NAME: Over the Mountain (I) (Allanah Is Waiting for Me)
DESCRIPTION: "I'm always light-hearted and easy, Not a care in this world have I." The singer is joyful because he is so close to his love, even though she is over the (mountain/ocean). He is preparing for a reunion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean); Caleb Johnson Burton apparently had a version in 1908
KEYWORDS: love home nonballad reunion
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dean, p. 75, "Allanah Is Waiting For Me" (1 text)
Roud #7450
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Ila, My Darling
NOTES: This is an extremely mysterious song, because the versions are so diverse. The earliest version I've found was in an online manuscript of songs sung by Agnes Amelia Ransom Burton in 1957; the document claims she learned it in 1908 from her husband Caleb Johnson Burton. In that version, it's "Ila, My Darling," and it looks like an Irish emigration song, with the guy leaving the girl behind. Then comes Dean's text, in which the girl is "Eileen" (yes, the girl is "Allanah" in the title, but she's "Eileen" in the text. Wilgus thought the title an error); it's interesting to note that Dean knew many Irish and stage-Irish songs. Then Uncle Dave Macon had at it, and you can imagine the shape it was in after that!
Roud lumps this with Randolph's text "My Little One's Waiting for Me." There are a few similar words, but I don't see it. - RBW
File: R850A
===
NAME: Over the Mountain (II): see When the Boys Go A-Courting (Over the Mountain, Poll and Sal) (File: SWMS312)
===
NAME: Over the River and Through the Woods
DESCRIPTION: "Over the river and through the woods To Grandmother's house we go." The family travels (by horse) to Grandmother's (for Thanksgiving)
AUTHOR: Words: Lydia Marie Child
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978
KEYWORDS: nonballad food family
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 278, "Over the River and Through the Woods" (1 text,)
NOTES: Obviously primarily a popular song, sustained by recordings and print versions, and with no relevance outside the U.S. But the fact that it has been sung by so many families in cars implies that it is at least a marginal folk song. - RBW
File: PHCFS278
===
NAME: Over the River Charlie: see Weevily Wheat (File: R520)
===
NAME: Over the River to Charlie: see Weevily Wheat (File: R520)
===
NAME: Over the River to Feed My Sheep: see Weevily Wheat (File: R520)
===
NAME: Over the Road I'm Bound: see Down the Road (I) (File: CSW208)
===
NAME: Over the Sea to Skye: see Skye Boat Song (Over the Sea to Skye) (File: Brew79)
===
NAME: Over The Water and Over the Lea: see Weevily Wheat (File: R520)
===
NAME: Over the Water to Charlie
DESCRIPTION: "Come boat me o'er, come row me o'er, Come boat me o'er to Charlie." "We'll o'er the water, we'll o'er the sea, We'll o'er the water to Charlie." The singer tells her love for Charlie, laments his exile, says she would bear her sons again to die for him
AUTHOR: Robert Burns?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1788 (Scots Musical Museum #187)
KEYWORDS: love Jacobites separation exile ship
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1720-1788 - Life of Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie"
1745-1746 - '45 Jacobite rebellion led by Bonnie Prince Charlie
Apr 16, 1746 - Battle of Culloden. The Jacobite rebellion is crushed, most of the Highlanders slain, and Charlie forced to flee for his life.
Jun 28-29, 1746 - Aided by Flora MacDonald, and dressed as her maidservant, Charles flees from North Uist to Skye in the Hebrides.
Sep 20, 1746 - Charles finally escapes to France
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Linscott, pp. 262-263, "Over the Water to Charlie" (1 short text, 1 tune, with one verse of this and two of the "Charlie" verses of "Weevily Wheat")
DT CHARLOVER* CHARLOV2*
Roud #729
NOTES: Roud lumps this (and several other Bonnie Prince Charlie songs) with the "Weevily Wheat" family. Certainly Linscott's version is really just a "Weevily Wheat" variant which has swallowed a fragment of this song. But "Weevily Wheat" is a dancetune that mentions "Charlie" (not necessarily Charles Edward Stuart) incidentally, while this is a sure Jacobite song. As such, I separate them.
Just how much this piece owes to Burns is unknown to me; he surely had a hand in it, but it's interesting to note that there is a verse out there which he did not publish. - RBW
File: Lins262
===
NAME: Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the praties they grow small, Over there... Oh the praties they grow small, But we eat them tops and all...." Stories of the Irish potato famine. Localized versions preserve the theme of poverty but apply it to local conditions and places
AUTHOR: A. P. Graves?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1895 ("In Old New England"); tune registered 1844
KEYWORDS: hardtimes farming food poverty starvation
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1847/8 - Greatest of several Irish potato famines
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Hudson 90, pp. 216-217, "Over There" (1 short text, with one humorous and one straight verse)
Shellans, pp. 14-15, "Romance" (1 text, 1 tune -- a strange piece with two verses of this song and three of some sort of courting song; there is probably a separate song mixed in there somewhere)
Scott-BoA, pp. 148-149, "The Praties They Grow Small" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 532-533, "Over There" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 30-31, "Over There" (1 text, 1 tune)
PGalvin, p. 44, "The Famine Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 24, "Over There" (1 text, 1 tune, with ordinary and parody verses)
Silber-FSWB, p. 119, "The Praties" (1 text)
DT, OVRTHERE* PRATSMALL*
Roud #4455
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Emigrant's Farewell to Donegal" (subject: The potato famines)
cf. "Skibereen" (subject: The potato famines)
cf. "The Rotten Potatoes" (subject: The potato famines)
cf. "Did You Ever See the Divil?" (subject: The potato famines)
cf. "In Kansas" (tune & meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "Down on the Pichelo Farm" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 16, fn. 7, writing in 1966: "Many recent anthologies quote wrongly as a song of the famine period 'Over Here' ('Oh, the praties they are small...'). The air was learnt in South America and does not sound Irish; the words were written by A.P. Graves, (see Miss H. Galwey _Old Irish Croonauns_, p. 16). It was first printed in 1897, in Graves _Irish Folk Songs_, pp. 76-77." - BS
I would note that, though it was not written during the blight, it is certainly about the Irish dependence on the potato.
There is no clear dividing line between this and "In Kansas"; there are versions of this piece that are short enough and vile enough to belong with either. But, as often happens, we must classify them separately because the extremes are so distinct.
It is rather shocking to observe that Spaeth (who prints a rather corrupt version and remarks that "[t]he original words are silly enough to suit the most up-to-date interpreter") did not realize that this song connects with the poverty of the potato blight era.
The first of the blights occurred in 1845; the blight continued to strike for the next three years; not until 1849 was there a decent crop, by which time Ireland's population, which exceeded eight million before the blight (twice the current total!), had fallen to about six million; in very round numbers, a million had died and a million had emigrated.
The blight was a fungus, arrived from America, which caused potatoes to wither almost instantly.
To make matters worse, potatoes were the chief crop of Ireland. There were many reasons for this, including the fact that potatoes were easy to grow. But the basic reason was British rules. The Irish had been forced almost entirely onto small holdings, usually of five acres or less (according to Ruth Dudley Edwards, _An Atlas of Irish History_, second edition, p. 182, in 1841, over 80% of Irish farm families had property of 15 acres or less; 45% had five acres or less). Few families could feed themselves on such small fields using other crops. And if they had enough property to improve things, the British landlords took the excess in rent. So the Irish grew potatoes, and when the crop failed, they starved.
It didn't help that Ireland was among the most overpopulated countries in Europe. I read somewhere that there were over 300 people per arable acre *even in the countryside*. I wish I'd noted the source -- but if we divide the number of acres of land devoted to agriculture in the late twentieth century by the 1845 population, we still get about eight people per arable acre. Edwards, p. 179, notes that, in County Mayo in 1841, there were 475 people per square mile, and only 36% of the land was arable, meaning that in that county, there were 1300 people per square mile of arable land! If British pressure forced the Irish into smallholdings, it was overpopulation which made them microscopic.
And the Irish were true peasants -- among the last in western Europe. Where English tenants by now were growing food for market, the Irish were growing for subsistence, paying their rent with labor and eating every morsel they could scrape from the soil. It wasn't even a money economy. (According to Peter and Fiona Somerst Fry, _A History of Ireland_, p. 228, "by the 1840s, [the potato] had become the sole diet for three million....") When the crop failed, they starved. No other outcome was possible. It was a Malthusian result, pure and simple.
The failure of 1845 did not bring utter destruction because the British government of Sir Robert Peel sprang into action to relieve the distress. By 1846, however, Peel's government had fallen, and his successors let the Irish starve. It may have been "laissez faire" (though we note that, while the government didn't send food, it did pass coercive acts to repress riots; as usual "laissez faire" really meant "help the rich and stick the poor"); it may have been deliberate genocide -- whatever it was, it resulted in permanent alienation of the Irish.
It will tell you something about the landlords of the time that Ireland was exporting food all through the blight -- Daniel O'Connell pointed out to the English Parliament that exports of many agricultural commodities from Ireland to Britain actually *increased* in 1845 (see Robert Kee, _The Most Distressful Country_, being volume I of _The Green Flag_, p. 247). Ireland at this time had, in effect, two economies, the Landlord class (not all of them Protestant, though a lot were) and the Tenants (all Catholic). The landlords had not interest in feeding the tenants; that, after all, didn't bring in any cash. - RBW
File: SBoA148
===
NAME: Over Yonder's A Park: see The Corpus Christi Carol (File: L691)
===
NAME: Over Yonders Ocean: see The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)
===
NAME: Overgate, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a lass at the Overgate; she eats as much as an elephant, then invites him to her bed. A policeman pushes him downstairs. He complains that he's lost his valuables; she retorts that she's lost her maidenhead "and that's a damn sight worse."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1954 (recording, Belle Stewart)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a lass at the Overgate (Dundee market) and takes her to a restaurant, where she eats as much as an elephant, then invites him to her house for the night. When he arrives, a policeman gives him a "whirly-jig" and pushes him downstairs. He complains that he's lost his waistcoat, watch and purse; she retorts that she's lost her maidenhead "and that's a damn sight worse." He envisions going home to Auchtermuchty and vows he'll never forget Dundee
KEYWORDS: sex robbery food humorous police warning money drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 187, "The Overgate" (1 text plus another in the appendix, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 47, "The Overgate" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OVERGATE* OVERGAT2*
Roud #866
RECORDINGS:
Belle Stewart, "The Overgate" (on Voice20)
Belle Stewart & Hamish Henderson, "The Overgate" (on FSB2CD)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Seventeen Come Sunday" (tune, plot), plus all the other "seduced and robbed" songs
cf. "The Shift and the Apron"
NOTES: Kennedy says that this may be based on "As I Roved Out" (his version of "Seventeen Come Sunday"). This is a bit strong; Kennedy has lumped obvious "Seventeen Come Sunday" variants under "The Overgate." But cross-fertilization certainly took place; the two share tunes, choruses, and theme. There are hints of elements from other songs of this type as well. - RBW
Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 20" - 15.1.04: "The song 'A Waukrife Minnie,' which Burns sent to the Scots Musical Museum (1790) would seem to be an antecedent of the song." That may be true of "Seventeen Come Sunday" [Laws O17], but I think that's as close as it comes. - BS
I've lumped two versions together here; in one (Belle Stewart's) the young man is chased out by a policeman, while in the other (Jeannie Robertson's) he hides his money but  awakens in an alley. Still essentially the same story. - PJS
File: K187
===
NAME: Overlanders, The: see Queensland Overlanders (File: FaE164)
===
NAME: Overtures from Richmond
DESCRIPTION: "'Well, Uncle Sam,' says Jefferson D., Lilliburlero, old Uncle Sam, You'll have to join my Confed'racy...." The Confederates make demands for money, recognition, slavery, absolute power, and rewritten histories. Uncle Sam rejects the terms
AUTHOR: Words: Francis J. Child
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political parody nonballad derivative
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 46-47, "Overtures from Richmond" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lilliburlero" (structure, tune)
File: SCW46
===
NAME: Oville
DESCRIPTION: The singer's heart returns constantly to "Altmover's Fairy Glen and the cot where I was born." He recalls all the sights near Oville. Though others would differ, he will prefer visiting the Doo-an Rocks and other sites near home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H666, p. 170, "Oville" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13485
File: J666
===
NAME: Owen Rooney's Lamentation
DESCRIPTION: Rooney of Innismore, Fermanagh near Lough Erne, joins a fight and stands with the Catholics. Six of the opponents fall. Rooney is taken prisoner, tried and convicted; "my wife and children it grieved ... To see me transported at the age of fifty-three"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: violence transportation trial death Ireland political lament
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 34, "Owen Rooney's Lamentation" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle That Was Fought in the North" (subject: "party fights")
cf. "The Lamentation of James O'Sullivan" (subject: "party fights")
cf. "The Noble Blue Ribbon Boys" (subject: Ulster quarrels)
NOTES: Zimmermann: "This ballad is probably connected with the 'party fights' in County Fermanagh in July 1829." Zimmermann cites a report describing the "battle of Mackeen," July 13, 1829, following an Orange celebration of the Battle of the Boyne. "Several Orangemen were killed. A Rooney was among the nineteen Catholics deported after the trial." - BS
File: Zimm034
===
NAME: Owen Trainor
DESCRIPTION: Owen Trainor and two friends hire a boat that capsizes in a gale. Trainor dies after telling his friends to tell his sweetheart and comrades his dying thoughts. An Indian in a canoe rescues his friends.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck farewell rescue Indians(Am.)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 65-68, "Owen Trainor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12465
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee: "Owen Trainor worked in the Post Office in Charlottetown. The drowning occurred before 1900." - BS
File: Dib065
===
NAME: Owenreagh
DESCRIPTION: The singer, wandering by Owenreagh, recalls all the "comrades long absent from home." He admits that the land is barren and money hard to come by. He wishes them back; he stayed, and the land is beautiful, and money is fleeting. Perhaps they will return
AUTHOR: George Barnett
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration home
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H542, p. 217, "Owenreagh" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH542
===
NAME: Owenreigh's Banks
DESCRIPTION: The singer, bound for America, bids farewell to Glenrannel, his friends, and his sweetheart most of all. His one true fear is leaving her, and having "the ties of love... rend in twain." He bids his friends drink, and promises to remain affectionate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H100b, p. 193, "Glenrannel's Plains" (1 text); H225, pp. 196-197, "Owenreagh's Banks"
Roud #13550
NOTES: The editors of the Henry collection do not seem to have noticed that these two texts are the same song. But they have the same plot, and very many of the same lyrics; only the place has changed. I chose the "Owenreagh" title because it is the version with a tune. - RBW
File: HHH100b
===
NAME: Owl and the Mice, The
DESCRIPTION: "The owl and the mice lived up in the barn, A dinky dinky doo dum dow; The owl eat(s) mice and the mice eat corn." The song of the owl causes the mice to come out and listen; the owl swoops down and eats them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (collected by John Daniel Vass)
KEYWORDS: animal bird trick music food
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shellans, pp. 78-79, The Owl and the Mice"" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7339
NOTES: One of the few folk song I've heard with an almost "ecological" theme. Sadly, it is very rare; Shellans claims to have found another version, but I have been unable to verify this.
It is ironic to note that, of the two creatures in the song, it is not owls but mice that 'sing" (at an inaudibly high pitch, to be sure). Owl calls are in general quite unmusical. And, according to several bird guides (Peterson, National Geographic), the only American owl even faintly likely to roost in a barn is (logically enough) the Barn Owl, found throughout the southern United States. Roger Tory Peterson (_Brids of Eastern and Central North America_, fifth edition, 2002, p. 204) describes its voice as a "shrill rasping hiss or snore, kschhh or shiiish." Not the sort of thing that would lure *me* out of my nice safe hole. - RBW
File: Shel078
===
NAME: Ox Driving Song
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of the hardships of ox-driving in the winter -- an occupation he intends to quit. "It would make any tender-hearted person weep To see my oxen pull and slip." "When I get home I'll have my revenge, I'll land my family among my friends."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: work cowboy animal
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 13, "Ox Driving Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 125, "The Ox-Driver" (1 text)
DT, OXDRIVE
Roud #3584
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Ox Driver's Song" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Whipped My Horse" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Perhaps it's hearing the Burl Ives version too many times, but this sounds recently composed to me. - PJS
Every version I've seen seems to go back to the same Lomax field recording. Possibly the informant had worked on it?
Roud for some reason lumps this with Belden's piece "The Waggoners." The only thing they have in common that I can see is that both involve travel. - RBW
File: FCW013
===
NAME: Ox-Driver, The: see Ox Driving Song (File: FCW013)
===
NAME: Ox-Eyed Man, The: see The Hog-Eye Man (I) (File: RL401)
===
NAME: Oxeborough Banks (Maids of Australia)
DESCRIPTION: The singer settles under a tree to watch the girls bathe. One catches his eye -- and he hers. She calls him to rescue her from sinking. (He then "entered the bush of Australia.") Nine months later she bears a son whose dad "nowhere could be found"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (recording, Harry Cox)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction pregnancy abandonment river sex
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England(Lond)) Canada(Newf) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 44-45, "Maids of Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 269-270, "Maids of Australia" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 276-277, "The Gay Maid of Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 183, "The Maid of Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 27, pp. 163-166, "The Banks of My Native Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1872
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "The Maid of Australia" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
Unidentified Mississippi singers "The Fair Maids of Australia" (AFS 15014 A3, 1930s)
NOTES: The Hawkesbury River reaches the sea north of Sydney at Broken Bay, NSW. - PJS
File: FaE044
===
NAME: Oxen Song, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you bold ox teamsters, Wherever you may be...." "It's of a bold ox teamster, His name I'll tell to you, His name was Johnny Carpenter, He pulled the oxen through." Despite his prowess, the oxen wear out and the trips go slowly
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: logger work animal moniker
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Linscott, pp. 263-267, "The Oxen Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OXENDRV*
Roud #3751
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Linscott mentions a claim that this was by Larry Gorman -- but, frankly, Gorman's songs tend to be better than this; the song really doesn't go anywhere. - RBW
File: Lins263
===
NAME: Oxford City [Laws P30]
DESCRIPTION: A servant asks a lady to wed; she put him off on the grounds that they are too young. When he sees her dancing with someone else, he poisons her wine. Feeling ill, she asks him to take her home. He reveals that both have drunk poison; they die together
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (JFSS)
KEYWORDS: courting death poison homicide wine suicide
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Britain(Scotland,England(All)) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws P30, "Oxford City"
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 83, "Oxford City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 212-213, "Poison in a Glass of Wine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 329, "Poison in a Glass of Wine" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 74, "Oxford City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 18, "Oxford City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 92-93, "In Oxford City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 54, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 508, OXFJEAL*
Roud #218
RECORDINGS:
Bill Bundy, "Poison in a Glass of Wine" (Unissued test pressing, 1928; on KMM)
Mary Doran, "Oxford City" (on FSB7)
Louie Fuller, "Young Maria" (on Voice13)
Roscoe Holcomb, "True Love" (on Holcomb-Ward1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Little Glass of Wine" (on NLCR06)
Stanley Brothers, "The Little Glass of Wine" (Rich-R-Tone 423, rec. c. late 1947) (Columbia 20590, 1949) (Rich-R-Tone 1056 [as "Little Glass of Wine"], rec. 1952)
Joseph Taylor, "Worcester City" (on Voice03)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Jealous Lover
File: LP30
===
NAME: Oxford Girl, The: see The Wexford (Oxford, Knoxville, Noel) Girl [Laws P35] (File: LP35)
===
NAME: Oxfordshire Captain, The
DESCRIPTION: 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: 
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
A Gentleman of Exeter (The Perjured Maid) [Laws P32]
File: LP32
===
NAME: Oyster Girl, The [Laws Q13]
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets an oyster girl and proposes that they take a room at the inn to discuss the sale. When they arrive, she picks his pocket and jumps out the window. He is left with a kettle of oysters and a bill to pay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: courting robbery trick seduction
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Britain(England(South,North),Scotland(Aber),Wales) Ireland
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws Q13, "The Oyster Girl"
SHenry H725, p. 278, "The Basket of Oysters" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 234, "The Oyster Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 48, "The Oyster Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 48, "The Oyster Girl" (1 text)
DT 524, OYSTRGAL*
Roud #875
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Quare Bungo Rye" (mysterious--read female--"box" motif)
File: LQ13
===
NAME: Oyster Shell Bonnets and Chignons (The Dandy Chignon)
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the "queer fashion" of the (bonnet and) chignon. He tells how all the women are trying them out. Some even buy two; others get them made from odd materials. He clearly thinks the old ways (sunbonnets, etc.) were better
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: hair nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H227, p. 47, "The Dandy Chignon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13359
File: HHH227
===
NAME: P. T. Barnum's Show: see At Barnum's Show (File: R450)
===
NAME: Pace-Egging Song, The
DESCRIPTION: We have come pace-egging; give us eggs and beer and we'll not come till next year. A British tar who served with Nelson has returned to England pace-egging. A lady has run from her country and is here to collect eggs in a basket and drink neat gin.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893 (Broadwood)
KEYWORDS: Easter drink nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, PACEEGG*
Roud #614
RECORDINGS:
Emma Vickers, "The Pace-Egging Song" (on Voice16)
NOTES: Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 16" - 13.9.02: "Pace-Egging customs were once common throughout north-west England (the word Pace, meaning Peace, may be derived from the French word Pasque, which means Easter) and this song is used as an introduction to an accompanied Mummer's Play." - BS
(Yates's derivation of "pace" is oversimplified. Most agree that "pace" is from Middle English "paschal" -- which does clearly derive from either a late Latin or an early French root. But it's not a word for "peace"; it's derived ultimately from the Greek root underlying "passion." Nonetheless the idea of "peace" may be mixed in somehow. The Latin for peace is "pax," and one of the most familiar of all Latin liturgical phrases is surely "pace [pronounced, in Church Latin, 'pach-ay'] vobiscum," "peace to you." Of course, none of this has anything to do with the actual custom of pace-egging.)
Depending on the version, quite a few characters show up to beg for their eggs and beer, starting with Lord Horatio Nelson himself. For Nelson, see e.g. "Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar (Brave Nelson)" [Laws J17], which in some ways is similar to this in structure. We also meet (Vice Admiral) Lord (Cuthbert) Collingwood, Nelson's second-in-command at Trafalgar, and sundry anonymous sailors who arelisted as serving under Nelson. - RBW
File: RcPaceEg
===
NAME: Pack Up Your Troubles: see Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag (File: SBoA334)
===
NAME: Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag
DESCRIPTION: "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag And smile, smile, smile! While you've a Lucifer to light your fag, Smile, boys, that's the style; What's the use of worrying, It never was worthwhile; So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag...."
AUTHOR: W: "George Asaf" (George Henry Powell) / Music: Felix Powell
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915
KEYWORDS: nonballad war
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Scott-BoA, p. 334, "Pack Up Your Troubles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 419, "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag"
File: SBoA334
===
NAME: Package of Old Love Letters, A: see Little Rosewood Casket (File: R763)
===
NAME: Packington's Pound
DESCRIPTION: Dance tune, with no real lyrics of its own, but used as a platform for a great variety of broadsides.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1596 (Barley's "New Book of Tablature")
KEYWORDS: nonballad dancetune
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 259-260, "Packington's Pound" (1 tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Well worth[y] Predecessors, and Fathers by name/Pitties Lamentation (BBI ZN2781)
Come listen a while and a Story you'll hear/The Murtherer Justly Condemned.. May, 1697 (BBI ZN629)
When England half Ruin'd had cause to be sad/Romes Beargarden (BBI ZN2836)
Poor England thy sorrows this many a year/England's Mercies (BBI ZN2214)
Come, John, sit thee down, I have somewhat to say/An Amorous Dialogue between John and his Mistress (BBI ZN616)
Come young men and listen to what I'le you show/A good wife is a portion every day (BBI ZN710)
All Company-keepers come hear what I say/Two-penny-worth of Wit for a Penny (BBI ZN61)
Come listen a while though the weather be cold/Blanket Fair (BBI ZN636)
I am a young blade that had money good store/The World turn'd up-side down (BBI ZN1231)
All you that have stock, and are mad for a peace/The French Preliminaries (BBI ZN136)
Let England rejoyce with heart and with voice/A New Protestant Ballad.. Reign of King William (BBI ZN1641)
Hold up thy head England, and now shew thy face/Englands Joy in a Lawful Triumph [on proclaiming Charles II King] (BBI ZN1158)
You Sabbath-day Tiplers, pray do not repine/A Caveat for Tiplers (BBI ZN3103)
There was an old Knight liv'd in Sommersetshire/The Bountiful Knight of Sommersetshire (BBI ZN2555)
A chimney-man lately in London did dwell/Chimney-man's Lamentation (BBI ZN486)
This nation long time hath been plagued with old rats/Come Buy a Mouse Trap/ [by Humphrey Crouch] (BBI ZN2582)
A new calculation of late has been given/A New Copy of Verses, of Monsieurs Boating (BBI ZN1875)
By Brittains true Monarchs, Great William and Mary/The Proclamation For a General Fast in the Nation (BBI ZN457)
Ye Sages of London, of states high and low/City Justice (BBI ZN2986)
Your scandalous lies I with patience have read/An Answer to the Packet of Advice (BBI ZN3223)
Good people come hither come listen awhile/The Brickmaker's Lamentation from Newgate (BBI ZN1049)
You free-men, and masters, and 'prentices mourn/London's Lamentation (BBI ZN3245)
Ye Whigs and Dissenters I charge ye, attend/The Whigs Hard Heart for the Cause of the Hard Frost (BBI ZN2987)
This Winter was sharp, it did plainly appear/London's Wonder [frost ending Feb. 4 1685] (BBI ZN2585)
Bold Titus he walkt about Westminster-Hall/Perjury Punished (BBI ZN411)
Come listen ye Whigs, to my pitiful moan/The Salamanca Doctor's Farewell (BBI ZN658)
Let England Rejoyce and all sorrows expell/The Princely Triumph..Birth of the Young Prince of Wales (BBI ZN1639)
The world is orerun with enormous abuse/Fayre Warning (BBI ZN2966)
Though the town does abound so with plots and with shams/The Protestant Cuckold [Ben. Harris and wife Ruth] (BBI ZN2599)
Now let us all true Protestants ever Rejoyce/...Prince of Orange's March (BBI ZN1932)
London now smiles to see Oxford in tears/Oxford in Mourning for the Loss of the Parliament (BBI ZN1703)
The manifold changes that have hap'ned of late/The High Court of Justice [trial of Regicides] (BBI ZN1748)
You Millers, and Taylors, & Weavers each one/The Crafty Maid of the West..Miller.. trapan'd (BBI ZN3071)
As through the City I passed of late/The Sorrowful Complaint of Conscience and Plain-Dealing (BBI ZN314)
The weather is clear, which was late over cast/Holland turn'd to Tinder..Third Great Royal Victory [Naval battle, July 25-6, 1666] (BBI ZN2760)
Let England, and Jreland, and Scotland rejoyce/The Royal Victory [over Dutch fleet, June 2, 3, 1665] (BBI ZN1636) (With the title "The Royal Victory" in C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , p. 58)
Lift up thy head England & lay by thy mourning/The Triumph of four Nations;.. [peace of Breda] (BBI ZN1690)
Of all the rich pleasures that ever was seen/Joyfull News to the Nation..[Crowning of] Charles the II. on the 23. of April (BBI ZN2094)
Adiew vain delights, and bewitch us no more/Robbery Rewarded.. Five Notorious High-way-men's Exploits (BBI ZN15)
Come hither good fellows and hear what I say/A Groatsworth of Good Counsel for a Penny, Or The Bad Husbands Repentance (BBI ZN595)
Of late I did walk in a pleasant fair day/The Constant Couple, Or, The Glory of True Love (BBI ZN2110)
The Jenny a small Picaroon in the Park/The City Caper; Or, The Whetstone-Park Privateer (BBI ZN1541)
Forbear your vile plotting/The Plotter Executed (BBI ZN906)
All young men and maidens, come listen a while/The merry Pastime of the Spring (BBI ZN161)
Good people attend now, and I will declare/Mans Amazement..Thomas Cox..  (BBI ZN1045)
When all hearts did yield unto Cupid as King/Pyramus and Thisbie  (BBI ZN2815)
You Bartholomew tapsters I first do advise/A Description of Bartholomew-Fair  (BBI ZN2991)
Come all you brave Sea-men of Courage so free/News from the coast of Spain  (BBI ZN524)
Let all loyal subjects look well to their wits/Treason Rewarded at Tiburn.. executed [24th of January, 1679]  (BBI ZN1619)
Fairest and dearest to thee I am bound/The Dying Lovers Reprieve  (BBI ZN848)
For certain and sure, this Girl will go mad/The Young-Man's Answer to the Politick-Maids Device  (BBI ZN903)
Farewel, worldly pleasures and fading delight/Sir Thomas Armstrong's Farewell [executed June 20, 1684]  (BBI ZN888)
Come, all loyal lovers, so courteous and free/Love and Constancy  (BBI ZN503)
You bonny boon blades that are company keepers/The bad husband's Information of ill Husbandry  (BBI ZN2998)
Good fellows come hither, 'tis to you I speak/The Alewives Invitation to Married-Men, and Batchelors  (BBI ZN1005)
My dearest come hither and listen tome [sic]/The merry Discourse between two Lovers  (BBI ZN1799)
Come all loyal Subjects of every degree/Good News for the Nation..[new parliament]  (BBI ZN506)
Company of Gossips that love strong bub/The Merry Gossips Vindication  (BBI ZN712)
Alas my dear husband, what is your intent/A Looking glass for all Good-fellows; or, The Provident Wives Directions  (BBI ZN45)
Come all loyal subjects I pray you draw near/ Great Britains Joy  (BBI ZN505)
A curse on blind Cupid his name I do hate/A Westminster Wedding, Or, A Whore-master Buried Alive (BBI ZN738)
Captain Harman, or, News from the Coast of Spain ("Come, all you brave seamen of courage so free") (C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , p. 83)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Digby's Farewell
NOTES: Folklore has it that a fellow named Packington, in the reign of Elizabeth I, bet that he could swim the length of the Thames. But Elizabeth forbade the attempt, and Packington forfeited his pound. I have no way to verify this; I heard it on a classical music station.
This *tune* is almost certainly traditional, though the words have not endured. Included in the Index for the many broadsides set to its melody (see the Same Tune list). - RBW
File: ChWI259
===
NAME: Paddle the Road with Me
DESCRIPTION: A rambler invites a girl to marry him and join him on the road. The girl is not thrilled; winter is coming and her father has another husband in mind. The rambler declares that her fiance is worthless; the two set out happily on their rambles
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911
KEYWORDS: courting rambling marriage
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Ord, pp. 78-79, "To Pad the Road wi' Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 32, "Paddle the Road with Me"
SHenry H18a, pp. 358-359, "Will Ye Pad the Road wi' Me?"; H 564, pp. 344-345, "The Banks of Mourne Shore" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the second placing more emphasis than usual on the rejection; the girl never agrees to go with the man)
ST Wa032 (Full)
Roud #4599
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Weaver and the Tailor" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Pad the Road wi' Me
File: Wa032
===
NAME: Paddle Your Own Canoe
DESCRIPTION: "I've traveled about a bit in my time And of troubles I've seen a few, But I found it better in every clime To paddle my own canoe." The singer advises loving one's neighbor, not being downhearted, and remaining as independent as possible
AUTHOR: H. Clifton
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonballad work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 55, "Paddle Your Own Canoe" (1 text)
Roud #6093
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Bill Ryan Left Terry Behind" (tune)
File: Be3055
===
NAME: Paddy and the Whale
DESCRIPTION: "Paddy O'Brien left Ireland in glee He had a strong notion old England to see." A whale attacks the ship, swallows him, and vomits him six months later. "The next time he wishes old England to see It will be when the railroad runs over the sea"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: travel escape drink England Ireland humorous whale
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 67, "Paddy and the Whale" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PADWHAL*
Roud #6342
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (theme)
NOTES: Obviously a variant of the Jonah legend, this seems to be found only in Canada. Although no one seems to have traced it, I suspect stage-Irish origin. - RBW
File: GrMa067
===
NAME: Paddy Backwards
DESCRIPTION: Singer rides to market on a cow, which dirties his clothes and shoes. He looks up the magistrate, asking if he knows the place; when he arrives, he sees nothing but a thousand potatoes growing on a pear tree. Chorus: "Sing down, all you paddies, lay down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: travel nonsense paradox animal
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 110, "Paddy Backwards" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 110, "Paddy Backwards" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 82, "Paddy Backwards" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp.140-141, "Paddy Backwards" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 119, "Paddy Backwards" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PADBCKWD*
Roud #1687
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nottamun Town (Nottingham Fair)" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Seven Wonders" (theme)
cf. "The Lofty Giant (Song of Marvels)" (theme)
cf. "Paddy's Ramble to London" (theme and some couplets)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
All You Paddies Lay Down
NOTES: MacColl & Seeger lump this and other "marvels" songs with "Nottamun Town," but as the tunes, structures wonders cited are different I prefer to keep them separate. - PJS
This is another "Oh, dear." Looking at the version in the Digital Tradition, the plot is quite distinct from what is listed here, and it shares lyrics and a metrical pattern with "Nottamun Town" -- so much so that I almost filed *it* with Nottamun Town and called the MacColl/Seeger text a separate piece. Definitely a case of continuous texts, but with divergent extremes. - RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield says "this is a variant of 'Paddy's Ramble to London' a favorite slip and broadside song of the first half of the nineteenth century."
Leach-Labrador agrees with Greenleaf/Mansfield in that "an English broadside, 'Paddy's Ramble to London,' early nineteenth century, is probably the ancestor of this and of the various songs found in America with titles like 'Nottingham Fair,' 'Nottamun Torn.' It was a popular minstrel song.
If you follow this through the Bodleian archives, be careful not to be misled by broadsides with similar titles like "Paddy's Ramble THROUGH London" or "Paddy's VISIT to London" which are among the many country-bumpkin-comes-to-town-and-reveals-how-foolish-things-are-in-the-city broadsides. Bodleian includes "Paddy's Ramble to London" printed at Seven Dials between 1802 and 1844, shelfmark 2806 c.18(233). You can see a similar text as "Paddy's Ramble"["Says Paddy in Ireland no longer I'll stay"] printed in London between 1802 and 1819, shelfmark Harding B 16(198a).
Here is a Long Description of "Paddy's Ramble to London": 
This is addressed to tars looking for a fight between wars, without swords or guns but arms "to kill all our friends that will do no harm."
Paddy has too much money and so can't pay his debts and decides to go to London, pass for a Lord, with his head under his arm, his wig and broad sword. 
[The third and fourth verse are a clear source for Paddy Backwards]: He leaves Dublin for Manchester "next Michael last" where "My horse standing still throw'd me down in the dirt Daubed my Body and bruised my shirt, I being of good courage I mounted again, My ten toes I tripp'd over the plain, Where my knapsack and all I throw'd to the ground And away then I steer'd to fair London town"
At London "not a soul could I see" because the crowd was so thick so I stood still but my feet were worn and shoes were lame.
I choked on the dust in the day-long rain, had a quart "to drive gladness away" and since I had no money to pay with I took a coach and walked away.
[Lines from the next two verses also survive in Paddy Backwards]:"As I was a going through St. Jame's Park, In the middle of winter when noon it was dark, I met three making of hay in the middle of winter, One Midsummer's Day. To find out the place I was sad at a loss, When shutting my eyes on safe Charing Cross Where the King set on horseback all on the cold stone There was thousands all round him but troth never a one."
I'll play cards at the Ball and court a rich Lady worth nothing. At the marriage drum will ring, bells beat and fiddle sing.
I'll marry a Blackamoor Lady, the "fairest of creatures" and buy her a silver cup of horn.
Since I favor splitting "Paddy's Ramble to London" from "Paddy Backwards" I think it pays to compare the two more precisely. Among the four Newfoundland texts, the version of "Paddy Backwards" that is closest to the "Paddy's Ramble to London" broadside is on the _MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada_ site. The broadside has 20 couplets and the site has 14. They share five. The five couplets shared are the only ones found in Greenleaf/Mansfield (3 couplets out of 12), Leach text A (4 out of 13 1/2) and Leach text B (3 1/2 out of 8). - BS
File: McCST119
===
NAME: Paddy Carey
DESCRIPTION: Recruiting Sergeant Snapp meets Paddy Carey, a great favorite with the women. He enlists Paddy for a shilling "while Pat was coaxing duck-legged Mary." At that ugly widow Leary gives Paddy money for a ring. He outfits himself as a captain and leaves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(232a))
KEYWORDS: courting army recruiting money humorous rake
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 20, "Paddy Carey" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(232a), "Paddy Carey" ("'Twas at the town of neat Clogheon"), J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also 2806 c.15(294), Harding B 11(2906), Harding B 12(71), Harding B 11(2907), Harding B 28(23), Harding B 25(1445), "Paddy Carey"
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 17(232a) is used as the basis for the description since O'Conor ends his song before widow Leary comes on the scene. - BS
It should be noted that this song was printed at a time when commission by purchase was still the norm in the British army. - RBW
File: OCon020
===
NAME: Paddy Darry
DESCRIPTION: "Paddy Darry lived in Clary, Had a girl in Biddy Town, Her tongue was slit with the sierel larry, But she sang to Paddy a golden rune. Hey eye for the sierel-larry... Oh what's the use of going fast? He's sure to meet me on the way."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, p. 293, "Paddy Darry" (1 text)
Roud #7952
NOTES: This is perhaps the least-documented piece in all of Belden. He didn't take down the date or the tune, it's only a fragment, and neither he nor I knows another version of it. - RBW
File: Beld293
===
NAME: Paddy Doyle (I)
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "We'll pay Paddy Doyle for his boots." The boots may be referred to as stolen, or Paddy's boarding house may be described
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909
KEYWORDS: shanty clothes poverty
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 10, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 43, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, p. 32, "Paddy Doyle and His Boots" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 330-334, "Paddy Doyle's Boots" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 247-249]
Sharp-EFC, XXXVIII, p. 43, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H53c, p. 96, "Paddy Doyle' (1 text, 1 tune, a tiny fragment)
Smith/Hatt, p. 28, "We'll Pay Paddy Doyle For His Boots" (1 fragment)
Bone, p. 47, "Paddy Doyle" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 31, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PADDOYLE
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 of "Paddy Doyle" is in Part 4, 8/4/1917.
Roud #4695
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Paddy Doyle's Boots" (on IRClancyMakem02)
Richard Maitland, "Paddy Doyle" (AFS, 1939; on LC26)
NOTES: According to Doerflinger, Doyle was a boarding master. (A boarding master took in sailors and found them jobs at sea in return for a cut of their pay. In return, he was to provide them with necessary equipment such as boots; for background on the, see the notes to "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7].) Boarding masters expected to take a large profit, but apparently Doyle was more rapacious than most. - RBW
File: Doe010
===
NAME: Paddy Doyle (II): see Doran's Ass [Laws Q19] (File: LQ19)
===
NAME: Paddy Magee's Dream
DESCRIPTION: An Englishman, Scotchman, and Irishman meet and pool their resources to buy a loaf. The loaf will go to the one who has the grandest dream. The Englishman and Scotchman have grand dreams but the Irishman dreamt he was hungry, woke and ate the loaf.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2917))
KEYWORDS: wager dream food humorous
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, p. 99, "Paddy Magee's Dream" (1 text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 72, "Johnny Bull, Irishman, and Scotchman" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST OCon099 (Partial)
Roud #3272
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2917), "Paddy Magee's Dream" , W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also Harding B 11(2918), "Paddy Magee" ("John Bull he was an Englishman, he went on the tramp one day") or "The Three Dreams"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Bull Lives In England" (theme of national comparison)
File: OCon099
===
NAME: Paddy Malone
DESCRIPTION: "Oh! My name is Paddy Malone, or 'twas so in Tipperary," but he chose to emigrate to Australia and now regrets it: He lost his master's sheep, was kicked by his bullock team; he will now head to town to try something safer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Paterson, _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: Australia emigration animal humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 97-101, "Paddy Malone" (1 text)
Roud #9111
File: PFS097
===
NAME: Paddy on the Railway
DESCRIPTION: "Paddy on the railway, Picking up stones; Along came an engine And broke Paddy's bones." "O, said Paddy, That's not fair. O, said the engineman, You shouldna have been there."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: train injury
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 151, "(Paddy on the railway)" (1 text)
Roud #13611
File: MSNR151
===
NAME: Paddy on the Turnpike
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses about Paddy's difficulties as he travels: "I'm just Paddy on the turnpike, I'll just be on my way, I'll just paddle down the turnpike To pass the time away." He describes his travels, admits he has no wife, and laments growing old
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: floatingverses rambling age
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 43, "Paddy on the Turnpike" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Not to be confused with the fiddle tune of the same name. Ohrlin's version, as the notes admit, consists mostly of floating verses; I don't know if a coherent version exists. - RBW
File: Ohr043
===
NAME: Paddy Ryan
DESCRIPTION: "Way up in old Calgary over the line There came an old cowboy, his name was Pat Ryan. He looked at the cowboys a-workin' the chutes, 'Boys, watch these spurs on the heels of my boots.'" "Old Thief Duncan looks up and he squalls, 'Watch this boy....'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1896 - Birth of Pat Ryan
FOUND_IN: Canada
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 34, "Paddy Ryan" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr034
===
NAME: Paddy Sheahan: see Patrick Sheehan [Laws J11] (File: LJ11)
===
NAME: Paddy Stole the Rope: see How Paddy Stole the Rope (File: OCon068)
===
NAME: Paddy West
DESCRIPTION: The singer stops at Paddy West's (boarding)-house. Paddy offers him a (bad) meal and induces him to go to sea. Paddy assures the recruit is qualified by sending him three times "around the horn" of a cow and having him furl the royal of the window blind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: sailor humorous shanghaiing
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 113-114, "Paddy West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 335-336, "Paddy West" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 250-251]
DT, PADWEST*
Roud #3092
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw)" (tune)
cf. "Tramps and Hawkers" (tune)
NOTES: Hugill claimed Paddy West was a real person, living probably on Great Howard Street in Liverpool. But he offers no further details. For the not-very-savory history of boarding masters in general, see the notes to "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7]. - RBW
File: Doe113
===
NAME: Paddy Whack
DESCRIPTION: Paddy Whack boasts of his Irish ancestry, his schooling (especially in fisticuffs), and his skill in war
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: Ireland
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Eddy 153, (first of several "Fragments of Irish Songs")
ST E153A (Full)
Roud #5353
File: E153A
===
NAME: Paddy Works on the Erie: see Paddy Works on the Railway (File: LxU076)
===
NAME: Paddy Works on the Railway
DESCRIPTION: Paddy describes the working conditions on the railway: "In (1841), I put me corderoy britches on... to work upon the (railway)." He recalls the hard work, courting and losing a wife, and the drink he uses to relieve his burdens
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg); there is a clear reference from 1864 in a manuscript from the clipper _Young Australia_
KEYWORDS: railroading work marriage death drink hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 547-552, "Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text plus extended excerpts to illustrate variations in the song and a broadside print of "Mick Upon the Railroad," 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 356-357, "Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 107-108, "Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow pp. 139-141, "Oh, Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 155-156, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, version "E" of "Roll the Cotton Down");  pp. 337-338, "Paddy Works on the Railway," "Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 252-253]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 77-78, "Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacColl-Shuttle, pp. 20-21, "Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 conflated text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 76, "Paddy Works On the Erie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 20-22, "Paddy Works on the Erie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 438, "Paddy Works on the Erie" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 43, "Fillimeeooreay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 42-43, "Pat Works on the Railway" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, p. 330, "Pat Works on the Railway" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 101 "Pat Works On The Railway" (1 text)
DT, PADRAIL1*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Paddy on the Railway" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #208
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Paddy Works on the Railway" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bluestone Quarries" (tune & meter)
cf. "The Shaver" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The American Railway
NOTES: Greenway prints a three-verse version ending with complaints about the company store. It is not clear whether this is a parody or a natural addition -- or whether the Sandburg/Lomax versions have cleaned this up.
There is a broadside, NLScotland LC.Fol.178.A.2(086), entitled "Paddy on the Railway," beginning "A Paddy once in Greenock town, For Glasgow city he was bound." The chorus is "Engine, boiler, water tight, Driving in with all his might, Upon my soul it was a sight To see the Greenock railway." This may well be related; I wouldn't consider it the same song. Cohen thinks there is "no relation."
Cohen also discusses the origin of this song, observing that it has two basic forms, which might be distinguished by their choruses -- the one more common in old versions being "I'm weary of the railway, Poor Paddy works on the railway"; the other, which is the one they taught us in grade school, is "Fil-i-me-oo-ri-ee-ri-ay" or some such noise.  Cohen hints darkly about the fact that the earliest source of the second tune is a Lomax book, and I can offer no contrary evidence. There is also evidence of mixng of versions; Cohen notes the similarity of these several Lomax verses to the undated broadside "Mick Upon the Railroad."
Shay describes his version as a capstan chantey. The only support for this is the last of his nine verses, in which the singer goes to work for the Black Ball Line in 1849 ("and that's the end of my monkeyshine"). It is clear that the song functioned as a shanty of some sort, though, given the number of sea song collections in which it is found.
- RBW
File: LxU076
===
NAME: Paddy, Get Back
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with long chorus, "Paddy, get back, Take in the slack, Heave away your capstan," etc. The song details how the poor boy has to go to sea to earn money, then suffers at the hands of weather, mate, and a long voyage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898
KEYWORDS: shanty poverty sailor abuse
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar) Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 54-55, "Paddy, Get Back" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 121-122, "Paddy Get Back" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 321-327, "Paddy Lay Back" (3 texts, 3 tunes with variants) [AbEd, pp. 241-244]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 68-70, "Paddy Get Back" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 42-43, "Lay Out, Tack Sheets and Haul" (1 text)
DT, PADLAYBK
Roud #653
RECORDINGS:
George Ling, "On Board the Leicester Castle" (on Voice02)
Richard Maitland, "Paddy, Get Back" (AFS, 1939; on LC26)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Liverpool Song" (form, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Mainsail Haul
The Liverpool Song
Valparaiso Round the Horn
File: Doe054
===
NAME: Paddy, Lay Back: see Paddy, Get Back (File: Doe054)
===
NAME: Paddy, the Cockney and the Ass
DESCRIPTION: Pat Molloy meets a cockney and his ass in London. Forced to speak to the ass, Pat puts a pebble in its ear. Enraged, it upsets the cockney's cart. Taken in, Pat says he told the ass that the Irish had rid themselves of the landlords. Charges dismissed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1972 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Pat Molloy from County Clare goes to London and meets a Cockney with a cart and donkey. The Cockney won't let Pat pass until he speaks to the donkey. While speaking he puts a pebble in the ass's ear. The ass, mad, upsets the Cockney's cart. The Cockney has the peelers take Pat in. The magistrate asks Pat what he told the ass to make him mad. He says he told the ass that the Irish had rid themselves of all the landlords. The magistrate laughs and dismisses Pat.
KEYWORDS: England Ireland humorous animal
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 18, "Paddy, the Cockney and the Ass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3078
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Pat Molloy and the Cockney
Paddy and the Ass
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "The slightly 'stagy' language used in the ballad might be an indication -- by no means an infallible one -- that the song originated in America." - BS
File: RcPaCoAs
===
NAME: Paddy's Advice
DESCRIPTION: Paddy is advised "let men of all creeds and professions agree ... How easy old Erin we'd free." If you stand alone, the preachers will fleece you, you must pay landlords just to dig your land. "The system must fall ... if ye stick to each other"
AUTHOR: James Hope (1764-1847) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1887 (Madden's _Literary Remains of the United Irishmen of 1798_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 41, "Paddy's Advice" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Moyl041
===
NAME: Paddy's Curiosity Shop
DESCRIPTION: "Did you hear tell of Paddy's Museum?" It is filled with antiquities. Barnum's cannot compare. It has Adam's "mattock and spade," "King David's ould breeches,"... "I'll give you the second edition Some night when you drop in again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging sb30404a)
KEYWORDS: humorous talltale Bible
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 145, "Paddy's Curiosity Shop" (1 text)
Roud #15372
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(694), "Pat's Curiosity Shop", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as LOCSinging sb30404a]
LOCSinging, sb30404a, "Pat's Curiosity Shop", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as  Bodleian Harding B 18(694)]
NOTES: Broadsides LOCSinging sb30404a and Bodleian Harding B 18(694): 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: OCon145
===
NAME: Paddy's Green Country: see The Town of Antrim (File: HHH632)
===
NAME: Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of setting sail from (Londonderry), bound for America. He looks long on the beloved Irish coast he is leaving. A hard voyage brings him to America, where he and his friends say farewell. (He hopes to return home and marry his girl)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration parting ship separation
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
SHenry H192, pp. 101-102, "The Shamrock Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ranson, p. 55, "The Shamrock Shore" (1 text)
McBride 62, "The Shamrock Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PADDYGRN* PADDYGR2*
Roud #1419
File: HHH192
===
NAME: Paddy's Land
DESCRIPTION: The singer travels from Ireland to Scotland. He sees and falls in love with a beautiful girl. She asks him if he is Scottish. He tells her no, and asks if she will go to Ireland with him. She apparently refuses, for he returns to Ireland alone
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection foreigner beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H473, pp. 354-355, "Paddy's Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6876
File: HHH473
===
NAME: Paddy's Panacea
DESCRIPTION: Poteen is "the best thing in nature For sinking your sorrows and raising your joys." It cures cramp, colic and spleen, calms a baby when mixed in milk, sooths a mind at school, makes the dumb talk, the lame walk, and helped Brunel dig the Thames tunnel.
AUTHOR: Joseph Lunn (1784-1863) (source: O'Conor)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous nonballad technology
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 3, "Paddy's Panacea" (1 text, 1 tune)
OConor, pp. 155-156, "Paddy's Panacea" (1 text)
Roud #3079
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "Paddy's Panacea" (on Voice13) (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: Marc Isambard Brunel began construction of the Thames Tunnel in 1825. The tunnel was completed in 1842 and opened in 1843. (source: _Thames Tunnel_ at the Wikipedia site. - BS
File: RcPadPan
===
NAME: Paddy's Pastoral Rhapsody
DESCRIPTION: Pat asks Molly to marry. She says he is too young and too poor. He says "wealth is an invitation The wise should never mintion." Sparrows, bees and roses, he says, get by without wealth. He drinks to her "for when I'm drunk I think I'm rich"
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.28(6a/b) view 7 of 8)
KEYWORDS: poverty courting rejection drink
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 38, "Paddy's Pastoral Rhapsody" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(6a/b) view 7 of 8, "Paddy's Pastoral Rhapsody", R. March & Co (London), 1877-1884 
NOTES: Broadside Firth b.28(6a/b): "Sung by the Author in his Irish Evenings"; the broadside does not state who that Author might be but the Bartleby Great Books Online site quotes _The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907-21).Volume XIV. The Victorian Age, Part Two. IX. Anglo-Irish Literature_ to attribute this to Samuel Lover (and quote the verse O'Conor omits, to boot). This broadside has a final verse omitted by O'Conor. The broadside is used for the Description (I guess "the Author" should know). - BS
File: OCon038
===
NAME: Paddy's Ramble to London
DESCRIPTION: Paddy has too much money and so can't pay his debts and goes to London to pass for a Lord. He has strange, often paradoxical adventures. Finally he decides to marry a Blackamoor Lady, the "fairest of creatures" and buy her a silver cup of horn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(233))
KEYWORDS: travel nonsense paradox animal
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(233), "Paddy's Ramble to London" ("Come listen awhile you frolicksome tars"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1844
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy Backwards" and references there
cf. "Nottamun Town (Nottingham Fair)" (theme)
cf. "The Seven Wonders" (theme)
cf. "The Lofty Giant (Song of Marvels)" (theme)
NOTES: One verse of Bodleian 2806 c.18(233) is close to Opie-Oxford2 93, "As I was going by Charing Cross" (earliest date in Opie is 1808).
Paddy's Ramble to London: "To find out the place I was sad at a loss, When shutting my eyes on safe Charing Cross. Where the King set on horseback all on the cold stone There was thousands all round him but truth never a one."
Opie-Oxford2 93: "As I was going by Charing Cross, I saw a black man upon a black horse; They told me it was King Charles the First Oh dear, my heart was ready to burst!"
Opie explains that "in 1675 the statue of Charles I, which had originally been erected in King Street (and may today be seen at the top of Whitehall), was re-erected on the site of the old Charing Cross ...."
On the same subject see broadside Bodleian, Antiq. c. E.9(97), "A dialogue between the old black horse at Charing cross, and the new one, with a figure on it in H--er square ," unknown, c.1702 - BS
File: BdBPRtL
===
NAME: Padstow May Day Song
DESCRIPTION: Ritual song, for a hobby-horse, in English or Cornish: "Unite and unite, and let us all unite"..."Rise up, Mrs. __ and gold be your ring/And give to us a cup of ale the merrier we shall sing"..."Where are these young men that now here should dance..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1860 (Baring Gould MS)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Ritual song, accompanying antics of a hobby-horse; sung in English or Cornish: "Unite and unite, and let us all unite"..."Rise up, Mrs. __ and gold be your ring/And give to us a cup of ale the merrier we shall sing"..."Where are these young men that now here should dance?/Some they are in England and some they are in France"..."Now we fare you well and we bid you all good cheer/We'll call no more unto your house before another year"
KEYWORDS: ritual drink foreignlanguage moniker nonballad animal horse
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,North))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 86, "Can Cala Me [May Day Song]" (1 text, 1 tune; the notes give a related text and a version of "The Old May Song")
DT, CORMMAY
Roud #305
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ribbon Hobby Horse Team, "May Day Song" (on FSB9)
People of Padstow, "Padstow May Day Song" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Old May Song
Cornish May Carol
NOTES: Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. - PJS
File: K086
===
NAME: Page's Train Run So Fast: see Cotton-Eyed Joe (File: LxA262)
===
NAME: Paid O'Donoghue
DESCRIPTION: Anti-rebel forces range through Meath. Young Currogha smith Paid O'Donoghue forges rebel pike-heads. He is betrayed, taken and forced, before execution, to shoe the yeoman captain's horse. He kills the captain with his hammer and escapes on the horse
AUTHOR: Patrick Archer (1861-1919) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion betrayal escape death recitation horse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1798 - Irish rebellion against British rule 
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 59, "Paid O'Donoghue" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Moyl059
===
NAME: Painful Plough, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you jolly plowmen, of courage stout and bold... To crown them with contentment, behold the painful plow." The gardener and plowman discuss the antiquity of their profession. The plowman wins the argument because the plow makes all else possible
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: farming worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 222-223, "The Painful Plough" (1 text)
Roud #355
NOTES: One stanza of this song claims that "Adam was a plowman when plowing first begun." This is not scriptural; on the face of it, Adam was a hunter/gatherer. Cain is correctly identified as a farmer (Genesis 4:2).
The exploits of Samson are in Judges 13-16. Solomon's wisdom is mentioned, e.g., in 1 Kings 3:12 (though in fact 1 Kings devotes more space to his folly than his wisdom). David's slaying of "his ten thousands" is mentioned first in 1 Samuel 18:7.
The exploits of Alexander the Great are not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, though there are several mentions in the Greek Old Testament; in any case, he was well-known to tradition. - RBW
File: Ord222
===
NAME: Pains in My Fingers
DESCRIPTION: "Pains in my fingers, Pains in my toes; I sent for Doctor Brody To know what to do." Cho: "Sick him, Bobby, hoo-hoo, Sick him, Bobby, hoo! Oh, pore Mary Jane, He'll never come here no more." Other verses float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: doctor injury animal floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 167-168, "Pains In My Fingers" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Raccoon" (floating verses)
File: ScaNF168
===
NAME: Paisley Officer, The (India's Burning Sands) [Laws N2]
DESCRIPTION: Henry, an officer from Paisley, meets and falls in love with Mary. His regiment having been called to India, (they are married and) she dresses as a soldier to accompany him. He is fatally injured; she is killed caring for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Gardner/Chickering, who also mention a manuscript copy dated 1884); there are sundry 19C broadsides
KEYWORDS: courting marriage cross-dressing soldier death battle India
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws N2, "The Paisley Officer (India's Burning Sands)"
Doerflinger, pp. 308-310, "The Paisley Officer" (2 texts, 1 tune)
SHenry H120, pp. 332-333, "Blythe and Bonny Scotland/India's Burning Sands" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
McBride, pp. 65,75, "The Paisley Officer" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 192-193, "The Paisley Officer" (2 texts)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 158-159, "The Paisley Officer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 51, "Bonny Scotland" (2 texts)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 153-157, "The Paisley Officer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 86, "The Village Pride" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
DT 438, PAISLYOF
Roud #550
RECORDINGS:
Sara Cleveland, "In Bonny Scotland" (on SCleveland01)
Warde Ford, "India's Burning Sands" [fragment] (AFS 4199Bx1, 1938; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(234a), "The Paisley Officer," Sanderson (Edinburgh), 1830-1910; also 2806 c.14(124), "The Paisley Officer"
NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(198), "The Paisley Officer," unknown, c.1840; also L.C.178.A.2(198); RB.m.169(070), "The Paisley Officer"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Fare Thee Well, My Dearest Dear"
cf. "The Fair Town of Greenock" (theme)
cf. "The Lad in the Scotch Brigade (The Banks of the Clyde)" (theme)
NOTES: The description of this song at the Bodleian site associates this with the Sepoy Rebellion (1857-1858) -- but note that the National Library of Scotland broadsides probably predate this. - BS, RBW
File: LN02
===
NAME: Pakenham
DESCRIPTION: "Come, Packingham, and have a cup, Perhaps the last you will ever sup." The singer taunts the British soldiers coming to the battle of New Orleans
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: battle death soldier
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulsed Pakenham's force; the British commander is killed in the battle.
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 298-299, "The Hunters of Kentucky" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 1 tune, but the "A" fragment and part of "C" is "Pakenham")
Roud #2211
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hunters of Kentucky" [Laws A25] (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Battle of New Orleans" [Laws A7] (subject)
cf. "Molly Put the Kettle On (Polly Put the Kettle On)" (form)
NOTES: Belden observes that the fragment he lists as "A" of "The Hunters of Kentucky," and several lines of the last stanza of his "C" text, do not appear to be part of "The Hunters."  (And I heartily agree, though Roud lumps them.) And they *do* appear to be the same song. Belden therefore speculates that they are fragments of some lost song.
He appears to be right. Indeed, the chorus of the "A" fragment ("Jackson, put the kettle on, Coffee, blow the fire strong, Carroll, hands the cups around, The strangers must have tea") makes it nearly certain that it was built around "Molly Put the Kettle On." Whether it was truly traditional must wait on other information.
Jackson is of course Andrew Jackson, and "Packingham" is Pakenham, the British commander. "Coffee" is not the drink but John Coffee, Jackson's second in command in the Creek War (for background, see "Andrew Jackson's Raid"); Carroll is William Carroll (1788-1844), Jackson's successor in command of the Tennessee militia and later governor of that state. - RBW
File: Beld298
===
NAME: Palace Grand: see Lady Mary (The Sad Song) (File: R698)
===
NAME: Pale Ring, The: see Hind Horn [Child 17] (File: C017)
===
NAME: Pale WIldwood Flower, The: see Wildwood Flower (File: JRSF248)
===
NAME: Palms of Victory (Deliverance Will Come)
DESCRIPTION: "I saw a wayward traveller in tattered garments clad... His back was heavy laden, his strength was almost gone, He shouted as he journeyed, 'Deliverance will come!" Whatever the trouble, the traveller's refrain is the same.
AUTHOR: Rev. John B. Matthias
EARLIEST_DATE: 1836 (original composition)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 626, "Palms of Victory' (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 437-438, "Palms of Victory" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 626)
Warner 92, "Palms of Victory" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PALMSVIC
Roud #3540
RECORDINGS:
Linzy Hicks, "Palms of Victory" (on USWarnerColl01)
Homer Rodeheaver, "Palms of Victory" (Rainbow 1118, c. 1925)
File: R626
===
NAME: Pandora, The
DESCRIPTION: The Pandora "went down in Youghal Bay." On November 18 she sailed from Nova Scotia and, after seven days of heavy seas, sank after striking a rock. Captain Hardcastle "ordered out the longboat in hopes to reach the land" but many "perished in the deep"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1943 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 11, "The Pandora" (1 text)
NOTES: Youghal Bay is in County Cork. Ranson: "'The Pandora' was a Wexford vessel ... homeward bound with timber."
The only Pandora listed by Bourke is a Wexford brig that sank December 15, 1848 (see Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 100)- BS
A more famous _Pandora_, an English warship sent out in late 1790 to search for the mutinous crew of the _Bounty_. On August, 1791 it struck a reef near the ill-fated island of Vanikoro and sank with large loss of life. Clearly not the inspiration of this song, but it might have added to the aura of ill fate about the name _Pandora_. There was also an 18-gun warship _Pandora_, wrecked February 13, 1811 off Jutland. - RBW
File: Ran011
===
NAME: Panic is On, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer says the country is falling apart; no one can get work; landlords are raising rents; women are selling fruit, booze, or "everything they can." I things don't change "there'll be some stealin' done." Cho: "Doggone...I mean the panic is on."
AUTHOR: Probably Hezekiah Jenkins
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (recording, Vic Collins [Hezekiah Jenkins])
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer says the country is falling apart; no one can get work, folks are homeless and walking the streets; landlords are raising rents and evicting those who can't pay; to support their men, women are selling fruit, booze, or "everything they can." Singer has pawned everything but his gun; if things don't change "there'll be some stealin' done." Chorus: "Doggone...I mean the panic is on."
KEYWORDS: poverty crime robbery unemployment hardtimes nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, PANICON
Roud #15867
RECORDINGS:
Vic Collins [pseud. for Hezekiah Jenkins], "The Panic is On" (Columbia 14585-D, 1931)
NOTES: The Great Depression is usually considered to have begun with the crash of the stock market in 1929; however, conditions in rural areas had been depressed for several years before then. - PJS
File: DTpanico
===
NAME: Papa, Papa, Build Me a Boat: see The Sailor Boy (I) [Laws K12] (File: LK12)
===
NAME: Papa's Billy Goat: see Bill Grogan's Goat (File: SRW141)
===
NAME: Papa's Going to Buy Me a Mockingbird: see Hush, Little Baby (File: SBoA164)
===
NAME: Paper of Pins, (The): see The Keys of Canterbury (File: R354)
===
NAME: Papir Iz Doch Vays (Silver Is the Daylight)
DESCRIPTION: Yiddish: Daylight is silver, the sea is blue, and the singer's new love is bright. He hopes she will stay with him forever. None is as fair as she. He is tormented by love; all he wants is to be with her. If he is, any hut is a palace
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950
KEYWORDS: love courting colors foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scott-BoA, pp. 292-293, "Papir Iz Doch Vays (Silver Is the Daylight)" (2 texts (1 English, 1 Yiddish), 1 tune)
File: SBoA292
===
NAME: Parcel from a Lady, The (Under Her Apron)
DESCRIPTION: Singer is hailed by a lady who asks him to hold her parcel while she finds her sister. He holds the parcel until his arms grow tired. He sets it down; it emits a squall; he finds a baby. He advises young men never to take a parcel from a lady
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (recorded from Frank Hillier)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, walking down the strand, is hailed by a lady who asks him to hold her parcel while she goes to find her sister. He agrees, and holds the parcel until his arms grow tired. He then sets it down, and it emits a squall; he opens the parcel, and finds a baby. He advises young men never to take a parcel from a lady, or they might find themselves with an unwanted child
KEYWORDS: request warning abandonment humorous baby 
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 328, "The Parcel from a Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #898
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Basket of Eggs" (plot) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rolled in her Apron
She roun't in her apron
NOTES: While the plot is certainly similar to those of "The Basket of Eggs" and "Quare Bungo Rye", this song does not share any lyrics with them (except, of course, for the word "baby"). - PJS
File: K328
===
NAME: Pardon Came Too Late, The
DESCRIPTION: "A fair-haired boy in a foreign land at sunrise was to die." The solder is captured while trying to desert. The pardon does not arrive in time to save him. After his death, his comrades learn that he had been trying to return to his dying mother
AUTHOR: Paul Dresser (1857-1906)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: death execution mother desertion soldier
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 709, "The Pardon Came Too Late" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 233-235, "The Pardon Came Too Late" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 311-312, "The Pardon Came Too Late" (1 text)
ST R709 (Full)
Roud #7375
RECORDINGS:
Vel Veteran [pseud. for either Arthur Fields, Vernon Dalhart or Irving Kaufman] "The Pardon Came Too Late" (Grey Gull 4237, 1928)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(123), "The Pardon Came Too Late," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1880-1900
NOTES: For the story of Paul Dresser, see the notes to "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away." - RBW
File: R709
===
NAME: Parents, Warning: see The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)
===
NAME: Parish of Dunboe, The: see The Banished Lover (The Parish of Dunboe) (File: HHH023)
===
NAME: Parish of Dunkeld, The: see O What a Parish (The Parish of Dunkeld) (File: FVS217)
===
NAME: Parish of Inch, The
DESCRIPTION: On St Patrick's day the Teagues assembled at Downpatrick fair: "Protestant traitors with papists united Unfurled their green banners at Ballynahinch" and were confronted by the members of Four Hundred and Thirty, "the True Blues of the Parish of Inch"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political religious
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OrangeLark 22, "The Parish of Inch" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "Dictionary definition for 'Taig': Taig n. In Northern Ireland, a Protestant epithet for a Roman Catholic. Formerly, any Irishman. Also Teague." (source: Double-Tongued Word Wrester site.) "Lilliburlero" begins "Ho brother Teague, Dost hear de decree."
[The spelling "Teague" seems generally to be preferred; I suspect "Taig" is a result of local pronunciation. Eric Partridge's _A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English_, fifth edition, gives alternate spellings "Teg" and "Teigue," and derives it from the Irish surname "Tadhg," pronounced "Teeg." As "Teg," it appears in the anthology "Merry Drollery" in 1661; it is also used by Swift. Listed as archaic since 1879, but still used in Ulster as late as 1904. - RBW]
OrangeLark: "Inch had L.O.L. 430 and the song compares its gallant members with the bad Protestants 'who would change their faith for a British half-crown.' On a certain St Patrick's Day they proved their loyalty and dependability to the distress of their enemies."
For "True Blue" Masonic Lodges see Notes to "Derry Walls Away." - BS
File: OrLa022
===
NAME: Park in Portadown, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a woman who knows him by name. He asks her to walk with him in the park in Portadown. She refuses; she is waiting for her cousin James McKeown. He receives a letter from his "dear" as Mrs James McKeown. Beware of girls willing to spark.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: courting lie rejection warning
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Morton-Ulster 18, "The Park in Portadown" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2892
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Watercresses" (theme: the married woman pretending to be single)
NOTES: Morton-Ulster: "Portadown ... is a market town just below Lough Neagh." - BS
File: MorU018
===
NAME: Parrot Song, The: see Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)
===
NAME: Parsley Vine, The: see The Elfin Knight [Child 2] (File: C002)
===
NAME: Parson and the Clerk, The
DESCRIPTION: Parson preaches against sin; clerk  wants to do it. Parson denounces coveting gold, saying it's his fate to be well-paid. Clerk says, "Give it to me." Parson deplores boys kissing hussies; clerk says "I've done it myself and they're fond of it  too." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1949 (recorded from Phil Tanner)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Parson preaches against various sins; clerk says he wants to do them. Parson denounces coveting gold, saying it's his fate to be well-paid. Clerk says, "Give it to me." He tells those sinned against to turn the other cheek; clerk says, "I'll break his nose." Parson deplores young boys kissing hussies; clerk says "I've done it myself and they're fond of it  too." Parson preaches temperance; clerk says "I am awfully dry."
KEYWORDS: virtue courting sin drink dialog humorous religious clergy worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Wales)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 235, "The Parson and the Clerk" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1154
RECORDINGS:
Phil Tanner, "The Parson and the Clerk" (on FSB10)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Soldier and the Sailor" (theme)
cf. "The Mare and the Foal" (theme)
NOTES: Verse 6 of this song runs, "I bid you work and pray, And don't do all your parson does, But do as your parson say." Compare Matthew 23:3 -- "Do and obey what [the scribes and Pharisees] tell you, but not what they do, for they preach but do not practice."
It will presumably be obvious that "clerk" is pronounced "clark." - RBW 
File: K235
===
NAME: Parson Upon Dorothy: see references under "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" [Child 110] (File: C110)
===
NAME: Parting Friends: see Farewell My Friends (Parting Friends; I'm Bound for Canaan) (File: LxA564)
===
NAME: Parting Glass, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer has done some ills and foolish things, but never with ill purpose and only to himself. He misses his girl. He would spend money on good company if he had it. Conclusion: "So fill to me the parting glass, Goodnight and joy be with you all."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.15(114))
KEYWORDS: drink farewell nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
SHenry H769, p. 65, "The Parting Glass" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 69, "The Parting Glass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 573-574, "The Parting Glass" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PARTGLAS*
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, pp. 82-83, "The Parting Glass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3004
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Parting Glass" (on IRClancyMakem01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.15(114), "The Parting Glass," J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin) , 1850-1899; also Harding B 26(498), Harding B 26(499), 2806 c.15(13), Harding B 19(89), "The Parting Glass"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Over the Hills to My Nanny, O" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian 2806 c.15(114), Bodleian 2806 c.15(13), Bodleian Harding B 19(89))
NOTES: This song is lyric enough that it can import elements from almost anywhere; the Sam Henry version, for instance, starts with a verse best known from "The Barnyards o' Delgaty"  ("I can drink and no be drunk..."), and also includes a bit of "My Dearest Dear." I suspect there are versions which elaborate on the girl the singer can't have. - RBW
Description from Peacock's version: She hopes he won't go far away. He intends to leave her "when and where all stormy winds blow."  She dreams he has been "pressed ... gone on board ... to serve his royal majesty." - BS
File: HHH769
===
NAME: Parting Lovers, The: see Farewell, Sweetheart (The Parting Lovers) (File: R756)
===
NAME: Parting of Burns and Highland Mary, The: see Burns and His Highland Mary [Laws O34] (File: LO34)
===
NAME: Parting Words
DESCRIPTION: "When the parting words were spoken And I told him he was free... I am free, oh, free again...." She has seen him with another; accuses him of falsehood, says she will be true; he wipes away a tear, murmuring, "Life is nothing more to me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love courting betrayal floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 160, "Parting Words" (1 text)
Roud #6576
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (plot)
cf. "Ella Lea" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Thou Hast Learned to Love Another" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Faded Flowers" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: A rather confused piece; the overall plot is very much like "Farewell He," but with the strange report of his despair at the end. Many of the lyrics float; see the cross-references. - RBW
File: BrII160
===
NAME: Partizaner Lid (The Partisan)
DESCRIPTION: Yiddish: The guerrilla is advised to use (her) weapon well. A girl is going on her first raid. She kills an enemy soldier, and his vehicle crashes. She rejoices in her success in "a struggle all must share"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: war battle death rebellion foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scott-BoA, pp. 360-361, "Partizaner Lid (The Partisan)" (2 texts (1 English, 1 Yiddish), 1 tune)
NOTES: World War II saw more partisan activity than any previous war, mostly because the Nazis so cruelly oppressed their victims. Perhaps the largest guerrilla forces were raised in Poland, where Jews were plentiful and even the Christians were treated as animals.
Toward the end of the war, as the Russians approached Warsaw, the Polish resistance arose and recaptured the city. This was the greatest accomplishment of the partisans in the entire war.
Sadly, at that very moment the Russians stopped their advance. Stalin said his armies needed to regroup. In fact, he was allowing the Nazis the chance to crush the Warsaw uprising so he wouldn't have to do it himself.
The Nazis did their part, then the Russians moved in. Tens of thousands of Poles had died for nothing. - RBW
File: SBoA360
===
NAME: Party in Alpena, The: see Way Down Near Alpena (File: Be039)
===
NAME: Pass Around the Bottle (As We Go Marching Home)
DESCRIPTION: "Pass around the bottle and we'll all take a drink (x2) As we go marching home." "Pull out the stopper and fill it up again." "Hang John Brown on a sour apple tree." "Grasshopper sitting on a sweet potato vine." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers)
KEYWORDS: drink floatingverses Civilwar execution drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 34, "Pass Around the Bottle" (1 text)
Roud #7858
RECORDINGS:
Al Bernard, "Pass Around the Bottle" (Van Dyke 5115, c. 1930)
Georgia Yellow Hammers, "Pass Around the Bottle" (Victor 20550, 1927; Montgomery Ward M-8054, 1939)
Sim Harris, "Pass Around the Bottle" (Oriole 916, 1927)
North Carolina Hawaiians, "Pass Around the Bottle" (OKeh 45405, 1930; rec. 1928)
Ernest Stoneman, "Pass Around the Bottle" (Banner 2157/Domino 3985/Regal 8346/Homestead 16490 [as by Sim Harris], c. 1929/Oriole 916 [as by Harris]/Challenge 665/Conqueror 7064/Conqueror 7755, 1931/Paramount 3021/Broadway 8054, c. 1930; rec. 1927) Pathe 32278/Perfect 12357/Cameo 8217/Romeo 597/Lincoln 2882, 1927); "Hang John Brown" (on Stonemans01); (Edison, unissued, 1927)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Pass Around the Bottle and We'll All Take a Drink" (Columbia 15074-D, 1926)
Walter Williams, "Pass Around the Bottle" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Marching On" (lyrics)
cf. "John Brown's Body" (tune & meter) and references there
NOTES: Since this is almost entirely floating verses, with a floating chorus, it probably is actually a version of something else. But without a tune, we can't really tell what.
Paul Stamler tells me that Gid Tanner recorded this to the tune of "John Brown's Body." However, this does not fit the text printed by Brown (which is only three lines long rather than four). - RBW
File: Br3034
===
NAME: Pass the Drunkard By: see Short Life of Trouble (File: RcSLOT)
===
NAME: Pass Under the Rod
DESCRIPTION: The singer variously sees "a young bride in her beauty and pride," a "young mother in tenderness band," and parents falling victim to "idolatrous love," but a Healer came to rescue them, saying "I love thee, I love thee, pass under the rod."
AUTHOR: Mrs. M. S. B. Dana (?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Heart Throbs)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 650, "Pass Under the Rod" (2 texts)
Roud #7571
NOTES: As best I can tell, the phrase "pass under the rod" is an allusion to the King James Version text of Ezekiel 20:37, which refers to bringing transgressors back into the covenant. Leviticus 27:32 uses the same phrase (referring to the holy tithes of animals), but this strikes me as even more of a stretch. - RBW
File: R650
===
NAME: Passant par Paris (Passing through Paris)
DESCRIPTION: French capstan song. Singer is passing through Paris, when he's told that someone is courting his girl. He says he doesn't care, anyone can have her, and goes on to list all the other good things that he has/had.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Hayet, _Chansons de bord_)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: French capstan song. Singer is passing through Paris, when he's told that someone is courting his girl. He says he doesn't care, anyone can have her, and goes on to list all the other good things that he has/had. Sung as a typical French call & response form where the first line of a verse is a repeat of the last line of the previous verse, with choruses interspersed. Chorus of this song is "Bon! bon! bon! Le bon vin m'endort, l'amour me reveille / Good! good! good! The good wine makes me sleep, but love wakes me up."
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty love bragging
FOUND_IN: France
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 414-416, "Passant par Paris" (2 texts-French & English, 1 tune)
File: Hugi414
===
NAME: Pastoral Elegy
DESCRIPTION: "What sorrowful sounds do I hear Move slowly along in the gale?... Sweet Coroden's notes are all o'er, How lonely he sleeps in the clay." Caroline describes the flowers by his grave and plans to haunt the woods "Since Coroden hears me no more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1835 (Missouri Harmony)
KEYWORDS: death burial rambling
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
LPound-ABS, 95, pp. 203-204, "Pastoral Elegy" (1 text)
Roud #4662
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Corydon and Phoebe" (theme)
NOTES: This is clearly a folk remnant of the many Corydon-and-Phyllis/Phyllida/Chloris pastoral romances so common in the broadsides. I have not been able to find a broadside source, but this is nearly the only traditional survival of one of these pieces. (I thought the only one until Paul Stamler pointed out "Corydon and Phoebe.")
For which we should all be heartily thankful.
The song does appear, under the "Pastoral Elegy" title, in the 1835 edition of the "Missouri Harmony," and this, or some equivalent version, is probably ancestral to the text Pound collected. - RBW
File: LPnd203
===
NAME: Pastures of Plenty
DESCRIPTION: "It's a mighty hard road that my poor hands has hoed." The singer describes the hard work in the fields and the life of the (migrant) field worker. The singer promises to fight if need be, "'Cause my Pastures of Plenty must always be free."
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: work farming travel migrant freedom nonballad derivative
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 293-294, "Pastures of Plenty" (1 text)
DT, PASTPLEN
Roud #16377
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie, "Pastures of Plenty" (on AmHist2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pretty Polly (II)" (tune)
File: Grnw293
===
NAME: Pat and the Gauger
DESCRIPTION: Paddy lands with a 6-gallon whisky keg. A gauger asks to see his permit. Says Pat, "It's unconvenient to show it." The gauger takes the "smuggled" keg and sweats lugging it toward Customs House. At his own house Pat shows the permit and takes the keg
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous trick work
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 78, "Pat and the Gauger" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB078 (Partial)
Roud #2765
NOTES: I repeat Bob Waltz's comment from "The Gauger": It appears, in this case, that "gauger" is used in its sense of "revenue officer," though the secondary sense of one who is very aware of his own interests also fits. - BS
File: CrSNB078
===
NAME: Pat Brady
DESCRIPTION: Pat Brady's father is taken prisoner and hanged without any crime. Pat vows revenge. He takes part in the rebellion at Gorey, Wicklow, New Ross, and Vinegar Hill, is taken in Rathangan, and condemned to hang for high treason.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(15))
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death execution Ireland lament patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1798 - the Irish Rebellion
June 4 - Wexford rebels capture Gorey (which loyalists had abandoned a week earlier)
June 5, 1798 - The Wexford rebels attack the small garrison (about 1400 men, many militia) at New Ross, but are repelled
June 9, 1798 - Battle of Arklow. Father John Murphy tries to fight his way into Wicklow, but fails and suffers heavy casualties
June 21, 1798 - The rebel stronghold a Vinegar Hill is taken, and the Wexford rebellion effectively ended
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn 53A, "The Lamentations of Patrick Brady" or "The Heroes of Ninety-Eight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 67, "The Lamentation of Patrick Brady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3071
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(15), "Pat Brady" ("Ye true born heroes, I hope you will lend an ear"), W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also 2806 b.10(13), "Pat Brady"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banishment of Patrick Brady" (theme)
cf. "Boulavogue" (historical setting)
cf. "Father Murphy (I)" (subject of Father Murphy) and references there
File: OLoc053A
===
NAME: Pat Malloy [Laws Q24]
DESCRIPTION: Pat, the singer, reports that his mother (burdened with thirteen children) at last had to send him out to fend for himself. He visits England and America, sending his earnings home. Finally he prepares to return to Ireland and his sweetheart Molly
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1865 (broadside, LOCSinging sb40549a)
KEYWORDS: mother emigration love return Ireland
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws Q24, "Pat Malloy"
O'Conor, p. 116, "Pat Malloy" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 333-335, "Pat Malloy" (1 text; tue on pp. 447-448)
DT 533, PATMOLOY
Roud #8809
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.9(28), "Pat Molloy," W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also 2806 b.11(24), "Pat Molloy!"; 2806 c.8(191), Johnson Ballads 3061, "Pat Malloy"
LOCSinging, sb40549a, "Pat Malloy," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Return of Pat Molloy" (character of Pat Malloy/Molloy)
NOTES: Laws calls this "Pat Malloy," which we follow, but the name "Pat Molloy" is at least as common -- and it seems to have been the basis for the (probable) sequel "Return of Pat Molloy." Laws mentions a sequel, "Molly's Welcone to Pat Malloy." I haven't yet found a copy of this, so I don't know if it is the same as the other sequel, "Return of Pat Molloy." - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb40549a: 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: LQ24
===
NAME: Pat Malone: see The Irish Wake [Laws Q18] (File: LQ18)
===
NAME: Pat Malone Forgot that He Was Dead: see The Irish Wake [Laws Q18] (File: LQ18)
===
NAME: Pat Malony's Family
DESCRIPTION: Mike Malony marries Molly Higgins. "She'd as many relations as fishes in the sea, They ate me out of house and home." The family, including the "seventeen hundred babies... grandmothers and mothers-in-law" are numbered and named.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: marriage humorous food clothes ordeal family moniker
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor  p. 128, "Pat Malony's Family" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Poor Hard-Working Man" (theme)
File: OCon128
===
NAME: Pat Murphy: see I Don't Mind If I Do (File: MA263)
===
NAME: Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade
DESCRIPTION: "Said Pat to his mother, "It looks strange to see, Brothers fighting in such a queer manner." But Pat joins the Union army. He goes to battle still singing, but is shot and dies "far from the land of shillelagh."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1865 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 31(118))
KEYWORDS: Civilwar death battle foreigner
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-CivWar, p. 22-23, "Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SHILLELA
Roud #11630
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 31(118), "Pat Murphy of Meagher's Brigade", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 
LOCSinging, sb30412b, "Pat Murphy of Meagher's Brigade", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "By the Hush" (subject)
SAME_TUNE:
Think of Your Head in the Morning (per broadsides LOCSinging sb30412b and Bodleian Harding B 31(118))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Song of the Splintered Shillelagh
NOTES: In at least one sense, this song is quite accurate historically. The Army of the Potomac's famous "Irish Brigade" (63 NY, 69 NY, 88 NY; 28 Mass and 116 PA added later) had the highest casualty rate of any unit in the army in the early years of the war. By Gettysburg, the brigade had only 600 men (out of over 4000 originally enrolled), and the three New York regiments had fewer than a hundred men a piece -- a casualty rate in excess of 90%. - RBW
Broadsides LOCSinging sb30412b and Bodleian Harding B 31(118) are duplicates.
