechey Island. Once the ice broke up the next spring, Franklin had headed south, spending the winter of 1846-1847 off King William Island. At the time the report was written, the ships were still stuck there. Still, there seemed to be hope.
The second report, from (probably) April 25, 1848, was a grim addendum written in the margins of the first; the ships had been ice-locked by dreadfully cold weather for more than a year and a half. Both Franklin's subordinate captains, Crozier and FitzJames, were alive to sign the report, but Franklin had been dead for ten months, and a total of two dozen men -- 20% of the expedition's total -- had died. There seemed no way to escape by sea. On April 22, Crozier ordered the 105 survivors to abandon the ships and head for the mainland.
The 1848 report did not tell the fate of the last survivors, of course. Most think they simply tried for the mainland (the report says they would "start tomorrow... for Back's Fish River") and failed to make it. But David Woodman speculated that they wanted to hunt and fish at the river to restore their strength, then return to the ships (Delgado, p. 163). This would explain why there were relics found at so many places. On this theory, some of the crew may have lived until 1851 or 1852. But they were never seen again by Europeans.
They may have made severe mistakes in planning this last stage -- M'Clintock found they took a lot of junk, such as books and silverware, with them, though it has been argued that they simply emptied the ships (perhaps of materials not needed for the final part of the voyage, or perhaps to keep them available should the ships sink).
They may not have been in shape to travel. Their sledges were ill-designed and heavy. It is little surprise that most died along the trek. It appears that quite a few simply dropped as they walked, and died where they fell (Beattie, pp. 80-81). Then, too, the evidence of cannibalism is overwhelming, in the form bones carved by knives and often scattered in a completely unnatural way (Delgado, p. 168; Sandler, pp. 150-151; Cookman offers additional details on pp. 176, 178, then proceeds on p. 184 to accuse Crozier of killing living men to feed the others. Of course, the only evidence of that is Cookman's drug dreams).
The Inuit would indicate that, after _Erebus_ and _Terror_ were abandoned, one sank and one was crushed by ice (Sandler, p. 180). This seems likely, and would accord with a few pieces of wreckage which have been found, but unlike the _Breadalbane_, their wrecks have not been discovered (it's a lot easier to search around Beechey Island, where the waters open almost every year and which is close to regular sea routes, than the often-frozen waters off King William Island).
Their strange behavior in these final months led to speculation that the men were slowly losing their minds. Much would be made of this in the next century.
It is an irony of the search for Franklin that it finally *did* find the Northwest Passage; explorers from the west, led by Robert McClure, discovered McClure and Prince of Wales Straits and followed each far enough to sight Melville Sound and Parry's Winter Harbour (where that explorer had wintered in 1820), "forging the last link," as the journalists of the time put it. Both these routes, however, were blocked by ice and unusable at the time (and are close enough to the arctic pack that they rarely open).
McClure managed at one point to sledge to Winter Harbor, the westernmost point reached by any expedition from the east, but he and his ship _Investigator_ did not come through -- and indeed blundered around so much that the ship was lost (having entered a cul-de-sac McClure called "Mercy Bay," the ship was trapped; Berton, pp. 228-232). Shortly before they were found, McClure engaged in a brazen attempt to send more than half of his crew to their deaths so that the remainder (the strongest) would have a better chance to survive (Sandler, pp. 131-132). Fortunately, they were found before he managed to execute his plan.
Even when McClure's crew was rescued by sledges from ships in the east, he tried to keep his sick crew on his ship, so he could try to claim the prize money for the passage -- but he simply couldn't convince the crew to do it (Berton, p. 248). Fleming-Barrow, p. 405, calls his behavior at this time "a little mad," which may be an understatement; several of his crew were dead, all had scurvy, and clearly they weren't strong enough to sail the vessel, but McClure tried to trick his superior into forcing them to stay with his ship.
What it came down to was that McClure's crew made the passage (from west to east) -- but no ship did. In the end, the eastern expeditions returned east, and the the one surviving this that had gone in from the west went back west, without their vessels meeting.
Captain Richard Collinson, McClure's nominal superior, also discovered a passage (Delgado, p. 133), approximating that later used by Amundson, but gained little credit for it, in part because McClure made it home first and in part because he didn't actually follow the passage.
It was not until 1903-1906 that Amundsen in the _Gjoa_ would make the actual passage from Baffin Bay to Beaufort Sea -- and even he didn't take the Lancaster/Melville/McClure route, but turned south from the Barrow Strait to take the longer, narrower, but less icy, route east and south of King William Island an then south of Victoria Island. It wasn't until 1944 that Larsen made it through the icy Lancaster/Melville passage. (Amazing to realize that, now, there are actual settlements -- Resolute and Grise Fjord, among others -- north of that route. Though Wilkinson, p. 78, notes an interesting point about Resolute: It is mostly a military base and airfield, designed to watch the Pole -- and it was supposed to be set up at Parry's Winter Harbor. But there was too much ice to get there, so they set up on Cornwallis Island instead. Winter Harbor ended up being the place where the first Arctic oil drilling began, though -- Wilkinson, p. 99. If that's something worth memorializing.)
But why did the expedition fail? Why did they make the strange decisions they did, and why weren't they able to make it home? Crozier and company were far from anywhere when they abandoned ship, but they should still have had enough supplies to make it to one or another Hudson Bay Company outpost.
This is the second Great Mystery of the Franklin Expedition -- the one that endures to this day.
The obvious answer is, Scurvy, or vitamin C deficiency. This has been the constant companion of long sea voyages for as long a men could remember; it nearly ruined Magellan's first circumnavigation of the globe.
Franklin's crews of course were given the standard rations of lime juice (actually lemon juice) -- but the standard ration is not by itself enough to prevent scurvy. On most ships, this doesn't matter; the crews get at least some fresh food. Not in the arctic, though! And Vitamin C has an unfortunate tendency to degrade when exposed to light and air, so a dose of lemon juice that might have prevented scurvy in 1845 would have been too weak to do much good in 1847.
What's more, scurvy affects both the mind and the body; a man too badly afflicted might make the sort of strange decisions Crozier and his surviving officers seem to have made.
Yet many deny the possibility of scurvy (e.g. Flreming-Barrow, p. 416 thinks it killed too quickly). Owen Beattie found another theory. In 1984 and 1986, he autopsied the bodies of the first Franklin men to die (the three buried on Beechey Island in the first winter). He found extremely high levels of lead. He also looked at some of the bones of the skeletons found along the path of the Franklin Expedition. He found strong evidence of scurvy (Beattie, p. 16) -- and more lead. His theory is that the men were driven mad by lead poisoning, which would explain their erratic behavior, and of course would make them less able to bear the privations of an arctic journey. Documentation of this may be found in Beattie.
But while the lead theory has become popular, the evidence is far from complete -- Beattie examined only a handful of bodies, and only the three from Beechey Island were intact; all three had elevated levels of lead, but all died of other causes. And even if lead poisoning caused some of the other deaths, we cannot be sure if these men were typical.
If anything, the evidence for lead poisoning is stronger in the search expeditions -- e.g. nearly everyone in James Clark Ross's crew came down sick for extended periods, and their problem does not appear to have been scurvy (Sandler, p. 93).
Against the lead theory may be set the fact that the last message, written and signed by Crozier and FitzJames, seems largely coherent and reasonable. The men were debilitated, but not entirely mad. Berton, p. 146, mentions the lead theory but says flatly that "the main cause of death was clearly scurvy."
In any case, there is the question of where the lead came from. *This* question we can answer: It came from their food. About a third of the provisions supplied to the Franklin Expedition came from canned food -- in tin cans sealed with lead. And yet, other expeditions also sailed with lead-sealed cans, and survived. Indeed, thirty-some years later, the _Jeannette_ expedition suffered from lead poisoning (in the form of stomach cramps) -- and they identified the condition and corrected it (see Leonard F. Guttridge, _Icebound_, p. 158; for background on the _Jeannette_, see the notes to "Hurrah for Baffin's Bay").
This led Cookman to another theory. Canning was still a new technology in 1845 (the first British patent was granted in 1811), and people were still tinkering with it. The contract to supply the Franklin Expedition was so large that most canners had backed out. One who did not was Stephan Goldner -- who submitted by far the lowest bid.
Cookman portrays Goldner as the extreme villain of the piece, deliberately cheating the Admiralty. This need not follow -- but it is quite clear that Goldner was not really up to the job he had contracted for. He was supposed to supply a variety of provisions -- canned vegetables, meats, soups -- mostly in small cans. He delivered almost nothing by the contract date, and was allowed to substitute large cans (cheaper and faster to manufacture) at the last moment.
By the end of the 1850s, it would become clear that Goldner's methods simply didn't work. He did not cook the contents of the cans sufficiently, and he didn't solder them tightly enough; the contents, in addition to being saturated with lead, very often rotted in the cans, or in some instances burst.
Cookman thinks that Goldner probably adulterated what he shipped, as well; since he was canning in the spring, there would have been few fresh vegetables, and little fatted meat, available. Between the inferior ingredients, the inadequate cooking, and the undeniably unsanitary conditions in Goldner's factory, the canned goods would almost certainly have been breeding grounds for bacteria. Including botulism bacteria.
But is this a quality control problem or deliberate cheating? Cookman thinks the latter -- but it appears that some contemporary Goldner products had proved acceptable (Beattie, p. 65), and that Goldner had given satisfaction in the past (Beattie, p. 45). And Cookman is demonstrably wrong in one charge against Goldner (p. 87, where Goldner, correctly, argued that round cans are structurally more sound than square. Goldner's explanation is imprecise, so Cookman calls it a lie even though the gist of it is true).
But deciding that Goldner was evil allowed Cookman to evolve a vision of the expedition which makes Franklin and Company look much better: At every stage their behavior was rational. They just kept dying of food-borne illnesses. The idea is old: as early as Austin's expedition, Captain Ommaney, counting the number of tins left on Beechey Island, thought that some of Frenklin's food might have been bad. The only problem with Cookman's version it is that it's about 10% facts (the facts being Goldner's problems, the large number of cans in the cairn on Beechey Island, and the known places where Franklin artifacts were found) and 90% Cookman -- and Cookman's writing shows his ability to substitute speculation for fact; his history of the expedition often includes detailed descriptions of events no one witnessed or could reconstruct from the available data (e.g. he actually tells us which hatches were bolted on Franklin's ships during the winter -- see p. 95).
That Goldner's products were inferior is certain; there were many complaints in the years after the Franklin expedition, and eventually the Admiralty imposed such stringent conditions on him that he appears to have been driven out of business. Even if his products weren't filled with lead or fatal bacteria, many of the cans probably contained spoiled food.
This would fit Beattie's autopsy of Marine Private William Braine, who was very tall for the period (about 6 feet/180 cm.) but utterly emaciated (about 40 kg/90 pounds); botulism frequently affects the digestion first, and other forms of food poisoning target the digestion even more.
In this regard, the Admiralty's decision to fit out a large expedition was probably largely to blame: The ships were heavily modernized and very up-to-date -- but, with so many hands, the crew could not possibly pick up enough food to significantly supplement their diets. (Indeed, it appears they didn't have anyone trained as a hunter.) They had to rely overwhelmingly on provisions taken from England -- which, whether lead-contaminated or not, whether poison or not, whether vermin-infested or not, lacked Vitamin C and were guaranteed to produce scurvy.
It seems to me that all the individual theories have contradictions. If the problem were lead alone, then there was enough food, so why cannibalism? If it were scurvy alone, again, why cannibalism? If it were botulism alone, then why were there so few deaths on Beechey Island? Hundreds of cans were discarded, yet only three men died, at least one of them primarily of tuberculosis. Even when the men abandoned the boats, the casualties were still only in the dozens. Goldner's cans may have been filled with junk, but at most a tiny fraction could have contained actual toxins. And if there were no toxins, then Cookman's diatribe against Goldner has no point.
One thing I note is that very many Arctic expeditions -- e.g. those of Kane, Hall, andGreeley, for which see "Hurrah for Baffin's Bay," and the _Karluk_ voyage, for which see "Captain Bob Bartlett" -- ended in madness and insubordination. The Arctic brought out the worst in men, and not just because of hunger and scurvy. Noah Hayes, who was on Charles Francis Hall's 1871 expedition, wrote "I believe that no man can retain the use of his faculties through one long [Arctic] night" (quoted in Fleming-North, p. 145). Thomas Collinson, who edited the journals of his brother Richard Collinson (who spent five arctic winters in the search for Franklin), confessed "there appears to be someting in that particular service... that stirs up the bile and promotes bitter feelings" (Berton, p. 296).
That there was an arctic disorder seems clear. I've not seen any writing explaining it,though -- seasonal affective disorder might play a part, but it hardly seems sufficient. Perhaps SAD plus incipient vitamin deficiency? Or calcium deficiency? In Robert Peary's later expedition, his Inuit were sometimes attacked by a disease called _piblokto_, which produced vicious and erratic behavior; it is now thought to be caused by lack of calcium (see Fleming-North, p. 359). Whatever the "arctic madness" was, who is to say it didn't affect the Franklin expedition?
The various books I've consulted all seem quite certain about their theories. But it appears that, barring additional evidence, we simply cannot be sure. It is true that occasional relics continue to turn up, but they don't tell us much. Barring some other written record -- and, after 150 years, such a record is unlikely to be found (particularly since the detailed 1879 search by Frederick Schwatka, which most most of the remaining relics, was so thorough; Beattie, p. 99) -- we will remain as uncertain as the author of this song.
It's pretty useless at this stage to assign blame, but it's worth noting that not everyone thinks Franklin entirely at fault for the disaster. He has had a curious history -- the British at first treated him as a near-saint. Then came the reaction in which he was treated as a fool. Now there are various attempts to vindicate him. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. A wiser man would probably have done better with the materials he had at hand, but it was not Franklin who designed the expedition. That was done by John Barrow, the Amiralty Second Secretary. Cookman, p. 204, blames Barrow explicitly; Fleming-Barrow implies it repeatedly. Ironic, then, that I have never seen a version of this song which mentions him.
For the later fates of some Franklin searchers, who then turned to North Pole exploration, see "Hurrah for Baffin's Bay."
>>*BIBLIOGRAPHY*<<
In writing this summary, in addition to the standard references, I have heavily consulted the following works, of varying quality.
Beattie: Owen Beattie & John Geiger, _Frozen in Time_ (revised edition by Greystone, 2004). This is specific to the fate of the Franklin Expedition, but says less about the Franklin itself than about Beattie's autopsies; it's not really a history of the Franklin Edition. It exists mostly to advance the lead theory.
Berton: Pierre Berton, _The Arctic Grail_ (Viking, 1988). This covers the whole history of Polar and Passage exploration. It has a very low opinion of most arctic explorers -- it is almost as if Berton set out to insult as many people as possible -- but which includes much useful detail. Because it predates Beattie's main publication, it does not address the lead issue in full detail.
Cookman: Scott Cookman, _Ice Blink: The Tragic Fate of Sir John Franklin's Lost Polar Expedition_ (Wiley, 2000). Another Franklin-specific book. Although published as non-fiction, and including several useful appendices, this is really more of a historical novel. It advances the botulism theory -- and then basically invents a history of the expedition, right down to what Captain Crozier was thinking as he abandoned the ships and decided to engage in cannibalism. Uh-huh. Maybe there is merit to his theory -- but he'd have done a lot better to present his theory, not write a piece of fiction and try to sell it as fact.
Delgado: James P. Delgado, _Across the Top of the World_ (Checkmark, 1999). This book, which provides a good general overview of Passage exploration, briefly cites this song (and Stan Rogers's "Northwest Passage" and is a good place to start studying Passage exploration. Incidentally, Rogers looked almost eerily like early engravings of Franklin; see, for instance, Delgado's modern edition of Franklin's own edition _Journal to the Polar Sea_ -- there is a reproduction facing p. 160), and appears to be up to date on the state of research through 1999. This has the advantage of providing a good context, since it covers the Northwest Passage expeditions before and after Franklin.
Fleming-Barrow: Fergus Fleming, _Barrow's Boys_ (Grove, 1998) covers the explorations undertaken at the behest of John Barrow, Second Secretary of the British admiralty for most of the first half of the nineteenth century. This includes most of Franklin's explorations, though it includes much other material as well. Still, it gives the feel of the period better than any of the other books, including Delgado.
Fleming-North: Fergus Fleming, _Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole_ (Grove, 2001). In some ways, a companion volume to the preceeding, devoted mostly to the quest for the North Pole with occasional side glances at other aspects of arctic exploration. It of course shares most of the characteristics of Fleming-Barrow.
MacInnis: Joe MacInnis, _The Land that Devours Ships: The Search for the Breadalbane_ (CBC, 1985). The story of a modern search for one of the Franklin rescue ships, with relatively little about Franklin himself -- but, because of its monotonous detail about the process of the search, it gives a fair amount of detain about working on shipboard in the Arctic.
Sandler: Martin W. Sandler: _Resolute_ (Sterling, 2006). This is, of all things, a book about a desk. But it's a desk made out of wood from one of the Franklin search ships. I ended up -- by accident , thanks to Half Price Books selling a copy that should not be sold (a fact I failed to notice) -- with an uncorrected review copy. I've noticed several small errors in dates, but I assume the pagination will be little changed.
Wilkinson: Douglas Wilkinson, _Arctic Fever: The search for the Northwest Passage_ (Clarke Irwin, 1971). This seems to be written for a school-aged audience; footnotes are few, and there are a lot of minor slips. It's quite readable, though, and has some information not found elsewhere, mostly about the Arctic today.
- RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield states that 151C is a different song from 151A and 151B.  The text is
We sailed away down Baffin Bay,
Where the nights and days were one;
And the Huskimaw in his skin canoe,
That was the only living soul.
The ice-king came with his eyes aflame,
Perched on our noble crew,
And his chilly breath was cold as death,
It pierced our warm hearts through.
