NAME: Bleaches So Green, The: see Braes of Strathblane (File: McCST053)
===
NAME: Bless 'Em All
DESCRIPTION: Verses can be on any subject, though usually military and often obscene. Many units had their own versions. The conclusion, either "Bless 'em all" or "Fuck 'em all," is diagnostic
AUTHOR: F. Godfrey?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: soldier war technology bawdy flying
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(SW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 386-391, "Fuck 'Em All" (3 texts plus floating stanzas, 1 tune)
DT, BLSSALL1* BLSSALL2* BLSSALL3* BLSSALL4* BLSSALL5* BLSSALL6* BLSSALL7* BLSSALL8* BLSSALL9* BLSSAL10*
Roud #8402
NOTES: Ed Cray notes, "It was a poor unit during the Second World War that didn't have at least one version of this classic...." It probably originated in World War I, and has been credited to "F. Godbey." A copyright version appeared in 1940; this is probably the cleanest version that has ever existed.
It is not immediately evident which of the two basic titles ("Bless" or "Fuck") is more common. - RBW
File: EM386
===
NAME: Blessed Zulu War, The
DESCRIPTION: "I love to tell the story As I've often told before How we fought in glory At the blessed Zulu war." The singer tells how Jack Smith is wounded in a bloody battle, and sends messages to mother and sweetheart before dying
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: soldier death war farewell
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1879 - The Zulu War. British forces annex Zululand, but only after a great deal of bungled fighting
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan1 67, "The Dying Sailor" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 155-158, "The Blessed Zulu War" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5362
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Soldier (Erin Far Away I)" [Laws J6] (plot) and references there
File: MCB155
===
NAME: Blessing on Brandy and Beer, A
DESCRIPTION: "When one's drunk, not a girl but looks pretty, The country's as gay as the city, And all that ones says is so witty. A blessing on brandy and beer!" The singer praises the effects of drink -- letting him defy his master, beat his wife, chase girls, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Arnett, p. 33, "A Blessing on Brandy and Beer" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Arn033
===
NAME: Blessings of Mary, The: see The Seven Joys of Mary (File: FO211)
===
NAME: Blest Be the Tie that Binds
DESCRIPTION: "Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love, The fellowship of kindred souls Is like to that above." Believers pray to God and "share each other's woes." They grieve to part "and hope to meet again"
AUTHOR: Words: John Fawcett (1740-1817) / Music: Hans Georg Naegeli (1773-1836), adapted by Lowell Mason
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp, 70-71, "Blest Be the Tie that Binds" (1 text, 1 tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Blest Be the Tie that Binds (parody) (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 107; Roud #12809)
NOTES: According to Johnson, author John Fawcett was a Methodist-influenced Baptist. He came to be pastor of a congregation at Wainsgate, where he was successful enough that another congregation tried to steal him away with the offer of a better salary. When his own congregation could not match it, he prepared to move. Whereupon the Wainsgate church begged him to stay (and, presumably, anted up). Fawcett wrote this hymn because of the ties that bound him to his church. - RBW
File: BdBBtttB
===
NAME: Blin' Auld Man, The: see Four Nights Drunk [Child 274] (File: C274)
===
NAME: Blin' Man Stood on de Way an' Cried: see Blind Man (File: LoF245)
===
NAME: Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, The: see The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green [Laws N27] (File: LN27)
===
NAME: Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green, The [Laws N27]
DESCRIPTION: Pretty Betsy, the blind beggar's daughter, seeks a husband. Many court her for her looks, but when she reveals that her father is a beggar, all but one change their minds. This one is surprised when her father proves able to give a large dowry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1624
KEYWORDS: begging courting marriage dowry
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE,SE) Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Laws N27, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green"
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 171-185, "The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Green" (1 text plus variant stanzas from the folio manuscript)
Eddy 26, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 107-109, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 32, "The Blind Beggar" (1 text)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 57, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green" (1 text, 4 tunes)
SharpAp 46, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 694-695, "The Blind Beggar of Bednall (Bethnal) Green" (1 text)
OBB 163, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Green" (1 text)
FSCatskills 32, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnell Green" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 16-17, "The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green" (1 tune, partial text)
McBride 11, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN1515, "It was a blind begger that long lost his sight"
DT, BLINDBEG* SIMONTFD
Roud #132
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Reilly, "The Blind Beggar" (on IRTravellers01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 3(62), "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green," W. and C. Dicey (London), 1736-1763; also Harding B 3(61), Harding B 3(63), Harding B 28(269), "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal-Green"; Harding B 11(322), Firth c.21(11), Harding B 11(1438), Johnson Ballads 1393, Firth c.21(13), Harding B 11(323), Harding B 11(321), Harding B 25(214)[parts illegible], "[The] Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green"; Harding B 25(212), "The Blind Beggar"; Douce Ballads 3(4b), "The Blind Beggar of Bednal Green"; Vet. A3 b.43(3)[parts faded to illegibility], Harding B 5(18), "The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green"; Firth c.21(12), "Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnall Green"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mary Ambree" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Mary Ambree (File: OBB165)
Of a stout Cripple that kept the high way/..Stout Cripple of Cornwall (BBI ZN2079)
The devil has left his puritanical dress/..Licentiousness of the Times (BBI ZN777)
NOTES: This is "The Child Ballad that Wasn't." Printed in Child's preliminary edition, he later withdrew the piece on the grounds that it was not popular (even though it has been found regularly in tradition).
Most traditional versions are short, but the earliest text, from Percy, is extremely long (67 four-line stanzas!). In the second part of this version it appears that the blind beggar is none other than Simon de Montfort, who nearly overthrew England's King Henry III (reigned 1216-1272).
When King John died in 1216, his son Henry was only seven years old. Henry, naturally, never amounted to much. By 1254, Parliament was rebelling against him. In 1258 the nobles drafted the "Provisions of Oxford," which put the king under the control of a group of barons. Even stronger measures were passed in 1259, leaving Henry in a position he considered intolerable.
Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester and Henry's brother-in-law, was a leader of the rebels. Forced into exile in 1261, he returned to England in 1263 to start an organized rebellion. In 1264 his armies met those of the king. De Montfort won a smashing victory, despite inferior numbers, at the battle of Lewes. (The latter, incidentally, commemorated in _The Song of Lewes_, one of the "Harley Lyrics" found in British Museum Harley 2253; it's a bit surprising that Child did not include this in his canon, since it looks as popular as several of his other political pieces.)