Broadsides LOCSinging sb30412b and Bodleian Harding B 31(118): 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: SCW22
===
NAME: Pat O'Brien [Laws P39]
DESCRIPTION: Pat asks Nancy to meet him. Having decided not to marry her, he stabs her. Her ghost tells her mother of the crime. Her body is found and Pat arrested. The ghost keeps appearing to him, finally inducing him to confess. He is hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1972 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: homicide ghost execution gallows-confession
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws P39, "Pat O'Brien"
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 10, "Pat O'Brien" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 516, PATOBRI
Roud #1919
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter (The Gosport Tragedy; Pretty Polly) [Laws P36A/B]" (theme)
NOTES: "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" is just the first similar ballad that came to mind.  As Munnelly notes, "it is a classic of the type of murder ballads which eminated from the popular broadsheet presses of the 19th century."  Munnelly also remarks on the "popularity of this song in oral tradition."  I don't have a broadside example yet. - BS
File: LP39
===
NAME: Pat O'Donnell
DESCRIPTION: Pat O'Donnell, "a deathly foe to traitors," sails from Ireland for Capetown on the Melrose. The informer James Kerry is also on board. Pat kills Kerry in a gunfight and is convicted of murder, though he claims self defence.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: emigration homicide trial Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 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)
(Source for The Phoenix Park murders: primarily Zimmermann, pp. 62, 63, 281-286)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Leach-Labrador 42, "Pat O'Donnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 86, "Patrick O'Donnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 44A, "Pat O Donnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 86, "Patrick O'Donnell" (1 text)
Morton-Maguire 54, pp. 150-151,176, "Pat O'Donnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab042 (Partial)
Roud #2794
RECORDINGS:
Marie Hare, "Patrick O'Donnell" (on MRMHare01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders) and references there
NOTES: 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: LLab042
===
NAME: Pat O'Hara
DESCRIPTION: "I am an Irish boy, and my heart is full of joy... I'm the rattling, rowling, teasing Pat O'Hara." The girls are always chasing Pat. He loves Ireland "tho' the times have changed this while in dear ould Erin's isle, And many have had to wander"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.16(216))
KEYWORDS: bragging courting Ireland nonballad rake
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, pp. 20-21, "Pat O'Hara" (1 text)
Roud #9697
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.16(216), "Pat O'Hara", T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also Firth c.26(194), "Pat O'Hara"
File: OCon020
===
NAME: Pat O'Reilly
DESCRIPTION: Pat O'Reilly intends to go to America, make a fortune, and return to Tyrone. Pat promises to marry Ann McCormick when he returns. She has him arrested and lies at the trial. He is condemned to "die on the gallows tree"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: courting accusation lie death lover trial execution emigration
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Peacock, pp. 159-160, "Pat O'Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor  p. 35, "Patrick Reilly" (1 text) 
Dean, pp. 7-8, "Patrick Riley" (1 text)
Roud #5494
File: Pea159
===
NAME: Pat of Mullingar
DESCRIPTION: "They may talk of Flying Childers" and other fast horses but none compares to the filly that drags Pat Mulingar's jaunting car. She won cups but "lost an eye at Limerick and an ear at Waterloo... She's gentle as the dove sirs, her speed you can't deny"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 15(234b))
KEYWORDS: racing horse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, p. 10, "Pat of Mullingar" (1 text)
OLochlainn 90, "Pat of Mullingar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3067
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 15(234b), "Pat of Mullingar", J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1858-1861; also 2806 c.15(130), Harding B 11(2967), 2806 b.11(121), "Pat of Mullingar"; Harding B 26(503), Harding B 19(91), "Pat of Mullinger"
NOTES: Flying Childers, born in 1714, "is considered the first truly great racehorse in the history of the Thoroughbred." (source: Thoroughbred Heritage site) - BS
File: OCon010
===
NAME: Pat Reilly: see Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly) (File: Pea469)
===
NAME: Pat Works on the Railway: see Paddy Works on the Railway (File: LxU076)
===
NAME: Pat's Wedding
DESCRIPTION: "O come in, man, and let's hear your cracks; I heard ye was o'er at the wedding O aye, man, indeed I was that, And I lent them a hand at the bedding." The singer describes Pat, "a comical body"; Rob, "the greedy hash"; etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: wedding food nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Gardner/Chickering 166, "Pat's Wedding" (1 expurgated text)
ST GC166 (Partial)
Roud #3705
NOTES: This may well be a fragment of some sort of song such as "The Blythesome Bridal," about an uproarious wedding. But it appears a bit fragmentary, and the omission of a verse at the end doesn't help. I file it separately until something clearly related shows up, and so does Roud. - RBW
File: GC166
===
NAME: Patie's Waddin': see Patie's Wadding (Petie's Wedding) (File: HHH200)
===
NAME: Patie's Wadding (Petie's Wedding)
DESCRIPTION: Petie comes to Meg to ask if she will marry. She consents but directs him to her father. Petie asks her father, pointing out that he has relatively little. The father consents to the wedding, and to pay for the feast
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1899 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: wedding father food
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H200, pp. 470-471, "Petie Cam' ower the Glen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5514
NOTES: One has to wonder what is going on beneath the surface here -- the father seems awfully eager to get rid of his daughter.... - RBW
File: HHH200
===
NAME: Patrick O'Donnell: see Pat O'Donnell (File: LLab042)
===
NAME: Patrick O'Neal
DESCRIPTION: Patrick goes to visit a cousin, and -- being mistaken for a sailor in disguise -- is taken by a press gang. Aboard ship, he proves utterly inept and meets many surprises. His ship defeats a Frenchman in battle. With peace, Patrick gets to go home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1829 (Northern Minstrel)
KEYWORDS: ship pressgang sailor humorous escape
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H552, pp. 102-103, "Patrick O'Neal" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST, PATNEAL
Roud #13368
File: HHH552
===
NAME: Patrick Reilly: see Pat O'Reilly (File: Pea159)
===
NAME: Patrick Riley: see Pat O'Reilly (File: Pea159)
===
NAME: Patrick Sheehan [Laws J11]
DESCRIPTION: Patrick and his family are forced from their home by the landlord. His mother dies in the poorhouse. Patrick has little choice but to join the British army. He is blinded at Sevastopol, and ends as a wandering beggar
AUTHOR: Charles Joseph Kickham  ("Darby Ryan, Junior") (1828-1882)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1857 ("First printed in The Kilkenny Journal, 7th October, 1857," according to Zimmermann)

KEYWORDS: war death family father begging injury
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1853-1856 - Crimean War (Britain and France actively at war with Russia 1854-1855)
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Australia Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws J11, "Patrick Sheehan"
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 88-89, "Paddy Sheahan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 63, "Patrick Sheehan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 39, "Patrick Sheehan" (2 texts, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 72, "Patrick Sheehan" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 115-117, "Patrick Sheehan" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 3-4, "Patrick Sheehan" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 481, "Patrick Sheehan" (source notes only)
DT 750, PATSHEEN*
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 214-216, 502, "Patrick Sheehan"
Roud #983
RECORDINGS:
Vincie Boyle, "Patrick Sheehan" (on IRClare01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(48), "Patrick Shean" or "The Glen of Aherloe," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 b.10(204), Firth c.14(124), "Patrick Shean" or "The Glen of Aherloe"; 2806 c.8(300), "Patrick Sheehan" or "The Glen of Aherlow"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lovely Jamie" (plot)
NOTES: The author attribution to Charles Kickham is from the Bodleian broadsides cited.
Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03, re "The Glen of Atherlow" instrumental: "Text written by Charles Joseph Kickham (1828 - 1882), who based it on a true story of one Patrick Sheehan who was blinded at Sebastopol. Sheehan was later jailed for begging in Grafton Street, Dublin, his British army pension having expired after six months. Kickham's poem was first published in 1857."
Zimmermann: "On 28th September, 1857, _The Freeman's Journal_ published the following information: 'A young man named Patrick Sheehan was brought up in custody of Police-constable Lynam, charged with causing an obstruction to the thoroughfare in Grafton-street. The constable stated that the prisoner was loitering in Grafton-street for the purpose of begging, having a placard on his breast setting forth that he had served in the Crimea in the 55th regiment; that he had lost his sight in the trenches before Sebastopol, and that he was discharged on a pension of six pence per day for nine months; and that this period being now expired, he was now obliged to have recourse to begging to support himself. A Crimean medal was found on his person... The prisoner was committed for seven days for begging.'"
Notes to IRClare01: "The ballad was soon to be heard in the streets all over Ireland, and was thought to have shamed the government into enquiring about the ex-soldier, to whom a life pension of a shilling a day was granted." - BS
Kickham's most important work is generally considered to be the novel _Knocknagow._ His dates seem to have caused some uncertainty; Laws quotes Barry to the effect that he was born in 1826; earlier editions of the Index quoted a birthdate of 1825, on what basis I no longer recall. But the majority of my references give his birth date as 1828.
Kickham had seemed destined for a career as a doctor when a shooting accident left him half-blind, almost deaf, and badly disfigured. He nonetheless became a successful author and poet -- and a vigorous nationalist, strongly attacking the Catholic church for its passivity in the quest for Irish independence.
By 1848, he was involved in nationalist causes. In 1861, he joined the Fenian Brotherhood, which evolved into the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Around 1873, he became president of the IRB's Supreme Council, holding the post until his death and rebuilding it after the debacle of the Fenian Rebellion.
It will be evident that his personal experiences contributed at least somewhat to the content of this song, though Kickham's family was sufficiently well-off that there was never any threat of him being forced from his home.
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 159-160, prints a piece, "The Immortal Kickham Is No More." There is no evidence that it's traditional, but it shows his historical importance. - RBW
File: LJ11
===
NAME: Patrick Spencer: see Sir Patrick Spens [Child 58] (File: C058)
===
NAME: Patriot Mother, The
DESCRIPTION: "'Come tell us the name of the rebelly crew Who lifted the pike on the Curragh with you.'" The captured rebel's mother tells the young man that she would rather see him dead than turn traitor. He holds fast and is hanged
AUTHOR: Mary Eva Kelly (1826-1910) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (Sparling)
KEYWORDS: prisoner mother children Ireland patriotic execution
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 85-86, "The Patriot Mother" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 54, "The Patriot Mother" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 393-394, "The Patriot Mother"
NOTES: Sparling, re Eva Mary Kelly (p. 502): "One of the poetesses of the _Nation_." Sparling does not credit her with "The Patriot Mother." - BS
File: PGa085
===
NAME: Patriot Queen, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a beautiful woman who identifies herself as Ireland. "The bigoted tyrant I'll humble" "I have noble fine brave men ... Preparing to fight for my name; I have noble O'Connell my leader, And millions of heroes at home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: first half 19C (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: beauty Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 26, "The Patriot Queen" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow"("Cailin deas cruidhte na mbo") (tune, Zimmermann)
cf. "Erin's Green Shore" [Laws Q27] (theme: beautiful woman to rally Erin)
File: Zimm026
===
NAME: Pattonia, the Pride of the Plains [Laws B12]
DESCRIPTION: Rangers at a frontier post are hard-pressed by Indians. The commander sends the singer to get help. His swift horse Pattonia carries him through to safety, even though an arrow has pinned his foot to the stirrup
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931
KEYWORDS: horse injury Indians(Am.)
FOUND_IN: US(So,SW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws B12, "Pattonia, the Pride of the Plains"
Randolph 207, "Pattonia, the Pride of the Plains" (1 text)
Larkin, pp. 116-118, "Plantonio" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 67, "Pattonio" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 23, "Platonia" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 708, PATTONIO
Roud #3236
NOTES: As far as I know, no one knows the source of this ballad, and the author is unknown.
There is, however, a fairly close historical parallel told of none other than Wild Bill Hickok. Bill O'Neal, _Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters_, pp. 135-136 (entry on James Butler Hickok), notes that, in 1868, Hickok was part of a party surrounded by Cheyennes in Colorado. Hickok was chosen to ride forth seeking rescue. He made it through the lines -- in the process suffering a foot wound. - RBW
File: LB12
===
NAME: Paul Bunyan
DESCRIPTION: Recitation. Singer works Paul Bunyan's camp, where everything is done on a grand scale (e.g. the pancakes are turned with a sidehill plow). Bunyan, needing a river to run his logs, has his huge ox plow the Big Manistee. Bunyan retires when the ox dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering humorous recitation talltale logger
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 96, "Paul Bunyan" (1 text)
Roud #8874
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Round River Drive" (subject)
cf. "Paul Bunyan's Big Ox" (subject)
NOTES: Paul Bunyan is sometimes derided as a phony folk-hero, and he's certainly been heavily commercialized, but Beck makes clear that these were genuine folk tales.- PJS
This is a complicated question, and I will admit to having doubts -- including questions about Beck's credibility, because he seems to be the only person who actually collected Bunyan poems, and he has no fewer than five different recitations.
The first certain reference to Paul Bunyan is unquestionably literary. Norman K. Risjord, in _A Popular History of Minnesota_, p. 143, reports that "Paul Bunyan was popularized by a Detroit, Michigan, journalist, James McGillivray, who wrote a story for the Detroit _News-Tribune_ on July 24, 1910 about a heroic lumberjack of immense size and strength." Similarly, Walker D. Wyman, _Wisconsin Folklore_, University of Wisconsin Extension (?), 1979, p. 4, says that "The name on Bunyan appears for the first time in 1910 in the _Detroit Evening News,_, in the poem 'Round River Drive' by James McGillivray. Four years later Douglas McMallock rewrote the McGillivray story for the _American Lumberman_." A series of pamphlets and books followed in the 1920s, the most notable being _Paul Bunyan_ by James Stevens (yes, that James Stevens), and eventually a Minnesota lumber company picked him up as a mascot.
There seems to be no evidence whatsoever that any of these stories were collected from loggers or based on lumbermen's tales, except for what Stevens states in his preface. In the second edition of _Paul Bunyan_ (1947; I use the 1975 Western Americana edition), p. ix, Stevens states, "The Paul Bunyan legend had its origin in the Papineau rebellion of 1837. This was a revolt of the French-Canadians against their young English queen. [Victoria, who ascended in 1837.] ... Among [the rebels] was a mighty-muscled, bellicose, bearded giant named Paul Bunyan.... [He] raged among the Queen's troops like Sampson among the Philistines."
Bunyan, of course, is not a French name, but Walter Havinghurt, _Upper Mississippi: A Wilderness Saga_, a volume in the Rivers of America series (Farrar & Rinehart, 1937, 1944), p. 236, says that he was originally "Paul Bonhomme of the Two Mountain Country," and claims the stories were first told in the New Brunswick area. He cites no sources.
The Papineau rebellions were real; Louis J. Papineau struggled for decades to improve the political position of the residents of Quebec. J. Bartlet Brebner, _Canada, A Modern History_ (with a final chapter by Donald C. Masters), University of Michigan Press, 1960, p. 220, notes that there had been bad harvests in 1836 and 1837, and the combination of hunger and rejection of their political demands led to uprisings. But Brebner adds that the "half-dozen skirmishes and pitched battles of November and December were pitiable, tragic affairs in which half-armed farmers faced regulars backed by artillery, and, after their defeats, saw their illages and farmsteads looted and burned by uncontrollable, vengeful volunteers."
There is no mention at all of a second Sampson.
Stevens, interestingly, admits that he got most of his stories from Louis Letourneau and his family, who came from Washington state (Stevens, p. x). There seem to be no evidence of a heroic figure in the records of eastern lumber camps.
Wyman mentions that some of the people he talked to knew of a "big man" named "Joe Mouffreau." Stevens, p. xi, says that the name (which he spells Muphraw) is a variant of Murphy, and claims that he worked in Quebec some time after 1875. Stevens admits that the two legends may have combined, but claims that Paul Bunyan stories were in circulation by 1860. On p. xvii, he states that "I must have known some [of the Bunyan stories] before 1910, but it was not until then that I heard a gifted and experienced bunkhouse bard give a genuine Paul Bunyan service."
One wonders who this bard might have been. I find it highly interesting that Rickaby has no songs about Paul Bunyan. Neither does Doerflinger. Nor Fowke.
Stevens, in his second edition (p. xvi), acknowledges that the Paul Bunyan stories have come under attack, listing Stuart Sherman and Ben Botkin as those doubting their veracity. But he denies that the attacks have been successful.
Agnes M. Larson, in surveying lumbermen for a history of white pine logging published in the 1940s, found that none of them knew about Paul (see William E. Lass, _Minnesota: A History_Norton, 1983, p. 152). Similarly, Wyman apparently had students look for traces of Paul Bunyan among loggers. and found some who thought they had heard of him in lumber camps, but many more claimed never to have heard of him there.
Theodore Blegen's massive tome _Minnesota: A History of the State_, University of Minnesota Press, 1963, written by Minnesota's best historian who was also something of a folklorist, says on page 335, "Paul Bunyan has been presented as a myth, a folk tale, drawn from oral tradition in the lumber camps.... The stories have had wide circulation.... But there is scarcely a shred of evidence that the lumberjacks were familiar with Paul Bunyan, told stories about him, or indeed had ever heard of him.... The present author interviewed a lumberjack of rich experience in the 1920as, Wright T. Orcutt, who had written about lumberjacks and woods lore, and he had never heard a Bunyan story in the woods. And the Forest History Society in its far-ranging investigations of the sources for woods history has unearthed no evidence that Paul Bunyan was the subject of bunkhouse tales."
Jamie Moreira reports that Sandy Ives found no Paul Bunyan tales at all among his New England informants. He also reports on a student collector who had the same experience.
Richard M. Dorson had a very critical appraisal of the legends in his book _American Folklore_; he includes Paul Bunyan as one of his key examples of "fakelore." Duncan Emrich, _Folklore on the American Land_, p. ix, says explicitly that the stories of Paul Bunyan "are not folktales."
A pretty massive collection of authorities; I would be loathe to argue with them.
On the other hand, Bunyan's place in Minnesota's urban folklore seems clear -- you can hear screams all the way to Saint Paul any time anyone messes with a Paul Bunyan monument.
Terri Hardin, editor, _A Treasure of American Folklore_, Barnes & Noble, 1994, p. 296, says "The legends of Paul Bunyan are widely distributed throughout the lumber camps of the North," and claims to have assembled a batch of materials from 1916 -- though the book seems to use only one source, which looks secondary to me.
Beck, collecting primarily in Michigan, gathered enough material to make a Paul Bunyan book, and to have some material left over for other collections. (In this context, it's interesting to note that Gardner and Chickering, who gathered much Michigan logging material, do not seem to have found any Paul Bunyan material.)
Norm Cohen cites the following from Leach's Standard Dictionary of Folklore: "As far as can be determined, the legend originated in Canada during the [nineteenth] century, and was considerably amplified as it spread west and south with the lumber industry, centering in the Lake states and the Northwest. In the course of his migration Paul Bunyan incorporated elements of local heroes like Jigger Jones (Johnson), Joe Mufraw, and Jean Frechette, whom he supplanted."
Cohen himself concluded, "He first appeared in print in stories published by James MacGillivray in 1910,  but oral tales from lumbermen in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the Northwest circulated considerably earlier.... Paul was first introduced to a general audience by W.B. Laughead, a Minnesota advertising man, in a series of pamphlets (1914-44) used to publicize the products of the Red River Lumber Company....  James Stevens, also a lumber publicist, mixed tradition and invention in his version of the story, _Paul Bunyan_(1925). Along the way, the Bunyan stories took on the character of lying contests -- who could tell the biggest whopper about the good-natured Paul."
Cohen adds, in a message to the Ballad-L mailing list, "In a letter to Louise Pound (SFQ 7) Laughead states that he began with what he 'remembered from Minnesota logging camps (1900-1908)...then picked up odds and ends from letters received....'"
Although, as noted above, Edith Fowke found no Bunyan songs, Jamie Moreira points to her published report, "In Defence of Paul Bunyan" (New York Folklore 5, 1979, 43-52), which says that there were nineteenth century folktales about him.
Jonathan Lighter reports a speculation of Gershon Legman that Bunyan began as a figure of erotic folklore (which obviously would explain why he wasn't cited in the earlier collections). Legman on p. 227 of _The Horn Book_ says that Bunyan was "an upstart in folklore, but folklore nevertheless" (though without explaining or justifying the statement).
I guess I'll have to leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. - RBW.
File: Be096
===
NAME: Paul Bunyan's Big Ox
DESCRIPTION: Recitation aboutPaul Bunyan's giant blue ox ("...every day for dinner/He would eat a ton of hay"; "This big blue ox weighed fourteen tons/And every time he'd bawl/The earth would shake... timber it would fall." The ox dies by breaking its neck
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: recitation talltale animal death
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 97, "Paul Bunyan's Big Ox" (1 text)
Roud #4069
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Round River Drive" (subject)
cf. "Paul Bunyan" (subject)
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
NOTES: This recitation is item dC48 in Laws's Appendix II. For background (or, rather, speculation) about Paul Bunyan, see the notes to "Paul Bunyan." - RBW
File: Be097
===
NAME: Paul Jones: see Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4] (File: LA04)
===
NAME: Paul Jones the Pirate: see Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4] (File: LA04)
===
NAME: Paul Jones, the Privateer [Laws A3]
DESCRIPTION: John Paul Jones's American ship outruns a British man-of-war. Most of the ballad is devoted to describing the way the ship sails.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909
KEYWORDS: sea navy ship
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1777 - The "Ranger" is commissioned
1778 - The "Ranger" outruns the British ship
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE), Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws A3, "Paul Jones, the Privateer"
Doerflinger, pp. 131-133, "The Stately Southerner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 126-127, "The Stately Southerner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 177-184, "The Yankee Man-Of-War" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 267-268, "The Stately Southerner" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Rickaby 44, "Paul Jones, the Privateer" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Ranson, pp. 82-85, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 153-157, "The Yankee Man-of-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 157-158, "The Stately Southerner" (1 text)
DT 360, STATESTH
Roud #625
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Paul Jones's Victory" [Laws A4] (subject of John Paul Jones)
cf. "The Yankee Man-of-War (III)" (subject of John Paul Jones)
NOTES: Although much is made of Jones's escape in this song, it really was not exceptional. The _Ranger_ was a small commerce-raider, designed to be fast (and, according to Fletcher Pratt, _The Compact History of the United States Navy_, was also quite new, which would also tend to make her faster); heavy men-of-war were much slower, as they had to carry much more weight.
According to John Fitzhugh Millar and Gregory Irons (illustrtor), _Ships of the American Revolution_ (Bellerophon, 1988), entry on the _Ranger_, the ship was an 18-gun corvette built at Portsmouth in 1777 and named after "the skillful riflemen who had played a crucial role in the great American victory at Saratoga." It adds that the ship was regarded as "exceptionally fast but 'over-hatted' (she had more sail area than was considered safe to carry)." Howard I. Chapelle, _The History of American Sailing Ships_, Norton, 1935, p. 59, confirms this: "[T]he _Ranger_ was the most famous [of three sloop-ships built at this time[; she was built at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1777. William Hackett seems to have been her designed, and his cousin, James K. Hackett of Portsmouth, the builder."
It is ironic to note that the _Ranger_ (no longer commanded by Jones, of course) was captured by the British in 1780 at the fall of Charleston, and ended its career as HMS _Halifax_ (and was quickly found unsuitable for British use; she was sold in 1781).
For a biography of Jones (who is the "stately southerner" of Doerflinger's ballad; the title does not refer to the ship, as the _Ranger_ sailed out of New England), see the entry on "Paul Jones's Victory" [Laws A4].  - RBW
File: LA03
===
NAME: Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4]
DESCRIPTION: John Paul Jones's [Bonhomme] Richard encounters two British ships. Despite being outgunned, Jones manages to capture the larger of the British ships.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 247)
KEYWORDS: navy war ship battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 23, 1779 - Battle between the Bonhomme Richard (40 guns) and the British Serapis (44 guns) and Scarborough (20 guns)
FOUND_IN: US(MA,SE) Britain(England) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Laws A4, "Paul Jones's Victory"
BrownII 220, "Paul Jones" (2 texts)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 225-226, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 78, "Paul Jones" (2 texts)
Ranson, p. 51, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 24, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, p. 713, "Paul Jones' (1 text)
Friedman, p. 290, "Paul Jones" (1 text)
FSCatskills 8, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 153, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 81-83, "Paul Jones's Victory (Poor Richard and the Serapis and Alliance" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logan, pp. 32-38, "Paul Jones (Paul Jones the Pirate)" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 233, (third of four "Fragments from Maryland") (1 fragment, consisting solely of the words "Paul Jones had a frigate"; I file it here because it looks more like this than the other John Paul Jones songs)
DT 359, PAULJONE PAULJON2
ADDITIONAL: Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 259, "Paul Jones" (1 text)
ST LA04 (Full)
Roud #967
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 247, "Paul Jones" ("An American frigate, call'd the Richard by name"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Johnson Ballads 2804, Harding B 11(2974), Harding B 11(1906), Firth c.13(59), Firth b.26(273), Harding B 11(4314), Firth b.25(275), Harding B 11(2973), "Paul Jones"; Firth c.13(55), "Paul Jones the Pirate"
LOCSinging, as110810, "Paul Jones' Victory," Leonard Deming (Boston), 19C; also as111860, "Paul Jones" 
Murray, Mu23-y1:061, "Paul Jones," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Paul Jones, the Privateer" [Laws A3] (subject of John Paul Jones)
cf. "The Yankee Man-of-War (III)" (subject of John Paul Jones)
NOTES: The following biography has been heavily revised from that in earlier versions of the Ballad Index. I no longer know what references I originally consulted. I do know that Samuel Eliot Morison, in his biography _John Paul Jones_, (I use the 1981 Time-Life edition) accuses earlier biographers of simply forging large parts of the Jones story, which makes me feel a little better.
John Paul Jones (1747-1792) was born in Scotland with the name John Paul (Morison, pp. 1, 3). He went to sea at age 13 (Morison, p. 9), initially serving aboard merchant ships (Morison, p. 10), including time aboard a slaver (Morison, p. 13).
In 1768, John Paul saw both the master and mate of his ship die of fever. The only man aboard who could navigate, he brought the ship home and was given command of the _John_ (Morison, pp. 13-14). He was 21. He served well in this role for five years (Morison, p. 20).
Then he killed one of his sailors.
It wasnÕt the first time he had been charged with brutality. In the course of a voyage in 1769-1770, Jones had had a sailor named Mungo Maxwell brutally flogged (Morison, p. 17). There had been some doubt about the Maxwell case; there was no question about this one. Calling at Tobago, John Paul had refused to pay his men an advance on their wages (which, we note, they had already earned, but which were not due until the ship returned to Britain). Several men apparently wanted to desert. John Paul stopped the mutiny by killing "the ringleader" (Morison, pp. 22-23). Legally, he was in the right -- but it was definitely not a smart thing to do.
It is not clear what happened next, but somehow John Paul ended up in the colonies and started calling himself by the surname "Jones" rather than his birth name of "Paul" (Morison, pp. 23-24).
When war broke out with Great Britain, Paul Jones joined the navy, apparently being the senior lieutenant in the entire service (Morison, p. 29). (We should probably add that "lieutenant" was, in effect, a higher rank then than now -- the approved ranks were captain, lieutenant, master, and midshipman. Thus a lieutenant was the equivalent of a "commander" today, ranked high enough to command a sloop or even a small frigate though not a hip of the line.)
Not that the continental navy  was a very impressive service at first; Fletcher Pratt, _The Compact History of the United States Navy_, p. 11, reports that ÒAt the time the troubles broke out in Boston in 1775, there were not a few officers of the Royal Navy who came from the colonies, but... these officers stayed with the flag rather than join persons in revolt against due authority. A few men were available for the Continental Navy who had served with the Royal Navy earlier in their careers, but only one man is reported to have left the King's service to join the colonists in revolt, and his name has not survived."
The appointment process didn't help. According to Samuel W. Bryant, _The Sea and the States_, p. 79, "Never was the creation of a corps of naval officers handled with more regard for the political weight each aspirant carried; the commissions were frankly awarded on the basis of political expediency, and little regard for the appointees' abilities as leaders and marines." Pratt, p. 24, comments that the initial naval commands "were distributed on the combined principles of geography and nepotism, modified by political maneuver." Of the first batch of officers in the United States Navy, Bryant apparently considers Jones to be the only "happy choice," but such were this politics of the time that he would soon be known as the "North Carolina Captain."
Early in the war, Jones was given command of the ship _Ranger_, which he sailed with some success (see "Paul Jones, the Privateer" [Laws A3]). This was all the more impressive because, according to Bryant, p. 96, he had only one set of sails (and only one cask of rum, if you can believe that.) But -- in one of those typically idiotic acts of the American congress -- he was deprived of command and put on the beach. (On the other hand, Pratt, p. 44, reports that he kicked one of his junior officers in the pants, which is hardly the way to win friends and influence people.)
He finally scrounged up the _Bonhomme Richard_, a converted merchant ship with forty guns so badly worn as to be rather dangerous. Bryant calls her a "floating antique with a castellated poop," and says that the former _Duc de Durac_ was "worm-eaten, crank, her old timbers exuding a heardy aroma of arrack, cloves, and tea" -- a reminder of her days trading to the East Indies (Bryant, p. 97). Paul Jones sailed her anyway, with a scrounged-up crew (Pratt reports that only 79 of his initial crew of 227 were Americans), and an assortment of five even more ill-favored consorts (see Albert Marrin, _The War for Independence_, p. 168).
Even though two of his ships had to return to France, Jones commanded a squadron of four ships, 124 guns, at the time of this battle (a flotilla financed by the French), although only the _Bonhomme Richard_ was completely engaged in the fight; his second-in-command, the French officer Pierre Landais, refused to take part.
Jones won the battle by using his marines: He lashed his ship to the big 44-gun _Serapis_, and -- having made his famous remark "I have just begun to fight" when called upon to surrender -- continued the struggle until the British gave up. The _Richard_ had, however, been reduced to a sinking condition (among other things, several of those worn guns had blown up; Pratt, p. 47), and only vigorous work at the pumps kept her afloat long enough to take the _Serapis_. Indeed, Jones would never have been able to board had not the _Serapis_ been so mis-handled as to bump into the _Richard_ (Marrin, p. 172).
This time, Jones's brutality paid off: Some of his men, with their guns silenced, the ship full of holes, the deck falling in, had tried to surrender. Jones knocked one of them unconscious and kept up the fight. You could make the case that he won because his men were too afraid to give in.
In any case, he succeeded only because of the British attitude toward prizes. Had the British navy paid sailors decently, and had a doctrine of just *sinking* the enemy, rather than capturing them, the _Serapis_ would have won the fight and John Paul Jones would be a guy who sank with his ship. The _Richard_ proved past saving and went down on September 24; had Jones not won, he would have been either a prisoner (possibly even regarded as a deserter, given that he was Scottish) or dead.
(I can't help but think how much this sounds like it could have inspired the Stan Rogers song "Barrett's Privateers," only Rogers gave it the ending it deserved.)
Laws classified this as an American song, and it probably was so in origin -- but it will be seen that it was found in British and Scottish broadsides at least. - RBW
In the Bodleian broadsides, the frigate is named Percy, Rachel or Richard. The opposing ship, if named, is Caraphus, Ceraphus or Percy. - BS
File: LA04
===
NAME: Paul Venerez: see Bill Vanero (Paul Venerez) [Laws B6] (File: LB06)
===
NAME: Paul's Steeple: see references under The  Husbandman and the Servingman (File: K226)
===
NAME: Paw-Paw Patch, The
DESCRIPTION: Playparty, with lyrics such as "Where oh where is pretty little (Susie/Liza/Nellie) (x3)? Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch." "Pickin' up paw-paws, puttin' 'em in her pockets." "Come along, boys, and let's go see her...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Wolford)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad courting
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 553, "Paw-Paw Peeling" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 46, "The Paw-Paw Patch" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 391, "Paw-Paw Patch" (1 text)
Roud #5038
RECORDINGS:
Group of children, "The Paw Paw Patch" (on JThomas01)
Pete Seeger, "Paw Paw Patch" (on PeteSeeger22)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children)" (tune & meter)
cf. "Going to Boston" (lyrics)
File: R553
===
NAME: Pawkie Adam Glen
DESCRIPTION: "Pawkie Adam Glen, piper o' the clachan When he stoited ben, sairly was he pechin'." Old Adam goes out seeking a wife, settling on "auntie Madie." After a cheerful dance, "Madge is hect to Adam Glen, And sune we'll hae a weddin'."
AUTHOR: Alexander Laing ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: courting age dancing wedding
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 300-301, "Pawkie Adam Glen" (1 text)
Roud #13101
NOTES: According to Ford, piper Adam Glen died in battle in 1715 at age ninety, having taken his seventh wife (who was half his age) some months previously. Believe that if you will. - RBW
File: FVS300
===
NAME: Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud
DESCRIPTION: "As I gae'd up Hawick Loan... 'Twas there I heard an auld yaud Gie mony a heavy grane... 'I'm Pawkie Patterson's auld yaud, See how they're guidin' mie.'" The aged horse describes its hard and bitter life, and leaves its body parts to various people
AUTHOR: George Ballantyne ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: horse age death lastwill hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 311-313, "Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 52-53, "Robin Spraggon's Auld Grey Mare" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FVS311 (Partial)
Roud #3063
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Horse (III)" (theme)
cf. "Mon Cher Voisin (My Dear Neighbor)" (theme)
File: FVS311
===
NAME: Pay Day at Coal Creek
DESCRIPTION: "Pay day, O pay day, O pay day, Pay day at Coal Creek tomorrow." "Bye bye, good woman, I'm gone." "You gonna miss me when I'm gone" "She's a rider, but she'll leave that rail sometime." "Pay day won't come no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928
KEYWORDS: work mining separation
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 146, "Pay Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 126, "Pay Day At Coal Creek" (1 text)
DT, PAYDAYCC
Roud #6685
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Pay Day at Coal Creek" (on SeegerTerry)
Pete Steele, "Last Payday at Coal Creek" (on PSteele01); "Pay Day at Coal Creek" (AFS, 1938; on LC02, KMM)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Coal Creek Troubles" (subject)
NOTES: While this has turned into a nonballad, it seems to have started off as an account of a bitter strike. - PJS
(For details, see the notes to "Coal Creek Troubles.") - RBW
File: LoF146
===
NAME: Pay Me My Money Down
DESCRIPTION: "Pay me, O pay me, Pay me my money down... Pay me or go to jail. Pay me, mister stevedore.... You pay me, you owe me...." Almost anything may be included, but all on the theme that the boss has hired the worker and should pay him for his labor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944
KEYWORDS: work money nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 279, "Pay Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 501-503, "Pay Me My Money Down" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 370-371]
Silber-FSWB, p. 83, "Pay Me My Money Down" (1 text)
DT, PAYMONEY* PAYMONY2
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf."Tie-Tamping Chant" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Darlin' (I)" (floating lyrics)
File: LoF279
===
NAME: Pea Ridge Battle, The [Laws A12b]: see Laws A12, "The Battle of Elkhorn Tavern" (File: LA12)
===
NAME: Peacock that Lived in the Land of King George, The: see Hornet and the Peacock, The (File: E107)
===
NAME: Pearl Bryan (I) [Laws F2]
DESCRIPTION: Pearl Bryan runs away to meet her lover Jackson, who, helped by Walling, takes her to Kentucky and decapitates her. Her body is discovered the next day. (The fate of the murderers may then be described)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Brewster)
KEYWORDS: elopement homicide
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
Mar 20, 1897 - Execution of Jackson and Walling
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws F2, "Pearl Bryan I"
Brewster 61, "Pearl Bryan" (3 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 3 more; 1 tune; the "A" and "B" texts and the "F" fragment and tune are this piece; the "C" text is Laws F1B)
Leach, pp. 789-790, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text)
Burt, p. 31, "(Pearl Bryan)" (1 short text)
Friedman, p. 209, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 199-200, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text plus a fragment)
DT 751, PERLBRY1
Roud #2212
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C]" [Laws F1], particularly the "B" subgroup of Pearl Bryan ballads
cf. "Pearl Bryan III" [Laws F3]
cf. "Pearl Bryan IV"
NOTES: Cox gives significant details about the history behind this song. Pearl Bryan was probably murdered on January 31, the day before the discovery of her body. Jackson and Walling were "young doctors" to whom Miss Bryan had appealed for medical help. Her body was recognized based on her feet (she is said to have been "web-footed"); her head was not recovered. A third man, surnamed Woods, was regarded as a possible co-conspirator, but not convicted.
To tell this song from the other Pearl Bryan ballads, consider this first stanza (from Leach):
Now, ladies, if you'll listen, a story I'll relate
What happened near Fort Thomas in the old Kentucky state.
'Twas late in January this awful deed was done
By Jackson and by Walling; how cold their blood did run! - RBW
File: LF02
===
NAME: Pearl Bryan (II): see Jealous Lover, The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C] (File: LF01)
===
NAME: Pearl Bryan (III) [Laws F3]
DESCRIPTION: Pearl Bryan appeals to Jackson for help; he is not interested and, with (Alonzo) Walling, cuts off her head and abandons the body
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: homicide abandonment
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
Mar 20, 1897 - Execution of Jackson and Walling
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws F3, "Pearl Bryan III"
Eddy 105, "A Fatal Acquaintance" (2 texts, but Laws considers only the B text part of this ballad; the A text may belong with Pearl Bryan II)
DT 755, PERLBRY3
Roud #2213
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C]" [Laws F1], particularly the "B" subgroup of Pearl Bryan ballads
cf. "Pearl Bryan I" [Laws F2]
cf. "Pearl Bryan IV"
NOTES: To tell this song from the other Pearl Bryan ballads, consider this first stanza (from Eddy):
In Greencastle lived a maiden
She was known the wide world o'er;
She was murdered by Scott Jackson
Whom she fondly did adore.
Comparison with Eddy's other text (which also lacks a melody) would seem to imply that the two could be one -- but Laws separates them, so the Index does the same. - RBW
File: LF03
===
NAME: Pearl Bryan (IV)
DESCRIPTION: A girl of Greencastle, Indiana loves a young man. (She becomes pregnant?, and) begs him to make good the wrong he has done her. He refuses and plans to depart. She follows him. He kills her. Young girls are warned by the example of Pearl Bryan
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: love homicide abandonment
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
Mar 20, 1897 - Execution of Jackson and Walling
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Eddy 105, "A Fatal Acquaintance" (2 texts, but Laws assigns the B text to "Pearl Bryan III")
ST E105 (Full)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C]" [Laws F1], particularly the "B" subgroup of Pearl Bryan ballads
cf. "Pearl Bryan I" [Laws F2]
cf. "Pearl Bryan III" [Laws F3]
NOTES: This song is item dF51 in Laws's Appendix II.
To tell this song from the other Peal Bryan ballads, consider this first stanza (from Eddy):
In Greencastle, Indiana, a fair young maiden dwelled
Beneath a mother's loving care, a father's lavish wealth,
A mother's pride, a father's joy, by many friends esteemed,
From out her young handsome face the pure innocence gleamed.
Comparison with Eddy's other text (which also lacks a melody) would seem to imply that the two could be one -- but Laws separates them, so the Index does the same. - RBW
File: E105
===
NAME: Pearl Bryant: see Jealous Lover, The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C] (File: LF01)
===
NAME: Peasant's Bride, The (Thady and I)
DESCRIPTION: "I was a simple country girl." She loves Thady: "with hook or scythe, with plow or spade, He'd beat ten men together" They marry and many nobles "would gladly give a crown of gold To be like me and Thady."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol II)
KEYWORDS: poverty love marriage
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, pp. 120,123, "The Peasant's Bride" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol II, p. 84, "The Peasant's Bride"
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(9a/b) view 7 of 8, "Thady and I", R. March & Co (London), 1877-1884 
File: OCon120
===
NAME: Peaslee's Lumber Crew
DESCRIPTION: The various characters on Peaslee's lumber crew are described.
AUTHOR: Fred Walker
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888
KEYWORDS: lumbering work humorous logger moniker nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 68, "Peaslee's Lumber Crew" (1 text)
Roud #8842
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hall's Lumber Crew" (very similar structure)
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme) and references there
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. Sometimes, as with this song and "Hall's Lumber Crew", it's clear the singer is plugging names and descriptions into a generic structure. - PJS
File: Be068
===
NAME: Pecos Punchers, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes his appearance ("I wear the high heels, also the white hat"), talks of the work of a cowboy, and lists the outfits he worked for. He decides to "go east like Wild Bill and there play the tough" -- but keep his saddle for use hereafter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: cowboy work
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 112, "The Pecos Punchers" (1 text)
Roud #8047
File: FCW112
===
NAME: Pecos Queen, The: see Pecos River Queen (File: TF20)
===
NAME: Pecos River Queen
DESCRIPTION: "Where the Pecos river winds and turns its journey to the sea... Dwells fair young Patty Moorhead the Pecos River Queen." Patty's amazing skills are described. At last she "rode her horse... a lover's heart to test." "But the puncher wouldn't follow...."
AUTHOR: N. Howard Thorp
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: cowboy love courting
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thorp/Fife XX, pp. 244-246 (39-40), "Pecos River Queen" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 206, "The Pecos Queen" (1 text)
Roud #8048
NOTES: Like that other Thorp composition, "Chopo," there is no evidence that this piece ever actually entered oral tradition. Lomax printed it in "Cowboy Songs," but there is every reason to think he was lifting material off Thorp. - RBW
File: TF20
===
NAME: Pecos Stream, The: see A Cowboy's Life (File: LoF187)
===
NAME: Peculiar Sermon for Shanty Boys, A: see Tobacco's But an Indian Weed (File: Log262)
===
NAME: Peddler and his Wife, The [Laws F24]
DESCRIPTION: An old peddler and his wife are riding in their wagon on a fine day when they are ambushed, robbed, and murdered
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, Appalachian Vagabond [Hayes Shephard])
KEYWORDS: homicide robbery commerce
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws F24, "The Peddler and his Wife"
Fuson, pp. 116-117, "The Peddler and His Wife" (1 text)
Cambiaire, p. 9, "The Peddlar and His Wife" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 70, pp. 166-167, "The Irish Peddler" (1 text)
DT 762, PEDDWIFE
Roud #2262
RECORDINGS:
Appalachian Vagabond [pseud. for Hayes Shephard], "Peddlar and his Wife" (Vocalion 5450, rec. 1930)
James Howard, "The Peddler and his Wife" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
File: LF24
===
NAME: Pedlar, The
DESCRIPTION: "The pedlar ca'd in by the house o' Glenneuk" and begins bargaining -- for his goods and the hosts' daughters. Although the parents discourage it, one daughter is interested. She departs with him; they are married; he proves very successful in business
AUTHOR: William Watt
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love courting rambling money elopement
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 126-128, "The Pedlar" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 140-142, "The Pedlar" (1 text)
Roud #5552
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:081 "The Pedlar," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jolly Beggar" [Child 279] and references there
File: FVS126
===
NAME: Peeler and the Goat, The
DESCRIPTION: The Peelers meet a goat and plan to jail him for being on the road. The goat says that he is honorable if houseless and that the road is his home. He expects to be acquitted. He says the peelers are drunk and could be bought for more poteen.
AUTHOR: Jeremiah O'Ryan ("Darby Ryan") (Source: Zimmermann)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1830 (Zimmermann) 
KEYWORDS: prison drink humorous political animal police
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
OLochlainn 74, "The Peeler and the Goat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 45, "The Peeler and the Goat" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PEELERGT*
Roud #1458
RECORDINGS:
Martin Reidy, "Peeler and the Goat" (on IRClare01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(510), "The Original Peeler and the Goat," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 b.9(266), "The Peeler and the Goat"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sow's Triumph Over the Peelers" (theme)
cf. "The Cavan Buck" (tune)
NOTES: Sir Robert Peel established the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1812 and its success led, in 1829, to the Metropolitan Police Act for London. Originally the term "Peeler" applied to the London constabulary. (source: _Sir Robert "Bobby" Peel (1788-1850)_ at Historic UK site.)
In this song the term is applied to the Bansha police in Bansha, County Tipperary.
Martin Reidy's tune on IRClare01 is the one used for "The Recruiting Sergeant" (on Robin Hall and Jimmy MacGregor, "Two Heids are Better than Yin!," Monitor MF 365 (1962)) - BS
File: OLOc074
===
NAME: Peelhead
DESCRIPTION: Peelhead owns the saw mill. "All the kind o' logs they got Was small rough saplin' pine." Hope for better times: "not like it was last summer When you said they'd be good times, And some o' your men you owe six months, And more you do owe nine"
AUTHOR: William McKay "of the Millstream" (Manny/Wilson)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: lumbering hardtimes humorous moniker boss horse
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 37, "Peelhead" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi037 (Partial)
Roud #9208
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "The song ... is a typical woods satire about a lumber operator, Isaac Anderson, nick-named 'Peelhead,' who flourished in the 1880's. There is a mention for everyone in the woods crew, including the horses, and the usual fling at the employer. Actually the reproaches in the last verse were not very serious complaints in the 1880's, when so much of the lumber business was done on credit." - BS
File: MaWi037
===
NAME: Peep Squirrel
DESCRIPTION: Singing game: "Peep squirrel, yang-dan-diddle-um (or other nonsense, e.g. Hop squirrel, eedle-dum-dum)" (x2 or x4). Similarly, "Run, squirrel...." "Catch the old squirrel...." "I give you fifty cents...."
AUTHOR: Squirrel
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal hunting playparty
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Chappell-FSRA 119, "Peep Squirrel" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 134-136, "Hop, Old Squirrel" (2 texts, the second with interspersed game instructions, 1 tune)
ST ChFRA119 (Partial)
Roud #7645
NOTES: Roud lumps this with "Hunt the Squirrel" and similar items -- superficially reasonable, since they're both singing games about squirrels. But they don't have any lyrics in common.
Even I decided ot merge "Hop, Old Squirrel" with "Peep, Squirrel"; the forms are very different, but it appears that lyrics cross so much; my guess is that it's one song with two differen games. - RBW
File: ChFRA119
===
NAME: Peg an' Awl
DESCRIPTION: "In the days of eighteen and one, Peg an' awl... Peggin' shoes was all I done, Hand me down my pegs, my pegs, my pegs, my awl." The singer describes his work(/play?), then tells how "They've invented a new machine.... Makes a hundred pairs to my one."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Carolina Tar Heels)
KEYWORDS: work technology unemployment worker
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 144, "Peg an' Awl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 40 "Peg and Awl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 363, "Peg and Awl" (1 text)
DT, PEGNAWL*
Roud #4619
RECORDINGS:
Carolina Tar Heels, "Peg and Awl" (Victor V-40007A, 1928; on AAFM1)
Kelly Harrell, "Peg and Awl" (OKeh 40544, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Lawrence Older,  "Peg and Awl" (on LOlder01)
Pete Seeger, "Peg and Awl" (on PeteSeeger13)
Hobart Smith, "Peg an' Awl" (on LomaxCD1702)
Clarence Ashley & Doc Watson, "Peg and Awl" (on WatsonAshley01)
NOTES: The notes in Lomax imply that this is a bawdy song. I suppose it's possible, but I think this is a confusion with "The Long Peggin' Awl." - RBW
File: LoF144
===
NAME: Peg and Awl: see Peg an' Awl (File: LoF144)
===
NAME: Pegging Awl, The: see Long Peggin' Awl, The (File: RL280)
===
NAME: Peggy and the Soldier: see The Gallant Soldier (Mary/Peggy and the Soldier) (File: HHH473)
===
NAME: Peggy and the Soldier (The Lame Soldier) [Laws P13]
DESCRIPTION: Peggy leaves her husband and child to go with a soldier who offers her gold and a high life. The two soon quarrel; the soldier beats her and sends her back to her husband. She arrives home and begs her husband to take her back; he rejects her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: infidelity separation soldier rejection family
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws P13, "Peggy and the Soldier (The Lame Soldier)"
BBI, ZN1517, "It was a brave souldier that long liv'd in Wars"
DT 497, LAMESLDR* LAMESLD2
Roud #907
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosie Anderson" (plot)
cf. "The Brewer Laddie" (plot)
File: LP13
===
NAME: Peggy Bawn
DESCRIPTION: An Irishman stops at a Scots farmer's house and courts daughter Jane. The farmer offers his daughter in marriage, money, and land. The singer thinks of Peggy and excuses himself: he must be off on the king's business. He will always be true to Peggy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1788 (William Shield's opera "Marion," according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: infidelity sex rejection separation Ireland Scotland father courting money
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn-More 5, "Peggy Bawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 134-135, "Peggy Bawn"
Roud #661
RECORDINGS:
Walter Pardon, "Peggy Benn" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1481)[many illegible words], "Peggy Band," D. Wrighton? (Birmingham)[hand-written note on broadside], 1810-1820; also Harding B 28(149), Firth b.25(391), Harding B 20(131), Harding B 11(2699), Harding B 11(2700), Harding B 11(2982), Firth c.18(244), 2806 c.17(329), 2806 b.11(232), "Peggy Band"; Harding B 25(1480), "Peggy Bann"
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "Once very popular in Northern Ireland and among the Irish in Scotland.
Duffy (1845): "The existence of this ballad is traceable for a century -- it is probably much older. It bears strong evidence of having been written in Ulster, where it holds its ground with undiminished popularity to this day."
I have to admit to some confusion. It seems clear that Jane and Peggy are not the same person but some broadside lines make it seem otherwise: "With hat in hand I came away, And parted with each one, And especially the pretty girl Who was tired of lying alone. With hat in hand I came away, But in my mind it ran, That blithe and merry were the days I had with Peggy Band." The counter argument, from broadside Bodleian Harding B 25(1481), "Peggy Band's Answer," D. Wrighton? (Birmingham), 1810-1820 has Peggy relating that her Jemmy, "a SCOTISH Lady did adore, And offerred him her Hand, But he slighted all her Proffers For his dear PEGGY BAND." - BS
File: OLcM005
===
NAME: Peggy Gordon
DESCRIPTION: "Oh Peggy Gordon, you are my darling, Come sit you down upon my knee, And tell to me the very reason Why I am slighted so by thee." Spurned, the singer wishes he were far away, or drinking, or doing something to ease the pain of separation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: love separation rejection
FOUND_IN: US(Ap) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Gilbert, p. 127, [No title] (1 fragmentary text)
Abrahams/Foss, p. 164, (no title) (1 tune, partial text, probably this song)
JHCox 141, "Youth and Folly" (1 text, with many floating verses but such plot as it has derived from this song); 142, "Maggie Goddon" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 194-195, "Peggy Gordon" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 74-75, "Peggy Gordon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 475-476, "Love is Lovely" (1 text, 1 tune, strongly composite, starting with a verse perhaps from "Peggy Gordon," then the chorus of "Waly Waly (The Water Is Wide)," two more which might be anything, and a conclusion from "Carrickfergus")
DT, PEGGORDN*
Roud #2280
RECORDINGS:
Grace Clergy, "Peggy Gordon" (on MRHCreighton)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Fair and Tender Ladies" (floating lyrics)
cf. "O'Reilly from the County Leitrim" (lyrics in common with the "Youth and Folly" texts)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Maggie Gordon
File: Gil127
===
NAME: Peggy Howatt
DESCRIPTION: Howatt, a barkeep, is shot and killed by "a brave engineer." When St. Peter declines to admit Howatt, the late bartender replies with obscenity and scorn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy homicide Hell
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 468-470, "Peggy Howatt" (2 texts, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1] (tune)
NOTES: Jim "Peggy" [from his wooden leg] Howatt sold liquor in Joplin, Mo., Picher, Okla., and Pittsburg, Kansas, until his death from tainted moonshine about 1924.
Annotator Legman posits this topical satire, sung to a set of the melody of "Casey Jones," was written by the composer of that ballad, Wallace Saunders. - EC
File: RL468
===
NAME: Peggy in the Morning
DESCRIPTION: "Noo, mither, confess, a' the lasses ye saw... And wasna my Peggy the flooer o' them a'?" The mother says the girl is lazy and sleeps late. The lad says her father has promised a fine dowry. The mother admits, "Your Peggy's better noo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting money dowry
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 110, "Peggy in the Morning" (1 text)
Roud #5541
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Billy Grimes the Rover" (plot)
cf. "Will Ray" (plot)
NOTES: Sort of a Scottish version of "Billy Grimes the Rover," with the sexes reversed. - RBW
File: Ord110
===
NAME: Peggy o' Greenlaw
DESCRIPTION: "I am a bold, undaunted youth, George Hewitt is my name... And there I had a sweetheart... My Peggy o' Greenlaw." But bad company pulls him away; he falls in love with another, marries her in haste, quickly becomes disillusioned, and regrets losing Peggy
AUTHOR: Alexander Shaw
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting abandonment betrayal marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 143, "Peggy o' Greenlaw" (1 text)
Roud #3949
File: Ord143
===
NAME: Peggy of the Moor
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you sporting young men and listen unto me, Come all you loyal lovers that live in unity...." The singer was one of many fascinated by Peggy of the Moor. A bold shoemaker will be successful with her. The singer wishes success to lovers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty drink
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H761, pp. 228-229, "Peggy of the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7979
NOTES: It is not at all clear from the Henry text whether the singer is the "bold shoemaker" whose attention to Peggy will make all other lover's attentions "useless." - RBW
File: HHH761
===
NAME: Peggy Walker: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: Peggy-O: see Bonnie Lass of Fyvie, The (Pretty Peggy-O) (File: SBoA020)
===
NAME: Peistie Glen, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders by Peistie Glen and "imbibes meditation" urging him to "write measured words eulogizing" the place. He recalls the history of the place. Now the ship calls him away; he bids farewell to his home
AUTHOR: Frances Heaney ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home emigration nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H654, pp. 170-171, "The Peistie Glen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9685
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cailin Deas" (tune)
NOTES: Yes, the first verse is as bad as the quoted excerpts imply. The rest is a little better, but only a little. - RBW
File: HHH654
===
NAME: Pelton Lonnin': see Felton Lonnin (Pelton Lonnin') (I, II, III) (File: StoR150)
===
NAME: Penny Fair, The
DESCRIPTION: The Penny Fair drifts from the wharf. The crew are wakened and scramble to tie her up. Jack Lushman, on the ferry, not only sleeps through the hubbub but sleeps while the ferry runs aground. Everyone has a good laugh.
AUTHOR: Blanche Pink
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: sea ship ordeal
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 86, "The Penny Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LeBe086
===
NAME: Penny Wager, The
DESCRIPTION: A traveller with one penny in his pocket stakes his purse in a pub wager. He wins; when he asks the landlord's wife what he owes, she tells him to give her a kiss and go. (He rejoices that he has won the wager; otherwise he'd have had to sell his horse)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3387))
KEYWORDS: wager travel gambling money landlord
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 280, "The Penny Wager" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 115, "The Penny Wager" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #393
RECORDINGS:
George Dunn, "My Little Grey Horse" (on Voice13)
Levi Smith, "One Penny" (on Voice11)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3387), "Adventures of a Penny" ("Long time I've travelled the north country"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 16(2b), "The Adventures of a Penny"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
One Penny
Adventures of a Penny
File: McCST115
===
NAME: Peri Meri Dixie Dominie: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: Perigoo's Horse
DESCRIPTION: Lawyer Walter Perigoo visits Whalen's Inn and puts his horse in the stable. Local boys (led by Whalen's son?) cut off the horse's tail and paint it red, white, and blue. Perigoo eventually finds the disguised animal and threatens retribution
AUTHOR: George or John Calhoun?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1971
KEYWORDS: horse trick lawyer humorous disguise
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Doerflinger, pp. 266-268, "Perigoo's Horse" (1 text)
Roud #4165
NOTES: This song is item dH48 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Doe266b
===
NAME: Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domini: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: Persia's Crew, The: see The Persian's Crew [Laws D4] (File: LD04)
===
NAME: Persian's Crew, The [Laws D4]
DESCRIPTION: The Persian sets out [from Chicago] and disappears on Lake Huron. Since nothing is known of the wreck, the singer can only wonder at and lament the fate of the lost crew
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: ship storm death
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws D4, "The Persian's Crew"
Colcord, pp. 203-204, "The Persia's Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rickaby 46, "The Persian's Crew" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Dean, pp. 29-30, "The Persian's Crew" (1 text)
Beck 86, "Lake Huron's Rock-Bound Shore" (1 text)
DT 677, PERSIACR
Roud #2230
RECORDINGS:
Stanley Baby, "The 'Persian's Crew" (on GreatLakes1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Maggie Hunter" (subject, tune)
NOTES: According to Beck, possibly composed by the daughter of Dan Sullivan, the _Persian's_ first mate. - PJS
I suspect something rather more complicated, given the handful of melodies for this piece. Laws lists four melodies, two in Rickaby and one in Colcord. Rickaby's first, from Dean, is approximately "Tramps and Hawkers." His second, from Art C. Milloy, has a somewhat similar shape but but is mixolydian and not necessarily related. And Colcord has yet another tune with similar shape but distinct tonal differences.
This may be the result of some slight confusion about just what happened. According to William Ratigan, _Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals_, revised edition, Eerdmans, 1977, p. 98, "the schooner _Persia_ went down with all hands" in November 1869 (a memorable storm which also destroyed the _Volunteer_ and other ships), and inspired a song (presumably this).
And yet, Bruce D. Berman's _Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks_, Mariner's Press, 1972, p. 257, does not even list the _Persia_ as a Great Lakes shipwreck. He does note the screw steamer _Persian_ (note the presence of the n at the end; the ship wrecked in 1869 was _Persia_, not _Persian_). The _Persian_ burned near Long Point, Ontario, in August 1875. Long Point is in Lake Erie, not Lake Huron, but might it have contributed to some confusion? - RBW
File: LD04
===
NAME: Perthshire Pensioner, The: see references under The Forfar Soldier (File: FVS163)
===
NAME: Pesky Sarpent, The: see Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)
===
NAME: Pete Knight
DESCRIPTION: "Pete Knight was a rider of horses, The best that I ever did see, But often a life in the saddle Is not what it's cracked up to be." "Ten thousand fans saw him carried Away from the field and the horse."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse injury death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1937 - Death of Pete Knight
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 31, "Pete Knight" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pete Knight, The King of the Cowboys"
cf. "Pete Knight's Last Ride"
NOTES: Pete Knight was born in Philadelphia, but lived for some years in Alberta, and seems to have been at least as famous in Canada as in the U.S.
Knight was one of the all-time horse-riding champions, and won top honors in 1932, 1933, 1935, and 1936. In 1937, however, he fell and was trampled by the horse "Duster," (not "Slow-Down," as the horse was called by Wilf Carter) and died of a punctured lung. - RBW
File: Ohr031
===
NAME: Pete Knight, the King of the Cowboys
DESCRIPTION: "List a while to my story 'Bout a lad from the wide open plain Who has won a great name the world over, Pete Knight of rodeo fame." Knight's success as a rider is detailed; the song ends with his marriage
AUTHOR: Wilf Carter (1937)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse marriage
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1937 - Death of Pete Knight
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 32, "Pete Knight, the King of the Cowboys" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pete Knight"
cf. "Pete Knight's Last Ride"
NOTES: For the history of Pete Knight, see "Pete Knight." - RBW
File: Ohr32
===
NAME: Pete Knight's Last Ride
DESCRIPTION: The singer reports "My whole life's full of heartaches and sighs... For I've just lost a pal, like a brother to me...." Expert rider Pete Knight falls and dies; the singer hopes to meet him "on that heavenly range"
AUTHOR: Wilf Carter
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse injury death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1937 - Death of Pete Knight
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Phrlin-HBT 33, "Pete Knight's Last Ride" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pete Knight"
cf. "Pete Knight, The King of the Cowboys"
NOTES: For the history of Pete Knight, see "Pete Knight." - RBW
File: Ohr033
===
NAME: Peter Ambelay: see Peter Amberley [Laws C27] (File: LC27)
===
NAME: Peter Amberley [Laws C27]
DESCRIPTION: Peter Amberly leaves Prince Edward Island to go lumbering in New Brunswick. Fatally injured in a logging accident, he bids farewell to the father whose unkindness sent him away, to his mother, sweetheart, and home
AUTHOR: John Calhoun (sometimes attributed to Larry Gorman)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903
KEYWORDS: logger death farewell father
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: around Jan. 1881 - Peter Amberly is fatally wounded. He is eighteen years old, and has been in the woods less than a year
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (20 citations)
Laws C27, "Peter Amberley"
Doerflinger, pp. 225-233, "Peter Emberley" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 164, "Peter Hembly" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 80-81, "Peter Amberley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 27, "Peter Emberley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 138, "Peter Rambelay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 118, "Peter Emberley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 116, "Peter Ambelay" (1 text)
Dibblee/Dibblee, p. 33, "Peter Emberley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 235-236,252-253, "Peter Emberly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 99-103, "Peter Emberley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 38, "Peter Emberley" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 5, "Adieu to Prince Edward's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 269-272, "Peter Emily" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 270-273, "Peter Emberly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 9, "Peter Ambelay" (1 text)
Fowke-Lumbering #36, "Peter Emery" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 258-264, "Mary Hamilton" (the "C" fragment actually comes from a text of this song rather than a version of "Mary Hamilton")
Darling-NAS, pp. 181-182, "Peter Emberly" (1 text)
DT 608, PTRMBRLY* PTRMBRL2
Roud #668
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Peter Amberly" (on NFOBlondahl04)
Marie Hare, "Peter Emberley" (on MRMHare01)
Wilmot McDonald, "Peter Emberley" (on Miramichi1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Farmer and the Shanty Boy" (tune)
cf. "The Farmer's Boy" [Laws Q30] (tune)
cf. "John Ladner" (plot)
NOTES: Details about this song are sketchy. The name of the youth was probably spelled "Amberley" but was generally pronounced "Emberly." (Paul Stamler points out that Louise Manny records the spelling "Amberley" on his tombstone, but it is not contemporary).
The original tune has also been lost; when John Calhoun asked Abraham Munn to set a tune, Munn also added a stanza, and Calhoun withdrew the modified text from circulation.
According to his tombstone Amberley was born in 1863. He died some time after Christmas Day, 1880. - RBW
Manny/Wilson has a detailed account of the accident and burial, the spelling and pronunciation of the name, and the replacement of the original grave marker with a monument. Warning: "A legend has grown up about the song -- that it is unlucky to sing it in the woods. If it is sung the night before a drive, the woodsmen say, someone is sure to be killed." - BS
File: LC27
===
NAME: Peter and I Went Down the Lane
DESCRIPTION: "Peter and I went down the lane, down the lane (x2), Peter and I went down the lane, And sister came behind." Both sisters love Peter. "Sister was bending over the well When splash, splash in she fell." The survivor marries Peter; he abandons her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: love courting death homicide betrayal sister
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Gardner/Chickering 2, "The Two Sisters" (2 texts, 2 tunes, but the "A" text is "Child #10, but the "B" text is this) {B=Bronson's #97}
Roud #8
NOTES: Gardner and Chickering file this as a version of "The Twa Sisters," and certainly it appears to be the same plot. But the tune approximates "London Bridge," and the story is simplified. While it's probably built upon "The Twa Sisters," I'd call it a separate song. - RBW
File: C010A
===
NAME: Peter Clarke
DESCRIPTION: Peter Clarke and Jimmy Clarke are stopped by a robber. Peter refuses to be robbed; rather than give up his valuables, he attacks the outlaw barehanded. The robber shoots Clarke, but Clarke has a hand on his throat. Clarke dies, but the robber is taken
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: outlaw fight death Australia
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 100-102, "Bold Peter Clarke" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PETECLRK
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Peter Clarke" (on JGreenway01)
NOTES: The facts about this case are a bit uncertain. Folklore does not give a name to the bushranger (unusual indeed in Australia!), and claims that Peter and Jimmy Clarke were unrelated.
John Greenway, however, reports that the two were brothers, and (along with their brother Acton and some others) were overtaken near Warland's Range by twenty-year-old Harry Wilson. (The time was April, 1864.) Wilson shot several members of the party, but could not release himself from Peter Clarke's dying grip. Wilson was tried and hung on October 4, 1864. - RBW
File: MA100
===
NAME: Peter Emberly: see Peter Amberley [Laws C27] (File: LC27)
===
NAME: Peter Emery: see Peter Amberley [Laws C27] (File: LC27)
===
NAME: Peter Emily: see Peter Amberley [Laws C27] (File: LC27)
===
NAME: Peter Fishing
DESCRIPTION: Peter catches a fish, which urges, "Take me home, Peter (x3), oh mah ding." Peter takes it hom; the fish says, "Kill me now." Then, "Clean me now," "Salt me now," "Cook me now," "Eat me now," "I got you now!" (and Peter vanishes)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Mrs. Walter Scott Jr.)
KEYWORDS: fishing food devil
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 221-222, "Peter Fishing" (1 text)
NOTES: Henry's informant said that Peter was punished by the Devil for fishing on a Sunday. I'd be inclined to say that listening to a dead fish wasn't too smart, either. - RBW
File: MKAp221
===
NAME: Peter Gray
DESCRIPTION: Peter Gray, of Pennsylvania, loves Lucy Annie Pearl. Her father sends her west; he considers suicide, but instead goes west himself and is scalped by Indians. She takes to her bed and dies. Chorus: "Blow ye winds of morning, blow ye winds heigh-o."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1860 (Dime Song Book #2)
KEYWORDS: courting separation father Indians(Am.) death humorous
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
DSB2, p. 45, "Peter Gray" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 240, "Peter Gray" (1 text)
ST FSWB240C (Full)
Roud #4307
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Johnny Gray" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Blow Ye Winds in the Morning" (chorus lyrics, tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Gray
NOTES: Yes, I said humorous [in the keywords]; this is a reworking of a classic ballad plot unto the absurd. - PJS
And the versions I've heard sung are performed with great bathos, just to make sure we get the point. - RBW
File: FSWB240C
===
NAME: Peter Hembly: see Peter Amberley [Laws C27] (File: LC27)
===
NAME: Peter Murphy's Little Dog
DESCRIPTION: This teasing song involves Murphy giving his girl friend a dog that wants to poke its nose into the woman's privates.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy dog humorous
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 214-215, "Peter Murphy's Little Dog" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Teasing Songs" (specifically "Suzanne Was a Lady," "The Ship's in the Harbor," "There Once Was a Farmer," "Two Irishmen, Two Irishmen")
NOTES: As is common with teasing songs, this is a fragmentary ballad at best, each verse ricocheting off the previous into a new direction. - EC
File: RL214
===
NAME: Peter Pullin' Blues
DESCRIPTION: "Papa caught me in the loft, I'd just finished jackin' off." The father orders the boy to cease. He takes the boy, whose only other sexual experience is with a cow, to a whorehouse, where he proves highly interested but unable to perform
AUTHOR: attributed to Tex Fletcher by Jack Steele
EARLIEST_DATE: 1989 (Logsdon)
KEYWORDS: bawdy whore warning animal sex
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Logsdon 60, pp. 271-274, "Peter Pullin' Blues" (1 text)
Roud #10110
NOTES: Despite the title, this is clearly not a blues, either in form or in content. And I couldn't bring myself to tag it "humorous," either. It's too crude; a slightly lighter touch would have been much more amusing. - RBW
File: Logs060
===
NAME: Peter Rambelay: see Peter Amberley [Laws C27] (File: LC27)
===
NAME: Peter Street: see The Shirt and the Apron [Laws K42] (File: LK42)
===
NAME: Peter Wheeler
DESCRIPTION: Peter Wheeler comes to "this foreign shore, He lived close by little Annie's door" in Nova Scotia. He asks Anne to marry and she refuses again. He clubs her and cuts her throat. He is convicted, gives us good advice and bids us "a last good-night"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection execution homicide trial gallows-confessions
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1895 - Anne Kempton murdered by Peter Wheeler at Bear River, Digby County (source: Mackenzie; Creighton says 1896)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 91, "Peter Wheeler" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB091 (Partial)
Roud #2770
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bear River Murder" (subject: the same murder) and references there
File: CrSNB091
===
NAME: Peter's Banks
DESCRIPTION: William Strickland and Goddard take the Lily out on Peter's Banks on May 21. They are lost in wind and fog for six days without food or water and Goddard dies. A fishing skiff from Ramea rescues Strickland.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: rescue death fishing sea ship
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 24, 1897 - Albert Goddard is lost on the Lily (source: Newfoundland Schoonermen -- Victims of their Trade per Robert C Parsons NF Shipwrecks on the WEB site)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 969-970, "Peter's Banks" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Peacock notes, "Peter's Banks is a fishing area off the south coast of Newfoundland near the French island of St Pierre. Ramea is an island port also off the south coast." - BS
File: Pea969
===
NAME: Petie Cam' ower the Glen: see Patie's Wadding (Petie's Wedding) (File: HHH200)
===
NAME: Petit Couturier, La (The Little Dressmaker)
DESCRIPTION: French. A dressmaker goes to an inn; there are two lovely women there. He makes love with the smaller one; the larger offers the dressmaker 100 sovereigns to sleep with her. He declines, for honor's sake. She throws him out of the inn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (BNP MSS)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: French. A dressmaker goes to an inn; there are two lovely women there. He makes love with the smaller one; the larger, however, is searching for a husband, and offers the dressmaker 100 sovereigns to sleep with her. He declines, for the sake of his own honor and the smaller woman's. The larger woman throws him out of the inn. On the street, his knees begin to tremble; he says that if he were back at peace, he'd never refuse a damsel, but they have tricked him too much 
KEYWORDS: jealousy courting sex rejection request foreignlanguage lover worker
FOUND_IN: France Canada
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 113, "Le Petit Couturier [The Little Dressmaker]" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: K113
===
NAME: Petit Moine, Le (The Little Monk)
DESCRIPTION: French. The little monk finds a dairy-maid crying because she has trouble milking her cows. She offers a kiss if he does the job. The cow kicks over the pail, then kicks the monk into a ditch. The monk vows he'll never again help anyone milk a cow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (recording, Allan Kelly)
KEYWORDS: farming foreignlanguage humorous animal clergy
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Allan Kelly, "Le Petit Moine (The Little Monk)" (on Miramichi1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Deacon's Calf" (plot)
File: RcLPetMo
===
NAME: Petit Rocher
DESCRIPTION: Canadian French: The trapper, wandering in the forest, fears for his family's safety. He returns home, and arranges for his family's flight from marauding Indians. He remains and is mortally wounded. He prays for comfort in death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865 (Gagnon)
KEYWORDS: Quebec family death separation Indians(Am.) foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 34-35, "Petit Rocher" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Grace Lee Nute, _The Voyageur_, Appleton, 1931 (reprinted 1987 Minnesota Historical Society), pp. 148-149, "Petit Rocher" (1 text plus English translation, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Haunted Wood" (plot)
NOTES: This is said to be "the first Canadian song about a Canadian incident."
The song is supposedly based on the legend of the trapper Cadieux. In 1709 he went trapping along the Ottawa River. Returning to his camp and his family, he saw a band of Indians threatening the camp. He put his family in the canoe and stayed behind to slow
the attackers.
When his body was found, it lay in a grave he had dug with his own hands, and with his story written on birchbark with his own blood.
We must regretfully report that little if any verifiable evidence exists for this story. - RBW
File: FMB034
===
NAME: Petite Navire, La: see Little Boy Billee (Le Petite Navire, The Little Corvette) (File: K114)
===
NAME: Petticoat Lane (I): see The Elfin Knight [Child 2] (File: C002)
===
NAME: Petticoat Lane (II)
DESCRIPTION: A man from the country comes to town. His friend shows him the sights of Petticoat Lane. He is beaten at every turn and his pockets picked clean. The police charge him with killing a policeman. His policeman brother Darby gets him off. He goes home 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1855 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2996))
KEYWORDS: travel violence homicide theft reprieve brother police crime brother
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, pp. 18-19, "Petticoat Lane" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2996), "Petticoat Lane" ("To London I came from the sweet county Down"), E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also 2806 b.11(167), Firth b.25(393), "Petticoat Lane"
File: OCon018
===
NAME: Petty Harbour Bait Skiff
DESCRIPTION: A bait skiff sails from Petty Harbour to Conception Bay in the spring and encounters a storm on their return in the summer. A rescue party is dispatched, but only a young fisherman named Menshon is saved.
AUTHOR: John Grace
EARLIEST_DATE: 1852
KEYWORDS: wreck ship disaster rescue
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Fowke/MacMillan 13, "The Petty Harbour Bait Skiff" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, pp. 48-49, "Petty Harbour Bait Skiff" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 46-47, "Petty Harbour Bait Skiff" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 87, "The Petty Harbour Bait Skiff" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 99-101, "The Petty Harbour Bait Skiff" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BAITSKIF*
Roud #4410
NOTES: Doyle mentions that he received the song from someone who was still alive when the book was compiled and remembered the events fully. However, the recording, "Another Time: Songs of Newfoundland," notes that John Grace wrote the song in 1852, which was almost ninety years before Doyle published it. - SH
File: Doy48
===
NAME: Pharaoh's Army: see Sinful Army (File: MHAp199)
===
NAME: Phelimy Phil: see Ballinderry (File: HHH080)
===
NAME: Philadelphia Lawyer, The
DESCRIPTION: "Way out in Reno, Nevada," the Philadelphia lawyer courts a "Hollywood maid." He tries to convince her to come back to Philadelphia with him. But her husband Bill, discovering them, kills the lawyer
AUTHOR: Words: Woody Guthrie (tune: The Jealous Lover)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (composed)
KEYWORDS: homicide lawyer courting derivative cowboy infidelity
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 283-284, "The Philadelphia Lawyer" (1 text)
DT, PHILALAW*
Roud #500
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston, "Philadelphia Lawyer" (on OrigVis, CowFolkCD1)
Maddox Bros. & Rose, "Philadelphia Lawyer" (on Four Star 1289, 1949)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Reno Blues
NOTES: In one of the strangest lumps I've seen, Roud classifies this with the "Florella" family [Laws F1]. That, of course, provided some inspiration, but the actual text is pure Woody Guthrie. - RBW
File: Grnw283
===
NAME: Philosophical Cowboy, The: see Root, Hog, or Die! (III -- The Bull-Whacker) (File: LoF171)
===
NAME: Phoebe: see Bright Phoebe (File: FSC070)
===
NAME: Phoenix of Erin's Green Isle, The: see O'Reilly from the County Leitrim (File: HHH580)
===
NAME: Phoenix Park Tragedy, The 
DESCRIPTION: Burke and Cavendish are murdered in Dublin's Phoenix Park. The Lord Mayor and Irish MPs -- Davitt, Parnell, Dillon, Sexton -- condemn the assassins. "[L]et us hope and pray to the Lord each night and day, That no Irishman for this crime will be blamed"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: homicide Ireland 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: (0 citations)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(362), "Lines on the Phoenix Park Tragedy" ("Pay attention young and old to these lines"), unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Condemned Men for the Phoenix Park Murders" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "The Execution of Michael Fagan" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "Joe Brady and Dan Curley" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "The Men Awaiting Trial for the Murders in Phoenix Park" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "The Murder of the Double-Dyed Informer James Carey" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "O'Donnell and Carey" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "O'Donnell the Avenger" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "Pat O'Donnell" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "Skin the Goat's Curse on Carey" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "Dan Curley" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders)
cf. "The Bold Tenant Farmer" (subject: Charles Stewart Parnell) and references there
cf. "Carey's Disguise" (possible subject of James Carey)
NOTES: 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
The Phoenix Park murders were, in the end, very costly for Ireland; at the very least, they destroyed her influence in the English parliament, and arguably cost them Home Rule and eventually resulted in the Civil War.
Though it doesn't seem to have bothered the more vigorous Irish nationalists, we should note  that the Phoenix Park murders were incredibly brutal; Robert Kee (_The Bold Fenian Men_, being Volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 87) says that Cavendish and the Catholic Irishman Burke were "hacked to death by twelve-inch long surgical knives."
Sadly, the murders forced British Prime Minister Gladstone's hands at a time when he was trying to improve Ireland's condition. It was not just the English who were upset; Charles Stewart Parnell -- who dominated Irish politics and held the balance of power in the English parliament. offered to resign his leadership of the Irish party (see Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 175).
Parnell, for the moment, stayed on. But Gladstone still had to be seen to do something -- that something being coercion. (Any scruples he may have had were probably lessened by the fact that Cavendish was Gladstone's nephew by marriage.) And when Gladstone finally managed to propose a limited Home Rule bill in 1886, it failed and Gladstone's government fell (Golway, p. 180).
We might add that Parnell himself was largely responsible for the sequel: His party fell apart not over Phoenix Park but his own adulterous affair (see Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, _A History of Ireland_, 259-260). Gladstone tried again for Home Rule in 1893; it was rejected in the Lords, and Gladstone sort of faded away. So did Home Rule.
And while Zimmermann is clearly right that this terrorist act caught the attention of the broadside press, it's worth noting that very little of this outpouring of venom seems to have made it into oral tradition.
It did have its effects, though. According to Charles Townshend, _Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion_, p. 6, the murder was carried out by "[t]he nearest thing to a home-grown terrorist group to appear in Ireland [prior to the twentieth century]... the shadowy Irish National Invincibles.... This ephemeral group carrie out only one operation. All the same, that single operations... had a tremendous psychological impact. Together with the Manchester Martyrs, the Invincibles' drama became an enduring spur to later generations."
Tim Pat Coogan, _Eamon de Valera: The Man Who Was Ireland_, 1993 (I use the 2001 Dorset Press edition), pp. 12-13, gives another take, showing how the horrid events influenced a future Irish leader: "In the year de Valera was born, the desperation... led to some of the most horrific murders in Irish history. There were some sixty agraraian or politics-related killings in the first eight months of the year alone. Amongst these were the knifing to death on 6 May 1882, the day he arrived in Ireland, of the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and of his Under Secretary, T. H. Burke... Some would argue that reaction in Britain to the deaths aborted progress to Home Rule for Ireland and so paved the way for revolution, partition and today's Provision IRA. Certainly, Parnell was so shattered by the assassinations that for a while he seriously contemplated resignation. Then, in August, there occurred the Maamtrasna murders in Co. Mayo: The Joyce family were slaughtered in a clay-floored hovel shared by humans and animals." Four people were killed, and two boys were mutilated and left for dead. "The neighbours, out of supertsition and ignorance, left the boys in agony without doing anything to help them. One child died, and subsequently three men -- one of them innocent -- were hanged for the crime...."
"Maamtrasna and other deeds were spoken of at every fireside in Irelend.
For more on Parnell, see "We Won't Let Our Leader Run Down." - RBW
File: BrdPhoeP
===
NAME: Phyllis and her Mother
DESCRIPTION: Phyllis hides in the woods. Her mother finds her asleep. The daughter drowsily says, "Damon, dear, how long you take." The mother, enraged, tells Phyllis she must go to a convent; Phyllis demurs: "And if love is wrong, said she/Tell me how I came to be." 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (recording [in German], Paul Reimers)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Waiting for her shepherd lover, Phyllis hides in the woods. Her mother looks for her and, finding her asleep, kisses her supposedly-innocent daughter. The daughter drowsily says, "Damon, dear, how long you take." The mother, enraged, tells Phyllis she must go to a convent; Phyllis demurs: "And if love is wrong, said she/Tell me how I came to be." 
KEYWORDS: courting sex foreignlanguage mother
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Paul Reimers, "Phyllis und die Mutter" (Victor 45062, 1915)
NOTES: The song is probably best-known, in an English translation, from the repertoire of revival singer Richard Dyer-Bennet. However, the 78 by Paul Reimers is evidence that the song circulated in German during the 20th century. Reimers seems to have been an American (or at least a resident), recording for Victor in New Jersey, and most of his recordings are of English-language popular music. Dyer-Bennet notes an anonymous publication of the song in Germany in 1799, but without further data I'm reluctant to list that as earliest date. - PJS
It seems pretty clear to me that it's an art song rather than of true folk origin (at least in the Dyer-Bennet form), but I'm in the same quandry as Paul: I can't do much to trace the history. - RBW
File: RcPhudM
===
NAME: Phyllis and Young William: see William and Phillis (File: CrSNB033)
===
NAME: Picayune Butler, Is She Coming to Town
DESCRIPTION: Minstrel song, with chorus "Picayune Butler, Picayune Butler, Is she coming to town?" In traditional forms, the lyrics float, e.g. the terrapin and the toad, "My ole missus promised me When she died she'd set me free."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: floatingverses slave animal travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 164-165, (no title) (1 text)
File: ScaNF164
===
NAME: Pick a Bale of Cotton
DESCRIPTION: "You got to jump down, turn around, Pick a bale of cotton...." A list of various people who can, alone or in combination, pick a bale of cotton a day.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (recording, James "Iron Head" Baker & group) 
KEYWORDS: work nonballad farming bragging
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 393-304, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 68, "Pick a Bale of Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 231-233, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 54, "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 123, "Pick A Bale Of Cotton" (1 text)
DT, PICKBALE*
Roud #10061
RECORDINGS:
James "Iron Head" Baker & group, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (AFS 195 A1, 1933; on LC53)
James "Iron Head" Baker, "Pick a Bale o' Coton" (AFS 721 B3, 1936) (AFS 3523 A3, 3523 B3, c. 1940)
Folkmasters, "Pick a Bale of Cotton" (on Fmst01)
Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (AFS 2643 A2, 1939)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Pick a Bale of Cotton" (on SeegerTerry)
Pete Seeger, "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" (on PeteSeeger43)
NOTES: Picking a bale of cotton in a single day is, for one picker, an almost superhuman task. - PJS
File: LxU068
===
NAME: Pickaxe Too Heavy
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, dis pickaxe am too heavy, Dis pickaxe am too heavy, Dis pickaxe am too heavy To heavy for my strength."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 216, (no title) (1 fragment)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Take This Hammer" (theme)
NOTES: This is obviously reminiscent of "Nine Pound Hammer/Take This Hammer" and the like. But the song applies to a different occupation, so -- for lack of additional words -- I split them. - RBW
File: ScNF216A
===
NAME: Picket Line Blues, The
DESCRIPTION: "Com all my friends if you want to know And I'll tell you about the C.I.O.... I'll tell you about the Ashland Strike." The workers picket, and some are arrested; the singer says he will not be discouraged, even though "I've got them picket line blues"
AUTHOR: Bunyan Day
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: strike labor-movement police trial lawyer
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 238-239, "The Picket Line Blues" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ashland Strike" (subject)
NOTES: 1937 is listed by Thomas as the date of the strike mentioned in this song. This is supported by internal evidence: The song mentions the Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act), which legally protected collective bargaining; it was passed in 1935 and declared constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1937.
John L. Lewis (the "John L." of the song) originally served as president of the United Mine Workers, then came into the AFL as chief of the Committee for Industrial Organizations. This group proved too radical for the AFL, and so was expelled in 1937, whereupon Lewis remade it as the Congress of Industrial Organizations. - RBW
File: ThBa128
===
NAME: Picket-Guard, The: see All Quiet Along the Potomac (File: RJ19002)
===
NAME: Pickin' Out Cotton
DESCRIPTION: "Hello, my little girl, which away, which away... Mammy sent me pickin' out cotton." The girl and the singer converse about the state of the cotton and where she is going; the girl (?) concludes by asking for a chew of tobacco
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: work drugs farming
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 212, "Pickin' Out Cotton" (1 text plus an excerpt)
File: Br3212
===
NAME: Picking Lilies: see Waly Waly (The Water is Wide) (File: K149)
===
NAME: Pickle My Bones in Alcohol
DESCRIPTION: A dying request, with the verse, "When I die don't bury me at all... Just pickle my bones in alcohol" (or, sometimes, corn pone). The rest of the song varies widely, usually with other requests for the burial; it may also have blues floating verses
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink burial floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE) West Indies
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 38, "Pickle My Bones in Alcohol" (1 relatively full text, 3 fragments plus mention of 2 more)
Roud #727
RECORDINGS:
Edith Perrin, "When I Die" [fragment] (on USWarnerColl01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hard Times in the Mill (I)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This piece is one of those Big Problems, because the key verse ("When I die don't bury me at all") floats, and also has a variable ending. We do the best we can with it.
Edith Perrin's West Indian version is so distinct that I thought about calling it a separate song:
Mama, when I die
Don't you bury me at all
Just cure my bone and body in alcohol.
Two bottles of beer,
One at my head and one at my feet,
Then to show the world
That my bones can cure,
My bones can cure.
I suspect that this may have mixed in part of another song -- just possibly, in fact, a religious song, since the Bible tells, e.g., of the curative power of Elisha's bones (2 Kings 13:21). But we really need more text to prove it.
File: Br3038
===
NAME: Picnic at Gros Haut, The: see The Picnic at Groshaut (File: Dib014)
===
NAME: Picnic at Groshaut, The
DESCRIPTION: The ladies prepare the picnic "upon the teagrounds at Gros Haut" but it rains until noon. "If it wasn't a success, 'twas a frolic nonetheless" The picnic is rescheduled for the next day with cider-drinking, dancing, and "scuffles" meanwhile.
AUTHOR: Lawrence Doyle
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: fight dancing drink music party
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 14-15, "The Picnic at Gros Haut" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 178-179,253, "The Picnic at Groshaut" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12483
RECORDINGS:
Arthur Cahill, "The Picnic at Groshaut" (on MREIves01)
NOTES: Groshaut is in the northeast corner of Kings, Prince Edward Island - BS
File: Dib014
===
NAME: Picnic, A
DESCRIPTION: "What's any better than a picnic? The victuals all on the ground, Flies in the buttermilk, bugs in the butter, And the skeeters humming around. Goin' down, children, Goin' down, I say, Goin' down, children, to have a holiday."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 191, "A Picnic" (1 text)
Roud #15772
File: Br3191
===
NAME: Picture from Life's Other Side, A
DESCRIPTION: "In the world's mighty gallery of pictures Hang scenes that are faded from life...." The song describes the pictures from life's other side: A gambler staking his mother's ring, a thief killing his brother for gold, a starving woman leaping off a bridge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1896 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes robbery suicide gambling death
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 603, "A Picture from Life's Other Side" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 422-424, "A Picture from Life's Other Side" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 603)
Silber-FSWB, p. 265, "A Picture From Life's Other Side" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 153-154, "The Lights of London Town" (1 text, 1 tune, quite distinct from the common version)
DT, PICTLIFE*
Roud #3527
RECORDINGS:
Benny Borg (The Singing Soldier), "Pictures from Life's Other Side" (Columbia 15183-D, 1927)
The Blue Sky Boys, "Picture From Life's Other Side" (Bluebird 8646/Montgomery Ward M-8845, 1941; rec. 1940)
The Clinch Valley Boys, "Picture From Life's Other Side" (Champion 15316/Silvertone 5091/Challenge 393 [as Borton & Lang], 1927)
Vernon Dalhart, "Pictures from Life's Other Side" (OKeh 40696, 1926)
Hank & Slim, "Three Pictures of Life's Other Side"  (Vocalion 02808,/Vocalion 02840, 1934)
Harkins & Moran [pseud. for Sid Harkreader & Grady Moore], "A Picture from Life's Other Side" (Broadway 8055, c. 1930)
Jenkins Family [or Jenkins Sacred Singers], "Pictures from Life's Other Side" (OKeh 45134, 1927)
Matt Judson, "Pictures from Life's Other Side" (Clarion 5141-C, 1930)
Kelly Family, "A Picture from Life's Other Side" (Decca 5054, 1934)
Bradley Kincaid, "A Picture from Life's Other Side" (Vocalion 5476, 1930; Conqueror 7983, 1932; Vocalion 4647, 1939)
Luke the Drifter [pseud., Hank Williams], "Pictures from Life's Other Side" (MGM 11120, 1951)
Frank Luther's Trio, "A Picture of Life's Other Side" (Decca 5039, 1934)
Old Southern Sacred Singers, "Picture from Life's Other Side" (Brunswick 115, 1926; recut 1932)
Sam Patterson Trio, "Pictures from Life's Other Side" (Edison 52085, 1927)
Goebel Reeves, "Pictures from Life's Other Side" (MacGregor 875, n.d.)