- BS
It is noteworthy that Laws does not list that song with this piece, and most of the lines quoted above are not normally found in "Lady Franklin's Lament." The reference to Eskimos, however, *is* found in other Franklin versions, so (given the rarity of this version), I'm still lumping the songs for the moment. - RBW
File: LK09
===
NAME: Lady Gay (I): see The Wife of Usher's Well [Child 79] (File: C079)
===
NAME: Lady Greensleeves: see Greensleeves (File: ChWI239)
===
NAME: Lady Isabel [Child 261]
DESCRIPTION: Isabel's stepmother accuses Isabel of being "her father's whore," and tries to have her drink (poisoned) wine. At church; her mother advises her to take the poison. She bids farewell to her servants, drinks the poison, and dies. The stepmother goes mad
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: death stepmother poison murder mother wine
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 261, "Lady Isabel" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 633-635, "Lady Isabel" (1 text)
Roud #3884
NOTES: Something seems to be wrong with this ballad; there are too many loose ends. While the stepmother's actions are perhaps understandable (she thinks Isabel's father pays more attention to his daughter than his new wife), Isabel's love beyond the sea appears for only one stanza, her mother's behavior is inexplicable, and Isabel is much too passive. Presumably something has been lost. - RBW
File: C261
===
NAME: Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4]
DESCRIPTION: A knight woos a lady. He will marry her if she runs away with him. He leads her to the seashore and threatens to drown/kill her as he has killed others before. She makes him turn his back and kills him instead. She bribes her parrot to keep her secret
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: elopement murder seduction bird lie
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So,SW) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland Australia; analogues in Poland, Germany, France, Scandinavia, Netherlands
REFERENCES: (54 citations)
Child 4, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (8 texts)
Bronson 4, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (144 versions plus 2 in addenda)
Dixon XI, pp. 63-65, "The Water o' Wearie's Well" (1 text, plus an "Outlandish Knight" text on pp. 101-104 in the notes)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 130-131, "The Outlandish Knight" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #29}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp.14-34, "The False-Hearted Knight" (8 texts plus a fragment, 6 tunes; the "B" text is probably mixed as it starts with first person verses from the false knight) {Bronson's #50, #22, #35, #81, #5, #13}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 190-192, "The Outlandish Knight" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #130}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 4-7, "The False-Hearted Knight"; pp. 109-111, "The Castle by the Sea"; pp. 129-131, "The Outlandish Knight" (3 texts, 3 tunes)  {Bronson's #138 ,#57, #141}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 82-123, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (14 text plus 5 fragments, 12 tunes; the "C" and "D" texts have scraps from "The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington" [Child 105], and the "J" fragment also appears to be mixed) {A=Bronson's #138, E=#141, F=#130, I=#60, N=#57}
Belden, pp. 5-16, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (8 texts plus variants)
Randolph 2, "Pretty Polly Ann" (4 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes)  {A=Bronson's #121, C=#86, E=#131}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 16-18, "Pretty Polly Ann" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 2A) {Bronson's #121}
Eddy 2, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (4 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #49, #89}
Gardner/Chickering 1, "Lady Isabe and the Elf-Knightl" (1 text plus a fragment and mention of 1 more, 1 tune) {Bronson's #92}
Davis-Ballads 3, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (17 texts plus 2 fragments, 7 tunes entitled 'Pretty Polly," "The Nine King's Daughters," "The Seven King's Daughters," "The False-Hearted Knight," "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight"; 9 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) { {Bronson's #103, #146, #23, #104, #2, #19, #24}
Davis-More 4, pp. 16-25, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (3 texts, including one reconstructed, 2 tunes)
BrownII 2, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (7 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 2, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (2 fragments)
Hudson 1, pp. 61-66, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (3 texts plus a fragment)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 43-45, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #120}
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 127-128, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (1 short text, apparently without a local title, consisting mostly of the ending with little of the initial seduction)
Brewster 3, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 2-9, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (4 texts plus 3 fragments, 4 tunes) {Bronson's #74, #44,  #42, #43}
Greenleaf/Mansfield 1, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #73}
Peacock, pp. 206-207, "The King's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 1, "The Outlandish Knight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 1, "Pretty Polly" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #61}
Manny/Wilson 53, "The Gates of Ivory (Doors of Ivory)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 72-76, "Doors of Ivory" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 53-59, ""Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (3 texts)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 82, "Six Kings Daughters" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #109}
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 143-145, "The Seventh Sister" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 2-3, "False Sir John" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #102, which has two fewer verses and transcribes the tune rather differently}
OBB 8, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight"; 10, "May Colvin" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 10, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (2 texts)
Warner 41, "The Castle by the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 12, "Lady Isobel and the Elf-Knight" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 11, "The Outlandish Knight" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #28a}
Niles 4, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {A=Bronson's#96}
SharpAp 3 "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (10 texts, 10 tunes) {Bronson's #110, #106, #9, #111, #116, #99, #118, #100, #135, #55}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 4, "The Outlandish Knight (Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (1 text, 1 tune, somewhat edited and expanded) {Bronson's #99}
Sandburg, pp. 60-61, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #64}
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 80-81, "The Outlandish Knight" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #39, though Bronson has a different title and no text}
SHenry H163, pp. 413-414, "The King o' Spain's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 8, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #44}
Hodgart, p. 28 ,"Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (1 text)
DBuchan 42, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (1 text)
TBB 32, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (1 text)
JHCox 1, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (9 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #126}
JHCoxIIA, #IA-B, pp. 5-9, "The False Sir John," "Six Kings' Daughters (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #128, #127}
MacSeegTrav 2, "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 188, "Lady Isabel And The Elf Knight" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 23-26, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" (2 texts)
BBI, ZN975, "Go fetch me some of your father's gold" (said to be combined from several Child ballads)
DT 4, OUTKNGHT* ELFKNGHT* WILLWTRE* KNGSPAIN* FLSESIRJ
Roud #21
RECORDINGS:
Jumbo Brightwell, "The False-Hearted Knight" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Bill Cassidy, "Pretty Polly" (on IRTravellers01)
Lena Bourne Fish, "Castle by the Sea" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
Mary Anne Haynes, "The Young Officer" (on Voice11)
Fred Jordan, "The Outlandish Knight (Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight)" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1) (on FJordan01, HiddenE)
Sam Larner, "The Outlandish Knight" (on SLarner01)
Jean Ritchie, "False Sir John" (on JRitchie01) {Bronson's #102}
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 244, "The Outlandish Knight" ("An outlandish knight came from the north lands"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.21(15), Firth c.21(16), 2806 c.17(323), Firth c.26(230), Harding B 11(2886), Harding B 11(2887), Harding B 11(2889), Harding B 11(2890), Harding B 11(2891), "[The] Outlandish Knight"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Fair Eleanor (II)" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
King of Spain's Daughter
Lady Ishbel and Her Parrot
King William's Son
The Courting of Aramalee
May Colvin
An Outlandish Rover
The Highway Robber
The Old Beau
Halewijn
The Seventh King's Daughter
Pretty Cold Rain
Sweet William
The Six Fair Maids
The Hinges of Ivory
The Prating Parrot
NOTES: Many theories have been offered as to the origin of this ballad (closely connected with the Franko-Dutch tale of Halwijn). The most widely known is Bugge's theory that this is a corrupt form of the tale of Judith, found in the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books of the Bible.
It should be noted, however, that the only actual parallel between Judith and Lady Isabel is that both end with the bad guy being killed by the heroine.
A comprehensive study of the origins of this piece is offered by Holger Olof Nygard in "Ballad Source Study: Child Ballad No. 4 as Exemplar" (first printed in the _Journal of American Folklore_, LXV, 1952; see now MacEdward Leach and Tristram P. Coffin, eds, _The Critics and the Ballad_, pp. 189- 203). Nygard concludes that none of the theories of origin is accurate, and I heartily agree. This piece stands on its own.
Peter Underwood, in _A Gazetteer of English, Scottish & Irish Ghosts_, p. 383, associates this song  with Lendalfoot in Ayreshire, and claims that "mysterious shrill cries and strangely fading screams are still heard there." One has to suspect that this is one of those legends that arose after the song. - RBW
MacColl & Seeger cite a German broadside, c. 1550. - PJS
Of course, most of the alleged parallels to this piece (few of which are *truly* parallel) are in German and Scandinavian literature. - RBW
File: C004
===
NAME: Lady Ishbel and Her Parrot: see Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)
===
NAME: Lady Leroy, The [Laws N5]
DESCRIPTION: A girl and her lover want to escape her father. She disguises herself and buys the Lady Leroy from her father. The father sends a ship to intercept them, but the girl captures her father's ship and sends it home. She and her lover continue on their way
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1895 (JAFL8)
KEYWORDS: love escape disguise ship
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,So) Canada(Ont,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws N5, "The Lady Leroy"
Belden, pp. 180-182, "The Lady Leroy" (1 text)
FSCatskills 58, "The Lady Leroy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 137-138, "The Lady Leroy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 63, "Lady Leroy" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
JHCox 118, "The Lady Leroy" (1 text)
SharpAp 155, "Sally and Her Lover, or Lady Leroy" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H214, pp. 445-446, "The Lady Leroy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 111, "The Lady Uri" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 208-209, "The Lady Leroy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 25, "The Lady Leroy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 440, LADYLROY LADYLRO2
Roud #1889
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Lady Leroy" (AFS 4205 B1 and 4205 A2 [last verse], 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell); "The Fair Captive [wrong title, fragment]" (AFS 4205 A2, 1938; in AMMEM/Cowell)
NOTES: The LC recordings are a bit of a mess. The one identified as "The Fair Captive" has numbers listed as AFS 4205 A1 and A2, but clicking on any of the audio links brings down only A2, which is definitely "Lady Leroy" or a fragment thereof. The listing under "The Lady Leroy," on the other hand, has a full version, 4205 B1, plus the same fragment, which is really the last verse of "The Lady Leroy." "The Fair Captive" is actually recorded, in full, on AFS 4201 B1. Got that? - PJS
File: LN05
===
NAME: Lady Maisry (II): see Mother, Mother, Make My Bed (File: VWL071)
===
NAME: Lady Maisry [Child 65]
DESCRIPTION: The Scottish heroine loves an English lord above all Scots. Her family, learning of her love and (in most versions) her pregnancy, prepare to burn her. She sends tokens to her love, but she has been burnt before he can arrive. (He takes bitter vengeance)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1822
KEYWORDS: love separation death hate hardheartedness family execution revenge
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,West),Scotland) US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Child 65, "Lady Maisry" (11 texts)
Bronson 65, "Lady Maisry" (13 versions, though some of these are really "Mother, Mother, Make My Bed")
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 448-449, "Lady Maisry" (notes only)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 117-119, "Bonnie Susie Cleland" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 16, "Lady Maisry" (2 fragments, the first probably this but the second is only the verse of the messenger boy swimming the river; I suspect it's actually from "Little Musgrave," or "Mother, Mother," or "Lord Lovell," or some other such source)
SharpAp 17 "Lady Maisry" (2 texts, 2 tunes){Bronson's #13, #12}
Sharp-100E 10, "Lady Maisry" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #8}
Leach, pp. 208-213, "Lady Maisry" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 74, "Lady Maisry" (1 text)
OBB 73, "Lady Maisry" (1 text)
PBB 40, "Janet (Lady Maisry)" (1 text)
Niles 26, "Lady Maisry" (2 texts, 2 tunes; the second is short, and appears to be a mixed text)
Gummere, pp. 218-222+352, "Lady Maisry" (1 text)
DBuchan 11, "Lady Maisry", 29, "Lady Maisry" (2 texts, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #1}
DT 65, SCLELAND* LMAISRY *
Roud #45
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Stolen Bride" (plot)
cf. "Mother, Mother, Make My Bed" (lyrics)
cf. "Kafoozalem (I)" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bonnie Susie Cleland
Sweet Maisry
Lord Dillard and Lady Flora
NOTES: Bronson, Roud, and Scarborough, and probably others, have filed "Mother, Mother, Make My Bed" with "Lady Maisry," but that ballad (composed largely of floating elements) lacks key plot elements, notably the reasons for, and fact of, the girl's condemnation and death. It appears to be a separate song, though perhaps composed on the fragments of this song.
Interestingly, it appears that every text Bronson has of "Mother, Mother" is part of his "C" tune group, and every text in the "C" group is either "Mother, Mother" or is too short to allow identification. - RBW
File: C065
===
NAME: Lady Margaret: see Fair Margaret and Sweet William [Child 74] (File: C074)
===
NAME: Lady Margaret (II): see Sweet William's Ghost [Child 77] (File: C077)
===
NAME: Lady Margaret and King William: see Fair Margaret and Sweet William [Child 74] (File: C074)
===
NAME: Lady Margaret and Sweet William (I): see Fair Margaret and Sweet William [Child 74] (File: C074)
===
NAME: Lady Margaret and Sweet William (II): see Sweet William's Ghost [Child 77] (File: C077)
===
NAME: Lady Margot and Love Henry: see Young Hunting [Child 68] (File: C068)
===
NAME: Lady Margot and Sweet Willie: see Fair Margaret and Sweet William [Child 74] (File: C074)
===
NAME: Lady Mary (The Sad Song)
DESCRIPTION: "He came from his palace grand And he came to my cottage door... But I was nothing to him, Though he was the world to me." She desperately loved him; now he is dead, but she has no excuse for mourning. She wonders if, in heaven, he will still ignore her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (collected by Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: death love beauty
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 698, "The Sad Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 522-524, "The Sad Song" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 698)
DT, LADYMARY*
Roud #6358
RECORDINGS:
Bud Skidmore, "The Sad Song" (Columbia 15761-D, 1932)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We Met, 'Twas In a Crowd"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Palace Grand
NOTES: This has been quite popular in the folk revival; it appears that most if not all of these versions derive from the May Kennedy McCord collected by Randolph and Hunter; she also gave it to Evelyn Beers. Bush's printing also derives from McCord. Thus although there are a few other versions of the song known (from Owens and Sandburg), if you've heard this song, the version you know almost certainly comes from McCord. - RBW
File: R698
===
NAME: Lady Mary Ann (by Robert Burns): see A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing) [Laws O35] (File: LO35)
===
NAME: Lady o' the Dainty Doonby, The: see The Dainty Doonby (File: K179)
===
NAME: Lady of Arngosk, The [Child 224]
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "The Highlandmen has a' come down... They've stowen away the bonny lass, The Lady of Arngosk." They dress her in her silken gown, and the Highland leader draws his sword and bids her come. They tie her hands, but she scorns them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1823 (Sharpe)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection clothes abduction
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 224, "The Lady of Arngosk" (1 text)
Roud #4019
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Eppie Morrie" [Child 223] (plot)
NOTES: Child's notes to this are about twelve times as long as the actual three-stanza text (the only fragment recovered, and likely the only one which ever will be recovered), and give the apparent background to the song. The lyrics itself are so fragmentary, however, that they could well be a minor adaption of some similar piece such as "Eppie Morrie." - RBW
File: C224
===
NAME: Lady of Carlisle, The [Laws O25]
DESCRIPTION: Two brothers court a lady. Unable to choose between them, she decides to find out who is braver. She throws her fan into a den of lions and says she will marry whoever recovers it. The sea captain does so; she offers herself as the prize
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Harding B 16(327a))
KEYWORDS: contest courting clothes marriage animal
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(So)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (18 citations)
Laws O25, "The Lady of Carlisle"
Flanders/Olney, pp. 207-208, "In Castyle there Lived a Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 36, "Lady of Carlisle" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 66, "The Bold Lieutenant" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
SHenry H474, pp. 488-489, "The Glove and the Lions" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 49, "London City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 36, "The Bold Lieutenant" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 43, "Lion's Den" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 34-35, "The Lady's Fan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 22, "The Lady's Fan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 133, "The Lion's Den" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 393-394, "The Lion's Den" (1 text)
BrownII 89, "The Glove" (2 texts)
Hudson 29, pp. 139-141, "The Faithful Lover, or The Hero Rewarded" (1 text)
Brewster 59, "The Lady's Fan" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 146, "Lady Of Carlisle" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 130-131, "Carolina Lady" (1 text)
DT 335, LDYCRLIL* LDYCRL2*
Roud #396
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "Carolina Lady" (on Chandler01)
Teresa Maguire, "The Lion's Den" (on FSB8)
Basil May, "Lady of Carlisle" (LC-1587/AAFS 1702, rec. 1937)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Lady of Carlisle" (on NLCR03, NLCR12, NLCRCD1) (on NLCR16)
Pete Seeger, "Down in Carlisle" (on PeteSeeger16)
Doug Wallin, "The Bold Lieutenant" (on Wallins1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(327a), "The Faithful Lover" or "The Hero Rewarded," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Firth c.19(28)[some words illegible], "The Faithful Lover" or "The Hero Rewarded"; Harding B 28(187), "Faithful Lover" ("Near to St. James's there lived a lady"); Harding B 17(167b), "The Lions' Den"; Firth c.13(35) View 1 of 2, "The Bold Lieutenant in the Lions' Den"; Harding B 16(29a), "Bold Lieutenant"
LOCSinging, as102520, "The Faithful Lover" or "The Hero Rewarded," J. Catnach (London), 19C
Murray, Mu23-y1:087, "The Bold Lieutenant in the Lion's Den," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
In Roslyn Isles There Lived a Lady
NOTES: Kennedy notes, "Lions were kept at the Tower of London from the time of Henry III [reigned 1216-1272] until 1834." Sam Henry dates this to an actual event in the reign of Francis (I? -- reigned 1515-1547) of France. This is more probable than most of these derivations (how many people in the world are that silly?), but as usual, it cannot be proved.
The notes in Brown posit a different original, claiming (following Barry?) that it originated in Spain, spread to France and Italy, and inspired Schiller ("Der Handschuh"), Browning, and Leigh Hunt ("The Glove and the Lions"). Belden (_The Vulgar Ballad_, p. 6) thinks he finds traces of a broadside published between 1814 and 1834. Again, proof is lacking. - RBW
File: LO25
===
NAME: Lady of the Lake, The (The Banks of Clyde II) [Laws N41]
DESCRIPTION: The singer walks up to a girl and asks her why she is weeping. She says that the Lady of the Lake, carrying her true love, was wrecked off Newfoundland. He tells her that Willie is dead, and gives her his last message, but then reveals that he is Willie
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie); c.1850 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.16(54))
KEYWORDS: love death wreck ship disguise
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 11, 1833 - The "Lady of the Lake" strikes an iceberg off Newfoundland and sinks, taking with her most of her 320 passengers
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws N41, "The Lady of the Lake (The Banks of Clyde)"
Doerflinger, pp. 302-303, "The Lady of the Lake" (1 text)
SHenry H765, pp. 312-313, "The Lady of the Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 928-930, "Liza Gray" (1 texts, 2 tunes)
Mackenzie 67, "The Lady of the Lake" (1 text)
DT 466, LADYLAKE
Roud #1886
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.16(54), "The Lady of the Lake," G. Jacques (Manchester), c.1850; also Firth b.27(297), Firth c.12(230), "The Lady of the Lake"
Murray, Mu23-y3:010, "The Lady of the Lake," unknown, 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
cf. "The Wreck of the Lady Shearbrooke" (plot)
cf. "Thomas and Nancy" [Laws K15] (theme)
File: LN41
===
NAME: Lady of the Land (Here's a Poor Widow)
DESCRIPTION: "Here comes a poor (woman/widow) from (Babylon/baby-land), WIth three small children in her hand. One can brew, the other can bake, The other can make a pretty round cake.... Pray, ma'am, will you take one in?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: cook children poverty playparty
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #641, p. 256, "(Here comes a poor woman from baby-land)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 85, "(Here's a poor widow from Sandisland)" (1 text)
Roud #12975
File: BGMG641
===
NAME: Lady of York, The: see The Cruel Mother [Child 20] (File: C020)
===
NAME: Lady Turned Serving-Man, The: see The Famous Flower of Serving-Men [Child 106] (File: C106)
===
NAME: Lady Uri, The: see The Lady Leroy [Laws N5] (File: LN05)
===
NAME: Lady's Fall, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer warns listeners against sex before marriage. A lady becomes pregnant by her love, who deserts her. Once the babe is born, she dies, only to have her lover kill himself with sadness 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: love sex pregnancy childbirth family death infidelity burial
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Percy/Wheatley III, pp. 139-145, "The Lady's Fall" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1753, "Mark well my heavy doleful Tale"
NOTES: Hales believes this to be by the same author as "The Children in the Wood (The Babes in the Woods)" [Laws Q34] - RBW
File: Perc3139
===
NAME: Lady's Fan, The: see The Lady of Carlisle [Laws O25] (File: LO25)
===
NAME: Lady's Waiting Man, The
DESCRIPTION: A beautiful girl falls in love with her father's servant-man who waits on table. She faints and when she recovers asks "in the kitchen carry me." When he brings her "dainties" she kisses him and professes her love. He is happy to wait on her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: love beauty servant 
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 545-546, "The Lady's Waiting Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6460
File: Pea545
===
NAME: Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home
DESCRIPTION: "Ladybug/Ladybird, Ladybug/Ladybird, Fly away home, Your house is on fire, Your children do roam." The extended version may instruct the insect to go to Flanders or elsewhere, and fly to the singer's love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: bug home fire
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #467, p. 209, "(Lady Bird, Lady Bird)" (a short version in the text with a long addedum in the notes)
Opie-Oxford2 297, "Ladybird, Ladybird" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 15, "Ladybird" (1 very full text)
Roud #16215
File: MSNR15
===
NAME: Ladye Diamond: see Lady Diamond [Child 269] (File: C269)
===
NAME: Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs, The
DESCRIPTION: When the king returns from traveling, his daughter welcomes him. A lord calls her very fair; her stepmother turns her to a worm. Child Wynd arrives and, with difficulty, transforms her back. He turns the queen into a toad
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1812 (Bell); Child estimates the date of the "Hagg Worm" version as c. 1775
KEYWORDS: animal magic royalty jealousy beauty father stepmother revenge
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 34 Appendix, "The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs" (1 text plus a "more popular" version, "The Hagg Worm," in the addenda to volume IV)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 180-181, "The Laidley Worm" (1 slightly defective text, 1 tune)
ST C034A (Partial)
Roud #3176
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kemp Owyne" [Child 34]
NOTES: Child prints this ballad as an appendix to #34, "Kemp Owyne." There are, however, just enough known versions (including Stokoe's, with a tune of uncertain origin) that we split them.