Simon was now in control of England, and tried to strengthen his grip by a series of liberal reforms. But Henry's party had one great asset: the crown prince Edward (later
Edward I). Edward gathered another army, and defeated and killed Simon at Evesham in 1265.
The author of this ballad apparently believed that, instead of being killed, de Montfort went into hiding as a beggar (but also reports that Simon lost his eyes fighting in France). - RBW
File: LN27
===
NAME: Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green, The: see The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green [Laws N27] (File: LN27)
===
NAME: Blind Beggar's Daughter, The: see The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green [Laws N27] (File: LN27)
===
NAME: Blind Child, The
DESCRIPTION: "They tell me, father, that tonight You'll wed another bride, That you will clasp her in your arms Where my dear mother died." The child asks about the new wife, and hopes she will be kind. The child dies, and goes to heaven where no one is blind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: death mother father wife disease death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Belden, pp. 275-276, "The Blind Child" (1 text plus mention of 4 more)
Randolph 724, "The Blind Child" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 472-473, "The Blind Child" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 724A)
BrownII 149, "The Blind Girl" (1 text plus mention of 12 more)
JHCoxIIB, #29, pp. 198-200, "The Blind Child's Prayer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, p. 146, "The Blind Orphan" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 128-129, "The Blind Girl" (1 text)
DT, BLNDCHLD*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 203-204, "(The Blind Girl)" (1 text)
Roud #425
RECORDINGS:
Harvey Irwin, "The Blind Child" (OKeh 45014, 1925)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Blind Girl" (Champion 15968 [as Dan Hughey], 1930; Conqueror 7983, 1932)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "The Blind Child's Prayer" (Brunswick 167, 1927)
McMichen's String Band, "Blind Child's Prayer, pts. 1 & 2" (Columbia 15333-D, 1928)
Arnold Keith Storm, "The Blind Child" (on AKStorm01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Cannot Call Her Mother (The Marriage Rite is Over; The Stepmother)" (theme)
NOTES: Cohen remarks, "Frankly, I think the saccharine little miss is overdoing it." Amen. - RBW
File: R724
===
NAME: Blind Child's Prayer, The: see The Blind Child (File: R724)
===
NAME: Blind Fiddler, The
DESCRIPTION: "I lost my sight in the blacksmith's shop in the year of 'Fifty-six." The singer, with no other trade available, has had to become a wandering fiddler. Not even Doctor Lane of San Francisco could help him. He hopes his family is safe and well
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: homesickness poverty rambling separation fiddle injury family doctor hardtimes music
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Belden, p. 446, "The Blind Fiddler" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, p. 364, "The Blind Fiddler" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 55, "The Blind Fiddler" (1 text)
DT, BLINDFID*
Roud #7833
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "The Blind Fiddler" (on PeteSeeger13, AmHist1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Blind Man's Song" (theme)
cf. "Jilson Setters's Blind Song" (theme)
cf. "The Blind Man's Regret" (theme)
NOTES: Until this century, there was nothing resembing a social safety net for the victims of industrial accidents -- in particular, no workers' compensation, and little chance of compensation by the employer.
Pete Seeger dates this song from 1850, with no supporting documentation; as the first line reads "I lost my eyes in the blacksmith shop in the year of '56", this date is doubtful. It has the feel of the mid-19th century about it, but I've dated it only back to the field recording for safety's sake. - PJS
Joe Hickerson, who probably would know, implies that this is the earliest recording known to him, though the fact that there is also a version in Belden implies that it is older. He speculates that it is derived from the earlier "The Rebel Soldier"(primarily on the basis of the final line; "I am a (blind fiddler/rebel soldier) and far from my home." - RBW
File: FSWB055
===
NAME: Blind Girl, The: see The Blind Child (File: R724)
===
NAME: Blind Man
DESCRIPTION: "Blind man stood in the way and cried (x2), Wo, Lord, show me the way...." "Preacherman stood on the way and cried...." "My mother stood on the way and cried...." "My deacon stood on the way and cried...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 245, "Blind Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 596, "Blin' Man Stood on de Way an' Cried" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12357
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Blind Man Lay Beside the Way" (theme)
NOTES: There are several accounts in the gospels of curing the blind (e.g. Matt. 9:27f., 20:29f.; Mark 7:22f.; John 9:1). The account here is most reminiscent of that in Mark 10:46f.=Luke18:35 (Bartimaeus; in the parallel in Matthew there are *two* blind men). - RBW
File: LoF245
===
NAME: Blind Man Lay Beside the Way
DESCRIPTION: "Blind man lay beside the way, He could not see the light of day, The Lord passed by and heard him say: 'O Lord, won't you help-a me?'" "A man he died, was crucified, They hung a thief on either side, One lifted up his voice and cried, 'O Lord...'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious death
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp. 452-453, "Blind Man Lay Beside the Way" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST San452 (Full)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Blind Man" (theme)
NOTES: The miracle most associated with Jesus was healing -- especially "casting out demons" (curing epilepsy and/or insanity) and giving sight to the blind.
There are several accounts in the gospels of curing the blind (e.g. Matt. 9:27f., 20:29f.; Mark 7:22f.; John 9:1). The account here is most reminiscent of that in Mark 10:46f.=Luke18:35 (Bartimaeus; in the parallel in Matthew there are *two* blind men).
Although Matt. 27:38, Mark 15:28, Luke 23:32, John 19:18 all mention the criminals crucified along with Jesus, only Luke 23:39 mentions one of them repenting. - RBW
File: San452
===
NAME: Blind Man's Regret, The
DESCRIPTION: "Young people attention give And hear what I do say...." "hen I was young and in my prime I used to go so gay, For I did not think right of time But idled time away." The singer laments wasting time and going blind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: injury hardtimes nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
JHCox 154, "The Blind Man's Regret" (1 text)
ST JHCox154 (Full)
Roud #6365
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Young People, Take Warning" (lyrics)
NOTES: I know of no other version of this song (though see the notes on "Young People, Take Warning"), and I don't find it surprising. There really isn't much plot; with the exception of a single stanza claiming that the singer went blind in the "year of eighty-four," there is no story. It's just a series of warnings and complaints, quite repetitious, mostly warning against wasting time.