Smith's Sacred Singers, "Pictures from Life's Other Side"  (Columbia 15090-D, 1926/Vocalion 02949, 1935) (Bluebird B-5606, 1934; Montgomery Ward M-4804, 1935)
Smoky Mountain Sacred Singers "'Tis a Picture From Life's Other Side" (Vocalion 5119, c. 1927/Domino 0186, 1927 [as Smoky Mountain Twins ,"A Picture From Life's Other Side"])
"'Tis a Picture From Life's Other Side" (Vocalion 5119, 1927; rec. 1926) (Domino 0186 [as Smoky Mountain Twins,"A Picture From Life's Other Side"], 1927/Challenge 667/Banner 6041 [both as Lonesome Pine Twins, "A Picture from Life's Other Side"], 1927; Banner 0586 [as :Smoky Mountain Twins, "Picture from Life's Other Side"], 1930)
Frank Welling, "Picture[s] from Life's Other Side" (Champion 15924 [as Clarence Young]/Supertone 9612 [as Frank Hill], 1930)
NOTES: The 1896 sheet music credits this to "Vaughn" (B. Vaughan?) -- but we all know what that is worth. Charles E. Baer is another suggested author.
The Australian piece, "The Lights of London Town," shares almost none of the words of the American texts, and lacks the image of the picture. But the details and feel of the song are so close that I really think they spring from the same roots. Meredith et al suspect their version of coming from the music hall. This strikes me as possible -- it may be a music hall rewrite of the American song, or vice versa. - RBW
File: R603
===
NAME: Picture No Artist Can Paint, A
DESCRIPTION: "A quaint New England homestead Where a gray-haired couple dwell, Their heads are bowed with sorrow For the one they loved so well." Their daughter ran away from home after an argument. Her brother left to seek her. Neither has yet returned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, Leake County Revelers)
KEYWORDS: family separation children brother sister
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 831, "A Picture No Artist Can Paint" (1 text)
Roud #7441
RECORDINGS:
Leake County Revelers, "A Picture No Artist Can Paint" (Columbia 15691-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
File: R831
===
NAME: Picture that Is Turned Toward the Wall, The
DESCRIPTION: "Far beyond the glamour of the city and its strife There's a quiet little homestead by the sea." But a family daughter ran away, and "There's a name that's never spoken, and a mother's heart is broken... And a picture that is turned toward the wall."
AUTHOR: Charles Graham
EARLIEST_DATE: 1891 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: separation abandonment children
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 160-161, "The Picture That Is Turned Toward the Wall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Geller-Famous, pp. 59-63, "The Picture That Is Turned Toward the Wall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 276-277, "The Picture That Is Turned Toward the Wall" (1 text)
DT, PICWALL*
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Picture That Is Turned Toward the Wall" (Columbia 15030-D, 1925) (Edison 51607 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], 1925)
NOTES: Written by Graham after seeing the play "Blue Jeans," in which a father turns his runaway daughter's picture toward the wall. (Why not take it down? Don't ask me.)
The song sold extremely well, but as so often happens, Graham saw little of the proceeds, and died a pauper in 1899.
He also produced a sequel, "Her Father Has Turned the Dear Picture Again." Which had all the success it deserved.
To set a new record for Completely Useless Information Included in the Ballad Index, some students of Sherlock Holmes claim that the woman whose picture is turned toward the wall is none other than Irene Adler, the heroine of "A Scandal in Bohemia." The latter story was published in 1891, with an internal date of 1888 though Sherlockians have demonstrated that this date is not possible. For what little I can glean of this theory, see William S. Baring-Gould, _The Annotated Sherlock Holmes_, Volume I, note 28 to "A Scandal in Bohemia" (p. 354 in the Wings Books edition). - RBW
File: SRW160
===
NAME: Pie in the Sky: see The Preacher and the Slave (File: San221)
===
NAME: Pig at Home in the Pen
DESCRIPTION: Floaters: "When she saw me coming, she hung her head and cried/Yonder comes the meanest boy that ever lived or died." "Next time said darling, pick a bed with me...." Cho: "Got that pig at home in the pen, corn to feed him on/All I want..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (recording, Arthur Smith Trio)
KEYWORDS: love sex rejection farming floatingverses nonballad animal
FOUND_IN: US(SE,Ap)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Spud Gravely w. Glen Smith, "Pig in a Pen" (on Persis1)
Arthur Smith Trio, "Pig at Home in the Pen" (on Bluebird B-7043, 1937)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Shady Grove" (lyrics)
File: RcPAHITP
===
NAME: Pig Got Up and Slowly Walked Away, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer, drunk, walks down the street "in tipsy pride" and falls down in the gutter A pig lies down beside him. A high-toned lady remarks that "you can tell a man who boozes By the company he chooses," and "the pig got up and slowly walked away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (copyrighted by Benjamin Hapgood Burt)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous animal
FOUND_IN: US Britain(England) Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Shellans, pp. 58-59, "Friendship with a Hog" (1 text, 1 tune; the first two verses from this song but the last three might be informant John Daniel Vass's expansions of the piece)
DT, PIGINEBR PIGINEB2 PIGENEB3
Roud #7322
RECORDINGS:
Frank Crumit, "The Pig Got Up and Slowly Walked Away" (Decca 313, 1934)
Rudy Vallee, "The Pig Got Up and Slowly Walked Away" (Victor 25092, 1935)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Juged by the Company One Keeps
The Company One Keeps
Pig and the Inebriate
Pig Got Up and Walked Away
Friendship with a Hog
NOTES: Judging by the results of a cursory Google study, this bit is passing into oral tradition fairly quickly. - PJS
There are quite a few questions about it. Paul credited it to Benjamin Hapgood Burt, with a 1933 copyright -- yet Hazel Felleman's _Best Loved Poems of the American People_, published 1936, lists no author. There are four citations, including Felleman's, in _Granger's Index to Poetry_ (where it is titled "Judged by the Company One Keeps"), none of which mentions Burt; one attributes it to Aimor R. Dickson. My guess is that Burt rewrote an older piece. But it certainly seems to be traditional. - RBW
File: RcPGUSWA
===
NAME: Pig in the Parlor
DESCRIPTION: "My ma and pa was Irish (x3), And I am Irish too," "Your right hand to your partner/neighbor... And we'll all promenade." "We got a new pig in the parlor... and he is Irish too." "We kept the cat in the cream-jug... And it was Irish too." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (JAFL 24)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad animal family
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 522, "Pig in the Parlor" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 80, "Pig in the Parlor" (1 short text plus 1 excerpt and 1 fragment)
DT, PIGPARLR*
Roud #4251
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "And That Was Irish Too" (Conqueror 7896, 1931)
Pete Seeger, "Pig in the Parlor" (on PeteSeeger22) (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We Won't Go Home Until Morning" (floating lyrics, form)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
We Have a Pig in the Parlor
File: R522
===
NAME: Pinery Boy: see The Sailor Boy (I) [Laws K12] (File: LK12)
===
NAME: Pining Daily and Daily
DESCRIPTION: "I am pining day and daily this twelve months and above, I am pining day and daily, and all about my love My beauty it is fading... And I wish I was with my true love...." The singer's love has been unfaithful, but her words encourage him to return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation emigration
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H149, p. 456, "Pining Daily and Daily" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blacksmith" (plot)
NOTES: Kennedy, seemingly followed by Brunnings, connects this with "She Moved Through the Fair (Our Wedding Day)." This, in my opinion, is an impossible degree of stretch. The lyrics have some similarity to "The Blacksmith"; I also find myself reminded of "I'll Weave My Love a Garland." - RBW
File: HHH149
===
NAME: Pint Pot and Billy
DESCRIPTION: The singer apparently struck it rich in Australia and returned to join the high society in Britain. But he hates it: "Now I am stranded on my own native shore, I'll go back to Australia to the goldfields again." No one understands him; he wants to go home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: Australia home gold
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 116-117, "Pint Pot and Billy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FaE116
===
NAME: Pioneer Preacher, The
DESCRIPTION: "As we were on the ice and snow, It rained, it hailed, and the wind did blow... We were so cold we almost died." "But thank the Lord, relief was found...." The singer will preach in Tennessee/Cumberland, where "Religion's scarce"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: clergy storm pioneer settler Indians(Am.)
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hudson 82, p. 82, "The Pioneer Preacher" (1 short text)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 168-169, "The Evangelist's Song" (1 text)
Roud #4493
File: Hud082
===
NAME: Pioneers, The
DESCRIPTION: The pioneers, the engineers, the cannoneers are very hardy, and very sexual.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous talltale sex scatological animal
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cray, pp. 228-231, "The Pioneers" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 510-512, "The Pioneers" (6 texts, 1 tune)
DT, PIONEERS*
Roud #10119
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier" (tune & meter) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Engineers
The M.P.s
The Infantry
The A.P.s
The Mountaineers
File: EM228
===
NAME: Piper MacNeil
DESCRIPTION: Piper MacNeil loves whisky. One night he staggers home falling-down drunk. His mother opens the door, sees his dirty clothes and curses whisky. He says she should not be angry because "as long as I live I aye will be, That I'll take a drap whisky-o"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, Willie Scott)
KEYWORDS: drink mother
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5125
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "Piper O'Neill" (on Voice13) [the title seems to be an errror for "Piper MacNeil" in the text]
File: RcPipMON
===
NAME: Piper o' Dumbarton, The
DESCRIPTION: "Saw ye Rory Murphy, Rory Murphy, Rory Murphy, Saw ye Rory Murphy, Comin' through Dumbarton?" Rory, "a piper guid," plays for his living and travels Scotland, but at last falls "doun a brae" while drunk
AUTHOR: David Webster ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1899 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: music death drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 138-141, "The Piper o' Dumbarton" (1 text)
Roud #13116
File: FVS138
===
NAME: Piper O'Neill: see Piper MacNeil (File: RcPipMON)
===
NAME: Piper of Crossbarry, The
DESCRIPTION: Piper Flor Begley volunteers to fight but his captain prefers that "Today you'll stride between our lines and martial music play." Tom Barry's fighters defeat 2000 British. "The Piper of Crossbarry, boys, had piped old Ireland free"
AUTHOR: Bryan Mac Mahon
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle Ireland patriotic IRA music
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Mar 19, 1921 - Nationalist victory at Crossbarry
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 58A, "The Piper of Crossbarry" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boys of Kilmichael" (subject: The exploits of Tom Barry)
NOTES: [On March 19, 1921], 104 men of the Third West Cork Flying Column of the IRA, under Tom Barry, defeat more than 1000 British and 120 Auxiliaries about 12 miles south-west of Cork city (source: _Tom Barry Leads West Cork Flying Column To Victory at Crossbarry_ at Cork's War of Independence site).
The "Black and Tans" were British reinforcements to regular British soldiers sent to Ireland in 1920. The "Auxiliary Cadets" were veteran British army officers sent to help the Black and Tans. (source: _Michael Collins: A Man Against an Empire_ copyright by and available on the History Net site) For more information see RBW note for "The Bold Black and Tan" - BS
Crossbarry was really two actions: Robert Kee in _Ourselves Alone_, being Volume III of _The Green Flag_ (p. 128) notes that "at Crossbarry... not only did Tom Barry and his flying column successfully ambush a convoy of nine military lorries but fought their way out of a massive attempt to encircle them afterward."
This was not the only victory won by Barry in 1920-1921, nor even his most notorious. He was also, according to _The Oxford Companion to Irish History_, responsible for killing 15 Auxiliaries at Kilmichael on November 28, 1920 -- an event which also inspired a song.
Kee, pp. 120-121, reports of this action, "After a savage fight at close quarters in which three IRA were killed and, according to Barry, the Auxiliaries made use of the notorious 'false surrender' tactics, the entire convoy was wiped out, and seventeen of the eighteen auxiliaries were killed.... [T]he first British officer on the scene... said that although he had seen thousands of men lying dead in the course of the war, he had never before seen such an appalling sight... The doctor at the inquest, an Irishman, said that there was no doubt that some of the injuries had been inflicted after death."
George Dangerfield's history of Irish rebellion, _The Damnable Question_, does not list Kilmichael or Crossbarry but on p. 319 does mention an action of 1920: "On 9 December a flying column under Tom Barry, Commandant of Cork's No. 3 Brigade, and one of the most ruthless and successful of all guerilla leaders, ambushed two lorry loads of Auxiliaries, and wiped them out in circumstances of unusual savagery."
Though the reaction was also ugly, showing how bad conditions were in Ireland at that time: "On 11 December... Auxiliaries and Black and Tans invaded Cork, looting, wrecking, and burning, with the result that the center of the city was destroyed."
Barry would later attack a police barracks in Cork (Kee, p. 128).
Calton Younger, _Ireland's Civil War_, pp. 108-109, notes a case of Barry justifying the murder of a Catholic member of the R. I. C. as he went in to mass, though it doesn't tell whether Barry was actually the assassin.
It's probably no surprise that, when Irish leaders had to decide on the Treaty granting Ireland functional independence, Barry was against it (John A. Murphy, _Ireland in the Twentieth Century_, p. 48).
Tim Pat Coogan (_Michael Collins_, p. 169) sums up Barry and Crossbarry as follows: "Barry in fact was one of the bravest men in the war and probably the most successful field commander.... [H]e achieved a spectacular success at Crossbarry, County Cork, on 19 March 1921. In a day-long engagement, encouraged by the traditional pipes of Flor Begley, Barry and a force of about a hundred men broke through a more heavily armed British encirclement of ten times that number and got away safely...." - RBW
Ironically, Barry (1897-1980) had been in the British Army in Mesopotamia (Kee, p. 70), and had shown no evidence of nationalist sympathies at that time. But he would later become a high officer of the IRA, becoming its Chief of Staff for a time in 1937.
He eventually wrote a memoir, _Guerilla Days in Ireland._
File: OLcM058A
===
NAME: Piper Who Played Before Moses, The: see The Ould Piper (File: RcTOlPi)
===
NAME: Piper's Tunes, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes to town "to view the pretty lasses" and sees a famous Captain and Joe Blake. Blake the piper plays the favorite tunes and variations, all named. "Get up and shake your heels, 'tis better sport than any"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1855 (broadside, Johnson Ballads 602)
KEYWORDS: dancing music
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn 11, "The Piper's Tunes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3030
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 602, "Sporting Irish Piper," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also 2806 b.11(249), Johnson Ballads 603, "Sporting Irish Piper"; 2806 c.15(147), 2806 b.9(225), "The Rakes of Kildare"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bob and Joan" (tune, per OLochlainn)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Murphy
NOTES: The final line of the Bodleian "The Rakes of Kildare" broadsides is "Oh, tune up the old banjo, for that's better than any." OLochlainn's town is Cove and his famous captain Burke of Grove; the broadsides town is Kildare and the famous captain Cornock of Cromwell's Fort. The Bodleian "Sporting Irish Piper" broadsides have no similar final line or famous captain, the town is Liverpool and the piper is John Murphy." The same tunes are played throughout. - BS
File: OLoc011
===
NAME: Pirate of the Isles, The
DESCRIPTION: "I command a steady band Of pirates so bold and free." The pirate rejoices at being ruler of his ship and men. He tells of his joy in the sea. At last, however, he is overtaken by a warship. Hit by a cannonball, he is dying. His crew surrenders
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: pirate ship battle death
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Harlow, pp. 172-174, "The Pirate of the Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 74-77, "The Pirate of the Isles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2024
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:026, "The Pirate of the Isles," unknown, 19C
File: SWMS074
===
NAME: Pirate Smith
DESCRIPTION: Smith scoured the seas "with a noble crew of cutthroats." "He said that grabbing booty was a Briton's pleasing duty." He'd hang foreign foemen from his lanyards. At 37 he is killed by a Spanish bullet and goes to heaven "to rest in Nelson's bosom"
AUTHOR: T.D. Sullivan (1827-1914) (source: OLochlainn-More)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship England humorous political pirate
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 65, "Pirate Smith" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Sullivan is the author of a number of Irish patriotic poems, of which "God Save Ireland" is probably the best-known. This is one of the few non-nationalist poems I've seen from his pen. Ironically, the Smith he commemorates does not seem to be very famous; there are several Smiths with entries in Rogozinski's _The Wordsworth Dictionary of Pirates_, but none of them fit the hero of this song. - RBW
File: OLcM065
===
NAME: Pirate Song: see The Bold Pirate [Laws K30] (File: LK30)
===
NAME: Pirate, The: see Captain Kidd [Laws K35] (File: LK35)
===
NAME: Pirate's Serenade, The
DESCRIPTION: "My boat's by the tower, my bark's in the bay, And both must be gone ere the dawn of the day." The pirate waits for his bride. He asks that his roughness be excused. She shall "rule as Queen." He sees her signal that she is coming
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage ship pirate
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 152-153, "The Pirate's Serenade" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2698
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(493), "The Pirate's Serenade," T.A. Jackson (Birmingham) , c.1860
NOTES: See two very similar broadsides for "The Pirate's Serenade" attributed to Geo. A. W. Langford Fahie and with the tune "I Am Off for Baltimore": LOCSinging, as111010, "The Pirate's Serenade," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also sb30427a, "The Pirate's Serenade" - BS
File: CrMa152
===
NAME: Piri-miri-dictum Domini: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: Pitcaithly's Wells
DESCRIPTION: "It fell aboot the Lammas time A fine time o' the year..." that the singer goes out and sees the girls "drink the waters clear." His eye lights on one in particular. He asks if she will marry; she refuses at first, but after a time of courting, consents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 133-134, "Pitcaithly's Wells" (1 text)
Roud #5549
NOTES: Ord reports a legend that this was written, perhaps c. 1700, by the Earl of Kinnoul in honor of Jeannie Oliphant of Pitcaithly. This sounds like the usual sort of pretty legend. - RBW
File: Ord134
===
NAME: Pitgair: see Charlie, O Charlie (Pitgair) (File: Ord216)
===
NAME: Pitman's Courtship, The
DESCRIPTION: "Quite soft blew the wind from the west, The sun faintly shone in the sky, When Lukey and Bessie sat courting, As walking I chanced to espy." He reminds her that they have been together since childhood, and promises business and a fine wedding
AUTHOR: William Mitford
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay); Mitford died 1851
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  39-40, "The Pitman's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR039 (Partial)
Roud #3058
File: StoR039
===
NAME: Pitman's Happy Times, The
DESCRIPTION: "When aw wes yung, maw collier lads, Ne man cud happier be; For wages was like sma' coals then, An' cheps cud raise a spree." The singer recalls all afford in his youth, and notes in sad amazement all the changes since -- e.g. that all children can read
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: work age children food clothes money mining
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 167-169, "The Pitman's Happy Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3172
NOTES: Never thought I'd see a coal miner reminiscing about the good old days.... - RBW
File: StoR167
===
NAME: Pitty Patty Poke
DESCRIPTION: Game played while patting a baby's feet: "Pitty patty poke, Shoe the wild colt, Here a nail, there a nail, Pitty patty poke"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 119, "Pitty Patty Poke" (1 text)
Roud #7850
File: Br3119
===
NAME: Pity Poor Labourers
DESCRIPTION: "You sons of old England, now listen... Concerning poor lab'rers we all must allow Who work all day at the tail of the plow. Oh, pity poor lab'rers, oh, pity them all, For five or six shillings they work the whole week." The complaints of poor workers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: poverty work
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 18-19, "Pity Poor Labourers" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FaE018
===
NAME: Place Where the Old Horse Died, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls a spot -- a spot he no longer visits: "The place where the old horse died." He recalls that final ride, where the horse, for no evident reason, stumbled. Rider soon arose, but the faithful horse never moved again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: horse death burial
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 279-281, "The Place Where the Old Horse Died" (2 texts, 1 tune)
File: MA279
===
NAME: Plaidie Awa, The: see The Wind Blew the Bonnie Lass's Plaidie Awa' (File: RcWBTBLP)
===
NAME: Plain Golden Band, The [Laws H17]
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls his parting from his former sweetheart and why she gave back her engagement ring. A young man comes to her and tells her stories of the singer's falsehood. She briefly dallies with him. Having stained the ring, she must return it
AUTHOR: Joe Scott?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Ives-NewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: farewell ring infidelity lie trick
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws H17, "The Plain Golden Band"
Doerflinger, pp. 247-249, "The Plain Golden Band" (2 texts, 2 tunes, although Laws apparently does not include the first text and tune, which are fragmentary, with this ballad)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 149-151,253, "The Plain Golden Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 159-162, "The Plain Golden Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 39, "The Plain Golden Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 693, PLAINGLD
Roud #1963
NOTES: Ives-DullCare: "Of all Joe Scott's ballads, this is the one most closely identified with him. Even people who didn't know the song itself would often tell me that it was about Joe's own life--that this Lizzie had jilted him and it broke his heart." - BS
File: LH17
===
NAME: Plains of Baltimore, The
DESCRIPTION: As the singer prepares to leave (Ireland?), his rich sweetheart promises to go with him and takes some of her father's money with her. They leave Ireland for America and settle down happily. Her father promises a reward when their first son is born
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration father love elopement
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Warner 5, "Plains of Baltimore" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H553, p. 482, "Jamie, Lovely Jamie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 38, "There Was a Wealthy Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa005 (Full)
Roud #7457
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonny Labouring Boy" [Laws M14]
NOTES: Creighton-SNewBrunswick has the money sewn into her dress: "This lovely maid was gaily decked most wondrous to behold, And in her dress a fortune sewed, five hundred pounds in gold." - BS
This is fairly typical of the versions, though the amount varies, as does the place of departure. The ending, in which the father forgives and offers more money once the son is born, seems fixed. - RBW
File: Wa005
===
NAME: Plains of Drishane, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer "roamed Eastwards to view navigations of the pleasin' grand scene" and other wonders "for this far famed dwelling station Whose proper appelation her name is Drisbane ... For grandeur it has taken the sway from them all"
AUTHOR: Sean O Tuama (Johnny Nora Aodha)? (source: OCanainn)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: The singer "roamed Eastwards to view navigations of the pleasin' grand scene" and other wonders "for this far famed dwelling station Whose proper appelation her name is Drisbane." He admires each plantation, the mill for gringing corn, the huge oxen, guinea-hens, peacock and swan. The trees are matchless. The castle "has baffled molestations and Cromwell's aspirations." Strangers "ponder in amazement whilst on it they are gazing." They tell "in all these foreign places, Spain, Germany and Gaul" that "for grandeur it has taken the sway from them all."
KEYWORDS: nonballad lyric
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OCanainn, pp. 92-93,123, "The Plains of Drishane" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Groves of Blarney" (theme: extravagant praise of Cork) and references there

NOTES: This, probably consciously, outdoes "The Groves of Blarney." For example, in "Blarney" the castle is attacked by Cromwell: "her he did pommel. And made a breach in her battlement." Cromwell's "molestations" are "baffled" at Drisbane.
OCanainn: The singer "tells me that Johnny Nora Aodha is said to have composed it while going by horse and cart to Drishane for lime. On his arrival he sang the song for the man who was to sell him the lime. Tradition has it that his composition was so well receivd that he got the lime free. It's a good story and deserves to be true!" Maybe so, but to my mind it's too good of a one-upmanship story over the writer of "Castle Hyde,' the "inspiration" for "The Groves of Blarney." And Aodha's song seems to me to one up "The Groves of Blarney" which, itself, one ups "Castle Hyde." - BS
File: OCan092
===
NAME: Plains of Emu, The (The Exile of Erin II)
DESCRIPTION: The Irish prisoner sadly recalls his home in Erin. The singer, though he claims he never received "a base-earned coin," has been transported for life. He fondly recalls his mother and his Nora. He says, "The tie is unbroken on the plains of Emu."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1829
KEYWORDS: prisoner transportation separation
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 36-37, "The Exile of Erin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4354
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Exile of Erin (I)" (theme)
NOTES: Emu Plains was a prison farm outside Sydney, established to grow food for the large population of that city. - RBW
File: FaE036
===
NAME: Plains of Illinois, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer urges "all you good old farmers that on your plow depend" to "come travel west and settle on the plains of Illinois." It is alleged that Adam would compare Illinois to the Garden of Eden. The state and its residents are glowingly described
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: Bible talltale emigration farming
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
FSCatskills 89, "The Plains of Illinois" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 162-163, "El-A-Noy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 41, "El-A-Noy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 561, "El-a-noy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 42, "Elanoy" (1 text)
DT, PLAINILL*
Roud #4605
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "State of Illinois" (on Thieme01) (on Thieme05)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
State of Illinois
File: FSC089
===
NAME: Plains of Mexico (I), The: see Santy Anno (File: Doe078)
===
NAME: Plains of Mexico (II): see The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II) [Laws N9] (File: LN09)
===
NAME: Plains of Waterloo (I), The [Laws N32]
DESCRIPTION: The singer, a soldier, sees Sally lamenting for her Willie --  the wars are over but Willie has not returned. He tells her that Willie died at Waterloo after bidding her farewell, but then shows his half of a broken token and reveals himself as Willie
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: brokentoken disguise mourning war soldier battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws N32, "The Plains of Waterloo I"
Fowke/MacMillan 66, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 85, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 1014-1015, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 126, "Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 56-57, "Plains of Waterloo" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 34, "Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 69, "Waterloo" (1 text)
Moylan 189, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 46, pp. 137-138,173, "Smith at Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 459, PLNWLOO PLNWLOO2
Roud #960
RECORDINGS:
Amos Jollimore, "The Plains of Waterloo" (on MRHCreighton)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
cf. "The Banks of the Clyde (I)" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Maid of Dunmore" (partial plot, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Smith at Waterloo
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime: "I have two quite different songs by the same title." I believe Creighton's complete version and fragmentary text are both Laws N32.
Creighton's problem seems to come from the fragment's following "eighteenth of June" verse that matches no other "eighteenth of June" I've found for any Waterloo ballad or broadside; the sense of the verse -- that Willie was killed in battle -- belongs with Laws N32. In addition, the only other verse in the fragment also belongs to Laws N32.
"On the eighteenth day of June the battle was ended
Which caused many the British heroes to sigh and complain,
The drums they did beat and the cannons they did rattle
And by a French soldier your true love was slain."
Mackenzie: "The hypothesis that I have finally excogitated is that 'Waterloo' [Laws N32] is a fragmentary and modified version of the early nineteenth-century English ballad entitled 'The Mantle So Green,' [Laws N38] and that 'The Mantle So Green' is in its turn a modified version of the late eighteenth-century English ballad 'George Reilly.' [Laws N36]" Mackenzie's discussion includes a detailed examination of the three ballads. 
Online, you can get some idea of the similarities by using these texts at one of the Digital Tradition sites [searching on the DT number works, for example #459]:
Laws N32: "Plains of Waterloo" DT #459.
Laws N38: "The Mantle So Green" DT #463.
Laws N36: "George Reilly (6)" DT #592 [unfortunately, as noted there, this one "sort of stops short," before the narrator tells of George's supposed dying words "Farewell, my dearest Nancy ...." Laws reveals the end: Finally he [the narrator] puts an end to the girl's grief by revealing that he is Riley."] - BS
Obviously there is a great similarity between these broken token songs, and the Waterloo-specific versions probably *are* more recent (since the Napoleonic Wars were the last great wars before the telegraph and railroad and widespread literacy). But the vast number of songs of this type (see the mass list under Laws N36) inclines me to think that they are not all related -- but that Laws N36 and "The Mantle So Green" [Laws N38], which are among the most popular, are at the heart of the tradition. - RBW
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, "The Plains of Waterloo" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) - BS
File: LN32
===
NAME: Plains of Waterloo (II), The [Laws J3]
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of all the places he has fought, ending with his part at Waterloo (from which he is grateful to have emerged alive). He tells of Napoleon's success on the first two days of the battle and of Wellington's victory on the final day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: war Napoleon battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws J3, "The Plains of Waterloo II"
Mackenzie 73, "The Plains of Waterloo," "Wellington and Waterloo" (2 texts)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 117-119, "The Battle of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 547, PLNWLOO3
ST LJ03 (Full)
Roud #1922
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Plains of Waterloo" (on Abbott1)
Amos Jollimore, "The Plains of Waterloo" (on MRHCreighton)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Plains of Waterloo (V)" (subject, plot)
NOTES: The notes in Laws regarding this piece are somewhat confusing. He quotes Mackenzie to the effect that this song "is plainly derived" from the much longer, more elaborate broadside piece we've listed as "The Plains of Waterloo (V)."
That the two are on the same theme is undeniable. But Bennett Schwartz, who has examined the matter with care, notes "I do not believe it was Laws's intent to consider these both the same, but rather to consider only the derivative as traditional.  I think an argument can be made that J3 is not a derivative of this broadside at all."
Schwartz adds,
There are three other broadsides in Bodleian Library site Ballads Catalogue that describe the battle and go under the name "Plains of Waterloo." I do not believe they are the source of J3 either. Specifically,
"The Plains of Waterloo" beginning "The ancient sons of glory were all great men they say" (shelfmarks Harding B15(239b), Harding B 28(76), Harding B 11(3017), Harding B11(3018), Harding B 11(3019))
"The Plains of Waterloo" beginning "Assist me you muses while I relate a story" ( Harding B25(1501)[a hard-to-read copy])
"The Plains of Waterloo" beginning "On the Eighteenth Day of June, my boys, Napoleon did advance" (shelfmarks Firth c.14(7), Firth b.25(507), Firth c.14(28), Harding B11(91), Harding B 25(1503), Harding B 11(3020), Harding B 15(239a)) [Roud #5824]
Mackenzie's opening stanza for this song is presumably characteristic:
Come all you brisk and lively lads, come listen unto me,
While I relate how I have fought through the wars of Germany.
I have fought through Spain, through Portugal, through France and Flanders too;
But it's little I thought I'd be reserved for the plains of Waterloo. - BS, RBW
Although the "Battle of Waterloo" took place on June 18, 1815, it was actually the culmination of a several-day campaign. Napoleon, who had just returned from Elba, knew that all Europe would soon turn against him. His only hope was to defeat his enemies piecemeal -- starting with the Anglo-Dutch army of Wellington (the hero of the Peninsular campaign) and the Prussian army of Blucher.
Even though Napoleon started levying troops immediately, Wellington and Blucher together outnumbered the forces at his command by better than three to two. He had to separate them. He undertook this by dividing his army into two wings, the left under Ney and the right under Grouchy. (This was probably Napoleon's worst mistake of the campaign. He left his three of his best Marshals -- Soult, Suchet, and Davout -- in minor roles, while making the uninspired Ney and the inexperienced Grouchy his field commanders).
Napoleon struck first on June 16. Ordering Ney to attack Wellington's rearguard at Quatre Bras, Napoleon took Grouchy's reinforced right and attacked Blucher at Ligny. Ney's attack accomplished little, but Grouchy beat Blucher handily at Ligny.
Napoleon had apparently achieved his objective; Blucher was forced to retreat -- which took him away from Wellington. Napoleon therefore swung the larger part of his army back to deal with the British.
Unfortunately for the French, Blucher didn't retreat far. Even worse, Grouchy didn't follow him closely. Ney's errors topped things off. Given field command by Napoleon at Waterloo (June 18), Ney was unable to dislodge Wellington before Blucher returned to the battlefield. Since Grouchy did *not* show up, Blucher and Wellington swept Ney from the field, ending Napoleon's dreams forever. - RBW
File: LJ03
===
NAME: Plains of Waterloo (III), The [Laws J4]
DESCRIPTION: A boast of the bloody victory at Waterloo, telling of Mooney, who rides a milk-white steed as he rides his troops, and of General Hill, one of thousands of casualties
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: war Napoleon battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws J4, "The Plains of Waterloo III"
Dean, pp. 118-119, "The Battle of Waterloo" (1 text)
SharpAp 139, "Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 391, PLNSWLOO*
Roud #1923
File: LJ04
===
NAME: Plains of Waterloo (IV), The
DESCRIPTION: A very confused song. The singer goes to fight the French at Waterloo. He thinks of the mountains of Britain, and his parting from his girl. He receives a letter. Now the girl recalls her lover's departure and curses the man who killed him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: soldier death Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H608, pp. 87-88, "The Plains of Waterloo (IV)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 192, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1106
NOTES: Sam Henry's text almost has to be a conflate song, combining two (or more) Waterloo ballads. Possibly they came together because both involved letters between lovers. But with only five stanzas of the combined piece, I haven't been able to identify the parts.
The best candidate seems to be Ford's song of the same name; they have similar opening lines, and Roud lumps the pieces. But the plots are different. - RBW
File: HHH608
===
NAME: Plains of Waterloo (V), The
DESCRIPTION: "On the sixteenth day of June, my boys, in Flanders where we lay," the troops are ordered to meet Napoleon at Waterloo. Napoleon urges on his men; Wellington just fights. When the British emerge victorious, they drink to King George
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: war Napoleon battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Logan, pp. 106-109, "The Battle of Waterloo" (1 text)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 61-65, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 299-301, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 1016-1017, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LJ03A (Partial)
Roud #1106
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:033, "The Battle of Waterloo," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Plains of Waterloo (II)"  [Laws J3] (subject, plot)
SAME_TUNE:
Behold He Comes (per broadside Murray, Mu23-y1:033)
NOTES: Laws mentions this piece in connection with Laws J3, "The Plains of Waterloo (II)," quoting Mackenzie's claim that this is the literary original of that ballad. Earlier editions of this index lumped the two (based on a lack of reliable texts of Laws J3 for comparison).
But, as Bennett Schwartz points out, they are not the same song as they stand now, and this piece may not even be the actual source of the Laws ballad; the material they both contain is largely commonplace. Thus we split them, though fragments might go with either one, and there will be editors who lump. - BS, RBW
Although the "Battle of Waterloo" took place on June 18, 1815, it was actually the culmination of a several-day campaign. Napoleon, who had just returned from Elba, knew that all Europe would soon turn against him. His only hope was to defeat his enemies piecemeal -- starting with the Anglo-Dutch army of Wellington (the hero of the Peninsular campaign) and the Prussian army of Blucher.
Even though Napoleon started levying troops immediately, Wellington and Blucher together outnumbered the forces at his command by better than three to two. He had to separate them. He undertook this by dividing his army into two wings, the left under Ney and the right under Grouchy. (This was probably Napoleon's worst mistake of the campaign. He left his three of his best Marshals -- Soult, Suchet, and Davout -- in minor roles, while making the uninspired Ney and the inexperienced Grouchy his field commanders).
Napoleon struck first on June 16. Ordering Ney to attack Wellington's rearguard at Quatre Bras, Napoleon took Grouchy's reinforced right and attacked Blucher at Ligny. Ney's attack accomplished little, but Grouchy beat Blucher handily at Ligny.
Napoleon had apparently achieved his objective; Blucher was forced to retreat -- which took him away from Wellington. Napoleon therefore swung the larger part of his army back to deal with the British.
Unfortunately for the French, Blucher didn't retreat far. Even worse, Grouchy didn't follow him closely. Ney's errors topped things off. Given field command by Napoleon at Waterloo (June 18), Ney was unable to dislodge Wellington before Blucher returned to the battlefield. Since Grouchy did *not* show up, Blucher and Wellington swept Ney from the field, ending Napoleon's dreams forever.
The other general mentioned in the song, Jerome, was Napoleon's younger brother. At Waterloo he commanded Ney's left, and failed completely to rout the British from their stronghold of Hougoumont. - RBW
File: LJ03A
===
NAME: Plains of Waterloo (VI), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of her love, a soldier. She describes his beauty. He fights in the peninsular war. He dies at Salamanca and Waterloo. She describes his last messages, then says she will remain faithful until her own death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: battle soldier death Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 22, 1812 - Battle of Salamanca
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H15, p. 87, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 191, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2853
NOTES: The Sam Henry version of this song seems to conflate the battles of Salamanca and Waterloo; the hero is fighting at the first when he dies at the second. Either the song has been strangely damaged in transmission (and it shows no other signs of damage), or it was written by someone with no real understanding of the Napoleonic Wars. My guess is the latter; I suspect this was written well after its alleged date. - RBW
File: HHH015
===
NAME: Plains of Waterloo (VII), The
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells about her lover who "fought in Spain and Portugal and was slain at Waterloo." When Ireland fell he joined Bonaparte, promising to return and marry. "When Bathurst was taken" he went to Waterloo. She'll have no other man.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS: love battle soldier death Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 190, "The Plains of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Moylan considers this the same song as "The Plains of Waterloo" (VI), but then he argues against his own position: "Unlike most other Napoleonic songs found in Ireland and Britain, the hero of the song fights on Napoleon's side." Moylan's version of "The Plains of Waterloo" (VI) (Moylan 191) shares no lines with this ballad.
Moylan speculates that the Bathurst reference "may refer to Henry, the 3rd Earl of Bathurst, who was Secretary of State for the Colonies." There is a connection between "Bathurst" and Napoleon. The following statement is from the Napoleonic Society site: "It is our view that Liverpool, Castlereagh and Bathurst betrayed Napoleon by offering him asylum in England and then sending him off to St-Helena." Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (Foreign Secretary 1812-1822), Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (Prime Minister 1812-1827), and Henry Bathurst (Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1812-1827) are the parties mentioned.
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, "My Love at Waterloo" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) 
Frank Harte's version resolves the Bathurst "problem." His verse is
When Badajoz was taken and our leaders all were dead,
The plain around in carnage lay to show how much we bled,
Ten thousand man lay in their gore and those who fled were few,
And we marched on to fight once more on the Plains of Waterloo.
Harte: "Badajoz ... is the capital of Badajoz province situated near the border with Portugal. The French captured it in 1811, and held it until the following year when it was retaken by the British, led by the Duke of Wellington." - BS
File: Moyl190
===
NAME: Plainte du Capitaine, La (The Captain's Lament)
DESCRIPTION: French. A wind blows the ship off course. The captain climbs the mainmast and finds the way home but is thrown into the sea. He is sorry to leave his family. At his burial he wants the crew to sing that he died on the deadly sea.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage death sea ship storm children mother wife sailor mourning separation funeral
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 161-162, "La Plainte du Capitaine" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea161
===
NAME: Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)
DESCRIPTION: Once the crop is gathered in, the illegal workers who harvested them can be sent back to Mexico. They are taken and separated and put on a plane across the border. The plane catches fire and crashes over Los Gatos; the Mexicans are killed
AUTHOR: Words: Woody Guthrie / Music: Martin Hoffman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961
KEYWORDS: death disaster foreigner work political flying crash exile emigration
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 28, 1948 - The Los Gatos plane crash
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 367-369, "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 294-295, "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos" (1 text)
DT, DEPORTE*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Deportee" (on PeteSeeger41)
File: SBoA367
===
NAME: Plant, Plant the Tree
DESCRIPTION: Freedom's sun is rising for Ireland. "Despotic sway from France is chas'd, And church delusion's vanish'd"; Ireland needs the same. "Plant ... fair Freedom's Tree." The French will help. "Erin Go Bragh" will replace "God Save the King." Wars will end
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1790s (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion France Ireland political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Zimmermann 5, "Plant, Plant the Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 19, "Plant, Plant the Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Evidently a reference to the events of the 1790s, when the French Revolution seemed to portend freedom for many nations. The irony is that instead it led to the Reign of Terror, and Napoleon, and not much else. Indeed, Ireland would see her freedom reduced; since 1782, she had had some internal autonomy under Grattan's Parliament (see the notes to "Ireland's Glory"). But the French were in fact very little help (see the notes to "The Shan Van Voght"), and Ireland would suffer first the 1798 rebellion and then the Union of the Parliaments. - RBW
File: Zimm005
===
NAME: Plantonio: see Pattonia, the Pride of the Plains [Laws B12] (File: LB12)
===
NAME: Platonia: see Pattonia, the Pride of the Plains [Laws B12] (File: LB12)
===
NAME: Platte River Girl, The: see Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl) [Laws C25] (File: LC25)
===
NAME: Pleasant and Delightful
DESCRIPTION: On a "pleasant and delightful" midsummer's morn, a sailor bids farewell to his true love. She gives him a token, and begs to come along with him. He forbids it, but promises that they will be wed "if ever I return again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1841 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(276))
KEYWORDS: love farewell ring separation
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, PLESDELT*
Roud #660
RECORDINGS:
Sam Larner, "Happy and Delightful" (on SLarner02)
Cyril Poacher, "A Sailor and His True Love" (on Voice02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(276), "The Sailor and his Truelove" ("As a young sailor and his truelove one morning in May"), J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840; also Firth c.12(147), Harding B 17(266b), "Sailor and his Truelove"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell, Charming Nancy [Laws K14]" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Bold Privateer" [Laws O32] (meter)
cf. "The Soldier and the Sailor" (meter)
NOTES: This song shares many similarities with "Farewell, Charming Nancy" [Laws K14]; it is not impossible that they have a common ancestor. But the degree of difference is now so large that, until an intermediate version shows up, I must regard them as separate. - RBW
File: DTplesde
===
NAME: Please, Don't Burn Our Shithouse Down
DESCRIPTION: The singer pleads for his/her outhouse, chronicling the family's woes, and promises to pay [tax?].
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1733 (Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius)
KEYWORDS: bawdy family humorous scatological
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada Britain(England,Scotland) Ireland US(ubiquitous) New Zealand
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 109-111, "Please, Don't Burn Our Shithouse Down" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 191-195, "Finest Fucking Family" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #10270
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My God, How the Money Rolls In"
cf. "My Daddy's a Delver of Dykes"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Finest Fucking Family in the Land
My Father Was Hung for Sheep-Stealing (as a Horse Thief)
File: EM109
===
NAME: Please, Mister Conductor (The Lightning Express)
DESCRIPTION: The conductor demands a boy's ticket. He has none. He went to work in the city to pay for his mother's care, but now she is dying. He has no fare, but is going to be with her; he begs the conductor to let him stay. The passengers chip in to pay his fare.
AUTHOR: J. Fred Helf (?) and E. P. Moran
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (copright)
KEYWORDS: mother disease age separation train help
FOUND_IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 321-325, "Please, Mr. Conductor/The Lightning Express" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 720, "Please, Mister Conductor" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 468-470, "Please, Mister Conductor" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 720A)
Roud #7389
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Lightning Express" (OKeh 7008, 1924)
Johnny & Albert Crockett, "Lightnin' Express" (Crown 3074, 1930)
Pete Daley's Arkansas Fiddlers, "Lightning Express" (Varsity 5078, n.d.)
Vernon Dalhart, "Lightning Express" (Banner 1594, 1925) (Challenge 165/Challenge 320, 1927) (Champion 15017, 1925) (Victor 19837, 1925)
Byron G. Harlan "Please, Mr. Conductor, Don't Put Me Off The Train" (CYL: Edison 7219, 1903)
Jim Holbert, "The Lightning Express" (AFS 4130 B2, 1940; on LC61)
Frank Hutchison, "Lightning Express" (OKeh 45144, 1927)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Lightning Express" (Melotone 12184, 1931; Vocalion 02683, 1934)
Asa Martin, "East Bound Train" (Champion 15585/Supertone 9178, 1928) (Conqueror 7837, 1931; Broadway 4086 [as Martin & Roberts], n.d.)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "The East Bound Train" (Vocalion 5174/Vocalion 5200/Brunswick 169/Brunswick 326, 1928; Supertone S-2032, 1930; rec. 1927); "The Lightning Express" (Brunswick 200, 1928; Brunswick 326, 1929; rec. 1927)
Nelstone's Hawaiians, "North Bound Train" (Victor V-40065, 1929)
Riley Puckett, "East Bound Train" (Columbia 15747-D, 1932)
George Reneau, "The Lightning Express"  (Vocalion 5056/Vocalion 14991, 1925; Silvertone 3045 [as George Hobson], 1924)
Mervin Shiner, "The Lightning Express" (Decca 46272, 1950)
Ernest V. Stoneman "The Lightning Express" (OKeh 40408, 1925) (Edison 52299, 1928)
Arthur Tanner, "The Lightning Express Train" (Puritan 9160, n.d. but prob. c. 1926)
Ernest Thompson, "The Lightning Express" (Columbia 145-D, 1924)
Wesley Tuttle, "The Lightning Express" (Coral 64068, 1950)
Dock Walsh, "The East Bound Train" (Columbia 15047-D, 1925)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Going for a Pardon" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The East Bound Train
NOTES: The sheet music of this is obscure enough (or illegible enough) that the first author is various listed as "H. Fred Delf" and J. Fred Helf. I've tentatively listed the latter in the "author" field, since it's the form Norm Cohen uses, and he's more authoritative than any of the other sources.
The memory of Delf/Helf and Moran is quite obscure; their copyright was not renewed, and we find the song being re-copyrighted in 1925 by Triangle Music Publishing, with no reference to the original authors; they credited to the universal pseudonym E. V. Body. - RBW
File: R720
===
NAME: Plooin' Match, The
DESCRIPTION: The ploughmen meet at (Hilton) to have a contest. The various ploughmen are listed, along with the way they competed. The song concludes, "The judges cam frae far an' near... But some wad say their sicht was puir That day among the ploomen."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: farming racing humorous moniker contest
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 239-241, "The Ploughing Match" (1 text)
Roud #5581
NOTES: Ord observes that "When singing this song the singer generally puts in the names of persons known to his audience.... The locus of the match has also been forgotten." And, indeed, Grieg's versions have no name. - RBW
File: Ord239
===
NAME: Plooman Laddie, The
DESCRIPTION: "My love's a plooman and follows the ploo, I promised to him and I'll keep it true.... What's better than a plooman?" The singer rejects many (e.g. "I micht hae gotten the miller... But the smell o' the dust wad had done me ill") and rejoices to be wed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting farming rejection
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 223-224, "The Plooman Laddie" (1 text)
Roud #3447
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Husbandman and the Servingman" (theme)
cf. "The Farmer and the Shanty Boy" (theme)
cf. "Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me)" (theme)
NOTES: Ord lists this as being sung to "The Rigs o Rye." The tune I've heard isn't quite that, though it's close. - RBW
File: Ord223
===
NAME: Ploughboy (I), The
DESCRIPTION: In this confused composite of floating verses, the ploughboy courts Molly, but then departs to become a soldier. He will build Molly a castle and take her away. She nonetheless rejects him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection); c1810? (_English Minstrel_, according to Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 5" - 25.8.02)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection soldier flowers floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H780, p. 345-346, "The Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1446
RECORDINGS:
Lizzie Higgins, "Lovely Molly" (on Voice05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Streams of Lovely Nancy" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Blackbird and Thrush" (theme) 
NOTES: This song consists almost entirely of floating material (see the cross-references), and is fairly incoherent as a result. The largest element is "Green Grows the Laurel" (to such an extent that it's almost a version of that song), but there are plenty of other elements. The composite probably didn't circulate widely as an independent entity. - RBW
"[O]ne source credits Charles Dibdin as its author," according to Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 5" - 25.8.02. - BS
My guess would be that Dibdin is responsible for some of the floating material; on that basis, I have not listed him in the "author" field, even as a possibility. - RBW
File: HHH780
===
NAME: Ploughboy (II), The: see The Lark in the Morning (File: ShH62)
===
NAME: Ploughboy of the Lowlands, The: see Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low [Laws M34] (File: LM34)
===
NAME: Ploughing Match, The: see The Plooin' Match (File: Ord239)
===
NAME: Ploughman (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "The ploughman, he's a bonnie lad, And does his wark at leisure... Then up wi't noo, my ploughman lad, And hey my merry ploughman." The singer describes her ploughman's work, and the work she does to keep him well, and scorns those who scorn him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: in traditional form 1930 (Ord); Burns rewrote it for the Scots Musical Museum
KEYWORDS: work marriage nonballad farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 217, "The Ploughman" (1 text)
Roud #5582
File: Ord217
===
NAME: Ploughman (II), The
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a ploughman, praises his fellows, his profession and his recreations.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: work drink nonballad farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 84, "The Ploughman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PLOUGHM4*
Roud #2538
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I am a Pretty Wench"
NOTES: This is a muddled song. As collected in 1904, the singer began with a verse from "The Condescending Lass" (a song in which the lass in question rejects the idea of marrying men of various professions). He veered off immediately, however, into a praiseful description of ploughmen, and the lass is not heard from again. [Vaughan Williams and Lloyd] excised the seemingly-unconnected first verse and assigned the present title (the singer had called it "Pretty Wench"). -PJS
[For that "Pretty Wench" song, see "I am a Pretty Wench." The title "The Condescending Lass" for the poem appears to be known primarily from broadsides; the typical traditional title is either "Pretty Wench" or "I Am a Pretty Wench." - RBW]
To tell this from other songs in praise of farmhands, consider this first stanza:
"A ploughman dresses fine, he drinks strong beer ale and wine
And the best of tobacco he do smoke;
Pretty maids don't think amiss a ploughman for to kiss,
For his breath smells as sweet as a rose, a rose, a rose
For his breath smells as sweet as a rose." - RBW
It appears Roud would have Opie-Oxford2 525, "I am a pretty wench" be the verse excised by Vaughan Williams and Lloyd. Roud has other examples as well under #2538. Opie-Oxford2 notes that this song is in Alfred Williams _Folk-Songs of the Upper Thames_ (1923) and that Vaughan Williams did collect it. If we ever add one of those "The Pretty Wench" songs it should probably considered separate from "The Ploughman." - BS
File: VWL084
===
NAME: Ploughman Lad for Me, A
DESCRIPTION: "Where first I saw my Jockie, Was at (Huntly) feeing fair." She praises his beauty, declaring, "So a ploughman lad for me." She cares not what her parents think, and is willing to work hard alongside him; his love is worth more than riches
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1860 (broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(023))
KEYWORDS: love courting farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 280-281, "A Ploughman Lad for Me" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(023), "The Ploughman Lads for Me," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 1852-1859 [despite the title, the song text refers "a ploughman lad," not "lads"]
NOTES: Credited to John Wilson in the NLScotland broadside -- which, interestingly, leaves blank the name of the city in which the couple meets. - RBW
File: Ord280
===
NAME: Plowboy, The: see Cupid the Plowboy [Laws O7] (File: LO07)
===
NAME: Plowboy's Courtship, The: see Queen of the May (File: SWMS190)
===
NAME: Pluie Tombe, La
DESCRIPTION: Creole French: "La pluie tombe, Crapeau chante, Oin, oin! oin, oin! oin, oin! M'a pale baigner moine, La pluie tombe, Marin-gouin crie...." As the rain falls, the frog an the mosquito call the singer into the water (and drown)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage animal bug drowning
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 203-204, "La Pluie Tombe" (1 short text, 1 tune)
File: ScaNF203
===
NAME: Po' Boy (I)
DESCRIPTION: "My mammy's in the cold cold ground, My daddy went away... now I've gone astray. I sit here in the prison, I do the best I can, But I get to thinkin' of the woman I love; She ran away with another man." The singer tried to rob a mail train, but was caught
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: prison crime robbery punishment separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp. 30-32, "Po' Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: San030
===
NAME: Po' Boy (II): see The Cryderville Jail (File: LxU090)
===
NAME: Po' Farmer
DESCRIPTION: "Work all week, don't make enough To pay my board and buy my snuff... It's a-hard on we po' farmers, it's a-hard." The farmer describes the long day's work -- only to come home to "peas in the pot and an old jaw-bone" and fifteen cents weekly pay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941
KEYWORDS: work farming hardtimes poverty
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 284, "Po' Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, POFARMER*
Roud #6709
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Humble Farmer" (theme)
File: LoF284
===
NAME: Po' Laz'us: see Poor Lazarus (Bad Man Lazarus) [Laws I12] (File: LI12)
===
NAME: Po' Li'l Ella
DESCRIPTION: "I'll tell you somep'n that bothers my mind: Po' li'l Ella laid down an' died." "I wouldn't a-minded little Ella dyin', But she left three chillum." "Judge, you dome me wrong, Ninety-nine years is sho' too long!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: death homicide children punishment prison judge
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 278-279, "Po' Li'l Ella" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Scarborough claims this is "a favorite in East Texas sawmill districts." But I've seen no other signs of it. - RBW
File: ScNF278B
===
NAME: Po' Lil Jesus: see Poor Little Jesus (File: LxU101)
===
NAME: Po' Liza Jane
DESCRIPTION: "Go long, po' Liza Jane (x2), I turned my head to the ole grey horse, Go long po' Liza Jane." "I ast her would she marry me; She ast me wasn't I shamed." "I went up to the new-cut road, And she went down the lane."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting horse floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
BrownIII 456, "Po' Liza Jane" (1 short text)
Fuson, p. 172, "Liza Jane" (1 text, with a "Cindy...Cindy Jane" chorus)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 169, (no title) (1 text, with verses probably from "Raccoon," unless they just floated in, while the chorus seems to be "Po' Liza Jane")
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 237, (no title) (1 fragment, about a Yankee and a toad, which might be this or any of the songs to which the verse floats)
Roud #825
NOTES: This reminds me a bit of "Goodbye Liza Jane (I)," but based on the short text in Brown, it does not appear possible to identify it with any of the other Liza Jane songs (though Roud lumps it). - RBW
File: Br3456
===
NAME: Po' Mournah!: see Mourner, You Shall Be Free (Moanish Lady) (File: San011)
===
NAME: Po' Shine
DESCRIPTION: "You can't do me like you done po' Shine, Paid off everybody and you didn't pay Shine." About the hard times on a work crew. Shine departs seeking better work, and finally the workers are paid. Some elements float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes boss travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, pp. 17-18, "Po Shine" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MWhee017 (Full)
Roud #9995
File: MWhee017
===
NAME: Poacher (I), The: see The Lincolnshire Poacher (File: K259)
===
NAME: Poacher (II), The: see O'Ryan (Orion, The Poacher) (File: HHH823)
===
NAME: Poacher's Fate, The [Laws L14]
DESCRIPTION: (Six) young men go out hunting. They are met by a gamekeeper, who vows to shoot one of them to end their depredations. The keeper fatally wounds "the bravest lad."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1842 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.34(118))
KEYWORDS: death poaching punishment
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland,England) US(MW,NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws L14, "The Poacher's Fate"
Kennedy 248, "The Gallant Poacher" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 351-352, "The Poacher's Fate" (1 text; tune on p. 451)
DT 351, POACHERF
Roud #793
RECORDINGS:
Walter Pardon, "The Poachers' Fate" (on Voice18)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.34(118), "Gallant Poacher" ("Come all you lads of high renoun"), Birt (London), 1833-1841; also Harding B 11(325), Harding B 11(3853), Firth c.19(49), "[The] Gallant Poacher"; Johnson Ballads 1394, "Gallant Poachers"
Murray, Mu23-y4:020, "Gallant Poachers," unknown, 19C 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Keepers and Poachers" (plot)
File: LL14
===
NAME: Poachers, The: see Van Dieman's Land (I) [Laws L18] (File: LL18)
===
NAME: Point Maid, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer's father was a farmer, but he must leave his home, his work, and his girl. As he makes his way to the port, he thinks of drowned sailors and his lost sweetheart. He hopes to return, though he would not care if the girl were with him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration separation farewell
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H42b, p. 197, "The Point Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH042b
===
NAME: Poison in a Glass of Wine: see Oxford City [Laws P30] (File: LP30)
===
NAME: Pokegama Bear
DESCRIPTION: Lumbermen encounters the Pokegama bear. Morris O'Hearne tells the men to run; (they have humorous accidents). Mike McAlpin kills the bear with an axe; the grease is divided up among the men, and the meat cooked and eaten.
AUTHOR: Frank Hasty (words)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874 (composed)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A crew of lumbermen encounters the Pokegama bear. Morris O'Hearne, who first flushes him, tells the men to run; Jimmy Quinn runs into a porcupine. The bear heads for the swamp; O'Hearne follows, but slips and falls under it. Mike McAlpin chases down and kills the bear with an axe; the grease is divided up among the men, and the meat cooked and eaten. O'Hearne gets the skin; "Long life to you and long growth to your hair/When it's greased with the fat from Pokegama Bear"
KEYWORDS: lumbering work moniker animal logger worker humorous
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "Pokegama Bear" (on Thieme06)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Vilikens and his Dinah (William and Dinah) [Laws M31A/B]" (tune & meter) and references there
NOTES: Pokegama Lake is a very wide area of the upper Mississippi River. - PJS
Paul Stamler didn't list this as a humorous item, but the versions I recall hearing (I think from John Berquist, though I've heard other Minnesotans mention it) generally have comic aspects as the loggers flee the bear. The tune seems to have wandered a bit, too, though that may just be my memory. - RBW
File: RcPokegB
===
NAME: 'Poleon Dore
DESCRIPTION: French-Canadian dialect song. Singer describes working in a lumber camp. Paul Desjardins falls into rapids; oars do not reach him. Napoleon Dore dives in. Both drown in a whirlpool. Their bodies are found in each other's arms. They are buried together.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: French-Canadian dialect song. Singer first describes (at length) the pleasures and comradeship of working in a lumber camp, then tells story. Paul Desjardins falls overboard in rapids; after his workmates fail to save him with their oars, Napoleon Dore dives in, but both are caught in a whirlpool and drowned. Their bodies are found in each other's arms, and they are buried together.
KEYWORDS: lumbering work death friend logger drowning
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 74, "'Poleon Dore" (1 text)
Roud #8869
NOTES: Is there something left unsaid here? I can't tell. - RBW
File: Be074
===
NAME: Poll and Sal: see When the Boys Go A-Courting (Over the Mountain, Poll and Sal) (File: SWMS312)
===
NAME: Polly and Willie: see No Sign of a Marriage [Laws P3] (File: LP03)
===
NAME: Polly Bond: see Molly Bawn (Shooting of His Dear) [Laws O36] (File: LO36)
===
NAME: Polly Brannigan (Molly Brannigan)
DESCRIPTION: The singer confesses that Polly Brannigan "stole me heart and I'll never be a man again." Now she has left him; he wishes that "when she got another heart she might send mine back home again." (Considering suicice, he hopes she will grieve when he dies)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: love rejection suicide
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 34, "Purty Molly Brannigan" (2 texts, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 41, "Molly Brallaghan" (1 text)
Eddy 153, (fifth of several "Fragments of Irish Songs")
Silber-FSWB, p. 181, "Molly Brannigan" (1 text)
DT, MOLLBRAN
Roud #13375 (and 5354)
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "Purty Molly Brannigan" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: There is a sense that the singer is naive and that we are supposed, at least, to smile behind his back. For example, in Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan he asks advice of Father Mc Donald and Counsellor O'Connell who "told me promise-breaches had been ever since the world began: Now I've only one pair, ma'am, and they are corduroy! ... Must my corduroys to Molly go? ... I can't afford to lose both my heart and ould britches too." - BS 
File: E153E
===
NAME: Polly Oliver (Pretty Polly) [Laws N14]
DESCRIPTION: Polly loves a sea captain; her parents do not. She dresses as a man and follows her love. Still in disguise, she meets him at an inn. The captain wishes to sleep with her; she refuses, but appears the next day in her own clothes. The two are wed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(240b))
KEYWORDS: courting disguise marriage cross-dressing
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Laws N14, "Polly Oliver (Pretty Polly)"
Belden, pp. 183-185, "Polly Oliver" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 145, "Polly Oliver's Rambles" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H166, pp. 328-329, "Lovely Annie (II)" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 122, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 273-274, "Polly Oliver" (1 short text, 1 tune, ending with the meeting in the inn)
BrownII 97, "Polly Oliver" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 60, "Pretty Polly Oliver" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 195-198, "Pretty Polly" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 23, "Polly Oliver" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Peacock, pp. 344-345, "Polly Oliver" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 28, "Polly Oliver" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 55, "Polly Oliver" (1 text)
SharpAp 54, "Polly Oliver" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, p. 181, "Pretty Polly Oliver" (1 tune, probably of this piece though the text is lacking)
BBI, ZN2180, "One night as Polly Oliver lay musing on her bed"
DT 446, POLLOLVR*
Roud #367
RECORDINGS:
Ollie Gilbert, "Pretty Polly Oliver" (on LomaxCD1707)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(240b), "Polly Oliver's Ramble," J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 17(241b), Harding B 16(205d), Harding B 11(3147), Harding B 25(1518)[some lines illegible], "Polly Oliver's Ramble"; Harding B 28(238), "Polly Oliver"; Harding B 17(241a), Harding B 16(206b), Harding B 15(241a), Harding B 15(241b), Firth c.26(50), 2806 c.17(337)[words missing], 2806 b.11(260), 2806 c.16(61), Firth c.14(169), Harding B 16(206a), 2806 c.14(10)[many illegible words], Harding B 15(240b), "Polly Oliver's Rambles"
File: LN14
===
NAME: Polly on the Shore (The Valiant Sailor)
DESCRIPTION: The sailor warns others about bad company. While out roaming, he is pressed to sea. Soon his ship meets a (French) vessel; he is mortally injured. He recalls his beloved Polly on shore, says he is dying for her, and hopes the sailors will be remembered
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1744 (The Irish Boy's Garland)
KEYWORDS: sailor love pressgang farewell warning death fight dying
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Britain(England) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Warner 57, "The Press Gang Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 87, "The Neat Irish Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, (POLSHORE) PRSSGANG
Roud #811
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Polly on the Shore" (on Maynard1, HiddenE, Voice12)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Press Gang
File: Wa057
===
NAME: Polly Perkins of Paddington Green
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes beautiful Polly, whom he vainly loved. She teases and flirts, but declares, "The man that has me must have silver and gold." He gives up his courtship -- but later learns that she did not marry a lord but a "bow-legged conductor."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection money beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H132, pp. 398-399, "Polly Perkins of Paddington Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 282-288, "The Butcher Boy" (8 texts; the "E" text is a single stanza which does not belong with the usual "Butcher Boy" versions and which does mention Polly Perkins, so it might be related to this song)
DT, PLLYPRK*
Roud #430
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Pretty Polly Perkins
Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green
File: HHH132
===
NAME: Polly Primrose
DESCRIPTION: "Sweet Polly Primrose, a girl of nineteen summers-o, Sure, I love my Polly better than all the wealth I own." Now she is at the bottom of the sea; she fell off a ship in rough waters. The singer wishes he were a fish, so he might see her as a mermaid
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: death ship separation mermaid/man drowning
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H734, p. 149, "Polly Primrose" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9450
File: HHH734
===
NAME: Polly Van: see Molly Bawn (Shooting of His Dear) [Laws O36] (File: LO36)
===
NAME: Polly Vaughan: see Molly Bawn (Shooting of His Dear) [Laws O36] (File: LO36)
===
NAME: Polly Williams
DESCRIPTION: The singer calls the listeners to hear Polly's tragedy. Her lover grows tired of her, and takes her off to the mountains to murder her. A great manhunt finds him. The singer expects him to be condemned, and warns young women against false lovers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: love courting homicide manhunt trial
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 159-162, "Polly Williams" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, p. 35-36, "(Polly Williams)" (1 text, slightly shortened)
DT, POLLYWMS*
Roud #4111
NOTES: Bayard, who collected this song, reports that it is based on an actual murder committed in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 1810, in which the young man threw the girl's body over a cliff. Despite the song, the man is reported to have been acquitted, presumably due to the lack of direct evidence that he was the guilty party.
The girl's name was not Polly Williams; Bayard thought that the name was chosen as conventional; Dick Greenhaus suggests that it was for metrical reasons.
Burt had another take on the matter: She claims the existence of a genuine Polly Williams who was living alone with a minor boy (presumably her son) in 1790. This Polly Williams was sufficiently well-off to have taken over a 400 acre property in 1794. But Burt cannot link the two beyond that.
This song is item dF39 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: LoA159
===
NAME: Polly Wolly Doodle
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I went down south for to see my Sal, Sing polly wolly doodle all day...." Sal is described in nonsense terms ("curly eyes and laughing hair"). Floating verses may describe the difficult journey
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880 (Harvard "Student's Songs")
KEYWORDS: love courting nonsense floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
BrownIII 462, "Sing Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 text)
Hugill, p. 42, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 verse of a shanty version)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 82-83, "Polly-Wolly-Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 274, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 240, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 434-435, "Polly-Wolly-Doodle"
DT, POLYWOLY
Roud #11799
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (Edison N-20001, 1929)
Louise Massey & the Westerners, "Polly Wolly Doodle" (Vocalion 05296, 1939)
Pete Seeger, "Polly Wolly Doodle All Day" (on LonesomeValley)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Polly Woddle Doo" (Columbia 15200-D, 1927; rec. 1926)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fiddler's Bitch" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Big Fat Boss and the Workers (Greenway-AFP, pp. 250-251)
The Fiddler's Bitch (File: RL346)
The Thousand-Legged Worm (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 51-52)
File: SRW082
===
NAME: Polly Won't You Try Me O: see Kemo Kimo (File: R282)
===
NAME: Polly-Wolly-Doodle: see Polly Wolly Doodle (File: SRW082)
===
NAME: Pommy's Lament, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer warns against moving to Australia. He was well-off when he went, but his ship is nearly wrecked. He is robbed by an outlaw. There is no good land available. After further misadventures, he finds himself breaking rocks and wishing for home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1842 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: Australia poverty hardtimes emigration robbery
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 207-208, "The Pommy's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 30-31, "The Pommy's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I've Been to Australia, Oh!" (theme)
File: MA207
===
NAME: Pomona (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Pomona leaves Liverpool "bound for the land of plenty" and is wrecked "on Blackwater's shoals" in Wexford Bay by "fictitious reckoning." The crew of thirty-five and four hundred passengers are lost.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1943 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 28, 1859 - The Pomona wreck
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 62-63, "The Pomona" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7342
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Courtown Fishermen" (tune)
NOTES: April 28, 1859: _Pomona_ en route from Liverpool to New York "driven into sandbank seven miles off Ballyconigar" with nearly 400 lost (mostly emigrants). Reported in Wexford Constitution Apr 30th 1859 (source: RootsWeb.com genealogy site under shipping; Northern Shipwrecks Database; Ranson; for details see Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 70) - BS
File: Ran062
===
NAME: Pomona (II), The
DESCRIPTION: Singer and crew strike Blackwater sandbank. "We launched our jovial long boat and headed for the strand. We ran her down before the wind into sweet Wexford Bay, And wasn't that a dreadful sight, all on St Patrick's Day" Two of 12 escape.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 109, "The Pomona" (1 text)
Roud #7343
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Georgina" (subject)
NOTES: Ranson: "[The singer] said that this was a ballad about 'The Pomona,' but there is internal evidence in the ballad which disproves this statement.... It seems to me that this ballad refers to 'The Georgiana,' which was wrecked on the Blackwater Bank on March 17th, 1844." The ballad does not name the ship. For the historical reference for _Georgina_ see "The Georgina." For the historical reference for _Pomona_ see "The Pomona (I)." - BS
File: Ran109
===
NAME: Pompey: see Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey) (File: R569)
===
NAME: Ponsaw Train, The: see The Lake of Ponchartrain [Laws H9] (File: LH09)
===
NAME: Pont d'Avignon, Le: see Sur le Pont d'Avignon (File: FSWB390A)
===
NAME: Pony Song, The
DESCRIPTION: "Let the pony go fast as e'er it will ... What a merry ride ... snugly side by side and joining in a song. Jinkle bells, jinkle bells, jinkle all the way, Oh the funny ride we had down by Enniskea."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Morton-Maguire)
KEYWORDS: nonballad horse music
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Morton-Maguire 7, pp. 16,102,157, "The Pony Song" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #2933
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jingle Bells" (approximate tune, theme, and some words) 
NOTES: Morton-Maguire: "Here John remembers just a snatch of a song from his school days. The words and the tune obviously belong to 'Jingle Bells', but both have been adapted -- the last line ["down by Enniskea"] makes it 'belong' to that area [specifically, County Louth]." The words are sort of like "Jingle Bells" -- except the practically identical line "Jinkle bells, jinkle bells, jinkle all the way." Otherwise it shares no lines with the John Pierpont text of "Jingle Bells" on Digital Tradition. - BS
File: MoMa007
===
NAME: Poor and Foreign Stranger: see Wayfaring Stranger (File: FSC077)
===
NAME: Poor Auld Maid, The: see The Old Maid's Song (File: R364)
===
NAME: Poor Boy: see The Coon-Can Game [Laws I4] (File: LI04)
===
NAME: Poor Boy in Jail: see The Coon-Can Game [Laws I4] (File: LI04)
===
NAME: Poor Bushman, The: see Humping Old Bluey (The Poor Bushman) (File: MA125)
===
NAME: Poor Chronic Man, The
DESCRIPTION: The "poor chronic man" from Athlone goes to visit a cousin in Belfast. Along the way he meets a girl, who wines him, beds him -- then puts him to sleep and steals his clothes and money. He is taken into custody, and wishes he had never left home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1911 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(56b))
KEYWORDS: whore trick prison
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
FSCatskills 118, "The Poor Chronic Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden 33, "The Connaught Man's Trip to Belfast" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC118 (Partial)
Roud #3341
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(56b), "The Connaught-man" ("I am a poor Connaught man, from the town of Athlone"), Sanderson (Edinburgh), 1830-1910; also 2806 c.15(119), Harding B 40(1)[last verse illegible], "The Poor Connaughtman"; 2806 c.15(23), Harding B 19(32), "The Connaughtman's Adventures in Dublin"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Gold Watch" [Laws K41] (plot) and references there
NOTES: Leyden's Connaughtman visits Belfast; Harding B 17(56b) is about Glasgow; the other Bodleian broadsides take place in Dublin.
Leyden's text has the couple travel by steam coach, rather than steamboat, into Belfast. Leyden says that the steam train had been in operation since 1839. - BS
File: FSC118
===
NAME: Poor Dawkins: see The Eldorado Mining Disaster (File: FaE206)
===
NAME: Poor Ellen Smith (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found? Shot through the heart lying cold on the ground." The singer briefly outlines the facts of the murder, then claims his innocence though he expects to be convicted. (He says he would put flowers on her grave.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: homicide execution
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1893 - Peter Degraph (sometimes spelled De Graff) is sentenced to die for the murder of Ellen Smith
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
BrownII 306, "Poor Little Ellen, or, Ellen Smith" (1 text)
Shellans, p. 67, "Ellen Smith" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 143, "Poor Ellen Smith" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 204-206, "Poor Ellen Smith" (2 text, of which the "A" text goes here and the "B" text with "Ellen Smith" [Laws F11])
DT, ELSMITH*
Roud #448
RECORDINGS:
Green Bailey, "The Fate of Ellen Smith" (Gennett 6702/Supertone 9372 [as Harvey Farr], 1929; rec. 1928; on ConstSor1, KMM) [2 diferent but successive matrices]
Estil C. Ball, "Poor Ellen Smith" (on LomaxCD1702)
Homer Cornett, "Poor Ellen Smith" (on USWarnerColl01)
Dykes Magic City Trio, "Poor Ellen Smith" (Brunswick 127/Vocalion 5143, 1927)
Theophilus Hoskins, "Ellen Smith" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
Vester Jones, "Poor Ellen Smith" (on GraysonCarroll1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Poor Ellen Smith" (on NLCR16)
Mollie O'Day and the Cumberland Mountain Folks:, "Poor Ellen Smith" (Columbia 20629, 1949)
Frank Proffitt, "Poor Ellen Smith" (on Proffitt03)
Hobart Smith, "Poor Ellen Smith" (Disc 6080, 1940s)
Pete Steele, "Ellen Smith" (on PSteele01, FMUSA)
Henry Whitter, "Ellen Smith" (OKeh 40237, 1924)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ellen Smith" [Laws F11]
SAME_TUNE:
George Davis, "Why Are You Leaving?" (on GeorgeDavis01)
NOTES: To distinguish this from "Ellen Smith" [Laws F11], refer to the stanza quoted in the description. This, or something similar, seems to be found in all versions of this ballad.
For historical background, see the discussion under "Ellen Smith" [Laws F11]. - RBW
In several versions of this song, the singer (presumably Peter De Graff) states that he is innocent; in some versions, he is not condemned, but instead sent to prison for twenty years and eventually freed. - PJS
File: CSW143
===
NAME: Poor Ellen Smith (II): see Ellen Smith [Laws F11] (File: LF11)
===
NAME: Poor Ellen Smyth: see Ellen Smith [Laws F11] (File: LF11)
===
NAME: Poor Fisherman's Boy, The: see The Fisherman's Boy [Laws Q29] (File: LQ29)
===
NAME: Poor Girl on the Town, The
DESCRIPTION: "I had a dear old father once, who gave me this advice," telling his son to find a wife and stay away from harlots. The son points out that his sisters might be "poor girls on the town" who become harlots. The son is then advised to patronize harlots
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968 (submitted to Logsdon by Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: father sister brother whore warning
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Logsdon 45, pp. 226-227, "The Poor Girl on the Town" (1 short text)
Roud #10101
NOTES: I've given the description of this based on the text in Logsdon, but I suspect the text is damaged. My guess is that there is a change of speakers: In the original, the father advises against whores, the son argues that even his sisters might end up whores, and someone else (my gut says an uncle) says, in effect, "Oh, go ahead, if you need to, visit a whore." - RBW
File: Logs045
===
NAME: Poor Goins [Laws F22]
DESCRIPTION: Goins runs into bandits but escapes. He meets Ely Boggs, who promises to help him escape but instead turns him over to the robbers. A bandit clubs Goins to death when the latter's horse bolts
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: homicide outlaw robbery horse
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws F22, "Poor Goins"
Thomas-Makin', pp. 138-139, "Poor Goins" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 69, pp. 167-168, "Poor Goens" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 50, pp. 118-119, "Poor Goins" (1 text)
DT 801, GOINS
Roud #2260
File: LF22
===
NAME: Poor Hard-Working Man, The
DESCRIPTION: "I have to work so very hard To keep my family. There's eleven children and my wife... And my wife she often told me I am the daddy of them all." The grown boys work shining shoes, singing, and dancing, and the girls "dance and play and sing all day"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: marriage work ordeal humorous wife family
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Mackenzie 144, "The Poor Hard-Working Man" (1 text)
Roud #3284
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pat Malony's Family" (theme)
NOTES: Mackenzie draws the parallel in theme to "Pat Malony's Family"; the analogy is not as close as Mackenzie might have us think. Malony's family came ready made; on the other hand, the family in this song are the singer's wife and his[?] eleven children. - BS
Although seemingly found only in Canada, the contents of this song seem to imply nineteenth century Irish origin, in that the grown boys are still at home; with so little land in Ireland, the children tended to stay at home until the girls married and the oldest boy inherited upon his father's death. This had a tendency to control population, but obviously not in this care.... - RBW
File: Mack144
===
NAME: Poor Howard
DESCRIPTION: "Poor Howard's dead and gone, Left me here to sing this song." "Who's been here since I've been gone? Pretty little girl with a red dress on." "Who's been here... Great big man with a derby on" And so forth, through as many visitors as desired
AUTHOR: Huddie Leadbetter
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: nonballad death
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 63, "Poor Howard" (1 text)
Roud #11673
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Stavin Chain" (lyrics)
File: FSWB063
===
NAME: Poor Jack: see Will You Wed with a Tarry Sailor? [Laws K37] (File: LK37)
===
NAME: Poor Jeannie Sits A-Weeping: see What's Poor Mary Weepin' For (Poor Jenny Sits A-Weeping) (File: MSNR070)
===
NAME: Poor Jenny Sits A-Weeping: see What's Poor Mary Weepin' For (Poor Jenny Sits A-Weeping) (File: MSNR070)
===
NAME: Poor Kitty Popcorn
DESCRIPTION: The story of a "loyal cat...." She spends much of the war following her soldier boy. (After) the war her master dies and we see "Poor Kitty Popcorn, buried in a snowdrift now; Nevermore we'll hear the music of her charming song, Me-owww."
AUTHOR: Henry Clay Work
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: animal death Civilwar
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sandburg, p. 431, "Poor Kitty Popcorn" (1 fragment)
DT, KITTYPOP*
NOTES: Gag. - PJS
Well -- there are a zillion dog songs on this sort of theme. I suppose the cats deserve their chance to be disgustingly saccharine. - RBW
File: San431
===
NAME: Poor Lazarus (Bad Man Lazarus) [Laws I12]
DESCRIPTION: Lazarus breaks into the commissary and flees. The sheriff orders that he be taken dead or alive. Deputies shoot Lazarus and bring him back. He asks for a drink of water and dies. Lazarus's sister tells his mother, who recalls how troublesome he was
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: robbery death family
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws I12, "Poor Lazarus (Bad Man Lazarus)"
Lomax-FSUSA 86, "Po' Laz'us" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 303, "Po' Lazarus" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 91-93, "Po' Laz'us (Poor Lazarus)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 909-910, "Po' Laz'us (Poor Lazarus)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 179-181, "(Lazarus)" (1 text)
DT 661, (POLAZRUS?)
Roud #4180
RECORDINGS:
Bright Light Quartet, "Po' Lazarus" (on LomaxCD1701) (on LomaxCD1705)
James Carter & prisoners, "Po' Lazarus" (on LomaxCD1705)
Vera Hall, "Po' Laz'us" (AFS 1320 A2, 1937) [Note: Dixon/Godrich/Rye also identifies this AFS number with a Vera Hall recording of "John Henry"; one of them is clearly in error, but I don't know which] (AFS 4050 A1, 1940) 
Henry Morrison, "Lazarus" (on LomaxCD1705)
NOTES: The two Bright Light Quartet citations are different versions, recorded on separate dates. - PJS
File: LI12
===
NAME: Poor Lil
DESCRIPTION: Lil, a beauty, lives in a house of ill repute. Her health declines and she loses her looks; a house physician recommends Scott's Emulsion, to no avail. She loses her clientele and dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous whore disease doctor drugs
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 248-249, "Poor Lil" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, POORLIL1*
Roud #10310
File: RL248
===
NAME: Poor Little Ellen: see Poor Ellen Smith (I) (File: CSW143)
===
NAME: Poor Little Girls of Ontario, (The)
DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing you a song of a plaguey pest, It goes by the name of the Great North-West. I cannot get a beau at all. They all skip out there in the fall." The girl describes all the men she courted who have now headed west. She declares she will follow them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: courting separation emigration
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont,West)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 147-149, "The Poor Little Girls of Ontario"; 150-152, "The Saskatchewan Girl's Lament" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
DT, GALONTAR
Roud #4513
RECORDINGS:
Ann Halderman, "A Poor Lone Girl in Saskatchewan" (on Saskatch01)
Mrs. Hartley [Ethel] Minifie, "The Poor Little Girls of Ontario" (on Ontario1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Brown Jug" (tune)
NOTES: This sounds like it ought to be a humorous song about a woman who so scares men that they head west -- but it seems to be "straight." - RBW
File: FMB147
===
NAME: Poor Little Jesus
DESCRIPTION: "It was poor little Jesus, yes, yes, He was born on Christmas... And laid in a manger...." Describes Jesus's humble birth, the song goes on to relate his death and resurrection. Stanzas end with "Wasn't that a pity and a shame?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926
KEYWORDS: religious Bible Jesus poverty
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSUSA 101, "Po' Lil Jesus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 373, "Poor Little Jesus" (1 text)
File: LxU101
===
NAME: Poor Little Joe (The Dying Newsboy)
DESCRIPTION: The singer is in New York when he meets a newsboy -- "Although he was singing, he wanted for bread; Although he was smiling, he wished himself dead." The poor newsboy is ignored by the well-to-do, and is at last found dead in the street
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: death poverty hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 716, "Poor Little Joe" (1 text plus a fragment)
JHCox 152, "Poor Little Joe" (1 text)
JHCoxIIB, #33, p. 209, "Poor Little Joe" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "Poor Little Joe" (source notes only)
Roud #3111
RECORDINGS:
Red Patterson's Piedmont Log Rollers, "Poor Little Joe" (Victor 35874, 1928)
James Ragan [pseud. for Roy Harvey], "Poor Little Joe" (Challenge 394, c. 1928)
Earl Shirkey & Roy Harper [Roy Harvey], "Poor Little Joe" (Columbia 15376-D, 1928)
Arnold Keith Storm, "Poor Little Joe" (on AKStorm01)
File: R716
===
NAME: Poor Little Johnny
DESCRIPTION: The cotton is rotten, so Johnny "won't get his hunderd" (pounds) today.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: worksong
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 742, "Poor Little Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: John Lomax recorded this from Aunt Harriet McClintock, who said it was sung in the days of slavery. - NR
File: BSoF742
===
NAME: Poor Little Kitty Puss
DESCRIPTION: Fiddle tune with lyrics: "Pore little Kitty Puss, Pore little feller, Pore little Kitty Puss, Died in the cellar." "Pore little Fido, Pore little Fidie, Pore little Fidie Died last Friday." Possible chorus: "Don't you hear them wolves a-howling..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal death nonballad dancetune
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 108, "Poor Little Kitty Puss" (1 text)
Hudson 146, p. 293, [no title] (1 fragment)
ST Br3108 (Full)
File: Br3108
===
NAME: Poor Little Lamb Cries Mammy: see All the Pretty Little Horses (File: LxU002)
===
NAME: Poor Little Laura Lee
DESCRIPTION: Floating stanzas of two songs which mention Laura Lee. The first seems to be a song of parting as Laura's lover goes to the wars (?), but with an "I won't marry" ending; the other perhaps involves a shotgun wedding.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting separation
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 102, "Poor Little Laura Lee" (2 fragments)
NOTES: The Brown texts (the only ones I've seen) are very short and perhaps unrelated; the description is partly from the headnotes. This entry probably does not adequately describe the song. - RBW
File: Br3102
===
NAME: Poor Little Sailor Boy, A: see The Soldier's Poor Little Boy [Laws Q28] (File: LQ28)
===
NAME: Poor Lonely Widow
DESCRIPTION: The "poor lonely widow" reports that "Three husbands I've had but they're all dead and buried." The first choked to death in bed, the second drank too much (?), the third hit her and she hit him back. She wonders "if anyone will marry me now."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: husband wife death loneliness oldmaid
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 228-229, "Poor Lonely Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1197
File: CoSB228
===
NAME: Poor Lonesome Cowboy
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a poor lonesome cowboy (x3) And a long way from home." "I ain't got no father To buy the clothes I wear." "I ain't got no mother To mend the clothes I wear." "I ain't got no sweetheart To sit and talk with me." (And so on for other missing persons)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: cowboy loneliness family
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Sandburg, p. 273, "Poor Lonesome Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Larkin, pp. 112-115, "Poor Lonesome Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 84, "The Poor Lonesome Cowboy" (4 texts, 1 tune; the "C" and "D" texts are Spanish -- "Soy Pobre Vaquero" -- but with plots similar to this piece)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 418, "Poor Lonesome Cowboy" (1 text)
DT, POORLONE*
Roud #4643
File: San273
===
NAME: Poor Lucy Anna
DESCRIPTION: hanty, Negro origin. "Oh the mounten's so high, an' de ribber's so wide, Poor Lucy Anna! De mounten's so high and de ribber's so wide, Ise just gwine ober de mountains." Sung in a slow 3/4 tempo.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Bullen, _Songs of Sea Labor_)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 378-379, "Poor Lucy Anna" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 287]
Roud #9127
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Susiana" (similar wording in some verses)
NOTES: Bullen stated that this was so mournful a song that "one suspects it of being the lament of some just sold slaves sent from one state to another without reference to any human ties they may have possessed. This chantey was very seldom used except where negroes formed a considerable portion of the crew." - SL
File: Hugi378
===
NAME: Poor Man
DESCRIPTION: "I worked all the winter time, I worked through the spring, I planted my corn and taters, Then it wouldn't rain. There ain't nothing for a poor man in this world." The singer catalogs his troubles: Drought, flood, poverty, and work every day
AUTHOR: Frank Proffitt
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: poverty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 117, "Poor Man" (1 text)
ST Wa117 (Partial)
Roud #5733
File: Wa117
===
NAME: Poor Man Blues
DESCRIPTION: "I never had a barrel of money... I'm gonna die and go to heaven, There I'll set and sing. Lord, this song ain't nothin'... But a poor man singin' the blues." The singer misses his girl. He will go home to East Virginia to stay. Other verses float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: love separation home hardtimes poverty
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 80, "Poor Man Blues" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boll Weevil [Laws I17]" (floating lyrics)
File: FSWB081B
===
NAME: Poor Man, O Poor Man: see Jolly Thresher, The (Poor Man, Poor Man) (File: R127)
===
NAME: Poor Man's Family, The: see Longshoreman's Strike (The Poor Man's Family) (File: FSC101)
===
NAME: Poor Man's Labor's Never Done, The: see The Brisk Young Bachelor (File: ShH69)
===
NAME: Poor Man's Song: see Jolly Thresher, The (Poor Man, Poor Man) (File: R127)
===
NAME: Poor Married Man
DESCRIPTION: "You may talk about the joys of the sweet honeymoon... But almost every case they're gone too soon." The troubles and burdens of the married man are listed; "You can tell by his clothes wherever he goes That he is a poor married man."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: marriage family hardtimes work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 309, "Poor Married Man" (1 text plus a fragment)
Roud #16861
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male)" (theme)
File: Br3309
===
NAME: Poor Mary Sits A-Weeping: see What's Poor Mary Weepin' For (Poor Jenny Sits A-Weeping) (File: MSNR070)
===
NAME: Poor Mary Sits A-Weeping (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Poor Mary sits a-weeping, A-weeping, a-weeping, Poor Mary sits a-weeping All on a summer's day." "I'm weeping for a sweetheart." "Pray, Mary, choose a sweetheart." "I'll chose (X) for a sweetheart."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Linscott, pp. 47-49, "Poor Mary Sits A-Weeping" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Lins047 (Partial)
Roud #1377?