The reference to a King based in, or at least leaving his daughter in, Bamborough, is puzzling; being near the Scots border (but never in Scotland), it is a rather unsafe place; in any case, few Kings of England spent much time in the north, except in cases such as that of Henry VI when he was a fugitive. If, then, we assume a King who campaigned in Scotland, had daughters, and had a second wife, the obvious choice is Edward I (reigned 1272-1307). Which seems awfully early....
The theme of a beautiful daughter and jealous stepmother and a transformation is of course commonplace, with the best known version being "Snow White" (which is from the Grimm collection). - RBW
File: C034A
===
NAME: Laidley Worm, The: see The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs (File: C034A)
===
NAME: Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea, The [Child 36]
DESCRIPTION: The singer's mother died when he was seven, and his stepmother enchanted him into a "laily worm" and his sister into a "machrel." When their father learns the truth, he forces her to restore the children, then burns her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802/3 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: family father children stepmother magic shape-changing rescue monster
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 36, "The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea" (1 text)
OBB 14, "The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea" (1 text)
PBB 20, "The Laily Worm and the Machrel of the Sea" (1 text)
DT 36, LAIDLEYW
Roud #3968
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Allison Gross" [Child 35] (theme)
NOTES: Child's text is badly and multiply defective, but the lack of materials makes restoration well-nigh impossible. Child's conjectures as to what is missing seem apt. - RBW
File: C036
===
NAME: Laird o Cockpen, The
DESCRIPTION: "The Laird o Cockpen, he's proud and he's great... He wanted a wife his braw hoose tae keep...." He comes to court the noble but poor Jean, who at first turns him down, but then thinks of his wealth and chooses to wed him
AUTHOR: Adapted by Lady Nairn?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1821
KEYWORDS: courting marriage money nobility 
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Logan, pp. 355-359, "The Laird of Cockpen" (1 text)
DT, COCKLAIR*
ST Log355 (Full)
Roud #2859
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Squire and the Gipsy" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
Tipperty's Jean (Ord, pp. 283-284)
Parody on Laird o' Cockpen (Broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(103), "Parody on Laird o' Cockpen" ("The Laird o Cockpen he's puir and he's duddy"), unknown, c. 1875)
New Year (Broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(104), "The New Year" ("And now we're to enter another New Year, When little is thought on but whiskey and beer"), unknown, c. 1875)
The Laird of D--mm-- (broadside NLScotland, ABS.10.203.01(102), "The Laird of D--mm--e," unknown, c. 1835)
"Incompetence of Politicians" (Broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(6a), [no title] ("Oh! hae ye heard o' an unprincipled squad"), unknown, n.d.)
File: Log355
===
NAME: Laird o Drum, The [Child 236]
DESCRIPTION: The Laird o Drum, instead of wooing a noble lady, chooses to court a poor working girl. All his relatives oppose this, but he notes that the girl is willing to work; instead of costing him money (as his previous wife did), she will help him earn it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.; cf. Herd 1776)
KEYWORDS: courting poverty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1665-1710 - Life of Margaret Coutts, second wife of Alexander Irvine of Drum (previously married, in 1643, to Mary Gordon of Huntley. Drum died in 1687)
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Child 236, "The Laird o Drum" (6 texts)
Bronson 36, "The Laird o Drum" (26 versions+1 in addenda)
Dixon VIII, pp. 53-56, "The Laird o' Drum" (1 text)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 300-303, "The Laird of Drum" (1 text with variants, 1 tune) {Bronson's #26}
Creighton-Maritime, p. 28, "The Laird O'Drum" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 4-9, "The Laird o' Drum" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
DT 236, LAIRDDRM*
Roud #247
RECORDINGS:
Lucy Stewart, "The Laird o' Drum" (on FSBBAL2) (on LStewart1)
NOTES: Bodleian, 2806 c.11(7), "The Laird o' Drum" ("The laird o' Drum is a hunting gane"), unknown, n.d. could not be downloaded and verified. - BS
File: C236
===
NAME: Laird o Logie, The [Child 182]
DESCRIPTION: (Logie) is in prison awaiting death; Margaret would save him. She petitions the King; he will not free Logie for all the gold in Scotland. (The queen/Margaret) (steals tokens from the King) and orders that Logie be freed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: prison escape trick nobility love mercy help
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 182, "The Laird o Logie" (5 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Bronson 182, "The Laird o Logie" (3 versions)
Leach, pp. 493-495, "The Laird o Logie" (1 text)
Roud #81
NOTES: In 1591, the Earl of Bothwell tried to capture King James VI of Scotland, and James Weymis of Logie was implicated in the plot. One of Queen Anne's maids, Margaret, loved him; she forged an order to have him questioned, and used it to help him escape. James's anger was appeased by the Queen, and he pardoned Logie, who then Margaret - RBW
File: C182
===
NAME: Laird o Roslin's Daughter, The: see Captain Wedderburn's Courtship [Child 46] (File: C046)
===
NAME: Laird o Udny, The: see Let Me In This Ae Nicht (File: DTaenich)
===
NAME: Laird o Windy Wa's, The: see Let Me In This Ae Nicht (File: DTaenich)
===
NAME: Laird o' Drum (II), The: see Queen Among the Heather (File: K141)
===
NAME: Laird o' Leys, (The): see The Baron o Leys [Child 241] (File: C241)
===
NAME: Laird o' the Dainty Doonby, The: see The Dainty Doonby (File: K179)
===
NAME: Laird of the Denty Doon Bye, The: see The Dainty Doonby (File: K179)
===
NAME: Laird of Wariston, The [Child 194]
DESCRIPTION: Wariston (accuses his wife of adultery and) strikes her. She avenges herself by killing him with the help of a servant. Lady Wariston is arrested and condemned. (She begs the King to lessen her sentence to beheading. He wishes she did not have to die.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: murder revenge adultery accusation punishment execution nobility royalty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 5, 1600 - Execution of the former Jean Livingston, Lady Wariston (according to Birrell)
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 194, "The Laird of Wariston" (3 texts)
Leach, pp. 528-533, "The Laird of Wariston" (2 texts)
DT 194, WARSTON
Roud #3876
NOTES: Child reports that this event is historical, but the judicial records of Lady Wariston's trial are lost. This ballad is therefore the only evidence of the motive for her murder of her husband.
This certainly appears to be a folk ballad, but it also appears to be extinct. Child knew three texts, all damaged, and the song has not been collected since. Ewan MacColl has a tune for it, but it's nearly certain that it came out of his own head. (Or, more correctly, is a modification of a tune for another ballad -- e.g. it's much like the tune I know for "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow.")
Child treats this as one ballad, and given its lack of survival in tradition, there is no reason to break it up into two entries -- but I think it likely that it is in fact *two* ballads, one represented by Child's A and B texts and the third by his C text.
There are several reasons for this. The forms of the stanzas are different (though we might note that A and B also differ from each other). There are only a few common words, and most of them commonplace ("O Wariston, I wad that ye wad sink for sin").
Most crucial, though, is the complete difference in motive. In the A/B text, Wariston strikes his wife over a trivial quarrel. In C, however, Lady Wariston is a child bride (her age is given as fifteen at the time of her marriage; the real Lady Wariston seems to have been about nineteen). Shortly after their marriage, Wariston goes to sea; before he returns a year later, she bears a child.
Upon his return, Wariston accuses his lady of adultery and casts her out. The murder is her retaliation. - RBW
File: C194
===
NAME: Laird's Wedding, The: see The Nobleman's Wedding (The Faultless Bride; The Love Token) [Laws P31] (File: LP31)
===
NAME: Lake Huron's Rock-Bound Shore: see The Persian's Crew [Laws D4] (File: LD04)
===
NAME: Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33]
DESCRIPTION: Willie Leonard and a friend visit Lake Cool Finn. Willie dives in first, and swims to an island, but warns his friend not to follow, warning of "deep and false water...." When Willie tries to swim back, he vanishes (to fairyland?). He is mourned by many
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1873
KEYWORDS: death drowning
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE) Ireland Britain(England,Scotland) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws Q33, "The Lake of Cool Finn"
Leach, pp. 732-733, "Willie Leonard or the Lake of Cool Finn" (1 text)
FSCatskills 72, "The Lakes of Col Flynn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 324, "The Lakes of Shallin" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H176, p. 146, "Willie Lennox" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 35, "The Lake of Coolfin" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 44, "Johnny Bathin" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 15-16, "Lakes of Cold Finn" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "The Lakes of Cold Finn" (source notes only)
DT 541, LKCOLFIN* LKCOLFI2*
Roud #189
RECORDINGS:
Amy Birch, "Royal Comrade" (on Voice11)
Tom Lenihan, "The Lake of Coolfin" (on IRTLenihan01)
Mary Reynolds, "The Lakes of Shallin" (on FSB7)
Cathie Stewart, "The Lakes of Shillin" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
Scan Tester, "The Lakes of Coalflin" (on Voice03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(260), "The Lakes of Cold Finn," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 20(88), "The Lakes of Cold Finn"; 2806 b.11(31), Firth b.26(168), Harding B 11(1376), "Willie Leonard"
LOCSinging, as107400, "The Lakes of Cold Finn," unknown, 19C
File: LQ33
===
NAME: Lake of Coolfin, The: see Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33] (File: LQ33)
===
NAME: Lake of Ponchartrain, The [Laws H9]
DESCRIPTION: A young man (Union soldier?), lost in the south, is taken in by a Creole girl. He asks her to marry; she cannot, for she is promised to another who is far away (at sea?). He promises to remember her always
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Pound)
KEYWORDS: courting separation promise
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,So) Ireland Canada(Mar,West)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws H9, "The Lake of Ponchartrain"
Randolph 882, "The Ponsaw Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Larkin, pp. 46-48, "On the Lake of the Poncho Plains" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 55, pp. 127-128, "The Creole Girl" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 45, "The Lake of Ponchartrain" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Creighton-NovaScotia 137, "On the Lakes of Ponchartrain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 78, "The Lakes of Ponchartrain" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H619, pp. 373-374, "The Lakes of Ponchartrain" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 649, PONTCHAR PONCHAR2 PONCHAR3 PONCHAR4
Roud #1836
RECORDINGS:
Sarah Ann Bartley, "Lakes of Ponchartraine" (on Saskatch01)
Walter Coon, "Creole Girls" (Superior 2521, 1930)
Frances Perry, "On the Lakes of Ponchartrain" (AFS, 1946; on LC55)
Pie Plant Pete [pseud. for Claude Moye], "The Lake of Ponchartrain" (Supertone 9717, 1930) (Perfect 5-10-14/Melotone 5-10-14, 1935; rec. 1934) 
Art Thieme, "The Lake of Ponchartrain" (on Thieme05)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Lakes of the Ponchartrain
File: LH09
===
NAME: Lake of the Caogama, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, now we're leaving home, me boys, to Ottawa we're goin', Expectin' yo be hired, and yet we do not know." The singer hires with Tom Patterson, and spends his time in a comfortless shanty eating bad food. He misses the girls and looks forward to leaving
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger work lumbering hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fowke-Lumbering #24, "The Lake of the Caogama" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 21, "The Lake of the Caogama" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4534
NOTES: Typical shantyboy complaint song. Lake Caogama (pronounced keg-a-ma) was a lumber camp on the northern shore of the Ottawa River. - SL
File: FowL24
===
NAME: Lakes of Cold Finn: see Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33] (File: LQ33)
===
NAME: Lakes of Shillin, The: see Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33] (File: LQ33)
===
NAME: Lakes of the Ponchartrain, The: see The Lake of Ponchartrain [Laws H9] (File: LH09)
===
NAME: Lambkin: see Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)
===
NAME: Lambs on the Green Hills, The: see The False Bride (The Week Before Easter; I Once Loved a Lass) (File: K152)
===
NAME: Lambton Worm, The
DESCRIPTION: Young Lambton catches a fish of an unknown kind. Wanting to know what it is, he puts it down a well, then sets off for the Crusades. The fish grows into a serpent that leaves the well and does great damage. The lord comes home and kills the creature
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1892
KEYWORDS: animal monster fishing fight
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
PBB 104, "The Lambton Worm" (1 text)
DT, LAMDWORM
Roud #2337
NOTES: Reputed to be about a Northumbrian lord's attempt to raise taxes. I know of no hard evidence of this. - RBW
File: PBB104
===
NAME: Lament for John Sneddon: see The Collier Lad (Lament for John Sneddon/Siddon) (File: HHH110)
===
NAME: Lament of John O Mahony
DESCRIPTION: The singer, growing old "in a foreign land, in a lonesome city" thinks "not a single hope have I seen fulfilled For the blood we spilled." He thinks of his home land. "My heart still lingers on its native strand And American land holds naught for me"
AUTHOR: Dr. Douglas Hyde (source: OLochlainn-More)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: homesickness rebellion exile America Ireland lament nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 31, "Lament of John O Mahony" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "O'Mahony, born in Co. Limerick, turned out with Smith O'Brien at Ballingarry, 1848, fled to France and in 1852 to America; with Stephens founded I.R.B. and was Head Centre in U.S.A. Died in poverty, New York, 1877." - BS
For more on the events of 1848, see especially "The Shan Van Voght (1848)." It is ironic to note that the 1848 rebellion was the one attempt to set Ireland free that resulted in almost no bloodshed. - RBW
File: OLcM031
===
NAME: Lament of the Border Widow, The: see The Famous Flower of Serving-Men [Child 106] (File: C106)
===
NAME: Lament, The: see The Irish Girl (File: HHH711)
===
NAME: Lamentation of a Bad Market, The
DESCRIPTION: On January 10 a carpenter starts a fire that burns a bridge over the Thames. A lord and the King, looking at the thin ice, bet whether a man's weight could be held. The king loses when three children fall through and drown. John is beheaded.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1651 (The Loves of Hero and Leander, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: wager execution death drowning fire parody children nobility
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 3(53), "The Lamentation of a Bad Market ," J. White (Newcastle), 1711-1769
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Three Little Girls A-Skating Went" (see Notes)
NOTES: Immediately after the King loses his bet a man is beheaded without explanation or follow-up.
Opie-Oxford2 99, "Three children sliding on the ice": "It describes the burning of 'a bridge of London town' and was probably occasioned by the fire which, in February 1633, destroyed much of London Bridge. Stanzas 12, 18, and 19, run:
Three children sliding there abouts, Upon a place too thin, That so at last it did fall out, That they did all fall in.
Yee Parents all that Children have And ye that have none yet; Preserve your Children From the Grave, And teach them at home to sit.
For had these at a Sermon been, Or else upon dry ground, Why then I never have been seen, If that they had been drown'd.
This is undoubtedly a burlesque of the pious ballad-mongers whose 'Providential Warning and Good Counsels' wearied the Cavalier aristocracy."
The three verses survive as "Three Little Girls A-Skating Went" changed slightly to add paradox. - BS
According to the _Riverside Shakespeare_, p. 1395, it has never been common for the Thames to freeze over -- but that page shows a woodcut from Dekker's 1608 publication _The Great Frost: Cold Doings in London_; the winter of 1607-1608 did see the river frozen solid. Most amazing is the fact that it shows a fire burning in a pan set directly on the ice. Evidently this sort of thing was common.
And don't get me started on Minnesota ice fishermen who park their pickup trucks out in the middle of lakes. - RBW
File: BdBLoaBM
===
NAME: Lamentation of Hugh Reynolds, The
DESCRIPTION: Hugh Reynolds loves Catherine McCabe who, by perjury, has him condemned to be hanged. "With irons I'm surrounded, in grief I lie confounded, by perjury unbounded; she's the dear maid to me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Duffy)
KEYWORDS: abduction execution trial lament
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: March 28, 1826 - Hugh Reynolds executed for the abduction of Catherine M'Cabe (source: Sparling [see notes])
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
OLochlainn 66, "The Lamentation of Hugh Reynolds" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 380-381, 513, "The Lamentation of Hugh Reynolds"
Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 152-153, "The Lamentation of Hugh Reynolds"
Roud #2395
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Star of Sunday's Well" (tune)
NOTES: Sparling: "Both families were County Cavan people and Catholics, but there was a feud between them, begun over 'a bit of land.' ... Catharine was very reluctant, and her evidence had to be forced from her.  Her uncle was universally credited with being the instigator of the prosecution, and the vindictive inventor of the plot by which Reynolds was captured and convicted.  The girl died soon after--of a broken heart, say the gossips; who also report that 'Divine vengeance' followed the M'Cabes." 
Duffy: "'She's a dear maid to me.'  Perhaps the English reader will require to be told that this is not to be taken in its literal meaning; it is a proverbial expression, implying that he would pay dearly for his acquaintance with her."
"Another popular ballad on the same subject is 'The Abduction of the Quaker's Daughter' by John M'Goldrick." (source: Chapters of Dublin History site: John Edward Walsh, _Ireland Sixty Years Ago_ (1911), "Chapter III. Abduction - Abduction Clubs - The Misses Kennedy - Miss Knox") - BS
File: OLoc066
===
NAME: Lamentation of James O'Sullivan, The
DESCRIPTION: July 12 in Stewartstown the Catholics defend their church, leaving 22 Orangemen "a-bleeding on the ground." O'Sullivan is jailed, tried, convicted, "and sentenced for to end his life upon a gallows tree." He refuses freedom and reward to turn informer.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: violence execution trial Ireland political lament
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 36, "The Lamentation of James O'Sullivan" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Owen Rooney's Lamentation" (subject: "party fights")
cf. "The Battle That Was Fought in the North" (subject: "party fights")
cf. "The Noble Blue Ribbon Boys" (subject: Ulster quarrels)
NOTES: July 12 is the Gregorian Calendar (adopted in England in 1752) date for celebrating the victory of William III of Orange in the Battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690.