Cox's informant claims that this is the story of a man who tried to avoid being involved in the Civil War, and so hid in a cave and damaged his sight. This is not impossible -- but the song does not give the theory any support (and note that the blindness did not strike until 1884). - RBW
File: JHCox154
===
NAME: Blind Man's Song
DESCRIPTION: "My friends, I cannot labor, I will try and get along... I will try to sell my song... May heaven above preserve you From ever being blind." The singer lists the things he cannot see, and says he wants to work but can't; he wishes he had sight again
AUTHOR: Matthew Stovall?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS:  injury hardtimes music
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 179-180, "Blind Man's Song" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blind Fiddler" (theme) and references there
File: ThBa178
===
NAME: Blind Orphan, The: see The Blind Child (File: R724)
===
NAME: Blind Sailor, The: see By the Lightning We Lost our Sight [Laws K6] (File: LK06)
===
NAME: Blinded by Shit
DESCRIPTION: An old woman, who must relieve herself, empties her bowels out a window. A passing night watchman (or cowboy) looks up, and is blinded by shit.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy injury scatological
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England) US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 125-128, "Blinded by Shit" (2 texts, 1 tune); see also under "Ditties," pp. 264-268, which contain other verses that fit "Sweet Betsy"
Roud #10306
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Vilikens and his Dinah (William and Dinah) [Laws M31A/B]" (tune & meter) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Blinded by Turds
NOTES: Probably of British music hall origins - EC
File: EM125
===
NAME: Blinded by Turds: see Blinded by Shit (File: EM125)
===
NAME: Blinkin' O't, The
DESCRIPTION: "O it wasna her daddy's lairdly kin, It wasna her siller -- the clinkin' o't... 'Twas er ain blue e'e, the blinkin' o't... My heart an' a' she's stown awa' Wi' the lythesome, blythesome blinkin' o't." The singer praises the girl but is rejected
AUTHOR: James Grieg ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love rejection beauty
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 169-170, "The Blinkin' O't" (1 text)
Roud #6135
File: FVS169
===
NAME: Blockader Mama
DESCRIPTION: The little girl begs mother not to visit the still; the sheriff is watching. Mother says she must; they need money and father never works. Mother goes to the still and is shot; the child laments when the body is returned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death children police drink
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 314, "Blockader Mama" (1 text)
Roud #6633
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dream of the Miner's Child" (theme)
NOTES: This song has, I gather, had some small success in commercial country circles. Whether this success predates the North Carolina collection I do not know. - RBW
File: BrII314
===
NAME: Blockader's Trail
DESCRIPTION: The singer is arrested for moonshining.The singer claims the charge is false. The still is disassembled. The law officers take their turns with the captured brew (?). The singer complains about the conditions in the prison
AUTHOR: Henry D. Holsclaw
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink prison
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 313, "Blockader's Trail" (1 text)
Roud #6647
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Moonshine Can" (subject)
cf. "Ewie Wi' the Crookit Horn" (subject)
NOTES: This is apparently based on a real incident, and the author thought enough of it to have it printed as a broadside -- but I'd have to declare it one of the most incoherent, invertebrate (47 verses!) things I've ever seen. On the other hand, the song seems to have worked as propaganda; Brown's informant thought Holsclaw was innocent. - RBW
File: BrII313
===
NAME: Blood Done Signed My Name, The
DESCRIPTION: A very simple hymn; consisting of little more than the title words.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1949
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 760, "The Blood Done Signed My Name" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11678
RECORDINGS:
Dock Reed & Vera Hall Ward, "The Blood Done Signed My Name" (on NFMAla5)
File: BSoF760
===
NAME: Blood on the Saddle
DESCRIPTION: "There was blood on the saddle And blood all around, And a great big puddle Of blood on the ground. The cowboy lay in it All covered with gore, And he won't go riding no broncos no more.... For his bronco fell on him and mashed in his head."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905
KEYWORDS: cowboy injury death horse
FOUND_IN: Canada(West) US(MW)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Fowke/Johnston, p. 101, "Blood on the Saddle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 101, "Blood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 38, "Blood on the Saddle" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 331-332, "Blood on the Saddle" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 106, "Blood On The Saddle" (1 text)
DT, BLOODON
Roud #3685
RECORDINGS:
Harry Jackson, "Blood on the Saddle" (on HJackson1)
NOTES: The Fifes trace this piece back to something called "Halbert the Grim" (published by Motherwell in 1827). The melody is said to be the same, and both involve vast quantities of blood. There has been a lot of evolution along the way, though; I would not consider the two related if it weren't for the melody.
The version we usually hear focusses solely on the blood, but the Gardner/Chickering text gives a brief biography of the cowboy and talks of his sweetheart who has lost her love. - RBW
File: FJ101
===
NAME: Blood Red Roses
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic lines: "Come/go down, you blood red/bunch of roses, Come down... Oh you pinks and posies, come down...." The verses generally refer to life at sea, with perhaps floating verses on other themes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893
KEYWORDS: shanty ship flowers
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 22-23, "Come Down, You Bunch of Roses, Come Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 365-367, "Bunch O' Roses," "Ho Molly!" (3 texts, 3 tunes - includes a fragment of text titled "Ho Molly! which seems to follow the same meter and rhyme) [AbrEd, pp. 275-277]
Scott-BoA, pp. 132-134, "Blood Red Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 27, "Blood Red Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 90, "Blood Red Roses" (1 text)
DT, BLOODRED*
Roud #931
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "Blood Red Roses" (on Lloyd3, Lloyd7)
Henry Lundy & David Pryor, "Come Down, You Roses" (AAFS 511 A1, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "O Mary, Come Down!" (lyrics)
NOTES: Doerflinger comments of this piece, "I doubt that the movie version, with a 'blood red roses' chorus, is authentic folklore." However, that's the version I've always heard (including even an alleged New Zealand version), so I've adopted that title. Doerflinger also thinks the "bunch of roses" refers to Napoleon. Obviously that is the case in other "roses" songs, but I can't see any connection here. - RBW
File: Doe022
===
NAME: Blood-Stained Diary, The
DESCRIPTION: "It's just a little blood-stained book, Which a bullet has town in two; It tells the fate of Nick and Nate...." The singer recounts the words of Nathan D. Champion's diary as he and his companion are attacked in the Johnson County War
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: death murder cowboy