File: Lins047
===
NAME: Poor Mary Sits A-Weeping (II): see Little Sally Walker (File: CNFM157)
===
NAME: Poor Naomi: see Poor Omie (John Lewis) (Little Omie Wise) [Laws F4] AND Naomi Wise [Laws F31] (File: LF04)
===
NAME: Poor Old Couple, The
DESCRIPTION: "There was an old couple, and they were poor."  The wife is afraid to stay alone; when the man goes away, she locks the doors and goes to bed. When he returns, she complains of his absence and asks for an (apple). He falls off the ladder. She insults him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1895 (Baring-Gould, _A Book of Nursery Songs and Rhymes_)
KEYWORDS: husband wife separation disease food age disease request dialog husband wife
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SharpAp 184, "The Poor Couple" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #821, pp. 305-306, "(There was an old couple, and they were poor)"
Roud #491
NOTES: It sounds like a "spark" is some sort of supernatural creature [in the SharpAp version, after she request the fruit, "up jumped a spark and he run like a hare"], but none of my dictionaries lists any such definition. Local dialect for "spook"? Or has the lady been two-timing the "poor old fool," and is the spark her paramour? Now if she'd asked the old man to fetch a cabbage-head, we'd know for sure. - PJS
My guess is that it's an error for "up HE jumped [like?] a spark...." Or maybe it's an oblique reference to Job 5:7, "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward." - RBW
File: BGMG821
===
NAME: Poor Old Granuaile
DESCRIPTION: Granuaile appears in a dream. She supports those jailed "in O'Connell's time in '29 ... 'we'll Home Rule get.'" She plays the patriotic tunes. She says "we'll have freedom yet." The dreamer wakes in jail.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); 1870s? (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland patriotic prison dream
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
OLochlainn 3A, "Poor Old Granuaile" (1 text)
Zimmermann 77, "Poor Old Granuaile" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Anne Chambers, Granuaile, 1986, pp. 197-198, "Poor Old Granuaile"
Roud #3068
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Green Shore" [Laws Q27] (theme)
cf. "Eileen McMahon" (aisling format)
cf. "Granuaile" (aisling format) and references there
cf. "Granuwale" (theme)
cf. "Erin's Lament for her Davitt Asthore" (theme)
cf. "The Blackbird of Avondale" or "The Arrest of Parnell" (theme)
NOTES: Zimmermann 77: "This text was the new version of an older ballad (first half of the nineteenth century." There are only a few words difference between Zimmermann 77 and OLochlainn 3A. An early date for these texts is set by the mention of tunes played by Granuaile including "God Save Ireland" (1867).
Zimmermann p. 55: "At the time of the United Irishmen, Granu Waile standing for Ireland was already celebrated by broadsides in English."
Two similar but different broadsides:
Bodleian, Harding B 19(25), "Granauile" ("One morning fair to take the air and recreate my mind"), J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin), 1850-1899
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 507A, "Granawail" ("[Come] all you Irish hero's that's craving for liberty"), E. Hodges (London), 1855-1861
"Granuaile O'Malley (Or Grace O'Malley, or Gr.inne Ni Mhaille or Gr.inne Uaile) is among the most illustrious of O'Malley ancestors. She was a 'Sea Queen' and pirate in the 16th century." (Source: The Official Web Site of The O'Malley Clan Association) - BS
The _Oxford Companion to Irish History_ gives her dates as c. 1530-c. 1603, observes that she was married twice and imprisoned 1577-1579 -- and notes that, on the whole, she strove for peaceful relations with the English.
For a discussion of this type of song as a example of the genre known as the "aisling," see the notes to "Granuaile." - RBW
File: OLoc003A
===
NAME: Poor Old Horse (I): see Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse) (File: Doe014)
===
NAME: Poor Old Horse (III)
DESCRIPTION: "My clothing once was linsey-woolsey fine, My hair unlinkt, and my coat it did shine; But now in open fields I'm forced for to go... Crying, 'Poor old horse, O poor old horse.'" The horse recalls the old days, and bequeathes its body to the huntsmen
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Sharp); the Stokoe/Reay versions apparently was published in Topliff before 1850
KEYWORDS: age ritual horse
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Sharp-100E 85, "Poor Old Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  60-61, "The Poor Old Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #90, "Poor Old Horse" (1 text)
ST ShH85 (Full)
Roud #513
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse)" (plot)
cf. "Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud" (theme)
cf. "Mon Cher Voisin (My Dear Neighbor)" (theme)
cf. "The Old Blind Horse" (theme)
NOTES: Hobbyhorse rituals have been commonplace in rural Britain for centuries. This song was sung as part of these rituals.
Although there are a few parallels between this song and "Poor Old Man" (notably the description of the horse's decrepitude), I believe that this is a related but separate song with a thoroughly different gestalt. As we are being splitters in this index, this song deserves its own entry. -PJS
Roud lumps the two; personally, I wonder a little if even this song might not need splitting. The description above is taken mostly from Stokoe's text; Sharp, which begins "When I was young and in my prime," has a quite distinct look -- but exactly the same plot, and apparently both were used for hobbyhorse rituals. - RBW
File: ShH85
===
NAME: Poor Old Joe: see Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse) (File: Doe014)
===
NAME: Poor Old Lazarus (I've Got a Home; Don't You See)
DESCRIPTION: "Poor ol' Lazarus, poor as I, Don't you see? When he had a home on high, Don't you see?" ""Rich man, rich man lived so well, When he died he had a home in hell, Don't you see, don't you see?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Wings Over Jordan)
KEYWORDS: religious death Bible home
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 628, "Poor Old Lazarus" (1 text)
Roud #11929
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. - RBW
File: Br3628
===
NAME: Poor Old Maid
DESCRIPTION: "We're a lonely dismal crew, Poor old maid!/We're a lonely dismal crew/All dressed in yellow, pink and blue/Nursing the cats is all we do...." "Three scores and ten of us/And not a penny in the purse/So something must be done for us...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1876 (Christie, _Traditional Ballad Airs, vol. 1_)
KEYWORDS: loneliness poverty clothes money nonballad political oldmaid
FOUND_IN: Britain(England), US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SharpAp 229, "Poor Old Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shellans, pp. 12-13, "Poor Old Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3337
NOTES: Sharp refers to a manuscript in his collection with the additional lyrics, "We'll apply to George the Third/And our petition shall be heard./George the third unto us he said: 'And here's a penny to buy some bread.'" Sharp adds, "This is, no doubt, an allusion to the Bread Riots." He adds a verse from Christie, "But we'll apply to James our King/And to him a petition bring/That he may get us wed wi' ring/Poor auld maidens." - PJS
The "Bread Riots," also known as "Bread of Blood Riots," took place in 1816. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain's immense military spending led to an intense round of inflation, with devastating effects on the poor. The most intense uprising came in Liverpool, where protesters bore placards saying "Bread or Blood." 24 rioters were sentenced to death, though in the end only five were hanged and nine more transported.
This is in the reign of George III -- but the other side of the coin is, George III by this time was permanently insane (with what is now believed to have been porphyria); the future George IV had been regent since 1811 (and at times before that). So I rather suspect the song it older -- perhaps, as implied by Christie, to the reign of James I (1603-1625), the only significant King James of England, whose reign did see a lot of economic trouble, partly because of the high spending of Elizabeth's reign (which ended with an economic downturn) and partly because James didn't understand money at all well.
The American versions of course have none of this, and downplay the poverty; instead of the song being about a POOR ol maid, it is about a poor OLD MAID -- that is, her loneliness rather than her poverty is stressed. - RBW
File: ShAp2229
===
NAME: Poor Old Man (II)
DESCRIPTION: The poor old man warns the Connors's from Kerry that they will rue stopping in Ross Town. He barricades his door [in "real life" that apparently led to a disaster for him].
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (IRTravellers01)
KEYWORDS: feud derivative
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #2509
RECORDINGS:
"Pops" Johnny Connors, "Poor Old Man" (on IRTravellers01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shan Van Voght" (form, tune) and references there
NOTES: Jim Carroll's notes to IRTravellers01: "According to the singer, this song refers to a fight that took place in the town of New Ross, Co Wexford, sometime in the nineteen-thirties, between two travelling families.... The song is a parody of 'An Sean Bhean Bhoct,' (The Poor Old Woman) [The Shan Van Voght]." - BS
File: RcPoOMan
===
NAME: Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse)
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "For they say so and they know so... Oh, poor old (horse/man)." The sailor meets an old man with an old horse; they exchange comments about the horse's (and humanity's) fate. Alternate chorus: "And I say so/And we hope so"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1857 (Bell)
KEYWORDS: shanty horse
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 14, "Poor Old Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 63-64, "Poor Old Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 68-69, 84, "Poor Old Man," "The Dead Horse," "Poor Old Joe" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Hugill, pp. 554-555, "The Dead Horse" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 389-392]
Sharp-EFC, XLVII, p. 52, "The Dead Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 134-135, "The Dead Horse" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 406, "The Dead Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 25, "Say Old Man" (1 text)
Bone, p. 50, "The 'Dead Horse' Chanty" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 16, "The Dead Horse" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 237, (no title) (1 fragment, probably this)
DT, DEADHORS*
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 titled "Poor Old Joe" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #513
RECORDINGS:
Capt. Leighton Robinson, "The Dead Horse" (AFS, 1951; on LC26)
Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Poor Old Man" (AFS 4229 B, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Horse III" (plot)
cf. "Old Marse John" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Charleston Gals (Clear the Kitchen)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Johnny Booker" (lyrics)
cf. "The Salt Horse Song"
cf. "I Whipped My Horse"
cf. "Dumpty Moore"
NOTES: When a boarding master supplied a sailor to a ship, he received an advance from the sailor's pay (for background on this, see the notes to "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7]). Thus the sailor had to work for some weeks or months before he began to earn money for himself. This was known as "working off the dead horse." Often sailors celebrated in some way when the dead horse was finally disposed of, and this song celebrates the process. - RBW
Thirty days out, sailors would sometimes make a horse-figure from rags and tar, hoist it to the yardarm, cut it loose and let it drift away on the sea, a ritual known as "burying the dead horse." A good captain would break out a ration of rum at this time. A sailor of my acquaintance reported that 100 days out, on a U.S. Navy carrier, the men would be given a ration of two cans of beer, and this was still known as the "dead horse." - PJS
Bone says of this that it is "the only chanty I know composed definitely for entertainment." - RBW
For another version see Robert Bell, editor, [The Project Gutenberg EBook (1996) of] Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), "'The Mummers' Song' or 'The Poor Old Horse' as sung by the Mummers in the Neighbourhood of Richmond, Yorkshire, at the merrie time of Christmas" ("You gentlemen and sportsmen"). - BS
File: Doe014
===
NAME: Poor Old Robinson Crusoe
DESCRIPTION: "When I was a lad, my fortune was bad, My grandfather I did lose." As in the book, he, Robinson Crusoe, is shipwrecked, lands on an island with gun and sword. He builds a hut, lives there with Friday, until he is rescued by a passing ship.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1797 (Oh poor Robinson Crusoe sheet music, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: rescue sea ship wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 455, "Poor old Robinson Crusoe!" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #216, p. 146, "(Poor old Robinson Crusoe)"
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(66), "Robinson Crusoe," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 28(66), "Robinson Crusoe"; Johnson Ballads 2559, "Life and adventures of Robinson Crusoe"
LOCSinging, sb40455b, "Robinson Crusoe," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also as203020, as111820, "Robinson Crusoe"
NOTES: _Robinson Crusoe_ was written by Daniel Dafoe and published in 1719. [Based loosely on the actual adventures of a sailor named Alexander Selkirk. - RBW]
The source for the description is broadside Bodleian Harding B 28(66).
Broadside LOCSinging sb40455b: 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: OO2455
===
NAME: Poor Old Sailor, The
DESCRIPTION: An old sailor begging tells his story: his death, falsely reported, caused his wife to die of a broken heart and his daughter to wander "I know not where." A woman listening reveals herself as his daughter and she takes him home until he dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1846 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 457)
KEYWORDS: age disability begging children sailor reunion
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 59-60, "The Worn-Out Sailor" (1 text)
Roud #6764
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 457, "The Poor Old Worn-Out Sailor," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1844-1845; also Harding B 11(3099), Harding B 20(177), Firth c.12(399), "The Poor Old Worn-Out Sailor"; Harding B 11(2622), Harding B 11(2623), "The Poor Old Worn Out Sailor"; Harding B 25(1540), 2806 c.18(253), "The Poor Old Sailor"
LOCSinging, cw106810, "The Worn Out Sailor," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
NOTES: Smith/Hatt: Fowke notes that "John Moulden has located a broadside copy entitled 'The Poor Old Sailor' in the National Library of Ireland." That led me to look for the same in Bodleian.
Bodleian, Harding B 40(12), "The Poor Old Soldier" ("'Twas on a summers eve all labour was o'er"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?), 1850-1899 appears to be the same -- or closely related--but I could not download the text image to verify that.
Broadside LOCSinging cw106810: 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: SmHa059
===
NAME: Poor Old Slave, The
DESCRIPTION: "The poor old slave is dead and gone, We know that he is free. Disturb him not, but let him rest, Away down in Tennessee." "The poor old slave is gone to rest, No master does he fear, Disturb him not...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: slave death burial humorous wordplay
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
MWheeler, p. 118, "Th Po' Old Slave" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, POORSLAV
ST MWhee118 (Full)
Roud #10049
NOTES: The Digital Tradition has a (camp?) version of this in which the singer inserts nonsense syllables. But Wheeler's text, though short, seems to ensure that this is a parody -- or rather an expansion -- of a serious song (perhaps a spiritual). - RBW
File: MWhee118
===
NAME: Poor Oma Wise: see Poor Omie (John Lewis) (Little Omie Wise) [Laws F4] (also Naomi Wise [Laws F31]) (File: LF04)
===
NAME: Poor Omie (John Lewis) (Little Omie Wise) [Laws F4]
DESCRIPTION: John Lewis, to free himself of his pregnant sweetheart, offers to marry her but instead plans to drown her. She begs for her life, promising to go begging, but he throws her in the river. The body is found and Lewis imprisoned. (He escapes into the army.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874
KEYWORDS: pregnancy homicide rejection prison drowning
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1808 - Drowning of Naomi Wise in North Carolina
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (20 citations)
Laws F4, "Poor Omie (John Lewis) (Little Omie Wise)"
Belden, pp. 322-324, "Oma Wise" (2 texts)
Randolph 149, "Poor Oma Wise" (5 texts plus 2 excerpts and 1 fragment, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 163-166, "Poor Oma Wise" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 149A)
BrownII 300, "Poor Naomi (Omie Wise)" (5 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 2 more; it appears that Laws places texts "A" and "D" here, but "H" is also this song, with "F" and "G" being "Naomi Wise" [Laws F31])
Hudson 63, pp. 187-188, "Poor Omie" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 30-31, "Oma Wise" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 73-75, "John Lewis" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 793-795, "Naomi (Omie) Wise" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 202, "Naomi Wise" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 116, "The Ballad of Naomi Wise" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 138, "Omie Wise" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 51, pp. 119-120, "Poor Omie" (1 text)
SharpAp 123, "Poor Omie" (7 texts, 7 tunes)
Burt, pp. 25-28, "Omie Wise" (1 text plus some fragments, 1 tune; also an excerpt from another Naomi Wise song, seemingly neither this nor Laws F31)
Darling-NAS, pp. 200-201, "Omie Wise" (1 text)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 42 "Ommie Wise" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 149, "Deep Water" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 225, "Omie Wise" ; p. 227, "Deep Water" (2 texts)
DT 627, OMIEWISE* OMIWISE2*
Roud #447
RECORDINGS:
Finley Adams, "Omie Wise" (AAFS 2796 B1)
Clarence Ashley, "Naomi Wise" (Columbia 15522-D, 1930; rec. 1929)
Clarence Ashley & Doc Watson, "Poor Omie" (on Ashley03)
Dock Boggs, "Little Omie Wise" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1)
Mrs. W. R. Buchanan, "Little Omie Wise" (AAFS 2857 B3)
Ruth Clark Cullipher, "Little Onie" (AAFS 1031 A1)
Morgan Denmon, "Naomi Wise" (OKeh 45075, 1927; rec. 1926)
Minnie Floyd, "Naomi Wise" (AAFS 1301 A1)
Cleophas Franklin, "Omie Wise" (AAFS 2891 B2)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Ommie Wise" (Victor 21625, 1927; on AAFM1, GraysonWhitter01, ConstSor1)
Goldie Hamilton, "Little Omie Wise" (AAFS 2829 A1)
Aunt Idy Harper & the Coon Creek Girls, "Poor Naomi Wise" (Vocalion 04354 [or 04345], 1938)
Roscoe Holcomb, "Omie Wise" (on Holcomb1, HolcombCD1)
A. J. Huff, "Omie Wise" (AAFS 2877 B3)
Sarah Ison, "Little Omie Wise" (AAFS 2810 B1)
Aunt Molly Jackson, "Oma Wise" (AAFS 824 B2, 1935) (AAFS 3340/3341 A)
Polly Johnson, "Poor Omie" (AAFS 2760 A4)
Mrs. Esco Kilgore, "Oma Wise" (AAFS 2772 A2)
Alexander Kirkheart, "Naomi Wise" (AAFS 1700 A1)
Alec Moore, "Poor Omie Wise" (AAFS 57 B1)
Johanna Shepherd, "Omie Wise" (AAFS 1405 B2)
Lillian Short, "Naomi Wise" (AFS; on LC12)
Della Sibert, "Omie Wise" (AAFS 1486 A2)
Doug Wallin, "Omie Wise" (on Wallins1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Naomi Wise" [Laws F31] (plot)
cf. "Tragic Romance" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Naomi Wise
File: LF04
===
NAME: Poor Paddy Works on the Railway: see Paddy Works on the Railway (File: LxU076)
===
NAME: Poor Parker
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments, "Ye gods above, protect us widows!" She recalls her husband [Richard] Parker, "hanged for mutiny." She recalls how she was not allowed to his execution, and how she and friends dug up his grave and gave him a decent burial
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1824 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(42))
KEYWORDS: ship navy mutiny punishment execution husband wife burial mourning
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1797 - Nore mutiny, ending in the execution of Richard Parker and others
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownII 117, Poor Parker"" (1 text)
Logan, pp. 58-64, "Death of Parker" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 282, "The Death of Parker" (1 text, immediately following an anti-Parker song)
Roud #1032
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(83), "The Death of Parker," Angus (Newcastle), before 1826; also Harding B 28(42), "Parker's Widow," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824 (barely legible); Harding B 25(490) (only a few words legible but probably this); Johnson Ballads 2447 (semi-legible); Harding B 11(843); Harding B 11(840)=Harding B 11(841), "The Death of Parker," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; Harding B 11(844), "The Death of Parker," J Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; 2806 c.16(207)=Harding B 11(3301), J. Walker (Durham); 2806 c.13(245) (only partly legible)
NOTES: For references, see the Bibliography at the end of this note.
Living conditions in sailing ships were rarely pleasant, but conditions in the British Navy in the eighteenth century were particularly bad; pay hadn't been raised for over a century (Guttridge, p. 46), and even those pitiful amounts often went unpaid; Dugan, p. 35, says that the total arrears as of the end of 1796 exceeded 1.4 million pounds -- a figure that could be multiplied by a factor of a hundred or so to reach modern dollars. To top it all off, the sailors (most of them, of course, recruited by press gangs; Dugan, p. 58) were held in service for very long periods. And all this at a time when the British economy was teetering on the brink of collapse and revolution may have been in the air (Dugan, pp. 29-31); many of those sailors had families back home who were in extreme distress (Dugan, p. 66).
Dissatisfaction with naval policy was enough that, when the windows at Number Ten Downing Street were broken, the general feeling was that it was in response to the heavy demands of the press gang, though Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger brushed it off as "a single pebble" (Wilson, p. 278).
The result of all this, in 1797, was a series of mutinies -- at a time when Britain's very independence depended on the fleet holding off a invasion; Britain's land allies had been defeated by Revolutionary France, and the French were looking across the channel to eliminate their chief rival.
The first mutiny (April 16-May 14, 1797) took place at Spithead, the fleet base outside Portsmouth; Keegan, p. 38, describes it as "a strike (for better pay and conditions) rather than a rebellion," and most other authorities agree -- the delegates who organized it decided that officers would be obeyed and all orders respected except those for going to sea (Dugan, p. 92; Guttridge, p. 50). Even Wilson, who does his best to sweep the whole thing under the rug (he never so much as mentions the brutal treatment meted out to the ringleaders of the Nore revolt), admits that "order, maintained by the mutineers, was perfect. No seaman was permitted to go on shore without what was called 'a Liberty Ticket,' and the very idea of handing over even a single vessel to France was suppressed by the seamen themselves with resolute determination" (pp. 278-279).
The Spithead mutiny temporarily ended, after repeated attempts to browbeat the determined sailors, when pardons were offered and more money promised (Dugan, p. 104, describes about a 15% pay raise).
The pardons came quickly (Dugan, p. 112, Guttridge, p. 53). But it took parliament weeks to vote the funds, and in that time, the mutiny heated up again (Dugan, p. 112) as sailors ought better food and less brutal officers. (Theoretically, rations were supposed to be adequate and fresh food offered when possible. But the Navy farmed out these services, and the contractors were generally corrupt and supplied bad food in inadequate quantities; Dugan, pp. 56-57. Even if the contractors had been entirely honest, it would have been hard for them to do their work well, because they, like the sailors, were not getting paid what they were owed; Dugan, p. 67.)
Many officers were forced from their ships (Dugan, pp. 138-139), and an admiral imprisoned in his cabin (Guttridge, p. 58; Dugan, p. 142; Davies, pp. 53-54).
It is ironic to note that the Spithead strike was settled largely by the actions of Richard Howe (1726-1799), who previously had been co-commander with his brother William during the revolt of the American colonies; he was hauled out of retirement to deal with the Spithead problem (Dugan, p. 148). It was the last act 58 years of service to king and country.. The Spithead outcome demonstrated fully his sympathy with ordinary people against the government of George III; even went so far as to set aside the bad officers (Guttridge, p. 58). Howe showed no respect for rank in the weeding process; those pushed aside included a Vice Admiral (John Colpoys, MP, KG, and former First Sea Lord), four captains, and 102 junior officers (Dugan, pp. 168-169), an average of somewhat more than two officers per ship.
To the greatest extent possible, news of Spithead was kept quiet -- both to keep the French from acting and to prevent more widespread rebellion (Dugan, p. 130). Spithead, after all, wasn't the only fleet base in Britain. But not even the vigilance of the leading admirals could entirely silence the news (Woodman, p. 112). So the Spithead strike inspired the Nore mutiny (May 10-June 16). Not every ship had been given the same rewards as the Spithead strikers (e.g. only those at Spithead got deal with bad officers).
The ships at the Nore, and many of those at Yarmouth wanted the same terms ("We just want the same treatment as the Spithead people," an envoy told Howe -- Dugan, p. 172), including the right to dispose of officers (Guttridge, p. 69), and didn't get them, and what they got, they got slowly. Nor was it clear that the sailors at the Nore were covered by the Spithead pardon (indeed, it was eventually decided that they were not; Dugan, p. 212; Guttridge, p. 66). Left dangling in the wind, the Nore mutineers kept increasing their demands, including even calling for change in the Articles of War (Guttridge, p. 64), which was patently out of the question.
Perhaps if there had been a Howe to deal with the Nore mutineers, things might have gone better. Even a sense of unit cohesion might have helped, since it would have promoted a greater sense of "family" between officers and men -- but there was none. Spithead hosted an actual organized fleet, but the Nore was simply a place where a lot of ships gathered (Dugan, pp. 177, 227). The men at the Nore were a very mixed lot. Many of the sailors there -- including Richard Parker, the titular leader of the coming mutiny -- were "quota men." With the navy being manned so heavily, it was almost impossible to impress enough sailors, so officials in all parts of Britain had to supply a certain quota of landsmen; they found them sweeping the streets and alleys and by paying bounties. Often the men they got were marginally fit -- older and unused to sea conditions. And more than a few were radicals; Thomas Payne's _The Rights of Man_ was very popular at this time (Dugan, p. 63). Valentine Joyce, the leader of the Spithead protestors, was one such; he had been a Belfast tobacco seller before serving a sentence for sedition.
Adding to the complexity was the fact that the Nore (near the mouth of the Thames off the Isle of Sheppey) wasn't a fleet base the way Portsmouth was; it was a rendezvous point. It was not, in modern terms, a "home port" for any of the ships stationed there, and the docking facilities were limited (Herman, p. 351). The ships located there were mostly in transit, on their way to join some other fleet. There was no unit cohesion. There was no competent admiral to convey their demands, either. So they mutinied.
And, somehow, two days after the mutiny began, the disobedient crews put themselves in the hands of Richard Parker (Dugan, p. 187, tells of him being chosen delegate from _Sandwich_; later he was made "President of the Delegates of the Whole Fleet"; p. 198) He was an unusual man even in this mixed-up flotilla. He was about 30, a quota man, and seemingly a troublemaker; Davies, p. 54, calls him "a misguided man, who was undoubtedly a demagogue more interested in leading a rebellion than in correcting genuine wrongs." He had actually served at one time as a junior ship's officer, but had been cashiered and sent to serve belowdecks; Guttridge, p. 62, says that "in 1784 [he] was discharged for either disobedience or nervous disorder, perhaps both." This appears to be an error, though; Dugan says he was discharged in 1794 for rheumatism (p. 198).  Having married (in 1791?) and gone into farming, he ended up in debtor's prison (Dugan, p. 198). But even though he was a "political," as we might say these days, he had sea experience, so he was accepted -- to meet the quota. At least he knew his way around the ship. Dugan, p. 199, thinks he was given his position at the head of the mutiny because he was an intelligent, educated man; because he had that history of being court-martialed for insubordination (something that would have earned him respect from the ranks) -- and because he wanted the job.
The Nore mutiny was organized under the Admiralty's nose, with sailors on the depot ship _Sandwich_ preparing an oath and a series of demands, then convincing other ships to sign on (Dugan, pp. 179-181). Unlike Spithead, it was not a "respectable mutiny"; even at the very start, there were instances of British ships firing on other British ships (Dugan, p. 185).
Parker at one point had 13 ships of the line (Dugan, p. 262), plus auxiliaries, under his command. (Though ships joined the rebellion and gave it up at odd intervals; by the end, only two ships were still under delegate control.) Many ships were "half in" from the start -- e.g. _Circe_, watching the Dutch fleet in the Texel, had a mutinous crew on the gun deck, but held to her duty because her officers and a few loyal sailors controlled her helm and sails; Dugan, pp. 255-256. And, this time, the Admiralty took a hard line, saying all grievances had been addressed (Dugan, p. 227). Naturally the mutineers did not accept this brush-off, and continued their strike.
But the Nore simply could not support such an action; the facilities weren't there. The mutineers eventually found themselves starved out. They blockaded London (Guttridge, p. 68; Dugan, p. 264, noted that they let fresh food through) and the Admiralty cut off supplies in return (Dugan, p. 237). To make their problem worse, many of the ships in the rebellious fleet had been poorly supplied to begin with; water and candles were in short supply (Dugan, p. 262), and some ships were low on wood for the stoves.
Parker, by the time the embargo started, found himself in an impossible situation. The authorities didn't trust him -- but several of his rebellious ships were wavering; many wanted to return to government authority. Parker at one point asked the men of the _Sandwich_ if they wished to give in, and they did (Dugan, p. 243) -- and the fleet delegates responded by inducing a system where they elected a new Fleet President every day! (Dugan, pp. 243-244). If Parker gave in, he would be set aside. Dugan thinks he wanted to take the pardon but could not. 
The situation was turning into a race against time, though the mutineers had no way of knowing it: Would William Pitt's government fall, or would the mutineers starve? Voices against Pitt were numerous (Dugan, pp. 259-261), and bond prices were at record lows (Dugan, p. 265), but George III sustained his Prime Minister and the government held on by the skin of its teeth.
Gradually ships started slipping away  from the Nore assembly (Guttridge, p. 67). Even some of the delegates gave up (Dugan, p. 269). Parker himself gave up while half a dozen ships were still holding out.
The government didn't take any of that into account. Nor did they accept that this was another strike for better conditions -- at every stage, the ships had protested their loyalty to the crown, but they were treated as rebels pure and simple. And Parker was the official scapegoat.
What followed reflected very badly on Georgian justice. Parker was charged with civil offenses, but was treated as a mutineer and subjected to court-martial rather than set him before a jury (which might acquit him). The officers trying him clearly had conflicts of interest. He had no lawyer. He was denied access to evidence -- including even the transcripts of the trial. He was given only a week to prepare his defence (Dugan, p. 329), and was in a dark prison when not in court. All he could do was operate by memory. And the prosecution had assembled an absurd case; many of the witnesses called had absolutely nothing to say, since they had never met or dealt with Parker (Dugan, pp. 332-333).
Despite the unfairness of the proceedings, the verdict was just what was expected:
"The court has heard witnesses... [and] is of the opinion that the whole of the charges were fully proved against Richard Parker.
"The court, therefore have determined that the said Richard Parker shall suffer death, and that he be accordingly hanged by the neck until dead on such day, and on board such ship, as the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty shall appoint" (Dugan, p. 348).
There was, of course, no possibility of appeal, save to the King, who had a very high standard of personal sexual morality and absolutely no sympathy for anyone who did not think him the infallible viceroy of God on earth.
Dugan's version of events is extremely anti-George and pro-Parker, but even knowing that, reading his summary of the trial, I can't help but think that Parker would have been set free by a jury of the time. An honest military trial today would probably result in a bad conduct discharge and related penalties.
Logan seems to agree that the trial was a mockery, though his view is less pro-Parker than Dugan: "Parker appears from the evidence to have obtained scant justice; and there can be no doubt that, being an educated man,and rather ambitious of being an orator, he was made the mouthpiece and the tool of harsher natures, whom even in death he did not betray" (p. 62).
On the other hand, Davies, p. 55, says of the trials, "Out of about four hundred [ringleaders], most were pardoned, some were flogged or imprisoned and twenty-eight were hanged. This may be considered a moderate response by the government since, strictly speaking, all mutineers were subject to only one punishment, and that death. On the other hand, even if it had wanted to, the government could not have hanged the whole navy."
The number of executions cannot be considered precise. Dugan agrees that over 300 of the 400+ alleged ringleaders were pardoned, but cites estimates of the number hanged ranging from 24 to 36 -- though mostly toward the high end of that range. Guttridge, who has no sympathy for the mutineers, claims on p. 72 that "sixty mutineers were condemned to death, imprisonment, or flogging. Probably no more than two dozen were hanged, most of them from the _Sandwich_ [Parker's ship]." James, who is even less sympathetic (he accuses even the leaders of the Spithead mutiny of being "political animals," as if soldiers and sailors had no purpose except to be killed for their country), says on p. 315 that 59 men were hanged.
Such were the ways of Georgian justice that Parker's wife was never officially told he was on trial, and she was denied a final meeting with him. Her only communication with him after his condemnation was a letter he wrote (Dugan, pp. 351-352).
Parker was hanged June 30. At the scaffold, there was hesitation about allowing him a final speech. But he cried out to the crowd at the last, avoiding any political references and appealed for mercy for all the other leaders of the revolt (Dugan, p. 356), obviously to limited effect.
The song reportedly describes the disappearance of Parker's body fairly accurately. He was to be left in unconsecrated ground, but the widow and others stole the body and spirited it away. The authorities did catch up with her, but the church where the body was taken permitted a proper burial with appropriate ceremonies (Dugan, pp. 359-362).
Such was the navy's desire to wash away the memory of the Nore that, soon after, the _Sandwich_, where Parker has been President of the fleet, was broken up soon after (Dugan, p. 363).
Mrs. Parker outlived her husband by nearly half a century; Dugan (p. 458) reports that, in 1840, she was "seventy, blind, and friendless."
A French invasion during the period of the mutinies might well have succeeded, but the French were too confused to bring one about. England, utterly mismanaged by her government, survived by raw force and a great deal of luck.
There were any number of broadsides about the Nore and Spithead mutinies (Firth, p. 277, prints "A New Song" about Spithead, and on .p 280 has "British Tars Rewarded" on the same theme; p. 281 has "Parker the Delegate," an anti-Parker song to the tune of "The Vicar of Bray"), but few found their way into tradition, this amazingly widespread song being the primary exception. Dugan, p. 362, indeed notes that those who sold anti-Parker broadsides were attacked in the streets and their song sheets scattered and destroyed.
>>*BIBLIOGRAPHY*<<
Davies: David Davies, _A Brief History of Fighting Ships: Ships of the Line and Napoleonic sea battle 1793-1815_, Carroll & Graf, 1996, 2002
Dugan: James Dugan, _The Great Mutiny_, G. P. Putnam, 1965
Firth: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books)
Guttridge: Leonard F. Guttridge, _Mutiny: A History of Naval Insurrection_, Naval Institute Press, 1992 (I use the 2002 Berkley edition)
Herman: Arthur Herman, _To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World_, 2004 (I use the 2005 Harper Perennial edition)
James: Lawrence James, _Warrior Race: A History of the British at War_ (Abacus, 2001)
Keegan: John Keegan, _The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare_, Penguin, 1988, 1990
Logan: Logan's _Pedlar's Pack_; see the Ballad Index bibliography for this book.
Wilson: P. W. Wilson, _William Pitt, the Younger_, Doubleday Doran, 1930
Woodman: Richard Woodman, _A Brief History of Mutiny_, Carroll & Graf, 2005 - RBW
File: BrII117
===
NAME: Poor Pat Must Emigrate: see The Irish Refugee (Poor Pat Must Emigrate) (File: OCon053)
===
NAME: Poor Rebel Soldier: see The Rebel Soldier (File: R246)
===
NAME: Poor Richard and the Serapis and Alliance: see Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4] (File: LA04)
===
NAME: Poor Robin: see Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey) (File: R569)
===
NAME: Poor Rosy
DESCRIPTION: "Poor Rosy, poor gal, Rosy broke my poor heart, Heaven shall be my home. Before I stay in Hell one day, Heaven shall be my home." The singer has "hard troubles," and "trials"; he bids farewell to Brother Robert and Sister Lucy and turns to Heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scott-BoA, pp. 199-201, "Poor Rosy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11856
File: SBoA199
===
NAME: Poor Schnapps
DESCRIPTION: A "dutch" song. Corporal Schnapps, who is perhaps not overly bright, patriotically enlists in the army. Having faced battle, horrid food, and the scorn (and spit) of southern women, he now faces the indignity of having his girl run off with another man
AUTHOR: Henry Clay Work
EARLIEST_DATE: 1864 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: humorous foreigner Civilwar battle hardtimes courting infidelity elopement
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 218, "The Yankee Dutchman" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 78, "Corporal Schnapps" (1 text)
DT, CRPSHNAP*
Roud #4872
File: R218
===
NAME: Poor Sinner, A
DESCRIPTION: "Hark, sinner, hark, while I relate, What happened in Kentucky state. A poor young woman lately died; She dropped from all her wealth and pride." Led astray by a young man, she turned ungodly. Dying, she bids farewell; her mother says she will go to hell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: death hell
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 63, "A Poor Sinner" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 73, (no title) (1 short text)
ST Br3063 (Full)
Roud #7846
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wicked Polly" [Laws H6] (plot)
File: Br3063
===
NAME: Poor Smuggler's Boy, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a boy who is mourning his father. The father was a smuggler; caught in a storm, their ship was wrecked and his father drowned. The boy has clung to a plank and been swept ashore. A rich lady hears his complaint and adopts him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (Ashton)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, walking the beach on a stormy day, meets a boy who is mourning his father. The father was a smuggler who would, "venture out on the salt sea/For a keg of good brandy from the land of the free" (Holland). Caught in a storm, the ship has been wrecked and his father has drowned, despite the boy's efforts to save him. The boy has clung to a plank and been swept ashore. A rich lady hears his complaint, and adopts him
KEYWORDS: grief crime death drowning storm wreck father orphan
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #618
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "The Smuggler's Boy" (on LastDays)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fisherman's Boy" [Laws Q29] (plot)
cf. "The Soldier's Poor Little Boy" [Laws Q28] (plot)
cf. "The Farmer's Boy" [Laws Q30] (plot)
cf. "The Fisherman's Girl" (plot)
File: RcTSmBy
===
NAME: Poor Soldier (I)
DESCRIPTION: "All out in the snow they are tonight, Far away from kin and home. God help the ones who fight for the right, And them who are done gone on. Poor soldier, hungry and cold (x2)." The girl recalls her soldier's departure and prays he is safe wherever he is
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: soldier separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 132, "Poor Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa132 (Full)
Roud #5734
RECORDINGS:
Frank Proffitt, "Poor Soldier" (on FProffitt01)
NOTES: The Warners claim this is a Civil War song, and so does the tradition in Frank Proffitt's family. They're probably right, but there is no reason why it could not have been sung in any other U.S. war fought in a cold climate.
The musical notes in Warner comment on how irregular the tune and meter are to this piece. It's simple truth; Frank Proffitt didn't really seem to have a tune; more of a sketch which he fleshed out irregularly to fit the words. - RBW
File: Wa132
===
NAME: Poor Soldier (II), The: see The Bold Soldier [Laws M27] (File: LM27)
===
NAME: Poor Stranger: see Poor Stranger, The (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone) (File: R059)
===
NAME: Poor Stranger a Thousand Miles from Home: see Farewell, Sweet Mary AND The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone) (File: E082)
===
NAME: Poor Stranger Far From Home, A: see Poor Stranger, The (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone) (File: R059)
===
NAME: Poor Stranger, The (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)
DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders out alone and meets a girl, also alone. Each asks why the other is there. Both have had trouble with lovers at home and so ran away. They settle down to a happy life together
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Joyce)
KEYWORDS: courting rambling
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So) Ireland (Britain(England(South)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Belden, p. 487, "Poor Stranger a Thousand Miles from Home" (1 text, a short item which seems to combine "The Poor Stranger," "Farewell, Sweet Mary," and perhaps some floating items)
Randolph 59, "Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 107, "A Poor Stranger Far from Home" (1 text)
BrownII 138, "The Happy Stranger" (1 fragment)
SharpAp 157, "The Rebel Soldier, or The Poor Stranger" (7 texts, 7 tunes, but only "A" and probably "F" are this song; the rest are "The Rebel Soldier")
Manny/Wilson 95, "A Stranger Far From Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R059 (Partial)
Roud #272
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lost Girl"
cf. "The Rebel Soldier" (meter, floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Poor Stranger
Sweet Europe
File: R059
===
NAME: Poor Thing
DESCRIPTION: "A maid all alone in a poor house did dwell.... Her hair was red and her age was nineteen -- Poor thing!" Her swain asks, "Will you fly by the light of yon star? For I am the i of the you that I are." Her father chases the man, who "flew up the flue."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: love courting nonsense wordplay
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hudson 88, p. 215, "Poor Thing" (1 text)
Roud #4479
File: Hud088
===
NAME: Poor Toby Is Dead: see Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey) (File: R569)
===
NAME: Poor Tramp Has to Live, The: see Remember the Poor Tramp Has to Live (File: RcRtPTHL)
===
NAME: Poor Wayfaring Pilgrim, A: see Wayfaring Stranger (File: FSC077)
===
NAME: Poor Wee Jockie Clarke
DESCRIPTION: Jockie Clarke sells newspapers and goes ragged; his father is a drinker and a tyrant. Jockie asks his mother to make him a jacket from his father's old coat. Jockie tells his mother that he looks uncommon neat since she has made him up the jacket
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953 (MacColl)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Jockie Clarke sells newspapers and goes ragged; his father is a drinker, a tyrant to his wife and neglectful to his children. Jockie asks his mother to make him a jacket from his father's old coat; she does and it's a beauty, keeping him warm and holding plenty of potatoes in the pockets. Jockie tells his mother, 'You'd think I'd both mother, father, and a home," and that he looks uncommon neat since she has made him up the jacket
KEYWORDS: poverty pride request clothes commerce work father mother worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 236, "Poor Wee Jockie Clarke" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2135
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Faither's Old Coat
Fairther's Old Coat
File: K236
===
NAME: Poor Widow
DESCRIPTION: Singing game: "Here's a poor widow, she (lives/lies) her lone... She wants a man and cannae get none." The widow or her daughter go seek a husband, "She may go round and choose her own"; the courting may or may not be successful
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H48f, p. 11, "Here's a Poor Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST HHH048f (Full)
Roud #5105
File: HHH048f
===
NAME: Poor Working Girl, The
DESCRIPTION: "The poor working girl, may heaven protect her, She has such an awf'ly hard time, The rich man's daughter goes haughtily by, My God! Do you wonder at crime?" ("Her man drives his new model T And drinks rotten hooch till he's blind.")
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: work poverty hardtimes crime technology
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Sandburg, p. 195, "The Poor Working Girl" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 151, "The Poor Working Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHJohnson, p. 18, "The Poor Working Girl" (1 text)
Roud #4271
NOTES: Not to be confused with the early twentieth century pop tune "Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl" - RBW
File: San195
===
NAME: Poor, But a Gentleman Still
DESCRIPTION: "Don't think by my dress that I come here to beg, Though the sharp pains of hunger I feel; The cup of misfortune I've drained to the dregs, Though poor, I'm a gentleman still." The singer describes how he became poor, pointing out that he is still honest
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1879 (stage performance, per FSCatskills)
KEYWORDS: poverty
FOUND_IN: US(MA,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
FSCatskills 103, "Poor, But a Gentleman Still" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 829, "A Gentleman Still" (1 text)
Shellans, pp. 84-85, "I'm Poor But a Gentleman Still" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 151-152, "Poor, but a Gentleman Still" (1 text)
ST FSC103 (Partial)
Roud #7337
File: FSC103
===
NAME: Pop Goes the Weasel
DESCRIPTION: Words can be anything, as long as they have the phrase "Pop goes the weasel." The 1853 text talks of a weasel in a henhouse, temperance issues, and relations between Uncle Sam and John Bull
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1853
KEYWORDS: animal technology nonballad nonsense humorous political
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Randolph 556, "Pop Goes the Weasel" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 408-409, "Pop Goes the Weasel" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 556A)
BrownIII 93, "Pop Goes the Weasel" (1 fragment)
Linscott, pp. 107-108, "Pop! Goes the Weasel" (1 tune plus dance instructions)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 176-179, "Pop Goes de Weasel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #872, p. 325, "(Up and down the city road)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 108, "(Round about the porridge pot)" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 40, "Pop Goes the Weasel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 34, "Pop Goes The Weasel" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 440-441+, "Pop Goes the Weasel"
DT, WEASLPOP* POPWEAS2*
ST R556 (Full)
Roud #5249
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:060, "Pop Goes the Weasel," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C, possibly a parody on another version of the piece
NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(032), "Pop Goes the Weael", James Lindsay (Glasgow), 1852-1859
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Ripping Trip" (tune)
cf. "The D & H Canal" (tune)
NOTES: The history of this piece is obscure. The earliest datable printings (British and American versions from 1853) have the tune; the American version also includes the phrase "Pop goes the weasel," but has little resemblance to the modern texts such as "All around the cobbler's bench The monkey chased the weasel" (this text does not appear until the twentieth century).
The English printing (the NLScotland broadside cited) is a dance tune with no text; it hints that the music is traditional. Interestingly, printer Lindsay has another version (the Murray broadside) which does have a text -- but it appears rewritten, since it refers to "Albert and the Queen" dancing to the tune, and girls being ruined by its melody.
It is generally agreed that, in the earliest versions, the "weasel" is the tool used by hatmakers, and to "pop" it is to pawn it. - RBW
File: R556
===
NAME: Popular Gag Song
DESCRIPTION: "I was born in Jersey City In Texas way down south And that is just the reason why My voice is in my mouth." Assorted verses of contradiction, exaggeration, tautology, and nonsense, e.g. "There was people dying lately Who had never died before."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonsense talltale
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 447, "Popular Gag Song" (2 texts, but the "B" text is "The Barefoot Boy with Boots On")
Roud #6675
File: R447
===
NAME: Popular Gag Song (II): see The Barefoot Boy with Boots On (File: FSC154)
===
NAME: Popular Wobbly, The
DESCRIPTION: "I'm as mild-mannered man as can be, And I've never done no harm that I can see..." but the singer ends up in jail, where "they go wild, simply wilder over me." They "go wild" because he is a union man; he suffers much in prison
AUTHOR: Words: T-Bone Slim
EARLIEST_DATE: Early 1950s (recording - Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: IWW prison
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 70, "The Popular Wobbly" (1 text)
DT, POPWOBB*
Roud #9822
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "The Popular Wobbly" (on PeteSeeger05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me" (tune)
NOTES: The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies") was a radical syndicalist labor union. Founded in the late 1800s, it fought for the 8-hour day and for "One Big Union" rather than separate unions in various crafts or industries. It achieved its greatest successes in the American Northwest, particularly in the lumber trades (although it also fought hard in the textile-workers' strike in Lowell, Mass.) and inspired many songs and poems that have entered folk tradition. While membership has declined in recent decades, the union is still active and still radical.
"They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me" was a popular vaudeville song of the early 1900s. - PJS
File: FSWB070
===
NAME: Pore Mournah: see Mourner, You Shall Be Free (Moanish Lady) (File: San011)
===
NAME: Pork in the Cupboard
DESCRIPTION: "Oh there's pork in the cupboard, there's beef on the shelf If no one don't eat it I'll eat it myself." The rest is all "chin music."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: floatingverses nonballad food
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, p. 91, "Pork in the Cupboard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9956
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bridle and Saddle" (lyrics)
NOTES: Most of Peacock's version is "chin music". Specifically, a text verse is "La da diddle la diddle la diddle dum da...."  Peacock explains, "'Chin' or 'mouth' music is a vocal imitation of instrumental music and is used for dancing when a fiddle or accordion is not handy. Some singers ... become so proficient that they are often called upon even when instruments are available."
Newfoundland "chin music" is like, and serves the same purpose, as Irish "lilting" and Traveller "tuning." See, for example, Hall, notes to Voice11. - BS
This is evidently a local version of "Bridle and Saddle" or one of its equivalents. Ideally, we'd have a mechanism for tracking these floating elements. But we don't, and this version is localized enough to get its own entry. - RBW
File: Pea091
===
NAME: Pork, Beans and Hard Tack
DESCRIPTION: "Our volunteers are soldiers bold, so say the people all... They leave their homes on starving pay to take the nitchies' (Indians') life." Fed poor rations, they are sent all around Canada by train, boat, and foot
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1887
KEYWORDS: soldier hardtimes Canada
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1885 - Second Metis uprising, which collapsed despite the failure of Canadian troops to defeat the enemy
FOUND_IN: Canada
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 127-129, "Pork, Beans and Hard Tack" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4516
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Riel's Song" and references there (subject)
NOTES: For the historical background to the Metis uprisings, see "Riel's Song." This song (which appeared in the University of Toronto Songbook only two years after the revolt) accurately describes the fate of the soldiers sent to pursue Riel.
Sent west by rail, the troops had to finish their trek by boat and foot, with rations even worse than they enjoyed on the train. Having reached Metis country, they had great difficulty finding the enemy, and spent time as laborers. Then they were sent back, primarily by boat, to Winnipeg. - RBW
File: FMB127
===
NAME: Portlairge
DESCRIPTION: Irish Gaelic: The singer stops in Waterford for drinks and at "the full house of women there." He is visited by four women and will take a girl with him to Carrick in the morning.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem01)
KEYWORDS:  foreignlanguage drink sex
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Portlairge" (on IRClancyMakem01)
NOTES: The description is based on the cover notes to IRClancyMakem01 by Patrick Clancy. "Portlairge" is one of the songs his grandmother learned at her pub. - BS 
File: RcPortl
===
NAME: Portland County Jail
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a stranger to your city, My name is Paddy Flynn. I got drunk the other night; The coppers pulled me in. Had no one to... go my bail. They locked me up for ninety days In the Portland County Jail." The song describes the hard cases in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 214-215, "Portland County Jail" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 69, "Portland County Jail" (1 text)
DT, PORTJAIL*
Roud #9858
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "Portland County Jail" (on Thieme04)
File: San214
===
NAME: Porto Rico [Puerto Rico]
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "Must I go to Porto Rico/Must I sail the dark blue sea?/Must I fight for you, my darling/Until death shall set me free?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: love travel fight war battle death lover soldier nonballad
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1898: Spanish-American War, in which the U. S. captures Puerto Rico and other territories from Spain
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SharpAp 249, "Porto Rico" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #3659
NOTES: Barely even a fragment, but I include it on the chance it may turn out to be part of a full song that we find some day. - PJS
Roud lumps this with a fragment in Brown, which mentions Virginia rather than Puerto Rico, and which otherwise looked to me like "East Virginia (Dark Hollow)." Which just shows how mysterious the thing is.
File: ShAp249
===
NAME: Portrush Fishing Disaster (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls going to sea in fine weather. As the ship sails home, a storm blows up. The singer asks that the sailors' names not be named, buds farewell to home, and tells his friends they will meet on "yonder shore"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: death ship disaster wreck storm
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb. 24, 1826 - The Portrush Disaster
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H27b, p. 105, "The Portrush Fishing Disaster (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9047
File: HHH027b
===
NAME: Portrush Fishing Disaster (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer calls listeners to hear of four sailors who died at Portrush. The singer names the four. He notes that they died despite their skill; the wind was too strong. The singer hopes that the dead and their families will meet in heaven
AUTHOR: Daniel McIlreavy?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: death ship disaster wreck storm
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb. 24, 1826 - The Portrush Disaster
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H27c, p. 105-106, "The Portrush Fishing Disaster (II)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9044
File: HHH027c
===
NAME: Ports are Open, The
DESCRIPTION: Closed ports ruined trade. Out of work tradesmen were wrecking steam looms, and could not pay high food prices. A royal "proclamation ... [will] admit foreign grain to our markets." "Farmers quite distracted they'll go" but tradesmen will find jobs.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1815 (according to Leyden)
KEYWORDS: war commerce farming nonballad political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leyden 36, "The Ports are Open" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The World It May Wag" (tune)
NOTES: The song refers to the cause of closed ports as a "Corporation Bill" which "some hundreds did kill While others it kept in high station It shut up our ports against peas beans and oats And it ruined the trade of our nation." The end of the policy is a royal proclamation that "the ports will stand open Till the twenty-fourth of December So parliament then when they do meet again Hope that too the poor will remember."
Leyden: "This song was written in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the battle of Waterloo. During the war between England and France the Government imposed severe restrictions on the import of cereals into British ports -- 'It shut up our ports against peas, beans and oats'. The price of corn was high.... Farmers invested capital in developing inferior land...; yields increased and profits rose accordingly, but the ending of the war was to change all that. British ports were once more opened and the effect on home prices was dramatic.... The song celebrates the opening of the ports. Farmers, of course, were angry.... For ordinary people, however it was a very optimistic period...."
This forecast of things to come in the near future presents a different picture of the effect of war on the economy than we see later in "The Grand Conversation Under the Rose" ("Come stir up the wars, and our trade will be flourishing") in the light of longer range harsh reality; also see the notes to "Ye Sons of Old Ireland." - BS
This is in any case a strange view of trade during the Napoleonic Wars. It is certainly true that Britain had a bad tendency to mess with Irish trade -- e.g. building up the linen industry and then destroying it.
But the real problem in the early nineteenth century was the war with France. According to Jacques Godechot, Beatrice F. Hyslop, and David L. Dowd, _The Napoleonic Era in Europe_, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971, p. 124, the Berlin Decree was issued on November 21, 1806. The purpose of this, according to J. Christopher Herold, _The Age of Napoleon_, English edition, American Heritage, 1963, p. 179, was to defeat Britain by economic blockade.
Godechot, Hyslop, and Dowd, pp. 126-127: "After the peace of Tilsit, and for the fourth time since 1793, France and England stood alone as adversaries.... Napoleon could no longer contemplate an invasion of England [due to Trafalgar]. Ever since the two powers became active foes, each had brandished the usual economic arm. England declared the coast of France in a state of blockade, and France renewed her prohibition against the importation of British goods, a practice that had been decreed as early as 1793 under the National Convention. At the beginning, these measures had not been very effective. However, little by little, war by blockade was perfected.
"In France for nore than a century the premise had been accepted that the power of Great Britain, based upon its economic organization, was fragile. French economists... considered her system of credit abnormal. Her industry could prosper only by virtue of exportation to Europe. It ought, therefore, to be relatively easy to break down the system by excluding her exports from foreign markets; Great Britain would then be ruined and would not be slow to capitulate."
It was not the last time an enemy tried to strangle Britain, but it proved unfortunate because the French could only ban shipments to Britain -- whereas Britain could physically *stop* shipments along the coast using her navy. It also passed the Orders in Council, which barred neutrals from trading to France unless they sent their goods through Britain (which, along with impressment, was one of the leading causes of the War of 1812; see Pierre Berton, _The Invasion of Canada [Volume I], 1812-1813_, Atlantic-Little Brown, 1980, p. 45). There was a great deal of smuggling, and many of the countries of Europe found their own trade messed up (in this pre-railroad period, large shipments generally went by water or not at all). The Continental System would eventually collapse. But, before it did, it caused much hardship and poverty in Britain.
A second thing much restricting British trade was the shortage of sailors. To keep the Royal Navy up to strength, the press gangs were constantly active, grabbing sailors wherever they could find them (this would eventually be  primary cause of the War of 1812 with the United States). Even had the trade had been possible, there were not enough crews to supply all the merchant ships.
If there were no ships in Ireland, it was less because of British regulations than because of Napoleon. - RBW
File: Leyd036
===
NAME: Possim Sits on 'Simmon Tree, De
DESCRIPTION: "De possim sits on 'simmon tree And feeds himself quite fat, Put Manly on de stump for me, I'm dog he'll soon leave dat." "I now must go an' pick my toof, It akes so very bad, but since Reid's our Governor forsooth, I feels my pain so bad."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1850 (North Carolina Gazette)
KEYWORDS: animal political
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 164, "De Possim Sits on 'Simmon Tree" (1 text)
NOTES: There is no reason to think this is a traditional song; it seems to have been a political piece from the 1850 North Carolina gubernatorial election, in which Democrat David Settle Reid (1813-1891) succeeded Charles Manley. If there was a significant issue in this campaign, I have been unable to discover it.
It does appear that Manley was a rather unimportant figure, compared to the distinguished Reid, who was congressman, governor, and Senator. - RBW
File: Br3164
===
NAME: Possum Am a Cunning Thing, De: see Raccoon (File: R260)
===
NAME: Possum and the Banjo, The: see De Fust Banjo (The Banjo Song; The Possum and the Banjo; Old Noah) (File: R253)
===
NAME: Possum Song, The: see Carve that Possum (File: R276)
===
NAME: Possum Sop and Polecat Jelly: see Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn) (File: R568)
===
NAME: Possum Up a Gum Stump
DESCRIPTION: "Possum up a gum stump, Cooney in a holler, Little gal at our house, Fat as she can waller." The first two lines are characteristic (though the animals can vary); the last two lines can seemingly be anything.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: nonballad animal
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
BrownIII 415, "Lynchburg Town" (3 texts plus 2 fragments, 2 excerpts, and mention of 2 more, all with the "Lynchburg Town" chorus, but "A" and "B" have verses from "Raccoon" and "Possum Up a Gum Stump and "D" and "E" are partly "If I Had a Scolding Wife" ("Lucy Long (I)"); only "C" seems to be truly "Lynchburg Town")
Randolph 280, "Possum Up a Gum Stump" (1 short text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 161, "Possum Up a Simmon Tree" (6 texts, all of a single stanza; some are probably not this piece, but they're too short to classify)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 177, (no title) (1 fragment)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 238, "Little Gal at Our House" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7782
RECORDINGS:
Hiter Colvin, "Rabbit Up the Gum Stump" (Victor V-40239, 1930/Montgomery Ward 8148, 1939)
Henry Truvillion, "Come On, Boys, and Let's Go to Huntin'" (AFS 3983 B2; on LC8)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Uncle Reuben" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Bile Them Cabbage Down" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Lomax reports this as a "patting chant" -- sung to the accompaniment of hands clapping or slapping against the thighs. - RBW
File: R280
===
NAME: Post-Rail Song
DESCRIPTION: "Put 'em up solid, they won't come down! Hey, ma laddie, they won't come down!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 138, "Post-Rail Song" (1 short text, 1 tune)
File: San138
===
NAME: Pot Wrassler, The
DESCRIPTION: The camp cook tells cowboys he spent years riding the range but "now I'm a-wrassling the pots for a change." He can make sourdough and sort the big rocks out of the beans, and doesn't wipe the frying-pan on his jeans. He's old now and prefers this life
AUTHOR: Curley Fletcher
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Curley Fletcher, "Songs of the Sage")
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, a camp cook, tells cowboys he has put in a lot of years riding the range but "now I'm a-wrassling the pots for a change." He doesn't claim to be Delmonico, but he can make sourdough and sort the big rocks out of the beans, and doesn't wipe the frying-pan on his jeans. He's old and stiff now and prefers staying by the fire to riding and getting thrown
KEYWORDS: age disability work food nonballad cook worker
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Harry Jackson, "The Pot Wrassler" (on HJackson1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Punchin' the Dough" (theme)
NOTES: The cook on a cattle run was usually an old cowboy who could no longer do the work. It's hardly surprising that he looked on the cowboys as "kids" -- nor that he used his control over the chuck to keep the cowboys in line.
"Delmonico" is Lorenzo Delmonico (1813-1881), a Swiss immigrant who came to the United States in 1832 and largely established the upscale restaurant as a business form in America. - RBW
File: RcPotWra
===
NAME: Potato Bug, The
DESCRIPTION: "It's just past ten years ... Since we heard of that plague of a fly." Every morning "I'll shake every stalk" and the bugs fall into his pan. As quickly as he catches them "they'll be over the sides" and escape. He should "carry a pan of hot coals"
AUTHOR: Lawrence Doyle
EARLIEST_DATE: 1969 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: farming ordeal nonballad bug hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 202-203, 253, "The Potato Bug" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13994
NOTES: Ives-DullCare: "[The potato bug] began arriving on the Island in significant numbers in the late 1880s." - BS
File: IvSC202
===
NAME: Potato, The
DESCRIPTION: "We have a loyal little friend, the potato," brought by Sir Walter Raleigh. Though there are varieties with fancy names, all are good. The singer hopes "our planters will plant more ... They are a vital food today in which we all must share"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: food Ireland nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 81, "The Potato" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Potato" (theme)
NOTES: Was this song written before or after 1845? The answer would be interesting.
The legend that Sir Walter Raleigh brought the potato to Europe is just that: Legend. There is no doubt that the plant came originally from South America, but no one knows who transported it across the Atlantic.
The dependence of Ireland on the potato was of course not voluntary. With the English having subdivided the Catholic lands into areas too small for proper farming, and with the rent laws making land improvements impossible (if a Catholic improved the land, his rent went up), there was no choice but to grow potatoes; it was the only food productive enough to support a family on the tiny plots the Irish were allowed.
Of course, potatoes needed little help from the growers, so the English accused the Irish of laziness -- but they had little choice. Especially with the population so high; even on improved land, it would have been hard to support the people of Ireland in the 1840s without the potato.
All that, of course, changed with the Great Hunger in the 1840s. - RBW
File: OLcM081
===
NAME: Potter and Robin Hood, The: see Robin Hood and the Potter [Child 121] (File: C121)
===
NAME: Poulduff Fishermen, The
DESCRIPTION: On July 11 "a maid divine in tears approached me." Three sons had been drowned when their boat struck the wrecked Perseverance and sank. Some were rescued by "James Fitzsimmons and ... his worthy crew." The drowned men are named.
AUTHOR: Mogue Doyle
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck fishing
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 1, 1880 - "Poulduff fishermen were lost ... when their craft struck the wreck of the Perseverance" (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 52)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 18-20, "The Poulduff Fishermen" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Poulduff is on the northeast coast of County Wexford. - BS
File: Ran018
===
NAME: Poulshone Fishermen, The
DESCRIPTION: A maid reports the disaster: April 3, 1863, at Courtown Harbour, four Poulshone boys drown "when a sudden squall capsized their yawl." Redmond and Kelly are rescued by "young Clancy and his crew" but Earle and Leary are lost.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1946 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck fishing
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 102-103, "The Poulshone Fishermen" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Poulshone and Courtown are on the northern coast of Wexford. - BS
File: Ran102
===
NAME: Poupore's Shanty Crew
DESCRIPTION: Describing life at the lumber camp of Tom Poupore "on the twenty-eighth of October in 1884." The crew builds a shanty. They celebrate the cook. The leaders of the team, and some of the members, are named. The singer concludes with a toast to the crew
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger lumbering work
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #9, "Poupore's Shanty Crew" (1 text, tune referenced)
ST FowL09 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme, tune)
File: FowL09
===
NAME: Pourquoi: see The Bird's Courting Song (The Hawk and the Crow; Leatherwing Bat) (File: K295)
===
NAME: Powder Monkey, The (Soon We'll Be in England Town)
DESCRIPTION: Jim was powder monkey killed on board Victory. In '98 "we chased the foe right into Bourky Bay" and destroyed their flag ship Orient. Jim was killed by musket "as the fight was just on won." He asks the crew "Give a kiss to dear old mother."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia); 19C (broadside, Bodleian LOCSinging as111260)
KEYWORDS: battle navy death sea ship mother
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 1, 1798 - Nelson defeats the French in Aboukir Bay, Egypt
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Creighton-NovaScotia 57, "Chanty Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 148, "The Powder Monkey" (1 text, 1 tune-chorus only)
ST CrNS057 (Full)
Roud #1799
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as111260, "The Powder Monkey," unknown, 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Heiland Laddie" (similar chorus)
NOTES: Creighton-NovaScotia has a verse and chorus as a chanty.
The "powder monkey" job could be handled by women and boys "whose task it was to pass gunpowder up from the magazine to the gunners" (see source for Aboukir Bay, below)
Nelson in Vanguard led the defeat of the French and their flagship L'Orient at Aboukir Bay in the Egyptian campaign in August 1798. (Source: _Nelson and the Nile; Part 3: A victory at Aboukir Bay_ by John Woolford "originally published in Military History Magazine August 1998" per the African History site) 
HMS _Victory_, while commissioned in 1778, was not in service in 1798. Nelson's [service in] _Victory_ began in 1803 and continued until his death at Trafalgar in 1805 (Source: HMS Victory site) - BS
Hugill calls this a "shore sea-song" possibly from the music-hall, believes that it dates from the 1840s, and that it bears some relationship to "Donkey Riding." - SL
File: CrNS057
===
NAME: Powder River (I - Lazy River)
DESCRIPTION: "Last time on that lazy old river... I met a girl who was more like heaven And her smile will last forevermore." He courts her and plans to take her away from the river, but a "spirit of the water" struck back; he mourns her amid the ruins of the flood
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: love courting river disaster flood death grief
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 61, "Powder River" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11076
File: FCW061
===
NAME: Powder River Jack
DESCRIPTION: A description of Powder River Jack Lee, the cowboy singer, and his wife Kitty Lee. Jack was "not a boozer, and he never cared for cards," and he "loved his pretty Kitty" -- but "the old Sky Boss was needin' One more top hand," and Jack is killed
AUTHOR: "Colorado Bill"
EARLIEST_DATE: 1946 ("Hoofs and Horns" magazine)
KEYWORDS: death cowboy recitation
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1946 - Death of Powder River Jack Lee in a car accident
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 38, "Powder River Jack" (1 text)
File: Ohr038
===
NAME: Powder River, Let 'Er Buck
DESCRIPTION: "Powder river, let 'er buck, A surgin' mass of cattle, Roundup wagons full of chuck, Horns and hooves a-rattle...." A description of the cows, horses, and cowboys to be met during a cattle drive.
AUTHOR: Powder River Jack Lee?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, Powder River Jack & Kitty Lee)
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse work travel nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 40, "Powder River, Let 'er Buck" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11524
RECORDINGS:
Powder River Jack & Kitty Lee, "Powder River, Let 'Er Buck" (Victor 23527, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4462, 1934; on AuthCowboys)
NOTES: The phrase "Powder River, let 'er buck" was the motto of a Wyoming division (comprised largely of cowboys) during World War I. Powder River Jack Lee claims to have composed the song, and there is no evidence to the contrary -- but the slogan must have come from somewhere. - RBW
File: Ohr040
===
NAME: Powderhorn
DESCRIPTION: "Out in the West you have often heard said The only good paint horse is one that is dead." The singer sets out to disprove the rule, describing the purchase of a cutting horse, Miss Aledo, that does a spectacular job
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: horse work cowboy commerce
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 70, "Powderhorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11075
NOTES: A cutting horse is used to cut off a steer from the herd. A good horse can make a cowboy's task much easier by outguessing the cattle. - RBW
File: FCW070
===
NAME: Powers of Whisky, The
DESCRIPTION: "There's nothing like whisky Makes Irishmen frisky" and girls also, even if sick. If a maid rejects you "drink enough, you'll find charms in a dozen beside ... you'll think you're in love with each girl that you meet." Whisky can subdue any grief.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: love drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 75-76, "The Powers of Whisky" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kinnegard Slashers" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
File: CrPS075
===
NAME: Prairie Grove
DESCRIPTION: "Come ye gallant sons of I-o-way, come listen to my song... About the gallant charge at Prairie Grove, An' we an' Southern rebels on equal numbers strove." The singer describes a federal victory, the burial of the southern dead, and their widows' mourning
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randoph)
KEYWORDS: battle soldier death Civilwar
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 7, 1862 - Battle of Prairie Grove
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 222, "Prairie Grove" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 205-207, "Prairie Grove" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 222)
Roud #4032
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Give the Dutch Room" (subject)
NOTES: The battle of Prairie Grove was one of the more confusing messes of the Civil War. It had little effect on the main war effort (though it contributed significantly to the Union conquest of Arkansas), and so is rarely mentioned in the histories. The battle came about because the Union forces of Schofield's "Army of the Frontier" were scattered.
Two divisions, under Herron, were located near Springfield, Missouri; another, under Blunt, was in an advanced position south of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Confederate general Hindman, observing this deployment, saw an opportunity to defeat the Unionists in detail. He took his force -- somewhat smaller than the combined Union forces but much stronger than Blunt alone -- and on Dec. 6 attacked Blunt.
Unknown to Hindman, Herron's force had been ordered forward a few days earlier. When Hindman learned that Herron was approaching, he tried to get between the two Union forces.
It didn't work. Herron managed to hold off Hindman until Blunt arrived. The Confederates -- many of them raw Arkansas troops who deserted at the beginning of the battle -- wound up abandoning the field. The battle was not a great Union success, but neither was it a great defeat. In the aftermath, they were able to occupy a large part of northern Arkansas.
This song is item dA38 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW- RBW
File: R222
===
NAME: Praise of Christmas, The: see Drive the Cold Winter Away (In Praise of Christmas) (File: Log293)
===
NAME: Praise of Kinsale, The
DESCRIPTION:  The singer is "a poor fisherman" praising "his own native town of Kinsale." There's "a Royal Hotel," races, dances, billiards, and cards. There are cold baths for fitness, hot baths for cures, "or if you're in health, just come here for a frolic"
AUTHOR: John Lander (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1831 (Haly broadside, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: commerce gambling sports dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 215-217, "The Praise of Kinsale" (1 text)
NOTES: Kinsale and Mallow are in County Cork.
Croker-PopularSongs: "This satirical song ["The Praise of Kinsale"], with the subsequent reply to it ["Kinsale versus Mallow"], are given from a broadside purchased by the Editor in 1831, at the shop of Haly, a ballad printer in Hanover Street, Cork. The were respectively entitled, 'Paddy Farrell, of Kinsale, to his Friend at Mallow;' and 'Answer of Thady Mullowny, of Mallow, to Paddy Farrell, Kinsale.'" - BS
File: CrPS215
===
NAME: Praise of Ploughmen, The
DESCRIPTION: "Ye lads and lasses a' draw near, I'm sure it will delight your ear... To sing the praise o' ploughmen." Workers at other occupations may regard themselves as better, but the ploughman feeds them. The girl choruses, "Happy is the ploughman's jo."
AUTHOR: John Anderson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord); Grieg reports that it was written c. 1850
KEYWORDS: farming worker food
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 242-243, "The Praise of Ploughmen" (1 text)
Roud #5579
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Laddie That Handles the Ploo" (theme)
cf. "The Farmer is the Man" (theme)
File: Ord242
===
NAME: Praise of Waterford, The
DESCRIPTION: "Waterford, thow loyall cytie" has been honored by Henry II, chartered by John, affirmed by Henry III, and so forth, through Henry VIII. "Quia to semper intacta manes" ends each verse echoing the Waterford motto.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1824 (Ryland, _History of Waterford_, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: royalty political Ireland
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 312-320, "The Praise of Waterford" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Thomas Kinsella, _The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1989), pp. 154-155, "The Praise of Waterford"  (1 text, excerpted from Croker)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mayor of Waterford's Letter" (structure)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "The motto of 'Urbs intacto manet Waterfordia' ... was conferred on the city, with other honours, by Henry VII., for the conduct of the mayor and citizens against Perkin Warbeck."
"... there was soon to be another impostor [to Henry VII's crown after Lambert Simnel (see 'The Mayor of Waterford's Letter')], Master Perkin Warbeck from Tournai, whom the men of Cork felt convinced was Richard of York, the younger of the Princes in the Tower." (Source: "The Tudors" by Neville Williams in _The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England_, ed. Antonia Fraser, University of California Press, 1995, p. 171)
Croker-PopularSongs: "The date of this composition is satisfactorily fixed, by the twentieth and twenty-second verses, to be about 1545. In the former, Henry VIIIth's present to the city of Waterford of a sword of justice in 1523, is spoken of as "lately sent;" and in the latter, the term 'our triumphant king' (which would scarcely be applied to Edward VI), must have been written subsequent to 1541, when Henry assumed the title of King of Ireland." - BS
It seems unlikely (to put it mildly) that this was a genuine folk song -- but it is an interesting curiosity, because the manuscript of it contains marginal notes. These are not uncommon in manuscripts of, say, the Bible -- but rarely in poetry!
Still, if the scribe felt the urge for footnotes, how can I resist?
"Henry the Second, that noble Kinge" -- Henry II Plantagenet, reigned 1154-1189. Henry came to Ireland in 1171, taking advantage of local strife to build an enclave on the east coast; he invaded following the invasion of his own vassal the Earl of Pembroke, known as Strongbow (see Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, Simon & Schuster, 2000, p. 11).
The reference to his son's honor is presumably to Henry's fourth son John, the future King John. Henry, during his life, divided up his kingdom (England, much of France, and Ireland) among his four sons. John was given Ireland -- though he quickly got himself in trouble by making fun of the native chieftains's appearance (see John Harvey, _The Plantagenets_, revised edition, Fontana, 1959, p. 52). John would reign from 1199 to 1216, following the reign of his older brother Richard I (now usually known as Richard the Lion-Hearted, but at the time, he was likely to be called "Richard Yes-and-No," because he was so wishy-washy).
John's son was Henry III, who would face the rebellion of Simon de Montfort; he came to the throne as a boy, and so had a very long reign, 1216-1272.
Edward the First, reigned 1272-1307, was known for the work he did in organizing and codifying the laws of England; he did indeed grant many charters. "His son" was Edward II, reigned 1307-1327, when he was deposed.
"Edward the Third, of tryumph most abundante," was the son of Edward II, and reigned 1327-1377. His triumphs were indeed abundant, though they in the end amounted to little: He started the Hundred Years' War, in the process of which he captured the Scottish king David II (see Desmond Seward, _The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453_, Atheneum, 1978 [hereafter Seward-Hundred], p. 69) he won the great Battle of Crecy against the French in 1346 (Seward-Roses, pp. 63-68), captured Calais (see John Harvey, _The Plantagenets_, revised edition, Fontana, 1959, p. 141) and finally, after his son the Black Prince had captured the King of France at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 (see A. R. Myers, _England in the Late Middle Ages_, eighth edition, Penguin, 1971, pp. 24-25), negotiated the Treaty of Bretigny which gave England theoretical sovereignty over a third of France (see Seward-Hundred, pp. 99-101, plus the map on p. 266).
The flip side is, Edward's reign also witnessed the Black Death (Myers, pp. 23-24), which -- apart from killing a large fraction of the population -- devastated the already-strained English treasury; England captured much of France, but proved unable to hold it; by 1374, Edward was "drink-sodden and used up," (Seward-Hundred, p. 115), and there was a struggle over control of the government (Myers, pp. 28-29), which ended with the triumph of the king's son Edward the Black Prince -- who, however, died in 1376 (from what sounds rather like malaria, acquired perhaps in an invasion of Spain).
The conquest of France was already unraveling by the time of their deaths. Mike Ashley, _British Kings and Queens_, 2000, originally published as _The Mammoth Book of British Kings  and Queens_, 1998, p. 604, says that Edward's "final year was spent in much loneliness and sadness aware that the administration about him was crumbling."
With the Black Prince dead, as well as Edward's second son Lionel, the throne passed to the Black Prince's son, the boy Richard II (ascended 1377, deposed 1399, died, probably murdered, 1400).
Richard had a very difficult minority, with English conquests in France slowly being lost and his barons quarreling. It didn't help that he was without a true heir; his first marriage was childless and, when his beloved first wife died, he apparently almost went mad (Harvey, p. 156), he married a very young French princess who was years from childbearing age.
Harvey, p. 157, says that Richard made a very constructive visit to Ireland in 1394-1395, but soon after, he turned into a tyrant. When his uncle John of Gaunt died in early 1399, the last restraints on his behavior were lifted (Harvey, p. 159). Richard took over the vast Lancaster estates of John (who had ruled what was almost a kingdom within a kingdom), thus disinheriting his son Henry of Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke had already been exiled by Richard, and this was the final straw. When Richard took another trip to Ireland in 1399, Henry invaded England, and the despotic Richard had angered so many barons that Henry had no trouble taking over.
Henry ruled 1399-1413, but was never easy on the throne (Harvey, p. 163); he was not Richard's proper heir. (His claim, recall, came through Edward III's third son John, but the second son Lionel had left descendants.) He was unable to do anything about the disastrous situations in France and Ireland; it was all he could do to control his own barons and the Welsh revolt of Owen Glendower.
The song does not clearly distinguish between Henry IV and his offspring, but the "lusty Henry that conquered France" is Henry V (1413-1422). He didn't exactly conquer France, since there was still a portion that was independent -- but his battles did cause him to be declared the heir to the French throne in 1420 (Ashley, p. 611). Unfortunately, he died only two years later, leaving only a baby, the future Henry VI, as heir. (Incidentally, he was *not* lusty; many English kings left a large collection of bastards, but Henry V seems to have been almost monkish in his habits.)
If Henry  V was less than worldly, Henry VI surely qualifies as the most out-of-it King in English history to that time. (The English did not start inbreeding the way most continental monarch did until the Hannoverian Succession in 1714. As a result, English monarchs were mostly sane, if often utterly wrong-headed. There were only two major instances of genetic defectives in the English royal family: Henry VI, who was the son of Katherine of France, the daughter of Charles the Mad -- and the descendants of Henry VII, who were *also* descendants of Charles the Mad; after Henry V died, Katherine formed a common-law marriage with Owen Tudor; their grandson was Henry VII.)
The song calls Henry VI "Henry the Holly [holy], that borne was in Wyndsore." This is perhaps an attempt to cover up his notorious incapacity. But it was just that -- incapacity. He may not actually have been mentally retarded, but he certainly lacked the power of decision needed to rule (Ashley, p. 614), and at various times in the 1450s, he went mad. Inactivity was confused for piety by some, but there is no actual evidence that Henry was in any sense extraordinary in holiness. And, because he was always being pushed around by his advisors, he could be made to decree anything.
The song completely fails to note that "Edward the Strong" (Edward IV, reigned 1461-1470 and 1471-1483) deposed Henry VI (though Henry was briefly restored 1470-1471 before being re-deposed -- and, this time, killed). Edward IV was certainly the rightful King of England -- but he was merely a third cousin, twice over, several times removed, of Henry VI. He was able to take the throne only because Henry was incompetent to keep it. Thus, citing both Henry VI and Edward IV is about like citing charters from both Ahura Mazda and Ahriman -- some owe allegiance to one, some to the other, but few will recognize the authority of both.
Of course, that's nothing to calling Henry VII "Henry the Valiant." The guy never truly commanded a battle; the only major fight where he was present was the Battle of Bosworth, where he overthrew Richard III -- and most authorities agree that it was the Earl of Oxford who had field command (e.g. John Gillingham, _The Wars of the Roses_, Louisiana State University, 1981, p. 244; Paul Murray Kendall, _Richard the Third_, Norton, 1956, p. 435). Henry's primary activity was to avoid getting killed when Richard III made his death-or-glory charge which was so noteworthy that not even Shakespeare could get it wrong. (Which is amazing, since the only other thing Shakespeare got right in "Richard III" was the names "Edward," "Henry," and "George."
Valiant or not, Henry managed to take the throne (for details, see e.g. "The Rose of England.") But it was a shaky throne; he faced many revolts, and two major plus several minor pretenders. For the problems Henry faced up to the time of the first major pretender, Lambert Simnel [referred to in the song as "Lambart [who] was crowned by false advertence"], as well as how Waterford stuck by Henry, see the notes to "The Mayor of Waterford's Letter." But not even crushing two revolts (Stafford's and Lambert's) spelled peace for Henry VII; the country was just too restive and he was just too efficient about collecting taxes (it was in his reign that the infamous Morton's Fork was invented -- named for John Morton, who came to be Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor. The Fork was a trick used by tax collectors: If a man lived in luxury, he had money which could be taxed; if he lived in poverty, he was saving money which could be taxed). Much of the country, for one reason or another, wanted a different king.
Kendall, p. 477, says that there had been "at least three other 'feigned boys.'" But the three after Lambert were quickly dealt with. Not so imposter #5. In 1491, Henry was confronted with the most serious pretender of all, Perkin Warbeck (called "Parkin" in the song). Warbeck was an interesting case, because several witnesses said he actually looked like a member of the House of York (see Alison Weir, _The Princes in the Tower_, Ballantine, 1992, p. 239). It's not impossible that he was an illegitimate son of Edward IV (who sowed enough wild oats to supply an entire stable of horses), but there doesn't seem to be any evidence for this, and Weir, p. 241, thinks it unlikely. She mentions a possibility that he was Richard III's son -- but the one Plantagenet whom Warbeck did *not* resemble was the short, dark Richard III.
According to Desmond Seward, _The Wars of the Roses_, Penguin, 1995 [hereafter Seward-Roses], p. 322, "'Pierrequin Werbecque' was born in Tournai in about 1474, the son of a boatman. Weir, p. 241, says that he eventually admitted to being "the son of John Warbeck, or Osbeck, and Katherine de Faro, his wife, both converted Jews living in Tournai where John was a minor official. When Peter (or Peterkin, as he was known) was small, the family lived for a time in London, where John Warbek earned a living by suppling carpets to the royal court."
Whatever Warbeck's early history, he apparently arrived in Ireland in 1491 as the servant of a Breton silk merchant and, while walking through the streets of Cork dressed in his master's splendid clothes (Seward-Roses, p. 322; Weir, p. 242, describes him as modeling the outfits), was taken for a member of the Yorkist royal family."
Apparently that was enough for Warbeck and those around him. According to Weir, p. 236, he briefly claimed to be the Earl of Warwick, the son of King Edward IV's younger brother George of Clarence. Henry VII in his propaganda said that he also listed himself as the son of Richard III. But he soon settled upon the identity of Richard of York, the younger of Edward IV's two sons. (Probably he decided to adopt the persona of Richard, the younger of the Princes in the Tower, rather than Edward, the older, because they were close in age, or because Edward V had been known to more people. But it is interesting to note that, if the bones said to be those of the Princes are indeed theirs -- and there can be no proof either way until the British Royal Family gives permission for DNA testing -- the elder suffered from dental problems that might well have killed him. So Richard was the prince more likely to still be alive,)
Quite a few of the monarchs of Europe recognized him -- including, for a time, the King of France (Weir, p. 236). Henry finally talked Charles VIII out of supporting the pretender, but the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, and her stepson-in-law, the Duke Maximillian, recognized him and gave him shelter in Flanders. The Dowager Duchess was the sister of Edward IV, and must have known he was a pretender -- but evidently would have preferred anyone to Henry VII.
In 1493, Warbeck returned to Ireland, that hotbed of Yorkist sympathy (Weir, p. 237). Henry VII sent Lord Poynings to Ireland in 1494 to stop him. Poynings did not manage to catch Warbeck -- but he did drive him back to Flanders, plus he forced the Irish parliament to pass Poynings' Law, which all but destroyed the Irish parliament; the English crown was given the right to control its meetings and negate any legislation which affected anything outside Ireland (see Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, _A History of Ireland_, Routledge, 1988; I use the 1993 Barnes & Noble edition; p. 103). This particular law was responsible for many of the problems of Ireland over the next three centuries.
By 1495, Henry had rounded up just about all of Warbeck's English followers (Weir, p. 237; Seward-Roses, p. 322, claims he learned who they were by bribing a former Yorkist knight), and even executed Sir William Stanley (Kendall, p. 457) -- the man who, a decade earlier, had killed Richard III and put Henry on the throne! (Seward-Roses, p. 322, considers it significant that Stanley,who always had an eye to his own profit, thought Warbeck enough of a threat to Henry as to support him. It certainly is interesting -- but I'm not convinced Stanley *did* support Warbeck. Being William Stanley, he may have simply tried to have a foot in both camps. But Henry -- unlike his relatively merciful predecessor Richard III, who always forgave the Stanleys -- wouldn't allow such things. For the whole Stanley mess, see the notes to "The Vicar of Bray.")
When Warbeck attempted to land in England, he was driven off (Seward-Roses, p. 323); he then headed for Waterford, but Poynings drove him back; finally, he ended up in Scotland, where James IV took him in but then came to dislike him and made him unwelcome; he headed once more for Ireland in 1497 (Weir, p. 238; Seward-Roses, p. 323). He finally managed to land in Cornwall ( which had risen in rebellion over Henry's impossible taxes), but when Henry's army arrived, Warbeck fled, was captured, and for a time was treated well. But he tried to escape, and was captured again, tortured, and placed in close confinement near the very Earl of Warwick he had once impersonated (Seward-Roses, p. 323).
Weir, p. 238, speculates that this was deliberate -- the government was trying to lure them into a conspiracy. Certainly the government detected one (even though Warwick was considered feeble-minded (Kendall, p. 349; Weir, p. 239; Seward-Roses, p. 324), and both were executed in 1499. 
Seward-Roses, p. 324, mentions Francis Bacon's belief that Warwick was killed because Ferdinand of Aragon had refused to marry his daughter to Henry VII's son until all possible Plantagenet pretenders were eliminated; as long as any were alive, there would be plots.
Before his execution, Warbeck confessed -- or at least was said to have confessed -- that he was not the son of Edward IV. Warwick's turn followed soon after (Seward-Roses, p. 324, mentions the coming of another false Warwick, named Ralph Wulford, as helping to prompt this), without any such notable confession. The last great threat to Henry VII's illegitimate kingship was done.
Could Warbeck have displaced Henry? It's an interesting question. After 1495, he had no chance. But there might have been a possibility in 1494 or 1495. So it was pretty significant when Waterford kept him from landing in Ireland.