The complete title of Zimmermann's broadside is "The Lamentation of James O'Sullivan, Who was executed at Omagh Jail for being concerned in the battle which took place between the Catholics and Orangemen at Stewartstown on the 12th July."
Zimmermann: "This ballad ... [was] perhaps also inspired by the 'party fights' in July 1829. Upwards of twenty men were said to have been killed in County Tyrone.... There was more fighting near Stewartstown in July 1831." - BS
And it would continue for many more years; after the fight at Dolly Brae in 1849, the British would pass the Party Processions Act in 1850 to control these fights. But still they march at Portadown.
Stewartstown is roughly on the boundary between the majority-Catholic and the majority-Protestant parts of Ulster; so it's easy to see how life could be very tense there. - RBW
File: Zimm036
===
NAME: Lamentation of Patrick Brady, The: see Pat Brady (File: OLoc053A)
===
NAME: Lamfin: see Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)
===
NAME: Lamkin [Child 93]
DESCRIPTION: (Lamkin) rebuilt a lord's castle, but was never paid. As the lord sets out on a journey, he warns his wife to beware of Lamkin. The precautions are in vain; Lamkin (helped by a false nurse) steals in and kills the lord's child (and wife) (and is hanged)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1775 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: death theft revenge children punishment murder cannibalism
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(Lond,South,West)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (36 citations)
Child 93, "Lamkin" (25 texts)
Bronson 93, "Lamkin" (30 versions (some with variants)+3 in addenda)
Leather, pp. 199-200, "Young Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #19}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 200-206, "Lamkin" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 1 tune; also extensive notes on version classification) {Bronson's #16}
Randolph 23, "False Lamkin" (1 text with variants, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Eddy 17, "Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #8}
Gardner/Chickering 127, "Lamkin" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune) {Bronson's #15}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 104-107, "Squire Relantman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 297-316, "Lamkin" (7 texts plus 3 fragments, 4 tunes) {C=Bronson's #7)
Linscott, pp. 303-305, "Young Alanthia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 26, "Lamkin" (3 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune entitled "Lampkin") {Bronson's #10}
Davis-More 28, pp. 214-220, "Lamkin" (1 text)
BrownII 29, "Lamkin" (1 text plus assorted excerpts)
Chappell-FSRA 42, "Lamkins" (1 text, apparently a fragment of Child #93 (containing only a threat of cannibalism) plus three "My Horses Ain't Hungry" stanzas)
Brewster 16, "Lamkin" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #20}
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 20-21, "Lamkin" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 806-807, "Bold Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 13, "Lamkin" (1 text, 4 tunes)
Lehr/Best 35, "False Limkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 288-295, "Lamkin" (4 texts)
Leach-Labrador 6, "Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 199, "Lamkin" (1 text)
OBB 78, "Lamkin" (1 text)
Warner 102, "Bolamkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 27, "Lamkin" (5 texts, 5 tunes){Bronson's #11, #14, #12, #4, #9}
Sharp-100E 27, "False Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
PBB 64, "Lamkin" (1 text)
Niles 38, "Lamkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 60-61, "Long Lankin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #28}
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 258-259, "False Lanky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 64, "Lamkin" (1 text)
DBuchan 16, "Lamkin" (1 text)
TBB 19, "Lamkin" (1 text)
SHenry H735, p. 133, "Lambkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 63-64, "Bo Lamkin" (1 text)
DT 93, BLAMKIN* BOLAMKN2* BOLAMKN3*
Roud #6
RECORDINGS:
Ben Butcher, "Cruel Lincoln" (on FSB4, Voice03)
George Fosbury, "False Lamkin" (on FSBBAL1)
Frank Proffitt, "Bo Lamkin" (on Proffitt03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1048), "The Lambkin," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Batson" [Laws I10] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lamfin
NOTES: John Jacob Niles claims that this song was once sung in the Louisville schools. One can only wish he had offered supporting evidence.
Anne G. Gilchrist examines the development of this ballad in "Lambkin: A Study in Evolution" (first printed in the _Journal of the Emglish Folk Dance and Song Society_, I, 1932; see now MacEdward Leach and Tristram P. Coffin, eds, _The Critics and the Ballad_, pp. 204-224).
Gilchrist finds two basic forms of the ballad. In one, primarily Scottish, Lamkin is a mason defrauded of his pay by the lord whose castle he built. In the other, Northumbrian and English, Lamkin is simply a ruffian or a border raider, seeking loot or perhaps the hand of the lord's daughter.
Gilchrist believes the Scottish form to be older, and believes that the other arose when the first stanza (in which the lord's fraud is described) was lost. She argues that the name "Lambkin" is diminutive of the Flemist name Lambert, and speculates that it may have been based on a (hypothesized) incident at Balwearie in Fife -- a site mentioned in some versions of the ballad, and located near a Flemish colony. - RBW
File: C093
===
NAME: Lammas Fair in Cargan, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer rambles until he chances on the Cargan fair, which he says exceeds all others. He describes the people, the food, the vendors, the police, the brawling -- and admits to coming home bruised and beaten
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: party drink fight nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H513, p. 75, "The Lammas Fair in Cargan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9051
File: HHH513
===
NAME: Lancaster Maid, The: see Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)
===
NAME: Land League's Advice to the Tenant Farmers of Ireland, The
DESCRIPTION: "Cheer up your hearts, you tenant farmers, the land you nobly till, Pay no rent, and keep the harvest" is the advice of Parnell, Brennan, Thomas Woods and Michael Davitt. Thumb your nose at the landlord. Reject the champion spud
AUTHOR: "M. O'Brien" (Source: Zimmermann)
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1881 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: farming Ireland nonballad political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 79, "The Land League's Advice to the Tenant Farmers of Ireland" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blackbird of Avondale (The Arrest of Parnell)" (subject)
cf. "Michael Davitt" (subject)
NOTES: Bodleian, Harding B 40(6), "The Land Leagues Advice to the Tenant Farmers of Ireland ("Attend to me you tenant farmers thats assembled in this town"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?), 1850-1899 is apparently this ballad but I could not download the image to verify that. It has the author as M. O'Brien. 
Zimmermann: "This ballad was probably written as a comment on the 'No-Rent Manifesto' issued by the Land League after the arrest of its leaders, advising the tenant farmers 'to pay no rents under any circumstances to their landlords ... They can no more evict a whole nation than they can imprison them'" quoting _The Nation_, 22nd October 1881.
Zimmermann notes that the "Champion spud," ridiculed in the song, was resistant to the potato blight and was grown in Scotland and Ireland after 1870.
Zimmermann notes, p. 276, that Thomas Brennan was a Land Leaguer arrested in 1881. Charles Stewart Parnell was also arrested in 1881 (p. 278; cf. "The Blackbird of Avondale (The Arrest of Parnell)"). Michael Davitt is another arrested Land Leaguer (cf. "Michael Davitt"). [For these two, see also the notes on "The Bold Tenant Farmer." - RBW] I have no information on Thomas Woods. - BS
File: Zimm079
===
NAME: Land o' the Leal, The
DESCRIPTION: "I am wearing awa', Jean, Like snaw when it's thaw, Jean; I'm wearing awa' tae the land o' the leal...." The (old man) recalls the hard times they have been through, and looks forward to a happier life
AUTHOR: Caroline, Lady Nairn
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: love separation death
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, LANDLEAL
Roud #8999
NOTES: One of Lady Nairn's most popular pieces, reprinted in works such as Palgrave's _Golden Treasury_. Gordeanna McCulloch sings a song, "Be Kind  Tae Yer Nainsel," which purports to be from oral tradition and which has many of the same lyrics but a rather different purpose. I do not know whether it inspired Lady Nairn's song, or was inspired by it; the notes on the recording imply the former. - RBW
File: DTlandle
===
NAME: Land of Fish and Seals, The
DESCRIPTION: "Let Sunny India her wealth proclaim... We envy not her gaudy show." The singer contrasts "the land of fish and seals" with foreign nations: though "No great immortal names are ours," they can boast of freedom and "our living brave."
AUTHOR: "Mrs. Peace" ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Murphy, Songs Sung By Old Time Sealers of Many Years Ago)
KEYWORDS: nonballad patriotic Canada fishing recitation
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, p. 25, "The Land of Fish and Seals" (1 text)
NOTES: A poem not a song, and probably not traditional -- but seemingly widely printed in Newfoundland. - RBW
File: RySm025
===
NAME: Land of Potatoes, Oh!, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, had I in the clear five hundred a year" the singer would build a cottage and garden in Ireland, not roam to other countries. Those from other lands would stay here if they came once. An Irish wife, "so nice and complete," would make him even happier.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1066))
KEYWORDS: poverty emigration Ireland nonballad home
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, pp. 73+160, "The Land of Potatoes, Oh!" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1066), "The Land of Potatoes", J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819 
File: OCon073
===
NAME: Land of the Silver Birch
DESCRIPTION: A pseudo-Indian ode to northern lands: "Land of the silver birch, home of the beaver, Where still the mighty moose wanders at will, Blue lake and rocky shore, I will return once more." The singer ends by promising to build a wigwam in the north
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953 (Ontario Department of Education booklet)
KEYWORDS: homesickness return nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 190-191, "Land of the Silver Birch" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FJ190 (Partial)
Roud #4550
NOTES: For some reason, we learned this in elementary school in Minnesota. I can't imagine why. - RBW
File: FJ190
===
NAME: Land of the West, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer urges his love to "come to the west... I'll make thee my own. I'll guard thee, I'll tend thee...." North and south have their delights, but the west is warm and fair. He again calls her to come to his own land
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol II)
KEYWORDS: love home nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H677, p. 175, "The Land of the West" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol II, pp. 27-28, "The Land of the West"
Roud #5990
NOTES: Hayes has Samuel Lover as author. - BS
File: HHH677
===
NAME: Landlady of France, The
DESCRIPTION: "A landlady of France loved an officer, 'tis said, And this officer he dearly loved her brandy-o." As he prepares to go off to battle, they encourage encourage each other (primarily to drink more), "For love is like the colic, cured with brandy-o."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942
KEYWORDS: soldier drink separation love
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Gilbert, pp. 37-38, "The Landlady of France" (1 text)
DT, LNDLDYFR*
File: Gil037
===
NAME: Landlord, Fill the Flowing Bowl
DESCRIPTION: "Landlord, fill the flowing bowl until it doth run over (x2), For tonight we'll merry merry be (x3); Tomorrow we'll be sober." The singer describes those who drink water, ale, whiskey and/or court freely -- noting that those who drink deep are happier
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (recording, Kingston Trio)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad courting landlord
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 229, "Landlord Fill The Flowing Bowl" (1 text)
DT, COACHMN3*
Roud #1234
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Three Jolly Coachmen
File: FSWB229A
===
NAME: Lane County Bachelor, The: see Starving to Death on a Government Claim (The Lane County Bachelor) (File: R186)
===
NAME: Lang Johnny More [Child 251]
DESCRIPTION: John More, on a visit to London, falls in love with the King's daughter. The King declares he will kill John, and takes him prisoner by drugging him. John sends a message begging help. Two giants come to rescue him, browbeating the King into surrender
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: royalty love courting prison execution rescue
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 251, "Lang Johnny More" (1 text)
Bronson 251, "Lang Johnny More" (15 versions)
DBuchan 59, "Lang Johnny More" (1 text)
DT 251, LONGJOHN
Roud #3100
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Lang Johnny More" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #8}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnie Scot" [Child 99]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Long John, Old John, and Jackie North
NOTES: Child views this as "perhaps an imitation, and in fact almost a parody, of 'Johnie Scot.'" Certainly the plots are very much alike -- but the supernatural feats of the rescuers are commonplaces (cf., e.g., "Hughie Grame" [Child 191]).
The surname "More/Moore" appears a distortion of Gaelic "Mor," "big." - RBW
File: C251
===
NAME: Lang Lang Syne: see Do Ye Mind Lang Syne (File: FVS190)
===
NAME: Langolee: see (references under) The Banks of the Dee (File: DTbnksde)
===
NAME: Lanigan's Ball
DESCRIPTION: Jimmy Lanigan had "batter'd away till he hadn't a pound"; coming into money from his father, he determines to have a party. A fight ends the ball when "Old Shamus the piper" was tangled in "pipes, bellows, chanters" and "the girls in their ribbons"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2058))
KEYWORDS: money party fight dancing drink music humorous
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 222-224, "Lanigan's Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 100-101, "Lannigan's Ball" (1 text)
OLochlainn 52, "Lanigan's Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Lanigan's Ball" (source notes only)
DT, LANIBALL*
ST SWM222 (Partial)
Roud #3011
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Jimmie Lanigan" [fragment] (AFS 4212 A4, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2058), "Lannigan's Ball", H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 15(167a), Harding B 11(3172), Harding B 26(345), 2806 c.8(124), "Lannigan's Ball"; 2806 b.11(154), "Lannigan's Ball!"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blythesome Bridal" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
Larry Magee's Wedding (File: OCon083)
NOTES: This reminds me quite a bit of "The Blythesome Bridal," in that the minimalist plot is offered simply to offer a justification for the party that the song is really about. - RBW
OLochlainn: "Air and fragment of words from my mother who learnt them in Kilkee about 1880.... I have seen a full music sheet of this song published about the 'seventies, where words were ascribed to 'Mr. Gavan, the celebrated Galway poet.'" - BS
File: SWM222
===
NAME: Lannigan's Ball: see Lanigan's Ball (File: SWM222)
===
NAME: Largy Line, The
DESCRIPTION: Shoemaker George McCaughey, having seen many women, is ready to abandon them for "Miss Baxter." He met her while teaching the "Tully band," and walked home together. Her family has consented to the marriage. He blesses the founder of the band
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting music family
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H781, p. 467, "The Largy Line" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9457
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Foot of the Mountain Brow,The (The Maid of the Mountain Brow)" [Laws P7] (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Foot of the Mountain Brow,The (The Maid of the Mountain Brow) [Laws P7] (File: LP07)
File: HHH781
===
NAME: Lark in the Morning, The
DESCRIPTION: (Singer) meets young girl who praises plowboys. The singer meets a plowboy. He takes her "to the fair." The rest of their relationship is couched in equally allegorical terms.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1854 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1070))
KEYWORDS: lyric nonballad farming courting seduction
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) Ireland US(So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Sharp-100E 62, "The Lark in the Morn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 562, "Lark in the Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 140, "The Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LARKMORN* LARKMOR2*
Roud #151
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "The Lark in the Morning" (on Voice05) [a mixture of "The Lark in the Morning" and "Roger the Ploughboy"]
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1070), "The Lark in the Morning" ("As I was a walking one morning in May"), Swindells (Manchester), 1796-1853; also Harding B 11(3684), Firth c.18(172), Firth b.34(224), Harding B 16(125c), Harding B 11(2060), "The Lark in the Morning"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Pretty Plowboy
NOTES: The narrative thread is so fragmentary that I've classed this as a lyric song, not a ballad. -PJS
There is a ballad back there, though, as Kennedy's version shows; under all the symbolism is a story of seduction. - RBW
Re Paddy Tunney's "The Lark in the Morning" (on Voice05): the first verse is a fragment of "The Lark in the Morning"; the second is a fragment of "Roger the Ploughboy." - BS
File: ShH62
===
NAME: Larrigans, The
DESCRIPTION: About Angus Munn, his size 14 larrigans, and the daily life in the winter lumber camps: sleep on spruce boughs, up three hours before sun-up, lunch, axes and saws at work, songs at night.
AUTHOR: Jim McAree, Baldwin's Road
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: lumbering music humorous
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 34-35, "The Larrigans" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12474
NOTES: Here is a description of larrigans from the Web: "They're felt boots and rubbers. Heavy felt, shaped like an English Wellington and knee-high, with tough rubbers over the feet, the whole being devised to comfort woodchoppers in deep snow. The larrigan is noticeable and recognized at a great distance." (source: _Grandmothers I Have Known and Embellished_ by John Gould, quoted from The Home Forum Column from the September 15, 2000 Christian Science Monitor on the Cristian Science Monitor site). In Dibblee/Dibblee pp. 38-39, "Shanty Boys" "We all arrive at the shanty wet and cold with damp feet; We then pull off our larrigans...." - BS
File: Dib034
===
NAME: Larry Doolan: see My Irish Jaunting Car (The Irish Boy) (File: HHH592)
===
NAME: Larry Magee's Wedding
DESCRIPTION: Larry "dwelt in a fashionable part of the city An illigant fine mansion." The dancers, drinkers and eaters "at the grand wedding" are named. All the old songs are sung. The wedding ends with a grand fight.
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1865 (broadside, LOCSinging as107470)
KEYWORDS: wedding humorous party drink fight food moniker
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor pp. 83-84, "Larry Magee's Wedding" (1 text) 
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as107470, "Larry Magee's Wedding," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lanigan's Ball" (tune, per broadside LOCSinging as107470)
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as107470: 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: OCon083
===
NAME: Larry Marr: see The Big Five-Gallon Jar (File: Doe111)
===
NAME: Larry McGee
DESCRIPTION: Larry coaxes "Missus Brady, who was reared up a lady" to marry. There was a huge wedding party with dancing, drink and food. Larry gets drunk, confuses his donkey for his wife, gets into a fight "in defense of his darling" and is laid out "with a clout" 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: wedding fight dancing drink food music humorous animal 
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Mackenzie 139, "Larry McGee" (1 text)
Roud #3283
BROADSIDES:
Harding B 11(684), "The Wedding of Larry Magee," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: MacKenzie: "The Irish song 'Larry Magee's Wedding' is so similar in metre and plot to [MacKenzie 139] that there is pretty certainly a tie of relationship." It all depends. Mackenzie cites O'Conor pp. 83-84 (included in the Index as "Larry Magee's Wedding," by Samuel Lover); that is certainly a different song. However, broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(684) is certainly Mackenzie's song. - BS
File: Mack139
===
NAME: Larry O'Gaff
DESCRIPTION: Larry's father leaves when he is a baby in Ireland. He recounts his rambles to England as a hod carrying, bog trotting, soldiering at Waterloo, and retiring "with a wife to spend my life, sport and play, night and day" to Ireland.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1072))
KEYWORDS: Napoleon Ireland marriage rambling return abandonment soldier
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Eddy 148, "We Fought Like the Divil" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 55-56, "Larry O'Gaff" (1 text)
ST E148 (Full)
Roud #13383
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1072), "Larry O Gaff", J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844 
File: E148
===
NAME: Lass o Glencoe (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Singer reminisces about the lass he has left in Glencoe. He meets her in the heather and asks her to marry; she refuses. He promises to keep a lock of her hair. Last line of most verses: "I still like my lassie fae bonnie Glencoe"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (collected from Maggie McPhee)
KEYWORDS: love rejection parting travel Scotland
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 29, "The Lassie o' Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3923
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "MacDonald's Return to Glencoe" (lyrics)
cf. "Portmore (My Heart's in the Highlands)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Despite a few lyrics in common, this is a separate song from "MacDonald's Return to Glencoe." It also seems to have had grafted onto it a verse from "Portmore", which inspired Burns's "Farewell to the Highlands." - PJS
File: McCST029
===
NAME: Lass o Glencoe (II), The: see MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe) [Laws N39] (File: LN39)
===
NAME: Lass o' Bennochie, The
DESCRIPTION: "Twas at the back o' Bennochie... There I fell in love wi' a bonnie lass." Her wealthy father, despising the lad, forces him into the army. He returns to claim the girl. Father and uncle pursue, but the soldier beats them off. They live happily
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting poverty soldier separation reunion father
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ord, pp. 438-441, "The Lass o' Bennochie" (3 texts, very diverse; the second is mixed with "Locks and Bolts" [Laws M13])
DT, LASBENCH
Roud #406
NOTES: Roud lumps this with "Locks and Bolts" (Laws M13), and indeed Ord's second version includes several whole verses from that song.  And Ord's other versions, particularly the third, are so different that it might be reasonable to classify #3 as a separate song and place #2 with "Locks and Bolts."