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 175-177, "The Blood-Stained Diary" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Invasion Song" (subject)
NOTES: Burt links this with an event she calls the Johnson County War, a conflict in Wyoming between honest herders and cattle rustlers. There are, apparently, conflicting versions of what happened; see Burt for details. - RBW
File: Burt175
===
NAME: Blood-Stained Soil: see The Dying Soldier (III) (File: Doyl3065)
===
NAME: Bloody Breathitt Farmer
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you folks and gather To hear the awful tale Of the bloody Breathitt farmer Taken from the county jail." Chet Fugate had murdered Clay Watkins (Christmas 1925?). Fugate is taken from prison by force and murdered, his body found by Jim Butler
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: murder prison punishment revenge
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 17-18, (no title) (1 text)
File: ThBdM018
===
NAME: Bloody Garden, The: see The Bloody Gardener (File: Pea668)
===
NAME: Bloody Gardener, The
DESCRIPTION: A lord loves a shepherd's daughter. His mother pays the gardner to kill and bury the shepherdess. The mother confesses and reveals the body. The lord kills himself. The lovers are buried together and the gardener is hanged.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1764 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 1(100)); ; c.1705 (broadside, NLScotland S.302.b.2(063))
KEYWORDS: courting love virginity burial suicide murder bird father mother gardening money punishment execution
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 668-670, "The Bloody Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 25, "The Bloody Gardener" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1700
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 1(100), "The Bloody Gardener's Cruelty" or "The Shepherd's Daughter Betrayed," W. and C. Dicey (London), 1736-1763; also Harding B 1(101),"The Bloody Gardiner's Cruelty" or "The Shepherd's Daughter Betrayed"; Douce Ballads 3(2b), Harding B 1(103), "The Bloody Gardener's Cruelty" or "The Shepherd's Daughter Betray'd"; Harding B 1(102), Harding B 1(94), Firth c.18(7), "The Bloody Gardiner's Cruelty" or "The Shepherd's Daughter Betrayed"; 2806 c.17(39)[parts faded to illegibility], Harding B 5(113), Harding B 11(330), "[The] Bloody Gardener"; Harding B 1(104), "The Bloody Gardener's Cruelty"
NLScotland, S.302.b.2(063), "The Bloody Gardener's Cruelty; Or, The Shepherd's Daughter Betray'd," unknown, c. 1705 [poorly printed and nearly illegible]
File: Pea668
===
NAME: Bloody War (I): see That Crazy War (File: CSW102)
===
NAME: Bloody War (II): see Battleship of Maine (File: CSW100)
===
NAME: Bloody Waterloo: see Lonely Waterloo [Laws N31] (File: LN31)
===
NAME: Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle, The [Laws H29]
DESCRIPTION: The singer comes upon a beautiful girl hard at work. Poor as she is, she vows to keep hard at work until her lover returns to her. The singer reveals himself as her lover; the two are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: courting love disguise
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws H29, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 133, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 598-599, "The Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 144-145, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 46, "Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 73, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 113, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 653, BELLISLE*
Roud #2191
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
cf. "The Green Shores of Fogo" (tune)
NOTES: Moulden makes the argument that this is an Irish ballad rather than "Native American" as Laws would have it. See archives of the site for the Canadian Journal for Traditional Music, _Canadian Journal for Traditional Music_, vol 14, 1986, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle: American Native or Irish Immigrant" by John Moulden. - BS
File: LH29
===
NAME: Blooming Caroline of Edinburgh Town: see Caroline of Edinborough Town [Laws P27] (File: LP27)
===
NAME: Blooming Mary Ann
DESCRIPTION: The singier is a sailor. He courts blooming Mary Ann. Her father offers "a little money and a house and farm of land" if he'd stay on shore forever. They marry and are happy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage beauty farming dancing father sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 505-507, "Blooming Mary Ann" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 34, "Lovely Mary Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Peac505 (Partial)
Roud #6466
File: Peac505
===
NAME: Blooming Star of Eglintown, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer prepares "to take farewell of famed Salthill"; he is crossing the sea to seek his fortune. He meets his darling. He fears she will prove untrue. She promises to be faithful. He sets sail; they watch each other as long as his ship stays in sight
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation emigration
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H170, p. 299, "The Blooming Star of Eglintown" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6895
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Flowery Vale (The Irish Girl's Lament)" [Laws O29] (plot) and references there
File: HHH170
===
NAME: Blossom Time
DESCRIPTION: About a heavenly wedding: "There's a wedding in an orchard, dear, I know it by the flowers, They're wreathed on ev'ry bough and branch, Or falling down in showers." "And though I saw... no groom nor gentle bride, I know that holy things were asked"
AUTHOR: Words: Mary E. Dodge / Music: "The Wearing of the Green"
EARLIEST_DATE: 1884
KEYWORDS: wedding nonballad supernatural
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 85, "Blossom Time" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FSC085
===
NAME: Blow Away the Morning Dew: see The Baffled Knight [Child 112] (File: C112)
===
NAME: Blow Below the Belt, The
DESCRIPTION: In 1966 "the Government Plan was sent around" for resettlement from the outports. "When fifty percent... did sign The other fifty had no choice." Many found no one to buy their home. Many could not find work. Eventually, Premier Smallwood is voted out
AUTHOR: Words: Anthony Ward, Tune: Dave Panting
EARLIEST_DATE: 1983 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: homesickness home parting unemployment hardtimes political money
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1950s-1970s - Newfoundland Resettlement Program
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 8, "The Blow Below the Belt" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Lehr/Best: "The Resettlement Program was carried out in Newfoundland during Joseph Smallwood's government.... Its aim was to relocate... coastal communities to larger centers where they would find better job opportunities and public facilities such as hospitals and schools.... When the smoke had finally cleared over three hundred communities had been completely closed down and those that remained were tombstones marking the passing of a large and noble part of our history." 
The title is a reference to boxing as part of an analogy to [that sport]: "But when elections rolled around, we showed Joey [Smallwood] how we felt, We dropped him in his corner and gave Frank Moores the [championship] belt!"
See "The Leaving of Merasheen" for another resettlement song - BS
Joey Smallwood began his career as a radio broadcaster, and used his position to push Newfoundland into Confederation with Canada; according to Craig Brown, e.d, _The Illustrated History of Canada_, p. 374, "Mainland prosperity, urged by Joey Smallwood... won out against the proud penury of independence."