Although one might argue that this marked the pinnacle of Waterford's career, the song does not end there. Having already praised the unwarlike Henry VII, it proceeds to the reign of his son Henry VII (reigned 1509-1547), whom it calls "Henry the Tryumphant." Pretty good for a king who never really participated in a battle. (Maybe it refers to the fact that he didn't face any rebellions.) Henry VIII was the second son of Henry VII, and did not become crown prince until his older brother died, so he was given more clerical than military training (Ashley, p. 630). Henry did lead an army to invade France, conducting a couple of successful sieges and winning the so-called "Battle of the Spurs," (Ashley, p. 631) -- but this 1513 "victory" was really only a cavalry skirmish, and Henry allowed himself to be bought off. A much more notable victory at this time was the English defeat of the Scots at Flodden (for which see, e.g., "The Flowers of the Forest"), but Henry had no part in that; it was the Howard Earl of Surrey who commanded the English force.
It seems clear that Henry was still king at the time of this song, though, so little wonder that it buttered him up. -RBW
File: CrPS312
===
NAME: Praises of Limerick, The
DESCRIPTION: Limerick "for true generosity, honour, fidelity ... one of us is worth ten of you [from nearby towns]." Our shopkeepers "charge us extravagant" but never "more than his conscience should bear." Our proper wives are "so dressy, so flirtish, so talkative"
AUTHOR: Dr MacDonnell (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1793 (_Anthologia Hibernica_, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 228-230, "The Praises of Limerick" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Name is Molly Macky" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs quoting the _Memoirs of Sir James Campbell_ notes that MacDonnell's satirical song was not taken well in Limerick and "the young doctor was fain to make his escape in the night time, and never return." - BS
File: CrPS228
===
NAME: Praties They Grow Small, The: see Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small) (File: SBoA148)
===
NAME: Praties, The: see Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small) (File: SBoA148)
===
NAME: Preacher and the Bear, The
DESCRIPTION: (Black) preacher goes hunting; he meets a grizzly bear. He climbs a tree and pleads with God (who delivered Daniel, Jonah, etc.) "if you can't help me/for goodness sakes don't help that bear" The limb breaks; he gets his razor out and fights
AUTHOR: Officially credited to Joe Arzonia
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (recordings, Arthur Collins, although he may have recorded it as early as 1903)
KEYWORDS: hunting humorous animal clergy
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 425, "The Preacher and the Bear" (2 short texts)
Shellans, pp. 80-81, "The Preacher and the Bear" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4967
RECORDINGS:
Al Bernard, "The Preacher and the Bear" (Brunswick 312, 1929; Supertone S-2057, 1930; rec. 1928) (Harmony 645-H, 1928) (Vocalion 15643, 1927)
Virgil Childers, "Preacher and the Bear" (Bluebird B-7487, 1938)
Arthur Collins, "The Preacher and the Bear" (Victor 4431, 1905) (Victor 17221, 1912; Montgomery Ward M-8128, 1939; rec. 1908 [possibly with Byron Harlan]) (Zon-O-Phone 120, 1905) Columbia A307/Standard A307/United A307, 1909; Kalamazoo 7016, n.d.; Oxford 120, c. 1911; Aretino D-608, n.d.; rec. 1905) (Columbia A2290, 1917) (Busy Bee D-27, n.d.; Busy Bee A-1076, c. 1903) (Rex 5073, c. 1913) (Edison 50520, 1919) (Silvertone 2026, c. 1920) (CYL: Edison 9000, 1905) (CYL: Edison [BA]18, 1908) (CYL: Albany 3193, n.d.) (CYL: Edison [BA] 1560, 1912) (Majestic 105, 1917) (Par-O-Ket 28, 1917) (CYL: Columbia 32720, prob. 1905)
Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, "Preacher and the Bear" (Bluebird B-7205, 1937; Victor 27322, 1941; Victor [Canada] 27322, 1941)
Honeyboy & Sassafras, "The Preacher and the Bear" (Brunswick 585, 1931; rec. 1930)
Kentucky Thorobreds, "Preacher and the Bear" (Paramount 3036, 1927; Broadway 8128 [as Old Smokey Twins], n.d.)
John McGhee, "The Preacher and the Bear" (Gennett 6403/Challenge 392 [as George Holden], 1928)
Poplin Family, "The Preacher and the Bear" (on Poplin1)
Jesse Oakley, "Preacher and the Bear" (Supertone 9256, 1928)
Riley Puckett, "The Preacher and the Bear" (Columbia 15045-D, 1925) (Bluebird B-8083/Montgomery Ward M-7904, 1939)
Uncle Joe & his Banjo, "The Preacher and the Bear"  (Cameo 1272/Romeo 506, 1927)
Unidentified baritone [prob. Arthur Collins], "The Preacher and the Bear" (CYL: Busy Bee 241, prob. 1905)
Albert Whelan, "The Preacher and the Bear" (Zonophone [UK], 1911)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
Golden Gate Quartet, "Stalin Wasn't Stalling" (OKeh 6712, 1943)
NOTES: According to a biographer of Arthur Collins, although the song is often credited to Joe
Arzonia, he seems to have purchased the rights from the actual composer, George Fairman, a piano player who worked in the cafe Arzonia owned.
This song has become popular in the folk revival, inevitably without the reference to the preacher as a "coon" which places this in the minstrel tradition. (The Poplins use the word, though.) Its vaudeville/minstrel/coon song origins are clear in the earliest recording by Arthur Collins, a well-known performer in those genres.
Clearly Arthur Collins had little use for exclusive contracts in 1905 or thereafter.
The World War II parody, "Stalin Wasn't Stalling," has Hitler begging, "Oh Lord, if you can't help me, don't help that Russian bear." - PJS
File: RcPatB
===
NAME: Preacher and the Slave, The
DESCRIPTION: The preacher comes and tells the hungry, downtrodden workers, "You will eat, by and bye, In that glorious land above the sky. Work and pray; live on hay. You'll get pie in the sky when you die." The song calls on workers to overthrow the system
AUTHOR: Words: Joe Hill/Music: "Sweet By and By"
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911
KEYWORDS: clergy political work food rebellion labor-movement IWW derivative
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Sandburg, p. 221, "The Preacher and the Slave" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 222, "Pie in the Sky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 856-857, "Pie in the Sky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 146-147, "Pie in the Sky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 185, "The Preacher and the Slave" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 375-376, "The Preacher and the Slave" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 306, "The Preacher and the Slave" (1 text)
DT, PRCHRSLV*
Roud #9612
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Charlie (Charlie Craver), "You'll Get Pie In The Sky When You Die" (Brunswick 392, c. 1929)
Bud Billings [pseud. for Frank Luther] & Carson Robison: "You'll Get Pie in the Sky When You Die" (Victor V-40221, 1930)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Long Haired Preachers (Preacher and the Slave)" (on McClintock01) (on McClintock02)
Pete Seeger, "Pie in the Sky" (on PeteSeeger05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sweet By and By" (tune)
NOTES: For the life of Joe Hill, see "Joe Hill." - RBW
File: San221
===
NAME: Preacher in the Pulpit (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Preacher in the pulpit, Bible in his hand (x3), Devil in the meal-sack, shaking out bran." "Oh, Lordy, come this way (x3), Never let the (devil carry?) you away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious devil nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 342, "Preacher in the Pulpit" (1 short text)
File: Br3342
===
NAME: Preacher in the Pulpit (II)
DESCRIPTION: "Preacher's in de pulpit, Preachin' mighty bold, Preachin' for de money To save de sinner's soul." "I'm gwine de land on de shore (x3) And rest forevermo'." "When I gits in Heben, Want you to be there too; When I say, Thank God, I want you to say so too."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 343, "Preacher in de Pulpit" (1 short text)
Roud #11742
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We Will Land on Shore" (lyrics)
File: Br3343
===
NAME: Preacher's Legacy, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, if poor sinners did but know How much for them I undergo, they would not treat me with contempt...." The preacher sets out to work in other areas, knowing that it will bring challenges. He hopes to go to heaven in the end
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922
KEYWORDS: clergy travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
LPound-ABS, 105, pp. 216-217, "The Preacher's Legacy" (1 text)
ST LPnd216 (Full)
Roud #6560
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Preacher (Hick's Farewell)" (theme)
NOTES: The nineteenth century seems to have seen several of these "departing-preacher-tells-folks-what's-wrong" songs. Reading this piece, I thought of a Baptist preacher who was kicked out by his congregation for being too strict. - RBW
File: LPnd216
===
NAME: Precious Jewel
DESCRIPTION: "A jewel on earth and a jewel in heaven/She'll brighten the kingdom around God's great throne." Singer mourns the girl  who promised to marry him. "The angels called her to heaven one night." Earth has troubles and treasures, but is missing one jewel
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (recording, Roy Acuff)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer mourns girl he once loved; when she was 16 they courted, and promised to marry, but "the angels called her to heaven one night." He laments that Mother Earth has troubles and treasures, but is missing one jewel. Cho: "A jewel on earth and a jewel in heaven/She'll brighten the kingdom around God's great throne...She's broken my heart and she's left me to roam"
KEYWORDS: grief loneliness courting love ring death mourning lament lover
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Roy Acuff, "The Precious Jewel" (Conqueror 9324, 1939/Okeh 05956, 1940)
Frank Bode, "Precious Jewel" (on FBode1)
Elton Britt, "The Precious Jewel" (Bluebird B-8666, 1941)
Delmore Bros. "Precious Jewel" (Decca 5970, 1941)
Wade Mainer, "The Precious Jewel" (Bluebird B-8887, 1941)
Esco Hankins, "The Precious Jewel" (King 648, 1947)
File: RcPrecJe
===
NAME: Precious Lord
DESCRIPTION: "Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am lost...." The sing prays that the Lord guide and protect him or her, and "lead me (home/on)" (to heaven)
AUTHOR: Thomas A. Dorsey
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (recording, Alphabetical Four)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 255-257, "" (1 text, probably partial; 1 tune)
DT, PRECLORD*
RECORDINGS:
Alphabetical Four, "Precious Lord Hold My Hand" (Decca 7546, 1938; partial version on AlphabFour01)
Elder Effie Hall & congregation "Precious Lord, Hold My Hand" (on MuSouth09, Babylon)
Five Soul Stirrers, "Precious Lord" (Bronze 103, n.d.)
Brother Joe May [Thunderbolt of the Middle West], "Precious Lord" (Specialty 815, n.d.)
Selah Jubilee Quartet, "Precious Lord" (Decca 48003, rec. 1939)
Kinsey West, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" (on BlackAmRel1)
File: CNFM255
===
NAME: Precious Memories
DESCRIPTION: The singer looks back on events of the past: "Precious memories, how they linger, How they ever flood my soul." The singer gives thanks for the reminders
AUTHOR: probably John Wright
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Harbor Bells)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #4934
RECORDINGS:
Ellis & Dixon Spiritual & Vocal Group, "Precious Memories, pts. 1 & 2" (Chess 1642, 1956)
Wade Mainer, "Precious Memories" (Bluebird B-8848, 1941)
McDonald Quartet, "Precious Memories" (OKeh 45517, 1931; rec. 1930) (Banner 32592/Melotone 12520/Perfect 12852/Conqueror 8009, 1932)
Simmons Sacred Singers, "Precious Memories" (OKeh 45299, 1929; rec. 1928)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, "Precious Memories" (Decca 48070, c. 1948)
Turkey Mountain Singers, "Precious Memories" (Bluebird B-5532, 1934)
Uncle Henry's Original Mountaineers, "Precious Memories" (Capitol 48035, 1949)
SAME_TUNE:
Dreadful Memories (by Aunt Molly Jackson and/or Sarah Ogun Gunning) (Greenway-AFP, pp. 274-275; DT, DREDMEM; Darling-NAS, pp. 385-386)
NOTES: Richard Dress writes, "Penned by Texas songwriter John Wright in 1877, this Roy Acuff hit and Wade Mainer favorite was first published in V. O. Stamps first songbook Harbor Bells in 1925.  The McDonald Quartette recorded it for Banner in 1932, the Royal Quartet for Decca in 1935, Claude Sharpe & the Old Hickory Singers for Columbia in 1945, and the Johnson Family Singers for Columbia in 1951 (crediting J. Wright)." - RBW
File: oooPrecM
===
NAME: Prentice Boy (I), The: see The Sheffield Apprentice [Laws O39] (File: LO39)
===
NAME: Prentice Boy (II), The: see The Apprentice Boy [Laws M12] (File: LM12)
===
NAME: Prentice Boy in Love, A: see The Sea Apprentice (File: HHH739)
===
NAME: Prentice Boy, The: see The Sea Apprentice (File: HHH739)
===
NAME: Prentice's Drinking Song: see My Father Gave Me a Lump of Gold (Seven Long Years) (File: R834)
===
NAME: Presbyterian Cat, The (The Cameronian Cat)
DESCRIPTION: "There was an auld Seceder's cat, Gaed hunting for a prey, And ben the house she catched a mouse Upon the Sabbath day." The cat, returning home, is condemned by her owner for violating the Sabbath, read a lesson -- and executed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: animal trial execution clergy
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 319-321, "The Cameronian Cat" (1 text)
DT, CAMERCAT
Roud #4576
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Auld Seceder's Cat
NOTES: Murray Shoolbraid, in his extensive notes in the Digital Tradition, observes that this is usually sung to a psalm tune. - RBW
File: FVS319
===
NAME: Prescott's Confession
DESCRIPTION: Broadside. "Ye people all assembled here To see me suffer death, Draw near the guilty wretch and hear...." The singer denies insanity, tells how he lured his victim into the fields, describes his murder, and bids farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: homicide punishment execution
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 1833 - "Prescott" murders his benefactor Sally Cochran and is apprehended by her husband
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 66-67, "Prescott's Confession of the Murder of MRS. SALLY COCHRAN, By a Private Individual at the Bar" (1 text, excerpted)
File: Burt066
===
NAME: Presidents, The (The Presidents in Rhyme)
DESCRIPTION: To the tune of "Yankee Doodle": "George Washington, first President, by Adams was succeeded, And Thomas Jefferson was next, For the people's cause he pleaded...." And so on, through as many presidents as the teacher can think up rhymes for
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: nonballad political derivative
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1789-1797 - Administration of George Washington
1797-1801 - John Adams
1801-1809 - Thomas Jefferson
1809-1817 - James Madison. War of 1812. (1815: Battle of New Orleans, fought by Andrew Jackson)
1817-1825 - James Monroe
1825-1829 - John Quincy Adams
1829-1837 - Andrew Jackson (who previously won the Battle of New Orleans)
1837-1841 - Martin Van Buren
1841 - William Henry Harrison (died in office)
1841-1845 - John Tyler (filled out Harrison's term; he was a near-Democrat in Whig's clothing, and his succession led to constitutional and legislative crises)
1845-1849 - James K. Polk (began the war with Mexico and annexed Texas)
1849-1850 - Zachary Taylor (died in office)
1850-1853 - Millard Fillmore
1853-1857 - Franklin Pierce
1857-1861 - James Buchanan
1861-1865 - Abraham Lincoln (assassinated)
1865-1869 - Andrew Johnson (a Democrat who succeeded Lincoln. The partisan Republicans in congress impeached him on trivial grounds and tried to deprive him of office, failing by only one vote in the Senate)
1869-1877 - Ulysses S. Grant (the victor, more or less, at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862)
1877-1881 - Rutherford B. Hayes
1881 - James A. Garfield (assassinated)
1881-1885 - Chester A. Arthur
1885-1889 - Grover Cleveland (first term)
1889-1893 - Benjamin Harrison
1893-1897 - Grover Cleveland (second term)
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 877, "The Presidents" (1 text)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 390-391, "The Presidents" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 877)
Roud #7542
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Yankee Doodle" (tune) and references there
NOTES: This song probably originated some time in the nineteenth century, and has been periodically extended. Randolph's version, for instance, extends into the second administration of Cleveland, but it has been extended at least as far as Franklin Roosevelt. - RBW
It's been further extended, by Oscar Brand (up through Eisenhower) and yours truly (through Bush [Senior]). No doubt the Clinton verse will be, er, interesting. - PJS
Given the political tendencies of most folk singers, I suspect Bush Junior will get some interesting verses of his own....
Another anonymous poem on this general theme, "Our Presidents" (which runs through Wilson) is found on p. 603 of Hazel Felleman's _The Best Loved Poems of the American People_. - RBW
File: R877
===
NAME: Press Gang (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a press gang in London who ask if he'd join the fleet. He agrees after they tell "shocking lies" to him about life on board. Once on board he is flogged. He had run away from his wife but now would be happy not to go to sea again.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (ENMacCollSeeger02)
KEYWORDS: sea ship ordeal sailor pressgang lie abuse
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, PRSSGANG
Roud #662
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Press Gang" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
File: RcTPrGan
===
NAME: Press Gang (II), The: see Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser) [Laws N6] (File: LN06)
===
NAME: Press Gang Sailor, The: see Polly on the Shore (The Valiant Sailor) (File: Wa057)
===
NAME: Pretoria: see Marching to Pretoria (File: Hugi425)
===
NAME: Prettiest Little Baby In The County-O: see What'll I Do with the Baby-O (File: R565)
===
NAME: Prettiest Little Song of All, The
DESCRIPTION: "When the pretty little birds are singing In the evening by the pale moonlight... It speaks to me in accents free Of one that's ever far and yet so near... The sweetest song I ever heard is one of home and mother."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: home mother nonballad separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 848, "The Prettiest Little Song of All" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7449
File: R848
===
NAME: Pretty Betsey [Laws M18]
DESCRIPTION: Betsey loves William; her father so despises him that he brutally abuses Betsey. With Betsey's mother's help, William is able to pay a last visit, only to have Betsey die in his arms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952
KEYWORDS: courting abuse death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws M18, "Pretty Betsey"
BrownII 75, "Pretty Betsey" (1 text)
DT 722, PRETBETS
Roud #1911
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Andrew Lammie" [Child 233] (plot)
NOTES: This presence of this song in Laws is rather a curiosity: Laws knows only of the copy in Brown, and the notes to that book admit of no other version -- but Laws not only lists it as traditional but as being of British origin. - RBW
File: LM18
===
NAME: Pretty Betsy the Milkmaid (Blackberry Fold) [Laws O10]
DESCRIPTION: The squire sees Pretty Betsy, and offers to marry her. She begs him not to tease a poor girl. He gives her half of a broken ring as a token. He tries to seduce her, then rape her, but she fends him off. He gives in and marries her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(2146))
KEYWORDS: beauty courting seduction virtue marriage
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Britain(England(All),Scotland) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws O10, "Pretty Betsy the Milkmaid (Blackberry Fold)"
Kennedy 314, "Blackberry Fold" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 23, "Blackberry Fold" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 831, BESSMILK
Roud #559
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2146), "Young Squire" ("It's of a rich squire in Bristol doth dwell"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 25(2147)[some illegible lines], "The Young Squire"; Harding B 28(140), "Squire and Milk Maid"; 2806 c.16(44), Harding B 25(1836), "Squire and Milkmaid"; 2806 b.11(240), Firth c.18(168), "Squire and Milkmaid" or "Blackberry Fold"
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Blackberry Grove," despite their sharing a milkmaid and blackberries. Incidentally, one of the reasons milkmaids were held in such romantic esteem was for their smooth, fair, and un-pockmarked skin, which came from their contact with cowpox and resultant immunity to smallpox. - PJS
File: LO10
===
NAME: Pretty Bird: see Little Bird (File: Fus089)
===
NAME: Pretty Boy Floyd
DESCRIPTION: "Come gather 'round me children, a story I will tell, About Pretty Boy Floyd, the outlaw; Oklahoma knew him well." The singer tells how Floyd turned outlaw when a deputy attacked his wife, and describes Floyd's many charities
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (recording, Woody Guthrie)
KEYWORDS: outlaw police robbery help
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 227, "Pretty Boy Floyd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 296-297, "Pretty Boy Floyd" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BOYFLOYD*
Roud #11504
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie, "Pretty Boy Floyd" (on Struggle2)
Pete Seeger, "Pretty Boy Floyd" (on PeteSeeger19) (on PeteSeeger41)
File: LoF227
===
NAME: Pretty Caroline
DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells Caroline that her parents had "pressed me on board of a man-o-war from pretty Caroline." He has returned rich. She asks that he show the gold ring and lock of hair that would identify him. He does. They marry.
AUTHOR: G. Brown? (source: broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3147))
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3146))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage ring return sailor brokentoken
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 88, "Pretty Caroline" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3146), "Pretty Caroline," Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(3147), Firth b.26(129), Firth c.13(265), Harding B 11(3148), Harding B 11(3149), Firth c.12(184), "Pretty Caroline"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(050), "Pretty Caroline," unknown, n.d.
File: LeBe088
===
NAME: Pretty Crowing Chicken: see The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248] (File: C248)
===
NAME: Pretty Fair Damsel, A: see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42]
DESCRIPTION: A girl refuses to be courted by a stranger, saying she will wait for her love. The stranger counters that he may be slain, drowned, or unfaithful; she says she will be faithful anyway. He pulls out his locket, revealing him as her lost, and now rich, love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1822
KEYWORDS: courting separation brokentoken
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England,Scotland) Ireland Bahamas
REFERENCES: (35 citations)
Laws N42, "Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token)"
Belden, pp. 148-151, "A Sweetheart in the Army" (3 texts plus references to 2 more, 1 tube)
Randolph 55, "The Maiden in the Garden" (3 texts plus 1 fragment and 1 excerpt, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 97-99, "The Maiden in the Garden" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 55A)
Eddy 51, "A Pretty Fair Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 92, "A Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden" (1 text)
Chappell-FSRA 68, "Betty Fair Miss" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 12, "Madam, I Have Gold and Silver" (1 text, starting with "Wheel of Fortune" but ending with a "Ripest of Apples" verse and ending with a Riley stanza, from this or some other ballad of this type)
Hudson 36, pp. 160-151, "A Pretty Fair Maid" (1 text); also 37, pp. 151-152, "Annie Girl" (1 text, which conflates 2 verses of "The Drowsy Sleeper" [Laws M4], 2 or 3 of "Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)" or "No, John, No: or similar, and 3 verses probably of this)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 260-264, "The True Sweetheart," "Pretty Fair Maid," "A Pretty Fair Damsel," "A Lily Fair Damsel," The True Sweetheart" (5 texts, mostly rather short; 4 tunes on pp.423-425); in addition, p. 265, "A Soldier Boy," opens with stanzas from this song, but the conclusion is "William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer)" [Laws N30]
SharpAp 98, "The Broken Token" (6 texts, 6 tunes)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 134-139, "Broken Ring Song" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 28, "Broken Ring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 59, "Broken Ring Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 24, "Broken Ring Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 584-589, "Seven Years I Loved a Sailor" (3 texts, 3 tunes; the "C" text, "Flowery Garden," grafts the "Poison in a Glass of Wine" theme (cf. "Oxford City" [Laws P30]) as the ending)
Fowke/MacMillan 65, "The Sailor's Return" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 63, "The Single Sailor" (2 texts)
Leach, pp. 701-703, "A Sweetheart in the Army" (2 texts)
OLochlainn 2, "A Lady Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 47, "The Lady Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBoyle, p. 34, "A Lady Fair" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 88, "The Sweetheart in the Army" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 77-78, "Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?" (1 text, in which, despite the title, the soldier asks the girl to marry, not the reverse)
Cambiaire, pp. 64-65, "The Soldier's Return (A Pretty Fair Maid)" (1 text)
FSCatskills 22, "Johnny Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 80-81, "Miss Mary Belle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 68-69, "A Pretty Fair Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 326-327, "The Brisk Young Sailor" (1 text)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 104-105, "The Young and Single Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 117-118, "A Pretty Fair Miss All in a Garden" (1 text, 1 tune); also pp. 222-223 (1 tune, partial text)
JHCox 92, "A Pretty Fair Maid" (2 texts plus mention of 4 more; the "B" text includes stanzas from "Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)")
SHenry H471, p. 317, "The Broken Ring" (1 text, 1 tune); also probably H818, pp. 317-318, "Green Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 27, "The Sailor's Return" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
DT 462,  JREILLY* JREILLY3* JREILLY5
Roud #264
RECORDINGS:
Mary Cash, "Lady in Her Father's Garden" (on IRTravellers01)
Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "Pretty Fair Miss Out In the Garden" (Decca 24213, 1947; on ConstSor1)
Louise Foreacre, "Down in Grandma's Garden" (on Stonemans01)
Warde & Pat Ford, "The Soldier's Sweetheart" (AFS 4204 B1, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Sarah Hawkes, "Returning Sweetheart" (on Persis1)
Roscoe Holcomb, "Fair Miss in the Garden" (on Holcomb1) (on FOTM)
Maggie Murphy, "Seven Years Since I Had a Sweetheart" (on IRHardySons)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Pretty Fair Miss Out in the Garden" (on NLCR06)
Sarah Anne O'Neill, "Standing in Yon Flowery Garden" (on Voice10)
Mrs. William Towns, "A Fair Maid Walked in her Father's Garden" (on Ontario1)
Doug Wallin, "Pretty Fair Miss in a Garden" (on Wallins1)
Martin Young & Corbett Grigsby, "Pretty Fair Miss in the Garden" (on MMOKCD)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(180a), "The Loyal Sailor," J. Ferraby (Hull), 1803-1838; also Harding B 11(4354), Firth c.12(335), "Young and Single Sailor"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sailor's Return
The Single Sailor
The Single Soldier
John Riley (III)
Flowery Garden
NOTES: Eddy's version of this piece may be the only one of these disguised love songs in which the man admits what he is: A creep who sneaks up on his faithful true love.
The second Sam Henry version, "Green Garden," is marked as Laws N42 but with a question mark. I understand the editors' hesitation, but there are enough links to other texts of the song that I think we can list it here. It's not as if we need another Broken Token ballad....
Paul Stamler suggested filing Art Thieme's song "That's the Ticket" here. Since this index occasionally pretends to something resembling scholarship, I couldn't bring myself to do it. But if you want to see the essence of Broken Token absurdity, that song (on Thieme03) probably sums it up as well as is humanly possible. - RBW
The last three verses of Mary Cash's version on IRTravellers01 are the "Phoenix Island" verses from "O'Reilly from the County Leitrim": as a result, the suitor is finally rejected. Jim Carroll's notes to IRTravellers01 cite another version from Mary Delaney who "had the suitor even more fimly rejected:
For it's seven years brings an alteration,
And seven more brings a big change to me,
Oh, go home young man,
choose another sweetheart,
Your serving maid I'm not here to be."
Mary Delaney's "Phoenix Island" on IRTravellers01 is even more extreme (see notes to "O'Reilly from the County Leitrim," which generally ends unfavorably for the suitor). - BS
File: LN42
===
NAME: Pretty Fair Miss All in a Garden, A: see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Pretty Fair Widow, The (Lillie Shaw II)
DESCRIPTION: Pretty widow Lillie Shaw goes out one day but does not return. A search party fails to find her, but finally traces of blood are found, and then her body. "They searched the Preston house" and find her clothes; E.B. Preston is tried and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: homicide trial execution
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 115, "The Pretty Fair Widow (or, Lillie Shaw)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa115 (Partial)
Roud #4628
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lillie Shaw" (subject)
NOTES: Although there are two songs on this subject, and this one at least spread enough to be collected three times, no one seems to have found details on the fates of Lillie Shaw and Jim Wilcox/E. B. Preston.
Frank Proffit, who supplied the Warner ballad, claimed the murder took place in the 1880s in Mountain City, Tennessee. - RBW
File: Wa115
===
NAME: Pretty Four-Leaf Shamrock from Glenore, The: see The Shamrock from Glenore (File: HHH034)
===
NAME: Pretty Four-Leaved Shamrock from Glenore, The: see The Shamrock from Glenore (File: HHH034)
===
NAME: Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow, The
DESCRIPTION: "O 'twas on a bright mornin' in summer When I first heard her voice singin' low As he said to a colleen beside him, 'Who's the pretty girl milkin' the cow?'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1835 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(457))
KEYWORDS: love work
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
O'Conor, pp. 58-59, "The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow" (1 text)
OLochlainn 57, "Cailin Deas Cruite Na MBo" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 14, "Cailin Deas Cruite na mBo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 13, "Cailin Deas Cruite na mBo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 40, "Who's the Pretty Girl Milkin' the Cow?" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #3139
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "Cailin Deas Cruite Na mBo" (on IRClare01)
J. W. Myers, "Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" (Berliner 1772, late 1890s)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(457), "The Pretty Maid Milking her Cow," G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also Harding B 25(1563), Firth c.18(163), Harding B 11(2386), Harding B 11(2846), "[The] Pretty Maid Milking her Cow"; 2806 b.11(99), "Colleen Dhas Crutha Na Mho" ("It was on a fine summer's morning"), W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.15(127), Harding B 19(79), "Colleen Dhas Crutha Na Mho"
Murray, Mu23-y1:029, "Colleen Dhas Crutha na Mho," James Lindsay Jr (Glasgow), 19C 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Peistie Glen" (tune)
cf. "Cailin Deas" (tune)
NOTES: O'Conor seems more complete than Sandburg. He hears her singing and professes to be "your captive slave for the future." She is not taken in by his profession, nor by his claim that "The Indies afford no such jewel" or that he would trade "the wealth of great Omar... Devonshire's treasure ... the lamp of Aladdin" to "live poor on a mountain With colleen dhas cruthin amoe." He warns "a young maid is like a ship sailing, She don't know how long she may steer" and he asks her to marry.
Samuel Lover in _Rory O'More_ (1836) quotes this fragment: "I saw a young damsel--'twas Noreen; Her ringlets did carelessly flow Oh: how I adore you, ma voureen Ma Colleen dhas crutheen na mbho." - BS
File: San040
===
NAME: Pretty Little Bird: see Free Little Bird (File: FSWB391A)
===
NAME: Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susam: see Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn) (File: R568)
===
NAME: Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susie: see Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn) (File: R568)
===
NAME: Pretty Little Miss [Laws P18]
DESCRIPTION: The singer courts a young girl, eventually talking his way into her bed. In the middle of the night he prepares to leave. She reminds him of his promise to marry her. He tells her that sleeping with him was her choice. She bewails her fate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1818 (Garret, _Right Choyse and Merrie Book of Garlands I_)
KEYWORDS: seduction separation betrayal pregnancy
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws P18, "Pretty Little Miss"
MacSeegTrav 67, "Too Young" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 107, "Good Morning, My Pretty Little Miss" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 49, "Good-Morning My Pretty Little Miss" (1 text, 1 tune -- an abridged composite version)
Cambiaire, pp. 57-58, "A Gentleman's Meeting (Down by Yon Riverside" (1 text, which starts out as "Pretty Little Miss" [Laws P18] but ends with 'The Foggy Dew (The Bugaboo)" [Laws O3]; Roud lists it as a version of Laws P18, but it appears that the larger part of the text is O3 -- though the material in the middle could be from either)
DT 500, PRETMISS
Roud #564
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosemary Lane" [Laws K43] (floating lyrics)
cf. "Seven Years O'er Young" (plot)
NOTES: I place [the MacColl/Seeger song "Too Young"]  with "Pretty Little Miss" (Laws P18) because MacColl & Seeger do, explicitly citing Laws. But it has few of the plot elements of the canonical Laws version, and tacks on a couple of stanzas that I'd swear came from "Blackwaterside." - PJS
Laws himself says the song has "much textual instability," even though he quotes only four versions -- two from Sharp and two fragments from JFSS.  And his sample stanzas do look a bit like "Blackwaterside."
For additional notes on the problems with this piece, see the notes to "Seven Years O'er Young." - RBW
File: LP18
===
NAME: Pretty Mauhee, The: see The Little Mohee [Laws H8] (File: LH08)
===
NAME: Pretty Milkmaid, The: see Rolling in the Dew (The Milkmaid) (File: R079)
===
NAME: Pretty Mohea, The: see The Little Mohee [Laws H8] (File: LH08)
===
NAME: Pretty Mohee, The: see The Little Mohee [Laws H8] (File: LH08)
===
NAME: Pretty Nancy of London (Jolly Sailors Bold)
DESCRIPTION: The singer writes to tell his love of the hardships endured by sailors. He describes a horrible storm he recently endured; "a sailor must yield to whatever may come." He assures Nancy he is remembering her as best he can
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: storm sea love separation floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond)) US(SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Randolph 78, "Pretty Nancy of London" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 568-570, "Nancy from London" (1 text, 3 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 53, "Nancy of London" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 130, "Sweet William and Nancy" (1 text, mixed with "Green Grows the Laurel" and other material)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 33, "Nancy from London" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 49, "Lovely Nancy from England" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #407
RECORDINGS:
Cyril Poacher, "Nancy of Yarmouth" (on Voice12)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ye Gentlemen of England (I)" [Laws K2]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Tall Grow the Rushes
NOTES: Leach-Labrador 49: "This song should not be confused with 'Nancy of Yarmouth' or 'Jimmy and Nancy,' and so forth.  Although it borrows heavily from other songs, it is a distinct and separate piece."
The "green grow the laurels" verse is
  Green grow the laurels and the tops of them small,
  For love is a flower that hangs o'er us all,
  For the green leaves will wither and the roots will decay, 
  But the red rose will flourish when my love comes from sea
The "ship in distress" theme is from "Nancy of Yarmouth". The "Green grow the laurels" verse has only those four words in common with Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)  - BS
Classifying versions of this song is indeed very difficult; Roud in fact includes a number of versions titled "Nancy of Yarmouth." The title also adheres frequently to "William and Nancy (II) (Courting Too Slow)" [Laws P5]. There are some fragments beyond classification. This is the best we can do. - RBW
File: R078
===
NAME: Pretty Pear Tree, The: see The Rattling Bog (File: ShH98)
===
NAME: Pretty Peggy (II): see My Generous Lover (File: RcMGL)
===
NAME: Pretty Peggy of Derby: see Bonnie Lass of Fyvie, The (Pretty Peggy-O) (File: SBoA020)
===
NAME: Pretty Peggy-O: see Bonnie Lass of Fyvie, The (Pretty Peggy-O) (File: SBoA020)
===
NAME: Pretty Ploughboy, The: see The Jolly Plowboy (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy) [Laws M24] (File: LM24)
===
NAME: Pretty Plowboy, The: see The Lark in the Morning (File: ShH62)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (I) (Moll Boy's Courtship) [Laws O14]
DESCRIPTION: A married man comes courting Polly. While she is attracted, she cannot wed a married man. He offers to kill his wife; she begs him not to, promising to wait seven years for him. His wife conveniently dies just before the deadline; the two are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1861 (Bell)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage death floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE) Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws O14, "Pretty Polly (Moll Boy's Courtship)"
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 10-11, "Sir Arthur and Charming Mollee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 56, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, with one floating verse from "The Cuckoo" and two from "On Top of Old Smokey")
Gardner/Chickering 68, "The Charming Moll Boy" (1 text)
Logan, pp. 348-349, "Moll Boy's Courtship" (1 text)
DT 594, PRETPOL
ST LO14 (Full)
Roud #195
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Noble Lord Hawkins
NOTES: According to Stokoe (slightly amplifying Bell), "the Sir Arthur named is no less a personage than Sir Arthur Haslerigg, the Governor of Tynemouth Castle during the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell." Bell seems to be the only source for this assertion.
"Kittredge discusses the use of the cuckoo stanza (number 8 [in the Eddy text]) in Journal 30, PP7 350-j52, i 'Ballads and Songs'" (note from the Digital Tradition). - RBW
File: LO14
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (II) [cf. Laws P36]
DESCRIPTION: Willie urges Polly to go riding with him "some pleasure [to] see" before they get married. Although she is "afraid of [his] ways," she comes, only to find her new-dug grave awaiting her. Willie kills and buries her and heads home (or out to sea)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Wyman-Brockway I)
KEYWORDS: homicide burial betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,So) Canada
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Randolph 153, "Pretty Polly" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
BrownII 64, "The Gosport Tragedy" (3 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 1 more; Laws lists the "A" text as P36A, and the rest as P36B, but "D" and probably "C" are "Pretty Polly")
Brewster 64, "Pretty Polly" (1 text plus a fragment)
Leach, pp. 698-700, "The Gosport Tragedy" (2 texts, but only the second goes with this piece; the first is, obviously, "The Gosport Tragedy")
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 79, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 110, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 69-70, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 140-141, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 89, "Come, Pretty Polly" (3 texts, 1 tune)
JHCoxIIA, #17A-C, pp. 73-78, "Pretty Polly," "Come, Polly, Pretty Polly" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 2 tunes; the "A" text is the full "Cruel Ship's Carpenter" version; "B" is the short "Pretty Polly (II)"; the "C" fragment is too short to tell but has lyrics more typical of the latter)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 53-54, "" (1 text, very short even by the standards of this worn-down song)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 128-134, collectively titled "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" but with individual titles "Pretty Polly," "Dying Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Pretty Polly," "Oh, Polly!" (6 texts; 5 tunes on pp. 395-398; of these only the "C" text has a ghost; in "D" and "E" there is no ghost but Willie's ship sinks;  these presumably should file with Laws P36, while "A," B," and "F" go here)
Lomax-FSUSA 84, "Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 143-144, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 227, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
DT 311, PRETPOL2*
Roud #15
RECORDINGS:
Estil C. Ball, "Pretty Polly" (on LomaxCD1701, LomaxCD1705); "Pretty Polly" (AFS, 1941; on LCTreas)
Frank Bode, "Pretty Polly" (on FBode1)
Dock Boggs, "Pretty Polly" (Brunswick 132A, 1927); (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Coon Creek Girls, "Pretty Polly" (Vocalion 04659, 1939; Perfect 16102, 1935?)
Bill Cornett ,"Pretty Polly" (on MMOKCD)
Cranford & Thompson, "Pretty Polly" (Melotone 45092, 1935)
John Hammond, "Purty Polly" (Challenge 168, 1927)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Pretty Polly" (Brunswick 116, 1927)
 Ivor Melton & band, "Pretty Polly" (on Persis1)
Pleaz Mobley, "Pretty Polly" (on JThomas01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Pretty Polly" (on NLCR13)
Jean Ritchie, "Pretty Polly" (on RitchieWatson1, RitchieWatsonCD1)
Sauceman Brothers, "Pretty Polly" (Rich-R-Tone 457, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "Pretty Polly" (on PeteSeeger16)
Lee Sexton, "Pretty Polly" (on MMOKCD)
B. F. Shelton "Pretty Polly" (Victor 35838, 1927; on BefBlues1)
Stanley Brothers, "Pretty Polly" (Columbia 20770, 1951)
Pete Steele, "Pretty Polly" (AFS 1587/1702, 1938; on PSteele01, KMM)
Turner & Parkins, "Pretty Polly" (Superior 2635, 1931)
Jack Wallin, "Pretty Polly" (on Wallins1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. esp. "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter (The Gosport Tragedy; Pretty Polly)" [Laws P36A/B], from which this ballad is descended at a great distance
cf. "Fair Eleanor (II)" (plot)
cf. "Pastures of Plenty" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Pastures of Plenty (File: Grnw293)
NOTES: This much-shortened form of "The Gosport Tragedy" has now taken on a life of its own. Although no clear line between the two can be drawn, I tend to call the piece "The Gosport Tragedy" if it includes the ghost and "Pretty Polly" if it omits.
One of Cox's texts (the C text, which also has a tune) was called by the informant "Young Beeham." There is no basis for this in the text of the song. One has to think this the result of some sort of confusion with "Young Beacham." - RBW
Many if not most American versions are probably traceable back to B. F. Shelton's recording, which was enormously (and deservedly) popular.
According to J. M. Jarrell of Wayne Co., WV, cited by J. B. Cox in "Traditional Ballads Mainly From West Virginia," in the early 19th century one Polly Aldridge was murdered by William Chapman, who was convicted and executed in Martin Co., KY, and this ballad was being sung about the killing c. 1850. - PJS
File: LP36B
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (III): see Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (IV)
DESCRIPTION: Polly will not marry the singer; his poverty would grieve her parents. He replies, "Some say I am rakey... But I'll prove... that I'm guilty of nothing but innocent love." He sets out for New Orleans to marry another, but decides he loves Polly too much
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924
KEYWORDS: love courting separation virtue rambling return
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Combs/Wilgus 133, p. 144, "Pretty Polly" (1 text)
Roud #4296
NOTES: Although this piece consists largely of floating verses, the combined effect is unique and deserves to be considered a separate song. - RBW
File: CW133
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (IX): see If I Were a Fisher (File: HHH709)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (V): see Creeping and Crawling (File: RL033)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (VI): see Polly Oliver (Pretty Polly) [Laws N14] (File: LN14)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (VII): see The Irish Girl (File: HHH711)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly (VIII): see The Female Warrior (Pretty Polly) [Laws N4] (File: LN04)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly Anne: see Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green: see Polly Perkins of Paddington Green (File: HHH132)
===
NAME: Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly, I'm Going Away: see On Top of Old Smokey (File: BSoF740)
===
NAME: Pretty Sairey: see Pretty Saro (File: R744)
===
NAME: Pretty Sally: see A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.) [Laws P9]; also "The Brown Girl" [Child 295] (File: LP09)
===
NAME: Pretty Sally of London: see A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.) [Laws P9]; also "The Brown Girl" [Child 295] (File: LP09)
===
NAME: Pretty Saro
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves Pretty Saro, but she shows no interest in him: "She wants a freeholder and I have no land." Nor can he write her a letter "in a fine hand" as he would wish to. In despair he vows to "wander by the river" (or kill himself?)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Lomax, North Carolina Booklet)
KEYWORDS: love poverty river
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Randolph 744, "Pretty Saro" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune); cf. 745, "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (2 texts, 2 tune) and the Hudson text cited below
BrownIII 252, "Pretty Saro" (2 texts)
Hudson 48, pp. 164-165, "Pretty Saro" (1 text, beginning with stanzas from "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" and ending with "Pretty Saro," plus mention of 1 more text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 327-328, "Pretty Saro" (2 texts, with local titles "Pretty Saro," "Pretty Sarah"; 2 tunes on p. 443)
Brewster 99, "Pretty Sairey" (1 text)
SharpAp 76, "Pretty Saro" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 39, "Pretty Saro" (1 text, 1 tune, with one stanza omitted)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 68, "Pretty Saro" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, p. 115, "Lone Valley" (1 text)
Chase, pp. 152-153, "At the Foot of Yonder Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 148, "Pretty Saro" (1 text)
DT, PRETSARO* YONDRMTN
Roud #417
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "At the Foot of Yonder's Mountain" (on Barker01)
Glen Neaves, "1809" (on Persis1)
Ritchie Family, "Pretty Saro" (on Ritchie03)
Jean Ritchie, "Pretty Saro" (on RitchieWatsonCD1)
Pete Seeger, "Pretty Saro" (on PeteSeeger40)
Cas Wallin, "Pretty Saro" (on OldLove)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (floating lyrics, tune)
cf. "If I Were a Fisher" (floating verses)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Pretty Sarah
NOTES: This piece seems to break up into two families, "Pretty Saro" (which appears to be more popular) and "At the Foot of Yonder Mountain." In the latter, the woman is "Mary," not "Saro." Broadwood and Gilchrist argued that all this is based on an ancient hymn to the Virgin Mary. If so, that would argue that the "Yonder Mountain" form is older. But we all know how active some folklorists' imaginations are. - RBW
File: R744
===
NAME: Pretty Susan, the Pride of Kildare [Laws P6]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor tries to win Susie's love; she rejects him because he is poor. Instead she gives her love to a rich man. The sailor goes back to sea but never finds another woman as beautiful as Susie
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes); before 1844 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3331))
KEYWORDS: courting poverty beauty
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Britain(England(South)) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws P6, "Pretty Susan, the Pride of Kildare"
BrownII 132, "Pretty Susie, The Pride of Kildare" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 131-133, "The Pride of Kildare" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 83, "Pretty Susan the Pride of Kildare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 48, "Pretty Susan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 88, "Pretty Susan" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 481, "Little Susin, the Pride of Kildore" (source notes only)
DT 724, PRETSUSI
Roud #962
RECORDINGS:
Angelo Dornan, "Pretty Susan" (on Miramichi1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3331), "Pretty Susan the Pride of Kildare," J. Howe (Hull), 1835-1843; also Harding B 17(246b), Harding B 11(3169), Harding B 11(3168), Firth c.18(89), Harding B 11(3167), 2806 c.16(68), Firth b.26(293), Johnson Ballads 3196, Firth c.16(437), Harding B 11(1717), Firth b.27(339), Firth b.25(496), Harding B 11(1110), Firth c.16(437), "Pretty Susan the Pride of Kildare"
Murray, Mu23-y1:118, "Pretty Susan the Pride of Kildare," unknown, 19C
File: LP06
===
NAME: Pretty Susie, the Pride of Kildare: see Pretty Susan, the Pride of Kildare [Laws P6] (File: LP06)
===
NAME: Pretty Sylvia: see The Female Highwayman [Laws N21] (File: LN21)
===
NAME: Pretty Three-Leaved Shamrock from Glenore, The: see The Shamrock from Glenore (File: HHH034)
===
NAME: Pretty Wench: see I Am a Pretty Wench (File: BGMG082)
===
NAME: Prickilie Bush, The: see The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)
===
NAME: Prickle-Holly Bush: see The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)
===
NAME: Prickly Bush, The: see The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)
===
NAME: Pride of Glencoe, The: see MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe) [Laws N39] (File: LN39)
===
NAME: Pride of Glenelly, The
DESCRIPTION: In flowery verse and classical allusions, the singer praises the beauty of Glenelly and the woman who lives there. He describes her appearance. He claims that all the ancient beauties made their reputations with jewelry; the woman of Glenelly is real
AUTHOR: James Devine
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: beauty nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H607, pp. 249-250, "The Pride of Glenelly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13339
NOTES: Hard to believe that anyone voluntarily sing this thing. The words are incredibly ornate, and it's littered with classical allusions. And it doesn't even *say* anything. But Sam Henry reportedly got it from a source other than the author. - RBW
File: HHH607
===
NAME: Pride of Kildare, The: see Pretty Susan, the Pride of Kildare [Laws P6] (File: LP06)
===
NAME: Pride of Kilkee, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a maid going to Kilkee. He offers her a seat and asks her home. She rejects him as a seducer. He claims to be honorable. She agrees only to marry him. "Oh, her name I won't mention at all But I'll style her the Pride of Kilkee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1974 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 32, "The Pride of Kilkee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5217
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "The Kilkee Maid" (on IRTLenihan01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ar Eirinn Ni Neosfainn Ce hi (For Ireland I Will Not Tell Whom She Is)"  (tune, according Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
cf. "Seek Not from Whence Love She Came" (motif: hiding a sweetheart's name)
cf. "The Lisburn Lass" (motif: hiding a sweetheart's name)
cf. "Tons of Bright Gold" (motif: hiding a sweetheart's name)
NOTES: In spite of the line "Who would blame me to make her my own" it is not clear, at the end, that they marry.
Kilkee is in County Clare, Ireland.
For other examples of hidden names see "Ar Eirinn Ni Neosfainn Ce hi (For Ireland I Will Not Tell Whom She Is)" and "Drihaureen O Mo Chree (Little Brother of My Heart)" and its notes. Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "Obviously, the writer of Tom's song ["the Pride of Kilkee"] was familiar with the English version of 'Ar Eirinn Ni Neosfainn Ce hi.' Writing more than two decades after hearing these songs for the first time, I have not re-encountered them in oral tradition since, and know of no printed sources for either of them." But, in the notes to "Ar Eirinn Ni Neosfainn Ce hi," Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "The Clare Gaelic scholar Eugene O'Curry stated that this song was written originally about 1810 .... The song in English which Tom sings has been about for a good many years likewise, as is witnessed by the similar version which Freeman noted down in London in 1915...." - BS
File: RcPriKil
===
NAME: Pride of Logy Bay, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is in love. His love's father comes to him and threatens to send his daughter away if the two continue to see each other. Her father arranges for her exile, but -- after many years of seeking -- the two find each other and are married.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: love exile separation reunion father
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
FSCatskills 61, "The Pride of Logy Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 47, "The Star of Logy Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 134, "The Star of Logy Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 25, "The Star of Logy Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 59-60, "The Star of Logy Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 110, "The Star of Logy Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, STARLOGY*
Roud #4421
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "The Star of Logy Bay" (on NFOBlondahl01,NFOBlondahl05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Maid of Sweet Gurteen" (lyrics)
cf. "I Am a Newfoundlander" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
I Am a Newfoundlander (File: RySm089)
NOTES: Logy Bay is in Newfoundland, a short way north of Saint John's - RBW
According to GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador site the author is "unknown, but probably Mark Walker." - BS
File: FSC061
===
NAME: Pride of Newry Town, The
DESCRIPTION: Orphans William and Mary promise to wed, but poverty forces William to sea. He is long away, and Mary (thinking him dead) weds another. He returns; Mary drops dead when he arrives. Old and new suitors do battle; William kills his rival and returns to sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Hayward-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: love separation sailor reunion husband death fight betrayal
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H190, pp. 420-421, "Killeavy's Pride"; H798, pp. 421-422, "The Pride of Newry Town" (2 text, 2 tunes)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 103-106, "Killeevy's Pride" (1 text)
Roud #4390
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Susan Carr" (plot)
NOTES: In "Killeevy's Pride" (Henry and Hayward-Ulster) Mary ends as "a victim to false love in the Asylum of Belfast." - BS
File: HHH190
===
NAME: Pride of Pimlico, The
DESCRIPTION: Kitty Quinn comes to town "And made of every other lass about the place a foe Because she took their sweethearts." The men can't work, the drinkers give up drink, and the teetotalers take up alcohol. Soon there'll be 10000 victims of the Pride of Pimlico.
AUTHOR: Arthur Griffith
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS:  love humorous drink
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More, pp. 265-266, "The Pride of Pimlico" (1 text)
File: OLcM265
===
NAME: Pride of the Prairie
DESCRIPTION: "On the wild and woolly prairie, Not far from old Pueblo town, Lived a little girl named Mary, Eyes of blue and tresses of brown." A cowboy comes up and asks her to marry him. They agree, and ride off stealing kisses
AUTHOR: Words: Henry J. Breen/Music: George Botsford
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: cowboy love marriage
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 25, "Pride of the Prairie" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr025
===
NAME: Pride of the Shamrock Shore, The: see Mary, the Pride of the Shamrock Shore (File: Pea630)
===
NAME: Priest and the Nuns, The
DESCRIPTION: Pumping Shanty. A priest goes to France and finds seven nuns lying sick in the convent yard. He claims to be a doctor with a cane/stick that will cure them. He treats all the nuns and says he'll call again. choruses of "Ho, ho ho" and "Hal-ler-al-le-re."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: shanty bawdy clergy trick
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 166-167, "The Priest and the Nuns" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9146
NOTES: The pattern of text and choruses is reminiscent of "Able Brown the Sailor" even though the words are completely different and for a shanty, rather tame. Harlow gives no notes or history on this, though it would be easy to imagine much coarser versions. - SL
File: Harl166
===
NAME: Prince Boys, The: see The Bold Princess Royal [Laws K29] (File: LK29)
===
NAME: Prince Charles He Is King James's Son: see The White Cockade (File: R120)
===
NAME: Prince Charlie (I): see So Dear Is My Charlie to Me (Prince Charlie) (File: HHH533)
===
NAME: Prince Charlie (II): see The Bonnie House o Airlie [Child 199] (File: C199)
===
NAME: Prince Edward Island Murder
DESCRIPTION: William Millman was "his mother's hope and joy" He "led [Mary Tuplin] astray," then murders her and sinks her body in the river with a heavy stone. The body is discovered and Millman executed on the gallows. 
AUTHOR: Mrs. C. A. Barren?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: seduction execution homicide mother punishment
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jun 28, 1887 - Murder of Mary Tuplin by William Millman
1888 - Execution of Millman
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 140, "Prince Edward Island Murder" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS140 (Partial)
Roud #1837
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Millman Song" (subject)
cf. "The Murder of Mary Tuplin" (subject)
cf. "The Millman and Tuplin Song" (subject)
NOTES: This song is item dF59 in Laws's Appendix II.
Roud has at least five different numbers for this event:
Roud #1837: Creighton-NovaScotia 140, "Prince Edward Island Murder" [Laws dF59]
Roud #4129: Doerflinger, pp. 285-286, "The Millman Song" (also Ives-DullCare, pp. 180-181, "The Millman Murder Trial") [LawsdF60]
Roud #9179: Ives-DullCare, pp. 46-47, "The Millman and Tuplin Song" (also Manny/Wilson 50, "Young Millman")
Roud #9552: Shea, pp. 174-179, "The Millman Tragedy"
Roud #12463: Dibblee/Dibblee pp. 72-73, "The Murder of Mary Tuplin" - BS
File: CrNS140
===
NAME: Prince Edward Isle, Adieu: see The History of Prince Edward Island (File: Doe256)
===
NAME: Prince Heathen [Child 104]
DESCRIPTION: Prince Heathen takes a girl against her will. He rapes her and offers her  extreme cruelty, all to break her will. She never yields. At last her babe is born. After further abuse, bringing her close to death, her spirit fails; at last he acts human
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: rape abuse pregnancy
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 104, "Prince Heathen" (2 texts)
DT 104, PRINHEAT
Roud #3336
File: C104
===
NAME: Prince of Morocco, The (The Sailor Boy II) [Laws N18]
DESCRIPTION: A rich lady is in love with a sailor. Her father promises his daughter 12,000 pounds if she will leave her sailor. The sailor disguises himself as the Prince of Morocco to fool her father. They are married. The girl collects. The sailor reveals himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love disguise trick marriage
FOUND_IN: US(NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws N18, "The Prince of Morocco (The Sailor Boy II)"
Randolph 88, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 61, "The Young Prince of Spain" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 63, "The Prince of Morocco; or, Johnnie" (1 text)
DT 449, PMOROCCO
Roud #554
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(64a), "The Sailor Boy," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890?
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kitchie-Boy" [Child 252] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Poor Sailor Boy
File: LN18
===
NAME: Prince Robert [Child 87]
DESCRIPTION: Prince Robert asks his mother's blessing on his marriage; instead she poisons him. He sends for his wife. Arriving after the burial, she desires only a ring, but the mother will give nothing. She dies. From the graves grow a birch and brier which entwine.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: marriage poison homicide burial ring flowers stepmother
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 87, "Prince Robert" (4 texts)
Bronson 87, comments only
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 453-454, "Prince Robert" (notes only)
OBB 58, "Prince Robert" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 26, pp. 121-123, "Prince Robert" (1 text)
Roud #55
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Harry Saunders
File: C087
===
NAME: Prince William and Lady Margaret: see Fair Margaret and Sweet William [Child 74] (File: C074)
===
NAME: Princess Royal, The: see The Bold Princess Royal [Laws K29] (File: LK29)
===
NAME: Prison of Newfoundland
DESCRIPTION: "... listen to my sad tale, While I relate the hardship attending St. John's jail." Doyle lands at "Harvey's Wharf a cargo for to land." A witness lies; Doyle is sentenced to six months. From a cell he watches "the lads and lassies" and dreams of Ireland
AUTHOR: Johnny Doyle?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: homesickness prison trial shore sailor prisoner Ireland
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Doyle3, pp. 48-49, "Prison of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 90, "The Prison of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 46-47, "The Prison of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PRSONEWF*
Roud #4409
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Prison of Newfoundland" (on NFOBlondahl02)
NOTES: Blondahl: "Mention of the Black Ball Line ... would seem to date the song in the vicinity of the late 1880's." - BS
File: Doyl3048
===
NAME: Prisoner at the Bar, The (The Judge and Jury)
DESCRIPTION: "The judge was there, the jury too, And people from afar, A fair young lad of tender youth Was a prisoner at the bar." The young man's sweetheart argues the case; she simply asks judge and jury to remember their youthful love. The prisoner is freed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Peg Moreland)
KEYWORDS: love judge trial reprieve freedom crime
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 828, "The Prisoner at the Bar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3543
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink], "Prisoner at the Bar" (Supertone 9639, 1930)
Lulu Belle & Scotty, "The Prisoner At the Bar" (Conqueror 8594, 1935; Melotone 6-03-59, 1936; Vocalion 05487, 1940)
Peg Moreland, "The Prisoner at the Bar" (Victor 21548, 1928)
Doc Williams' Border Riders, "Prisoner at the Bar" (Wheeling DW-1016, n.d.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Geordie" [Child 209] (plot)
NOTES: Barry and Henry thought this might be a derivative of "Geordie" (Child 209). To call this a stretch is to be generous. - RBW
File: R828
===
NAME: Prisoner for Life (II), A: see Irish Mail Robber, The [Laws L15] (File: LL15)
===
NAME: Prisoner for Life, A (I - Farewell to Green Fields and Meadows)
DESCRIPTION: "Farewell (to) green fields and (green) meadows, adieu; Your rocks and your mountains I now part from you." The singer, condemned to (life in) prison, laments all the various things -- nature, friends, whatever springs to mind -- he will be separated from
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (J. Lomax - Cowboy Songs)
KEYWORDS: prison separation lament
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 164, "A Prisoner for Life" (4 texts, 3 tunes, of which the "B,"  and "D" texts and the "C" excerpt go with this piece; the "A" text is "The Irish Mail Robber" [Laws L15])
DT, PRSNRLIF* PRSNRLF2*
Roud #4312
RECORDINGS:
Jules Allen, "A Prisoner for Life" (Victor V-40068, 1929)
Betty Laferty, "Farewell to Sweet Beaver" (on Crisp01)
NOTES: Ozark folklore credits this to one William Alexander, who on January 21, 1890 was convicted of murder by Isaac Parker (known as the "Hanging Judge"). Originally sentenced to death, this was reduced to life imprisonment, and the story is that Alexander was eventually freed when the dead man turned up alive!
Several scholars have pronounced this story true, or at least possible, but Laws, and others, suspect this piece to be of Irish origin. - RBW
File: R164
===
NAME: Prisoner's Hope, The: see Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (File: RJ19214)
===
NAME: Prisoner's Song (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments his time in prison, and thinks of all that he would do if free. He recalls his crime. He misses his family and his sweetheart. He describes his hopes for freedom in complex metaphors: a ship on the sea, an eagle's wings, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: prison lament love family
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,So) Ireland Canada
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
FSCatskills 100, "The Prisoner's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 746, "Meet Me Tonight" (4 texts, 1 tune, with the "C" text being probably this piece although the other three appear to go with "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight")
BrownIII 350, "The Prisoner's Song" (7 texts plus 1 fragment, 2 excerpts, and mention of 1 more; "A"-"C," plus probably the "D" excerpt, are "The Prisoner's Song (I)"; "E" and "G," plus perhaps the "H" fragment, are "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight"; "J" and "K" are "Sweet Lulur"); also probably 351, "Seven Long Years" (1 text, certainly mixed but containing elements characteristic of this song)
JHCoxIIB, #27, pp. 193-194, "The Prisoner's Song" (1 text, 1 tune, collected in 1925 and almost certainly Dalhart-influenced)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 346-351, "New Jail/Prisoner's Song/Here's Adieu to all Judges and Juries" (1, not collected by Scarborough, of "Judges and Juries," plus 6 texts from her collections: "New Jail," "I'm Going To My New Jail Tomorrow," "New Jail," "Meet Me in the Moonlight," "The Great Ship," "Prisoner's Song"; 3 tunes on pp.449-450; the "A" fragment is probably "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight"; "B" and "D" are "New Jail" types; "C" is too short to classify; "E" is a mix of floating verse, "If I had a great ship on the ocean," "Let her go, let her go and God bless her," "Sometimes I'll live in the white house, sometimes I live in town..."; "F" may well have some Dalhart influence)
Fuson, p. 143, "Meet Me in the Moonlight" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 218-219, "Seven Long Years in State Prison" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H746, p. 62, "Gaol Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC100 (Partial)
Roud #11730
RECORDINGS:
Clarence Ashley & Tex Isley, "Prisoner's Song" (on Ashley01)
Wilf Carter, "The Prisoner's Song" (Bluebird [Canadian] 55-3202, 1943)
Vernon Dalhart, "The Prisoner's Song" (Victor 19427-B, 1924) (Columbia 257-D, 1924) (Perfect 12164, 1924) (Edison 51459 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], 1925; rec. 1924) (Brunswick 2900, 1925) (OKeh 40328 [as Tobe Little], 1925) (Bell 340, 1925) (Regal 9795, 1925) (Cameo 703 [708?], 1925; Perfect 12644/Supertone S-2000, 1930) (Apex [Can.] 8428, 1926) (CYL: Edison [BA] 4954, n.d. [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.]) (Ajax [Can.] 17115, 1925 - probably a reissue of another recording, but it's not clear which)
Kaplan's Melodists w. Vernon Dalhart, voc. "The Prisoner's Song" (Edison 51666, 1925)
Buell Kazee [untitled fragment, under "On Top of Old Smokey"] (on Kazee01)
Bill Monroe & his Bluegrass Boys, "The Prisoner's Song" (Decca 46314, 1951)
Ezra Paulette & his Beverly Hillbillies, "The Prisoner's Song" (Vocalion 03263, 1936)
George Reneau "The Prisoner's Song" (Vocalion 5056/Vocalion 14991/Silvertone 3045 [as George Hobson], 1925)
Arthur Smith, "Kilby Jail" (on McGeeSmith1)
The Texas Drifter, "The Prisoner's Song" (Panachord [U.K.] 25250, 1932)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" (tune)
cf. "Botany Bay"
cf. "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight"
cf. "New Prisoner's Song"
cf. "The Prisoner's Song (II)"
cf. "Sweet Lulur" (floating verses)
NOTES: Disentangling the sources and versions of this song is almost impossible. Cazden et al believe that it was formed by the collation of two songs, one belonging to the "Botany Bay/Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries" family and another being a variant of "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight/I Wish I Had Someone to Love Me." Various floating verses added to the mix, and a portion of "The Red River Valley" supplied the tune. (Others say the tune is "The Ship That Never Returned." Another part of the family, the "Seven Long Years in State Prison/I'm Going to the New Jail Tomorrow" group, uses a slightly regularized form of "My Bonnie.")
Such an elaborate reconstruction can hardly be proved, but there is no doubt that this song has complex roots. The relationships between the texts can hardly be proved; I just hope we locate all of them!
Plus, of course, almost any version collected after 1924 may have been influenced by the Vernon Dalhart recording, which was certainly the first million-selling country side (exact numbers are uncertain, but sheet music sales exceeded one million, and at least two million discs were sold; some estimates put the total at 25 million or more!). The Carter Family also had "Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight" version, which adds to the complications.
The Dalhart version was copyrighted in 1924 by Dalhart in the name of Guy Massey, a cousin of the singer. At one point, Dalhart claimed Massey wrote the words and he himself the tune. On other occasions, Dalhart claimed the whole song. He also said at one point that it was public domain. Dalhart managed to collect author's royalties, though -- and gave very little to Massey.
The above is mostly from Walter Darrell Haden, in his biography of Dalhart in Malone & McCulloh, _Stars of Country Music_. But he also offers a more complicated tale:
When Dalhart planned to record "The Wreck of Old 97" for Victor (he had already recorded it for Edison, and it was his biggest success to that time), they needed a flip side. To that point, Dalhart had been doing mostly operatic pieces, and didn't have much of a country repertoire. He showed the studio's music director a few lines written out (but not necessarily composed) by Massey. The Victor official, Nathaniel Shilkret, padded out the text and added a tune.
Whatever the details of authorship (and I agree with Haden that this is a slightly-patched-up folksong), it launched Dalhart on a career in which he sold an estimated 50 million discs, cut some  3000 sides totalling about 1000 different songs, and recorded under dozens if not hundreds of names - RBW
Mike Seeger classes "Kilby Jail" as being a variant of this song. The words don't look like it to me, but certainly the gestalt is the same, so I'll go along with him. - PJS
File: FSC100
===
NAME: Prisoner's Song (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer envies a sparrow its liberty. He describes the hard lot of the prisoners, "reduced to skin and bone," bound to ball and chain. He warns others not to keep bad company, or they'll be like him, serving 27 years in the penitentiary
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (collected from Christina McAllister)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: The singer, a prisoner, strolls to see a sparrow, envying the bird its liberty; he imagines it saying, "Cheer up, my lads, and don't be sad; some day you will be free." He describes the hard lot of the prisoners, "strapping fellows reduced to skin and bone," bound to ball and chain. He warns others not to stay out late or keep bad company, or they'll be like him, serving 27 years in the penitentiary
KEYWORDS: captivity warning prison punishment freedom bird prisoner floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 99, "The Prisoner's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16638
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Prisoner's Song (I)" (subject)
cf. "The Boston Burglar" (lyrics)
NOTES: Despite the identical title and subject, this is a completely different song from "The Prisoner's Song (I)"; the latter has the distinguishing verse beginning "If I had the wings of an eagle." It does share a final warning verse with many other songs, however. - PJS
File: McCST099
===
NAME: Prisoner's Song (III), The: see Sweet Lulur (File: BrIII350)
===
NAME: Prisoner's Song (IV): see New Prisoner's Song (File: RcNPS)
===
NAME: Prisoner's Song (V), The
DESCRIPTION: "Within this prison cell so dreary, I mourn away my weary heart." The singer must forever part from "my only darling." His love sends him a rose, and thinks him innocent, though he has "no hope of pardon." He will wear the rose as he is executed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (collected by Shellans from J. Ralph Vass)
KEYWORDS: prison love separation execution flowers
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shellans, p. 74, "The Prisoner's song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7325
NOTES: This, like almost everything else in the Vass Family repertoire, souds half-familiar; I have to think it's another of their rewrites of something else. But it's not clear what. - RW
File: Shel074
===
NAME: Private Still, The (The Gauger's Song)
DESCRIPTION: A guager believes a private (illegal) still can be found near Dublin. He asks Pat's aid, offering fifty pounds. Pat promises to lead him there. After a long trip, they see Pat's soldier brother: "They won't make him a corporal, so he's a private still"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging sb30417b)
KEYWORDS: money drink soldier trick humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
SHenry H103, pp. 55-56, "The Private Still" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Ulster 46, "The Gauger's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 22, pp. 51-52,112,165-166, "The Gauger's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 60, "A Private Still" (1 text)
DT, PRVTSTIL*
Roud #2342
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(272), "The Private Still" ("An exciseman once in Dublin at the time that I was there"), H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also 2806 b.11(41), 2806 c.16(279), Firth b.26(131), Firth c.20(100), Harding B 11(3991), "The Private Still"
LOCSinging, sb30417b, "A Private Still," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
NOTES: Morton-Ulster: "A 'Gauger' was a member of the Revenue Police, who until their disbandment in the mid 1850s, had been charged with the suppression of illicit distillation - poteen making." - BS
Broadside LOCSinging sb30417b: 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: HHH103
===
NAME: Privates Eat the Middlin', The: see Jinny Go Round and Around (File: R272)
===
NAME: Prodigal Son (I)
DESCRIPTION: Prodigal son, starving, decides to return home. His father embraces him, saying, "Kill the fatted calf." The elder son is jealous, but the father reassures him that he will inherit. Chorus: "I believe I'll go back home/And acknowledge I've done wrong"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: homesickness jealousy home separation return reunion Bible family father brother
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #4489
RECORDINGS:
Dock Boggs, "Prodigal Son" (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Believe I'll Go Back Home
NOTES: This should not be confused with Rev. Robert Wilkins' song "That's No Way to Get Along", also a retelling of Luke 15:11-32; Wilkins' song was recorded by the Rolling Stones as "Prodigal Son." - PJS
The song "The Prodigal Son in the Missouri Harmony does not appear to be the same piece either.
In addition to the songs mentioned above, there are a number of hymns which speak of the prodigal son (a title not found in the Bible, we might note; a few translations mention the youth's "prodigal living," but the King James Version is not one of them), and the boy's exploits occasionally come up in other songs. - RBW
File: RcPS1
===
NAME: Prohibition Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: "Here is a lesson for you prohibitioners; Some wisdom it will teach; That the prohibition boys ought To practice what they preach." The song details various prohibitionists trying covertly to acquire liquor
AUTHOR: Marshal Laughinghouse?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 309, "The Prohibition Boys" (1 text)
Roud #6632
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Prohibition Whiskey" (theme)
File: BrII309
===
NAME: Prohibition Whiskey
DESCRIPTION: "It's been ten years ago or more, If I've been rightly told, There was stealing done in Arapohoe Of whiskey old and new." A prohibitionist steals gin and passes it to his equally thirsty and dishonest friends. Brewers are warned about prohibitionists
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 310, "Prohibition Whiskey" (1 text)
Roud #6631
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Prohibition Boys" (theme)
File: BrII310
===
NAME: Promised Land, The: see Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children, The Promised Land) (File: San092)
===
NAME: Prop of the Nation, The
DESCRIPTION: "'Who is the support of our country today, The rich or the poor?' you may ask. No, it is the man with the toil-hardened hand Who forever you'll find at his task." The song describes the various accomplishments of the worker, from farming to construction
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: work worker
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 74, "The Prop of the Nation' (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa074 (Partial)
NOTES: Lena Bourne Fish, who sang this song for the Warners, thought it came from Rutherford B. Hayes's presidential campaign of 1876. There is, perhaps, some logic to this; Hayes, while not poor, was by no means as well-off as his Democratic opponent, Samuel Tilden. Hayes was also completely honest (a welcome change after the corruption of the Grant administration); it is sad to note that he became president as a result of Republican electoral chicanery in which he had no part. - RBW
File: Wa074
===
NAME: Prospecting Dream
DESCRIPTION: The singer dreams a dream of a miner's hard life. His long-tom falls in the river. His supplies are scattered. His girl is far away. His strike comes to nothing. He goes to town, gets drunk, is beaten, loses his equipment, and winds up a thief
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1854 ("Put's Original California Songster")
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, a prospector, tells of dreaming that he had lost his equipment and provisions, struck a rich lead, written home bragging of his find, and blown all his money on a spree. He hires out as a hardware clerk, gets fired, and is caught stealing. Chorus: "Oh what a miner, what a miner was I/All swelled up with scurvy so I really thought I'd die"
KEYWORDS: mining hardtimes drink dream poverty bragging theft disease
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 56, "Propsecting Dream" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "Prospecting Dream" (on LEnglish02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh! Susanna" (tune)
File: FSWB056
===
NAME: Protestant Boys (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The Protestant Boys, "Orange and Blue," assemble to support the King. Appeal to William's spirit as model: "from Paypish or Frenchman ne'er to retire." "We hate [Catholics] as masters and love them as men," "God bless the people and God save the King!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1826 (_The Protestant, or True Blue_, Dublin, according to Sparling)
KEYWORDS: Ireland political religious
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 122-123, "The Protestant Boys" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 457-458, 514, "Protestant Boys"
Roud #6531
NOTES: Sparling: "In its original form dates back to 1689, but the version given is comparatively late. It is taken from 'The Protestant, or True Blue,' Dublin, 1826."
This is not the song usually referred to as "The Protestant Boys." That being the case it may be the song referred to by Colonel Blacker in Zimmermann's note below.
Zimmermann p. 297, fn 9, quoting William Archer _Marching of the Lodges_ p. 193: "William Blacker, who also denied the existence of anti-Catholic songs in the Orange Lodges, cited as 'very much the reverse of uncharitable' a line from the charter song composed in 1796 by Captain Ryan: We hate them as masters [the Catholics], we love them as men" - BS
The reference to the French also hints at a date in the period 1795-1800, since this was the time when French intervention was constantly expected; see, e.g., the notes to "The Shan Van Voght." - RBW
File: HayU122
===
NAME: Protestant Boys (II), The
DESCRIPTION: "The Protestant Boys are loyal and true." They fought bravely at Derry, the Boyne and Aughrim against James who "with masses and Frenchmen the land would enslave." "Traitors shall tremble, Whene'er we assemble, For Protestant Boys shall carry the day"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1895 (Graham)
KEYWORDS: battle Ireland nonballad patriotic religious
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OrangeLark 2, "The Protestant Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Graham, p. 11, "The Protestant Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "The Protestant Boys" was the tune played by "The Old Orange Flute."
Zimmermann, pp. 296-297, quotes the Earl of Gosford's 1835 testimony to the House of Commons about disturbances in County Armagh: "There are very frequent disturbances there between the parties, and I have heard of parties of people going through the town and playing party tunes, which have been productive of annoyance. -- Q. What party? -- A. The Orangemen going through the town and playing party tunes. -- Q. What tunes? -- A. "Boyne Water", and "Protestant Boys", and "Croppies lie down". -- Q. Are those tunes deemed offensive by the Catholic people of that county? -- A. Yes, certainly."
The offense was freely given and advertised, as described in "The Aughalee Heroes": "It being the twelfth day of July, Our music so sweetly did play, And 'The Protestant Boys' and 'Boyne Water', Were the tunes we played going away." - BS
For the Siege of Derry, see "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry." For the Boyne, see "The Battle of the Boyne (I)." For Aughrim, see "After Aughrim's Great Diaster." - RBW
File: OrLa002
===
NAME: Protestant Maid, The
DESCRIPTION: A Protestant maid marries a Catholic who has a priest help convince her to convert. The priest plans a transubstantiation demonstration. She adds arsenic to the cake and he balks at eating it. Her husband is convinced to convert to Protestantism.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: "A pretty maid, a Protestant, got to a Papist wed" In spite of her husband's urging she would not convert. He brought a priest home to convince her. The priest planned a demonstration of transubstantiation. She agreed and volunteered to make the cake. As he prepared to eat it she told him she had added arsenic; if the cake was changed by transubstantiation, it should be harmless. The priest lefts without a taste, crying "'This is a cursed place.'" She replied, "'You are a cursed race." Her husband was convinced to convert "and quite forsake the system that's impure."
KEYWORDS: marriage trick poison ritual Ireland religious husband wife clergy food
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OrangeLark 26, "The Protestant Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Orange Flute" (subject: religious conversion)
cf. "The Banks of Dunmore" (subject: religious conversion)
cf. "Garvagh Town" (subject: religious conversion)
cf. "Rosedale Waters (The Skeptic's Daughter)" (subject: religious conversion)
cf. "Silver Jack" [Laws C24] (subject: religious conversion)
File: OrLa026
===
NAME: Proud Flora
DESCRIPTION: November 8, 1802, the Proud Flora is freighted and leaves Jamaica. In a storm they "throw out some of the lumber ... then the pipes of good wine and rich brandy we were forced to throw into the sea." They land safely the next morning.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1943 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship storm sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 95-96, "Proud Flora" (1 text)
File: Ran095
===
NAME: Proud Lady Margaret [Child 47]
DESCRIPTION: Knight comes to court Margaret; he will have her or die. She says better men than he have died for her. She asks riddles; he answers and asks more. She agrees to wed, and lists her wealth.  He calls her a liar; he is her dead brother come to humble her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: death courting riddle ghost
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Child 47, "Proud Lady Margaret" (5 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Bronson 47, "Proud Lady Margaret" (3 versions)
Dixon V, pp. 42-45, "The Bonny Hind Squire" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 162-164, "Proud Lady Margaret" (1 text)
OBB 26, "Proud Lady Margaret" (1 text)
DBuchan 49, "Proud Lady Margaret" (1 text)
DT 47, PRDMARG
Roud #37
File: C047
===
NAME: Proud Nancy: see Nancy (I) [Laws P11] (File: LP11)
===
NAME: Provincial Characteristics
DESCRIPTION: "A Connaught man Gets all that he can ... bully and batter ...." "A Munster man Is civil by plan ... to cheat you." "An Ulster man Ever means to trepan ... insolence ...." "A Leinster man Is with all cup and can ... calls t'other provinces knaves"
AUTHOR: Dr John Brenan (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST_DATE: between 1812 and 1825 (_The Milesian Magazine; or, Irish Monthly Gleaner_, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: Ireland humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 125-126, "Provincial Characteristics" (1 text)
File: CrPS125
===
NAME: Psalm 100: see Old Hundred (File: SBoA028)
===
NAME: Pull for the Shore
DESCRIPTION: "Light in the darkness, sailor, day is at hand!" The sailor, clinging to the old boat (presumably meaning his sinful life) is urged to "cling to self no more" and "Leave the poor old stranded wreck, and pull for the shore."
AUTHOR: Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874 (broadside, LOCSheet, sm1874 06588)
KEYWORDS: ship religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #17400
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1874 06588, "Pull for the Shore," John Church & Co (Cincinnati)/ George F. Root (Chicago), 1874 (tune)
NOTES: This song has, at best, a very limited place in tradition; I include it because it has some connection with the story of the _Titanic_. Also, it has been recorded by Tom, Brad, and Alice, which may make it known to users of the Index.
I'm surprised it isn't more popular; it wasn't in any of the four hymnals I checked (Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, and not-sure). The tune is magnificent. Of course, the words are a bit un-hymn-like. And, with the exception of the prhrase "bright and morning star" (for which see Rev. 22:16), the words do not appear directly Bible-inspired -- though the whole thing might be suggested by Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27.
That phrase "bright and morning star" is interesting, by the way. The literal Greek text reads "the star the bright the morning." This isn't as clumsy in Greek as in English, perhaps, but I think it is an indication of the Aramaic habits of the writer. The King James Bible tried to preserve the feeling with its "bright and morning star" rendering; most of the newer translations simply say "bright morning star."
There is an intereting note on the dating: Laura Ingalls Wilder quotes this in _Little Town on the Prairie_, chapter 6. And it is sung by several men from a saloon (ironic, that). She quotes it again, in a more suitable context, in chapter 23. That is after the song was composed (1881, I believe), but not much after; either it spread quickly, or Laura misremembered where she heard it. - RBW
File: BdPuFoSh
===
NAME: Pulling Hard Against the Stream
DESCRIPTION: "In the world I've gained my knowledge, And for it have had to pay... Do your best for one another... Help a worn and weary brother Pulling hard against the stream." The singer advises helping those in need
AUTHOR: Harry Clifton (per Ives-NewBrunswick)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Spaeth); 19C (broadside, LOCSinging as110820)
KEYWORDS: nonballad help
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownIII 54, "Pulling Hard against the Stream" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 157-158, "Pulling Hard Against the Stream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 133-136, "Pulling Hard Against the Stream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1958
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as110820, "Pulling Hard Against the Stream," unknown, 19C
NOTES: Although the description sounds like a religious song, there are in fact no explicit Christian references in this piece. - RBW
Ives's attribution of authorship to Harry Clifton is supported by the "Song Writers of the Halls" article -- quoting _The Melodies Linger On_ by Walter Macqueen-Pope -- on Harry Clifton at Frederick Denny's _World of the Music Hall_ site. - BS
File: Br3054
===
NAME: Pullman Train, The: see The Harvard Student (The Pullman Train) (File: R391)
===
NAME: Pumpe-Vise
DESCRIPTION: Norwegian pumping shanty, with chorus in English. "Blow, blow, blow, blow! Land is coming in a-lee." Verses have no story, just general sailing rhymes. Verses are repeated twice before the chorus is sung.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Brochmann's _Opsang Fra Seilskibstiden_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty ship
FOUND_IN: Norway
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 507-508, "Pumpe-Vise" (1 text)
File: Hugi507
===
NAME: Punch Ladle, The: see Fathom the Bowl (File: K268)
===
NAME: Punchin' Dough
DESCRIPTION: The cook points out to the cowboys that "While you're punchin' cattle I'm punchin' the dough." His life is much like theirs, except that he fights with food where they fight with animals. He intends to be "boss of this end of the show."
AUTHOR: Credited by Thorp to Henry Herbert Knibbs
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Thorp)
KEYWORDS: cowboy cook food
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 37, "Punchin' Dough" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PNCHDOUG*
Roud #5098
RECORDINGS:
Jules Allen, "Punchin' the Dough" (Victor V-40263, 1930)
Harry Jackson, "The Round-Up Cook" (on HJackson1, CowFolkCD1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Budd Lake Plains" (theme)
cf. "The Pot Wrassler" (theme)
NOTES: The cook on a cattle run was usually an old cowboy who could no longer do the work. It's hardly surprising that he looked on the cowboys as "kids" -- nor that he used his control over the chuck to keep the cowboys in line. - RBW
File: FCW037
===
NAME: Pup from Claodach, The
DESCRIPTION: Irish and English. The borrowed pup was so badly treated, poorly fed, homesick, and unhappy that it broke its chain and ran home, crossing "those bleak and barren ranges of Claodach"
AUTHOR: Sean Eoin O Suilleabhain (source: OCanainn)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage ordeal nonballad dog
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OCanainn, pp. 94-95, "Pup from Claodach, The" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: OCanainn: [The song] "concerns a pup that was loaned to the McCarthys of Claodach, which is just over the [Cork] county bounds.... It seems that the animal was not well treated by the McCarthys and both they and Claodach come in for a fair amount of criticism in the song." - BS
File: OCan094
===
NAME: Purple Boy, The
DESCRIPTION: A girl asks her "Purple Boy" the secrets given man from "King Solomon's high Temple Throne." He cannot reveal them. "Those Ribbon rascals I would defy." She wishes she were a man "that I could join in your Orange band." Girls should choose a Purple boy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: love ritual Ireland nonballad political
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 133, "The Purple Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
OrangeLark 33, "The Purple Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBoyle 21, "The Purple Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3478
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dialogue Between Orange and Croppy" (subject)
NOTES: "Following an affray at Loughgall in Co. Armagh in 1795 the Orange Order was founded, while the Yeomen were also established in June 1796. These were made up mainly of men from the Orange Lodges." (source: _The 1798 Rebellion_ on the Hogan Stand site)
Zimmermann p. 19: "In some parts of Ulster, Protestant and Catholic tenants were mingled and contended for the land; the peasantry was thus divided into two camps, each having its oath-bound association. This led to a sort of religious war. At the end of the eighteenth century the Catholic "Defenders" were opposed to the Protestant "Peep o'Day Boys" or "Orangemen." The "Defenders were succeeded by the "Ribbonmen"
Zimmermann, p. 303: "Other Protestant organizations, such as ... the Royal Purple Chapter, developed parallel with Orangeism...."
Within the Orange Lodges, "Purple Marksmen" refers to one of the Master degree, above "Orange" and "Orange Marksman," of the Orange Institution (source: "The Formation of the Orange Order 21st September 1795" in the anti-Orange _Evangelical Truth_ at NIreland.com site). See Zimmermann's song references to "The Purple Marksman" [p. 315] and "The Purple Stream" [p. 303, fn. 39].
Tunney-StoneFiddle: .".. songs alluding to the ritual and secrets of the [Orange] Order are few and far between. Indeed, until 1952 when one William Coulter sang 'The Purple Boy' for Sean O Boyle, it was not sung outside the Lodge." - BS
File: TSF133
===
NAME: Purple Dress, The: see Mary Hamilton [Child 173] (File: C173)
===
NAME: Purty Molly Brannigan: see Polly Brannigan (File: E153E)
===
NAME: Push Along, Keep Moving
DESCRIPTION: The singer attempts various enterprises, all ending in failure (e.g. when he opens a "whiskey shop," his wife demands all the drink for herself); after each failure, he sets out on a new adventure. Moral/refrain: "Push along, keep moving"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1828 (The Theatrical Budget)
KEYWORDS: humorous drink work
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
JHCox 180, "The Nigger Tune" (1 text)
ST JHCox180 (Full)
Roud #5469
NOTES: According to Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.'s _The Age of Jackson_, p. 4, "the celebrate Buffo singer" George Washington Dixon was making the song "Push-a-Long, Keep Moving" popular at the time of Andrew Jackson's 1829 inauguration; Dixon also sang  "The Hunters of Kentucky" and, slightly later, "Old Zip Coon." - RBW
File: JHCox180
===
NAME: Push Boat
DESCRIPTION: The hard work and low pay of poling on the Big Sandy River are described. Much of the song is devoted to the relations between the singer and his girl, (Cynthie Jane).
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: river ship work courting sailor
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 35-37, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 567, "Push Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PUSHBOAT*
Roud #8088
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Liza Jane" (lyrics)
NOTES: This reminds me -- very strongly -- of "Liza Jane," and the two have assorted individual lines in common. I would not be surprised if they have a common origin. But they have drifted enough that we separate them. - RBW
File: BMRF567
===
NAME: Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have You Been?
DESCRIPTION: "Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? I've been to London to look at the queen. Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there? I frightened a little mouse under her chair"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1805 (Songs for the Nursery, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: dialog animal royalty
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 428, "Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #150, p. 116, "(Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 1, "(Pussy, pussy baudrons)" (1 text)
ST OO2428 (Partial)
Roud #15094
NOTES: According to the Baring-Goulds, there was an incident similar to this during the reign of Elizabeth I, and many have thought the song refers to that.
There is an English proverb, "A cat may look at a king," which is quoted, e.g., in _Alice in Wonderland_, chapter VIII, "The Queen's Croquet Ground." The idea also appears in Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #759, p. 759. Whether either is in any way related I do not know. - RBW
File: OO2428
===
NAME: Put Me In My Little Bed
DESCRIPTION: "Oh birdie, I am tired now, I do not care to hear you sing." The child asks the bird to go to sleeps, and requests, "come put me in my little bed." The singer recalls her mother telling her "never, never go astray"
AUTHOR: Words: Dexter Smith / Music: C. A. White
EARLIEST_DATE: 1870 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: orphan bird death mother
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 279-280, "Put Me In My Little Bed" (1 text)
Roud #4339
RECORDINGS:
Leake County Revelers, "Put Me In My Little Bed" (Columbia 15292-D, 1928)
NOTES: Belden's notes to this song are confused. He claims that Spaeth refers to this song in _Read 'Em and Weep_ -- but there is no such reference, at least in my copy. Spaeth does, however, mention the song in  _A History of Popular Music in America_ as one of several hits by C. A. White.