Nonetheless the similarity of Ord's #1 and #2, and the overall distinctness of the pair from "Locks and Bolts," causes me to split them. This apparently follows Laws, who does not list the Ord texts with M13. Best to see both songs, however - RBW
File: Ord438
===
NAME: Lass of Glenshee, The [Laws O6]
DESCRIPTION: The singer woos the a Scottish shepherdess. He offers to marry and provide wealth and servants. She agrees, even though she is content with her life and herd. The singer looks back on years of happy marriage
AUTHOR: Andrew Sharpe (1805) ?
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1851 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2075)))
KEYWORDS: courting money marriage
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Britain(Scotland) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws O6, "The Lass of Glenshee"
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 12-15, "The Lass o' Glenshee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 75-76, "The Lass  o Glenshee" (1 text, tune referenced)
Warner 4, "Lass of Glenshee" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 28, "The Hills of Glenshee" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 77, "The Lass of Glenshee" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 131-132, "The Lass of Glenshie" (1 text)
SHenry H590, pp. 486-487, "The Lass of Glenshee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 31, "The Lass of Glenshee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 36, "The Rose of Glenshee" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 471, GLENSHEE GLENSHE2 GLENSHE3
Roud #292
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Lass of Glenshee" (on Abbott1)
Warde Ford, "Lass of Glen Shee" (AFS 4199 A1, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
"Yankee" John Galusha, "Lass of Glenshee" (on USWarnerColl01)
Mrs. T. Ghaney, "The Lass of Glenshee" (on NFMLeach)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2075), "The Lass o' Glenshea," Stephenson (Gateshead), 1821-1850; also Harding B 17(162a), 2806 c.14(23), Harding B 11(3321), "The Lass o' Glenshea"; Harding B 25(1081)[some words illegible], "The Lass o' Glenshee"; Firth b.26(227), "The Lass of Glenshee"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(120), "The Lass o' Glenshee," unknown, c. 1875
SAME_TUNE:
Queen Victoria's Welcome to Deeside (Ord, p. 337)
NOTES: Ford's notes claim that "The Crookit Bawbee" is "simply a free adaption" of this piece. In music, possibly. The text -- hardly. - RBW
Leach-Labrador notes the difference between his text and Ord's: "The present text of six quatrains tells the same story found in the Ord text of twelve quatrains. The difference is, as usual, in the repetition of details." The difference between Leach-Labrador and all of the broadsides is similar. The difference is more than the usual repetition of details. There are very few lines in common though the story outline is the same. This seems a rewrite by someone who once heard the original but never got the words and rebuilt the ballad out of the usual pieces. I wonder what A.B. Lord would have done with this. (No, this is not "Crookit Bawbee" either.) - BS
File: LO06
===
NAME: Lass of Glenshie, The: see The Lass of Glenshee [Laws O6] (File: LO06)
===
NAME: Lass of Mohea, The: see The Little Mohee [Laws H8] (File: LH08)
===
NAME: Lass of Mohee, The: see The Little Mohee [Laws H8] (File: LH08)
===
NAME: Lass of Mowee, The: see The Little Mohee [Laws H8] (File: LH08)
===
NAME: Lass of Roch Royal, The [Child 76]
DESCRIPTION: (Anne) misses her love (Lord Gregory). She sets out to meet him. When she comes to his castle, Gregory's mother turns her (and her son) away. When Gregory arrives/awakens to meet his love, he find Anne dead (drowned) and gone
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: separation death mother betrayal floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland) US(Ap,MW,So,SE,SW)
REFERENCES: (24 citations)
Child 76, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (12 texts)
Bronson 76, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (23 versions+1 in addenda, though many are generic "Pretty Little Foot" versions; I would regard only #1, #3, #4, #4.1 in the addenda, #5, #16, and #21 as being true versions of this piece, and the first two of those are fragments; #2 has the correct title but no text)
Dixon X, pp. 60-62, "Love Gregory" (1 text, plus a "pleasing imitation" called "Lord Thomas," printed 1825, on pp. 99-100)
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 174-177, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (2 fragments, one of which is probably "The Lass of Roch Royal" but the second being "Pretty Little Foot"; 1 tune)
Belden, p. 55, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (notes and references only)
Randolph 18, "Oh Who Will Shoe My Foot?" (8 texts, 5 tunes, with only the "C" and "G" versions clearly belonging here; most of the rest are "Pretty Little Foot" texts; "D," "E," and "F" are probably "Fare You Well, My Own True Love") {G=Bronson's #16}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 37-39, "Oh, Who Will Shoe My Foot" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 18G) {Bronson's #16}
BrownII 22, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (2 texts, clearly this song, but with the "Storms are on the ocean" verse; this is either the original of the latter or the two combined)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 122-123, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (sundry excerpts from versions she did not collect; the versions Scarborough collected are of "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot," "Honey Babe/New River Train," and "I Truly Understand That You Love Some Other Man")
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 78-79, "Fair Annie of the Lochroyan" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #5, a rather different transcription though of the same approximate version}
Leach, pp. 253-256, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (1 text)
OBB 43, "The Lass of Rochroyan" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 78, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (3 texts, 1 tune, with only the "A" text being this ballad)
Niles 31, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the second clearly "The Lass of Roch Royal" but the first could be any "Who's Goin' to Shoe" song)
Gummere, pp. 223-227+352, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (1 text)
Sandburg, 98-99, "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" (3 texts, 1 tune; of the three texts here, "C" is definitely a fragment of this piece, "B" is "The Storms Are on the Ocean"; the "A" text is a "pretty little foot" version)
Combs/Wilgus 21, pp. 118-121, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (1 text)
DBuchan 12, "The Lass of Roch Royal" , 13, "Love Gregor" (2 texts)
JHCox 13, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (2 texts, but one is a "Pretty Little Foot" version)
MacSeegTrav 10, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 65-68, "Love Gregor" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 214, "The Lass Of Roch Royal" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1259, "I built my love a gallant ship"
DT 76, LORDGREG LORGREG2 LRDGREG2*
Roud #49
RECORDINGS:
Elizabeth Cronin, "Lord Gregory (The Lass of Roch Royal)" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
Peggy Delaney, "Maid of Aughrim" (on IRTravellers01)
Jean Ritchie, "Fair Annie of Lochroyan" (on JRitchie01) {Bronson's #5}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" (floating lyrics) and references there
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. "Mary Anne" (lyrics)
cf. "Blackbirds and Thrushes (I)" (theme)
cf. "More Pretty Girls than One" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lord Gregory
A-Roving On A Winter's Night
Roving On Last Winter's Night
Who's Goin' to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot
Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot
Sweet Annie of Roch Royal
NOTES: This song has created a great deal of confusion, because of the attempt of certain scholars to make everything a Child Ballad. Some versions of this song contain the verses beginning "Who will shoe your pretty little foot, And who will glove your hand...." Therefore, anything containing these verses is filed by those scholars as Child #76, even though the songs they so file often contain no other portions of "The Lass of Roch Royal" -- and in fact the "pretty little foot" stanzas are not integral to "Roch Royal"; it's my personal feeling that they originated elsewhere and floated into this song, rather than the reverse.
For this yearson, it may be that some of the versions listed here should be classified with "The Storms Are on the Ocean" or other some other song with the "who will shoe your pretty little foot" lyrics. (I eventually tried to clean those out, but it's hard to do after the fact, and for too long I just trusted people who stamped a song "Child 76.") The floating stanzas about shoeing the girl's feet are simply too widespread for any classification effort to be entirely successful; hence the Ballad Index staff created the entry "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot."
After much hesitation, we finally ended up dividing the complex family of songs involving those lyrics as follows:
* "The Lass of Roch Royal" for the ballad of that title
* "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" for fragments too short to classify at all
* "Mary Anne" for the versions specifically about that girl
* "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)," for everything else.- RBW
Of Child's versions, Peggy Delaney's "Maid of Aughrim" on IRTravellers01 is closest to 76H. - BS
File: C076
===
NAME: Lass of Swansea Town, The (Swansea Barracks)
DESCRIPTION: A maid tells a man she is waiting for Willie, a sailor who left eight years ago. She would know him by a scar. He says Willie was killed in battle and told him to look after her. She only wants Willie. Then she sees his scar. They marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1842 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2071))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage war reunion beauty dialog sailor separation trick
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 547-548, "The Lass of Swansea Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LASSWANS
Roud #1416
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2071) , "The Lass of --- Town" ("As down by --- barracks"), T. Birt (London), 1833-1841; also Harding B 11(2072), "The Lass of ---town"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] (plot) and references there
SAME_TUNE:
Irish Molly O! (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(2071) )
NOTES: At the Reinhard Zierke site re Mike Waterson entry for Swansea Town: "A.L. Lloyd said in the Mike Waterson sleeve notes: Behind this is an Irish song, The Blooming Rose of Antrim. Old Phil Tanner, of the Gower Peninsula, South Wales, used to sing it, and perhaps it was he who moved the events to Swansea." It's Waterson's version that repeats the line "She's the blooming rose of South Wales and the Lass of Swansea Town."
However, the version of The Blooming Rose of Antrim I've seen, at Henry's Songbook site, called Flower of Corby's Mill, the form of the ballads is similar and there are some parallel verses but the stories are entirely different: specifically, Antrim has no mention of a lost sailor or his return; the "Blooming Lass" is "the bonny wee lass that works in Corby's Mill."
The CD _A Gower Garland_ by CaLennig includes (Tanner's?) version of "Swansea Barracks" in which the action takes place at Swansea Barracks but the maid is "the blooming rose of South Wales, the lass of Swansea Town."  Swansea is in fact in South Wales. Antrim is in Northern Ireland.
As to moving the events to Swansea, it appears from the three Bodleian broadsides, which predate Tanner (1862-1950), that you were to substitute any barracks name you could make into two syllables and the "blooming rose" is equally non-differentiating.
In broadsides Harding B 11(2071) and Harding B 11(2072) she's "the blooming rose of England"; in Peacock "she appeared to be some goddess." - BS
File: Pea547
===
NAME: Lass That Loved a Sailor, The: see When I Was Young; also Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: EM075)
===
NAME: Lass with the Bonny Brown Hair, The: see The Maid with the Bonny Brown Hair (File: HHH024)
===
NAME: Lassie Lives by Yonder Burn, A
DESCRIPTION: "A lassie lives by yonder burn, That jinks about the seggins, And aft she gies her sheep a turn, To feed amang the bracken." The singer promises that he would "row her in my plaidie" if she would "woo wi' me." He must leave but hopes to return to her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: courting separation
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 229-231, "A Lassie Lives by Yonder Burn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6121
File: FVS229
===
NAME: Lassie wi' the Yellow Coatie
DESCRIPTION: "Lassie wi' the yellow coatie, Will ye wed a muirlan' Jockie? Lassie wi' the yellow coatie, Will ye busk an' gang wi' me?" The singer admits to poverty, but promises to work hard and be true. He warns: "Time is precious, dinna lose it."
AUTHOR: James Duff ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, p. 198, "Lassie wi' the Yellow Coatie" (1 text)
Roud #2582
File: FVS198
===
NAME: Last Farewell, The (The Lover's Return)
DESCRIPTION: "So at last you have come back Since time at last has set you free...." The singer recalls his old love for the other -- but concludes that it is all over now: "No, no, you must not take my hand; God never gives us back our youth...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation return age infidelity
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 761, "The Last Farewell" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 495,496 "The Last Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 761A)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 33-34, "Too Late" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7400
File: R761
===
NAME: Last Fierce Charge, The [Laws A17]
DESCRIPTION: Two soldiers, boy and man, are about to ride into battle (at Fredericksburg?). Each asks the other to write to his home should he die. Both are killed; no letter is sent to mother or sweetheart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: war battle death farewell Civilwar
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 17, 1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (fought on Breed's Hill, and won by the British, though at heavy cost)
Dec 13, 1862 - Battle of Fredericksburg. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, well-positioned and entrenched,  easily throws back the assault of Ambrose Burnside's Army of the Potomac
July 1-3, 1863 - Battle of Gettysburg. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac holds off Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia
June 25, 1876 - Battle of the Little Bighorn. Lt. Colonel George A. Custer (who had been a Major General during the Civil War) is killed, along with the entire force of cavalry (five companies with somewhat over 250 men) with him.
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Laws A17, "The Last Fierce Charge (The Battle of Fredericksburg, Custer's Last Charge)"
Belden, pp. 383-387, "The Last Fierce Charge" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Randolph 234, "That Last Fierce Fight" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 94-96, "The Soldier Boy with Curly Hair" (1 text)
Eddy 139, "The Last Fierce Charge" (2 texts)
BrownII 231, "The Last Fierce Charge" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Peacock, pp. 1004-1006, "The Last Great Charge" (1 text, 1 tune, a conflate version)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 156-157, "Balaclava" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 118, "The Battle of Fredericksburg" (1 text)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 86-87, "The Last Fierce Charge" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 295, "The Last Fierce Charge" (1 text)
FSCatskills 14, "The Battle of Gettysburg" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 45, "Custer's Last Charge" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 692, LASTFIER
Roud #629
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Soldier's Letter" (plot)
cf. "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again" (plot)
cf. "Custer's Last Charge (I)" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Two Soldiers
Fight at Bunker Hill
The Last Fierce Charge of the French at Waterloo
NOTES: As the list of song titles shows, this piece could be particularized to deal with almost any battle (as, indeed, Belden has a text called "Fight at Bunker Hill," after the Revolutionary War battle. This, however, is historically impossible; the Americans weren't doing any charging at Bunker Hill. In any case, the "Bunker Hill" text never mentions that battle).
Since, however, the second-earliest (and perhaps least famous) event commemorated was the Battle of Fredericksburg, it seems quite likely that the song was originally about that conflict.
Phillips Barry had two texts credited to Virginia F. Townsend -- but even if this is accurate, it may apply only to an adaption; both were "Gettysburg" texts. - RBW
Creighton-Maritime names this "Balaclava" -- I assume the name the singer assigned -- though that is never mentioned in the ballad; Creighton also has a fragment naming the battle as Waterloo, referenced as in ms. as "The Last Great Charge." - BS
File: LA17
===
NAME: Last Friday Evening: see I've Travelled This Country (Last Friday Evening) (File: Beld194)
===
NAME: Last Gold Dollar, The: see My Last Gold Dollar (File: R671)
===
NAME: Last Letter, The
DESCRIPTION: "Dear love here's a letter It's the last one I'll send For my love's correspondings will soon be at end."  He dies with the letter unfinished. She dies from grief when she gets the letter. Now "they dwells each together in a bright home above"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: love parting reunion death
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 101, "Lovely Annie" (1 text)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 180-181, "The Unfinished Letter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1967
RECORDINGS:
George Riley, "The Last Letter" (Conqueror 7742, 1931)
File: GrMa101
===
NAME: Last Longhorn, The
DESCRIPTION: "An aged longhorn bovine lay dying on the river...." As the bull says it does not wish to live alone, the cowboy watches the passing of their era. The bull dies. The cowboy rides off; "His horse stepped in a dog hole and fell and broke his spine"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 ("The Cattleman")
KEYWORDS: cowboy animal death
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 115, "The Last Longhorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8015
RECORDINGS:
Carl T. Sprague, "The Last Longhorn" (Victor V-40197, 1930; Mongomery Ward M-4467, 1934; on MakeMe, WhenIWas1)
NOTES: The dating of the Fifes' version is rather strange; the final verse says that the cowboys' "glory has departed in 1889," but earlier it said that the last comrades of the longhorn "were embalmed to feed the boys who were a-fighting Spain" (placing the song after 1898). Since the cow also refers to the 1880s as "some nineteen summers past," the correct date in the final verse is probably 1899.
The longhorn cow was rugged and strong, but stubborn and perhaps not the best source of meat. Thus, after the closing of the frontier in the late eighteenth century, it was supplanted by domestic breeds. Hence this song. - RBW
File: FCW115
===
NAME: Last Moments of Robert Emmet, The: see Bold Robert Emmett (File: PGa032)
===
NAME: Last Month of the Year: see What Month Was Jesus Born In? (File: CNFM245)
===
NAME: Last of the Wooden Walls
DESCRIPTION: "Here Atlantic's foam-wreaths float In aqua-floral tribute to a ship submerged." The unnamed ship's activities are recalled, the men aboard mentioned; we are told of the tears shed when her journeys ended
AUTHOR: Harry R. Burton
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Harrington, Poems of Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: ship nonballad hunting
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, pp. 142-143, "Last of the Wooden Walls" (1 text)
NOTES: Yes, this is as, um, aqua-floral as it looks. Really, it doesn't belong in the Index. But I've done everything else in Ryan/Small; leaving out one of many irrelevant poems because it's irrelevant is rather pointless.
This should not be confused with the various other poems about the decline of sailing ships, several of which share similar titles. - RBW
File: RySm172
===
NAME: Last Parting of Burns and Bonnie Jean
DESCRIPTION: "Come near to me, Jean, come close to my side... That the widow's God may soften the road For my helpless bairns and thee, O."  Burns bids farewell. After he dies, she kisses his cold lips and takes a lock of his hair. Burns is buried and widely mourned
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Rennie ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: death burial separation
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1759-1796 - life of Robert Burns
1788 - Burns marries Jean Armour (1767-1834)
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 356, "Last Parting of Burns and Bonnie Jean" (1 text)
Roud #5606
File: Ord356
===
NAME: Last Rose of Summer, The
DESCRIPTION: "'Tis the last rose of summer, left blooming alone, All her lovely companions are faded and gone." The singer promises not to leave this flower even when other flowers are "scentless and dead": "Oh! Who would inhabit this bleak world alone!"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore
EARLIEST_DATE: 1852
KEYWORDS: flowers love nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
DT, LASTROSE*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 378-379, "The Last Rose of Summer" (1 text)
Roud #13861
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Castle Hyde" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Groves of Blarney (File: OCon033) (per Hoagland in the notes to "Castle Hyde")
Castle Hyde (Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 254-255)
NOTES: Dr. William Mahar claims this is one of the six most popular songs of the Civil War era. I've no idea what his evidence for this was; I've never seen it mentioned in any Civil War history.