But Smallwood, who went from broadcaster to Newfoundland premier and led the province for more than twenty years, by the late Fifties was turning to "increasingly illiberal one-man rule" (p. 491). The result of his policy was complaints like these. - RBW
File: LeBe008
===
NAME: Blow Bullies Blow: see Blow, Boys, Blow (I) (File: Doe025)
===
NAME: Blow High Blow Low
DESCRIPTION: "Blow high blow low let tempests tear The mainmast by the board My heart with thoughts of thee my dear And love well stored Shall brave all danger scorn all fear...." As the sailor works and rests aboard ship, he remembers his love
AUTHOR: Charles Dibdin
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (date of composition)
KEYWORDS: sailor separation lover
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 256-257, "Blow High Blow Low" (1 text)
ST SWMS256 (Full)
Roud #2069
File: SWMS256
===
NAME: Blow the Candle Out [Laws P17]
DESCRIPTION: The singer comes to visit his love on a moonlit night. She lets him in. He points out that her parents are in bed in the next room; he suggests rolling into his arms and blowing out the candles. (Nine months later, when he is gone, she has a child)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1714 (Pills to Purge Melancholy) as "The London 'Prentice"
KEYWORDS: courting nightvisit pregnancy bawdy apprentice
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,NE,So) Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws P17, "Blow the Candle Out"
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 61-65, "Blow the Candle Out" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Combs/Wilgus 114, pp. 140-141, "The Jolly Boatsman" (1 text)
Kennedy 170, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 74, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 160, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p.247, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text)
Ord, p. 95, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 156, "Blow The Candles Out" (1 text)
DT 499, CANDLOUT*
Roud #368
RECORDINGS:
Jumbo Brightwell, "Blow the Candle Out" (on Voice10)
Jimmy Gilhaney, "Blow the Candle Out" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
Martin Howley, "Blow the Candle Out" (on IRClare01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 168, "Blow the Candle Out," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(335), Harding B 20(139), Firth c.18(294), Firth b.25(299), Harding B 11(336), Harding B 16(26c), Johnson Ballads 1279, Firth b.34(33), Harding B 17(30b), "Blow the Candle Out"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dash Along" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Johnson Ballads 1279)
cf. "Come Into My Arms" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Harding B 17(30b))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The London 'Prentice
File: LP17
===
NAME: Blow the Man Down
DESCRIPTION: A tale of a sailor's adventures. Perhaps he serves under a difficult captain; perhaps he meets a girl (and "[gives] her my flipper") who spends his money or sells him off to sea; perhaps his heroic exploits in port earn him a night (or more) in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Syracuse _Daily Courier_, July 25 edition, according to Jonathan Lighter)
KEYWORDS: bawdy shanty sailor travel shanghaiing
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE,So,SW) Canada(Mar) Bahamas
REFERENCES: (24 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 17-22, "Blow the Man Down" (5 texts, 2 tunes. The first text is influenced by "Ratcliffe Highway"; the fourth is "The Three Ravens" (!); the last is largely "The Salt Horse Song")
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 57-60, "Blow the Man Down" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 53-59, "Blow the Man Down" (3 texts, 1 tune. First text is what Hugill would call the Blackballer version; second text is the Flying Fish
Sailor; third is along the lines of Ratcliffe Highway)
Harlow, pp. 92-95, "Blow the Man Down" (2 texts, 1 tune. Both texts are related to Ratcliffe Highway)
Hugill, p. 122, "Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well" (1 text, version C of "Homeward Bound") [AbrEd, p. 105]; p. 200, "Knock a Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune -- quoting Sharp-EFC) [AbrEd, p. 155]; pp. 203-214, "Blow the Man Down" (6 texts plus several fragments, 1 tune. The first text is a sanitized "Ratcliffe Highway" version; the fourth is the "Song of the Fishes," the fifth is a version of "Rolling in the Dew," and the seventh is "Quare Bungo Rye.") [AbrEd, pp. 158-167]
Sharp-EFC, XXXIX p. 44-45, "Knock a Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 77-82, "Blow th' Man Down" (2 texts, 1 tune; the second text may have a bit of "Cruising Round Yarmouth" in it)
Linscott, pp. 128-131, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 38-39, "The Black Ball Line" (1 text, 1 tune); pp. 39-40, "Blow the Man Down, I" (1 text); p. 40, "Blow the Man Down, II" (1 text plus an alternate chorus)
Smith/Hatt, p. 21, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text)
Mackenzie 107, "Blow the Man Down" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 459-460, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thomas-Makin', p. 31, (no title) (1 text, short, perhaps not this song but with the key line in modified form and too short to link to anything else)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 491-493, "Blow the Man Down" (1 full +2 partial texts, the second seemingly being actually "Brian O'Lynn (Tom Boleyn)", 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 52-53, "Radcliffe Highway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 404-405, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 310-311, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text)
Arnett, pp. 54-55, "Blow the Man Down!" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 39, "Blow The Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 90, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp.  146-147, "Blow the Man Down"
DT, BLOWDOWN* BLOWDWN2* BLOWDWN3* BLOWDWN4* BLOWDWN5 BLOWDWN6*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Blow the Man Down" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #2624
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Blow the Man Down" (General 5016A, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Noble B. Brown, "Blow the Man Down (I)" (AFS, 1946; on LC27)
Woody Guthrie, "Blow the Man Down" (Commodore 3006, n.d. -- but this may be the same recording as the General disc by the Almanac Singers)
G. Lotson, "Blow the Man Down" (AFS A-397, 1926)
Richard Maitland, "Blow the Man Down (II)" (AFS, 1939; on LC27)
Minster Singers, "Blow the Man Down" [medley w. "Rio Grande"] (Victor 61148, n.d., prob. c. 1903)
Pete Seeger, "Blow the Man Down" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a) (on PeteSeeger23)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ratcliffe Highway" (lyrics)
cf. "The Salt Horse Song" (lyrics)
cf. "The Three Ravens" [Child 26] (lyrics)
cf. "Ane Madam" (tune)
cf. "Et Nous Irons a Valapariso" (partial tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Roll 'Im On Down (sung by David Pryor on AFS 507 B, 1935; on LC08)
Ane Madam (File: Hugi215)
NOTES: Hugill defines six versions of this: a) The Flash Packet (from Ratcliffe Highway); b) The Sailing of the Blackballer; c) The Flying Fish Sailor or Policeman - where a sailor is mistaken for a "Blackballer" or "packet rat" (whom the crews of clippers generally considered to be a lower form of marine life); d) The Fishes (i.e. "Song of the Fishes/Blow Ye Winds Westerly"); e) The Milkmaid (i.e. "Rolling in the Dew"); and f) Bungyereye (i.e. "Quare Bungo Rye"). - SL
The David Pryor recording ["Roll 'Im On Down"; see the "Same Tune" field] is actually a boat-launching song with different lyrics but the same tune and structure. - PJS
Some versions of this song mention that "Kicking Jack Williams commands the Black Ball." Williams was a historical figure, known for driving his crews hard; he commanded the American clipper _Andrew Jackson_ (launched 1855 as the _Belle Haxie_ and given a new name after changing owners). In 1859-1860, Williams caused the _Jackson_ to make the fastest clipper trip ever, "pilot to pilot," from New York to San Francisco -- 89 days 4 hours. (The record for fastest trip, anchor to anchor, is held by the _Flying Cloud_, but circumstances were somewhat different in that case.)