White seems to have had a thing about birds; his first big hit was "Come, Birdie, Come."
Spaeth claims that this song was the forerunner of the more popular "Put My Little Shoes Away." - RBW
File: Beld279
===
NAME: Put My Little Shoes Away
DESCRIPTION: "Mother dear, come bathe my forehead For I'm growing very weak...." The dying child bids farewell to friends and family, and asks mother to "Put my little shoes away." They were brought by Santa, and can eventually be given to the baby
AUTHOR: Samuel N. Mitchell & Charles E. Pratt?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Chappell); probably written 1873
KEYWORDS: death clothes family
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 715, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 463-465, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 715A)
Chappell-FSRA 116, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 25-26, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PUTSHOES*
Roud #4340
RECORDINGS:
Big Slim Aliff, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Decca 5329, 1937)
Wilf Carter, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Bluebird [Canada] B-4617, c. 1938; Bluebird B-9032 [as Montana Slim], 1942)
Chuck Wagon Gang, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Melotone 7-08-55, 1937)
Cramer Brothers, [pseud. for Vernon Dalhart and -- probably -- Carson Robison] "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Broadway 8071, c. 1930)
Girls of the Golden West, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Bluebird 5226, 1933)
Lester McFarland & Bob Roberts, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Brunswick 322, 1929; Supertone S-2038, 1930)
Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Decca 29645, 1955); (Brunswick 05567)
Riley Puckett, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Columbia 15125-D, 1927; rec. 1926)
Red Fox Chasers, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Supertone 9535, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4963, 1936)
Fiddlin' Doc Roberts Trio, "Put My Little Shoes Away" (Conqueror 8208, 1933)
Vagabonds, "Little Shoes" (Montgomery Ward M-4239, 1933)
Henry Whitter, "Put Away My Little Shoes" (Okeh 45046, 1926)
NOTES: The era of this song may explain its odd request: By the time of the Civil War, factory-made shoes were available, but were quite primitive, with no left and right hand versions. Shoes thus were easily acquired, but well-made shoes were becoming more of a luxury as the factory shoes made life harder for cobblers. - RBW
File: R715
===
NAME: Put on the Skillet: see Shortenin' Bread (File: R255)
===
NAME: Put On Your Old Gray Bonnet
DESCRIPTION: "On the old farmhouse veranda there sat Silas and Miranda, Thinking of days gone by." They realize they have been married for fifty years. They leap up, forgetting the years, and go to town to celebrate all the happy times
AUTHOR: Words: Stanley Murphy / Music: Percy Wenrich
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean); apparently published 1909
KEYWORDS: love marriage
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Dean, p. 89, "Put On Your Old Gray Bonnet" (1 text)
DT, GOLDWED3*
Roud #5491
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet
File: Dean089
===
NAME: Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet: see Put On Your Old Gray Bonnet (File: Dean089)
===
NAME: Put the Old Man to Sleep: see Luir A Chodla (Put the Old Man to Sleep) (File: LoF191)
===
NAME: Put the Traffic Down
DESCRIPTION: "Here comes Jones with his face so cross"; drink has left him destitute. "Here comes Squire Brown," rich from selling liquor. The singer calls for an end to the liquor trade: "Put it down, put it down, put the unholy traffic down!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink political money
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 334, "Put the Traffic Down" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 267-269, "Put the Traffic Down" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 314A)
Roud #7790
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Yorktown Rum Seller
Old Jones
File: R334
===
NAME: Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Formula verses about bringing a girl presents until she apparently allows herself to be seduced. Verse lines are repeated in choruses. Full chorus: "Put yer shoulder next to mine and pump away, pump away." (x2)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Formula verses about bringing a girl presents until she apparently allows herself to be seduced. Verse lines are repeated in choruses. Full chorus: "Put yer shoulder next to mine and pump away, pump away." (x2) Once I had a girl, had a girl, had a girl (x2) she had me in a whirl. Chorus. I brought her presents one... she said I shouldn't have done, etc. I brought her presents two... and her heart she let me woo." and so forth, until "I brought her presents nine... the baby's doing fine."
KEYWORDS: shanty courting gift cumulative
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 508-509, "Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 374-375]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll Me Over" (tune)
NOTES: Hugill says this was popular only on British ships. Very likely gave rise to "Roll Me Over." - SL
File: Hugi508
===
NAME: Put Your Little Foot (Varsouvienna)
DESCRIPTION: "Put your little foot (x2) Put your little foot right there... Take a step to the right, Take a step to the left, But forever stay near." Further invitations to move closer follow: "Put... your arm around my waist... We will dance through the night."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1943
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Ohrlin-HBT 45, "Put Your Little Foot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 47, 79-80, 182, 218, 230, 241, "Varsovienna" (6 tunes)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 19, 31, 38, 66, 99-100, 137, "Varsoviana" (and variant spellings) (6 tunes)
RECORDINGS:
Glenn Ohrlin, "Varsouviana" (on Ohrlin01)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Put Your Little Foot Right Out
Varsouvienne
NOTES: The "Varsouvianna" (Varsouvienna, etc.; described as a variation on the mazurka) tune is very common, and is cited sporadically in the references here. How often it bears this particular set of lyrics is less certain; few if any of the Australian versions, for instance, have words. - RBW
Ohrlin remarks that "Put Your Little Foot" was usually the cue for a fight to start. - PJS
File: Ohr045
===
NAME: Putnam's Hill: see Shule Agra (Shool Aroo[n], Buttermilk Hill, Johnny's Gone for a Soldier) (File: R107)
===
NAME: Putting On Airs
DESCRIPTION: "No use talking (x2), The truth itself declares, If you act like the folks of fashion do, You're bound to put on airs." The singer doesn't want to mix in others' affairs, but he observes how both boys and girls dress up and put on airs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929
KEYWORDS: clothes beauty courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 460, "Putting on Airs" (1 text)
Brewster 82, "You've Got to Put on Airs" (1 text)
ST R460 (Partial)
Roud #3773
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boys Around Here" (theme)
cf. "Putting on the Style" (theme)
cf. "When Young Men Go Courting" (theme)
NOTES: The last several verses of Randolph's text look almost like modifications of "Putting on the Style," but the first verse and chorus are different enough that I separate them. - RBW
File: R460
===
NAME: Putting On the Style
DESCRIPTION: A series of comments on the folly of those who put on false faces. Example: "Young man in a carriage driving like he's mad... He cracks his whip so lively just to see his lady smile, But she knows he's only puttin' on the style."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: humorous vanity pride
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 469, "Putting On the Style" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 320-322, "Putting On the Style" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 469A)
FSCatskills 109, "Puttin' On the Style" (1 text, 1 tune+variant form)
JHCox 184, "Putting On the Style" ( text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 68, "Putting On The Style" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 24, "Putting On The Style" (1 text)
DT, PUTONSTY PUTONST2*
Roud #3767
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Putting On Style" (Vocalion 15327, 1926) (Columbia 15082-D, 1926) (Edison 52118, 1927)
Warde Ford, "Putting on the Agony" [with half a verse of, "Our Goodman"] (AFS 4200 B3, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Pete Seeger, "Puttin' On the Style" (on PeteSeeger04); "Putting On the Style" (on PeteSeeger11)
[Ernest Stoneman &] The Dixie Mountaineers, "Puttin' on the Style" (Edison, unissued, 1927)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Putting on Airs" (theme)
cf. "Sweet Sixteen" (theme)
cf. "The Truth Twice Told" (subject)
NOTES: Cazden et al have very extensive notes about the origins of this song, which largely boil down to, "Hey, we found this song, and it belongs to us and our informant!" Nonetheless, their notes, and the existence of the several versions in Randolph, demonstrate that the song has become a true folk piece. - RBW
Seeger dates this song from the 1880s, but offers no documentation. - PJS
The version in Cox, collected in 1917, was reported to be from the informant's mother, which makes a nineteenth century date highly likely. Indeed, the first verse begins,
Eighteen hundred seventy one,
January the first,
Thought I'd write a poem,
If I could or durst.
It will be noted, however, that this verse doesn't scan as well as the others. But Randolph's informant Doney Hammontree said it was in "all the popular songbooks" in the 1890s. Still, the biggest single factor in its popularity was probably the Dalhart recording. - RBW
File: R469
===
NAME: Pytoria (Run Come See Jerusalem): see Run Come See (File: FSWB058)
===
NAME: Quack, Quack, Quack
DESCRIPTION: "There were three ducks that I once knew, Pretty ducks, fat ducks they were too, But the one with a feather curled up on his back, Oh, he ruled the others with a quack, quack, quack." The behavior of the ducks and their leader is described
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: bird
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 126, "Quack, Quack, Quack" (1 text)
Roud #7848
File: Br3126
===
NAME: Quaker (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "Verily high! Verily oh! Vivity vob like the shaker. All this wealth is awfully wrong And it terribly puzzles the quaker."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (recording, Bampton Morris and Jinky Wells)
KEYWORDS: nonballad recitation
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Bampton Morris and Jinky Wells, "The Quaker" (on Voice16)
NOTES: The current description is all of the Bampton Morris and Jinky Wells version on Voice16.
This is a dance tune. The words, which could be sung to the tune, may suggest the step. - BS
File: RcTQuak1
===
NAME: Quaker (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The Quaker is a ship with five hundred and fifty seamen. "By those blooming French dogs, we'll never be controlled." We fought them "till they could no longer stay." The war is over. A health to true girls and Lord Nelson "the best of all our crew"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (recording, Freddie James, RQMS Williams, G.W. Greening and Harry Hawkins?)
KEYWORDS: battle navy sea ship patriotic
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #3093
RECORDINGS:
Freddie James, RQMS Williams, G.W. Greening and Harry Hawkins?, "The Quaker" (on Voice16)
NOTES: A ship with 550 sailors would have to be a Ship of the Line. I can't find a line battleship named _Quaker_ in any British records, pre- or post-Trafalgar. The closest I can see to a similarly-named ship is the 64-gun _Caton_. But that's hardly the most famous ship in the navy. We should probably just treat the ship name as an error. - RBW
File: RcQuak2
===
NAME: Quaker's Courtship, The
DESCRIPTION: The Quaker comes to court the girl. He offers her a ring and money; she tells him she wants a man to call her honey. He tells her she is pretty; she calls him a flatterer. He gives up; she tells him to "Find a Quaker girl to marry"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1878 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1878 x0003)
KEYWORDS: courting discrimination ring
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE,So) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Belden, p. 265, "The Quaker's Wooing" (1 text, lacking any reference to a Quaker but probably this)
Randolph 362, "The Courting Song" (4 texts, 2 tunes, though Randolph's "A" text is rather tenuously related to the others); 363, "I'm Going Away to Texas" (3 texts, 1 tune, the "C" text appearing to belong here; "A" is I'm Going Away to Texas" and "C" is perhaps "The Quaker's Courtship" ))
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 295-297, "The Courting Song" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 362C)
BrownIII 4, "Madam Mozelle, I've Come Courting" (1 fragment, too short to identify with certainty but perhaps this song); 8, "The Quaker's Wooing" (1 text, also short)
Linscott, pp. 276-278, "The Quaker's Wooing" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 154-155, "The Quaker's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 23, "Quaker's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 158, "The Quaker's Wooing" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 36, "A Sport Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 176, "The Quaker Song" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 199-200, "Quaker's Courtship" (1 fragment, 1 tune, which might be either this or "Wheel of Fortune")
Lomax-FSNA 12, "The Quaker's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, p. 587, "Quaker's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 108, pp. 223-224, "The Quaker's Courtship" (1 text)
ST R362 (Partial)
Roud #716
RECORDINGS:
Buell Kazee, [Madam, I Have Come A-Courting] (on Kazee01)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1878 x0003, "The Quaker's Courtship," Alex Forbes (unknown), 1878 (tune) 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Keys of Canterbury"
cf. "No, John, No"
cf. "Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)"
NOTES: The "courting songs" listed in the cross-references have cross-fertilized heavily; one should examine texts carefully to see where a particular variant belongs.
One form of this in particular, "Madam, I Have Come A-Courting," has worn down so much that it some versions almost no elements left to allow identification. An example is Buell Kazee's version:
Madam, I have come a-courting, Oh dear, oh dear me. Come a-courting, not a-sporting....
Well if that is your desire, Fa da link dum, fa da day, You can sit and court the fire....
I've a ring worth many a shilling... You can wear it if you're willing....
I'll not have your ring or money... Want me a man to call me honey....
Intermediate texts such as Belden's, though, imply that such items probably belong here. - RBW
File: R362
===
NAME: Quaker's Wife, The
DESCRIPTION: "The (Quaker's/Baker's) wife sat doon to bake, With all her bairns about her, She baked them every one a cake...." "And then the miller sat doon to play A tune upon the spinnet." "Merrily danced the Quaker's wife, And merrily danced the Quaker."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: cook food dancing
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 87, "(The Quaker's wife sat doon to bake)" (1 text)
Roud #6479
File: MNSR087
===
NAME: Quaker's Wooing (I), The: see Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) AND "The Quaker's Courtship" (File: E098)
===
NAME: Quaker's Wooing (II), The: see The Quaker's Courtship (File: R362)
===
NAME: Quand j'etais fille de quinze ans (When I Was a Fifteen Year Old Girl)
DESCRIPTION: French. When I was a girl all the boys came to my house to laugh and go to the ball and dance. No longer. I have a household to maintain and children to look after. Chorus: "When I was a girl, Oh! What delightful joy to be a girl fifteen."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage marriage wife youth
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, p. 581, "Quand j'etais fille de quinze ans" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea581
===
NAME: Quand le Boiteuse Va-t-au Marche (When the Lame One goes to Market)
DESCRIPTION: French shanty. No particular story, each verse line is repeated as a refrain. Full Chorus: "Ah! ma doue, quel trŽsor d'avoir Žpouse (2x), Un coeur tout en or!" "Oh, my dear, what treasure to have married, to have wed (2x) a heart of gold!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Hayet, _Chansons de bord_)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: French shanty. No particular story, each verse line is repeated as a refrain. Full Chorus: "Ah! ma doue, quel trŽsor d'avoir Žpouse (2x), Un coeur tout en or!" "Oh, my dear, what treasure to have married, to have wed (2x) a heart of gold!" Some of the verses are reminiscent of "The Fire Ship" in the use of naval euphemisms, i.e. (in translation) "and then he furls her petticoat, clewing up her lower sails," "then to get goin' the smart topman, send up her the main topmast."
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty bawdy
FOUND_IN: France
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 514-515, "Quand le Boiteuse Va-t-au Marche" (2 texts-French & English, 1 tune)
File: Hugi514
===
NAME: Quantrell
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you bold robbers and open your ears, Of QuantrelI the lion-heart you quickly will hear." Quantrell raids and burns Lawrence, Kansas, but allegedly he supports to the poor, and "a brave man or woman he'll never annoy."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: outlaw
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 21, 1863 - Quantrill's Raiders destroy Lawrence, Kansas, killing about 150 men.
May 10, 1865 - Quantrill is mortally wounded on his way to Washington (where he hoped to stir up trouble by assassination). He dies 20 days later.
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 132-133, "Quantrell" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, QUANTRLL*
Roud #4094
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Charlie Quantrell" (subject)
cf. "The Call of Quantrell" (subject)
NOTES: As is so often the case with outlaw ballads, this paints much too pretty a picture. For a brief background on Quantrill (the name used in Confederate records), see the notes to "Charlie Quantrell."
To tell this song from other Quantrell pieces, consider this first stanza:
Come all you bold robbers and open your ears
Of QuantrelI the lion-heart you quickly will hear
With his band of bold raiders in double-quick time
He came to burn Lawrence just over the line.
This song is item dE33 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: LoA132
===
NAME: Quare Bungle Rye: see Quare Bungo Rye (File: Log416)
===
NAME: Quare Bungo Rye
DESCRIPTION: Sailor Jack meets a girl, who offers to sell him "old bungo rye." Jack thinks it a whiskey, and buys her basket. In it he finds a child. Jack declares the child to be "quare bungo rye," and has the child christened with that name
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: sailor drink children baby trick clergy
FOUND_IN: Britain Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Logan, pp. 416-421, "Bung Your Eye" (1 text)
SHenry H700, pp. 277-278, "Mind Your Eye" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 895-896, "Young Bung-'er-eye" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 39, "Jack the Sailor" (1 fragment, probably this though the chorus has swapped off somewhere, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 211-212, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, version "F" of "Blow the Man Down" sung to the tune of "Lowlands Low") [AbEd, pp. 166-167]
DT, QUARERYE*
ST Log416 (Full)
Roud #2404
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Bungle Rye" (on IRClancyMakem02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Basket of Eggs" (plot and baby in basket motif) and references there
cf. "The Child in the Budget" (baby in basket motif)
cf. "The Oyster Girl" [Laws Q13] (mysterious--read female--"box" motif)
cf. "Bung Yer Eye" (chorus lyrics)
cf. "The Charming Young Widow I Met on the Train" (theme of the female leaving a baby)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Queer Bungo Rye
Quare Bungle Rye
NOTES: Re:the mysterious box motif. The Lesley Nelson-Burns site Folk Music of England Scotland Ireland, Wales & America collection includes a page by John Renfro Davis with text for this ballad as "Quare Bungle Rye" and a note that "This is a variant of The Oyster Girl." The note goes on to cite a Bodleian broadside for The Oyster Girl. It also cites as "variants and alternate titles" The Basket of Oysters, Bungerye, Queer Bungle Rye, Quare Bungo Rye, Young Bung-'er'Eye, The Basket of Eggs, and Eggs in Her Basket.
The Oyster Maid/Basket of Eggs connection similarities are based on the motif of a sailor being fooled by a woman into taking something hidden in a basket which, in some versions, turns out to be a baby. While the parallels -- including the sexual symbolisms -- are obvious, these should be treated as three different ballads because of the differences in the punch lines.
The motif of the "box" with *censored* contents that cannot just be thrown away is even closer to the 1950 Phil Harris hit "The Thing" written by Charles R. Grean and set to the tune of "The Chandler's Wife." - BS
File: Log416
===
NAME: Quartermaster Corps, The (The Quartermaster Store)
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, it's beer , beer, beer that makes you feel so queer, In the corps, in the corps." "My eyes are dim, I cannot see, I have not brought my specs with me." Similarly, "...cheese... brings you to your knees," and so forth with other army items
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: army soldier food disease nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 272, "The Quartermaster Store" (1 text)
DT, QMCORP*
Roud #10508
File: FSWB272A
===
NAME: Quay of Dundocken: see The Isle of Man Shore (The Quay of Dundocken; The Desolate Widow) [Laws K7] (File: LK07)
===
NAME: Quays of Belfast, The: see The Isle of Man Shore (The Quay of Dundocken; The Desolate Widow) [Laws K7] (File: LK07)
===
NAME: Que Bonita Bandera
DESCRIPTION: Spanish language; Puerto Rican patriotic song: "What a beautiful flag, it is the flag of Puerto Rico"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (heard by Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: patriotic nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 14, "Que Bonita Bandera" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: PSAFB014
===
NAME: Quebec: see Brave Wolfe [Laws A1] (File: LA01)
===
NAME: Queen Among the Heather
DESCRIPTION: Young man, hunting, spies a girl herding sheep among the heather. He is smitten; she is "the bonniest lassie that e'er I saw." He asks her to go with him; she demurs, saying he's a squire and she but a shepherd's daughter. He perseveres and succeeds.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (recording, Harry Lauder)
KEYWORDS: courting love beauty farming lover nobility worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US(MW) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Kennedy 141, "The Queen Among the Heather" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 433, "My Lovely Nancy" (1 text)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 115-117, "Herding Lambs Among the Heather" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 74, "Herding Lambs Amongst the Heather" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 51, "The Laird o' Drum" (1 fragment, listed as Child #236 but clearly a version either of this or "Heather Down the Moor"; the stanza form tentatively places it here)
Roud #375
RECORDINGS:
Harry Lauder, "Queen Among the Heather" (Victor 60010, 1910) 
Belle Stewart, "Queen Amang the Heather" (on Voice15)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.15(240), "The Blooming Heather" ("As I was coming home, from the fair of Ballymena"), unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 11(331), 2806 c.14(60), "The Blooming Heather"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Heather Down the Moor" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "Bonnie Lass Among the Heather" (subject)
cf. "The Laboring Man's Daughter (The Knight's Dream)" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Skippin' Barfit thro the Heather
Queen Amang the Heather
NOTES: This song is very close to "Heather Down the Moor (Among the Heather; Down the Moor)"; they have similar plots and occasional common lyrics. Roud lumps them. There will be versions where it is almost impossible to tell which is which. I thought about listing them as one song.
But on consideration, "Heather Down the Moor" has two characteristics rarely seen in "Queen among the Heather." First, "Heather Down the Moor" tends to follow a complex stanza pattern of eight-line stanzas with complex internal chorus and repeats (see sample with that song). "Queen among the Heather" usually has simple four-line stanzas.
"Heather down the Moor" also tends to end with the lines
But if I were a king, I would make her a queen,
The bonnie lass I met among the heather
Down the moor.
In "Queen Among the Heather," he *is* a nobleman, so that obviously isn't a concern. - RBW
Note that the Lauder recording predates not only the otherwise-earliest collection we have found for this song, but also the earliest citation we've found for its sibling, "Heather Down the Moor". - PJS
Also collected and sung by Ellen Mitchell, "Queen Amang the Heather" (on Kevin and Ellen Mitchell, "Have a Drop Mair," Musical Tradition Records MTCD315-6 CD (2001)) - BS
File: K141
===
NAME: Queen Anne
DESCRIPTION: "Queen Anne, Queen Anne, you sit in the sun, As fair as a lily, as white as a wand, I send you three letters, and pray read one, You must read one, if you can't read all, So pray, Miss or Master, throw up the ball."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 190 (Cecil Sharp collections)
KEYWORDS: playparty royalty nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose (note to) #187, p. 134 ("Queen Anne, Queen Anne, you sit in the sun")
Roud #12755
NOTES: This is connected by folklore to Anne of Great Britain (1665-1714; reigned 1702-1714), who is reported to have enjoyed sitting in the sun in gardens. But it can't have been an eyewitness account, since Anne was hardly fair of face and not particularly fair of hue. - RBW
File: BGMG186N
===
NAME: Queen Eleanor's Confession [Child 156]
DESCRIPTION: Queen Eleanor, dying, calls for two friars. King Henry decides to substitute himself and Earl Marshal. Eleanor confesses to many sins against Henry, often with the Earl. Henry reveals himself and wishes that he could tell the world what Eleanor said
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1723
KEYWORDS: trick humorous royalty disease clergy
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1189 - Death of Henry II
1204 - Death of Eleanor of Aquitaine
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(Lond)) 
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Child 156, "Queen Eleanor's Confession" (7 texts)
Bronson 156, "Queen Eleanor's Confession" (1 version)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 462-465, "Queen Eleanor's Confession" (notes plus a text of Child A)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 127-132, "Queen Eleanor's Confession" (1 text, from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 164-168, "Queen Eleanor's Confession" (1 text)
BrownII 35, "Queen Eleanor's Confession" (notes only)
Leach, pp. 431-433, "Queen Eleanor's Confession" (1 text)
PBB 72, "Queen Elenor's Confession" (1 text)
Niles 48, "Queen Eleanor's Confession" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN2274, "Queen Elenor was a sick Woman"
DT 156, QECONFES
ST C156 (Full)
Roud #74
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosamund Clifford" (subject)
cf. "Fair Rosamond" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Dying Queen
NOTES: The element of fiction in this ballad is immense. Note the following:
* Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) outlived Henry Plantagenet (1133-1189) by fifteen years.
* Neither Earl Marshal nor King Henry took Queen Eleanor's maidenhead; she had previously been married to, and had two daughters by, Louis VII of France.
* Eleanor could hardly have poisoned Henry's mistress Rosamund Clifford; by the time Henry discovered Rosamund, he had placed Eleanor under house arrest.
If one moves the story to the time of Henry III (reigned 1216-1272), who married Eleanor of Provence, we should note that by the time the third Henry grew up, the Marshal earldom was extinct - RBW
File: C156
===
NAME: Queen Jane: see The Death of Queen Jane [Child 170] (File: C170)
===
NAME: Queen Jane (II): see The King's Dochter Lady Jean [Child 52] (File: C052)
===
NAME: Queen Mary (Auld Maid's Lament)
DESCRIPTION: The girl (perhaps "Queen Mary") is of an age to be courting but has no suitors. She dresses well, and goes out when she can, but finds no takers. Her mother laments the girl's fate, as does the girl herself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: loneliness courting playparty
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 62, "The Scotch Lassie" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 46, "The New Dress" (1 fragment, which appears to be this but might be "Nae Bonnie Laddie...")
DT, QUENMARY
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; note to #389, ("Queen Mary, Queen Mary, my age is sixteen") (1 short text)
Roud #6281
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nae Bonnie Laddie tae Tak' Me Away (I)" (theme, lyrics)
NOTES: The relationship between this piece and "Nae Bonnie Laddie tae Tak' Me Away (I)" is extremely vexed -- to the extent that it is impossible to tell which fragments go with which song. Frankly, I'd probably lump them if Roud didn't split them (and then, seemingly, mis-file some of the versions -- aided and abetted by Ford, who had two songs of this type). As a starting point, playparties and courting games go with this piece; full-fledged songs with the other. - RBW
File: HHH230
===
NAME: Queen Mary's Men (New Year's Eve Carol)
DESCRIPTION: "This is good New Year's Even-night, We are all Queen Mary's men, And we've come here to claim our right, And that's before Our Lady." The singers travel the town asking for gifts of food. The offer good wishes for the residents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomery)
KEYWORDS: food carol
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 200, "Queen Mary's Men" (1 text)
DT, MARYMEN
Roud #4584
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Orkney New Year's Eve Carol
NOTES: This song seems to be known mostly in the north of Scotland, where Catholicism held on long after the Reformation, so the refernce to "Our Lady" probably does not indicate an early date.
The reference to "Queen Mary" is not very helpful in dating. Counting backward, queens of Britain named Mary were:
Mary of Teck, wife of George V (1867-1953)
Mary II Stewart, wife of William III (joing monarchy; reigned 1689-1694; born 1662)
Mary of Modena, second wife of James II  (1658-1718); if she were meant, this would be an overtly political song, which seems unlikely
Queens Mary of England after 1400 were:
Mary I, queen regnant 1553-1558 (1516-1558)
Queens Mary of Scotland after 1500 were:
Mary Stuart, queen regnant 1542-1567 (1542-1587)
Mary of Guise, wife of James V and mother of Mary Stuart (1515-1560)
Mary of Gueldres, wife of James II (died 1463)
All of these save Mary II were Catholic, but few of them are convincing candidates for the Queen Mary of the song. - RBW
File: MSNR200
===
NAME: Queen of Elfan's Nourice, The [Child 40]
DESCRIPTION: The Queen of Elfland awakens to hear her child's (wet)-nurse weeping. The Queen of Elfland asks the reason; the nurse says that she is crying for her own son. The Queen of Elfland sets the nurse on the right road home (and on to heaven).
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: separation children magic abduction
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 40, "The Queen of Elfan's Nourice" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's (#1)}
Bronson 40, "The Queen of Elfan's Nourice" (1 version)
OBB 7, "The Queen of Elfland's Nourice" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 136, "(I heard a cow low, a bonnie cow low)" (1 fragment of two stanzas, with no plot; it simply mentions the lowing cow, and might be an independent item grafted into the Child ballad)
DT 40, ELFANURS*
Roud #3723
NOTES: Tradition has it that fairies much preferred to have human women nurse their babies; hence the legends about changelings and also odd stories such as this one about a human woman being kidnapped to Elfland - RBW
File: C040
===
NAME: Queen of Hearts
DESCRIPTION: "To the Queen of Hearts goes the Ace of sorrow... Young men are plenty but sweethearts few; If my love leaves me, what shall I do?" The singer talks of her wealth and family, "But I'll leave them all to go with you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: love courting family travel
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 153, "Queen of Hearts" (1 text)
DT, QUNHEART*
Roud #3195
BROADSIDES:
Murray,  Mu23-y1:105, "The Wheel of Fortune," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C [extremely mixed, with the "Wheel of Fortune" verse, a thyme stanza, a bit of "Fair and Tender Ladies," a "Queen of Heart" verse, and more]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Know My Love"
File: FSWB153
===
NAME: Queen of Scotland, The [Child 301]
DESCRIPTION: The Queen tries to seduce Troy Muir; he denies her. To punish him, she has him lift up a certain stone under which a serpent waits. A passing girl draws off the snake by cutting off her breast. Troy Muir marries her. Her breast regrows to suckle their son
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: seduction rejection trick animal injury rescue marriage childbirth
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 301, "The Queen of Scotland" (1 text)
Roud #3878
File: C301
===
NAME: Queen of the Desperadoes
DESCRIPTION: "She was a two-gun woman, Belle Shirley was her name." Belle marries Jim Reed who was killed by "Morris." She then marries Mr. Starr and "moved to Younger's Bend." Her six other husbands and her dominance over them are briefly described.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: love marriage death
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 97, "Queen of the Desperadoes" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #11090
File: FCW097
===
NAME: Queen of the May
DESCRIPTION: As summer comes, the singer (a plowboy?) meets a girl. He asks what she is doing; she answers that she is gathering may. They sit down together; the end result may be marriage or something less honorable
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1832 (Journal from the Bengal)
KEYWORDS: courting love sex marriage
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 190-192, "Queen of the May" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, QUEENMAY*
Roud #594
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Green Bushes" [Laws P2] (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Now the Winter Is Past
The Plowboy's Courtship
NOTES: This reminds me a lot of "Green Bushes" (Laws P2). The imagery is largely the same, and there are reminiscences in the wording. But the end results are different. - RBW
File: SWMS190
===
NAME: Queen Victoria's Welcome to Deeside
DESCRIPTION: "Ye hills and ye mountains surrounding Balmoral, ye groves and ye valleys, ye surely can tell." "The eighth of September will ne'er be forgotten... We ran and we jumpit... to welcome the Queen." Victoria and Albert's visit are toasted
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: home royalty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sep 8, 1848 - Queen Victoria takes possession of Balmoral Castle
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 337, "Queen Victoria's Welcome to Deeside" (1 text)
Roud #5605
NOTES: The details in the song are not really enough to date it (no real indication of place; a date on the eighth of September, but no year), but it does mention "the Queen and her consort and three bonnie bairnies," as well as mentioning that the queen's husband in Albert. Thus Queen Victoria (1819-1901; reigned 1837-1901) and Prince Albert (1819-1861) are clearly indicated.
There is one minor curiosity in the song. Balmoral had been tenanted by Sir Robert Gordon until 1847, when that worthy died unexpectedly. Victoria and Albert then leased the house. They in fact first arrived on September 8, 1848. But the song mentions only three children; by 1848, Victoria had no fewer than six: Victoria (future Empress of Germany), Edward (future Edward VII), Alice, Alfred, Helena, and Louise, with the oldest, Victoria, still a few months shy of eight years old.
One suspects a political motive to the song. This was the era of the Highland Clearances, and not everyone in northern Scotland was happy with the English monarchy....
There seem to have been a *lot* of songs written about Queen Victoria's visits to Scotland. Broadsides on the theme include:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.74(218), "The Queen's Visit to Scotland" ("The Queen is coming here they say, / To Scotland coming down"), unknown, n.d. but probably published in connection with an 1842 visit; also as Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 2781
NLScotland, ABS.10.203.01(128), "The Queen's Welcome to Scotland" [by Andrew Park] ("The queen she is coming, hurra! hurra! / To the land of the thistle, hurra! hurra!"), unknown, n.d.; same broadside as L.C.Fol.74(219b)
There are also broadsides on Victoria's trip to Ireland,  plus there is a sort of a parody on these praise ballads, Harding B 14(123), "The Queen's Return from Scotland," J. Paul (London), n.d.; also 2806 c.16(121a), "The Queen's return from Scotland," G. Jacques (Manchester), etc. - RBW
File: Ord337
===
NAME: Queen's Garden, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Queen's Marie, The: see Mary Hamilton [Child 173] (File: C173)
===
NAME: Queen's Maries, The: see Mary Hamilton [Child 173] (File: C173)
===
NAME: Queensland Drover, The: see Queensland Overlanders (File: FaE164)
===
NAME: Queensland Overlanders
DESCRIPTION: The singer reminds the listeners of the well-known life of the Queensland drover. He describes the various men who engage in the profession, and their visits to town. The chorus is a toast: "Tonight we drink the health of every overlander."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Paterson's _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: Australia travel work
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 164-165, "The Overlanders" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 114-116, "The Queensland Drover" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 230-233, "The Overlanders" (1 text)
DT, QNSLNDOV
NOTES: The versions of this are sufficiently diverse that I think deliberate rewriting almost certain. But there is no clear data on the relationship between the versions, so I'm lumping them. - RBW
File: FaE164
===
NAME: Queenstown Mourner, The (In the Town of Danville) [Laws H14]
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of his courtship to a fine young girl, stressing his unworthiness and poverty. They are wed even so, but the wife dies suddenly. The ballad stresses its moralistic conclusion that life is short
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (copy of broadside)
KEYWORDS: courting poverty death mourning
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws H14, "The Queenstown Mourner"
Flanders/Brown, pp. 29-33, "In the Township of Danville/The Queenstown Mourner" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT 683, QTNMOURN
Roud #2195
File: LH14
===
NAME: Queer Bungo Rye: see Quare Bungo Rye (File: Log416)
===
NAME: Queer Folk i' the Shaws, The
DESCRIPTION: "I thocht unto mysel' ae day I'd like to see a Race... Sae up I gat, an wash'd mysel', put on my Sunday braws, An' ... started for the Shaws!" He likes the races, but in his ignorance ends up in trouble with the law, and vows not to return again
AUTHOR: Janes Fisher ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: racing horse drink money police prison punishment injury
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 97-99, "The Queer Folk i' the Shaws" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, FOLKSHAW*
Roud #3803
File: FVS097
===
NAME: Quern-Lilt, The, or, Grinding Song
DESCRIPTION: "The cronach stills the dowie heart, The jurram stills the bairnie, But the music for a hungry wame's The grinding o' the quernie." Though people rejoice in other things, the grain from the quern keeps many fed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: work food nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 245, "The Quern-Lilt, or, Grinding Song" (1 text)
Roud #3938
NOTES: Ord believes that Jamieson produced this as an imitation, or perhaps an improvement, of an actual grinding song. It seems likely enough. I know of no purely traditional collection. - RBW
File: Ord245
===
NAME: Quiet Village Tilting, The
DESCRIPTION:  The singer tells about a "false, fickle maid" he loved in Tilting. But he is hopeful. "My bright hopes though shattered, they might yet revive, And kind fortune bring me a faithful young bride"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1980 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 91, "The Quiet Village Tilting" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LeBe091
===
NAME: Quilty Burning, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh the burning of Quilty, you all know it well; When the barracks took fire Where the peelers did dwell." Everyone scurries to save what can be saved. "This old barracks is no harm to be gone, For many a poor fellow was shoved in there wrong"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (IRClare01)
KEYWORDS: prison fire moniker police
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1920-1921 - The Black and Tan War
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #18471
RECORDINGS:
Mikey Kelleher, "The Quilty Burning" (on IRClare01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cod Liver Oil" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Burning of Rosslea" (subject)
NOTES: Notes to IRClare01: "The incident that gave rise to this song ... took place around 1920, when the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks at Quilty, a fishing village a few miles south of Miltown Malbay, was set alight by the Republicans."
"Peelers" are police. Apparently, the barracks served also as a jail. (For more on "peelers" in general, and the RIC in the context of the Black and Tan War, see "The Rineen Ambush") - BS
File: RcQuiBur
===
NAME: Quitting Time Song
DESCRIPTION: Call and response cornfield holler. "Oh oh oh oh,  I won't be here long. Oh oh oh oh, Dark don't catch me here." That's about it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: nonballad work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 744, "Quitting Time Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Arwhoolie
Hoolie
File: BSoF744
===
NAME: R.F.C.
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you poor distressed people And lend a willing ear to me; Your suffering will soon be ended For now we have the R.F.C." The government is helping the poor and homeless and hungry
AUTHOR: Buddy Preston
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes help political nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 235-236, "R.F.C." (1 text)
NOTES: This probably sounds like a New Deal song, but in fact the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was proposed by Herbert Hoover on December 8, 1931; it was approved by Congress in January 1932 and the RFC opened for business in February.
The RFC, however, was not a relief program as such; rather, it was intended to prop up the banking and insurance system. Its financing ($500 million in government money and authorization to borrow up to $2 billion more), while adequate to keep the financial system working, was not enough to actually stimulate the economy, and it was really a failed half measure.
Still, the RFC was retained until 1957. - RBW
File: ThBa13
===
NAME: Rabbit Chase
DESCRIPTION: Humorous cante-fable description of chasing a rabbit. Part of the humor is that, unlike "fox chase" songs, not much happens: The old wife wants a rabbit (though she hardly knows what one is); the old man and dog blunder around preparing to catch it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Charlie Parker)
KEYWORDS: hunting humorous animal dog family age
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 106-107, "Rabbit Chase" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "Rabbit Chase" (on NLCR10)
Charlie Parker & Mack Woolbright, "Rabbit Chase" (Columbia 15154-D, 1927, on Cornshuckers1)
NOTES: Cohen notes that when he played this song for mountain people, they found it so amusing that they pulled out a tape recorder and taped *him*. - PJS
File: CSW106
===
NAME: Rabbit Hash
DESCRIPTION: Patting Chant: "Oh rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, Rabbit a-hash An' polecat smash; Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit a-hash. Rabbit skip an'-a rabbit hop, An' a-rabbit eat my turnip top. Oh, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit a-hash! Oh, rabbit a-hash."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal food nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 238-239, "Rabbit Hash" (1 text, 1 tune, though the tune is really just a single note fitted to the music)
BrownIII 168, "The Rabbit Skipped, The Rabbit Hopped" (1 short text)
Roud #10058
NOTES: This is a sort of a dubious lumping of Lomax's and Brown's versions; Brown's text consists simply of the lines "The rabbit skipped, the rabbit hopped, the rabbit bit off the turnip top," and Brown did not note it as a patting chant. But it's easy to see how it could have shifted from one form to the other.
Roud links together several rabbit songs under one number: "Mister Rabbit," "Ole Mister Rabbit (I'll Get You Rabbit)," even "Rabbit Hash." All are about rabbits raiding gardens (something they certainly do) and the attempts to punish them for it (rarely successful, even with modern technology). But the forms are quite distinct, so I split them. - RBW
File: LxA238
===
NAME: Rabbit in the Log (Feast Here Tonight)
DESCRIPTION: "Rabbit in the log And I ain't got no dog." The singer, apparently poor and a rambler, perhaps a poacher, imagines how to catch the dog and describes how he will cook and enjoy it. He will sleep in a farmer's shed, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal food hunting
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 166, "Rabbit in the Log" (1 fragment)
RECORDINGS:
Monroe Brothers, "Have a Feast Here Tonight" (Bluebird 7508)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Never Let Your Honey Have Her Way" (lyrics, form)
File: Br3166
===
NAME: Rabbit Skipped, The Rabbit Hopped, The: see Rabbit Hash (File: LxA238)
===
NAME: Rabbit Stole de Greens
DESCRIPTION: "Rabbit stole de greens (x2), Break down, Molly, hoo, hoo (x2)." "Big pot o' punkins, Little pot o' peas; De ole har smile To see de pot bile. Break down, Molly, hoo, hoo. (x2)"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food animal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 169, "Rabbit Stole de Greens" (1 text)
File: Br3169
===
NAME: Rabble Soldier: see The Wagoner's Lad (File: R740)
===
NAME: Raccoon
DESCRIPTION: "Raccoon has a bushy tail, Possum's tail is bare. Rabbit has no tail at all, 'cept a little bunch of hair." Verses about love, animals, anything at all: "Love it is a killing thing, Beauty is a blossom, If you want your finger bit, Poke it at a possum"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: animal love nonsense floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Randolph 260, "Kitty Cain't You Come Along Too?" (1 short text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 162, "De Possum Am a Cunning Thing" (2 short texts plus mention of 1 more); also 163, "The Raccoon Has a Bushy Tail" (1 text plus 2 fragments; the "C" text has the chorus of "Cindy"); also 415, "Lynchburg Town" (3 texts plus 2 fragments, 2 excerpts, and mention of 2 more, all with the "Lynchburg Town" chorus, but "A" and "B" have verses from "Raccoon" and "Possum Up a Gum Stump and "D" and "E" are partly "If I Had a Scolding Wife" ("Lucy Long (I)"); only "C" seems to be truly "Lynchburg Town"); also 17, "I Wouldn't Marry" (7 text (some short) plus 6 excerpts, 1 fragment, and mention of 5 more, of which "A" appears to mix this with "Coming Around the Mountain (II -- Charming Betsey)" and "I Won't Marry an Old Maid")
Brewster 83, "Raccoon's Got a Bush Tail" (1 text)
Warner 186, "Raccoon" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 225, "The Squirrel" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 76, "The Squirrel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 11,  (no title) (1 fragment, 1 tune on p. 385. A single stanza: "Jay-bird pulled a two-mule plow, Sparrow, why don't you...."; this verse seems to float but has been found in songs of this typle)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 165, "Old Bee Make de Honeycomb" (1 text, with most of the verses appearing to go here even though it has the "Old Bee" stanza also); also p. 169, (no title) (1 text, with verses probably from "Raccoon," unless they just floated in, while the chorus seems to be "Po' Liza Jane"); also sundry stanzas on pp. 169-170
Silber-FSWB, p. 398, "Raccoon's Got A Bushy Tail"; p. 401, "The Squirrel" (2 texts)
ST R260 (Partial)
Roud #3444
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Raccoon's Got a Bushy Tail" (on PeteSeeger08, PeteSeegerCD02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kemo Kimo" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Pains in My Fingers" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I Went to My Sweetheart's House" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Rat Coon, Rat Coon" (theme)
cf. "Bile Them Cabbage Down" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Mabel" (lyrics)
NOTES: As with all these floating-animal-verse songs, it's hard to tell where one begins and another ends. I group them as best I can.
It's interesting to note that both Randolph and the "A" text of Brown's "De Possum Am a Cunning Thing" share part of a chorus, "(Oh/Do) come along, Sandy Boy," even though this is clearly not integral to the song. Brewster's chorus is "Get along home, home, home (x3), Down the riverside." - RBW
File: R260
===
NAME: Raccoon Has a Bushy Tail: see Raccoon (File: R260)
===
NAME: Raccoon's Got a Bushy Tail: see Raccoon (File: R260)
===
NAME: Race of the Terrapin and the Deer
DESCRIPTION: The terrapin challenges the deer to a race. The deer agrees; the terrapin asks terrapins to hide by the path. When the deer calls out, "And where are you, terrapin?" the nearest terrapin answers, causing the deer to run faster till it is exhausted
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: animal racing trick recitation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, p. 504, "Race of the Terrapin and the Deer" (1 text with musical elements)
Roud #7818
NOTES: This is a widely-known folktale, but here presented with music, so into the Index it goes. - RBW
File: Beld504
===
NAME: Race, A
DESCRIPTION: Recitation. Deerfoot John brags that he's the champion foot-racer; Windigo challenges him to a 500-yard race. Deerfoot, running stark naked and with a 40-foot starting lead, runs well, but loses. Deerfoot swears that next time he'll run with his pants on.
AUTHOR: Attributed to Long Joe, from the town of Cedar, Michigan
EARLIEST_DATE: April 28, 1878 (published in newspaper)
KEYWORDS: bragging contest clothes racing sports recitation
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 36, "A Race" (1 text)
Roud #8852
NOTES: Beck quotes an informant to the effect that this is a versified news story. - PJS
File: Be036
===
NAME: Rachel Dear/The Maine Water Side
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the sad day Rachel fell into the river Maine and drowned. She is found by her cousin. Her family, friends, and sweetheart mourn. The song closes with a description of her beauty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: river death
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H62, pp. 148-149, "Rachel Dear/The Main Water Side" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9451
NOTES: One of the Sam Henry colums claims this is a true story and gives circumstantial details, but no dates. - RBW
File: HHH062
===
NAME: Rackets Around the Blue Mountain Lake, The: see Blue Mountain Lake (The Belle of Long Lake) [Laws C20] (File: LC20)
===
NAME: Rackyman Doo (Ring-Dang-Doo (II))
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a young fellow, and asks whether he'd like to have a game on her rackyman doo. He asks what it is; she explains that it's soft, with hairs all round and split in two. She takes him to her father's cellar, gives him drink, and asks again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: early 1960s (collected from Caroline Hughes)
KEYWORDS: sex bawdy
FOUND_IN: Britain(England), US(MW), West Indies
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 40, "Ring Dang Doo" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ring-Dang-Doo (I)" (euphemism)
NOTES: I separate this from "Ring-Dang-Doo (I)" because it doesn't contain any of the plot elements of that song -- prostitution, pox, etc. No question but they're related, of course. Also, I use the name "Rackyman Doo" because that was Hughes' title for the song. - PJS
File: McCST040
===
NAME: Radcliffe Highway: see Ratcliffe Highway AND Blow the Man Down (File: Doe114)
===
NAME: Radical Gypsy David, The: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Raftsman Jim
DESCRIPTION: "So her pop says, 'Nay,' and he lopes right away, And bobs right back the very next day; And he shuts one eye, And looks very sly, She gives her pop the sweet bye-bye." Chorus: "There ain't no cub as neat as him, Dandy, handy raftsman Jim!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944
KEYWORDS: ship sailor courting father
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 840, "Raftsman Jim" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: BAF840
===
NAME: Raftsmen, The
DESCRIPTION: French: "La ous-qu'y sont, tous les raftsmen?" The raftsmen are on their way to winter camp. They arrive, suffer the usual poor food, work in the woods, go home, and "to greet them come their ladies gay, Who help them spend their hard-earned pay."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925
KEYWORDS: logger work foreignlanguage worker lumbering
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 74-75, "The Raftsmen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 171-173, "The Raftsmen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 99 "The Raftsmen (Les Raftsmen)" (1 English and one French text)
Roud #2318
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Les Raftsmen" (on PeteSeeger29)
File: FJ074
===
NAME: Raftsmen's Song, The
DESCRIPTION: "I believe some dust of the wanderlust has been molded with my clay. Though I long to come to my home sweet home, it's never long I'll stay." The singer describes his travels, talks of troubles faced by raftsmen, and considers the raftsman's afterlife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger work travel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #64, "The Raftsmen's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4360
NOTES: Fowke speculates that this is composed, and I think this certain; both the long lines and the style are completely un-folk-like. - RBW
File: FowL64
===
NAME: Rag Pat
DESCRIPTION: The singer is trying to make a living selling flowers. It is his only choice; father was a drunkard. One day he returns home to find mother dead. Chorus: "Flowers, bouquet, flowers I cry... My clothes don't look neat While struggling for mother and I."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: flowers drink orphan poverty
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 320, "Rag Pat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7794
File: R320
===
NAME: Ragged and Dirty Blues
DESCRIPTION: "Well I'm ragged, I'm hungry, I'm dirty too... If I clean up, sweet mama, can I stay all, all night with you?" The poor, homeless, orphaned stranger hits on the woman and complains that he wants to die. Then he decides to leave her whatever it takes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929
KEYWORDS: hardtimes hobo rambling courting train poverty
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scott-BoA, pp. 319-320, "Ragged and Dirty Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Broke and Hungry
File: SBoA319
===
NAME: Ragged Coat, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer, once poor, receives a large inheritance. As an experiment, he goes out in poor clothing -- and is despised. As soon as he displays money, he is treated kindly. He repeats the test, then notes "Many an honest heart beats beneath a ragged coat."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1850
KEYWORDS: poverty money clothes
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 102, "The Ragged Coat" (2 texts, 1 tune)
ST FSC102 (Partial)
File: FSC102
===
NAME: Raggedy
DESCRIPTION: "Raggedy, raggedy are we, Just as raggedy, raggedy can be. Well we don't get nothing for our labor, So raggedy are we." Similarly, "Hungry, hungry are we"; "Homeless, homeless are we"; "Landless..."; "Pitiful..."
AUTHOR: John Handcox
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936
KEYWORDS: hardtimes poverty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 337-338, "Raggedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 219-220, "Raggedy Raggedy" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 137, "Raggedy" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Raggedy" (on PeteSeeger13, AmHist1)
File: SBoA337
===
NAME: Raggedy Raggedy: see Raggedy (File: SBoA337)
===
NAME: Raggle Taggle Gypsies, O, The: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Raging Can-all, The: see The Raging Canal (I) (File: San178)
===
NAME: Raging Canal (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "Come listen to my story, ye landsmen one and all, I'll sing to you the dangers of that raging canal."  When the mules trip on a stormy night, the crew faces a wreck. The usual exaggerations, e.g. the cook's dress on a pole, are employed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: canal storm humorous cook
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 178-179, "The Raging Canawl" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 464-465, "(Erie Canal)" (2 texts, the second of which goes here; the first is "A Trip on the Erie (Haul in Your Bowline)"); pp. 471-474, "The Raging Can-all" (1 text)
DT, RAGCANAL*
Roud #6611
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The E-ri-e" (theme) and references there
NOTES: The Erie Canal, as originally constructed, was a completely flat, shallow waterway. The barges were drawn along by mules. Thus, apart from getting wet, storms posed little danger. As for needing a distress signal, one could always step off onto dry land....
The Lomaxes, in _American Ballad and Folk Songs_, thoroughly mingled many texts of the Erie Canal songs (in fairness, some of this may have been the work of their informants -- but in any case the Lomaxes did not help the problem). One should check all the Erie Canal songs for related stanzas. - RBW
File: San178
===
NAME: Raging Canal (II), The: see Coffee Grows (Four in the Middle) (File: R524)
===
NAME: Raging Canawl, The: see The Raging Canal (I) (File: San178)
===
NAME: Raging Sea: see The Mermaid [Child 289] (File: C289)
===
NAME: Raglan Road
DESCRIPTION: "On Raglan Road of an Autumn day, I saw her first and knew, That her dark hair would weave a snare That I might someday rue." "I loved too much, and by such and such Is happiness thrown away." The singer warns of the dangers of courting "an angel."
AUTHOR: Patrick Kavanagh (1904/05-1967)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Harte)
KEYWORDS: love beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
DT, RAGLANRD*
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 14-15, "Raglan Road" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Although I know of no traditional collections, Harte thinks this is becoming a traditional song.
There is an interesting reference to "The Queen of Hearts still making tarts." Is this a reference to "Alice," or to the rhyme Carroll used as the basis for the adventures in Wonderland? It's not clear. - RBW
File: Har014
===
NAME: Ragtime Cowboy Joe
DESCRIPTION: "The roughest, toughest man by far" in Arizona is Ragtime Cowboy Joe, who got his name because "He always sings raggy music to the cattle... On a horse that is syncopated gaited." But folks are advised not to cross him; his gun will make them dance
AUTHOR: Words: Grant Clarke/Music: Lewis F. Muir and Maurice Abrahams
EARLIEST_DATE: 1902 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: cowboy music nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 107, "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 107, "Rag Time Cowboy Joe" (1 text)
DT, RAGTMJOE*
Roud #11097
RECORDINGS:
Girls of the Golden West, "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (Columbia 37724, 1947)
Ranch Boys, "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" (Decca 5074, 1935)
SAME_TUNE:
Doc Roberts, "Ragtime Chicken Joe" (Conqueror 8566, 1935)
File: FCW107
===
NAME: Railroad Bill [Laws I13]
DESCRIPTION: Railroad Bill "never worked and never will"; he drinks, steals, and travels from town to town. His career finally ends when he is shot (and/or arrested). To the very end, all he does is "ride, ride, ride"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Odum, according to Cohen)
KEYWORDS: rambling robbery crime death train
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: March 7, 1897 - Death of Morris Slater, known as "Railroad Bill"
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws I13, "Railroad Bill"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 122-131, "Railroad Bill" (2 texts plus many excerpts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 384-385, "Railroad Bill" (1 text, 1 tune -- perhaps bowdlerized to eliminate Bill's death)
BrownIII 504, "A Thirty-Two Special on a Forty-Four Frame" (1 two-line fragment, with lyrics sometimes associated with this song)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 251-253, "It's Lookin' fer Railroad Bill" (2 texts plus some small pieces, which might be "Joseph Mica" rather than this)
Lomax-FSNA 304, "Railroad Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 118-120, "Railroad Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, pp. 201-202, "(Railroad Bill)" (1 text)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 148, "Railroad Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 240-242, "Railroad Bill" (2 texts)
Silber-FSWB, p. 99 "Railroad Bill" (1 text)
DT 662, (RRBILL*)
Roud #4181
RECORDINGS:
Vera Hall, "Railroad Bill" (AFS 1315 B2, 1323 A3; 1937)
Willie Hill, "Railroad Bill" (on FolkVisions2)
Frank Hutchison, "Railroad Bill" (OKeh 45425, 1930; rec. 1929)
Otis Mote, "Railroad Bill" (OKeh 45389, 1929)
Riley Puckett, "Railroad Bill" (Columbia 15040-D, 1925; Silvertone 3258, 1926)
Roba Stanley, Bob Stanley & (?) Patterson, "Railroad Bill" (OKeh 40295, 1925; rec. 1924)
Hobart Smith, "Railroad Bill" (on LomaxCD1705) (Disc 6081, 1940s)
NOTES: Burt reports that Morris Slater, known as "Railroad Bill," "terrorized" Florida and Alabama from 1894 to 1897, initially robbing freight trains, but later perhaps branching out; an Alabana deputy was killed during the saga, and Slater was blamed.
Slater was eventually surrounded and surprised in a grocery, "eating crackers and cheese"; he probably could have been taken, but the posse shot him instead.
Burt's version of the ballad specifically mentions the crackers and cheese, but Laws is rather cautious in reporting Burt's story, and I have to agree with him: I don't think we can prove Burt's Alabama version (published 1927) to be the original.
Cohen adds even more data, noting a number of the parts of "Railroad Bill" seem to precede Slater. Either there was another "Railroad Bill," or the song adapted a large number of other railrod bits. - RBW
File: LI13
===
NAME: Railroad Blues (I)
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses; "Went to the depot and I looked up on the board, It read, good times, children..."; "Where was you, mama, when the train left the shed..."; "Met a little Gypsy in a fortune telling place/She read my mind, and then she slapped my face."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (recording, Sam McGee)
KEYWORDS: railroading nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 190, "Railroad Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 402-403, "The Railroad Blues" (1 excerpted text, 1 tune -- a subset of a song collected in 1915 and printed in JAFL, with fully 80 four-line stanzas, most of which could however be treated as doubles two-line stanzas and therefore sung as a true blues. It has floating verses from everywhere, which perhaps means it should file here. I don't list it as the Earliest Date, though, because it's so anomalous)
RECORDINGS:
Jelly Roll Anderson, "Good Time Blues" (Gennett 6181, 1927) (Herwin 92014, 1927) (one of these two successive cuts is on TimesAint03)
Willie Hill, "Good Old Birmingham" (on FolkVisions2)
Daddy John Love, "Railroad Blues" (Bluebird B-6624, 1936)
Sam McGee, "Railroad Blues" (Champion 45033, 1935; Decca 5348, 1937) (on McGeeSmith1, TimesAint05)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Railroad Blues" (on NLCR03, NLCR12, NLCRCD1)
Art Thieme, "Railroad Blues and Nine Pound Hammer" [medley] (on Thieme01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Baby, All Night Long" (words)
File: CSW190
===
NAME: Railroad Blues (II)
DESCRIPTION: "I got the blues, but I haven't got the fare (x2). I got the blues, but I'm too damned mean to cry." "Some say the rolling blues ain't bad..." the singer concludes they have some other sort of blues. He laments his dead mother and sister gone astray.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: railroading death mother
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 243, "Railroad Blues" (1 text)
Roud #11646
NOTES: As with most blues, this is a rather disjointed piece; it may be a version of "Railroad Blues (I)." But as that piece is more or less a unity, and Scarborough's version has no lyrics in common that I can see, I split them. - RBW
File: ScaNF243
===
NAME: Railroad Blues (III): see Alabama Bound (II) (File: PSAFB044)
===
NAME: Railroad Boomer, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come and gather all around me, listen to my tale of woe... Take a tip from one who's travelled, never start to ramblin' round, Yu're liable to get the wandr'rin fever." The singer plans to marry, but then hears a train; he asks to be buried by the tracks
AUTHOR: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (copyright and first recording)
KEYWORDS: train travel rambling wife abandonment
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 390-393, "" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Frank Luther and Carson J. Robison, "The Railroad Boomer" (Victor V-40139 [as by Bud Billings and Robison], 1929) (Gennett 7019/Champion 15848/Champion 45020/Supertone 9567, 1929)
NOTES: Somewhere in here, there's a joke about Robison writing a science fiction story about the future life of Woody Guthrie.
This is another of the songs in Cohen that comes from the railroad/hillbilly genre but that can't be shown to have circulated in oral tradition. - RBW
File: LSRai390
===
NAME: Railroad Boy, The: see The Bonny Laboring Boy [Laws M14] (File: LM14)
===
NAME: Railroad Bum, The: see Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum) [Laws H2] (File: LH02)
===
NAME: Railroad Cars are Coming, The
DESCRIPTION: "The great Pacific railway, For California hail! Bring on the locomotive, Lay down the iron rail; Across the rolling prairies By steam we're bound to go. The railroad cars are coming, humming, Through New Mexico." Even animals rejoice when the train comes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: railroading train nonballad animal
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp. 358-359, "The Railroad Cars are Coming" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST San358 (Full)
Roud #10812
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Echo Canyon Song"
NOTES: The first Transcontinental Railroad in the Unitd States was the Central Pacific, completed in Utah in May 1860. This line went from Chicago to Omaha through Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada on its way to Sacramento and San Francisco.
But it cannot be the line referred to, since the song describes travelling through New Mexico.
Two major transcontinental lines went through the southern states. The Southern Pacific went from New Orleans though Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso to Los Angeles. This might be the reference, but this line barely touches New Mexico.
The Santa Fe railroad (or the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe) fits much better: Starting from Saint Louis as the Missouri Pacific, it passed through Kansas City and then headed west and south through Kansas, a corner of Colorado, and New Mexico, through Santa Fe and Albuquerque to Los Angeles.
The Santa Fe line makes sense in another way: It replaced the old Santa Fe trail, making its opening welcome even to the animals (since they didn't have to travel it). The line reached Santa Fe in 1880, meaning that its construction was still part of living memory when Sandburg was collecting songs. - RBW
File: San358
===
NAME: Railroad Corral, The
DESCRIPTION: "We're up in the morning ere breaking of day, The chuck wagon's busy, the flapjack's in play." The singer describes the hot, dusty, dirty work of the cowboy, and the long days and long trails. He rejoices to reach the end of the trip
AUTHOR: John Mills Hanson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly)
KEYWORDS: cowboy travel work food
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 77, "The Railroad Corral" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 185, "The Railroad Corral" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 113, "The Railroad Corral" (1 text)
DT, RRCORRAL*
Roud #4636
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Irish Washerwoman" (tune)
File: LoF185
===
NAME: Railroad Daddy Blues
DESCRIPTION: "Every time I hear a freight train comin', Oh, I listen to the engine sob and moan. Lawd, Lawd, I've got them railroad daddy blues." The singer descries railroad life, wishes her daddy would come back, and rejoices when "my railroad daddy's home at last."
AUTHOR: Harve Burton?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: train separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', p. 259, "Railroad Daddy Blues" (1 text)
File: ThBa259
===
NAME: Railroad Dinah Gal
DESCRIPTION: "As I went down to Simon's mill, There I found a very steep hill, The steers began to bellow and balk, And I began to cuss and talk. Railroad Dinah Gal, I'm going' over the mountains." "Me and old Dinah killed a sheep, Give old Dinah the head and feet."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food animal railroading travel
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 493, "Railroad Dinah Gal" (1 short text)
Roud #11763
File: Br3493
===
NAME: Railroad Song: see The Dummy Line (II) (File: ScNS139A)
===
NAME: Railroad to Heaven, The: see The Road to Heaven (File: R600)
===
NAME: Railroad Tramp: see Remember the Poor Tramp Has to Live (File: RcRtPTHL)
===
NAME: Railroader for Me, A: see Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me) (File: R493)
===
NAME: Railroader, The: see Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me) (File: R493)
===
NAME: Railroadin' and Gamblin'
DESCRIPTION: Uncle Dave Macon surrealism. Singer has been in the state house and the court house; he is broke from gambling. Chorus: "Railroadin' and gamblin'/Pickin' up chips for mammy/Lawd, lawd, lawd/Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: More Uncle Dave Macon surrealism. Singer has been in the state house (prison?) and the court house, and is broke from gambling despite his mother's advice. "Lawd, that preacher got, ain't that a sin/Johnny get your whiskers cut, here comes the wind." Chorus: "Railroadin' and gamblin'/Pickin' up chips for mammy/Lawd, lawd, lawd/Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud." You figure it out.
KEYWORDS: prison gambling railroading nonballad nonsense
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Railroadin' and Gamblin'" (Bluebird 8325, 1940; on RoughWays2)
NOTES: Almost certainly of minstrel origin; a few lines are in dialect. While I use the keyword "nonsense," I suspect there was meaning in the song once. - PJS
File: RcUDRaG
===
NAME: Railroading on the Great Divide
DESCRIPTION: "Railroading on the Great Divide/Nothing around me but the Rockies and sky/There you'll find me as the years roll by...." Singer wanders the country before landing on the Great Divide, and tells of the rails and ties he has laid there.
AUTHOR: Sara Carter Bayes
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (record, A. P. Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: pride rambling travel railroading work nonballad worker
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 528-529, "Railroading on the Great Divide" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
A. P. Carter Family, "Railroading on the Great Divide" (Acme 992, 1952)
NOTES: Seldom cited, composed after World War II, but it has attained sufficient circulation in the revival that I index it. - PJS
This has been credited to Janette Carter, who recorded it in 1952 with her brother Joe and her parents A. P. Carter and Sara Carter Bayes; indeed, it was listed as by Janette in the earlier editions of this index. But Cohen corresponded with Sara Carter Bayes about the composition, so I'm following his lead.
This was recorded as part of a brief reunion of A. P. and Sara Carter (strictly musical, of course), which produced a handful of sides for the Acme label. The reunion cuts were not particularly successful (according to John Atkins, article "The Carter Family" in Bill C. Malone and Judith McCulloh, "Stars of Country Music," p. 110, Acme was a small label with no distribution channel and significant quality control problems; he also regards the instrumentation as weak in the absence of Maybelle).
A. P. kept at it with Acme until 1956, but with little reward; this was just about the only memorable product of the sessions. Had they tried the reunion a decade or so later, the folk boom might well have carried them to success -- but A. P. died in 1960. - RBW
File: RcROTGD
===
NAME: Railway Spiritualized, The: see The Road to Heaven (File: R600)
===
NAME: Rain and Snow
DESCRIPTION: Singer's wife gives him trouble, runs him "out in the cold rain and snow." She comes downstairs combing her hair, saying she'll no longer be mistreated; he kills her (, lays out the body, then trembles with cold fear)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: Early 1960s (recording, Obray Ramsay)
KEYWORDS: marriage violence crime homicide corpse death wife
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #3634
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "Rain and Snow" (on Chandler01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nine Hundred Miles" (tune)
cf. "Reuben's Train" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Cold Rain and Snow
NOTES: The liner notes to Chandler's recording lump this with "Sporting Bachelors." I demur; that's a humorous cautionary tale, while this is a tragedy. - PJS
It seems to me I've heard this done with a somewhat humorous twist, but certainly it's a distinct song. - RBW
File: RcRaAnSn
===
NAME: Rain Come Wet Me
DESCRIPTION: "Rain come wet me, Sun come dry me, Stand back, white man, Don't come a-nigh me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: storm
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 490, "Rain Come Wet Me" (1 short text)
Roud #11605
File: Br3490
===
NAME: Rain Rain the Wind Does Blow: see The Wind (Rain, Rain, the Wind Does Blow) (File: RcRRtWDB)
===
NAME: Rain, Rain My Savior
DESCRIPTION: "Takes a holy man to join  us in the army of the Lord (x2), O rain, rain a rain, my savior, Rain, rain, the Lord sent it down, O rain, rain a rain my savior, Rain, rain, the Lord sent it down." "So glad I ever started in the army of the Lord...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 89, "Rain, Rain My Savior" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16936
File: ChFRA089
===
NAME: Rain, Rain, Go Away
DESCRIPTION: "Rain, rain, go away, Come again some other day." Additional stanzas may have additional suggestions
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Baring-Gould); a probable ancestor quoted by Aubrey in 1687
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 435, "Rain, rain, go away" (10 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #443, p. 205, "(Rain, rain, go away)"
NOTES: My general assumption is that, if I learned something from other kids, with a tune, then it qualifies as "folk song." By that definition, this fits, silly as it is.
Aubrey's 1687 version, as quoted by the Baring-Goulds, is
Raine, raine, goe away,
Come again a Saterday. - RBW
File: BGMG443
===
NAME: Rainbow 'mid Life's Willows: see Locks and Bolts [Laws M13] (File: LM13)
===
NAME: Rainbow (I), The: see Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)
===
NAME: Rainbow (II), The: see The Female Warrior (Pretty Polly) [Laws N4] (File: LN04)
===
NAME: Rainbow Willow: see Locks and Bolts [Laws M13] (File: LM13)
===
NAME: Raise a Ruckus
DESCRIPTION: A slave is told by his mistress that he would be freed when she died. The promise is long in coming true, and at last the singer takes things in his own hand. Having set off (down?)river, he intends to "raise a ruckus tonight."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: slave freedom escape party
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
BrownIII 499, "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (2 texts plus 2 fragments; the "A" text, however, is "I'll Build Me a Boat")
Lomax-FSUSA 26, "Raise a Rukus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 253-254, "Raise a Rukus Tonight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 299, "Raise A Ruckus Tonight" (1 text)
Roud #10054
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Bowman & his Brothers, "Gonna Raise the Ruckus Tonight" (Columbia 15357-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Warren Caplinger, "G'wina Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (Vocalion 5222, c. 1928)
Cliff Carlisle, "Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (Decca 5774, 1939)
Bill Chitwood & his Georgia Mountaineers, "Raise Rough House Tonight" (OKeh 45236, 1928)
Hugh Cross & Riley Puckett, "Gonna Raise Ruckus Tonight" (Columbia 15455-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Folkmasters, "Raise a Rukus Tonight" (on Fmst01)
The Georgia Yellow Hammers, "Going To Raise A Ruckus Tonight" (Victor 20928, 1927)
Georgia Serenaders [pseud. for Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers], "Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (Supertone 9473, 1929) [this is probably the same as the Warren Caplinger recording listed above]
Mobile Strugglers, "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (on AmSkBa)
Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, "Raise Rukus Tonight" (Paramount 12032, 1923)
Pete Seeger, "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (on PeteSeeger05)
Southern Quartet, "Gonna Raise Rukus Tonight" (Columbia 14048-D, 1924)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Marse John" (lyrics)
cf. "My Ole Mistus Promised Me" (lyrics)
cf. "Mourner, You Shall Be Free (Moanish Lady)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Hard Time in Old Virginnie" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I'll Build Me a Boat" (lyrics)
File: LxU026
===
NAME: Raise a Ruckus Tonight (I): see Raise a Ruckus (File: LxU026)
===
NAME: Raise a Ruckus Tonight (II): see I'll Build Me a Boat (File: Br3499)
===
NAME: Raise a Rukus: see Raise a Ruckus (File: LxU026)
===
NAME: Raise a Rukus Tonight: see Raise a Ruckus (File: LxU026)
===
NAME: Rake and Rambling Boy, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Rakes of Mallow, The
DESCRIPTION: "Beauing, belleing, dancing, drinking, Breaking windows, damning, sinking, Ever raking, never thinking, Live the rakes of Mallow." This self-centered life continues until "they get sober, take a wife, Ever after live in strife"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: drink party wine rake
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
O'Conor, p. 93, "The Rakes of Mallow" (1 text)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 249-250, "The Rakes of Mallow" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 483-484, 514, "The Rakes of Mallow"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sandy Lent the Man His Mull" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "In 1750, Dr Smith thus describes Mallow, which was then a very fashionable watering-place:'... Here is generally a resort of good company during the summer months, both for pleasure and the benefit of drinking the waters....'"
Sparling: "Eighteenth century. The 'Rakes' were the sons of the Protestant gentlemen who frequented the 'waters' of Mallow." - BS
Broadside Bodleian, Harding B 40(11), "The Rakes of Mallow" ("Beauing, belling dancing, drinking"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?), 1850-1899 could not be downloaded and verified. - BS
File: CrPS249
===
NAME: Rakes of Poverty, The
DESCRIPTION: Irish variant on "The Son of a Gambolier." The singer describes himself as "the rambling rakes of poverty... the son of a gambaleer." He likes drink, and lives shabbily, in used clothes and shoes. He wishes he had drink and sugar for all
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: drink rambling poverty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H741, p. 50, "The Rakes of Poverty" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SONGAMB2*
Roud #2964
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier (I)" (tune) and references there
NOTES: This is so close to "The Son of a Gambolier" that I'm tempted to list them as one song. But they're usually listed as separate, so here it stands. - RBW
File: HHH741
===
NAME: Raking of the Hay: see Tossing of the Hay (File: HHH635)
===
NAME: Rally Round the Flag: see The Battle Cry of Freedom (File: MA034)
===
NAME: Rally-Roh
DESCRIPTION: Gerry Foley's stormy adventure while hunting an otter bring him to the attention of a "big vessel" captain. The captain tries but fails to lure Gerry to sea and is scolded by Gerry's wife.
AUTHOR: George Curtin (source: OCanainn)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Gerry Foley tried kill a "water dog" [otter], but it escaped into the river. Gerry built a boat, loaded his rifle, and chased after the otter. After three weeks rowing he survived a gale, headed back to town, but ran into a rock on his way home. A captain of "a big vessel,' having heard of the adventure, came to Gerry's home and offered Gerry money, land and mansion to go with him to sea. When Gerry refused the offer the captain took offense, saying "I came here for you all the ways from Kinsale, And allow me to tell you, I'm not going to fail" Gerry's wife Joan -- "as you know she is wicked and terrible bold" -- scolded the captain
KEYWORDS: river storm wreck talltale animal wife
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OCanainn, pp. 54-55,122, "Rally-Roh" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: OCanainn: "A typical composition of George Curtin who picked on a minor incident that happened to his neighbor Ger Foley. The hard facts of the case were that Ger spotted an otter in the river and tried to kill it. George heard of the incident and transformed the simple event into a saga ....."
This is a ballad in the not-exclusively-Irish tradition of river and canal boat tall tales like "The Clonmel Flood" and "The Wreck of the Gwendoline." In this case we are in on the ship-building phase as well as the sinking.
The sea captain had come all the way from Kinsale, about 14 miles as the gull flies, to recruit Gerry.
The title is from the chorus: "Rally-Roh Fal-de-dah Rally Roh fal-di-dee." - BS
File: OCan054
===
NAME: Rally, Boys, Rally
DESCRIPTION: "Lead your partner up and down, I thought I heard them say, Lead your partner... I thought I heard...." "Rally, boys, rally, I thought I heard them say...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: dancetune nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hudson 150, p. 295, "Rally, Boys, Rally" (1 short text)
Roud #4508
File: Hud150
===
NAME: Ram o' Bervie, The: see references under The Derby Ram (File: R106)
===
NAME: Ram of Dalby, The: see references under The Derby Ram (File: R106)
===
NAME: Ram of Derby, The: see references under The Derby Ram (File: R106)
===
NAME: Ram of Diram, The: see references under The Derby Ram (File: R106)
===
NAME: Ram Song (I), The: see The Derby Ram (File: R106)
===
NAME: Ram Song (II), The
DESCRIPTION: Pius bought a small, thin ram from Jenny. The boys play cards for the ram "but playing cards for rams in Lent -- it was a mortal sin." The ram grows big and fat and is slaughtered "to pay the boys to plow up the old graveyard"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: cards humorous animal
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, p. 97, "The Ram Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12451
NOTES: Did something drop out of this song in which one of the gamblers dies? Until we find another version, we can hardly tell. - RBW
File: Dib097
===
NAME: Rambleaway
DESCRIPTION: Young man meets young woman. He says he's known as "Rambleaway" (after his wandering habit). In some versions the last verse cautions girls about men like him; in others the woman slips away, and he rambles around searching for her in vain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1891
KEYWORDS: courting rambling warning pregnancy
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,North))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Sharp-100E 31, "Sweet Kitty" ; 75, "Brimbledon Fair, or, Young Ramble-Away" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 166, "Ramble-away" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RAMBLAWA
Roud #171
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Come All You Fair and Tender Girls" (theme)
cf. "When I Was Young (Don't Never Trust a Sailor)" (plot)
cf. "Yon Green Valley" (plot)
cf. "The Courting Coat" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Roving Shantyboy" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Derry Down Fair
Brimbledown Fair
Burlington Fair
Brocklesby Fair
File: ShH31
===
NAME: Rambler from Clare, The
DESCRIPTION: The rambler tells of beginning his career in the (County Tyrone), where (the women) first dubbed him the Rambler from Claire. Captured (by the English, he faces a stiff sentence) but escapes to America (and continues to pursue the women)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3218)); beginning 19C (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rambling emigration
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South)) US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
OLochlainn-More 68, "The Rambler from Clare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 20, "The Rambler from Clare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 46, "The Rambler from Clare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 59, "The Rambler from Claire" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RMBLCLAR*
Roud #1531
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3218), "The Rambler From Clare," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(3219), 2806 b.11(9), 2806 c.15(250), 2806 b.9(267)[some words illegible], Harding B 19(9)[some words illegible], Harding B 11(3217), Harding B 26(553), 2806 c.15(184), 2806 c.15(327), 2806 b.11(14), "The Rambler From Clare"
Murray, Mu23-y1:008, "The Rambler From Clair," unknown, 19C; also Mu23-y4:026, "Rambler From Clare" 
NLScotland, RB.m.169(104), "The Rambler from Clair," Robert M'Intosh (address obliterated), c.1855
NOTES: In some texts, the rambler is an Irish rebel, and is forced to flee Ireland to escape prosecution. In others, he is a deserter from the English army. In many versions, however, he is just a young man out to have as much fun with the ladies as possible.
And yes, the Warners spell it "Claire." Maybe that's the girl he was dating. - RBW
File: Wa059
===
NAME: Rambler Song
DESCRIPTION: "He rambled across the seas, to see the firstline (front line?) French, And there were all the Kapps Sigs, a-gossiping in French; And what they had to say that day is more than I can tell, But they all did promise faithfully to give the Kaiser hell."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Dr. Finis K. Farr)
KEYWORDS: war travel France
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 250, "Rambler Song" (1 fragment)
NOTES: I suspect this is a World War I version of "The Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech" or a related song, but with only one stanza and no tune, I can't actually equate them. - RBW
File: MHAp250
===
NAME: Ramblin' Reckless Hobo: see Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum) [Laws H2] (File: LH02)
===
NAME: Rambling Beauty, The: see Nancy (II) (The Rambling Beauty) [Laws P12] (File: LP12)
===
NAME: Rambling Blues: see Rambling Round (File: CSW118)
===
NAME: Rambling Boy (I), The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Rambling Boy (II): see My Ramblin' Boy (File: FSWB061)
===
NAME: Rambling Boy (III), The
DESCRIPTION: Jack the sailor and his girl spend the night and stop in a Green Street tavern where he is beaten by "turks and heathens." He is taken and "transported for theivery" to Van Diemans Land. Now in "transport blue," he will write her a letter if she is true.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond03)
KEYWORDS: sex fight farewell theft transportation unemployment sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
ST RcRCTRaY (Full)
Roud #3083
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Rambling Youth" (on IRRCinnamond03)
NOTES: The description is based on John Moulden's transcription from IRRCinnamond03 included in the Traditional Ballad Index Supplement. 
There appear to be missing pieces to the story. The text says Jack "can find no employ" [is a robbery missing at this point?] and he "took ... flight" with his "darling"; after their night together "she proved my overthrow." Were the "turks [cruel men] and heathens" in the tavern police? - BS
More likely they are Catholics, I think. According to Eric Partridge's _A Dictionary of Slang  and Unconventional English_, a "Turk" was a gutter word for Irishmen. If "Turk" is used in that sense, it seems reasonable to assume that Jack is English, and Protestant, and is claiming to have been attacked by Irish Catholics. No doubt a convenient excuse.... - RBW
File: RcRCTRaY
===
NAME: Rambling Boys of Pleasure, The: see You Rambling Boys of Pleasure (Down by Sally's Garden) (File: FowM059)
===
NAME: Rambling Gambler, The: see The Wagoner's Lad (File: R740)
===
NAME: Rambling Miner, The
DESCRIPTION: "I'm only a rambling miner, I work where I like best, In the coal mines of Kentucky, Or the copper mines in the west." But wherever he goes, the singer is gambling his life in the mines. He says he is doing it "So that the women and kids may eat."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: mining rambling nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', p. 248, "The Rambling Miner" (1 text)
NOTES: It is rather unfortunate that Thomas did not preserve a tune for this piece. The first two stanzas appear to be built upon "The Roving Gambler," but the final two look like something else. - RBW
File: ThBa248A
===
NAME: Rambling Round
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes rambling around cities and towns, and his life as a migrant fruit picker. He wishes he could settle down, but "I am just a refugee/As I go rambling round, boys."
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940s (recording, Woody Guthrie)
KEYWORDS: loneliness rambling work worker migrant
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 118, "Rambling Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GORAMB
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodnight, Irene" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rambling Round Your City
As I Go Rambling 'Round
NOTES: This song verges on the status of an autobiography of Woody Guthrie, and to the best of my knowledge has never been found in tradition. The tune is an adaption of Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter's "Goodnight Irene." - RBW
File: CSW118
===
NAME: Rambling Round Your City: see Rambling Round (File: CSW118)
===
NAME: Rambling Rover: see You Rambling Boys of Pleasure (Down by Sally's Garden) (File: FowM059)
===
NAME: Rambling Sailor, The: see The Rambling Soldier (File: ShH43)
===
NAME: Rambling Shoemaker, The: see James Ervin [Laws J15] (File: LJ15)
===
NAME: Rambling Soldier (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Soldier (sailor) describes the joys of rambling the countryside (of England): "I once was a seaman stout and bold, Ofttimes I plowed the ocean... For honor and promotion." In some versions he brags that he has a license to ramble, granted by the king.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 256)
KEYWORDS: rambling nonballad sailor soldier injury
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Britain(England,Scotland) Australia
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
BrownIII 367, "The Jolly Soldier" (1 fragment plus mention of 1 more)
Sharp-100E 43, "The Rambling Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 174-175, "The Rambling Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 326, "Dicky Johnston, or, The Roving Sailor" (1 short text)
DT, RAMBSAIL* (RMBSAIL2*)
Roud #518
RECORDINGS:
Chris Willett, "The Rambling Sailor" (on Voice12)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 256, "The Rambling Sailor" ("I am a sailor stout and bold, long time I have ploughed the ocean"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.12(275), Johnson Ballads 1230, Harding B 11(1670), Firth b.25(378), Harding B 11(3226), Harding B 11(4288), Harding B 15(250b), Johnson Ballads 966, Johnson Ballads 559, Harding B 20(142), Firth b.34(302), "[The] Rambling Sailor"; Harding B 11(3228), "The Rambling Soldier" ("I am a soldier blithe and gay"), W. and T. Fordyce (Newcastle), 1832-1842; Firth b.26(329), Harding B 11(835), Harding B 16(221a), Harding B 11(3227), Harding B 15(251a), Harding B 15(251b), Harding B 15(252a), Harding B 20(143), Harding B 17(251a), "Rambling Soldier"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rambling Comber"
NOTES: Sharp notes that on the older broadsides, the rambler was a soldier; in the newer ones, he is a sailor. - PJS
Sharp may be right about which version is the older. The Bodleian broadsides give no clear-cut answer; however, Harding B 16(221a), "Rambling Soldier" lists the tune as "Rambling Sailor"; it also lists the author as John Morgan. - BS
In Brown's version (which is only two stanzas), it appears that he is a sailor who later enlists in the American Revolutionary army. This may be a rewrite, but the text it too short to be sure.
Ord's text says that the sailor has been granted a license to beg *because he has lost a limb.* Ordinarily I would consider this a significant enough distinction to split the songs, but the rest is the same; the lost limb appears (or fails to appear, perhaps) in only a single line. Perhaps a mixture with something like "The Forfar Soldier," or even a case of an injured veteran adopting the piece to his own case? - RBW
File: ShH43
===
NAME: Rambling Soldier (II), The: see The Son of a Gambolier (I) (File: San044)
===
NAME: Rambling Suiler, The: see The Jolly Beggar [Child 279] (File: C279)
===
NAME: Rambling Young Fellow, A: see Wrap Me Up in my Tarpaulin Jacket (File: FR439)
===
NAME: Rambling, Gambling Man: see The Roving Gambler [Laws H4] (File: LH04)
===
NAME: Randal, My Son: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Randy Dandy O
DESCRIPTION: Capstan or pumps shanty. Chorus: "Heave a pawl, o heave away. Way ay roll an' go. The anchor's on board an' the cable's all stored, timme rollockin' randy dandy o." Rhyming verses about sailing and women.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Robinson)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Colcord, p. 116, "Galloping Randy Dandy O!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 167-168, "Randy Dandy O" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 135]
DT, RANDDAND*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Galloping Randy Dandy O!" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #4702
NOTES: Hugill says that he and his sources cleaned this one up a good deal before printing. - SL
File: Hugi167
===
NAME: Randy Riley: see The Farmer's Curst Wife [Child 278] (File: C278)
===
NAME: Rang-a-Tang-Too, The: see The Ring-Dang-Doo (I) (File: EM182A)
===
NAME: Range Rider's Appeal, A: see The Cowboy's Prayer (II) (File: Ohr077)
===
NAME: Ranger, The: see Bold Ranger, The (File: R076)
===
NAME: Ranger's Prayer: see The Dying Ranger [Laws A14] (File: LA14)
===
NAME: Rangey Ribs, The
DESCRIPTION: Patrick Cowley deals in cattle. He recalls the sickly scrawney "Rangey Ribs" Mickey Dubh sold to him as a thoroughbred. Pat couldn't sell him. His only use was to hang the wash. But when he died neighbors came to the burial from miles around
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1986 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: death commerce humorous animal
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 58, "The Rangey Ribs" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: McBride: "The song is well known in other parts of the country and has been recorded extensively in Co. Clare. Place names matter not. The song is part of the genre popular throughout the country in which broken down cattle are ridiculed." - BS
File: McB1058
===
NAME: Ranso Ray: see Ranzo Ray (File: Hugi247)
===
NAME: Ransum Scansum
DESCRIPTION: "Ransum scansum, through yonder, Bring me a gourd to drink water. Dis way out and t'other way in, In my lady's chamber, Dis way out and t'other way in, In my lady's chamber."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 131, "Ransum Scansum" (a second fragment has no title, but probably should be called "Aransom Shansom") (2 short texts, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Do, Do, Pity My Case" (lyrics) and references there
File: ScaNF131
===
NAME: Rantin' Laddie, The [Child 240]
DESCRIPTION: The lady has "played at the cards and the dice" with the rantin' laddie; now she has a child and is scorned. She sends a letter to the rantin' laddie -- who proves to be the Earl of Aboyne. He marries her and all are happy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage adultery bastard cards
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Child 240, "The Rantin' Laddie" (4 texts)
Bronson 240, "The Rantin' Laddie" (6 versions+1 in addenda)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 303-304, "The Rantin' Laddie" (1 fragment, 1 tune, a single "Rantin' Laddie" stanxa with a "hush-a-bye" chorus perhaps from the mother to her bastard baby) {Bronson's #6}
Leach, pp. 597-598, "The Rantin' Laddie" (2 texts)
Combs/Wilgus 35, pp. 127-128, "The Rantin Laddie" (1 text)
DBuchan 57, "The Rantin Laddie" (1 text)
DT 240, RANTNLAD*
Roud #103
RECORDINGS:
Willie Mathieson, "The Bonny Rantin' Laddie" [fragment] (on FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #5.1}
NOTES: The "rant" is a dance step, now found chiefly in Northumberland and surrounding areas. - PJS
File: C240
===
NAME: Rantin', Roarin', Drunk on the Way
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of getting drunk with his friends (all of whom he names) on the way to the lumber camp at Upyongo. At the end of the season, at home, they reminisce about how they got "drunk on the way."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: drink moniker logger
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 65, "Rattlin', Roarin', Drunk on the Way" (1 text)
Roud #8845
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year" (lyrics)
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
This particular song shares the general chorus with "How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year" (where it runs "Rant and roar and drunk on the way"), but the plots seem distinct enough that Roud and I both split them. - RBW
File: Be065
===
NAME: Ranting Roving Lad: see The White Cockade (File: R120)
===
NAME: Ranzo: see Reuben Ranzo (File: Doe023)
===
NAME: Ranzo Ray
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. First refrain "Ranzo, Ranzo, hurray, hurray" (or "away, away), second refrain usually "Hilo me Ranzo ray." Verses tell of destinations and cargos, i.e. "we're bound for Yokohammer, with a load o' grand pianners."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty ship commerce travel
FOUND_IN: Britain US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Hugill, pp. 247-249, "Ranzo Ray" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 179-182]
Sharp-EFC, XIX, p. 22, "The Bully Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Ranso Ray" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #327
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Huckleberry Hunting" (similar refrain)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rando Ray
NOTES: Bone, in his notes to "Reuben Ranzo," was of the opinion that the word "Ranzo" somehow seemed to suit the action of hauling, which might explain its use in both this song and that. - RBW
File: Hugi247
===
NAME: Rap-Tap-Tap: see The Farm Servant (Rap-Tap-Tap) (File: DTraptap)
===
NAME: Rarden Wreck of 1893, The
DESCRIPTION: A train heads for Cincinnati, but the engineer dies at Rarden station after jumping from the train when he saw an open switch. The fireman is crushed in the wreck. Chorus: "Did he ever come back? No, he never came back. His fate was easily learned...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1993
KEYWORDS: train wreck disaster death
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Darling-NAS, p. 215, "The Rarden Wreck of 1893" (1 text, filed with "The Wreck of the Old 97")
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ship that Never Returned" [Laws D27] (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "The Wreck of Old 97" [Laws G2] (tune, theme)
cf. "The Train that Never Returned" (tune, theme)
File: DarNS215
===
NAME: Rare Clonmel
DESCRIPTION: The singer is leaving his home in Clonmel. He thinks of the places there he loved. "In ev'ry fight for Erin's right, Foul tyranny to quell, First in the field and last to yield Are the boys of Rare Clonmel!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS:  farewell home lyric nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 20B, "Rare Clonmel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9778
NOTES: Clonmel is on the river Suir, South Tipperary. OLochlainn-More has no information about the song. - BS
File: OLcM020B
===
NAME: Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215]
DESCRIPTION: Willie drowns in the (Yarrow). (Details of how and why vary greatly). His lover dreams a dream of woe. She sets out and finds Willie's body, and uses her hair to pull him from the water. In many accounts she (promises to) die for sorrow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1733
KEYWORDS: death mourning courting drowning
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(MW) Canada Ireland
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Child 215, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (9 texts)
Bronson 215, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (9 versions)
Dixon XII, pp. 66-67, "The Water o' Gamery" (1 text)
Eddy 22, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune, erroneously listed as Child 214) {Bronson's #4}
Leach, pp. 571-572, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 99, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (1 text which is mostly Child 214 but incorporates parts of Child 215)
Ord, pp. 454-455, "Willie's Drowned at Gamerie" (1 text)
Fowke/MacMillan 78, "Willie Drowned in Ero" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 93, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text)
PBB 62, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text)
DT 215, YARROW2* YARROW3*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; notes to #425, "But think na' ye my heart was sair///?" (1 text)
Roud #206
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(003), "Braes of Yarrow," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1870
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" [Child 214]
cf. "Susan Strayed on the Briny Beach" [Laws K19] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Willie's Rare
NOTES: Several scholars, among them Norman Cazden, have claimed that this song is the same as Child 214, "The Dowie Dens o Yarrow/The Braes o Yarrow." Certainly there has been exchange of verses. However, I (following Leach), would maintain that there is a difference: "The Dowie Dens" is about opposition to a marriage; "Willie Drowned" is about the loss of a love.