This is another of Moore's pieces that was very popular in print (Granger's Index to Poetry has 15 references to it) but which seems to have had little vogue in tradition. - RBW
File: DTlastro
===
NAME: Last Serenade, The
DESCRIPTION: "I am under your window tonight, love, Giving you my last serenade." The singer says he must leave the girl. "But in the days that are to come we may then be joined in heart.... Serenade, serenade, I am giving you my last serenade."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation farewell
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 742, "The Last Serenade" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7396
File: R742
===
NAME: Last Token, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come press to your heart this last token, Though 'tis neither silver nor gold, 'Twill remind you of words you have spoken Too fondly to ever be told. When I'm far away a-sleeping... Your first love you'll never forget."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love death
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 739, "The Last Token" (1 fragment)
Roud #7395
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Rosewood Casket"
NOTES: I'm sure this is a fragment of something longer. It may even be elsewhere in the Index. But Randolph's fragment is so short that I can't identify it. - RBW
File: R739
===
NAME: Last Winter Was a Hard One
DESCRIPTION: Two Irish women lament the hard times. Neither woman's husband could find a job, and both families suffered. They curse the Italians who have arrived to take Irish jobs. They look forward to better times when their husbands find work
AUTHOR: Words: Jim O'Neil / Music: Jack Conroy
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: work poverty unemployment foreigner hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
FSCatskills 98, "Last Winter Was a Hard One" (1 text+fragments, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 111-112,248, "Last Winter Was a Hard One" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LASTWNTR*
Roud #4607
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Longshoreman's Strike (The Poor Man's Family)" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
When McGuinness Gets a Job
NOTES: The sheet music to this is "respectfully dedicated to comptroller John Kelly." John Kelly (1822-1886) was a New York politician. A one-time representative, the _Dictionary of American Biography_ credits him with running Tammany Hall 1873-1882. Thus he would be the chief politician responsible for municipal employment.
See one version of "When McGuinness Gets a Job" [Sheet Music: digital id sm1880 11975], published in New York in 1880, at the Library of Congress American Memory site. - BS
File: FSC098
===
NAME: Last Words of William Shackleford, Executed in Pittsboro, Chatham Co, March 28, 1890: see William S. Shackleford (File: BrII293)
===
NAME: Last Year Was a Fine Crap Year: see Whoa Back, Buck (File: LxU067)
===
NAME: Late Battle in the West
DESCRIPTION: Another account of the conquest of Vicksburg by Union troops. The focus is mostly on General Grant: "Oh bully for our chief... Old Jeff is getting scared, Grant's getting bolder... Three cheers for Grant, and the Union forever!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 1862 - Union general Ulysses S. Grant begins his Vicksburg campaign. His first four attempts to reach the city fail
Apr 16, 1863 - Porter's gunboats run past Vicksburg, opening the way for Grant's final successful campaign
May 12-17, 1863 - Grant fights a series of minor battles which bring him to the defences of Vicksburg
May 22, 1863 - Grant's attempt to take Vicksburg by storm is a bloody failure. The Union army settles down to a siege
July 4, 1863 - Lt. General Pemberton surrenders Vicksburg
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 371-372, "Late Battle in the West" (1 text)
Roud #7764
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of Vicksburg" (subject)
cf. "Victorious March" (subject)
NOTES: Every historical event in this song is described in the notes to "Victorious March"; see the notes to this song.
Although this is surely a composed song, the informant almost certainly had it from oral tradition. This shows in the names of the officers. He mentions, in addition to Grant, three generals: MacPherson (James B. McPherson, 1828-1864, one of Grant's corps commanders), Logan (John A. Logan, 1826-1886, a division commander), and "McClellan."
George B. McClellan, former commander of the Army of the Potomac, of course did not serve at Vicksburg. The reference, I think, must be to John A. McClernand (1812-1900), a politician who had become one of Grant's corps commanders in exchange for raising many of the troops used in the expedition. He was not particularly competent, and would later be relieved. - RBW
File: Beld371
===
NAME: Late Last Night When Willie Came Home (Way Downtown)
DESCRIPTION: "Late last night when Willie came home Heard a mighty rapping on the door... Willie don't you rap no more." The song then veers to floating verses. Chorus:  "Oh me, oh my, what's gonna become of me I's downtown, fooling around No one to stand for me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: drink prison nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 166, "Late Last Night When Willie Came Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
MWheeler, p. 87-89, "Come On, My Pink, an' Tell Me What You Think" (1 text, 1 tune, consisting of many floating verses -- the first, e.g., comes from "Little Pink" --  but which overall seems closest to this)
Handy/Silverman-Blues, pp. 58-59, "Ever After On" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7691
RECORDINGS:
Frank Blevins, "Late Last Night when Willie Came Home" (Columbia, 1927; unissued)
Uncle Dave Macon w. Sam McGee, "Late Last Night When My Willie Come Home" (Vocalion 5095, 1926; on RoughWays2)
Poplin Family, "Hammer Ring" (on Poplin01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Late Last Night When Willie Came Home" (on NLCR02)
Louise Foreacre, "Last Last Night" (on Stonemans01)
Doc Watson, Clint Howard & Fred Price, "Way Down Town" (on Ashley03, WatsonAshley01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Late Last Night When My Willie Came Home
NOTES: It's hard to tell if the Handy text "Ever After On" belongs here. Certainly they derive from the same roots; the Handy text begins "Late last night when my baby come home I heard a mighty knocking on my door... Told him Baby don't you knock no more." The chorus runs, "But I'll love my baby till the seas run dry... Oh ain't it hard... To love a man that don't love you." 
The rest, like the version in Wheeler, is fairly standard for a traditional blues: Verses unrelated except in their sorrowful feeling, and borrowed from all over. I initially listed it as a separate song based on the notes in Handy/Silverman, which imply multiple versions in Odum and Johnson. But I suspect those are actually versions of "Late Last Night." - RBW
File: CSW166
===
NAME: Late One Night: see Bad Lee Brown (Little Sadie) [Laws I8] (File: LI08)
===
NAME: Lather and Shave: see The Love-of-God Shave (Lather and Shave) [Laws Q15] (File: LQ15)
===
NAME: Laughing Song
DESCRIPTION: "As I was coming 'round the corner, I heard some people say, Here comes a dandy darky; here he comes this way. His heel is like a snowplow, And his mouth is like a trap, And when he open it gently you will see a fearful gap." Chorus is mostly laughing
AUTHOR: George W. Johnson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1894
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad Black(s)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 171, "Laughing Song" (1 fragmentary excerpt)
Roud #6352
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough" (chorus)
NOTES: Greenleaf/Mansfield replaces the "dandy darky" reference by "laughing jackass" and uses elipses to give the impression that the chorus is just "Ha, ha ha ha ha ha, ha, ha, ha, Ha, ha," etc.
Johnson's chorus is
Then I laugh ha ha ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha,
I couldn't stop my laughing ha ha ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha,
Ha ha ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha,
I couldn't stop my laughing ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Johnson's sheet music and recording were an immediate hit "selling tens of thousands of records by 1894 alone" per "The Ragtime Ephemeralist" site.  The text is on on the Archeophone Records site recording of the month for February 2002.
This song is sometimes confused with another laughing chorus song, Cal Stewart's 1901 "I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough." - BS
File: GrMa171
===
NAME: Laundry Song, A
DESCRIPTION: "I used to work in the kitchen And wash the pans and crocks, But now I work in the laundry And wash the stinking socks." Brought up well, the singer falls in with a bad crowd, and stands guard during a robbery. The others escape; he ends in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: trial punishment crime work prisoner clothes
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Gardner/Chickering 148, "A Laundry Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST GC148 (Partial)
Roud #3674
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "No More Shall I Work in the Factory" (lyrics)
NOTES: The informant from whom this song was collected said that he did not know where he learned the song -- but he was "a boy of fifteen in the Detention Home, Detroit." One suspects he or someone he knew composed it, based on something like "No More Shall I Work in the Factory." - RBW
File: GC148
===
NAME: Laurel Hill
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls sailing from Ireland to fight Napoleon with Wellington. He fights in Spain and all the way to Waterloo. At last her returns to find his love bewailing his death. He reveals himself to her; they settle down. He praises Wellington
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation reunion Napoleon soldier
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1809 - Wellington takes command in the Peninsula (to 1814)
1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H8, pp. 311-312, "Laurel Hill/Kyle's Flowery Braes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 193, "Laurel Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LAURLHIL
Roud #2917
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Burns and His Highland Mary" [Laws O34] (tune)
NOTES: The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Sweet Laurel Hill" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) - BS
File: HHH008
===
NAME: Lavender Blue
DESCRIPTION: "Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly..." Singer tells his lady  that she must love him because he loves her. He tells of a vale where young man and maid have lain together, and suggests that they might do the same, and that she might love him (and also his dog)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1685 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: courting sex love dog colors
FOUND_IN: Britain US(NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Linscott, pp. 229-230, "Lavender's Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 299, "Lavender's blue, diddle, diddle" (3 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #137, p. 113, "(Lavender blue and rosemary green)"
Silber-FSWB, p. 158, "Lavender Blue" (1 text)
DT, LAVNDER2
Roud #3483
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 1(56a), "Diddle, diddle" or "The Kind Country Lovers ("Lavenders green, didle, didle"), F. Coles, T. Vere, J. Wright, and J. Clark (London), 1674-1679
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Diddle, Diddle (Or The Kind Country Lovers)
NOTES: When I was four years old, I thought this song was stupid. Forty-five years later, I see no reason to change my mind. - PJS
Hard to argue that point based on the versions that I've heard, but the broadside version in the Digital Tradition hints that there is at least a little more going on behind the scenes. Linscott explains that the song, "of English origin, is connected with the amusements of Twelfth Night and refers to the choosing of the king and queen of the festivities."
The real problem may be that the version most people know comes from a Disney film. - RBW
File: FSWB158A
===
NAME: Lavender Cowboy, The
DESCRIPTION: "He was only a lavender cowboy, The hairs on his chest were two." Troubled by dreams, the boy tries all sorts of worthless hair nostrums. At last he "battled for Red Nellie's honor... He died with his six-guns a-blazing And only two hairs on his chest."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Ewen Hail)
KEYWORDS: death dream cowboy fight
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 39, "The Lavender Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 30, "The Lavender Cowboy" (1 text)
DT, LAVCOWBY
Roud #11213
RECORDINGS:
 Vernon Dalhart, "The Lavender Cowboy" (Bluebird B-8229, 1939)
Ewen Hail, "Lavendar Cowboy" (Brunswick 141, 1927; Brunswick 433, 1930)
NOTES: Vernon Dalhart recorded this song in 1938 in an ill-fated comeback on Bluebird, only to see the song blacklisted. - RBW
File: FCW039
===
NAME: Lavender Girl
DESCRIPTION: "Wen the sun climbs over the hills And the skylark sings so merrily, Then I my little basket fill And trudge away to the village cheerily." The girl sells lavender to "keep my mother, myself, and my brother"; she cries, "Come and buy my lavender."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: commerce home mother family orphan
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 245, "Lavender Girl" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Lavender Girl" (source notes only)
Roud #15774
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sweet Blooming Lavender" (theme)
File: Br3245
===
NAME: Lavender's Blue: see Lavender Blue (File: FSWB158A)
===
NAME: Lavender's Blue, Diddle, Diddle: see Lavender Blue (File: FSWB158A)
===
NAME: Lawlands o' Holland, The: see The Lowlands of Holland (File: R083)
===
NAME: Lawson Murder, The (Charlie Lawson) [Laws F35]
DESCRIPTION: Charlie Lawson goes mad on a Christmas evening and shoots first his wife and then, despite their pleas, his six children. He prepares them for burial, bids goodbye, and kills himself also. The family is buried in a common grave
AUTHOR: Wiley Morris? Walter "Kid" Smith?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, The Carolina Buddies)
KEYWORDS: murder family burial suicide madness children
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 25, 1929 - 43-year-old Charles D. Lawson shoots his family and himself
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws F35, "The Lawson Murder (Charlie Lawson)"
Warner 114, "The Lawson Family Murder" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 298, "The Lawson Murder" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Darling-NAS, pp. 206-207, "The Lawson Murder" (1 text)
DT 729, LAWSNMRD
Roud #697
RECORDINGS:
[Walter "Kid" Smith and the] Carolina Buddies, "Murder of the Lawson Family" (Conqueror 15537, 1930)
Spencer Moore with Everett Blevins, "The Lawson Murder" (on LomaxCD1705)
The Morris Brothers, "The Story of Charlie Lawson" (Bluebird B-7903, c. 1938)
E. R. Nance Singers, "The Lawson Murder" (Brunswick 542, 1931)
Glen Neaves, "The Death of the Lawson Family" (on Persis1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dark Knight" (plot)
cf. "William Beadle" (plot)
NOTES: As is typical of songs from the early era of recorded music, the authorship of this is uncertain. D. K. Wilgus credits this to Wiley Morris of the Morris Brothers. But Richard Dress informs me that Walter "Kid" Smith of the Carolina Buddies also claimed to have written it -- and, of course, his recording came first; the Morris recording actually postdates the first field collection (Brown).
Whoever wrote it sure came out with it fast, since the song was released only months after the murder.
It has become quite popular with bluegrass performers in recent years, starting with the Stanley Brothers. - RBW
File: LF35
===
NAME: Lawyer Outwitted, The [Laws N26]
DESCRIPTION: A squire's son loves a lawyer's daughter. He disguises himself to ask the lawyer's advice on how to get married against a father's wishes. The lawyer gives detailed advice, which the children follow. Presented with a fait accompli, he blesses the union
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1764 (broadside, Bodleian Douce Ballads 3(14a))
KEYWORDS: lawyer courting disguise marriage trick
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws N26, "The Lawyer Outwitted"
SharpAp 68, "The Councillor's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 37, "The Councillor's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 24, "Rich Counsellor" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN2078, "Of a rich Counsellor I write"
DT 455, LAWYROUT
Roud #188
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 3(14a), "The Crafty Lover" or "The Lawyer Outwitted," W. and C. Dicey (London), 1736-1763; also Harding B 4(52), "The Crafty Lover" or "The Lawyer-Out-Witted"
SAME_TUNE:
I'll Love Thee More and More (per broadsides Bodleian Douce Ballads 3(14a), Bodleian Harding B 4(52))
File: LN26
===
NAME: Lay Dis Body Down: see I Know Moonlight (File: San451)
===
NAME: Lay Down Body: see I Know Moonlight (File: San451)
===
NAME: Lay Me Down: see Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go) (File: Doe062)
===
NAME: Lay of Oliver Gogarty, The
DESCRIPTION: Senator and doctor Oliver St John Gogarty is asked at home by a lady in a Rolls-Royce to make a house call for a sick man. In the car he is abducted by rebel "masked ruffians" but escapes to the safety of the Civic Guard
AUTHOR: William Dawson (source: OLochlainn-More)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: abduction escape patriotic doctor police IRA
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 12, 1923 - "[Free State] Senator Oliver St. John Gogarty [1878-1957] ... escaped from his IRA captors by swimming the Liffey." (source: _Chapters of Dublin History_ on the eircom site)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 16, "The Lay of Oliver Gogarty" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: OLcM016
===
NAME: Lay Out, Tack Sheets and Haul: see Paddy, Get Back (File: Doe054)
===
NAME: Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom: see Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1] (File: C001)
===
NAME: Lay This Body Down: see I Know Moonlight (File: San451)
===
NAME: Lazarus (I)
DESCRIPTION: "There was a man in ancient times" who dressed and ate well "And spent his day in sinning." Lazarus comes to his door to beg, but is turned away. Lazarus dies and is taken to heaven; the rich man dies, goes to Hell, begs mercy, and is lectured
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); + 1889 (JAFL2)
KEYWORDS: religious poverty punishment Hell
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Bronson 56, "Dives and Lazarus" (13 versions, of which #10, #11, and #12 are this piece and #9, a tune with no text, might be)
BrownII 210, "Dives and Lazarus I" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 14, "Dives and Lazarus" (1 text, listed as "Dives and Lazarus" but clearly this piece; 1 tune, entitled "Lazarus and Dives, or The Rich Man Dives") {Bronson's #11}
SharpAp 84, "Lazarus" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6566
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dives and Lazarus" [Child 56] (subject) and references there
NOTES: Jesus's story of the rich man and Lazarus is found in Luke 16:19-31 (the Lazarus of John 11, 12 is unrelated).
It's worth remembering that this is not something that actually happened in the Bible; rather, it is a story Jesus told as a warning. Thus this is a warning about a warning. (At least one version, the Tennessee text of J. C. Jarnigan, makes this explicit.)
Bronson lists this song with "Dives and Lazarus," but in an appendix, and it appears to be a separate song; in this judgment Belden concurs. It has at least two key features: The introductory line about the man in ancient times, and the lack of mention of Dives/Diverus. - RBW
File: C056A
===
NAME: Lazarus (II): see The Little Family [Laws H7] (File: LH07)
===
NAME: Lazarus and Dives, or The Rich Man Dives: see Lazarus (I) (File: C056A)
===
NAME: Lazarus and the Rich Man
DESCRIPTION: The singer urges all people to listen as he relates how Lazarus suffered and the rich man ignored him. Indeed, the rich man enjoyed Lazarus's sufferings. Now the rich man is in torment; the listeners are urged to turn to God
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible death warning
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 661, "Lazarus and the Rich Man" (1 text)
Roud #7582
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dives and Lazarus" [Child 56] (subject) and references there
cf. "The Rich Man and the Poor Man" (theme)
NOTES: Jesus's story of the rich man and Lazarus is found in Luke 16:19-31 (the Lazarus of John 11, 12 is unrelated).
It's worth remembering that this is not something that actually happened in the Bible; rather, it is a story Jesus told as a warning. Thus this is a warning about a warning. - RBW
File: R661
===
NAME: Lazy (Young) Man, The: see The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn [Laws H13] (File: LH13)
===
NAME: Lazy Club, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer complains about his lethargic family: "My wife is such a lazy Turk, she will not do a bit of work." "My eldest daughter's just as bad; I really think she's lazy-mad." And so on, through son, servant, even dog -- leaving him to pay their debts
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1848 (Elton's Song Book)
KEYWORDS: work money
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 107, "The Lazy Club" (1 short traditional text plus part of a broadside version, 1 tune)
ST FSC107 (Partial)
File: FSC107
===
NAME: Lazy Farmer Boy, A: see The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn [Laws H13] (File: LH13)
===
NAME: Lazy Harry's (Five Miles from Gundagai)
DESCRIPTION: The workers set out for Sydney, but upon reaching Lazy Harry's, stop for a drink. And "the girl who served the poison, she winked at Bill and I, So we camped at Lazy Harry's on the road to Gundagai." The men revel until their money is used up.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: drink money rambling
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, GUNDAGI2*
Roud #10726
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Lazy Harry's (Five Miles from Gundagai)" (on JGreenway01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jacksons" (plot, lyrics, portions of tune)
cf. "Jog Along Till Shearing" (theme)
NOTES: Gundagai was a town of no particular account in itself. Its position at the midpoint of the Sydney-Melbourne road has, however, made it the setting for many folk songs. - RBW
File: DTgundag
===
NAME: Lazy Mary (She Won't Get Up)
DESCRIPTION: The mother calls the girl, but she "won't get up, she won't get up, she won't get up today." The mother makes various offers to entice the girl; she refuses each one. Finally a young man is offered, and the girl rises.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914
KEYWORDS: dialog humorous mother family courting
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 396, "She Won't Get Up" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 110, pp. 225-226, "What Will You Give Me If I Get Up?" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 31-33, "Lazy Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R396 (Full)
Roud #6561
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (theme)
File: R396
===
NAME: Lazy Old River: see Powder River (I - Lazy River) (File: FCW061)
===
NAME: Le Bal Chez Boule (Boule's Ball): see Bal Chez Boule, Le (Boule's Ball) (File: FJ108)
===
NAME: Le Sergent: see Sergent, Le (File: FMB060)
===
NAME: Le Vieux Soulard Et Sa Femme: see My Good Old Man (File: R426)
===
NAME: Lead Her Up and Down (Rosa Becky Diner, Old Betsy Lina)
DESCRIPTION: "Lead her up and down, Rosa Betsy Lina (x3) And I want you to be my darling." "Wheel and turn the old brass lantern..." "Swing corners all, Rosa Betsy Lina..." "All promenade...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Texas Folklore Society)
KEYWORDS: playparty dancing
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 552, "Lead Her Up and Down" (2 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes)
Roud #7679
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rosa Betsy Lina
Rosa-becka-lina
Betsy Larkin (?)