The above information comes from Lincoln P. Paine's _Ships of the World_ (entry on the _Andrew Jackson_, which cites this song). Shay, however, quotes Robert Greenhalgh Albion's _Square Riggers on Schedule_, which states that the only Captain Williams who served on the Black Ball Line was a different John Williams, commanding the _Pacific_. If so, it appears the two have been conflated. - RBW
File: Doe017
===
NAME: Blow the Wind Southerly
DESCRIPTION: "Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, Blow the wind southerly, South or southwest." The girl hopes that her love will return to her quickly
AUTHOR: unknown (some versions reworked by John Stubbs)
EARLIEST_DATE: 190 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: love separation return
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 18-19, "Blaw the Wind Southerly" (1 fragment plus the Stubbs text, 1 tune)
ST StoR018 (Full)
Roud #2619
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
cf. "Song of the Fishes (Blow Ye Winds Westerly)" (lyrics)
File: StoR018
===
NAME: Blow the Wind Westerly: see Song of the Fishes (Blow Ye Winds Westerly) (File: LxA496)
===
NAME: Blow the Winds I Oh: see Ten Thousand Miles Away (File: MA084)
===
NAME: Blow the Winds, I-Ho!: see The Baffled Knight [Child 112] (File: C112)
===
NAME: Blow Ye Winds High-O (Blow the Winds I-Ho, etc.): see The Baffled Knight [Child 112] (File: C112)
===
NAME: Blow Ye Winds in the Morning
DESCRIPTION: The call is going out for whalermen in New England. The song warns of the conditions the potential recruit will face: Boarding masters, hard times at sea, the dangers of taking the whale. Chorus: "Blow ye winds in the morning, Blow ye winds high-o...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1859 (Journal of the Elizabeth Swift)
KEYWORDS: whaler ship sea work
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Lomax-FSUSA 44, "Blow, Ye Winds in the Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 829-831, "Blow, Ye Winds" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 42-46, "Blow Ye Winds" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 126-128, "Blow, Ye Winds" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 191-192, "Blow, Ye Winds" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 130-131, 211-213 "Blow Ye Winds in the Morning" "It's Advertised in Boston" (2 texts, 2 tunes -- second version has a different chorus, "Cheer up lively lads, in spite of stormy weather. Cheer up...we'll all get drunk together")
Hugill, pp. 219-224, "Blow, Ye Winds" (3 texts plus several fragments, 3 tunes) [AbrEd, pp. 168-171]
Darling-NAS, pp. 318-319, "Blow Ye Winds" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 85, "Blow Ye Winds In The Morning" (1 text)
DT, BLOWYE*
Roud #2012
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Blow Ye Winds, Heigh Ho" (General 5015A, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Coast of Peru" [Laws D26] (floating verses)
cf. "Peter Gray" (chorus lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Blow, Boys, Blow
NOTES: Whalers were considered the lowest sort of sailors; most seamen had to be desperate to ship on a whaler. This song perhaps helps explain why. - RBW
File: LxU044
===
NAME: Blow Yo' Whistle, Freight Train
DESCRIPTION: "Blow yo' whistle, freight train, take me down the line...." "That old freight train movin' along to Nashville, Holds a charm that is a charm for me, Makes me think of good old boomer days gone by." The singer wants to ramble  but cannot
AUTHOR: probably the Delmore Brothers
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (recording, Delmore Brothers)
KEYWORDS: train nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 519-520, "Blow Yo' Whistle, Freight Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
The Delmore Brothers, "Blow Yo' Whistle, Freight Train" (Bluebird 5925, 1935)
NOTES: This song feels like it "ought to" have another verse, probably in which the singer explains that he can't leave his family/home/something, which makes me wonder if there isn't something which predates the Delmore Brothers recording. But Cohen mentions no such thing, and I have never met such a song. - RBW
File: LSRai519
===
NAME: Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel (Paul and Silas)
DESCRIPTION: "Paul and Silas, bound in jail." "Blow your trumpet, Gabriel, Blow louder, louder,And I hope the trump might blow me home." "There is a tree in paradise."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious music floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 3, "Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel" (2 short texts, 2 tunes, both with the floating "Paul and Silas" verse; the first text also contains the floating "Tree in Paradise" verse)
Roud #11860
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "All My Trials" (lyrics)
NOTES: This seems to be one of those pieces where everything floats; it may well be that it is a fragment of somen other song, but it's hard to guess which.
It should probably be noted that, while the Apocalypse associates trumpets with the end of the world (e.g. Rev. 8:2, 6, 13), the name of Gabriel is not mentioned at all in that book (some claim that, since he is one who stands in the presence of God, he must be one of the seven angels of Rev. 8:2, but that's a forced interpretation). Gabriel is mentioned only in Daniel and Luke, and in both cases he is messenger, not destroyer (though in Daniel he is explaining the last days).
The apocryphal books make more of Gabriel; and in Enoch he is charged with destroying the wicked. But that still isn't the same as sounding the Last Trump. The belief that this is Gabriel's responsibility is pure folklore, though early and common folklore. - RBW
File: AGW003
===
NAME: Blow, Boys, Blow (I)
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Blow, boys, blow... Blow, my bully bows, blow!" Often liberally sprinkled with floating verses, the basic version seems to be about a shining Yankee clipper on her way to China. It describes several members of the crew
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor ship slavery Black(s) moniker
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Australia Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 25-29, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 60-62, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 composite text plus some loose verses, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 57-58, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 126-127 "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 59-60, "Blow, Bullies, Blow" (1 text plus a verse of another, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 2, "Blow, Boys. Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 558-560, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 91-92, "Blow Bullies Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 100, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text)
Colcord, pp. 50-51, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text plus 3 fragments, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 66-67, "Blow Boys Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 224-231, "Blow, Boys, Blow'" (4 texts, 2 tunes; the 4th text is a Norwegian version taken from Sternvall's _Sang under Segal_) [AbrEd, pp. 172-175]
Sharp-EFC, L, p. 55, "Blow, Boys, Come Blow Together" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLOWBOYS* BLOWBOY2* CONGORIV*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Blow, Boys, Blow" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #703
RECORDINGS:
Noble B. Brown, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (AFS, 1946; on LC26)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Shallow Brown (II)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Glasgow Lasses
NOTES: Doerflinger reports that "[The] captain was sometimes said to be 'Bully Hayes ["Haines," in Bone's text], the Down East bucko,' who was lost in 1848 with the clipper ship _Rainbow_ (not to be confused with the later South Seas blackbirder)." - RBW
Other versions of the song are about a slave-ship taking contraband slaves past the embargo (after slaving was outlawed). - PJS
An example of this is Shay's text, and Bone had heard such verses though they aren't part of his main version.