A brief summary of the whole discussion is found in Coffin's notes in Flanders-Ancient3. It's not clear what he believes, except that the two songs are a mess and quite mixed. Which can hardly be denied.
Palgrave's _Golden Treasury_ includes a piece (item CLXIII) titled "The Braes of Yarrow," credited to J. Logan, which is clearly built upon this theme -- but it looks like a literary rewrite. Palgrave's next item (CLXIV), "Willy Drowned in Yarrow," is the real thing, though probably somewhat touched up by his (unnamed) source.
Child lists "Annan Water" as an appendix to this ballad, though it appears to me that, if it's related to any of the Child ballads, it's #216, "The Mother's Malison, or, Clyde's Water." - RBW
File: C215
===
NAME: Rare Willie's Drowned in Ero: see Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215] (File: C215)
===
NAME: Raspberry Lane: see Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43)
===
NAME: Raspberry Tart, The
DESCRIPTION: "She was a raspberry tart In her little poke bonnet, With a great big bunch Of thing-a-mees upon it; With a pinafore dress That was just the thing And a little toy dog On the end of a string... Bow wow!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: nonballad dog clothes
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 29, "The Raspberry Tart" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Reportedly a fragment of a music hall song. - RBW
File: MCB029
===
NAME: Rat Coon, Rat Coon
DESCRIPTION: "Rat coon, rat coon, can you-all dance? No Why? Cause my tail's too short. Putty addy bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum. Putty addy bum-bum bum-bum bum.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914
KEYWORDS: animal nonsense
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 265, "Rat Coon, Rat Coon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7815
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Raccoon" (theme)
NOTES: This could, from its text, be a fragment of "Raccoon" (or almost anything else). But the metrical pattern is different, so -- given that Randolph offers only one verse -- I classify the two as separate. - RBW
File: R265
===
NAME: Ratcliffe Highway
DESCRIPTION: The sailor wanders down Ratcliffe Highway (and stops at an ale-house. What happens thereafter varies, e.g. he meets a girl, he fights with the landlady, etc.). After his business is done, he welcomes the chance to return to sea, even on a lousy old tub
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905
KEYWORDS: sailor courting whore fight
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Britain
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 114-116, "As I Was A-Walking Down Ratcliffe Highway" (2 text, 2 tune)
Hugill, pp. 200-201, "Ratcliffe Highway" (1 text plus 3 fragments, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 155-157]
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 85, "Ratcliffe Highway" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RATCLIF* RATCLIF2*
Roud #598
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Blow the Man Down" (floating lyrics; the songs often cross-fertilize)
cf. "The Deserter"
NOTES: Ratcliffe Highway is a road in London near Limehouse Reach. It ran near the docks of the British East India Company. Its was hardly the best part of town -- the "Ratcliffe Highway Murders" are mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes story _A Study in Scarlet_, and formed a backdrop for Thomas De Quincey's _Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts_.
The area's reputation eventually became so bad that the road was renamed St. George's Street. - RBW
One version of "The Deserter" has the man recruited on Ratcliffe Highway, and that version is also known by the name of "Ratcliffe Highway." - PJS
File: Doe114
===
NAME: Rathaspeck Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: Thomas Power and James Kehoe from Rathaspeck had "gained an honest livelihood by toiling on the land." They take a boat out in Wexford Harbour "to pass away their evening, engaged by line and hook." They can not swim and drown when their boat capsizes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck fishing
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 68-69, "The Rathaspeck Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ran068
===
NAME: Rathlin Song, A
DESCRIPTION: "Where the fulmar flies on Rathlin head O'er the lake on the cliff by the sea, My love and I, in days that are dead, Watched the white clouds floating free.... But my love flew away... And I sob like the mateless dove." She prays her love will return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H696, p. 290, "A Rathlin Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6893
File: HHH696
===
NAME: Rattle Snake (II): see Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)
===
NAME: Rattlesnake
DESCRIPTION: Various animals are asked about their characteristics, e.g. "Muskrat, muskrat, what makes you smell so bad? I've been in the bottom all my life Till I'm mortified in my head." "Rattlesnake, rattlesnake, what makes your teeth so white?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Land Norris)
KEYWORDS: animal questions dialog nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 83, "Rattlesnake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 394, "Muskrat" (1 text)
Roud #6395
RECORDINGS:
Land Norris, "Muskrat" (OKeh 40404, 1925)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mister Rabbit" (theme)
File: LoF083
===
NAME: Rattlesnake Song, The: see Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)
===
NAME: Rattlin' Roarin' Willie
DESCRIPTION: Rattlin' Willie goes to the fair to sell his fiddle. Someone urges him, "O, Willie, come sell your fiddle... And buy a pint o wine!" He refuses; "The warl' would think I was mad." He plays in "guid company"; his wife(?) says "Ye're welcome hame to me."
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Scots Musical Museum, #194)
KEYWORDS: music commerce drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 91, "(Johnny, come lend me your fiddle)" (1 text, which appears to mix elements from "Rattlin' Roarin' Willie" with something rather like "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?")
DT, RTLNROAR
Roud #6192
NOTES: Like most Burns pieces, this has a traditional stub -- there is an item in Gammer Gurton's Garland,
John, come sell thy fiddle
And buy thy wife a gown.
No, I'll not sell my fiddle
For ne'er a wife in town.
(Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #91, p. 86)
The Baring-Goulds mention a note by Sir Walter Scott that Willie was a real fiddler who was tried and executed for murder. - RBW
File: DTrtlnro
===
NAME: Rattling Bog, The
DESCRIPTION: Cumulative song about the "great chain of being." Sample: "On this branch there was a twig/Rare twig, a rattling twig/Twig on the branch and the branch on the tree and the tree in the bog/Bog down in the valley-o." Most versions complete a circle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1877 (Miss M. H. Mason, _Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs_)
KEYWORDS: ritual cumulative nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland) Wales US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Randolph 459, "The Green Grass Grew All Round" (1 text)
BrownIII 133, "The Pretty Pair Tree" (1 text)
Fuson, pp. 87-88, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (1 text)
SharpAp 206, "The Tree in the Wood" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Sharp-100E 98, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 58, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 258-260, "The Tree in the Bog" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 92, "On This Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 107, "The Stump" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 88, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 200, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text)
Kennedy 96, "An Wedhen War An Vre (The Tree on the Hill)" (1 Cornish text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 391, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (1 text)
DT, RATLNBOG*
ADDITIONAL: Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 6, prints a Danish text, "Langt Udi Skoven," with a loose English translation, which is a similar cumulative song about a tree, but the idea is so simple that they might be independent
Roud #129
RECORDINGS:
Doney Hammontree, "The Tree in the Wood" (AFS; on LC12)
Mike Kent, "The Tree" (on NFMLeach)
Old King Cole, "And The Green Grass Grew All Around" (Edison 52310, 1928)
Premier Quartet, "And the Green Grass Grew All Around" (CYL: Edison [BA] 1808, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "Green Grass Grows All Around" (on PeteSeeger20)
Uncle Don, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (Conqueror 9013, 1938)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Derriere Chez Nous (Behind Our House)" (theme)
cf. "Little Bird" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Green Grass Growing All Around
The Endless Circle
NOTES: The Cornish words printed by Kennedy are by Talek, based on English texts with some Breton influence.
The "Rattling Bog" title is obviously rare, but I used it because it seemed the most popular pop folk title. I may have been wrong about that. - RBW
File: ShH98
===
NAME: Rattling Railway Boy, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer left home at twenty two. He went from town to town working on the railroad with his "whole estate" in his handkercheif. His money went for drink. He met and married a girl but left her in May. She tells her baby "Your daddy's a Railway Boy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1986 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: marriage rambling abandonment railroading baby rake wife
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 59, "The Rattling Railway Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: McB1059
===
NAME: Raven and the Crow, The
DESCRIPTION: "The corbie with his roupie throat Cried frae the leafless tree... Come o'er the loch wi me!" The crow asks why he should come. He is told a farmer has plowed his field and seeded it; there is much corn to be had. The farmer shoots both birds
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: bird death food farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 34, "The Raven and the Crow" (1 text)
NOTES: I haven't met this elsewhere, but it feels enough like a traditional song that I'm indexing it. - RBW
File: MSNR034
===
NAME: Ravenal, The
DESCRIPTION: The trawler Ravenal, returning to St Pierre from the Grand Banks, is lost in a storm. "Wreckage was found on Lorie's shore. She may have struck a sunker, but such things we'll never know; We only know her eighteen men died in the waters cold"
AUTHOR: Isaac Harris
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 31, 1962 - Ravenal is "missing. Presumed iced up & capsized" (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 92, "The Ravenal" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Schooner Marion Rogers" (tune)
NOTES: Lories Beach is in Placentia Bay on the south Newfoundland coast.
Sunker: "A submerged rock over which the sea breaks, familiar form of SUNKEN ROCK, BREAKER, GROUNDER" (Source: _Dictionary of Newfoundland English_ at  site of Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage). - BS
File: LeBe092
===
NAME: Raz-Ma-Taz-A-Ma-Tee: see Three Dukes (File: R551)
===
NAME: Real Old Mountain Dew: see Good Old Mountain Dew (File: LxA180)
===
NAME: Reason I Stay on Job So Long
DESCRIPTION: "Reason I stay on job so long, Lawd, dey gimme flamdonies an' coffee strong." "Reason I love my captain so, 'Cause I ast him for a dollar, Lawd, he give me fo'." "Reason why I love Boleen, She keeps my house An' shanty clean." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: work
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 46-47, "Reason I Stay on Job So Long" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15568
File: LxA046
===
NAME: Reason Why, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is picked up by a beautiful woman. She takes him to a house and then to bed: "You are the nicest boy I've seen today... I would love a jewelled ring." In the morning a man comes in and kicks him into the gutter. He pays and doesn't ask why 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1884 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3238))
KEYWORDS: love sex violence prison punishment trial beauty drink food wife children whore ring
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #1745
RECORDINGS:
Walter Pardon, "One Cold Morning in December" (on Voice15)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3238), "The Reason Why" ("One night in cold December, I've reason to remember"), H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Firth b.28(13), Firth c.17(151), 2806 c.15(284), 2806 c.15(284), "The Reason Why"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Annie of the Vale" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian Harding B 11(3238), 2806 c.15(284) and Firth b.28(13))
cf. "The Young Man Badly Walked" (plot)
NOTES: The description is based on Walter Pardon's version on Voice15.
The following description, based on broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3238), tells a story with a different ending: The singer was picked up by a beautiful woman. She took him in tow. He paid for brandy and oysters. A dandy kicked him into the gutter. The police took him to the station-house. Before a magistrate, his wife and children he is sentenced to 30 days.
Keywords combine both stories.
Walter Pardon's version has a simple chorus:
And she said, "Come, come along, old boy,
And don't look so bashful and shy
She really was a beauty. I thought it was my duty,
So I paid and never asked the reason why.
The broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3238) version has each "chorus" modified to advance the story. - BS
File: RcTReWhy
===
NAME: Rebel Acts of Hyde, The
DESCRIPTION: "It's now I will relate, Though in a broken way, How the rich in Hyde Did carry the poor away." The singer tells how the people of the deep south and the rich carried the area from the Union, alludes to its recapture, and says that some stayed true
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 281, "The Rebel Acts of Hyde" (1 text)
Roud #6644
NOTES: The secession crisis of 1860/1861 proceeded in two stages: The seven deep southern states seceeded before Fort Sumter. The border states (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina) stayed loyal until Lincoln called for troops after Sumter.
All four of the latter states had strong pockets of unionism. In Virginia, they were mostly in the western part of the commonwealth, and eventually gained their own state (West Virginia). The same might have happened in east Tennessee had Union troops been able to capture the area sooner. Arkansas unionism was mostly in the Ozarks, too remote for anyone to notice.
North Carolina was more complicated. It didn't have a concentrated Union area, so Union forces could not hold. But unionism was probably stronger in North Carolina than any other Confederate state, and not confined to the mountains as in Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
Hyde County and the town of Hatteras, the site of this song, are in fact on the eastern coast of North Carolina, Hyde County being on the north short of Pamlico Sound and Hatteras actually on the outer banks.
Hatteras itself was captured by Union forces on August 28-29, 1861, the first real amphibious operation of the war, and conquest of the Pamlico area continued from there. This song almost sounds like a local's protest of loyalty in an attempt to curry favor with the occupying authorities. - RBW
File: BrII281
===
NAME: Rebel Soldier, The
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses about this lonely soldier's life. "It's grapeshot and musket, And the cannons lumber loud. There's many a mangled body with blankets for a shroud." Characteristic line: "I am a rebel soldier and far from my home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar separation home
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Randolph 246, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 50, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune -- an abridged composite version)
JHCox 76, "The Rebel Soldier" (2 texts, but only the first belongs here; the second is The Sweet Sunny South (I) [Laws A23])
Hudson 117, pp. 258-259, "O Lillie, O Lillie," mostly "Rye Whiskey" but with some verses belonging here; also 116, p. 258, "I'll Eat When I'm Hungry" (1 fragment, a single stanza based on "Rye Whiskey" but probably belonging here: "I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry, If the Yankees don't kill me, I'll live till I die")
Brewster 91, "One Morning in May" (1 text, in which it is a "poor stranger" rather than a "rebel soldier" and with many floating lyrics)
SharpAp 157, "The Rebel Soldier, or The Poor Stranger" (7 texts, 7 tunes, but A and probably F are "The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)")
Sandburg, pp. 136-138, "One Morning in May" (2 text, 1 tune, but only the "B" text, "The Troubled Soldier," belongs here; "A" is "One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing)" [Laws P14])
Silber-CivWar, pp. 72-73, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 211-213, "Jack o' Diamonds" (1 text; this particular Lomax offering contains elements of "Jack o Diamonds/Rye Whisky," "The Wagoner's Lad," The Rebel Soldier," and others)
Roud #259
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)" (meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "The Wagoner's Lad" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Jack of Diamonds"  (floating lyrics)
cf. "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Blind Fiddler"
NOTES: Randolph's version is specific to the Missouri campaigns of General Sterling Price, but more generic versions of the song are abundant.
The first line, interestingly, seems to float; Sharp, Brewster, and Cox each have version from "One Morning In May" or the like (One morning, one morning, one morning in May, I heard a poor soldier lamenting and say"; another text (to the tune of "Rye Whisky") starts with lyrics from "Banks of the Nile" or something similar ("Oh Polly, oh Polly, it's for your sake alone"). - RBW
File: R246
===
NAME: Rebel's Escape, The [Laws A19]
DESCRIPTION: The soldier relates the tale of his desertion. In prison, he gets the guard drunk and sneaks off. He crosses a river on a raft. Reaching home, he wakes his wife and children, who give him a meal and advise him to "go to Dixie's land."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Thomas, "Devil's Ditties")
KEYWORDS: prisoner escape war abandonment Civilwar desertion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws A19, "The Rebel's Escape"
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 534-535, "War Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 807, REBESCAP* WARSONG*
Roud #2207
NOTES: Desertion was a chronic problem during the Civil War (which is the probable, though not certain, source of this song). Both armies were subject to disease and deprivation (the Southern due to lack of resources, the Northern due to pure incompetence and stupidity). And neither had a real system of leave, or a way to bring soldiers back to the colors.
This song, therefore, probably does match the experience of a fair number of unenthusiastic soldiers (especially as the draft took effect in the North).
On the other hand, deserting to the South probably wasn't a good idea; it left the soldier's family without his paycheck, it would subject him to punishment after the South lost -- and quite possibly it would force him into the sourthern ranks, where conditions were even worse. The South was so short of soldiers and supplies that they eventually started demanding deserters join their army. - RBW
File: LA19
===
NAME: Rebellion of 1798, The
DESCRIPTION: Rebel exploits, poisonings and massacres are recounted, from Lord Edward Fitzgerald to Father Murphy, and their defeat at each turn by yeomen and Orangemen, in Kildare, Antrim, Ballynahinch, Wexford and Kilkenny. "Down, down, croppies lie down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1798 (_Falkener's Dublin Journal_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1798 - Irish rebellion against British rule (source: "1798 - Calendar of Events" at IrelandOn-Line site)
May 19, 1798 - Lord Edward Fitzgerald arrested
June 2-3, 1798 - Rebel defeat at Kilcock, Co. Kildare
June 7, 1798 - Rebel defeat at Antrim
June 13, 1798 - United Irishmen under Henry Monro defeated at Ballynahinch
June 21, 1798 - Government recaptures Wexford
July 2, 1798 - Father Murphy (1753-1798) captured, executed, and cremated.
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 50, "The Rebellion of 1798" (1 text)
NOTES: It may not be clear from my description that this ballad is against the rebellion. The tag line of each verse is the chorus of the Orange song "Croppies Lie Down." - BS
It sounds to me as if this might be a sort of an answer to "Croppies Lie Down (II)."
For the career of Edward Fitzgerald, see the notes to "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)." For Ballynahinch and Henry Monro(e) see "General Monroe." For Father Murphy, see especially "Father Murphy (I)." 
File: Moyl050
===
NAME: Reborn Again
DESCRIPTION: "Reborn, soldier, going to reborn again, Oh, going to reborn again...." "Reborn again, reborn again, Oh, you can't get to till you're reborn again." "Paul, and Silas, dar in de jail...  One watch while de other pray."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Bible floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 256-257, "Reborn Again" (1 text)
NOTES: The King James Bible refers to the need to be "born again" in John 3:3, 7 -- though most scholars now consider this a mistranslation. The same Greek word means "again" and "from above," and the structure of the passage makes it clear that this is deliberate wordplay: Jesus is saying "You must be born from above"; Nicodemus interprets it as "born again." (The Gospel of John uses this sort of wordplay frequently.) - RBW
File: ScNF256B
===
NAME: Recent Kanab Tragedy, The
DESCRIPTION: "In Kanab they will remember This Twenty-Fourth of July." "For two of the town's best men are lying In their coffins awaiting earth." "It happened because of hot anger -- A quarrel about their water right." Roundy kills Seegmiller, then kills himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: homicide suicide family farming
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 23, 1899 - The Kanab murders
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 243-244, "(The Recent Kanab Tragedy)" (1 text)
NOTES: In Utah, water was (and is) a precious commodity; Burt explains that each farmer was given a certain period of time to use the water in irrigation ditches. The Roundy/Seegmiller quarrel arose when Roundy accused Seegmiller of withholding some of the water he was due. Roundy murdered Seegmiller, and took his own life when he heard that one of Seegmiller's hands was coming after him.
Burt believes her mother, who certainly transcribed the piece, might be the author. - RBW
File: Burt243
===
NAME: Recruited Collier, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of her lover, a collier now in the army. She is terrified; he's looking forward to the adventure. She points out the coals her family burns, which his hands hewed. He bids her farewell, asking her not to forsake him; she says her life is over
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (Pinto & Rodway, _The Common Muse_)
KEYWORDS: loneliness love army parting mining lover soldier worker trick drink recruiting
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, RECRUCOL*
Roud #3503
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs, "The Recruited Collier" (on IronMuse1, Briggs3)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jimmy's Enlisted
NOTES: In the versions of this song that I've heard, the collier took the shilling after a sergeant got him drunk (standard English recruiting method). Despite what the girl said, he feels perhaps less enthusuastic than determined to make the best of it.
Though the traditional texts seem most often to be known as "The Recruited Collier," two of the three texts cited in _Grangers's Index to Poetry_ are filed under "Jimmy's Enlisted." There is no indication of authorship. - RBW
File: DTrecruc
===
NAME: Recruiting Sergeant, The: see Arthur McBride (File: PBB093)
===
NAME: Red and Green Signal Lights, The: see The Child of the Railroad Engineer (The Two Lanterns) (File: R685)
===
NAME: Red Apple Juice: see Sugar Baby (Red Rocking Chair; Red Apple Juice) (File: ADR82)
===
NAME: Red Bird
DESCRIPTION: "Red bird soon in the morning (x2), Red bird, red bird soon in the morning. (x2)" "What's the matter with the red bird soon in the morning?" "Cat got the red bird soon in the morning." "Hog got the red bird soon in the morning."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 405, "Red Bird" (1 text)
Roud #11682
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Red Bird" (on PeteSeeger21)
File: FSWB405
===
NAME: Red Cap's Hole
DESCRIPTION: Ships caught in a gale are too far out to make Avondale or Harbour Main and ride out the weather in Red Cap's Hole. "When news got to their native homes" the "gallant band marched down by land To help the toilers home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Blondahl)
KEYWORDS: help sea ship storm
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Blondahl, pp. 95-97, "Red Cap's Hole" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The only names I recognize here, Avondale and Harbour Main, are in Conception Bay. - BS
File: Blon095
===
NAME: Red Green: see Rocky Road (Green Green) (File: CNFM154)
===
NAME: Red Herring, The
DESCRIPTION: Song describes the uses made of various parts of the herring, e.g., "Herring's eyes, puddings and pies/Herring's head, loaves of bread."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 ("Cape Cod Dialect")
KEYWORDS: fishing ritual cumulative nonballad humorous animal
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,North,South)) Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 86-87, "The Red Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 296, "The Herring Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 118, "The Jolly Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 578-579, "The Herring Song" (1 text)
Lehr/Best 50, "The Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #128
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Doughty, "Herrings' Heads" (on Voice07)
Mikeen McCarthy, "The Herring" (on Voice14)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sow Took the Measles"
cf. "The Mallard"
cf. "Alouette (I)"
cf. "The Farmer and the Crow"
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Herring's Head
The Herring's Heid
The Jovial Herring
The Jolly Red Herring
NOTES: This is essentially the same song as the American "Sow Took the Measles" [and Roud lumps them - RBW]; "The Farmer and the Crow" (also American, but also found in Sweden) marries this song to "The Carrion Crow." -PJS
Kennedy declares his "Herring Song" and "The Red Herring" to be the same. I'm not sure I agree; while the theme is the same, the lyrics and stanza form are different. But he's seen more versions than I have; I tentatively follow his lead. The danger, of course, is that Kennedy will lump anything with anything. - RBW
File: VWL086
===
NAME: Red Iron Ore [Laws D9]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells of a trip he took on the E.C. Roberts. They set out from Escanaba with a load of ore, and at last wind up in Cleveland. Life aboard an ore boat was not pleasant, but the sailor is proud of the good time the ship made
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: ship travel
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws D9, "Red Iron Ore"
Rickaby 45, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 12-14, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 176-178, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 477-479, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 63, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 183-184, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 95, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
DT 612, REDIRON*
Roud #2233
RECORDINGS:
Stanley Baby, "The 'E. C. Roberts'" (on GreatLakes1)
Art Thieme, "Red Iron Ore" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme06)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Iron Ore by 'Fifty-Four" (tune)
cf. "Joe Livermore" (form, tune)
NOTES: I have made several attempts to locate the _E. C. Roberts_, with partial success -- the Great Lakes has ships by that name, but I have yet to identify one which was an ore carrier. There was an _E. C. Roberts_ sailing Lake Michigan in 1871; she lost her jib boom in a collision near Chicago that April. An _E. C. Roberts_ also grounded in the lakes in 1865.
Possibly the same as the preceding, and surely the best candidate, is an _E. C. Roberts_ mentioned on page 18 of Julius F. Wolff, Jr., _Lake Superior Shipwrecks_, (Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., Duluth, 1990). She was carrying ore in 1872 when she stopped at Marquette, Michigan. A major storm blew up, and because she was unloading coal, there was no way to get her moving quickly. She (and one other ship) had to be scuttled on September 18.
If we look for vessels named the _Roberts_ but with variations in the initials, there was a boat the _E. K. Roberts_ which sailed the Great Lakes in the late nineteenth century. According to Wes Oleszewski's _Ghost Ships, Gales & Forgotten Tales: True Adventures on the Great Lakes_ (Avery Color Studios, 1995), p, 100, she was active at the time of the gale of November 10-11, 1883. I do find it noteworthy that a ship named the _Escanaba_ was active at this time, hauling other ships around Mackinac. I would bet a great deal that it's the same _Escanaba_ even if it isn't the same _Roberts_.
Google searches reveal the _E. K. Roberts_ as a steamer launched commissioned in 1883; renamed _City of Windsor_ in 1890 and _Michipicoten_ in 1910, she burned in 1927; she was originally a fish tug but later carried passengers. .-  RBW
File: LD09
===
NAME: Red Light Green Light: see Rocky Road (Green Green) (File: CNFM154)
===
NAME: Red Light Saloon, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes to (Bangor) on (July 4). (The train) being late, he is "forced" to visit the Red Light Saloon. Quickly recognized as a (logger/cowboy), liquor and women give him their attention. His "ellick" grows hard; he goe off with a five dollar girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: logger cowboy sex drink bawdy whore money
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) US(SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 249-250, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 11, pp. 74-76, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REDLIGHT* REDLITE2*
Roud #9424
NOTES: In Logsdon's text, the singer ends up having sex with a five dollar whore. These days, that sounds cheap -- but Logsdon points out that that was a lot at the time apparently indicated in the song.
Doerflinger's and Logsdon's tets are so different that I thought about splitting the songs. But Doerflinger has only three verses; I suspect it has been shortened, either by Doerflinger or his informant. So I'm lumping them. - RBW
File: Doe249
===
NAME: Red Mantle, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer asks her husband for a red mantle to wear to the fair. He buys it; but when she arrives at the fair she discovers fashions have changed, and "green mantles carried the day." She tears the red mantle to shreds and goes home in tears
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956 (NovaScotia1)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer tells her husband her desire: a red mantle to wear to the county fair. He replies that money is scarce, but he will do what he can. He buys it for her; she sets out for the fair, but when she arrives she discovers fashions have changed, and "green mantles carried the day." She tears the red mantle to shreds and goes home in tears.
KEYWORDS: pride poverty request clothes colors husband wife vanity
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 107, "The Red Mantle" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST RcTReMan (Partial)
Roud #2777
RECORDINGS:
Angelo Dornan, "The Red Mantle" (on NovaScotia1)
NOTES: Political allegory? Fashion statement? - PJS
It's too bad we don't have more versions, to give us a clue where the song came from. Angelo Dornan, I suspect, would have called it a statement on the fickleness of fashion and women's wants; his text seems to have no political statement as such. But if, as is sometimes true, green is the color of mourning, and red of course the color of war and British soldiers' uniforms, this could indeed be a report of a change from, say, pro-war to anti-war sentiment. - RBW
File: RcTReMan
===
NAME: Red Plaid Shawl, The
DESCRIPTION: "One summer's morning I took a ramble" and meet a girl in "a red plaid shawl." The singer wants a kiss; she wants a treat. He says he is a clerk. With his money spent, she knocks him out. When he wakes next morning his coat, chain and watch are gone.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: crime courting robbery clothes trick
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 84, "The Old Plaid Shawl" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(59), "The Red Plaid Shawl", unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 16(222b), Firth b.27(141), "The Red Plaid Shawl"
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 20(59) seems more complete than O'Conor and is the basis of the description. I use the Bodleian Harding B 20(59) title as Name to try to avoid confusion with Francis Fahy's "The Ould Plaid Shawl." - BS
File: OCon084
===
NAME: Red River Shore, The: see The New River Shore (The Green Brier Shore; The Red River Shore) [Laws M26] (File: LM26)
===
NAME: Red River Valley, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer and his love are parting (either may be singing, and either may be leaving). "Come and sit by my side [ere you leave me]; do not hasten to bid me adieu; just remember the Red River Valley, And the (sweetheart) who loved you so true..."
AUTHOR: original text ("The Bright Mohawk Valley") by James Kerrigan, 1896?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: separation river farewell
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,SE,So) Canada(West)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Randolph 730, "The Red River Valley" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
BrownIII 260, "Red River Valley" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more)
Cambiaire, pp. 81-82, "Red River Valley" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 88-89, "The Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 52, "The Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 130-131, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 65, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 56, "Red River Valley" (3 texts, 1 tune; the first text is "Red River Valley"  and the third is the variant "Lost River Desert"; the second is a variant of "Nobody's Darling on Earth"); also 102, "Red River Gal" (1 text, 1 tune, consisting of square dance instructions set to this rune)
Arnett, p. 124, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 115, "Red River Valley" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 457, "Red River Valley"
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "Red River Valley" (source notes only)
DT, REDRIVAL*
Roud #756
RECORDINGS:
Gene Autry, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 20085/Columbia 37184, 1946)
Bascom & Blackwell, "Sherman Valley" (OKeh 45008, 1925)
Beverly Hillbillies, "Red River Valley" (Brunswick 421 [w. Tom & Ezra], 1930/Vocalion 03164, 1936)
Bud Billings Trio, "Red River Valley" (Victor V-40267, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4058, 1933) [Bud Billings is a pseudonym for Frank Luther; record may have been issued as by Bud Billings & Carson Robison]
Bob Brooks, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 15689-D, 1931)
[Bill] Childers & [?] White, "Red River Valley" (OKeh 45208, 1928)
Luther Clarke & the Blue Ridge Highballers, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Columbia 15069-D, 1926)
Ned Cobben, "Red River Valley" (Harmony 901-H, 1929)
Sid Harkreader, "Red River Valley" (Paramount 3141, 1928; Broadway 8202, c. 1930)
Kelly Harrell, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Victor 20527, 1926; on KHarrell01)
Hill Billies, "Red River Valley" (Regal Zonophone [UK] MR-1698, 1935)
Bradley Kincaid, "Red River Valley" (Champion 15710 [as Dan Hughey]/Supertone 9403, 1929; Champion 45098, c. 1935) (Vocalion 5476, c. 1930/Vocalion 04647, 1939) (Decca 5048, 1934)
Dr. Lloyd & Howard Maxey [Massey], "Bright Sherman Valley" (OKeh, unissued, 1927)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Sherman Valley" (OKeh 45008, 1926)
Frank Luther & Zora Layman, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Decca 5028, 1934)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Red River Valley" (Victor 21421, 1928)
Lester McFarland & Robert A. Gardner, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Brunswick 169/Vocalion 5174, 1927; Supertone S-2031 [as Kentucky Mountain Boys], 1930)
Bill Mooney & his Cactus Twisters, "Red River Valley" (Imperial 1096, n.d. but post-World War II)
Holland Puckett, "The Bright Sherman Valley" (Challenge 329 [as by Harvey Watson]/Gennett 6433/Herwin 75562 [as by Robert Howell]/Silvertone 5064, 25064, 8153, 1927/Supertone 9254 [as by Si Puckett; issued 1929])
[Hugh Cross &] Riley Puckett, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 15206-D, 1927) (Bluebird B-8335/Montgomery Ward M-8481, 1940; rec. 1939)
Ranch Boys, "Red River Valley" (Decca 5045, 1934)
Goebel Reeves, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Melotone M-12186, 1931)
Texas Jim Robertson, "Red River Valley" (Victor 27552, 1941)
Carson Robison Trio, "Red River Valley" (Romeo 1233/Banner 0615/Perfect 12591/Jewel 5871/Conqueror 7492, 1930) (Clarion 5109-C, 1930) (Crown 3025, 1930)
Pete Seeger, "Red River Valley" (on PeteSeeger32)
Leo Soileau & his Four Aces, "Red River Valley" (Decca 5182, 1936; rec. 1935)
Carl T. Sprague, "Cowboy Love Song" (Victor 20067, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman and the Dixie Mountaineers, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Edison 51951, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5383, 1927)
Sunshine Sue w. Joe Maphis, "Red River Valley" (Astra 1215, n.d.)
Texas Drifter, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Melotone M-12186, 1931)
Art Thieme, "Red River Valley" [instrumental version] (on Thieme02)
Vagabonds, "Red River Valley" (Bluebird B-5297/Montgomery Ward M-4479, 1934)
Harvey Watson [pseud. for Riley Puckett], "The Bright Sherman Valley" (Challenge 329, 1927)
SAME_TUNE:
When It's Hogcalling Time (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 158)
(Conqueror 8485, 1935; Perfect/Melotone 6-08-51, 1936; Conqueror 9512 [as Gene Autry Trio, "Answer to the Red River Valley"], 1940)
Hartman's Tennessee Ramblers, "New Red River Valley" (Bluebird B-6162, 1935' Bluebird B-8894 [as Tennessee Ramblers], 1941)
NOTES: The Fifes consider their "Little Darling" text ("Come sit by my side, little darling, Come lay your cool hand on my brow, And promise me that you will never Be nobody's darling but Mine") to be a Red River Valley variant. As, however, the chorus does not fit the "Red River Valley" tune, and the rest of the words go with this "Nobody's Darling on Earth," I classify it there.
Fuld reports a claim by Fowke that this song predates the Kerrigan text, and that the original was sung as early as 1869 in Canada, referring to the Red River of the North. I know of no supporting evidence for this claim. On the other hand, the song was recorded repeatedly in the early part of the twentieth century, with major variants in text and few versions mentioning the Mohawk Valley; this is certainly indirect evidence that the song is older than the Kerrigan version and originally referred to some other river, presumably either the northern or the southern Red.
The "Sherman Valley" variant is interesting, because there is no significant river by that name. There is a town called Sherman in Texas, though, not far south of the Red River (it's almost due north of Dallas). There is also a Sherman Peak in Colorado, southwest of Denver; it has no connection with the Red River that I can see. - RBW
File: R730
===
NAME: Red Rocking Chair: see Sugar Baby (Red Rocking Chair; Red Apple Juice) (File: ADR82)
===
NAME: Red Rocks of Bell Isle, The
DESCRIPTION: A Bell Island man is found wounded in a battle in which the Germans are defeated. He thinks of home and has a message to be carried to his mother and sweetheart at Wabana. "It's down with Adolph Hitler, God save our gracious King!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: war dying patriotic soldier
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 93, "The Red Rocks of Bell Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Wabana is on Bell Island in Conception Bay, not far from St John's. - BS
File: LeBe093
===
NAME: Red Rose Top, The: see The Seeds of Love (File: K167)
===
NAME: Red Rosy Bush: see Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove) (File: Wa097)
===
NAME: Red Sea
DESCRIPTION: "When Moses was leading the Israelites, Red Sea, Pharaoh tried to catch them just for spite, Red Sea. Oh, Pharaoh he got drowned...." The remaining verses are about Jesus and how he cares for and takes away the sins of the poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious disaster death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 629, "Red Sea" (1 short text, with one stanza printed under #629 and the rest under #610!)
MWheeler, p. 70-71, "Red Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10021
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (lyrics)
NOTES: It's possible that this is a much-evolved version of "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep"; they have lyrics in common and are both about the Exodus (at least in their first verses). But they had separated enough that I would consider them separate songs.
It's worth noting that the Bible does not say that Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) -- though it doesn't say he wasn't, either. Exodus 14:27-28 reads "the Egyptians fled [into the sea], and YHWH scattered the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered Pharaoh's chariots and horesemen and all his army that had followed [the Israelites] into the sea; not one of them survived." - RBW
File: MWhee070
===
NAME: Red Wing (I)
DESCRIPTION: Red Wing, "a pretty little Indian maid," is in love with a brave, but he has died in battle. "Now the moon shines down on pretty Red Wing... So far beneath the stars her love is sleeping, While Red Wing's weeping her heart away."
AUTHOR: Kerry Mills and Thurland Chattaway
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) death battle
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 50, "Red Wing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 39, pp. 207-210, "Red Wing" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text is "Red Wing (I)" while the "B" text is one of the bawdy parodies)
DT, REDWNG*
Roud #4784
RECORDINGS:
George W. Ballard & chorus "Red Wing" (CYL: Everlasting 1150, n.d.)
Homer Christopher & Raney Van Vink, "Red Wing" (OKeh 45097, 1927)
Dudley & McDonough "Red Wing" (Victor 17233, 1912)
Redd Evans & his Billy Boys, "Red Wing" (OKeh 4836, 1923)
Fox Chasers, "Red Wing" (OKeh 45477, 1930)
Frankie & Johnny, "Red Wing" (Conqueror 7976, 1932)
Buell Kazee, "Red Wing" (Brunswick 210, 1928; Supertone S-2057, 1930 [as Buell Kazee & Sookie Hobbs])
Kendall & Kelly, "Red Wing" (Chamption 15582, 1928)
Fred Potter, "Red Wing, An Indian Fable" (CYL: Edison [BA] 541, n.d.)
Frederick H. Potter w. the New York Military Band, "Red Wing"  (CYL: Edison [BA] 1543, c. 1912)
Riley Puckett, "Red Wing" (Columbia 15226-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
George Reneau, "Red Wing" (Vocalion 14896, 1924)
Walter Scanlan, "Red Wing" (Edison 52063, 1927)
[Frank] Stanley & [Henry] Burr "Red Wing" (Columbia 3681, 1907; Columbia A468, 1909) (CYL: Albany 1366, n.d.) (CYL: Columbia 33163, prob. 1907) (Standard 3681, n.d.) 
Stone Mountain Entertainers [Blue Ridge Highballers], "Red Wing" (Broadway 8159, c. 1930; rec. 1927)
Floyd Thompson & his Hometowners "Red Wing" (Vocalion 5331, c. 1929)
Frank Welling & John McGhee "Red Wing" (Conqueror 7976, 1932)
Art Wenzel & his Ragtime Cowboys, "Red Wing" (Pan Am 027, n.d.)
Male duet, "Red Wing" (Busy Bee A-128, c. 1907)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Wing (II)"
cf. "Union Maid" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Red Wing (II) (File: EM214)
Union Maid (by Woody Guthrie) (Greenway-AFP, p. 300; Silber-FSWB, p. 132; DT, UNIONMD; recordings on on Almanac4, PeteSeeger01, PeteSeeger41, PeteSeeger48)
(Charlie Chaplin parody) (Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 211-212; see under "Red Wing (II"))
File: FCW050
===
NAME: Red Wing (II)
DESCRIPTION: Red Wing, the unafraid Indian maid, allows the cowboys intimacies, until she is made pregnant.
AUTHOR: original version by Kerry Mills and Thurland Chattaway
EARLIEST_DATE: original version copyright 1907
KEYWORDS: bawdy parody whore childbirth Indians(Am.) derivative
FOUND_IN: Australia US(MW,Ro,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Cray, pp. 214-216, "Red Wing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 566-570, "Red Wing" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 212, "Redwings" (sic) (1 tune, which Meredith et al seem to associate with the bawdy version)
Logsdon 39, pp. 207-210, "Red Wing" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text is "Red Wing (I)" while the "B" text is one of the bawdy parodies)
DT, REDWNG2*
Roud #4784
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Wing (I)"
NOTES: As with most bawdy parodies, there may be several elements combined here. Cray's version and most of Randolph's involve the Indian Maid quickly losing that distinction at the hand of cowboys. Meredith/Covell/Brown's fragment of text talks about the ragged clothes of Charlie Chaplin (presumably in his "Little Tramp" role). Logsdon's "B" text has the girl so "afraid some buckaroo would ram it up her flue" that "she crammed it full of sand" to make sure he would not "reach the promised land" -- but it has the Charlie Chaplin chorus. How these elements came to combine, or separate, would need a more detailed study than I am in position to give. - RBW
File: EM214
===
NAME: Red-Haired Man's Wife, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks his sweetheart, by letter and in person, to leave her husband. She had sworn fidelity but married the red-haired man instead. She will not "break the command" He offers a way out: "For the Patriarch David had a number of wives"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2188))
KEYWORDS: courting rejection wife husband marriage hair Bible
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
OLochlainn 97, "The Red-Haired Man's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REDWIFE
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, pp. 60-62, "Bean an Fhir Rua" ("The Red-Haired Man's Wife") [Gaelic and English] (1 text, 1 tune)
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 232-233, "The Red Man's Wife" (1 text, translated by Douglas Hyde)
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 128-129, "The Red Man's Wife" (1 text, translated by Douglas Hyde)
Roud #3046
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2188), "The Red Haired Man's Wife," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Firth b.25(347), Harding B 26(564), Firth c.18(83), "The Red Haired Man's Wife"; 2806 c.16(206), 2806 b.9(113), Harding B 25(1603)[some words illegible], "The Red Hair'd Man's Wife"
NOTES: According to Milner and Kaplan, _A Bonny Bunch of Roses_, this is based on a Gaelic song, Bean An Fhir Ruaidh.
The argument that the Patriarch David was repeatedly married has its problems. There is the nitpicky one that, based on the standard definition, he was not a Patriarch; they preceded the Judges, and David was after.
More to the point, while David had many wives, and they produced many sons, the sons fought over the inheritance; eventually the oldest three died at the hands of their relatives. Solomon, the survivor, also took many wives, but they "turned away his heart after other gods" (2 Kings 11:3).
Various others in the Bible had multiple wives, but the only significant patriarch to have multiple wives *simultaneously* was Jacob, who had two wives (Rachel and Leah) and two concubines, who collectively gave birth to the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
I know of no instance whatsoever of a wife with multiple husbands. - RBW
The song translated from Gaelic in Bell/O Conchubhair is quite different from the "Englished" version. Further, there is a story to be told that sets the stage: "Our song is no simple tale of lust. Fair lad and red-head were apprentices to the rich tailor. His only daughter and the fair lad were in love, betrothed to be married.... The foxy boy stole some silver knives of the tailor's and hid them in his rival's baggage [cf. Genesis 44]. Discovered. Three years in gaol. Came out to find his love married to the rogue." Now the song starts in either version; in the Gaelic he has no answer from her but the outcome is likely the same.
Hoagland's version follows the story told in Bell/O Conchubhair commentary. - BS
File: OLoc097
===
NAME: Red, White, and Blue: see Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)
===
NAME: Red, White, and Red, The
DESCRIPTION: The Confederate soldiers proudly boast of their new flag, "The Red, White, and Red!" They promise the guard their land, and proclaim, "They never will subdue us, that you will see. While there's Davis, Bragg, Beauregard, Johnson, and Lee...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1946 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic bragging
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 10, 1861 - Battle of Big Bethel. Although trivial in size (some 6000 troops engaged, casualties totalling about 110), it was the first land battle of the war. Federal troops under Benjamin Butler ("Old Picayune," almost certainly the worst general of the war) were easily defeated by Confederates under John Bankhead Magruder
Nov. 8, 1861 - The Trent Affair (The Mason and Slidell Affair): The two Confederate diplomats are taken off the Trent by Captain Charles Wilkes of the San Jacinto in clear violation of the then-current international policy regarding neutral rights
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Warner 22, "The Red, White, and Red" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 223, "On the Plains of Manassas" (1 text, with a stray reference to Manassas but otherwise this song)
BrownIII 375, "The Red, White, and Red" (3 texts; the "A" text, with mentions of Mason and Slidell and Manassas, seems to be a later, expanded version)
ST Wa022 (Partial)
Roud #769
NOTES: This song is item dA36 in Laws's Appendix II. 
Among the figures mentioned in this song are:
Magruder - John Bankhead Magruder, winner at Big Bethel, set aside after the Peninsula campaign
Old Picayune - Benjamin F. Butler, a complete military incompetent who always kept his job because of his Republican political connections. He seems to have been given his nickname after a (female) character in a minstrel song, Picayune Butler
Davis - Jefferson Davis, Confederate president (at this time still a provisional president)
Bragg - Braxton Bragg, at the time of Big Bethel a general commanding part of the southern coast. He later was appointed commander of the Army of Tennessee
Beauregard - P.G.T. Beauregard, who had directed the bombardment at Fort Sumter and later held field command at First Bull Run (though his later career was not overly successful)
Johnson - almost certainly an error, either for Albert Sidney Johnston (first commander of the Tennessee army, killed at Shiloh) or Joseph E. Johnston, who preceded Lee in command in northern Virginia and held a succession of later posts
Lee - Robert E. Lee (who did not achieve a significant command in the Confederate army until 1862)
Stonewall - Thomas "Stonewall": Jackson, at the time of Big Bethel commanding a small force near Harper's Ferry but destined to command a famous brigade at First Bull Run and, of course, become Lee's chief subordinate and a southern legend. 
"The Mason and Slidell Affair": James Mason and John Slidell were Confederate diplomats who were bound for London and Paris, were on the British ship _Trent_ when it was stopped by the U. S. S. _San Jacinto_  commanded by Charles Wilkes. Wilkes took off the diplomats, prompting a furor. Washington eventually gave in to British and French pressure and sent Mason and Slidell on to their destinations.
McCulloch: Ben McCulloch, a general in the west, one of the co-commanders at Wilson's Creek, killed at Pea Ridge. Despite the song, he never gave evidence of enough competence to truly frighten the Yankees, and he never was sole commander at a major battle. - RBW
File: Wa022
===
NAME: Redbird and Jaybird
DESCRIPTION: "The jaybird sat on the redbird's nest. The redbird sat and mourned." Verses about the birds and their lives, with additional (floating?) material about partridges pulling a plow, a man riding a goose across a creek, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: bird courting
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 154, "Redbird and Jaybird" (2 texts; "A" appears to be mixed and "B" is a fragment)
NOTES: Although the older of Brown's two sources lists the redbird as sitting on the jaybird's nest, the newer version, in which the jaybird moves in on the cardinal, is almost certainly correct. Jays are related to crows, and will make off with other birds' eggs. - RBW
File: Br3154
===
NAME: Redemption Song, The
DESCRIPTION: Adam and Eve squander "the heritage of heaven." Christ confounds the sages in the temple, heals the sick, shares "the Pasch," is crucified, rises and "redeemed us all." "We're safe from Satan's wrath." "That will lead us home to Heaven and our Salvation"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: death religious Jesus Bible
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 47-48, "The Redemption Song" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bean Dubh an Ghleanna" (tune, according to Tunney-StoneFiddle)
File: TSF047
===
NAME: Redesdale and Wise William [Child 246]
DESCRIPTION: Redesdale tells William that he can win any woman's favor "wi ae blink o my ee." William bets his head against Redesdale's lands that Redesdale cannot win his sister. Redesdale courts the sister, fails to win her (though he burns down her house)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: courting sex gambling virtue wager
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 246, "Redesdale and Wise William" (3 texts)
Bronson 246, "Redesdale and Wise William" (1 version, properly associated with "Johnnie Cock")
Roud #243
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fiddler's Bitch" (plot)
cf. "The Twa Knights" (plot)
File: C246
===
NAME: Redwings: see Red Wing (II); also Red Wing (I) (File: EM214)
===
NAME: Reedy Lagoon, The
DESCRIPTION: "The sweet scented wattle sheds perfume around Delighting the bird and the bee, While I lie and take rest in my fern-covered nest." The rambler relaxes and thinks back on the friends and the girl he has left behind. He misses them, but cares little
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: rambling Australia separation
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 144-145, "The Reedy Lagoon" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REEDYLAG*
File: PASB144
===
NAME: Reeling Song: see Linktem Blue (Reeling Song) (File: FlBr034)
===
NAME: Regimental Song: see Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going) (File: SBoA050)
===
NAME: Regular Army-O, The
DESCRIPTION: The volunteer joined the army three years ago, and has been suffering every since under "Sergeant John McCafferty and Corporal Donahue" as well as "forty miles a day on beans and hay." Captured by Indians, the soldiers at last escape army life
AUTHOR: Harrington and Hart?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: soldier army warning abuse
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Dean, p. 67, "The Regular Army, Oh" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 177, "The Regular Army-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REGARMY*
Roud #4747
File: LoF177
===
NAME: Regular Army, Oh, The: see The Regular Army-O (File: LoF177)
===
NAME: Reid's Express
DESCRIPTION: "You'll get on board of Reid's Express to travel the icy rail" to the station at Badger Brook and lumber "just like a slave... 'twill carry you to your grave." "When I gets home no more I'll roam and the lumbering woods I'll shun."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: lumbering hardtimes logger
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 757-758, "Reid's Express" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9800
NOTES: Badger Brook, later Badger, is not far from Bonavista Bay on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. - BS
File: Pea757
===
NAME: Reidh-chnoc Mna Sidhe (Dark Fairy Rath, The)
DESCRIPTION: The singer "in search of my love" meets her and is warned. "'Touch me not, and approach me not near; I belong to this Rath, and the Fairy host here.'" He tries to hold her but she disappears.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1884 (Mangan's translation _Poets and Poetry of Munster,_ according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: courting magic supernatural
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 43, "The Dark Fairy Rath" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "The original Gaelic of this song is attributed to George Roberts about whom, if he existed, nothing is known" (source: OLochlainn-More). - BS
In the earliest known phase of Irish mythology, the Sidhe (Aes Sidhe, the People of the Hills) were the remnants of the Tuatha De Danaan, who had been defeated and driven underground by the Celtic invaders. Later the name came to be used of any generic fairy or sprite -- but the first sense may have more meaning in context.
A rath was the Irish name for a fortification or earthwork. - RBW
File: OLcM043
===
NAME: Reilly the Fisherman: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Reilly's Daughter: see O'Reilly's Daughter (File: EM101)
===
NAME: Reilly's Farewell: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Reily's Jailed: see William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10] (File: LM10)
===
NAME: Rejected Lover, The [Laws P10]
DESCRIPTION: The girl tells the singer not to return; she prefers freedom to marriage. She later changes her mind; he is no longer interested. She warns others against her mistake
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection loneliness
FOUND_IN: Irelan US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws P10, "The Rejected Lover"
JHCoxIIB, #15, pp. 155-156, "You Can't Come Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 91, "Servant Man" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 145, "You Can't Come Again" (1 short text)
SharpAp 109, "The Rejected Lover" (10 texts, 10 tunes, but version "A" is actually a mishmosh of floaters including "Who will shoe..." and "A-roving on a winter's night...")
Darling-NAS, pp. 136-137, "The Rejected Lover" (1 text)
SHenry H589, p. 344, "The Rejected Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 495, REJCTLVR*
Roud #412
RECORDINGS:
Eddie and Gracie Butcher, "Don't Come Again" (on IREButcher01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nancy (I)" [Laws P11] (plot)
cf. "Nancy (II) [Laws P12] (theme)
cf. "The Slighted Suitor" (plot)
cf. "Braes of Strathblane" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Alexander
NOTES: The notes to Henry/Huntington/Herrmann question the connection between their "Rejected Lover" song and Laws P10. They have a point; there isn't much lyric similarity. The plots are alike, however, and the form -- and the two are so widely separated in space that great divergences are possible. Plus there are almost no other versions clearly associated with the Henry text. It seemed easier to lump them.
The Henry text contains several odd Biblical allusions. First, "I'll travel to Mount Nebo, where Moses viewed the Ark." This is patently absurd. Mount Nebo is in Moab, many hundreds of kilometres from Urartu (Ararat), the resting place of the Ark. What Moses saw from Mount Nebo was the future homeland of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 34:1-5).
Equally strange is the reference to Mount Ararat as the place "where Noah did embark." The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (plural! -- Genesis 8:4). But there is no reason to think he started there.
There are several mysteries about this song. Laws lists only the texts from Sharp, ignoring Brown and the various references there. The notes in Brown don't help; they link it with "The Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter" [Laws H12] -- which it may have influenced, but which is clearly not the same song.
Cox's and Fuson's versions seem to form a subgroup (which may even be an independent song which has mixed with this one), marked by the steady use of the title line "(You/I) (can't/need not) come again." Both versions, though rather defective, stress an exchange of letters (perhaps the young man has joined the army?); this may have been imported from "A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.)" [Laws P9]. - RBW
File: LP10
===
NAME: Relief of Derry, The
DESCRIPTION: "Dartmouth spreads her snow-white sail, Her purple pennant flying O: While we the gallant Browning hail, Who saved us all from dying" [Mountjoy] rams the blockade and seems stranded -- "we mourned our falling city" -- but "a favouring gale" frees it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: battle rescue death Ireland patriotic food
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES:  Jul 28, 1689 - Browning's ships break the 105 day seige of Derry (source: Kilpatrick [see Notes])
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OrangeLark 8, "The Relief of Derry" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry" (subject: the siege of Derry) and references there
NOTES: On July 28, 1689 three ships -- _Mountjoy_, _Dartmouth_, and _Phoenix_ -- on the Foyle broke the seige bringing food; captain of the _Mountjoy_ was Michael Browning, who was killed in the battle. (source: Cecil Kilpatrick, "The Seige of Derry: A City of Refuge" at the Canada-Ulster Heritage site) - BS
File: OrLa008
===
NAME: Religion Is the Best of All
DESCRIPTION: "Oh it's come along fathers And don't you want to go, And join that happy company That's going on before." Chorus: "Religion is the best of all (x3), I feel it in my soul." Continues for mothers, brothers, sisters, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 656, "Religion Is the Best of All" (1 text)
Roud #7579
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Am Going to Heaven" (lyrics)
File: R656
===
NAME: Religion So Sweet
DESCRIPTION: Baptizing song/sermon: "Let's go down to Jurdon (x2)... De ol' ribber Jurdon is mighty deep, but 'ligion is so sweet." The candidates are told of the benefits of baptism, told that Jesus requires it, and reminded of the "sweetness" of religion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 582-583, "'Ligion So Sweet" (1 text)
Roud #11061
File: LxA582
===
NAME: Religious Use of Taking Tobacco, A: see Tobacco's But an Indian Weed (File: Log262)
===
NAME: Remember A, Remember B
DESCRIPTION: "Remember A, remember B, But first of all, remember me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 232, (third of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
NOTES: This sounds like something from a greeting card to me, but Henry presents it as a fragment of a song, so we index it. Even though the above sentence is longer than Henry's fragment.... - RBW
File: MHAp232B
===
NAME: Remember Me
DESCRIPTION: The singer's ship is ready to sail. He hopes his sweetheart and old Ireland boys will remember him. They spend the night drinking together and he sails away. He bids Killarney farewell. "Alas my friends I am away, Here's my hand but you have my heart"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 19C (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 26(567))
KEYWORDS: love emigration farewell sea ship Ireland nonballad friend drink
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(567), "Remember Me" ("Our ship is ready to sajl [sic] away"), P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.8(216), 2806 b.9(3), 2806 c.8(290), "Remember Me"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Our Ship Sails Ready to Sail Away" (shares opening verses)
NOTES: Wright-Irish (_Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs_) pp. 111, 170-173, has two versions of "Our Ship Sails Ready to Sail Away" and one of "Remember Me" and considers them to be variants of the same song. His longest version of "Our Ship ..." and his "Remember Me" share three verses almost exactly; "Our Ship ..." adds six 4-line verses and "Remember Me" adds five 4-line verses and, in these lines, the songs share no lines. "Our Ship ..." is a farewell to Nora, and besides to Dublin, Delgany and Wicklow; "Remember Me" is a farewell to old Ireland boys, and besides to Killarney. My inclination is to keep them as two separate songs. - BS
File: BdRemMeI
===
NAME: Remember Me Early
DESCRIPTION: "Remember me early, remember me late, Remember the night we swang on the garden gate."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Mrs. Henry C. Gray, or her maid)
KEYWORDS: nonballad courting
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 239, (no title) (1 short text)
File: MHAp239A
===
NAME: Remember the Barley Straw: see Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw) (File: K188)
===
NAME: Remember the Glories of Brian the Brave
DESCRIPTION: "Remember the glories of Brian the brave... To light us to victory yet." Tell the invading Danes that we prefer "to bleed for an age ... than to sleep but a moment in chains." Do not let those that died "upon Ossory's plain" have fallen in vain
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846 (_Irish Melodies_ by Thomas Moore, according to Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: battle nonballad patriotic Ireland
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 23, 1014 - Battle of Clontarf. Victory and death of Brian Boru
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, p. 48, "Brian the Brave" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, p. 111, "Brian the Brave"
Roud #12820
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(75), "Brian the Brave", The Poet's Box (Belfast), 1846-1852; also Harding B 15(33a), "Brian the Brave" 
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Brien the Brave
NOTES: Brian Boru (Boruma), born c. 942, became king of Munster after the murder of his brother Mathgamain in 976, and then set out to become High King of Ireland. By about 1002, he was recognized as such by most major Irish lords.
Although Brian's enemies are called Danes in the song, in fact they were Viking raiders allied with rebels from Leinster (see, e.g. Mike Cronin, _A History of Ireland_, p. 8; Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, _A History of Ireland_, p. 56). The two sides met at the Battle of Clontarf, on Good Friday 1014, and Brian's Munster forces were victorious though he was slain. In practice, that was a defeat for Brian, since it ended the fragile Irish unity. The Vikings did go away, for the most part -- but that was more because Swein Forkbeard and his son Canute were conquering England than anything else. - RBW, (BS)
File: OCon048
===
NAME: Remember the Poor
DESCRIPTION: "Cold winter is coming with his keen cutting breath...." With the fields barren and the cold coming on, the listeners are urged to remember the poor. This is urged both because the listeners have something to spare and because it is the Christian thing
AUTHOR: Words: John Fielding / Music: H. T. Dyring (source: broadside LOCSheet, sm1877 01347)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1826 (broadside Harding B 11(843))
KEYWORDS: poverty help religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 161, "The Snow Is on the Ground" (1 field text plus a songster version, 1 tune)
ST Wa161 (Partial)
Roud #1121
BROADSIDES:
Harding B 11(843),  "Remember the Poor," Angus (Newcastle), 1774-1825
LOCSheet, sm1877 01347, "Always Remember the Poor", [publisher illegible] (Jersey City), 1877
Murray, Mu23-y1:079, "Remember the Pooor," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Cold Winter is Coming
File: Wa161
===
NAME: Remember the Poor Tramp Has to Live
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a tramp, tells how hard his life is, asks for understanding. Chorus ends "Remember that the poor tramp has to live"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Ernest V. Stoneman/Stoneman Family)
KEYWORDS: poverty rambling begging hardtimes hobo
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 351-354, "The Poor Tramp Has to Live" (1 text plus a broadside print, 1 tune)
BrownIII 357, "The Tramp Song" (1 text, a noticeably defective transcription)
Roud #11720
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Singers, "The Tramp Song" (Columbia 15647-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
Dock Boggs, "Railroad Tramp" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
Walter Morris, "The Railroad Tramp" (Columbia 15101-D, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "The Poor Tramp Has to Live" (matrix GEX 493-A recorded 1927, released 1927-1928 as: Herwin 75535 [as by Stoneman], Gennett 6044 [as by Ernest V. Stoneman and his Graysen County Boys], Challenge 324/Challenge 398/Champion 15233 [all as by Uncle Jim Seaney], Challenge 244/Silvertone 5001/Silvertone 8155/Silvertone 25001/Supertone 9255 [all as by Uncle Ben Hawkins]); "The Poor Tramp"  (Victor 20672, 1927); Ernest V. Stoneman and His Dixie Mountaineers, "Remember the Poor Tramp Has to Live" (Edison, unissued, 1928); Ernest Stoneman [and Eddie Stoneman], "Broke Down Section Hand" (Vocalion 02655, 1934)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
 cf. "The Tramp (II)" (plot)
cf. "The Tramp's Story" (plot)
NOTES: Boggs states he learned the song from a recording in the late 1920s, but as he doesn't give a name or title I left initially Boggs' recording as the earliest verified to date.
The Walter Morris recording is placed here tentatively; if it can be verified as this song, it would constitute the earliest verified appearance. - PJS
I don't know what Boggs's source was, but Ernest V. Stoneman and the Stoneman Family recorded this on several occasions, the first in 1927. It appears possible that the Brown version (which comes from a manuscript collection) predates this, but unfortunately this is one of the many undated items in the collection; we don't even know when Brown received the manuscript.
The first appearance of the song Cohen could find was a Wehman broadside, apparently in print by 1886; it lists Billy Kearney as the author, and the tune as "True As Steel." It is very different from the Stoneman text and doesn't even mention railroads. I'd call them recensionally different -- perhaps even separate songs -- and so leave the Stoneman recording as the earliest date, subject to Paul's caveat about the Morris recording. - RBW
File: RcRtPTHL
===
NAME: Remember Well and Don't Forget
DESCRIPTION: "Remember well and don't forget, You have a friend that loves you yet."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love friend
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 231, (first of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
File: MHAp231A
===
NAME: Reminiscences: see Titles of Songs (Song of Songs, Song of All Songs, Song of Song Titles) (File: R515)
===
NAME: Remon
DESCRIPTION: (Creole) French: "Mo parle Remon, Remon, Le parle Simon, Simon, Le parle Titine, Titine, Li tombe dans chagrin. O femme Romulus! O belle femme Romulus! O femme Romulus! O belle femme que ca voule mo faile!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Allan, Ware, Garrison)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 215, "Remon" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LxA215
===
NAME: Removal of Napoleon's Ashes, The
DESCRIPTION: At Waterloo Napoleon was forced to yield. Marie Louisa wept and cursed the gold that bribed "False Grouchy." A monument is erected in Paris "to contain the ashes of his heart, And every Frenchman that passes by respectfully a tribute pays"
AUTHOR: John Morgan (source: broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(116), Harding B 13(205), Harding B 11(3256), Curzon b.41(63) and Harding B 15(256a))
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1856 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(116)); c.1845 (broadside NLScotland L.C.1270(016)) [see Notes]
KEYWORDS: battle separation betrayal France wife Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: December 15, 1840 - Napoleon's ashes are returned to Les Invalides in Paris (source: "Hotel des Invalides" on Travel Channel site)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 206, "Napoleon Bonaparte" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(116), "Ashes of Napoleon," J. Cadman (Manchester), 1850-1855; also Harding B 15(256a), Firth b.34(197), "[The: Removal of Napoleon's Ashes"; Harding B 11(117), "The Ashes of Napoleon"; Harding B 13(205), Curzon b.41(63) [many words are difficult to read], Harding B 11(3256), "The Removal of Napoleon Buonaparte's Ashes"; Firth c.16(100), "Napoleon's Remains"; 2806 c.15(105), Harding B 19(14), "The Removal of the Remains of Napoleon, from St. Helena"
LOCSinging, as111620, "Removal of Napoleon's Ashes," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(016), "The Ashes of Napoleon," James Kay (Glasgow), c.1845
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wheels of the World" (for the charge that Grouchy betrayed Napoleon)
cf. "Napoleon Bonaparte (III)" (for the charge that Grouchy betrayed Napoleon)
cf. "The Royal Eagle" (subject: Marie Louisa's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "The New Bunch of Loughero" (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)"  (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
NOTES: The commentary for broadside NLScotland L.C.1270(016) states "James Kay worked in Glasgow as printer during the mid-1840s." - BS
Emmanuel Grouchy (1766-1847) commanded one of the wings of Napoleon's army in the Waterloo campaign, and his failure to arrive at Waterloo may have cost Napoleon the battle. The charge that he betrayed Napoleon occurs also in "Napoleon Bonaparte (III)" (see that song for a discussion) and in "The Wheels of the World," but there is no reason whatsoever to believe that it is true.
Although the conceit is common in folk song, there  is even less reason to think that Marie Lousia of Austria grieved for him, since she became involved with other men before he was even dead. (See the notes to "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)"; also "The Royal Eagle" and "The New Bunch of Loughero") - RBW
File: Moyl206
===
NAME: Requiem for the Croppies
DESCRIPTION: "The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley," the croppies fought with pikes and would "stampede cattle into infantry." "Until, on Vinegar Hill, the fatal conclave.... And in August the barley grew up out of the grave"
AUTHOR: Seamus Heaney (1939-) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death burial
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 21, 1798 - The Wexford rebels are defeated at Vinegar Hill
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 141, "Requiem for the Croppies" (1 text)
File: Moyl141
===
NAME: Restless Dead, The: see The Unquiet Grave [Child 78] (File: C078)
===
NAME: Resurrected Sweetheart, The: see The Unquiet Grave [Child 78] (File: C078)
===
NAME: Resurrection, The: see Free Salvation (The Resurrection) (File: FSC079)
===
NAME: Retour du Mari Soldat, Le: see Brave Marin (Brave Sailor) (File: LeBe013)
===
NAME: Retour du Marin, Le: see Brave Marin (Brave Sailor) (File: LeBe013)
===
NAME: Return of Charlie Horse, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is spending an evening at Mahers and steps out for some air. Looking over Angel Pond, he sees the ghost of Charlie horse. When the mist closes in the singer loses sight of Charlie and goes back inside to tell the boys.
AUTHOR: Omar Blondahl
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Blondahl)
KEYWORDS: horse ghost
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Blondahl, pp. 20-21, "The Return of Charlie Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Concerning Charlie Horse" (tune, chorus, subject and references there)
File: Blon020
===
NAME: Return of Pat Molloy
DESCRIPTION: Molloy returns to Dublin after four years in America and is stopped by "a castle-hack" who accuses him of being a Fenian. He is, but he has returned with money to take Molly and his mother to America. He and Molly marry and all move to New York.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging as111690)
KEYWORDS: marriage emigration return reunion America Ireland patriotic money
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Brigid Tunney, "Wee Paddy Molloy" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
Paddy Tunney, "Paddy Molloy" (on IRPTunney02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pat Malloy" [Laws Q24] (character of Pat Malloy/Molloy)
NOTES: Notes to IRPTunney02: "This is a song linked with the Fenian Rising of 1867. Many of the Fenians learned their soldiering in America during the Civil War and then returned to Ireland to fight their own battle."
Broadside LOCSinging as111690, which is longer than Paddy Tunney's version on IRPTunney02, is the basis for the description.
Broadside LOCSinging as111690: 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.
Broadside LOCSinging as111690 includes the note "Sung, with unbounded applause, by William H. Lindsey."- BS
Most scholars don't seem to link this to Laws Q24, "Pat Malloy," though Laws notes a sequel to that ballad, 'Molly's Welcome to Pat Malloy." But in Laws Q24, we learn that Pat is in love with Molly, that he goes to America, and that he returns home at the end. This is a clear sequel to those events -- possibly a political rewrite, given the mention of the Fenians. 
The Fenians were an organization devoted to freeing Ireland. The organization was founded in 1858 by James Stephens, and quickly spread; the British government felt the need to suppress the group in 1865. Stephens and others were taken prisoner; although he escaped, it turned him cautious; he no longer had the nerve to take aggressive action. That pretty well killed the group as an active set of rebels; their attempt at an Irish rebellion failed in 1867. - RBW
File: RcRoPaMo
===
NAME: Returned Soldier, The
DESCRIPTION: French. A couple takes in a passer-by because their son is also a soldier. They worry about the boy. The passer-by reveals that he is their son
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage soldier separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, p. 517, "The Returned Soldier" (1 text, reportedly incomplete)
NOTES: Sort of a Riley ballad, only with the parents rather than the lover being the ones fooled. - RBW
File: Beld517A
===
NAME: Reuben and Rachel
DESCRIPTION: Rachel speculates to Reuben about "What a good world this would be If the men were all transported Far beyond the northern sea." Reuben, shocked, tries to fathom the idea; at last he offers marriage. Rachel accepts
AUTHOR: Words: Harry Birch / Music: William Gooch
EARLIEST_DATE: 1871
KEYWORDS: dialog transportation courting love humorous marriage
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 180-183, "Reuben and Rachel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 460, "Reuben and Rachel"
Silber-FSWB, p. 345, "Reuben, Reuben" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 86, "Reuben, Reuben" (1 text)
DT, REUBRACH*
ST RJ19180 (Full)
Roud #15451
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Winnipeg Whore" (tune)
cf. "The Swede from North Dakota" (tune)
File: RJ19180
===
NAME: Reuben James
DESCRIPTION: Describes the sinking of the destroyer "Reuben James" by submarines off the coast of Iceland, the loss of 100 men [and the rescue of 44]. Chorus: "What were their names, tell me what were their names/Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?"
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie & Pete Seeger w. the Almanac Singers
EARLIEST_DATE: November, 1941
KEYWORDS: battle navy war death rescue ship derivative
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Oct. 31, 1941 - U. S. destroyer Reuben James, an old 4-stacker, is the first American ship sunk in World War II.
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 84, "Reuben James" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie, "Sinking of the Reuben James" (on AmHist2)
Pete Seeger, "Reuben James" (on PeteSeeger41)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Reuben James" (on SeegerTerry)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wildwood Flower" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sinking of the Reuben James
NOTES: There is some dispute over the authorship of this song; most alumni of the Almanac Singers say that Guthrie wrote the verses, Seeger added the chorus, but Seeger insists that other members of the group also contributed lyrics. - PJS
The _Reuben James_ was one of the the four-stack destroyers built by the U.S. Navy in the period 1917-1920, and was of the class that was "lent" to Britain. At the time of her sinking, she was based at Hvalafjordur, Iceland, and she sank while escorting convoy HX-156 from Argentia, Newfoundland.
The ship was a member of the _Clemson_ class, which (according to _Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I_) were 310 feet long, 31 feet wide. Figures as to her displacement vary; the most widely-accepted figure seems to be 1091 tons. She was initially fitted with four 4" guns and four 21" torpedo tubes; her speed when new was 35 knots. She would of course have undergone some refits in the period between the two wars, and was almost certainly somewhat slower than her 1920 speed. She was named for the man who saved Stephen Decatur's life when both were serving on the _Intrepid_.
It will be noted that the _Reuben James_ was sunk *before* the United States officially joined the Second World War. By this time, however, the U.S. Navy was unofficially escorting convoys to Britain. While U.S. ships normally did not sink submarines, they helped the British track them. What's more, the U.S.S. _Greer_ had actually fired on a German submarine (U-652) on September 4. Thus German action against U.S. ships was not unjustified.
The _Reuben James_ was not the first U.S. naval vessel to be attacked by the Germans in World War II. Apart from the incident between the _Greer_ and U-652, the destroyer U.S.S. _Kearny_ was damaged on October 17, and the oiler _Salinas_ was torpedoed on October 30. When U-562 sank the _Reuben James_ the next day, it was not really much of an escalation -- but it came as a shock to the American people.
Guthrie was correct in saying that 44 men were saved, but the ship's crew totaled 159 (a very full complement; the ships were designed for a crew of about 130), so casualties actually totaled 115.
The sinking of the _Reuben James_ , we must emphasize, did *not* cause the U. S. to go to war (indeed, the U. S. didn't declare war on Germany; Germany declared war instead). Even if it had, Guthrie's confident prediction that American battleships would engage the Germans was short-sighted. Some people say falsely that battleships were useless in World War II -- but while they had their uses, fighting the German navy wasn't one of them. Battleships are useless against submarines, and at the time the Reuben James was sunk, there was not one American battleship fast enough to catch *any* of the handful of German surface ships. It wasn't until the _North Carolina_ finished fitting out some months later that the U. S. actually had a battleship "mighty" enough (read: fast enough) to fight even against German surface navy. 
The last verse of this song as usually sung today ("Many years have passed...") was added by Fred Hellerman. - RBW
File: PSAFB084
===
NAME: Reuben Ranzo
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Ranzo, boys, Ranzo." Typically concerns the life of Reuben Ranzo, a landlubber who "was no sailor" but wound up aboard ship and had to learn fast -- or, perhaps, had enough schooling to turn to navigation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1882
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 23-25, "Reuben Ranzo" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Bone, pp. 54-56, "Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 70, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 89-91, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 240-244 "Reuben Ranzo" (2 texts & fragments, 1 tune - second text is in Swedish & English) [AbEd, pp. 175-178]
Sharp-EFC, XXXII, p. 37, "Poor Old Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 144-146, "Reuben Renzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 50-53, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 101, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 560-561, "Reuben Renzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 313-314, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 83, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
DT, RBNRANZO
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 of "Reuben Ranso" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #3282
RECORDINGS:
Noble B. Brown, "Reuben Ranzo" (AFS, 1946; on LC26)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brindisi Di Marinai' (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Brindisi Di Marinai (File: Hugi245)
NOTES: Linscott speculates that "Renzo" is a corruption of "Lorenzo," which is at least reasonable -- but then comments that "It is probable too that Lorenzo may be a mythical hero." For this supposition there is not a shred of evidence that I can find.
Hugill mentions the "Lorenzo" possibility, but notes that "Reuben" doesn't fit well in that case. He lists three other theories: That it refers to the Danish sailor Daniel Rantzau, that it was an Eastern European Jew with a name like Reuben Ronzoff, or that Reuben derives from the description "Rube" for an inexperienced hand. Evidemce is, of course, lacking.
The ending also varies; Terry mentions Ranzo marrying the Captain's daughter, or being thrown overboard (and having additional adventures undersea), and him being flogged as a thief.
Bone, who has the virtue of actually getting this from sailors, was "inclined to think that [Ranzo] was in the word alone," noting that the word somehow seems to suit the action of hauling. - RBW
File: Doe023
===
NAME: Reuben Renzo: see Reuben Ranzo (File: Doe023)
===
NAME: Reuben Wright and Phoebe Brown
DESCRIPTION: Phoebe loves Reuben; her parents disapprove, and Reuben doesn't think much of them either. They determine to marry; her father grabs a shotgun. He accidentally kills his daughter. Reuben kills the father -- and awakes from his terrible dream
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1896 (Phineas Garrett's "One Hundred Choice Selections")
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Phoebe loves Reuben; her parents disapprove, and Reuben doesn't think much of them either. The young people determine to marry, and start for the parsonage in the rain, while her father grabs a shotgun. Instead of hitting Reuben, he kills his daughter. Reuben kills the father, tears his hair -- and awakes from his terrible dream
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness courting elopement love violence homicide revenge death dream humorous recitation father children
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #5414
RECORDINGS:
Hamilton Lobdell, "Reuben Wright and Phoebe Brown" (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Young Sailor Bold (I) (The Rich Merchant's Daughter)" [Laws M19] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Love, Murder, and Almost Matrimony
NOTES: Each verse has the third line recited as prose, rather than sung. - PJS
This reportedly originated in one of the Hamlin's Wizard Oil songsters. I can't find any references in Spaeth, but this really sounds like something Charlie Case might have written. - RBW
File: RcRWaPB
===
NAME: Reuben, Reuben: see Reuben and Rachel (File: RJ19180)
===
NAME: Reuben's Train
DESCRIPTION: Lyric piece about Reuben's train and travels. Versions vary widely; most contain a verse something like this: "Reuben had a train and he put it on the track, Hear the whistle blow a hundred miles."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Grayson & Whitter, as "Train 45")
KEYWORDS: train nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 503-517, "Reuben's Train/Train 45/900 Miles" (2 texts plus exceprts equivalent to about three more, 2 tunes; the first text is close to "Reuben's Train," the second to "Nine Hundred Miles," but the article is mostly devoted to showing how the two songs mix)
BrownIII 236, "Reuben's Train" (2 texts, with "A" being closer to "Nine Hundred Miles" than "B")
Warner 133, "Reuben's Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 302, "Reuben" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3423
RECORDINGS:
Emry Arthur, "Reuben Oh Reuben" (Paramount 3295, c. 1931; on BefBlues2)
Dock Boggs, "Ruben's Train" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1)
Carolina Ramblers String Band, "Ruben's Train" (Banner 33085/Romeo 5345, 1934; Melotone M-13947, c. 1935)
Bill Cornett ,"Old Reuben" (on MMOKCD)
Elizabeth Cotten, "Ruben" (on Cotten02)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Train 45" (Victor 21189, 1928, rec. 1927, on GraysonWhitter01) (Gennett 6320, 1927/Champion 15447 [as by Norman Gayle], 1928)
Vester Jones, "Old Reuben" (on GraysonCarroll1)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers [or Wade Mainer], "Riding on Train Forty-Five" (Bluebird B-7298, 1937; Victor 27493, 1941)
Wade Mainer & the Sons of the Mountaineers, "Old Reuben" (Bluebird B-8990, 1941)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Riding on That Train 45" (on NLCR06, NLCRCD2)
Poplin Family, "Reuben" (on Poplin01)
Wade Ward, "Old Reuben" [instrumental] (on Holcomb-Ward1)
Doc Watson, "Old Ruben" (on Ashley02, WatsonAshley01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nine Hundred Miles"
cf. "Rain and Snow"
SAME_TUNE:
Jack O'Diamond Blues (recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Old Reuben
NOTES: I know two tunes for this piece. One resembles "Nine Hundred Miles" and "Rain and Snow"; these three songs seems to have cross-fertilized (so much so, in fact, that I literally cannot tell which one was the more direct ancestor of the Grayson & Whitter recording; I placed it there almost arbitrarily).
The other is that used by Frank Proffitt, who said of it, "This is one of the oldest simple banjo tunes.... It was generally the first tune learned, by playing two strings. There are about fifty different verses to this" (quoted by Warner).
G. B. Grayson is said to have turned "Reuben's Train" into "Train 45" -- but they are still so close that I think they can be considered one song. - RBW
File: Wa133
===
NAME: Revolutionary Tea [Laws A24]
DESCRIPTION: Mother Britain is angry that her daughter America will not pay the tea-tax. The mother sends the daughter a great deal of tea and demands she pay the tax (on pain of a beating); the daughter dumps the tea into the ocean
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: political rebellion commerce money patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec. 16, 1773 - Boston Tea Party. Americans protest the British tax on tea by dumping a shipload into Boston Harbor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont) US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws A24, "Revolutionary Tea"
JHCoxIIB, #25, pp. 188189, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 59-61, "The Rich Lady Over the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 54-56, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 8-9, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 368, REVTEA*
Roud #1934
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Granny Wales (Granny O'Whale, Granua Weal)" (subject: The Tea Tax)
NOTES: For background on the Tea Tax, see the notes to "Old Granny Wales (Granny O'Whale, Granua Weal)." - RBW
File: LA24
===
NAME: Reynardine [Laws P15]
DESCRIPTION: A lady meets Reynardine (the singer for most of the song). He courts her while bidding her not to reveal his name. He says he has a castle in the forest and that she can reach him by calling him. He then vanishes (?); she warns women against such rakes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Journal from the Sharon)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction supernatural warning betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws P15, "Rinordine"
Belden, pp. 286-288, "Rinordine" (2 texts plus excerpts from 1 more)
Randolph 99, "Rinordine" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 47, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 76, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering15 , Rinordine"" (1 confused text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 113, pp. 143-144, "Ryner Dyne" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 222-223, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 112-113, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 32, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 138-139, "Reynardine" (1 text)
DT 341, REYNDINE* REYNDN2*
ST LP15 (Full)
Roud #397
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs "Reynardine" (on ESFB2, Briggs2, Briggs3)
A. L. Lloyd, "Reynardine" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd3)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(310), "Reynardine," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.8(253), "Reynardine"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shannon Side" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Mountains of Pomeroy" (subject)
NOTES: Although the name "Rinordine" is pretty definitely the older and more traditional, I've used the title "Reynardine" because that seems more common today.
Some have tried to connect this song in some way to the tale of the crafty Reynard the Fox. None of the links strike me as successful, though of course Bold Reynard may have influenced the shift from "Rinordine" to "Reynardine." - RBW
File: LP15
===
NAME: Rhyme of Old Steamboats
DESCRIPTION: Poem composed of the names of steamboats, rhymed with each other. Sample: "The Fred Wyerhauser and the Frontenac, The F. C. A. Denckmann and the Bella Mac, The Menomenee and the Louisville, The R. J. Wheeler and the Jessie Bill...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: river recitation nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 586, "Rhyme of Old Steamboats" (1 text)
NOTES: It's not clear whether this was ever sung, or just recited. - NR
So much for the theory that people made better use of their time in the days before television. - RBW
File: BMRF586
===
NAME: Rhynie
DESCRIPTION: Singer recalls his first job, working at (or for) Rhynie. The work is ill, the wages small, the rules onerous. The place is miserable, but he dare not leave before the season ends for fear of losing his fee. When it does end, he hits the road cheerfully
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: Early 1950s (recorded from John Strachan)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes abuse farming worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 207-208, "Linten Lowrin" (1 text)
Ord, p. 268, "The Bogend Hairst" (1 text, a short version that might possibly be mixed with something else)
Roud #3090
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Rhynie" (on FSB3)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Barnyards of Delgaty" (tune, chorus, theme)
cf. "Linton Lowrie" (tune)
cf. "The Cockies of Bungaree" (theme)
NOTES: I'm sorely tempted to lump this with, "Barnyards of Delgaty" -- they share the same theme, tune and chorus, and are clearly closely related. But there's no overlap in the actual words, and the man from whom, "Rhynie" was collected, John Strachan, also sang a separate version of "Barnyards," so I split them. - PJS
File: RcRhynie
===
NAME: Ribbon Blade, The
DESCRIPTION: Roman Catholic Mick Sheridan passes a parade of Yeomen. They surround him and Colston says "he commands the Ribbon Blades." They jail him in Ballina and, when bribery fails to convince him to "make discovery," hang him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: Ireland execution prison political
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 132, "The Ribbon Blade" (1 text)
NOTES: "Following an affray at Loughgall in Co. Armagh in 1795 the Orange Order was founded, while the Yeomen were also established in June 1796. These were made up mainly of men from the Orange Lodges." (source: _The 1798 Rebellion_ on the Hogan Stand site)
Zimmermann p. 19: "In some parts of Ulster, Protestant and Catholic tenants were mingled and contended for the land; the peasantry was thus divided into two camps, each having its oath-bound association. This led to a sort of religious war. At the end of the eighteenth century the Catholic "Defenders" were opposed to the Protestant "Peep o'Day Boys" or "Orangemen." The "Defenders" were succeeded by the "Ribbonmen."