File: R552
===
NAME: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
DESCRIPTION: Gospel song, with chorus "Leaning on the everlasting arms." The rest is a combination of confidence in Jesus, comfort at being in fellowship with Jesus, and simple anticipation
AUTHOR: E. A. Hoffman and A. J. Showalter
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Darling-NAS, pp. 260-261, "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" (1 text)
DT, LEANARMS*
RECORDINGS:
Irene Spain Family, "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" (OKeh 45322, 1929)
NOTES: At first glance, and even at second glance, this looks like just another gospel song. I don't know of any reason to think it's any more traditional than any other church hymn. But it has achieved a certain popularity with folk revival singers, so it's here. - RBW
File: DarNS260
===
NAME: Learmont Grove: see The Banished Lover (The Parish of Dunboe) (File: HHH023)
===
NAME: Leather Breeches
DESCRIPTION: "I went down town And I wore my leather breeches. I couldn't see the people For looking at the peaches." "I went down town And I got a pound of butter; I come home drunk And I throwed it in the gutter."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink clothes food
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 322, "Leather Breeches" (1 short text)
Roud #15748
NOTES: A fiddler's mnemonic for Leather Britches? It's not possible to tell from Brown. - RBW
File: Br3322
===
NAME: Leather Britches: see The Old Leather Breeches (File: MCB232)
===
NAME: Leatherwing Bat: see The Bird's Courting Song (The Hawk and the Crow; Leatherwing Bat) (File: K295)
===
NAME: Leave for Texas, Leave for Tennessee: see T for Texas (Blue Yodel #1) (File: LoF152A)
===
NAME: Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Leave her, Johnny, leave her... And it's time for us to leave her." Tells of the troubles on the voyage and of what Johnny can hope for as the ship arrives in port. Some versions have a chorus
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor separation return
FOUND_IN: US(MA,SW) Ireland Australia Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 89-90, "Time for Us to Leave Her (Leave Her, Johnny)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 135-136, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 119-121, "Leave Her, Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 99-100, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 293-298, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (5 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 218-221]
Sharp-EFC, II-III, pp.3-4, "Leave Her Johnny" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 86-87, "Time to Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 46-47, "Leave Her, Jollies, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 412, "Leave Her, Bullies, Leave Her" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text, which is this song, is very short; the "B" text is "Across the Western Ocean")
Scott-BoA, pp. 135-137, "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 233, ("Leave Her, Johnny") (1 text)
SHenry H96, p. 96, "It's Time for Us to Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment, short enough that it could be this or "Across the Western Ocean")
Silber-FSWB, p. 97, "Leave Her, Johnny" (1 text)
DT, LEAVEHER* LEAVHER2*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). A fragment called "Tis Time for Us to Leave Her" is in Part 4, 8/4/1917.
Roud #354
RECORDINGS:
 Leander Macumber, "Leave Her Johnny, Leave Her" (on NovaScotia1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Across the Western Ocean" (floating lyrics; tune)
File: Doe089
===
NAME: Leave Her, Jollies, Leave Her: see Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her (File: Doe089)
===
NAME: Leave Me Alone
DESCRIPTION: I hev a roustabout for my manÑ Livin' with a white man for a sham, Oh, leave me alone, Leave me alone, I'd like you much better if you'd leave me alone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924
KEYWORDS: home
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 593, [no title] (1 text)
File: DMRF593A
===
NAME: Leaves of Life, The: see The Seven Virgins (The Leaves of Life) (File: OBB111)
===
NAME: Leaves So Green, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer, who "never loved to tread" populated areas, asks that his body, when he dies, be taken "to some green lonely spot, Where none with careless steps shall tread." He recalls the flowers and birds, and can rest most easily among them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: burial flowers bird nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H719, p. 63, "The Leaves So Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13332
File: HHH719
===
NAME: Leaving Home: see Frankie and Albert [Laws I3] (File: LI03)
===
NAME: Leaving of Liverpool
DESCRIPTION: The singer is preparing to sail from Liverpool. He bids farewell to the city and most especially to his sweetheart. He describes the difficult conditions he will face aboard the Davy Crockett under Captain Burgess
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Doerflinger)
KEYWORDS: sailor parting abuse
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 104-105, "The Leaving of Liverpool" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 97, "The Leaving of Liverpool" (1 text)
DT, LEAVLIV1*
Roud #9435
NOTES: Despite the beauty of this song, it seems to have survived only in the single copy published by Doerflinger, which gave rise to all the pop/folk recordings.
Although the song refers to the ship as the "Davy Crockett," there was never (according to Octavius T. Howe and Frederick G. Matthews, _American Clipper Ships 1833-1858_ Volume I, p. 126) a clipper by that name; the ship was called the _David Crockett._ She was launched in late 1853. Designed for the Liverpool-to-New-York trade, she was transferred to the San Francisco route in 1857.According to Basil Lubbock, _The Down Easters: American Deep-water Sailing Ships 1869-1929_, p. 46, she "could hardly have been improved upon as a Cape Horner, being possessed not only of unusual speed and strength but of good carrying capacity."
She was also famous for her fast voyages, a tribute partly to her design but mostly to the harshness of her masters.
John A. Burgess took command of the ship in 1860, having previously commanded the _Governor Morton_  and the _Monarch of the Seas_. Burgess, according to Lubbock, p. 28, ÒBurgess was not only a navigator of exceptional reputation, but one of those seamen who deligheed in the art of driving a ship under sail. Though a strict disciplinarian, he would allow no bucko methods, and was one of those rare master-men who were never known to swear or use bad language. His mates, Griffiths and Conrad,  were men of the same type, who could get work out of an indifferent or vicious crew without using belaying-pins or knuckle-dusters."
Lubbock, pp. 266-267, gives a catalog of the _Crockett's_ trips around the Horn -- a total of 25 from 1857 to 1983. Burgess took command on her fourth voyage (1860), and captained 13 trips before his death; his mate John Anderson finished that trip and commanded the next two.
Burgess was on his way home to San Francisco to retire when he was washed overboard in 1874. According to Lubbock, p. 28, he was attempting to remove wreckage, a task he took upon himself rather than risk a crewman's life.
The _Crockett_ did not become an easier ship after his death. The June 2006 issue of _American History_ magazine has an article by Steve Wilson on impressment  ("crimping," in American terms) on the American West Coast. It notes that one Andreas Stork in 1882 sued second mate Jesse Millais of the _Crockett_ for abuse -- and won! Given that sailors were expected to face harsh treatment, conditions on the _Crockett_ must have been bad indeed.
Based on Lubbock's list of voyages, the _Crockett_ made only one trip in 1882 and a last voyage in 1883. I wonder if the Stork suit didn't hasten her retirement from the route.
According to Lubbock, p. 49, the _Crockett_ was converted to a coal barge in 1890 and wrecked in 1899. - RBW
File: Doe104
===
NAME: Leaving of Merasheen, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer remembers life on the "little isle of Merasheen down in Placentia Bay" and mourns having to leave it. "Those days are gone forever now and so is Merasheen."
AUTHOR: Ernie Wilson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1975 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: homesickness home parting lament nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 65, "The Leaving of Merasheen" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "The Resettlement Program was carried out in Newfoundland during Joseph Smallwood's government [1950s to 1970s].... Its aim was to relocate ... coastal communities to larger centers where they would find better job opportunities and public facilities such as hospitals and schools.... When the smoke had finally cleared over three hundred communities had been completely closed down and those that remained were tombstones marking the passing of a large and noble part of our history."
See "The Blow Below the Belt" for another resettlement song - BS
Joey Smallwood began his career as a radio broadcaster, and used his position to push Newfoundland into Confederation with Canada; according to Craig Brown, e.d, _The Illustrated History of Canada_, p. 374, "Mainland prosperity, urged by Joey Smallwood... won out against the proud penury of independence."
But Smallwood, who went from broadcaster to Newfoundland premier and led the province for more than twenty years, by the late Fifties was turning to "increasingly illiberal one-man rule" (p. 491). The result of his policy was complaints like these. - RBW
File: LeBe065
===
NAME: Leaving Old England
DESCRIPTION: The singer is sadly leaving England, and asks for his mother's blessing as he departs. He regrets leaving home, but poverty forces him away. He comments on England's social system that is so hard on the poor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1954
KEYWORDS: emigration family political mother
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 55-56, "Leaving Old England" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Meredith amd Anderson suggest that this might be the ancestor of "Botany Bay"; the tunes are similar. There is, however, no firm evidence of this. - RBW
File: MA055
===
NAME: Lee's Ferry
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you roving cowboys, bound on these western plains... We'll go back home again... We'll cross over Lee's Ferry, oh, and go back home this year." The cowhands  agree that they will go home, but they grow old without ever returning
AUTHOR: Romaine Lowdermilk
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: cowboy home travel age
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 37, "Lees' Ferry" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mountain Meadows Massacre" [Laws B19] (character of John D. Lee)
NOTES: Lee's Ferry (named for Mormon pioneer John D. Lee) was at one time the only way to cross the Colorado River in Arizona. The region north and west of the river (the "Arizona Strip"), surrounded on two sides by river, and with desert to the west and hills to the north, was decent cattle country but very isolated. Hence this song.
For more about John D. Lee, very little of it good, see the notes to "The Mountain Meadows Massacre" [Laws B19]. - RBW
File: Ohr047
===
NAME: Lee's Hoochie
DESCRIPTION: A soldier visits "Miss Lee" in Seoul, and contracts a venereal disease. He advises it is better to avoid Lee's hoochie than to have "Old Smoky," his penis, blue.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy disease sex warning
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1950-1953 - Korean War
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 407-409, "Lee's Hoochie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10409
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "On Top of Old Smokey" (tune)
NOTES: This song, for which there seem to be no direct antecedents, dates from the Korean War. - EC
File: EM407
===
NAME: Leeboy's Lassie, The: see Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going) (File: SBoA050)
===
NAME: Leesome Brand [Child 15]
DESCRIPTION: Leesome Brand impregnates his love. When her time comes she has him  take her riding, then  go hunt, sparing the white hind. He returns to find her and his son dead. He laments his knife and sheath. His mother gives him St. Paul's blood to revive them.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: love pregnancy death hunting resurrection
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 15, "Leesome Brand" (2 texts)
Leach, pp. 90-96, "Leesome Brand" (2 texts)
OBB 56, "Leesome Brand, or, The Sheath and the Knife" (1 text)
PBB 52, "Leesome Brand" (1 text)
DBuchan 43, "Leesome Brand" (1 text)
Roud #3301
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sheathe and Knife" [Child 16] (lyrics about the "sheathe and knife")
File: C015
===
NAME: Left Jim and I Alone: see Orphan's Lament (Two Little Children, Left Jim and I Alone) (File: BrII150)
===
NAME: Leg of Mutton Went Over to France, A
DESCRIPTION: "A leg of mutton went over to France ... The ladies did sing and the gentlemen dance." Anyway, a man dies, a doctor looks in his head and finds a spring in which 39 salmon are learning to sing, with a pool for young salmon to go to school.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Journal of Folk-Song Society, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: France humorous nonsense talltale wordplay
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Peacock, p. 14, "A Leg of Mutton Went Over to France" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 357, "As I was walking o'er little Moorfields" (3 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #244, p. 155, "(As I was walkin o'er little Moorfields)"
Roud #2423
NOTES: The ending floats: "perhaps you think I ... lie", "If you want any more ...", even if entire verses don't.
Opie-Oxford2: "[Moorfields] would be an appropriate setting for a nonsense song, for in 1675 the Old Bethlem Hospital was moved to Moorfields from Bishops Gate Without." - BS
File: Pea014
===
NAME: Legacy
DESCRIPTION: "When in death I shall calm recline O bear my heart my mistress dear, Bid her not shed one tear of sorrow To sully a heart so brilliant and light; But balmy drops of the red grape borrow To bathe the relict from morn till night."
AUTHOR: Words: Thomas Moore
EARLIEST_DATE: 1808 (Missouri Harmony)
KEYWORDS: death drink religious
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 155, "Legacy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: San155A
===
NAME: Legion of the Rearguard, The
DESCRIPTION: "Up the republic, they raise their battle cry, Pearse and McDermott will pray for you on high, Eager and ready, for the love of you they die." The soldiers for the Republic die proud, bloody deaths to accomplish an unstated goal
AUTHOR: J. O'Sheehan
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (copyright, according to the Clancy/Makem songbook)
KEYWORDS: Ireland political soldier death nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, LGNREAR
NOTES: Why is it that the Irish nut cases get all the good songs?
After the 1916 rebellion, the Irish people finally turned truly nationalist. And, after World War I, Michael Collins and others turned up the heat so much that the British, after repression failed (see the notes, e.g., to "The Bold Black and Tan"), gave up and started negotiating.
The result was the Anglo-Irish Treaty (for which see, in particular, "The Irish Free State"). This would have turned Ireland into a British Dominion (a nearly-independent state; Canada was the prototype). But there were two things in the Treaty that were objectionable: The Irish still owed nominal allegiance to the British crown, and Ireland was to be partitioned between Ulster and the Free State, according to a boundary to be determined.
Rationally, it was a fair agreement for Ireland; it was not George V and the current generation of the royal family who had oppressed them, but Elizabeth I (no descendants), Oliver Cromwell (repudiated by the English), William of Orange (not the ancestor of the current dynasty), and David Lloyd George, who wouldn't hold power much longer. And, had the boundary commission worked, Ireland would have gotten rid of those ungovernable Ulstermen that gave England almost as much trouble as they gave Dublin.
But the war with Britain had been fought by the IRA and other, even more secret and terrorist, forces, and they wanted complete independence. When Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins brought home the Treaty, Eamon de Valera (head of state and chief hard liner) rejected it. The Dail, the Irish parliament, however, went against him and -- despite being composed entirely of Sinn Fein members -- voted for it by a narrow margin. The national election which followed showed strong support for it; even the pro-Republican historian Calton Younger's statistics (_Ireland's Civil War_, pp. 313-314) make it appear that only 22% of the voters voted to reject the Treaty.
But 22% is more than enough for an insurgency. The IRA was split into pro- and anti-treaty factions. Speaking very loosely, the anti-treaty forces were concentrated in the south and west, with Cork their chief center (hence, presumably, the song's reference to the martial tramp of the Republicans being heard "from Cork to Donegal"). The anti-treaty forces promptly went to war against the pro-Treaty provisional government.
The insurgents scored one and only one real success: On August 22, 1922, they succeeded in killing Michael Collins, the effective head of the government. (For this, and much additional background, see the notes to "General Michael Collins").
It was the ultimate in pyrrhic victories. Collins had started his career as a terrorist, but he was also a realist and a genius. He might have managed to control the rebellion with relatively slight loss of life and liberty. Without him, the new government, headed by William Cosgrave, Kevin O'Higgins, and Collins's former Chief of Staff Richard Mulcahy, turned Ireland into a temporary police state; the Dail gave them emergency powers, and they set up military tribunals and indeed engaged in arbitrary executions; the rebels were explicitly denied prisoner of war status. (See Robert Kee, _Ourselves Alone_, being volume III of _The Green Flag_, pp. 168-169). What should have been a noble cause got off to a dreadful start. But it suppressed the rebellion.
This song -- the only thing I've ever encountered by O'Sheehan -- seems to have played its part. In 1923, Eamon de Valera, whose refusal to accept the Treaty had contributed to much to causing the Irish Civil War, finally gave in and urged the anti-treaty forces to lay down their arms. And he addressed them as "Soldiers of the Republic, Legion of the Rearguard" (Kee, p 175; see also p. 170). They were so-called because they had once been (and hoped to be again) the vanguard of Irish independence, but now were fighting a rearguard action to keep the dream alive.
In the long run, of course, de Valera would succeed in "freeing" the 26 counties; Ireland is no longer a British dominion. But it would surely have been a lot easier  had he pursued a political solution.
Besides de Valera, the song mentions:
Pearse - Padraig Pearse, the leader of the 1916 uprising, who was executed in that year; see in particular the notes to "The Boys from County Cork."
McDermott - Sean McDermott, another executed in the aftermath of the Easter Rising; he was one of those who joined Pearse in organizing the rebellion. According to Michael Foy and Brian Barton, _The Easter Rising_, p. 4, he and Tom Clarke were "the key figures who, in the years before 1916, shaped the policies of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.Ó Still in his early thirties at the time of the rising, he had suffered from polio in his late twenties, and could barely shuffle along with a cane or walking stick. I wonder if he may not have been offered as an example precisely *because* he was a cripple whom the British executed anyway.
"Wolfe Love" - This is what the Clancy Brothers record as the text, but I have to think this is an error of some sort. Certainly the reference is to (Theobald) Wolfe Tone, who helped inspire the 1798 rebellion and tried to win French support in the years before that; for his activities and his condemnation by the British, see e.g. the notes to "The Shan Van Voght."
Emmett - Robert Emmet (the usual spelling), whose 1803 attempt at rebellion was a complete botch but who inspired many songs; see e.g. the notes to "Bold Robert Emmet."
I doubt this song is actually traditional; I think the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem (violent nationalists all) picked it up because of their political beliefs rather than its historic status. But since they recorded it, it perhaps deserves an Index entry. - RBW
File: DTlgnrea
===
NAME: Lehigh Valley, The
DESCRIPTION: A stranger explains he is hunting the city slicker who stole his girlfriend Nelly "if it takes till Judgment Day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1882 (As "The Tramp's Lament" in Edward Harrigan's play "Squatter Sovereignty")
KEYWORDS: bawdy parody love seduction elopement hobo
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Cray, pp. 198-200, "The Lehigh Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 272-274, "The Lehigh Valley" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
JHJohnson, pp. 16-18, "Down in the Lehigh Valley" (1 text, bowdlerized)
DT, LEHIGH*
Roud #9389
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight?" (plot)
cf. "The Tramp's Story" (plot)
NOTES: According to Vance Randolph, this is a parody of  Harrigan's "The Tramp's Lament." - EC
For additional thoughts on this point, see "The Tramp's Story" (the name the Index uses for the Harrigan song)
The details of this song apparently vary widely (though some of this may be due to editorial tampering). The final two lines, "I'll hunt the runt that swiped my cunt, If it takes till judgement day," seem however to be absolutely diagnostic. - RBW
File: EM198
===
NAME: Leinster Lass, The: see The SS Leinster Lass (File: HHH808)
===
NAME: Lenora
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I left to make a fortune, in the glowing West, Then I returned at least to marry the one that I loved best, I had made a half a million in a mine of gold...." "Lenora, darling, I think of you only... Lenora, love me as I love you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage gold
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 790, "Lenora" (1 short text)
Roud #7420
File: R790
===
NAME: Leo Frank and Mary Phagan: see Mary Phagan [Laws F20] (File: LF20)
===
NAME: Leprechaun, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a leprechaun and laughs anticipating a purse of gold. He grabs the leprechaun to claim the purse but is tricked into releasing the leprechaun. The singer laughs to think how he had been fooled.