The importation of slaves into the United States was forbidden as early as 1808, with stronger enforcement passed in 1819. This wasn't entirely a moral act, however; legislators from northern slave states supported it because it let them breed slaves for the deep South. (Which is one reason why the Confederacy, after breaking off from the Union, maintained its own ban.)
The side effect of that was, of course, smuggling -- and a worsening of conditions aboard slavers. Native-born slaves had to be fed and housed as they grew up, making them expensive. Imported slaves were less useful, but the only expense was the importing. Even at prices far below American-born slaves, they brought high profits.
And, because even a sick slave brought some money, and there was no one regulating them, there was no incentive at all for the slaver to treat them decently. "Wastage," they called it, and treated it as part of the job. Somehow the words "wilful murder" never entered their vocabulary. - RBW
File: Doe025
===
NAME: Blow, Boys, Blow (II): see Blow Ye Winds in the Morning (File: LxU044)
===
NAME: Blue: see Old Blue (File: R295)
===
NAME: Blue and the Gray, The
DESCRIPTION: "A mother's gift to her country's cause is a story yet untold, She had three sons...." All three boys died at war. Two died for the Confederacy in the Civil War; a third died for the Union in Santiago. The singer hopes mother and sons will meet in heaven.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922
KEYWORDS: war death Civilwar mother
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
LPound-ABS, 56, p. 129, "The Blue and the Gray" (1 text)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, p. 202, "The Blue and the Gray" (1 tune, partial text)
ST LPnd129 (Full)
Roud #4984
NOTES: There were soldiers who fought in both the Civil War and Spanish-American War; a leading example is Joseph Wheeler, a Confederate cavalry general who was also a Major General at San Juan Hill and the siege of Santiago. M. Calbraith Butler was another Confederate cavalry general who also served in the later war.And then there was Johnny Clem, who joined the Confederate forces at age nine, and retired from the U. S. army as a general in 1916.
Still, the odds of one mother having a child die at Chickamauga (1863), Appomatox (i.e. probably Saylor's Creek in 1865, though very few men actually died there), and Santiago (1898) must be considered slight; the final son would surely have been a fairly senior officer, unlikely to be hurt -- and what are the odds that the mother would still be alive in 1898 anyway?
The feeling, though, is probably appropriate for this era of horrid sentimentality.
There were, of course, many poems of this name in the period shortly after the Civil War. Few had any more literary merit than this piece. - RBW
File: LPnd129
===
NAME: Blue Bell Bull
DESCRIPTION: The cowboy boasts of his skill, only to draw "that Blue Bell bull." He admits "I'm lucky I ain't dead." He tries to ride the bull, but ends up spending "Eight long weeks in traction, I ain't never been the same." He warns other cowboys against bragging
AUTHOR: Johnny Baker
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: bragging cowboy injury injury
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 96, "Blue Bell Bull" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr096
===
NAME: Blue Bells of Scotland, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh where, please tell me where is your highland laddie gone? (x2) He's gone with the streaming banners where noble deeds are done...." He dwells in Scotland at the sign of the blue bell; he wears a plumed bonnet; if he dies, the pipes shall mourn him
AUTHOR: Annie McVicar and Dorothy Jordan (?)
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1915 (recording, Inez Barbour)
KEYWORDS: soldier clothes separation home
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 280, "The Blue Bells Of Scotland" (1 text)
DT, BLUEBELL*
Roud #13849
RECORDINGS:
Inez Barbour, "Blue Bells of Scotland" (Phono-Cut 5198, c. 1915)
Ella Logan, "The Blue Bells of Scotland" (Brunswick 8196, 1938)
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:010, "The Blue Bells of Scotland," Sharp (London?), 19C; also Mu23-y4:029, "Blue Bells of Scotland," John Ross (Newcastle), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(083), "The Blue Bells of Scotland," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: The notes at the National Library of Scotland site attribute this to the Napoleonic Wars. There is no evidence for this in the versions I've seen (it mentions "King George," but there was a King George continually from 1714 to 1837). There is a song in the Scots Musical Museum which may be related, but that *predates* the Napoleonic Wars. - RBW
File: FSWB280A
===
NAME: Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk (Mickey's Warning)
DESCRIPTION: "O friends, I have a sad story." The singer "married a man for his money, But he's worse than the devil himsel'. For when Mickey comes home I get battered." She vows to "get blue bleezin' blind drunk Just to give Mickey a warning" and hopes he reforms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (recording, Sheila Stewart)
KEYWORDS: drink money hardtimes abuse injury
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #6333
RECORDINGS:
Sheila Stewart, "Mickey's Warning" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
File: RcBlBlBl
===
NAME: Blue Eyes: see Broken Ties (I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes) (File: BrII156)
===
NAME: Blue Jacket and White Trousers: see The Maid in Sorrow (Short Jacket) [Laws N12] (File: LN12)
===
NAME: Blue Juniata, The
DESCRIPTION: "Wild roved an Indian girl, bright Alfarata, Where sweeps the water of the blue Juniata." She lives free in the forest, praising her gentle lover. But now "Fleeting years have borne away the voice of Alfarata; Still sweeps the river of blue Juniata."
AUTHOR: Marion Sullivan Dix
EARLIEST_DATE: 1844 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) love river
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hudson 83, pp. 210-211, "The Blue Juniata" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 98-99, "The Blue Juniata" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4494
NOTES: Laws condemns this as a mere "ballad-like piece," but it strikes me as very effective, as well as unusually sympathetic to Native Americans (though the girl's name is assuredly fake). Quite surprising for a piece composed in 1844 (see Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 101). - RBW
Laura Ingalls Wilder quotes an unusually large excerpt of this in _Little House on the Prairie_ (chapter 18, "The Tall Indian"). This particular section of the "Little House" books is of very dubious historical value -- the Ingalls family actually moved to Kansas when Laura was only a year and a half old (see Donald Zochert, _Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder_, Avon, 1976, p. 22. The sources I've consulted don't even explain why she wrote _Little House on the Prairie_; it would have been much more logical to proceed from _Little House in the Big Woods_, which could be based on her *second* stay in Wisconsin, to _On the Banks of Plum Creek_). We're told that Laura heard about the time in Kansas from Ma and Pa and Mary Ingalls -- but, by the time _Little House on the Prairie_ was written, all three of them were dead. For the later "Little House" books, Laura could consult her sister Carrie, and for the very late books, also her sister Grace and her husband Almanzo Wilder, but _LIttle House on the Prairie_ is nothing but a memory of others' memories.