An example of the conflict is the "Battle of Crossgar," March 17, 1849 (source: _17 March 1849- Battle of Crossgar_ at the Orange Pages site).
Ballina is in County Mayo. - BS
For more on the Orange Order and its founding and the troubles it inspired, see e.g. the notes to "Dialogue Between Orange and Croppy, "The Grand Mystic Order' and"The Boys of Wexford," - RBW
File: TSF132
===
NAME: Rich Amerikay [Laws O19]
DESCRIPTION: A young farmer is leaving Ireland. His rich sweetheart urges him not to go to a foreign land, but Ireland is too impoverished for him. Seeing that she cannot change his mind, she at last decides to go with him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: poverty courting emigration
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) US(MA)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws O19, "Rich Amerikay"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 97, "Rich Amerikay" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 27, "Wild Amerikay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1916
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Star of Donegal" (plot)
File: LO19
===
NAME: Rich and Rambling Boy, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Rich and Rare Were The Gems She Wore
DESCRIPTION: A knight meeting a beautiful lady wearing gems and a gold ring asks why she is not afraid to walk alone in Ireland. She answers: "No son of Erin will offer me harm; For tho' they love woman and golden store, Sir Knight! they love honor and virtue more!"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.28(6a/b) View 6 of 8)
KEYWORDS: virtue beauty gold Ireland patriotic knight
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 111, "Rich and Rare Were The Gems She Wore" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(6a/b) View 6 of 8, "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore", R. March & Co. (London), 1877-1884; also Firth b.26(338), "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore"
NOTES: Not one of Moore's hits; Granger's Index to Poetry doesn't mention a single anthology containing the piece, and I know of no traditional collections. - RBW
File: OCon111
===
NAME: Rich Counsellor: see The Lawyer Outwitted [Laws N26] (File: LN26)
===
NAME: Rich Irish Lady, A (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.) [Laws P9]
DESCRIPTION: Sally at first scorns a suitor, then changes her mind and calls for him. She admits that she is dying for love of him. He informs her that he intends to dance on her grave. She takes three rings from her fingers for him to wear while dancing, then dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1808 (journal by Hannah Lowell of Plum Island, Massachusetts)
KEYWORDS: courting dying funeral revenge sailor
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,MW,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (27 citations)
Laws P9, "A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.)"
Bronson 295, "The Brown Girl" (49 versions, but very many of these, #1, #3, #8, #13, #16, #17, (#19), #24, #25, #35, #36, #41, #44 are listed by Laws as "A Rich Irish Lady," as is #8 though it mixes with "The Death of Queen Jane"; #2, #5, #10, #15, #20, #21, #29, #32a/b, #34, #37, #38(a), #45, #47, #49 are apparently LP9 as well; #4, #6, #7, #11, #31, #38b, #39, #42 are fragments which appear more likely to be LP9; #14, #22, #23, #27 are fragments identified by Laws with LP9 though this cannot be proved; #9 (frim Baring-Gould) is definitely the Child version, and #33, #48 probably; #18 is a fragment that might be part of "Glenlogie"; #26, #28 have no text; #30, #40, #43 might be either)
SharpAp 44, "The Brown Girl" (7 texts plus 4 fragments, 11 tunes, though the "D" fragment at least could be from "Glenlogie"; although listed as Child 295, every full text appears to be Laws P9; some of the fragments might be either) {Bronson's #17, #16, #14, #18, #42, [F not in Bronson], #36, #35, #41, #46, #22}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 418-425, "Sally and Her True Love" (2 text plus 2 broadside versions, 3 tunes; the "A" text has an artificial happy ending carelessly grafted on) {Bronson's #1, #1, #19}
Belden, pp. 111-118, "A Brave Irish Lady" (5 rexts, 2 tunes; it appears that Laws does not consider one of these versions, probably version E, to be this song, but it certainly belongs to the same family)
Randolph 40, "Pretty Sally of London" (5 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes; it is possible that the fragment is Child #295) {A=Bronson's #44, B=#24, F=#15}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 104-107, "Pretty Sally of London" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 40F) {Bronson's #15}
BrownII 90, "A Brave Irish Lady" (3 texts)
Hudson 27, pp. 128-130, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts, listed as Child #295 but clearly this piece)
Davis-Ballads 50, "The Brown Girl" (8 texts plus 2 fragments, all versions of this rather than Child #295; 3 tunes, all entitled "The Brown Girl"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #42, #31, #23}
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 98, "There Was a Young Lady" (1 fragment; tune on p. 389) {Bronson's #38b}
Brewster 26, "The Brown Girl" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 244-2426, "The Fair Damsel from London" (1 text from the Green Mountain Songster)
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 285-291, "The Irish Lady, or Sally from London" (2 texts, one of them being from the Green Mountain Songster; 1 tune, lacking lyrics but said to be this piece)
Gardner/Chickering 52, "Fair Lady of London" (1 text)
Niles 64, "The Brown Girl" (1 text, 1 tune, listed as Child 295)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 29, "Fair Sally (The Brown Girl)" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version) {Bronson's #1}
Karpeles-Newfoundland 24, "Pretty Sally" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
JHCox 114, "Pretty Sally" (4 texts plus mention of 2 more; Laws does not list the "B" text as belonging here, but it clearly does.)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 92, "The Sailor from Dover" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #10}
SHenry H72, pp. 374-375, "Am I the Doctor?" (1 text, 1 tune -- a version with the hatred toned down and with verses reminiscent of "Glenlogie")
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 111-112, "Pretty Sally" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 678-680, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts, but "B" is Laws P9)
Darling-NAS, pp. 135-136, "A Rich Irish Lady" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 146, "A Rich Irish Lady" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2324, "A seaman of Dover, sweet William by name"
DT (295), AMIDOCTR* BRNGIRL*
Roud #180
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "Sally" (on Cansler1)
Cas Wallin, "Fine Sally" (on OldLove) {cf. Bronson's #14}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Brown Girl (I)" [Child 295]
cf. "Glenlogie, or, Jean o Bethelnie" [Child 238] (lyrics in some texts)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The English Lady Gay
Fine Sally
NOTES: Considered by some to be a variant of "The Brown Girl" (Child #295). The plot is identical except that the male and female roles are reversed. Laws declares that the two should be considered separate but related ballads. This agrees with, e.g., Cohen, Cox, and Randolph, but disagrees with Pound, Sharp, Davis, Scarborough, Flanders (naturally; she's lumped more absurd things than this) and (tentatively) Hudson, as well as (implicitly) Bronson and Roud. - RBW
I added "sailor" as a keyword because at least some versions have a sailor as a protagonist. -PJS
File: LP09
===
NAME: Rich Lady Gay, The
DESCRIPTION: "It was of a rich lady she had gold in store. She was loved by the rich and was good to the poor." She meets a ploughboy and gives him a letter. Later she proposes. He says she's "too good for a poor man's wife." They marry. She takes up house-keeping.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1975 (recording, Harry Upton)
KEYWORDS: love marriage farming money
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #1714
RECORDINGS:
Harry Upton, "The Rich Lady Gay" (on Voice05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cupid the Plowboy" [Laws O7] (plot)
NOTES: Maybe this is related to "Cupid the Plowboy" [Laws O7]. Here is a comparison of Harry Upton's "Rich Lady Gay" on Voice05 with Greenleaf/Mansfield "Cupid the Plowboy [Laws O7]" 79, "The Plowboy" and broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(773) "Cupid, the Pretty Ploughboy":
** Rich Lady Gay:
A rich lady sees a plowboy in the fields and falls in love with him.
She tells him she has a letter for him. He reads it and says it must be for "some other much higher renowned."
Another day she meets him in the field but he says "you're too good to be a poor man's wife"
He admits he loves her.
She agrees to marry him.
They quickly go to church and are married.
She takes up housekeeping and they live happily. 
** Cupid the Plowboy:
A rich lady sees a plowboy in the fields and falls in love with him.
She considers writing him a letter and thinks he'll think her bold; nevertheless, she will do it.
She rejects a wealthy suitor because she loves Cupid, who "has caused me all this pain."
He hears her complaint and says he loves her.
She agrees to marry him.
They quickly go to church and are married.
They have plenty of gold and "each other do adore."
So far I have found no broadside for "Rich Lady Gay." Apparently, neither has Steve Roud.
The motif of the rich woman enjoying wifely chores not common among the wealthy is also in "The Golden Glove" [Laws N20]. - BS
File: RcRiLaGa
===
NAME: Rich Lady over the Sea, The: see Revolutionary Tea [Laws A24] (File: LA24)
===
NAME: Rich Man and Lazarus, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all thoughtless people by whom Adam came...." Listeners are reminded of Lazarus in heaven and the Rich Man in Hell. The song consists mostly of the lecture to the Rich Man which took place after he died.
AUTHOR: Edward B. Miller?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad punishment Hell
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 55, "Dives and Lazarus" (1 text)
Roud #6567?
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.
The status of this piece is extremely dubious; it was reportedly collected from the author. Our general policy is to exclude such songs. But the whole story comes at so many removes that we can't prove Miller's authorship (or even, I suspect, his existence).
I nonetheless incline to agree that the song is not traditional; it's too weak.
I don't know if this is the Ed Miller who is also credited with "The Triplett Tragedy," but time and place make it possible. - RBW
File: BrII055
===
NAME: Rich Man and the Poor Man, The: see Hi Ho Jerum (File: FSWB025)
===
NAME: Rich Man Rides on a Pullman Car: see She Gets There Just the Same (Jim Crow Car) (File: DarNS355)
===
NAME: Rich Man's Daughter, The: see Captain Wedderburn's Courtship [Child 46] (File: C046)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant (I), The: see Young Sailor Bold (I), The (The Rich Merchant's Daughter) [Laws M19] (File: LM19)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant (II), The: see William and Harriet [Laws M7] (File: LM07)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant and his Daughter, The: see Young Sailor Bold (I), The (The Rich Merchant's Daughter) [Laws M19] (File: LM19)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant in Galway, The
DESCRIPTION: The sorrowful singer says "My love is tall and handsome, well shaped in every limb." Her father, a rich Galway merchant, advertises her 1400 pound fortune and sends her love "to plough the ocean"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond02)
KEYWORDS: grief love separation sea father lover sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #6999
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Rich Merchant in Galway" (on IRRCinnamond02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Disguised Sailor" (subject) 
cf. "The Young Maid's Love" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
My Love is Tall and Handsome
NOTES: One factor distinguishing this ballad from other imprest-or-sent-away-lover ballads is that it is told by the woman. Cinnamond's version has only two verses but seems complete and, in any case, any additional verses do not seem likely to lead to a happy ending: "when I think of my darling boy my sorrows do renew." - BS 
File: RcTRMiGa
===
NAME: Rich Merchant's Daughter (I), The: see Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser) [Laws N6] (File: LN06)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant's Daughter (II), The: see The Highwayman Outwitted [Laws L2] (File: LL02)
===
NAME: Rich Nobleman's Daughter, A: see Caroline and Her Young Sailor Bold (Young Sailor Bold II) [Laws N17] (File: LN17)
===
NAME: Rich Old Farmer, The: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: Rich Old Lady, The: see Marrowbones [Laws Q2] (File: LQ02)
===
NAME: Rich Old Miser, A [Laws Q7]
DESCRIPTION: The singer has been courted by "a rich old miser" nearly four times her age. She marries him, but he becomes jealous without cause (and beat her). At last she retaliates by breaking a ladle over his head, teaching him to be civil
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: marriage age abuse punishment
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws Q7, "A Rich Old Miser"
Linscott, pp. 227-229, "The Ladle Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 46, "The Battle with the Ladle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering ,175 "A Rich Old Miser" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
DT 521, LADLESNG
Roud #1004
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "In Duckworth Street There Lived a Dame"
File: LQ07
===
NAME: Rich Rambler, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Rich Ship Owner's Daughter, The: see Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)
===
NAME: Rich Wedding Cake, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is offered a piece of cake. In it are "insides of old concertinas," flute keys, trout hooks...." They "blow a spot off of the side" with a cannon. When he bites into it "my tooth crumbled off on a button Of a trouser rolled up on the waist."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: wedding food humorous talltale
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 92-93, "The Rich Wedding Cake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6467
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Trinity Cake" (Theme: an inedible cake)
File: Pea092
===
NAME: Rich Widow, The
DESCRIPTION: "I am a rich widow, I live all alone, I have but one daughter And she is my own. Daughter, oh daughter, Go choose you a man, Choose you a good one, Or else choose none." (The widow marries off her daughter, says she's bound to obey, and wishes her well)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: courting mother children marriage playparty
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Linscott, pp. 19-20, "I Am a Rich Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden 23, "Here's an Oul' Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13181
File: Lins019
===
NAME: Rich Young Farmer, The: see William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer) [Laws N30] (File: LN30)
===
NAME: Richard (Irchard) of Taunton Dean
DESCRIPTION: Herchard/Irchard/Richard courts Miss Jane, saying, "I can reap and I can mow..." and earn his ninepence every day. She replies that she needs  silks and satins. He perseveres, saying he has pigs and will inherit more if they marry; she consents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (recording, Aunt Fanny Rumble)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage bargaining farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
ST RcIOTD (Full)
Roud #382
RECORDINGS:
Aunt Fanny Rumble, "Richard of Taunton Dean"  (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Tony Wales, "Richard of Taunton Dean" (on TWales1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lucindy, Won't You Marry Me?"
File: RcIOTD
===
NAME: Richard and I
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves poor Richard. Her parents will have him transported if she insists on marrying him. On "the day we had planned to wed" he is taken and sent to Van Dieman's land. She and her servant girl go to Van Dieman's land. She and Richard marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1954 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: love marriage emigration reunion separation abduction transportation family
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 49, "Richard and I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2279
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" [Laws M6] (theme) and references there
File: CrMa049
===
NAME: Richardson's Farewell
DESCRIPTION: "Injured Boston now awake While I a true confession make...." The singer, called "the Informer," got a "wretch of wretches" with child, but the crime was blamed upon a Parson. The singer confesses to every other evil and bids farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: pregnancy crime punishment execution clergy betrayal
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 179-181, "(The LIFE and humble CONFESSION of Richardson the Informer" (1 text); also p. 182, (no title) (a fragment of another broadside about Richardson)
NOTES: This is one of those items that belongs in a bad songs contest. Ebenezer Richardson came to be known as "The Informer" during the 1760s as the American colonies tried to avoid British imports, and in the struggles of the time, Richardson accidentally shot and killed a boy named Christopher Sneider. Richardson was sentenced to death, but he eventually was pardoned.
The outraged populace could do nothing but pin every crime, natural and unnatural, on the fellow while dreaming of hanging him. This broadside is the result -- and it's as much a crime against humanity as anything Richardson ever did. - RBW
File: Burt179
===
NAME: Richie Story [Child 232]
DESCRIPTION: An Earl's daughter is courted by one or more noble lords, but loves none but her father's servant, Richie Story. He tries to dissuade her by pointing out his poverty. At last he gives in. She goes with him and is set to work in his household
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: nobility love poverty servant courting family elopement
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 232, "Richie Story" (9 texts, but the text in the appendix is "When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23])
Bronson 232, "Richie Story" (9 versions, but #9 is "When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23], and #7 and #8 may be as well)
Leach, pp. 592-593, "Richie Storie" (1 text)
DT 232, RICHILAD*
Roud #97
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23]
cf. "Matt Hyland" (plot)
cf. "The Kitchie-Boy" [Child 252] (plot)
NOTES: Child considers "The Duke of Athol" (="Huntingtower," Laws O23) to be a relative of this song, probably a rewrite. It should be noted, however, that the plots are by no means identical (and it appears that the influence, if any, goes the other way; "Huntingtower" ends with the revelation that the lover is rich, which feature Child considers an addition to "Richie Story"), and there is little lyrical similarity. - RBW
File: C232
===
NAME: Richmond Blues: see Baby, All Night Long (File: CSW172)
===
NAME: Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel
DESCRIPTION: Singer, ostensibly a soldier in the Union army, sings of the difficulties involved in attempting to capture Richmond, VA. The Union generals have all failed badly. The singer wonders who will try next, as the Confederates, "fight like the devil"
AUTHOR: Words: unknown/ Music: Daniel Emmett
EARLIEST_DATE: 1863 (sheet music)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, ostensibly a soldier in the Union army, sings of the difficulties involved in attempting to capture Richmond, VA. McDowell is defeated by Stonewall Jackson, Fremont gets lost, Banks loses his supplies, the Galena, Monitor and Naugatuck are driven off, McClellan finds it hard going. Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclamation, Pope is defeated at the second battle of Manassas, and Burnside's men are slaughtered. The singer wonders who will try next, as the Confederates, "fight like the devil"
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar war derivative
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thomas-Makin', p. 67, (no title) (1 short text, perhaps this though it refers to Jordan rather than Richmond; it looks like a mix of the original and the parody)
DT, RCHMNDHR*
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel" (on NLCREP4)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as111720, "Richmond a Hard Road to Travel" or "The New Jordan," unknown, 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" (original song, tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel (File: R305) 
NOTES: This parody of Emmett's "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" was composed by an anonymous Confederate sympathizer, probably around 1864. - PJS
Actually, it was 1863. This is shown by the sheet music -- but also by the fact that the last battle mentioned is Fredericksburg (late 1862).
The verse which refers to McDowell is perhaps somewhat deceptive; McDowell was the first commander of what would later be the Army of the Potomac, and led it to defeat (over his protests) at First Bull Run/Manasses (July 21, 1861). The Confederates were commanded by Joseph E. Johnston, who arrived just before the battle with four brigades from the Shenandoah Valley, but the local commander was P.G.T. Beauregard, who usually gets most of the credit. (Though the real problem for the Unionists was that their troops were utterly raw.) Stonewall Jackson was only a brigade commander at Bull Run; his steadiness helped save the Confederates, but affected the overall battle only slightly.
"Wooley-Horse" Fremont and Nathaniel P. Banks commanded forces in the Shenandoah Valley in the Spring of 1862. Neither was competent, and there was no overall Valley strategy or commander, and as a result Stonewall Jackson was able to outmaneuver both (battles such as Kernstown, Mar. 23, 1862, though this was not part of the Valley Campaign proper, and a tactical defeat for the Confederates; McDowell, May 8, 1862; Front Royal, May 23; Winchester, May 25; Cross Keys/Port Republic, June 8-9).
Banks is called "Commissary Banks" because his supply wagons provided so much sustenance to Jackson's soldiers.
The verse about the 1862 campaign on the James River (mentioning the _Galena_, the _Monitor_, and the _Naugatuck_) also tells only part of the story -- omitting, e.g., the whole story of the blockade of Hampton Roads, including the battle of the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac/Virginia_.
Drewry's Bluff was a high head above the James River below Richmond. It was the key position guarding Richmond against river assault. Union ships started in this direction early in the Peninsular Campaign, but no serious assaults could be contemplated until the waters of Hampton Roads were safe for Union vessels.
It was only after Norfolk was captured and the _Merrimac_ scuttled (May 11) that the Federals were able to sail in force up the James River toward Richmond. The battle at Drewry's Bluff took place on May 15, 1862. The fleet included the new light ironclad _Galena_. (The _Naugatuck_ was a non-ironclad, and of no particular account.) The _Galena_ was anchored below the guns on the bluff -- but her armor plating was not up to the job, and she had to retire damaged after using up her ammunition. The problems with her armor proved so bad that it was later removed and she served the rest of the war as a wooden boat. James L. Nelson, Reign of Iron: The Story of the first Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merimack_, Perennial, 2004, p.89, records an officer writing of her, "She is not shot-proof; ball came through, and many men were killed with fragments of her own iron." I
The _Monitor_ also tried to take part, but her turret-mounted guns could not elevate enough to hit the target. (The other ships also had trouble in this regard.)
Thus the real moral of this story was not that the Union ships were inferior (in fact, their performance was better than Confederate equivalents) but that seagoing vessels were not equipped to assault land targets well above river level.
The reference to McClellan and the Peninsula is a reference to the Peninsular Campaign of March-July 1862. McClellan took the Army of the Potomac by sea down to the "Peninsula" between the James and York rivers, and set it marching northwest to Richmond. He was delayed for a long time at Williamsburg, where he prepared a regular siege -- but the defender there was Magruder, not Longstreet.
The Peninsula Campaign ended when Robert E. Lee (newly appointed to command the Army of Northern Virginia) tricked McClellan to giving up the siege of Richmond in the Seven Days' Battles (June 25-July 1). It was here that Longstreet (then a senior division commander) and the Hills (A.P. Hill and D. H. Hill, also division commanders) first came to prominence.
Pope is John Pope, appointed to command large portions of McClellan's forces after the Peninsular campaign. He managed to produce an amazing amount of bombast about having his headquarters in the saddle and seeing the enemy's backs -- but had his forces enveloped and smashed at Second Bull Run (August 29-30, 1862). Pope was relieved and sent west.
The song omits the Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862), in which McClellan threw back Lee's ill-advised invasion of Maryland, returning to the plot at the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 12, 1862), at which the new Federal commander Ambrose Burnside threw pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River in order to attack Lee in a prepared defensive position. The result, unsurprisingly, was a slaugher.
The song concludes by asking who would be next; the answer was Joseph Hooker, who lost the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was succeeded by George Meade, who won Gettysburg and kept command of the Army of the Potomac until the end of the war. - RBW
File: RcRIHRTT
===
NAME: Richmond on the James
DESCRIPTION: The women mourn the fine men slain "On a blood-red field near Richmond, Richmond on the James." A soldier lies dying as his life-long comrade sadly watches. The dying man sends tokens to his family and sweetheart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar death farewell
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1862 - Peninsula Campaign. The Union army approaches Richmond for the first time, only to be repelled by Robert E. Lee in the Seven Days' Battles
1864-1865 - Grant's campaign against Petersburg and Richmond, eventually leading to the fall of the city
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Warner 64, "Richmond on the James" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RICHJAME*
Roud #4811
NOTES: The notes in Warner speculate that this is an offshoot of "The Dying Ranger" [Laws A14]. This is possible, but no more than that; songs like this are a dime a dozen.
File: Wa064
===
NAME: Riddle Song, The: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1]
DESCRIPTION: A knight arrives to court three sisters. The youngest goes to bed with him. He promises to marry her if she can answer his riddles. She does, and he either marries her or is revealed as the Devil.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1680 (broadside, Bodleian 4o Rawl. 566(193))
KEYWORDS: courting Devil riddle marriage family questions
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,SE) Britain(England(North,West),Scotland)
REFERENCES: (23 citations)
Child 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (5 texts)
Bronson 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (7 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 429-430, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (scraps and notes only)
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 45-50, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text plus two riddle fragments possibly associated with this, 1 tune); also pp. 299-315, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" (3 texts plus two fragments, 5 tunes; the "A" text and the F fragment and tune are mixed with "Riddles Wisely Expounded")
Leach, pp. 47-51, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (3 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 116-118, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text; 1 tune entitled "The Devil's Nine Questions") {Bronson's #5}
Davis-More 1, pp. 1-7, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text plus an excerpt from another, 1 tune)
OBB 9, "The Riddling Knight" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 4, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (2 texts)
PBB 10, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
Niles 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded"  (3 texts, 3 tunes, but only the first, "The Devil's Questions," is Child 1)
Lomax-FSNA 86, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 110-111, "The Devil's Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 25 ,"Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 717, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 86-87, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 80-81, "Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom" (1 tune, partial text)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  56-57, "Lay the Bent to the Bonnie Broom" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #1 and its comments on Bruce/Stokoe}
Darling-NAS, pp. 18-19, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2508, "There was a Lady of the North-Country"
DT 1, JNFRGNTL BONBROMQ* DEVLNINE *
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #343, "There Was a Knight" (1 text)
ST C001 (Full)
Roud #161
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 4o Rawl. 566(193), "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded" or "The Maids Answer to the Knights Three Questions", F. Coles (London), 1674-1679; also Douce Ballads 2(168b), "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded" or "The Maids Answer to the Knights Questions"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Gave My Love a Cherry"
SAME_TUNE:
"Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian 4o Rawl. 566(193) and Douce Ballads 2(168b) -- though that may be just the "tune name" for this song)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jennifer Gentle
There Was a Man Lived in the West
NOTES: This ballad is also, as "Sven Nordmand," found in Danish tradition.
"Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom", cited in Chappell/Wooldridge, should not be confused with the version of "The Twa Sisters" that uses those words as a refrain. - PJS
File: C001
===
NAME: Riddling Knight, The: see Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1] (File: C001)
===
NAME: Ride in the Creel, The: see The Keach i the Creel [Child 281] (File: C281)
===
NAME: Ridge-Running Roan, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer vows to tame a wild horse. After 17 days of pursuit the cowboy ropes him, discovering that at some point he'd been saddled and bridled, but was still wild. The horse eventually throws him and runs back to the ridges with all of his gear
AUTHOR: Curley Fletcher
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Curley Fletcher, "Songs of the Sage")
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer hears of a wild horse and vows to tame it. After 17 days of pursuit the horse quits the ridges for softer ground and the cowboy ropes him, discovering that at some point he'd been saddled and bridled, but was still wild. Mounting, "I thought I was up on the hurricane deck/Of an earthquake and cyclone a-havin' a wreck." The horse eventually throws him and runs back to the ridges with all of his gear
KEYWORDS: work animal horse cowboy worker
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Harry Jackson, "The Ridge-Running Roan" (on HJackson1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Strawberry Roan" (theme)
NOTES: There's clearly a relationship to "Strawberry Roan" (also by Fletcher), but the plots are different enough that I've split them. - PJS
File: RcTRiRuR
===
NAME: Ridin' in a Buggy
DESCRIPTION: "I'm ridin' in a buggy, O yes, O yes, It's a golden bright buggy... O Candy, Candy gal, Woncha hurry, Candy gal, Swing your partner, Candy gal... Now choose two partners... And I wants a good rappin'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: dancing courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 262, "Ridin' in a Buggy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LoF262
===
NAME: Ridin' on de Cable Car
DESCRIPTION: "Come hurry to de wicket And get a first-class ticket Risin' on de cable car." The singer describes the rider's experiences: Paying six cents to be jammed in a crowd on a hot day, having someone step on your toe, being harangued by a politician
AUTHOR: H. O. Lawrence?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: travel technology
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 509, "Ridin' on de Cable Car" (1 text)
Roud #7593
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Climbing up the Golden Stairs" (tune)
File: R509
===
NAME: Riding Boy from Powder River
DESCRIPTION: "Riding boy from Powder River Rides the broncs until they shiver, Rides the gals until they quiver, He's the riding boy!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse bawdy
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin 39, "Riding Boy from Powder River" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr039
===
NAME: Riding Down to Portsmouth
DESCRIPTION: A sailor falls in love with a pretty maid while "riding down to Portsmouth." After he promises to marry she sleeps with him and steals his gold watch and purse. He leaves the landlord his pony in pawn till he returns from the war.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 20(41))
KEYWORDS: sex theft whore sailor horse trick promise
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
Roud #1534
RECORDINGS:
Tom Willett, "Riding Down to Portsmouth" (on Voice02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(41), "Riding Down to Portsmouth," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(1453), "Riding Down to Portsmouth"
NOTES: Probably just as well that wedding didn't come off.... - RBW
File: RcRdDTPo
===
NAME: Riding Herd at Night
DESCRIPTION: "Riding herd at night, a lonely exile singing," the singer falls into waking dreams of "the cot where my love lies dreaming of me." Even as he drives herds in Wyoming (a job he never imagined), his thoughts are in Ireland. He recalls the holidays there
AUTHOR: John Henry Macaulay
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration cowboy work separation homesickness
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H588, pp. 220-221, "Riding Herd at Night" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Bet you never thought you would see an Irish cowboy song. - RBW
File: HHH588
===
NAME: Riding on a Donkey: see Hieland Laddie (File: Doe050)
===
NAME: Riding on That Train 45: see Reuben's Train (File: Wa133)
===
NAME: Riding on the Dummy
DESCRIPTION: "Of all the ways of travelling, by coach or carryall... the dummy beats them all." People step on each others' toes and bump into each other; people fall in each others' laps; etc. But the singer is happy "Riding on the dummy With the darling I adore."
AUTHOR: Words: Sam Booth/Music: Frederick G. Carnes
EARLIEST_DATE: 1885 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: courting travel technology
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 511, "Riding on the Dummy" (1 text)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 485-490, "On the Dummy Line" (about "The Dummy Line (II)," but it includes a cover of the sheet music to this piece)
Roud #7595
NOTES: Randolph reports, "The front part of the streetcars used in California in the early days was open and was called the dummy."
Randolph's text is a curious mixture of themes; the first two verses describe the dangers of riding the dummy; the chorus describes the sights seen from the train and the pleasure of riding with one's darling; the final verse describes the lovers' visit to a park. One suspects a composite text. - RBW
This should not be confused with "The Dummy Line." - PJS
File: R511
===
NAME: Riding on the Tramway
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a lady "looking out of a window at the New Tramway" The cost is only two pence. He gets on and sat next to her. He asks her to marry, she agrees, they marry and, he says, "we'll soon have fresh conductors on the New Tramway"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 19C (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.16(155))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage technology
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leyden 15, "The New Tramway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6988
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Horse Tramway" (on IRRCinnamond01) (fragment; only the chorus and one verse)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.16(155)[some words illegible] , "Riding on the Tramway" ("It was on one summer's evening, not very long ago"), T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also Firth c.26(5)[some words illegible] , "Riding on the Tramway"
NOTES: Leyden: The horse-drawn Belfast Tramway system was opened in 1872. Unlike the horse-omnibuses, it ran smoothly on a metal track. "A journey in such a horse tram was much smoother, faster and quieter than that in a horse-omnibus jolting its way through cobbled streets."
Broadside Bodleian Firth c.16(155): "sung with immense success by Hyram Travers." - BS
File: Leyd015
===
NAME: Riel's Song
DESCRIPTION: French: "Quand je partis ma chere Henriette, Tu n'avais pas encore quinze ans." The singer (Riel?) left home before Henrietta was fifteen. With the fighting over, he has come home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: family sister home separation return foreignlanguage
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1870 - Riel's uprising
FOUND_IN: Canada
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 124-126, "Riel's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Chanson de la Grenouillere ('Song of Frog Plain,'Falcon's Song)" (subject)
cf. "Pork, Beans and Hard Tack" (subject)
cf. "The Toronto Volunteers" (subject)
cf. "Between the Forks and Carleton" (subject)
cf. "Chanson de Louis Riel" (subject)
NOTES: Tradition attributes this song to Louis Riel himself. Whether this is true we cannot tell, but the song fits the facts of Riel's life, and Riel is known to have written poetry.
Riel was born in 1844 to a Metis (French-Indian cross-breed) family. In the late 1860s, the new Dominion of Canada began to organize the Red River region. This organization would have broken up the farms and deprived the Metis of their livelihood.
When their protests failed, Riel led a group of Metis to organize a "Republic of the North-West," and set conditions for joining Canada. Unfortunately, Riel made the mistake of executing a man by the name of Thomas Scott. The government sent a force of 1200 men to clear up the situation. In August 1870, Riel fled to the United States and the rebellion ended.
Ironically, the Canadian government granted most of the rights Riel had demanded to the inhabitants of the hastily-reorganized Manitoba district.
Riel was back in Canada by 1871, and earned the informal thanks of the government for helping repel a Fenian raid. But when he was elected to parliament in 1873 and 1874, he was not permitted to take his seat; from 1874 to 1879 he was under formal sentence of banishment. Riel spent the time teaching school in Montana, and for a while was confined to a mental hospital.
In July 1883 Riel returned to Manitoba to attend the wedding of his sister. But in 1884, at the request of the Metis of Saskatchewan (now being pushed out of that province as they had been pushed from Manitoba fifteen years earlier), he organized a second rebellion.
Although the Canadian army had trouble catching up with the Metis and their Indian allies, General Middleton fought skirmishes on April 24 and May 2, then defeated Riel at Batoche on May 12, 1885 when the entrenched Metis ran out of ammunition. After a trial which had something of the air of a circus (his attorneys claimed insanity; Riel himself said -- with some truth -- that he had only been responding to political necessity), Riel was hanged late in that year.
John MacDonald (1815-1891), the Canadian Premier, heard many appeals to commute Riel's sentence, but decided that Riel had to hang to keep Ontario happy. Quebec, however, was outraged, and some historians believe that the decline of the Conservative Party in Canada (until then the dominant political force) dates from Riel's hanging.
For songs about the second rebellion, see "Pork, Beans and Hard Tack," "The Toronto Volunteers," and "Between the Forks and Carleton." There is a second song allegedly by Riel, also dating from this late period, indexed as "Chanson de Louis Riel (Riel's Song II)."
Riel's career was poignant enough that it still inspires songs. Rather better than this, to my mind, is Bill Gallaher's "The Last Battle," recorded by Gordon Bok on "In the Kind Land." - RBW
File: FMB124
===
NAME: Rifleman's Song at Bennington
DESCRIPTION: "Why come ye hither, redcoats? Your mind what madness fills?" The singer warns the British soldiers of danger in America. They are asked if there are no graves in Britain for them. He promises a quick death "If flint and trigger hold but true."
AUTHOR: Words: John Allison / Music traditional, set by John Allison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: battle patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 16, 1777 - Battle of Bennington.
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Botkin-NEFolklore, pp. 543-544, "Rifleman's Song at Bennington" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 280, "The Riflemen At Bennington" (1 text)
DT, RIFLEBEN*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Riflemen of Bennington" (on PeteSeeger32)
NOTES: Recorded by John and Lucy Allison. There is no reason to believe this song ever circulated in oral tradition.
The Battle of Bennington was part of John Burgoyne's campaign that ended at Saratoga. Burgoyne had a long supply train, and was forced to forage to supply his troops. He ordered Colonel Friedrich Baum to take about 650 men to raid the Colonial supply center at Bennington.
The colonial leader John Stark is believed to have had about 2000 men, although they were poorly organized (almost all were militia, which in the Revolutionary War translated as "individuals with guns who came and went as they pleased"). This large force surrounded Baum, who ignored them until fired upon, then fought until his ammunition gave out. He was killed as his men tried to cut their way out, and most of the remaining British forces surrendered.
This very nearly doomed Burgoyne's expedition. He could perhaps have retreated -- but that wasn't politically wise. So he sat, and starved, and eventually had to surrender. For further background, see the notes to "The Fate of John Burgoyne." - RBW
File: BNEF543
===
NAME: Riflemen at Bennington, The: see Rifleman's Song at Bennington (File: BNEF543)
===
NAME: Rigby Johnson Chandler
DESCRIPTION: Floating lyrics, united by the refrain "Rigby Johnson Chandler" or  similar. Examples: Old man went out to plow And he hooked up a hog with a Jersey cow"; "Two old maids sitting in the sand"; "[My woman] went to the circus and ran off with the clown."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1969
KEYWORDS: nonsense nonballad drink oldmaid floatingverses chickens
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 10, "Rigby Johnson Chandler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11084
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Salty Dog" (floating lyrics)
File: FCW010
===
NAME: Rights of Man, The
DESCRIPTION: Shiel dreams of a meeting at Athlone. Granua says "Britannia No more shall rob you of the rights of man." A man from the sky brings a shamrock. Granua promised to free them before long. The meeting parts "in exultation" at daybreak as Shiel wakes 
AUTHOR: Richard Lalor Shiel (1791-1851) 
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(214))
KEYWORDS: dream Ireland patriotic religious
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 18, "The Rights of Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(214), "Rights of Man" ("I speak in candour, one night in slumber"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 b.9(62), Firth b.26(432), "Rights of Man"
LOCSinging, as111750, "Rights of Man," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, RB.m.143(013), "Shiel's Rights of Man," unknown, c.1870
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Eileen McMahon" (aisling format)
cf. "Granuaile" (aisling format) and references there
NOTES: Sheil was Daniel O'Connell's chief assistant when O'Connell founded the Catholic Association in 1823. (source: "Roman Catholic Relief Bill" in _The Catholic Encyclopedia_ at the New Advent site. Also see "Richard Lalor Sheil" at the same site.)
Broadsides LOCSinging as111750 and Bodleian 2806 b.9(62) appear to be duplicates.
Broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(013) commentary: "Granua (also spelt Grainne). The daughter of the mythical Irish warrior and folk hero, Finn McCool, Granua is also used as a symbol for Ireland - much like the figure of Britannia is employed as a symbol for Great Britain."
The man from heaven with the shamrock, "the three leaved plant ... it is three in one, To prove its unity in that community, That holds lenity the Rights of Man," could be Saint Patrick. Zimmermann p. 43: "According to a fairly recent legend, St. Patrick held a trefoil [shamrock] as an illustration of the Trinity. The plant had become a religious emblem and a badge of nationality about 1700. In 1778, the Cork Volunteers sang a song entitled 'The Shamrock Cockade', and by then the colour itself had acquired a political meaning."
Broadside LOCSinging as111750 is the basis for the description.
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, "Rights of Man" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
"Strongbow" is Richard de Clare (Richard FitzGilbert), one-time Earl of Pembroke (died 1176), who led the first English invasion of Ireland in 1170.
Tom Paine (1737-1809) published _The Rights of Man_ in 1791-1792, and it was an inspiration to the more intellectual of the 1798 rebels; most histories of the period contain multiple references to his writing. It's ironic to note that Ireland's French allies would imprison Paine for a time during the the quasi-war with the United States -- and even more ironic that Paine's last major work before the 1798 was _The Age of Reason_, which attacked several important Catholic doctrines.
For a discussion of this type of song as a example of the genre known as the "aisling," see the notes to "Granuaile."
There is, of course, a fiddle tune, "The Rights of Man." There is no reason to think the two have anything to do with each other. - RBW
File: BrdTRoM
===
NAME: Rigs of Rye, The: see Two Rigs of Rye [Laws O11] (File: LO11)
===
NAME: Rigs of the Times, The
DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Honesty's all out of fashion; These are the rigs of the times...." Detailing all the sharp business practices of the day, e.g. the butcher who charges two shillings a pound "and thinks it no sin" -- while placing his thumb on the scale!
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes poverty lie money landlord
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South)) US(MA,MW,NW,SE,So) Canada(Newf) Australia
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Kennedy 237, "The Rigs of the Time" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 433-434, "Song of the Times" (1 text)
BrownIII 332, "Hard Times" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 89, pp. 215-216, "Hard Times" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering ,184 ""Hard Times (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 332-334, "Hard Times" (1 text)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 14-16, "The Rigs of the Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 206-208, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune -- a Canadian adaptation created by William James Emberly in 1936 to describe conditions in the Great Depression)
Peacock, pp. 57-59, "Hard Times" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Fowke/MacMillan 17, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 183, "Hard Times" (1 text, the first six verses being "Courting the Widow's Daughter" and the last seven being a reduced version, minus the chorus, of "The Rigs of the Times")
Blondahl, pp. 13-14, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 28-29, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIGSTIME*
Roud #876
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Hard, Hard Times" (on NFOBlondahl01,NFOBlondahl02)
Ken Peacock, "Hard Times" (on NFKPeacock)
J. W. "Charger" Salmons & friends: "The Rigs of the Time"  (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Pete Steele, "The Song of Hard Times" (on PSteele01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Don't Come to Michigan" (lyrics)
cf. "Old David Ward" (lyrics)
cf. "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" (subject)
cf. "The Steam Doctor" (lyrics)
cf. "Fine Times in Camp Number Three" (lyrics)
NOTES: Most scholars (e.g. Belden, Cox, Kennedy) assume that "The Rigs of the Times" (with chorus "Singing, Honesty's all out of fashion, These are the rigs of the times, times, me boys, These are the rigs of the times") is the same as "Hard Times" (with a short chorus such as "these times, these (hard/queer) times").
Personally, I'm not convinced, as the two seem to fall into very distinct groups. But because the equation is so common, I've followed it in the index. - RBW
Blondahl: "This ... was sent in by Paul Emberly, who informs that the lines were written by his late father." - BS
File: K237
===
NAME: Riley
DESCRIPTION: "Riley, Riley, where are you, Wo, Riley! Wo, ma-an!" "Riley's gone to Liverpool... Riley's gone an' I'm goin too." "Wish I were Cap'n Riley's son... I'd lay around and drink good rum." "Thought I heard my cap'n say... Tomorrow is our sailin' day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935
KEYWORDS: sailor ship work drink travel
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 278, "Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is a pastiche of verses from various songs, e.g. "Leave Her, Johnny," "Ginny's Gone to Ohio" (which also has some resemblance in the tune), etc. Lomax related it to "Stormalong" (a connection I don't see). You can probably find other relatives if you look hard enough. - RBW
File: LoF278
===
NAME: Riley Luffsey
DESCRIPTION: "O'Donald and Luffsey (first names Frank and Riley) And Wannigan, known as Dutch..." were true friends and "never too bashful to shoot." "The Marquis de Mores... had recently come from France"; Luffsey dies in a shootout; de Mores is acquitted
AUTHOR: Clell G. Cannon ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: homicide foreigner trial  accusation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 238-239, "(Riley Luffsay)" (1 text)
NOTES: It's not as bad as that first line would make you think -- but it's close.
De Mores apparently was a French businessman who set up a cattle operation in North Dakota. It was a bit too big and bustling for the locals, who engaged in a certain amount of petty sabotage. De Mores perhaps fought back a little too vigorously. - RBW
File: Burt238
===
NAME: Riley to Ameriky: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8]
DESCRIPTION: Riley and his sweetheart are forbidden by her father to marry. Aided by the girl's mother, Riley goes to America and buys a plot of land. He comes back; the two set out for America. Their ship is wrecked on the way. Before dying the girl blames her father
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: courting love mother father exile wreck death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (19 citations)
Laws M8, "Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley)"
Warner 147, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H468, pp. 441-442, "John Reilly the Sailor Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 7, "Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 49, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 39, pp. 89-90, "Jack Riley" (1 text, containing only the beginning portion of the song)
Chappell-FSRA 37, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 105-108, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 170-171, "Johnny Riley" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 102-103, "Young Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 60, "Johnny Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 90, "Riley to Ameriky" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 698-700, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 13, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 45, "Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 84, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 67, "Will O'Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 43, "Reilly's Farewell" (1 text)
DT 463, RILYFRWL JREILLY4*
Roud #270
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Young Reilly the Fisherman" (on IRRCinnamond03)
Michael Flanagan, "O'Reilly to America" (on IRClare01)
Mrs. Edward Gallagher, "Young Riley" (on MRHCreighton)
Sarah Anne O'Neill, "John Reilly" (on Voice04)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(257b), "Riley the Fisherman," A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1845-1859; also Firth c.12(287), Firth b.26(209), Harding B 11(1864), Harding B 11(1865), Harding B 11(3286), "Riley the Fisherman"; 2806 c.16(201), "Riley's Farewell"
Murray, Mu23-y4:036, "John Riely," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(072), "John Reily," James Lindsay, Glasgow, c. 1870
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "William and Harriet" [Laws M7]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Riley the Fisherman
NOTES: Not to be confused with the broken-token "John Riley." [Nor should the] "Young Riley" [versions] be confused with the "Young Riley" that's an alternate title to "O'Reilly from the County Leitrim." - PJS
File: LM08
===
NAME: Rineen Ambush, The
DESCRIPTION: The IRA ambush Black and Tan lorries in Rineen, County Clare. "The Black and Tans put up their hands and the peelers too likewise." "Gallant Irishmen together should unite ... And have another ambush soon to fight the Black and Tans!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1974 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle patriotic IRA
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1920-1921 - The Black and Tan War
Sep 22, 1920 - A partly successful ambush of Black and Tans by the Mid Clare Brigade of the IRA was followed by a successful retreat (source: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan).
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 26, "The Rineen Ambush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5222
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "The Rineen Ambush" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "A large monument now stands at Rineen Cross in memory of that day's events and their appalling aftermath [reprisals by RIC and Black and Tans] which are still embedded deeply in the memory of the people of Clare.
Sir Robert Peel established the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1812 and its success led, in 1829, to the Metropolitan Police Act for London. Originally the term "Peeler" applied to the London constabulary. (source: _Sir Robert "Bobby" Peel (1788-1850)_ at Historic UK site.)
In this song the term is applied to the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary). - BS 
The Black and Tans (for which see "The Bold Black and Tan") were a special English constabulary recruited to quell Irish violence. They failed, and in fact contributed to the brutality.
For one song about the aftermath to this event, see the notes to "Mac and Shanahan." It will tell you something of the violence of the period that none of the six histories I checked (including three devoted specifically to this period, one of which is largely a catalog of atrocities) mentions any of these events. - RBW
File: RcRinAmb
===
NAME: Ring a Ring o' Roses: see Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)
===
NAME: Ring Around o' Rosies: see Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)
===
NAME: Ring Around the Rosie
DESCRIPTION: Singing game, with lyrics something like "Ring around the rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes, ashes, We all fall down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 881 (Greenway's _Mother Goose_, according to Baring-Gould-MotherGoose)
KEYWORDS: nonballad playparty
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Britain(England(All)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Linscott, pp. 49-50, "Ring Around ' Rosies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 227, "Ring Around the Rosy" (1 text, tune referenced)
SHenry H48c, pp. 10-11, "Ring a Ring o' Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 443, "Ring-a-ring o' roses" (4 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #639, p. 253, "(Ring-a-ring-a-roses)"
ST PHCF227a (Full)
Roud #7925
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Ring Around the Rosie" (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03)
NOTES: The words cited here are the ones I learned (I don't remember playing the game, but I've heard the song), and Pankake's text is almost identical. Presumably this is the form most common in the American Midwest. Newell, however, cites older (and presumably more original) forms, and Gomme offers a variety with quite diverse refrains.
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose notes that some have connected this to the Great Plague. But they also observe that this is a very weak link, denied by most who have seriously studied the matter. - RBW
File: PHCF227a
===
NAME: Ring My Mother Wore, The
DESCRIPTION: "This earth has many treasures rare In gems and golden ore, My heart hath one more treasure rare, The ring my mother wore." The child received it from the mother's dying hand, and will treasure it always
AUTHOR: Louis Della?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Randolph); copyrighted 1860
KEYWORDS: mother death ring
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 699, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 474-475, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 699)
Roud #7372
RECORDINGS:
[Roy Harvey and the] West Virginia Ramblers, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (Champion 16456, 1931)
File: R699
===
NAME: Ring the Bell, Watchman
DESCRIPTION: "High in the belfry the old sexton stands, Grasping the rope in his thin bony hands." He waits until he hears: "Ring the bell, watchman! ring! ring! ring! Yes, yes! the good news is now on the wing... Glorious and blessed tidings. Ring, ring the bell!"
AUTHOR: Henry Clay Work
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 113-114, "Ring the Bell, Watchman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RINGBELL*
Roud #13630
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Click Go the Shears" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Click Go the Shears (File: MA024)
Oh Molly Reilly (Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 159)
Palmer's Suits (Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 180)
NOTES: Like many Henry Clay Work songs, the lyrics to this were too vague to gain much hold in tradition, but the tune too good to ignore. There is a sailing parody, "Strike the Bell, Second Mate"; in Australia, it produced the well-known "Click Go the Shears." - RBW
File: DTringbe
===
NAME: Ring-a-ring o' Roses: see Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)
===
NAME: Ring-Dang-Doo (I), The
DESCRIPTION: A young woman lets a lad ride her "ring dang doo," is kicked out of her house by her father for losing her maidenhead, and takes up prostitution. In some versions she gives her customers a social disease; in others her career ends when she dies of the pox
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous disease sex whore
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada Britain(England) US(Ap,MA,MW,Ro,So,SW), West Indies
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cray, pp. 182-186, "The Ring-Dang-Doo" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 147-151, "The Rang-a-Tang-Too" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Logsdon 51, pp. 240-244, "London Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1880
RECORDINGS:
Anonymous singers "The Ring-A-Rang-A-Roo" [fragment] (on Unexp1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rackyman Doo (Ring-Dang-Doo (II))" (euphemism)
NOTES: The first version in Randolph-Legman I (p. 147) is to the unrecognized melody of "The Irish Washerwoman," the second to "The Arkansas Traveler." - EC
File: EM182A
===
NAME: Rinky Dinky Di-Lo
DESCRIPTION: A man loses his "leg," shot off by his mother-in-law; the doctor makes a wooden replacement; but the man cannot wear a spur on it; and things in the family go from bad to worse.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy injury doctor family
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 358-360, "Rinky Dinky Di-Lo" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is one of a group of "mal-mariee" songs and ballads, Legman notes in Randolph-Legman I, similar to "I Wish I Was Single Again," "Devilish Mary," etc. - EC
File: RL358
===
NAME: Rinordine: see Reynardine [Laws P15] (File: LP15)
===
NAME: Rio Grande
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "[Heave] away, Rio... And we're bound for the Rio Grande." Most versions revolve about a sailor preparing to leave port, and the girl (or girls) he is about to leave behind (with or without regret)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor parting
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE) Canada(Mar) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 64-66, "Rio Grande" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Bone, pp. 114-115, "The Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 86-87, "Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 111-112, "Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 87-96, "Rio Grande" (8 texts plus several fragments, 2 tunes; the 5th text is a Norwegian version, "Opsang for 'Preciosa'") [AbEd, pp. 80-87]
Sharp-EFC, XXI, p.24, "Rio Grand" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 146-148, "Rio Grande" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 21-23, "Away, Rio!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 488-489, "The Rio Grande" (1 text+floating verses, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 20, "Bound to Rio" (1 text)
Mackenzie 104, "The Rio Grande" (2 texts, 2 tunes); "I'm Bound For the Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 93, "Rio Grande" (1 text)
DT, RIOGRAN
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Rio Grande" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #317
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Away, Rio" (General 5017A, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Fishermen's Group, Cadgwith, "Rio Grande" (on LastDays)
Joseph Hyson, "Rio Grande" (on NovaScotia1)
Minster Singers, "Rio Grande" [medley w. "Blow the Man Down"] (Victor 61148, n.d.; prob. c. 1903)
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Away Rio" (AFS 4232 A, 1939; on LC27 as "Rio Grande"; in AMMEM/Cowell)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Away for Rio,
Bound for the Rio Grande
Oh, Aye, Rio
NOTES: The "Rio Grande" of this song is almost certainly not the river of southwestern North America, but rather the province Rio Grande do Sul of southern Brazil. - RBW
File: Doe064
===
NAME: Ripest Apple, The
DESCRIPTION: "The ripest apple the soonest rotted, The purest love the soonest cold, A young man's words are soon forgotten...." The singer asks that he speak her name kindly, recalls how they loved, says she will be true, and says she will never find his like
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: lover betrayal separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 165, "The Ripest Apple" (1 text)
Roud #6580
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Will Put My Ship In Order" (floating lyrics)
File: BrII165
===
NAME: Ripest of Apples: see Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) AND The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: E098)
===
NAME: Ripon Sword-Dance
DESCRIPTION: "Christmas time has now been approaching." The characters have come from far away. Room is made for each and each has his lines: General "Warrington" from Waterloo, Hieland laddie, Tom the tinker, Beelzebub, Big Head, St George and doctor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1980 (recording, The Ripon Sword Dancers)
KEYWORDS: Christmas humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
The Ripon Sword Dancers, "Make Me a Room, For I Am A-Coming" (on Voice16)
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice16: The Ripon Sword Dancers used this song in their Boxing Day mummers' play completed, in its entirety, in two minutes and fifty seconds. 
For two similar examples of Christmas song/sword-dance/drama see Robert Bell, editor, [The Project Gutenberg EBook (1996) of] Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), "The [Wharfdale] Sword-Dancers' Song" ("The first that enters on the floor") and "The [Durham] Sword-Dancers' Song and Interlude" ("Good gentlemen all, to our captain take heed"). - BS
I find myself wondering if this might not be a sort of inland equivalent of thing like the "Pace-Egging Song," which introduces Lord Nelson, Lord Collingwood, and the hands serving under them. Here, it is Wellington ("Warrington,") the land her of Waterloo, as Nelson was the naval hero of Trafalgar. - RBW
File: RcRiSwDa
===
NAME: Ripping Trip, A
DESCRIPTION: About the troubles of a sailing trip to San Francisco, each verse ending "Rip goes the --" (boiler, engine, your money, etc.). The trip features a defective engine, a savage captain, poor food, disease, and poverty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1858 (Put's Golden Songster)
KEYWORDS: sea gold mining hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 14, "A Ripping Trip" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIPTRIP*
Roud #8059
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "A Ripping Trip" (on LEnglish02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pop Goes the Weasel" (tune) and references there
File: FCW014
===
NAME: Rise and Shine
DESCRIPTION: "God said to Noah, there's gonna be a floody, floody.... (So) Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory... Children of the Lord." Noah builds the ark; the animals arrive, including elephants and kangaroos; it rains; it dries up
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: religious flood humorous
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 388, "Rise And Shine" (1 text)
DT, RISESHIN
Roud #11968
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Children of the Lord" (on PeteSeeger11)
File: FSWB388A
===
NAME: Rise Me Up from Down Below
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus "Whiskey-oh, Johnny-oh! Oh, rise me up from down below, down below, oh, oh, oh oh! Up aloft this yard must go, John! Rise me up from down below!" The verses describe "the world down below," where the "fires do roar," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: shanty Hell
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 47, "Rise Me Up from Down Below" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 281-282, "Rise Me Up From Down Below" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 207]
ST Doe047 (Partial)
Roud #9440
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Whiskey Johnny" (identical chorus, different verses celebrating whiskey)
File: Doe047
===
NAME: Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)
DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives at his love's window and begs  to come in. She asks who is there. He identifies himself, and she allows him to enter. When he leaves, he rejoices, "For late last night I've been with my lass." In other versions, his ghost bids farewell.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: nightvisit courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 34, "The Ghostly Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 89, "Hearken, Ladies, and I Will Tell You, Or The Constant Lovers" (1 text)
Kennedy 159, "A Health to All True-Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 63, "Here's a Health To All True Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3135
RECORDINGS:
John Reilly, "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" (on Voice10)
Belle Stewart, "Here's a Health to all True Lovers" (on Voice06)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Will Put My Ship In Order" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" [Child 248] (plot)
cf. "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)" (plot)
cf. "Let Me In This Ae Nicht" (plot)
cf. "Willy O!" (theme)
cf. "I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober" (two verses)
NOTES: This is a difficult conundrum, in that there are versions of this song with very similar words but plots with very different directions: One is a nightvisiting song, the other a ghost returning to his love after long absence.
In earlier versions of the Index, I split these two ballads, as "Rise Up Quickly" and "The Ghostly Lover" -- after all, the ghost is a pretty significant change; this was in contradiction to Roud, who lumped them.
Making things trickier still, one important text (Kennedy's) is "I Will Put My Ship In Order" without the first and last verses. It's not just the same plot; it's the same *words*. The two assuredly have a common origin, though in fact the songs have different endings. But fragments could file with other songs.
It is amazing that Kennedy, who is an impossible lumper and included at least one completely unrelated text from Sam Henry in his notes, failed to observe the connection to "I Will Put My Ship In Order." Kennedy's text is incredibly composite in its choruses, taking items from "I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober" and "Love is Teasing." But the Ord text implies that these are not an original part of the song. Many of the other versions have also picked up extraneous material.
The title I have assigned here is not based on any traditional version; I pulled it out of Kennedy's text because the extant titles were so unhelpful and inorganic to the texts.
Adding it all up, I wonder if this could possibly be a mix of "I Will Put My Ship In Order" and some lost Ghostly Lover song. Or is the "Ghostly Lover" version a mix of the nightvisiting version of this song with "The Grey Cock" or something of that type? In any case, it's a mess which admits of no easy solution. - RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield names its text "The Ghostly Lover" though the ghost does not appear. "Although the words do not seem to bear out the title, the White girls insist this is a song about a lover who was drowned, but rose from his watery grave to see his sweetheart once again." Another ghostly example is John Reilly's "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" on "The Voice of the People, Vol 10: Who's That at my Bed Window?," Topic TSCD 660 (1998): here the text is clearly what we are calling "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" with the "where is the blushes" verse from "Willy O!" added to provide the ghost. The discussion of the Costello version in the notes to "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248]" give a similar example in which verses of both "Willy O!" and "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" are inserted unchanged into another ballad.
"Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" has distinguishing lines that stand out when verses are imported into another ballad. For example,
... "Who's that at my bed window,
Disturbing me from from my long night's rest?"
"I am your lover; sure pray discover...."
"...I'm wet, love, unto the skin." [as opposed to "I've got wet through all my clothes" in "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)"].
"I'll be guided without a stumble....
It may begin with a treacherous journey that might have led the traveller to stumble:
"Over hills and lofty mountains,
Oh dear! oh dear! I'm forced to go...."
"Let the night be dark as the very dungeon [or dunghill]..." - BS
File: Ord089
File: Ord089
===
NAME: Rise Up, Shepherd
DESCRIPTION: "There's a star in the east on Christmas morn, Rise up, Shepherd, and follow." The shepherd is advised to "Leave your sheep and leave your lambs" and follow the star to where Jesus is
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious shepherd Christmas
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 253, "Rise Up, Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 373, "Rise Up, Shepherd, And Follow" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #85, "There's a Star in the East" (1 text)
Roud #15289
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow" (on PeteSeeger37, PeteSeeger42)
NOTES: Although everything mentioned here comes from the Gospels, there is no evidence that the shepherds behaved as described. The star is mentioned only in Matthew (2:2, 9-10), and it seems to have been visible only to the Magi ("Wise Men") -- at least, Herod and his advisors couldn't tell which star it was.
The shepherds who see Jesus, on the other hand, are found only in Luke (2:8-20). They are not guided by the star, but given explicit directions by an angel. - RBW
File: LoF253
===
NAME: Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow: see Rise Up, Shepherd (File: LoF253)
===
NAME: Rise Ye Up: see Earl Brand [Child 7] (File: C007)
===
NAME: Rise, Ole Napper: see Napper (File: Br3123)
===
NAME: Rising in the North, The [Child 175]
DESCRIPTION: The Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland, suspected of treason, go into rebellion, bringing in others such as Master Norton. They gather their forces, but are delayed in besieging a castle. Loyal forces defeat the rebels
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: nobility rebellion
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1558-1603 - Reign of Elizabeth I
Nov 14, 1569 - Beginning of the northern rebellion
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 175, "The Rising in the North" (1 text)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 266-278, "The Rising in the North" (2 texts, one being that in the Reliques and the other being the manuscript copy)
Leach, pp. 484-488, "The Rising in the North" (1 text)
Roud #4005
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" [Child 176] (subject)
cf. "The Earl of Westmoreland" [Child 177] (subject)
cf. "Rookhope Ryde" [Child 179] (context)
NOTES: The Percies of Northumberland and the Nevilles of Westmoreland were the great lords of the English north; on those rare occasions they agreed on anything, they could usually take Northumbria with them.
The north was also conservative; Catholicism was strongest there. By 1569, Elizabeth was securely Protestant, and her heir Mary Queen of Scots was in her custody.
The "Rising in the North" did not actually begin in Northumbria; Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, first contacted the Spanish about giving the throne to Mary. His interest, however, was political (he resented the power of the Cecils); he quickly backed down. (Though he would rebel again in 1571 and be executed.)
With the Duke of Norfolk out of the picture, the northern earls took over. They did not actually demand Elizabeth's overthrow -- but wanted Mary back on the Scottish throne and a restoration of Catholicism in England. The threat to replace Elizabeth with Mary was obvious.
The northern Earls succeeded in raising the north (including even Yorkshire, led by its sheriff Richard Norton), but they did not capture Queen Mary and could not bring the rest of the country to their banner (Holinshed says they gathered about seven thousand men, but even this may be exaggerated; such reports often are).
However large the rebellion was, it was dispersed by the end of December, with the rebels in full flight. Leonard Dacre tried to fan the flames in 1570, but he was easily suppressed. Some eight hundred rebels were executed.
For the sequel to this, see "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" [Child 176] and "The Earl of Westmoreland" [Child 177]. - RBW
File: C175
===
NAME: Rising of the Moon, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh! Then tell me, Sean O'Farrell, Tell me why you hurry so...." The singer is told that the "pikes must be together at the rising of the moon." The pikes gather, but are spotted and defeated. The listeners are told, "we will follow in their footsteps."
AUTHOR: Words: John Keegan Casey (1846-1870)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (reference in _The Nation_, Feb 23, 1867, according to Zimmermann); c.1865 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1798 - Irish Rebellion
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
O'Conor, p. 111, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
PGalvin, p. 35, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 67, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 69, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 117, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 322, "The Rising Of The Moon" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 120-121, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, tune on p. 22)
DT, RISEMOON*
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 21-22, 497, "The Rising of the Moon"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 550-551, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
Roud #9634
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Rising of the Moon" (on IRClancyMakem03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(189), "The Rising of the Moon," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 b.10(205), "The Rising of the Moon"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune) and references there
cf. "Bannow's Bright Blue Bay" (tune)
NOTES: John Keegan Casey was a nineteenth century Irish patriot. He wrote this song in prison, where he died at the age of twenty-three. He was regarded as being very promising, but of course died very young; this is the only piece of his to have any wide circulation.
The reference to "pikes" accurately shows one of the problems of the 1798 rising. The rebels in Wicklow, for instance, had over ten thousand men enlisted to their cause -- and guns for only a thousand of them, and too little powder even for that thousand weapons.
Their alternative was the pike. These they had in sufficiency, since local blacksmiths could and did make them. And they also had the advantage of being easy to use: An illiterate farmer boys wouldn't know how to use a musket, but (in theory) anyone could figure out how to stick an enemy with a pike.
Of course, against real soldiers armed with firearms, they would have been quite useless. Pikes had been a genuine military weapon at the time of the last great battles in Ireland, the Boyne and Aughrim (see G.A. Hayes-McCoy, _Irish Battles: A Military History of Ireland_, pp. 219-220), but the ratio of musketeers to pikemen had been steadily rising; even at the Boyne, there were some regiments on the Williamite side with no pikes at all. And, by 1798, the bayonet had replaced the pike in all modern armies.
Still, the British were doing what they could to stop even pike production; Viceroy Camden was concerned about the way blacksmiths were turning them out (see Robert Kee, _The Most Distressful Country_, Volume 1 of _The Green Flag_, p. 68).
To add to the problems, the leadership of the United Irishmen were almost all in British custody by the time the of the 1798 uprising. The uprising was almost forced; the British were determined to root out all hints of rebellion; rather than be rounded up, the local cells went into revolt. But they no longer had leaders to coordinate their activities. - RBW
OLochlainn-More, pp. viii-ix: "John Keegan Casey's 'Rising of the Moon' had to be included for the spendid air my grandfather John Carr of Limerick had to it. (I hate to hear it sung to 'The Wearing of the Green' -- a tune which does not suit at all)." The OLochlainn-More tune is very much the tune as I remember Richard Dyer-Bennet singing it in the early 1950's (probably the one available on the 1957 LP Dyer-Bennet 4000). - BS
File: PGa035
===
NAME: Rising Sun, The: see The House of the Rising Sun (File: RL250)
===
NAME: Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now: see The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin [Child 277] (File: C277)
===
NAME: River in the Pines, The: see The River through the Pines (File: LoF056)
===
NAME: River Lea, The
DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. One fine day in May sailor finds himself broke and ships aboard the (River Lea). He spends the rest of the song (and presumably rest of the voyage) singing of all things he won't do any more once this voyage is over.
AUTHOR: Sam Peck ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor ship
FOUND_IN: US Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Colcord, pp, 181-182, "The River Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 586-589, "The River Lea," "The Anglesey" (2 texts, 2 tunes -- the first being quoted from Colcord) [AbEd, pp. 406-409]
ST Hugi589 (Partial)
Roud #351
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7] (similar story)
NOTES: Colcord says this was composed by a shantyman named Sam Peck. It obviously bears some relation to "Dixie Brown," though it has no mention of shanghaiing or robbery. Hugill also mentions (though does not corroborate) Colcord's claim, and states that it was quickly pulled into the popular shanty repertoire for use at the capstan. - SL
File: Hugi589
===
NAME: River Lee, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the Lee by moonlight. For example, sounds of the "gurgling brook" at night are compared to "the lute's harmonious languor" rather than "the trumpet's clangour, Or the nerve-wounding fife"
AUTHOR: Richard Alfred Millikin (1767-1815) (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1818 (_The Harmonica_, written c.1803, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: river lyric music
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 220-222, "The River Lee" (1 text)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
An Ode to Cynthia
NOTES: Richard Alfred Millikin is best-known for writing "The Groves of Blarney"; of works in this index, he also wrote "The Groves of Blackpool." - RBW
File: CrPS220
===
NAME: River of Jordan, The
DESCRIPTION: Jesus meets John the Baptist, is baptized. King Naaman, a leper, calls for Elijah, he is to dip in Jordan and "wash your spots away."  Jordan is far away, so the singer will find "an altar in an old-fashioned church/and my River of Jordan that will be"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963 (recording, Poplin Family)
KEYWORDS: disease Bible religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Poplin Family, "The River of Jordan" (on Poplin01)
NOTES: Probably recently-composed, but it may be entering the tradition. - PJS
It certainly has enough errors to be traditional. The story of Jesus meeting John the Baptist is found in Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3; compare John 1.
Naaman's leprosy is found in 2 Kings 5. He was not a king but a general in the service of the King of Damascus. And he did not consult with Elijah but Elisha -- and Elisha volunteered to be consulted; Naaman had been sent to the King of Israel to be cured. - RBW
File: RcTroJor
===
NAME: River of Life
DESCRIPTION: "Soon we'll come to the end of life's journey, And perhaps we'll never meet anymore, Till we get to heaven's bright city, Far away on the beautiful shore." A description of the beauties of heaven, where the singer obviously expects to go
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 85, "River of Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa085 (Partial)
Roud #16394
RECORDINGS:
Buna Vista Hicks, "River of Life" (on USWarnerColl01)
File: Wa085
===
NAME: River Roe (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders by the river, and comes by the Roe Mill, where Captain Moody and his workers are about their tasks. The singer must return home, but the Roe holds him entranced
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: rambling river nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H649, p. 171, "The River Roe (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13531
File: HHH649
===
NAME: River Roe (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks what place can "match the dark Roe." The singer recalls the history of Cooey na Gal and the church at Dungiven, then describes all the places along the Roe until the "tired" river flows into Loch Foyle.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: river nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H629, p. 171-172, "The River Roe (II)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13532
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of the Roe" (for Cooey-na-Gal) and references there
NOTES: For "Cooey-na-Gal" O'Cahan and Dungiven Priory, see the notes on "The Banks of the Roe." - RBW
File: HHH629
===
NAME: River Roe (III), The
DESCRIPTION: A nobleman's son meets a servant maid he won't name. "But her master's habitation is on the river Roe." He proposes. She promises to meet him the next day. They meet, she agrees, and they marry the next evening. "She has servants to attend her"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(152))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage nobility servant river
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, pp. 47-48, "The River Roe" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(152), "The River Roe", H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also 2806 b.9(236), 2806 b.11(202), Harding B 19(79), 2806 c.15(78), Harding B 26(578), 2806 b.11(230), 2806 b.11(206), "The River Roe"
NOTES: A number of Bodleian broadsides have dropped the first two lines (something like "As I went out one evening all in the month of May, When Flora's flowering mantle had deck'd the meadow gay", or lines ending in "June" and "bloom") and start with the third line in O'Conor: "I espied a lovely fair one, and her did not know." - BS
File: OCon047
===
NAME: River through the Pines, The
DESCRIPTION: "O Mary was a maiden when the birds began to sing, She was sweeter than the blooming rose so early in the spring...." She loves (Charlie), a shanty boy; the two are married. But he dies at his work; they are buried together
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage separation work logger death burial
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont,Que)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Rickaby 30, "The River in the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 56, "The River in the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #37, "The River through the Pine" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
ST LoF056 (Partial)
Roud #669
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Town of Brandywine
NOTES: As "The River in the Pines," this song is item dC33 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: LoF056
===
NAME: River-Driver's Lament, The (I Am a River Driver)
DESCRIPTION: I went lumbering at sixteen and courted a pretty girl who caused me to roam. "Sure I'm a river driver and I'm far away from home." "Now I'm old and feeble and in my sickness lie Just wrap me up in my shanty blankets and lie me down to die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: As an entity, 1959 (Peacock); Fowke's fragment dates to 1958
KEYWORDS: courting death lumbering drink rambling floatingverses logger
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 759-760, "The River Driver's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #59, "I Am a River Driver" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #4564
NOTES: Floating verses include adaptations of "I'll eat when I'm hungry", "Build me a castle" and "I'm ... and a long way from home" and "wrap me up in my shanty blankets." - BS
Fowke's very short text ("I'll eat when I'm hungry and drink when I'm dry; If the water don't drown me I'll live till I die, If the water don't drown me while over it I roam, For I am a river driver and far away from home") could be just a lumberjack adaption of "Rye Whiskey," but it's close enough to Peacock to allow us to tentatively lump them. - RBW
File: FowL69
===
NAME: River, Stay Way
DESCRIPTION: "You keep going your way; I'll keep going my way; River, stay way from my door... You don't need my cabin; River, stay way from my door. Don't come up any higher; I'm so alone, just my bed and fire... Don't start breaking my heart."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Henry; collected by Susie A. Blaylock from an unnamed source)
KEYWORDS: river loneliness home nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 189, "River, Stay Away" (1 text)
NOTES: This is one of those items that could easily float in and out of any bluesy semiballad. I suspect that it did so, and probably belongs with something else in the Index. but without a tune, there is no way to say what. - RBW 
File: MHAp189
===
NAME: River's Up and Still A-Rising
DESCRIPTION: "River's up and still a-rising, Just got back from a negro baptizing." "Farewell, mourners (x2), Goodbye, I'se gwine to leave you behind." Most verses are about improbable dress: "Had an old hat, had no brim, Looked like a blue jay sitting on a limb."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: humorous river nonballad clothes bird
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 326, "River's Up and Still A-Rising" (1 text)
Roud #16840
File: Br3326
===
NAME: Riverhead La'nchin' on Jubilee Day, The
DESCRIPTION: Men come from all around St Mary's Bay and as far as St John's on Jubilee Day "for to help Uncle Steve get the craft under way." Once the ship was "out in Riverhead Arm... we cheered for the King." There are toasts all around.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: ship moniker
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 882-883, "The Riverhead La'nchin' on Jubilee Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9809
NOTES: This must be the Silver Jubilee Day for King George V, May 6, 1935. St Mary's Bay is on the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula. - BS
File: Pea882
===
NAME: Riverhead Line: see The Bonavist Line (File: Pea768)
===
NAME: Rivers of Texas, The (The Brazos River)
DESCRIPTION: The singer lists the various rivers of Texas he has seen, noting that "Down by the Brazos I courted my dear." But now she has left him, and "I never will walk by the Brazos no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation river
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 201, "The Brazos River" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIVTEXAS*
Roud #4764
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "Down by the Embarass" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme05)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Down by the Embarras (Illinois version)
The Rivers of Georgia
NOTES: Paul Stamler notes that there are "non-Texas" versions of this song (see the alternate titles), though I have never encountered them. I know that at least one modern "folk" composer has created a localized version; I suspect the traditional versions are of similar origin. Though I am not sure which is the original. - RBW
As far as I can tell, the Texas version was first. I also gather someone tried to rewrite it for Nebraska, but they didn't have enough rivers to finish a verse. - PJS
File: R201
===
NAME: Road to Dundee, The
DESCRIPTION: "Cauld wind was howling o'er moor and o'er mountain"  when the singer meets a girl asking her way to Dundee. He says he can't easily tell her, but will show her the way. As they approach the town, they exchange tokens and part. And no, they *don't* marry
AUTHOR: Mackay (per OLochlainn)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: travel courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Ord, pp. 152-153, "The Road to Dundee" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 95, "Sweet Carnloch Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROADDUND* RDUND2
Roud #2300
File: Ord152
===
NAME: Road to Heaven, The
DESCRIPTION: "The road to heaven by Christ was made, With heavenly truth the rails are laid, From earth to heaven the line extends... I'm going home to die no more." The Christian life is compared to a railway: "The Bible is the engineer," "God's love the fire," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1854 (Chamber's Journal, according to Cohen)
KEYWORDS: railroading religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 605-610, "I'm Going Home to Die No More/The Railway Spiritualized" (2 texts plus 2 broadside prints, 1 tune)
Belden, p. 468, "The Railroad to Heaven" (1 text)
Randolph 600, "The Road to Heaven" (1 text)
Roud #7940
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Gospel Singers (Buell Kazee, Lester O'Keefe, and others), "I'm Going Home to Die No More" (Brunswick 152, 1927)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(024), "The Spiritual Railway" ("The line to Heaven by Christ was made"), James Lindsay (Glasgow), c. 1855.
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Spiritual Railroad
File: R600
===
NAME: Road to the Isles, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer hears "a far croonin'" calling him back to the Hebrides. He lists the places he will visit on his way home, and says, "If it's thinkin' in your inner heart the braggart's in my step, You've never smelt the tangle o' the Isles."
AUTHOR: Words: Kenneth Macleod
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Kennedy-Fraser)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad travel
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy-Fraser II, pp. 240-241, "The Road to the Isles" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RDISLES*
NOTES: On its face, this is just another pseudo-folksong by Kenneth Macleod to a Hebridean tune, but my father seems to have learned it orally. I suppose it was from some radio program, but who can tell? When in doubt, we index -- and add apologetic notes like these. - RBW
File: KFrII240
===
NAME: Roast Beef of Old England, The
DESCRIPTION: "When mighty roast beef was the Englishman's food, It ennobled our hearts and strengthened our blood." The singer complains about the new-fangled French ragouts, and recalls the good old days of Queen Elizabeth, the Armada -- and beef
AUTHOR: Richard Leveridge (c. 1670-1758)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (Chappell), but known to be in use at least a century before that
KEYWORDS: food royalty battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1558-1603 - Reign of Elizabeth (I)
1588 - Voyage of the Spanish Armada
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 95-96, "The Roast Beef of Old England" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Not, as far as I can tell, an actual folk song -- but, prior to the adoption of "God Save the King," this was as close as England, and particularly the English navy, came to having an anthem. It probably belongs here on that basis. - RBW
File: ChWII095
===
NAME: Rob Roy [Child 225]
DESCRIPTION: Rob Roy comes to the lowlands and captures a wealthy lady. He orders her to marry him; she refuses. He prepares to kidnap her, and allows no delay. They are married without her consent. He describes his valor and bids her be content
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803
KEYWORDS: marriage abduction rejection
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 8-9, 1750 - Abduction of Jean Key by Robert MacGregor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(High)) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 225, "Rob Roy" (12 texts)
Bronson 225, "Rob Roy" (3 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 296, "Rob Roy" (1 text, possiby derived from print)
Leach, pp. 583-585, "Rob Roy" (1 text)
DT 225, ROBROY
Roud #340
NOTES: This song is accurate enough as far as it goes, but far from complete. Rob Oig ("Young") was the fifth son of Walter Scott's Rob Roy, and a real desperado. In 1736 (when he was perhaps no older than twelve), he shot a trespasser and was outlawed when he refused to appear in court.
After spending time in the British army, he returned to England and married for the first time (despite still being outlawed). When this wife died, he and his brothers determined to marry him to Jean Key, a wealthy widow of nineteen. This rough wooing took place as described in the ballad.
In the sequel, the MacGregors were forced to release Jean Key (who died within a year), and both James MacGregor (who organized the plot) and Robert MacGregor were eventually brought to trial; James escaped, but Robert was executed in 1754. - RBW
File: C225
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NAME: Robber Hood's Death: see Robin Hood's Death [Child 120] (File: C120)
===
NAME: Robber, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
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NAME: Robbie Tampson's Smitty: see Robin Tamson's Smiddy [Laws O12] (File: LO12)
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NAME: Robert Barnes Fellow Fine: see John Smith My Fellow Fine (File: SNR026)
===
NAME: Robert's Farm: see Down on Penny's Farm (File: LoF147)
===
NAME: Robin Adair
DESCRIPTION: "What's this dull town to me? Robin's not near." The singer laments her missing Robin Adair, who is her only source of joy and mirth, who "made this town heaven and earth."
AUTHOR: Words: Lady Caroline Keppel
EARLIEST_DATE: 1793 (Edinburgh Musical Miscellany)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fuld-WFM, p. 468, "Robin Adair"
DT, ROBADAIR  (cf. EILAROO.NOT)
Roud #8918
RECORDINGS:
Inez Barbour, "Robin Adair" (Phono-Cut 5198, c. 1915)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Eileen Aroon" (tune)
cf. "Sadly to Mine Heart Appealing" (portions of Stephen Foster's tune)
NOTES: This is perhaps not a folk song in its own right. But as it uses the same melody as "Eileen Aroon," which pretty definitely does belong, I thought it best to include it.
Lady Caroline Keppel fell in love with Robin Adair (a surgeon, and so presumably below her station) in the 1750s, and wrote this song in consequence. She was eventually permitted to marry him (only to die in 1769 at the age of 32), but at the time the song was written, she thought she would not be allowed to wed Robin. - RBW
File: DTrobada
===
NAME: Robin and John: see Robin Hood and Little John [Child 125] (File: C125)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Allen a Dale [Child 138]
DESCRIPTION: Robin observes a young man cheery one day, downcast the next. He is Allen a Dale; his bride-to-be has been betrothed to another. Robin goes in disguise to the church on the wedding day, calls in his men, and ensures she marries Allen after all.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1723
KEYWORDS: Robinhood disguise love marriage
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 138, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
Bronson 138, comments only; cf. cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 173, "[Drive the cold winter away]"
Leach, pp. 397-400, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
OBB 121, "Robin Hood and Alan a Dale" (1 text)
PBB 68, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
DBuchan 51, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
BBI, RZN8, "Come listen to me, you gallants so free"
DT 138, RHALANAD
Roud #3298
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
This particular part of the Robin Hood story seems to have arisen in the seventeenth century. In the earliest versions of the legend (Sloane MS.), the betrayed lover is not Allen but Scarlock. But by the nineteenth century, Allen's name had become a regular part of the legend. - RBW
File: C138
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Arthur O'Bland: see Robin Hood and the Tanner [Child 126] (File: C126)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne [Child 118]
DESCRIPTION: Little John and Robin separate; Little John is taken after trying to stop an invasion by the Sheriff. Meanwhile, Robin meets Guy; they fight, and Robin slays Guy. He then takes his clothes and horn and rescues John
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood outlaw fight rescue
FOUND_IN: US(SE)?
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Child 118, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
Bronson 118, comments only; cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 277, "The Chirping of the Lark" (1 tune)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 102-116, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
BrownII 32, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text, said in the Brown collection to "certainly derive" from this piece, but this is a stretch. It may be this, but it is only a disordered fragment, which looks to me to combine aspects of several Robin Hood ballads; the only real link with this is the reported title "Robin Hood and Guy of Gusborne")
Leach, pp. 334-340, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
OBB 116, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 68-76+320-321, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
TBB 26, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
DT 118, RHGISBOR
Roud #3977
NOTES: This is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (The earliest known copy (from the Percy folio) is somewhat corrupt, but shows survivals of a much older text, and seems to be at least two centuries older than the manuscript. It is noteworthy that a fragment of the same story, in dramatic form, appears on the back of a slip of financial sheets from 1475/6 C.E. For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]).
Bronson notes that Chappell associated a tune with this piece, but that the association was Chappell's own, on weak grounds, and therefore does not cite the melody. - RBW
File: C118
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Little John [Child 125]
DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood meets John Little on a bridge. They agree to fight until one falls into the brook. Robin is dunked. He blows his horn for his men and offers John a place among them. John accepts and is re-named Little John, though he is seven feet tall.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1624 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood outlaw fight
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Child 125, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text)
Bronson 125, "Robin Hood and Little John" (2 versions+ 1 in addenda)
Creighton/Senior, p. 67, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 fragment)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 19-20, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 366-372, "Robin Hood and Little John" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 339, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text)
Niles 45, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, RZN22, "When Robin Hood was about twenty Years old"
DT 125, RHLITJON*
Roud #1322
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Robin Hood and Little John" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #1}
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 3(125a), "Robin Hood and Little John," C. Sheppard (London), 1791 [barely legible]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Robin and John
NOTES: 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.
This is one of the few Robin Hood ballads with a genuinely traditional tune (two, in fact), though one of the texts may have been influenced by print. - RBW
File: C125
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Maid Marian [Child 150]
DESCRIPTION: Robin, while Earl of Huntingdon, woos Maid Marian. Then, outlawed, he keeps to the wood, disguised. She dresses as a page to seek him. They meet and fight, unrecognized, till both are wounded. He calls a halt, she knows his voice, they celebrate.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1795 (Ritson)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood love courting fight disguise
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 150, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
Bronson 150, comments only
Leach, pp. 423-425, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
BBI, RZN3, "A bonny fine maid of noble degree"
Roud #3992
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
It is noteworthy that Marion is not an original part of the Robin Hood legend. Where she came from must remain a matter of speculation.
J. C. Holt (_Robin Hood_, p. 160) believes that the story of Robin and Marian derives from Adam de la Halle's thirteenth century play "Robin et Marion." In this romance, Marian is a shepherdess whose fidelity to Robin causes her to fend off a lusty knight. This legend entered the French May Games, and was used by John Gower. At some point Marian became Queen of the May Games. With Robin also a character in the games, their union was almost inevitable.
In fact, things may not be that complex. Tauno F. Mustanoja, in "The Suggestive Use of Christian Names in Middle English Poetry" (published in Jerome Mandel and Bruce A. Rosenberg, eds., _Medieval Literature and Folklore Studies_) notes that Robin and Marion are typical names for rustic lovers in French and English romance. If Robin were to find a lover, the name Marion was almost to be expected.
The Broadside Index notes that this piece is "Smithson's parody of Robin Hood ballads."
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. - RBW
File: C150
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Queen Katherine [Child 145]
DESCRIPTION: The king proposes a wager with Queen Katherine, his archers against any she may choose. She sends for Robin and his men, giving them false names. They win and are revealed but the king has promised not to be angry with any in the queen's party.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1656 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood contest trick royalty
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 145, "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine" (3 texts)
Bronson 145, (extensive) comments only
Leach, pp. 413-417, "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine" (1 text)
BBI, RZN10, "Gold tane from the Kings harbengers"
Roud #72
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood's Chase [Child 146]"
NOTES: There is no historical "Queen Katherine"; the wife of King Stephen (1135-1154) was Matilda; the wife of Henry II (1154-1189, the first king usually associated with Robin Hood) was Eleanor of Aquitaine; Richard I (1189-1199) married Berengeria of Navarre; John (1199-1216) has as his primary wife Isabella of Angouleme; Henry III (1216-1272) married Eleanor of Provence; Edward I (1272-1307) married first Eleanor of Castile and then Margaret. By this time the longbow was established, and Robin Hood's exploits with the bow would no longer have been noteworthy. Leach speculates that one of Henry VIII's wives (either Catherine of Aragon or Catherine Howard) is meant!
The sequel to this story is told in Child 146, "Robin Hood's Chase."
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C145
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Beggar (I) [Child 133]
DESCRIPTION: Robin meets a beggar who asks charity. They fight. The beggar wins. Robin gives him his horse and clothes, goes on to Nottingham in the beggar's attire. There he finds three of his band are to be hanged. He blows his horn to summon his men who rescue them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood begging execution rescue disguise
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 133, "Robin Hood and the Beggar I" (1 text)
Bronson 133, comments only
Leach, pp. 385-388, "Robin Hood and the Beggar, I" (1 text)
Roud #3391
NOTES: 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. - RBW
File: C133
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Beggar (II) [Child 134]
DESCRIPTION: Robin asks money of a beggar who answers disdainfully. They fight. The beggar wins and goes off. Robin is found by three of his men. He sends two to avenge his disgrace. They ambush the beggar, but he bribes and tricks them and gets away.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1795
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight rescue escape trick money
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 134, "Robin Hood and the Beggar II" (1 text)
Bronson 134, "Robin Hood and the Beggar II" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 388-397, "Robin Hood and the Beggar, II" (1 text)
Roud #3392
NOTES: 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. - RBW
File: C134
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Bishop [Child 143]
DESCRIPTION: Robin sees a bishop with a large company and fears to be taken. He appeals to an old wife, trades clothes with her, returns to his men. She is taken for him, but they rescue her, take money from the bishop, make him say mass and ride away backwards.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1656 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood clergy disguise rescue
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 143, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 text)
Bronson 143, comments only
Flanders-Ancient3, p. 117, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 fragment of a single line, identified as this seemingly by title; there is no real reason to think it is this ballad)
Leach, pp. 408-411, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 text)
Niles 47, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (2 texts, 2 tunes, of which only the second could be this ballad, and even it is mixed with Child 140)
BBI, RZN5, "Come gentlemen all, and listen a while"
Roud #3955
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (plot, lyrics)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C143
===