AUTHOR: Robert Dwyer Joyce (1830-1883) (source: Hoagland)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968 (recording, Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman)
KEYWORDS: trick gold supernatural
FOUND_IN: Ireland 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 527, "The Leprahaun" 
Roud #5274
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman, "The Leprechaun" (on Voice14)
NOTES: The trick: singer is told that the [non-existant] lady by his side has the purse in her hand. - BS
Robert Dwyer Joyce is also credited with the Irish political songs "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and "The Boys of Wexford" in this index. - RBW
File: RcTLepr
===
NAME: Les Darcy
DESCRIPTION: The singer mourns for Les Darcy. He recalls "how he beats, Simply eats them, Every Saturday night." "(The Yanks) called him a skiter, but he proved himself a fighter, (so they killed him, down in Memphis), Tennessee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: fight Australia death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 24, 1917 - Death of Les Darcy in Memphis, Tennessee
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 218-219, "Les Darcy" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Les Darcy" (on JGreenway01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Young Les Darcy" (plot, subject)
NOTES: Les Darcy was an Australian boxer of whom great things were expected. He did not live long, and so his major bouts were few, but the Australians made him one of their great heroes. When he died in 1917, the Americans gave the cause of death as pneumonia; Australians claim he was poisoned.
Two songs about Darcy are found in the tradition; this one, based on "Way Down in Tennessee," begins, "In Maitland cemet'ry (or "Way down in Tennessee") lies poor Les Darcy...." It has been surmised that this one was written by P.F. Collins (under the pseudonym "Percy the Poet"). The piece seems to have truly entered oral tradition, however; Fahey reports collecting it twice, and his text differs significantly from that used by John Greenway.
The other, more literary, Les Darcy song has eight lines per stanza and begins "We all get a craving to roam, Far from home, o'er the foam...."  - RBW
File: FaE218
===
NAME: Les Reeder
DESCRIPTION: Les Reeder's mother begs him not to work on Sundays. He tells her he won't any more after this one last time. Needless to say, he's killed on the skidway by a log.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering logger death work mother
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 63, "Les Reeder" (1 text)
Roud #4053
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dream of the Miner's Child" (theme)
NOTES: [Beck reports,] "Logs were skidded to the skidway, where they were piled to be hauled to the rollways or to the narrow-gauge railroads." - PJS
This song is item dC34 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Be063
===
NAME: Lescraigie
DESCRIPTION: Pretty Peggie is advised to prepare the cot, "For the fair-haired laddie will be here." "He winna lie in the kitchen... But he'll lie in your bed, Peggie, And you in his airms twa." With the harvest done, Sandy Fraser is coming to take her away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting harvest
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 285, "Lescraigie" (1 text)
Roud #3940
File: Ord285
===
NAME: Leslie Allen
DESCRIPTION: Leslie Allen comes to Black Brook from Moncton. He wanders from town one day and a search team of "three hundred men and two bloodhounds" follow his tracks "but the search was unavailing" He is never found.
AUTHOR: Michael Whelan "the poet of the Renous" (Manny/Wilson)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: manhunt
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 29, "Leslie Allen" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi029 (Partial)
Roud #9188
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Barbara Allen" (tune)
NOTES: Black Brook is a tributary of the Main Southwest Miramichi River in New Brunswick.
Manny/Wilson: A true story of Leslie Allen, a lost hunter. - BS
File: MaWi029
===
NAME: Let Go the Peak Halyards
DESCRIPTION: "Let go the peak halyards, Let go the peak halyards, My knuckles are caught in the falls. LET GO!" (last line shouted)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: sailor
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 125, (no title) (1 fragment)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Let Go the Reef Tackle" (form)
NOTES: Shay apparently thinks this a fragment of something. To me, it looks more like a curse -- and quite possibly cleaned up.
As a wild speculation, Don Nichols repeated a story Stan Hugill is is said to have told a story about a sailor who stuttered but was able to sing clearly. DoN recalled the story as follows:
There was a sailor... up the mast who was in obvious distress.  He kept trying to tell what was wrong, and the stuttering got in the way.  From the deck, the bosun cries "For God's
sake man -- *sing* it!".  So, from the mast comes:
Slack off your reefy tackles
reefy tackles, reefy tackles.
Slack off your reefy tackles,
Me Bollocks are Yammed!
No words in common with this piece, of course, but the *feeling* sure sounds familiar. That song occurs in the Index as "Let Go the Reef Tackle," but with a much-cleaned-up feel. - RBW
File: ShaS125B
===
NAME: Let Go the Reef Tackle
DESCRIPTION: The ship sails out the channel as the sailor cries out, "Let go the reef tay-ckle, Let go the reef tay-ckle, Let go the reef tay-ckle, My sheets they are jammed."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: sailor work
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 165, "Let Go the Reef Tackle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 170-171, "Let Go the Reefy Tackle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 503, "Slack Away Yer Reefy Tayckle" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 371]
Roud #9145
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Let Go the Peak Halyards" (form)
File: Doe165
===
NAME: Let Her Go By: see Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye (File: BMRF591)
===
NAME: Let Me Call You Sweetheart
DESCRIPTION: "Let me call you 'sweetheart'...." The singer professes his lover in the usual sorts of empty phrases
AUTHOR: Words: Beth Slater Whitson/Music: Leo Friedman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuld-WFM, p. 327, "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"
RECORDINGS:
Riley Puckett, "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (Columbia 405-D, 1925)
SAME_TUNE:
Don't You Call Me Sweetheart (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 113)
Let Me Call You Lizzie (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 113)
Let Me Call You Sweetheart (I'm In Love With Your Automobile) (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 146)
NOTES: Not a folk song by any stretch I can imagine. It's listed here because of all the parodies it inspired. - RBW
File: xxLMCYS
===
NAME: Let Me Fish Off Cape St Mary's: see Western Boat (Let Me Fish Off Cape St Mary's) (File: Doyl3039)
===
NAME: Let Me Fly
DESCRIPTION: "Way down yonder in the middle of the field, Angel workin' at the chariot wheel... Now let me fly (x2), Let me fly to Mount Zion, Lord, Lord." The singer hopes to meet mother in Heaven, and advises avoiding hypocrites
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 364, "Let Me Fly" (1 text)
DT, LETMEFLY*
File: FSWB364
===
NAME: Let Me Go Home, Whiskey
DESCRIPTION: "Let me go home, whiskey, Let me go out that door... Well, I'm feelin' so fine, But I just can't take it no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 20, "Let Me Go Home, Whiskey" (1 text (probably incomplete), 1 tune)
File: CNFM020
===
NAME: Let Me In This Ae Nicht
DESCRIPTION: The (Laird o' Windy Wa's) comes to the girl's window (in bad weather) and begs her, "Let me in this ae nicht." The girl protests. He convinces her to let him in discreetly. She does, and he takes her maidenhead and steals away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1976 (recording, Archie Fisher)
KEYWORDS: sex nightvisit bawdy mother father trick grief courting request rejection storm father lover mother soldier
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 90, "Glaw, Keser, Ergh Ow-cul Yma [It Rains, It Hails and Snows and Blows]" (1 text + Cornish translation, 1 tune)
DT, AENICHT COLDRAIN*
Roud #135
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht" (chorus, theme)
cf. "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)" (plot)
cf. "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Laird o Windy Wa's
The Laird o Udny
Cold Haily Windy Night
Cold Blow and a Rainy Night
NOTES: This is a complicated story. Kennedy seems to split this song from "Cold Blow and a Rainy Night" but I unhesitatingly lump them. [As do I - RBW.] The plot combines elements of the first three night-visiting songs cross-referenced, but has a distinctly different ending, more reminiscent of "The Barley Straw." 
Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. Digital Tradition mentions a 19th-century broadside in Baring Gould's collection, but offers no details, and it's not in Kennedy. - PJS
Archie Fisher and Kennedy both say this is part of a longer song found in Herd. But is it a part, or a relative (compare "Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht")? I flatly don't trust Kennedy's list of versions.
Paul Stamler wanted to file this as "Cold Haily Windy Night," on the basis that it's the one best known to folkies, citing recordings by Steeleye Span and Martin Carthy. But I had already assigned the title I learned.... - RBW 
File: DTaenich
===
NAME: Let Me Lose: see If I Lose, I Don't Care (File: CSW187)
===
NAME: Let Me Ride
DESCRIPTION: "Well, I'm a soldier, let me ride (x3); Low down your chariot and let me ride!" "I've been converted, let me ride..." "I've got my ticket..." "I'm bound for Heaven..." "In the Kingdom..." "Troubles over...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Warner 170, "Let Me Ride" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 72, "(Low Down the Chariot and Let Me Ride)" (1 text); p. 250, "Let Me Ride" (1 tune, partial text)
ST Wa170 (Partial)
Roud #7500
RECORDINGS:
Dock Reed & Vera Hall Ward, "Low Down the Chariot and Let Me Ride"  (on NFMAla5) (on ReedWard01)
NOTES: This became a staple of gospel quartet recordings in the 1940s. - PJS
File: Wa170
===
NAME: Let Mr. Maguire Sit Down: see Let Mr. McGuire Sit Down (File: RcLMMSD)
===
NAME: Let Mr. McGuire Sit Down
DESCRIPTION: When Mick McGuire calls to court Kitty Donahue, her mother makes sure that he, a farm owner, had the seat by the fire. (Once married, Mick spends her father's legacy, or he proves poorer than expected.) Now her mother won't have him sit by the fire
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (for USBallinsloeFair); c.1845 (broadside, NLScotland L.C.1270(020))
KEYWORDS: courting dowry marriage humorous mother money poverty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #4249
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry, "Let Mr. Maguire Sit Down" (on IRMBarry-Fairs)
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Mick McGuire" (on IRClancyMakem01)
Dinny (Jimmy) Doyle and Larry Griffin, "Let Mr McGuire Sit Down" (on USBallinsloeFair)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.16(135), "Barney, Get Up from the Fire", unknown, n.d.
NLScotland, L.C.1270(020), "Barney Get Up from the Fire!", unknown, c.1845
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Mick Maguire
Kitty Donahue
NOTES: The 1928 date for USBallinsloeFair is according to site irishtune.info, Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Alan Ng's Tunography, ref. Ng #1122.
Broadsides NLScotland L.C.1270(020) and Bodleian 2806 c.16(135) are clearly the same song with the same chorus as the recordings but [have] a different twist. Barney is Kate's brother and tries to blackmail Paddy M'Guire ("I saw you courting Peggy Brown, I'll tell my sister Kate, But if you give me a sixpence, maybe I'll hold my prate.") but mother saves the day; they marry happily and without recriminations on anyone's part. - BS
File: RcLMMSD
===
NAME: Let Old Nellie Stay
DESCRIPTION: The bartender is closing up, and demands that the "old lady in red" depart. As she starts crying, someone explains, "Her mother never told her The things a young girl should know... So do not treat her harshly Because she went too far...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: drink age sin recitation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 44, "Let Old Nellie Stay" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "She Is More to Be Pitied than Censured" (theme)
File: Ohr044
===
NAME: Let That Liar Alone
DESCRIPTION: On the theme of the wickedness a liar can do. "Come to your house, stay all day...." "Tell you such a lie it'll surprise your mind...." Sometimes the liar is Satan. Cho: "If you don't want... to get in trouble...You'd better let that liar alone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recordings, Rev. Edward Clayborn, Rev. Isaiah Shelton)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Words vary, but always on the theme of the wickedness a liar can do. "Come to your house, stay all day" "Tell you such a lie it'll surprise your mind/Mix a little truth just to make it shine" Sometimes the liar is Satan. Chorus: "If you don't want, you don't have to get in trouble...You'd better let that liar alone"
KEYWORDS: lie nonballad religious devil
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5120
RECORDINGS:
Emry Arthur, "Let That Liar Alone" (Vocalion 5229, c. 1928)
Carlisles, "Leave That Liar Alone" (Mercury 70109, 1953)
Carter Family, "You Better Let That Liar Alone" (Decca 5518, 1938, rec. 1937)
Rev. Edward Clayborn, "Let That Lie Alone" (Vocalion 1093, 1927)
Fairfield Four, "Better Leave That Liar Alone" (Bullet 253, n.d.; rec. 1946)
Golden Gate Quartet, "Let That Liar Alone" (Bluebird B-7835, 1938)
Rev. Anderson Johnson, "Leave That Liar Alone" (Glory 4016, n.d., rec. 1953)
Mound City Jubilee Quartette, "Let That Liar Alone" (Decca 7058, 1935)
Rev. Isaiah Shelton, "The Liar" (Victor 20583, 1927; on Babylon)
Silver Leaf Quartette of Norfolk, "You Better Let That Liar Alone" (OKeh 8667/Velvetone 7078/Clarion 6052/Diva 5175, 1929; rec. 1928)
Rosetta Tharpe, "Let That Liar Alone" (Decca 48023, n.d.; rec. 1943)
Trumpeteers, "Leave That Lie Alone" (Score 5057, n.d.; rec. 1946)
Rev. T. E. Weems, "You Better Let That Liar Alone" (Columbia 14469-D, 1929; rec. 1927)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Satan's a Liar (Ain't Gonna Worry My Lord No More)" (theme)
NOTES: This is a messy song; the verses vary all over the place, sometimes secular, sometimes religious, but the chorus is constant. - PJS
File: RcLTLA
===
NAME: Let the Back and Sides Go Bare
DESCRIPTION: Beggar sings of the pleasures of his life -- drinking, starving, sleeping in filth, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: drink begging starvation humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland,England)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sharp-100E 78, "The Beggar" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT BCK&SID2*
Roud #1573
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A-Begging I Will Go" (theme)
cf. "Jolly Good Ale and Old (Back and Sides Go Bare)" (chorus)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Beggar's Song
NOTES: The chorus, "Let the back and the sides go bare, go bare/let the hands and the feet grow cold/but give to the belly, boys, beer enough/whether it be new or old" appears in _Gammer Gurton's Needle_ (1575), but the verses are quite different. -PJS
The themes are rather similar, though; I suspect the dependence is literary. - RBW
File: ShH78
===
NAME: Let the Bullgine Run (I): see Margot Evans (Let the Bullgine Run) (File: LoF029)
===
NAME: Let the Bullgine Run (II): see Run, Let the Bullgine Run (File: Hugi342)
===
NAME: Let the Cocaine Be: see Take a Whiff on Me (File: RL130)
===
NAME: Let the Deal Go Down
DESCRIPTION: "Let the deal go down, boys, Let the deal go down." (Sound effects indicate cards being dealt.) "If your cards ain't lucky, Y' oughta be in a rollin' game." "I want to win for my sweet mama, She needs a new pair of shoes." Verses about (problem) gambling
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: gambling cards
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 296, "Let the Deal Go Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down." - RBW
The game referred to in this and similar songs is the "Skin Game" or "Georgia Skin Game." -PJS
File: LoF296
===
NAME: Let the Dove Come In
DESCRIPTION: "(Oh,) Noah, hoist the window (x3), Hoist the window, let the dove come in." Describes how Noah's neighbors scorned him for his work, but he had the last laugh.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: ship Bible
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 45, (no title) (partial text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Noah's Ark" (lyrics)
NOTES: In this song from the Georgia Sea Islands, the name "Noah" is pronounced "Norah." - RBW
File: CNFM045
===
NAME: Let Us Be Merry Before We Go: see The Deserter's Lamentation (File: OLcM087A)
===
NAME: Let's Go a-Hunting: see Billy Barlow (File: SBoA165)
===
NAME: Let's Go a-Hunting, Says Richard to Robert: see Billy Barlow (File: SBoA165)
===
NAME: Let's Go to the Woods: see Hunt the Wren (File: K078)
===
NAME: Letter Edged in Black, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer cheerfully greets the postman, only to be handed a letter edged in black. The letter is from his father, informing him that his mother is dead.
AUTHOR: Hattie Hicks Woodbury (Hattie Nevada)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1897 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: death mother mourning
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Randolph 703, "The Letter Edged in Black" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 475-476, "The Letter Edged in Black" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 703A)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 169-171, "The Letter Edged in Black" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 38-39, "The Letter Edged in Black" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 267, "The Letter Edged In Black" (1 text)
DT, LETTRBLK
Roud #3116
RECORDINGS:
Cotton Butterfield, "Letter Edged in Black" (OKeh, unissued, 1929)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Letter Edged In Black" (OKeh 7008, 1924)
Pete Cassell, "The Letter Edged in Black" (Majestic 6007, c. 1947)
Vernon Dalhart, "The Letter Edged in Black" (Lincoln 2426, 1925) (Edison 51649, 1925)  (Victor 19837, 1925) (Cameo 809, 1925)  (Banner 1653, 1926; Challenge 560, 1927; Conqueror 7074, 1928) (Bell 396, 1926) (Challenge 160/Challenge 319, 1927) (Champion 15906, 1930; Champion 45096, 1935; rec. 1928) (Brunswick 2900, 1925; Supertone S-2000, 1930) (Columbia 15049-D [as by Al Craver], c. 1926) (Brunswick 6799, 1934) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5085 or 5086, 1925) (Durium 9-2, n.d.)
Bradley Kincaid, "Letter Edged In Black"  (Bluebird B-5895, 1935; rec. 1934)
Frank Luther, "Letter Edged in Black" (Decca 435, 1935)
George Reneau, "Lettter Edged in Black"  (Vocalion 14998, 1925/ Vocalion 5058, c. 1926)
Marc Williams, "Letter Edged in Black" (Decca 5327, 1937; rec. 1934)
File: R703
===
NAME: Letter in the Candle, The
DESCRIPTION: "There's a letter in the candle, It points direct to me, How the little spark is shining, From whoever can it be." The singer describes the "writer From far across the sea." Her last letter in a candle meant her sailor was coming home....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 777, "The Letter in the Candle" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 37-38, "The Letter in the Candle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7412
File: R777
===
NAME: Letter that Never Came, The
DESCRIPTION: Day after day, a man asks the mail carrier if there is a letter for him. Day after day, he is disappointed. The chorus asks from whom the letter might come. But come it never does; the man dies, and asks that the letter, if it comes, be buried with him
AUTHOR: Paul Dresser and Max Sturm
EARLIEST_DATE: 1886 (date of composition)
KEYWORDS: death lastwill
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Rorrer, p. 76, "The Letter That Never Came" (1 text)
Gilbert, p. 142, "The Letter that Never Came" (1 text)
ST Gil142 (Full)
Roud #4860
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Mountain Singers, "The Letter that Never Came" (Columbia 15580-D, 1930)
Pie Plant Pete [pseud. for Claude Moye], "The Letter That Never Came" (Supertone 9363, 1929)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "The Letter That Never Came" (Columbia 15179-D, 1927; on CPoole01, CPoole05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "No Letter in the Mail" (theme)
cf. "The Eight-Pound Bass" (tune and structure)
NOTES: Gilbert observes that this song, unlike almost all popular music, preserves the mystery to the end: We never do learn from whom the letter might have come.
For the story of Paul Dresser, see the notes to "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away." - RBW
File: Gil142
===