All that is to say that I really don't trust _Little House on the Prairie_ as an indication of the popularity of this song in 1868-1869. The flip side is, it is quite clear that Laura Ingalls Wilder knew the song  in the 1930s at least. - RBW
File: Hud083
===
NAME: Blue Mountain
DESCRIPTION: "My home it was in Texas, My past you must not know.... Blue Mountain, you're azure deep... Blue Mountain with a horsehead on your side, You've won my love to keep." Moments in the life of a cowboy: Drinking, wandering, wishing for mother
AUTHOR: F. W. Keller
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Collected by Fife/Fife)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work travel drink commerce moniker
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 88, "Blue Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLUMTNAZ*
Roud #10861
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "Blue Mountain" (on Thieme01)
File: FCW088
===
NAME: Blue Mountain Lake (The Belle of Long Lake) [Laws C20]
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the "racket" on Blue Mountain Lake when Jim Lou and "lazy Jimmie Mitchell" fought. The song concludes with a joke about Nellie the camp cook, "the belle of Long Lake"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: cook fight moniker
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws C20, "Blue Mountain Lake (The Belle of Long Lake)"
Warner 59, "The Ballad of Blue Mountain Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 49, "Blue Mountain Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 44, "The Rackets Around Blue Mountain Lake" (1 text)
DT 605, BLUEMTN*
Roud #2226
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Blue Mountain Lake" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Moosehead Lake" (floating verses)
NOTES: This song shares at least three verses with "Moosehead Lake," as well as the "Derry Down" tune, but the remaining text (and the feeling) are just enough different that I -- very tentatively -- keep the songs separate. - RBW
File: LC20
===
NAME: Blue Ridge Mountain Blues
DESCRIPTION: "When I was young and in my prime, I left my home in Caroline, Now all I do is sit and pine, For those folks I left behind. I've got the Blue Ridge Mountain blues." The singer longs for home, and dreams of the aged parents at home whom he will soon see
AUTHOR: credited to Bill Cox
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (recording, Riley Puckett)
KEYWORDS: separation home travel father mother nonballad homesickness home return reunion travel family dog
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 401, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (1 text)
Roud #11758
RECORDINGS:
Bill Cox, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Conqueror 8232, 1933; Banner 32941/Perfect 12969, 1934)
Vernon Dalhart, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Banner 1611, 1925) (Challenge 164/Challenge 314, 1927; rec. 1925) (Broadway 8061, n.d.)
Sid Harkreader, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Vocalion 15193, 1926)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle-Busters, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Brunswick 180, 1927)
Wade Mainer, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Blue Ridge 109)
Charlie Newman, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (OKeh 45184, 1928; rec. 1927)
Riley Puckett, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Columbia 254-D, 1924; Harmony 5127-H, n.d.) (Bluebird B-6196, 1935)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Okeh 45009, 1925)
Doc Watson, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (on RitchieWatsonCD1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
 cf. "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" (quoted)
NOTES: The only authorship claim I've found for this lists it as copyright 1958 by Bill Clifton and Buddy Dee. Clifton, however, was born in 1931, and Riley Puckett recorded the song in 1924, so this claim is demonstrably false. Paul Stamler found the credit to Bill Cox, which is at least chronologically possible though he seems to have recorded it relatively late. - RBW
File: Br3401
===
NAME: Blue Tail Fly, The: see The Blue-Tail Fly [Laws I19] (File: LI19)
===
NAME: Blue Velvet Band (I), The: see The Black Velvet Band (I) (File: R672)
===
NAME: Blue Velvet Band (II)
DESCRIPTION: Singer leaves home and his sweetheart, the girl in the blue velvet band. Five years later he still dreams of her every night. He returns home and "the old colored people" tell him she has died and been buried wearing his ring and the blue velvet band.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: love ring separation death
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 148-150, "The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 51, "Blue Velvet Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3764
NOTES: Hank Snow recorded this as "The Blue Velvet Band" in Montreal in 1937 on RCA LMP/LSP 6014 (source: _Country Music Sources_ by Guthrie T Meade Jr, p. 40). You can see the lyrics on the Hank Snow site. In Snow's lyrics he hears the news when he reaches "the old country depot" rather than from "the old colored people." The cut is available on a number of CDs now including "Hank Snow -- I'm Movin On" on Prism Entertainment 928.
It's not clear to me whether the singer dreams of Blue Velvet Band every night for five years or one night after five years. That is, it may be that her appearance in his dream is what makes him decide to go home. Hank Snow apparently thought it was her appearance in the dream that was critical. In the lyrics Snow wrote to "The New Blue Velvet Band" the singer accuses Blue Velvet Band of "loving some man" and leaves her on "a tanker for Holland"; he dreams of her and is called on deck by the captain who tells him "This message just flashed o'er the wireless And your darlin' is dying tonight"; he goes back and knows she has died when he hears "the bell in the old country steeple." Source: sing365.com site - BS
The fullest forms of "The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band" (as in Spaeth) are a combination of the "Black Velvet Band" plot (girl causes guy to end up in prison) and the above "Blue Velvet Band" plot (he misses the dead girl). This great invertebrate mass was too long to be recorded on a 78, and Creighton declares that they are not to be confused. I (tentatively) disagree. I suspect that this version of the song is a "Blue Velvet Band" variant chopped down by someone to fit in three minutes. For more details, see "The Black Velvet Band (I)." - RBW
File: LLab051
===
NAME: Blue Wave, The
DESCRIPTION: The Triton, fishing the Grand Banks, hears that the Cape Dolphin and Blue Wave are sinking in a storm. They join the search for Blue Wave but "no sign of their missing boat was anywhere to be found"
AUTHOR: Jack Lushman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb 9, 1959 - Blue Wave and Cape Dauphin are lost but Cape Dauphin's crew are saved (per Lehr/Best, Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 9, "The Blue Wave" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LeBe09
===
NAME: Blue Yodel #4: see California Blues (Blue Yodel #4) (File: Br3505)
===
NAME: Blue-Coat Man, The: see (tentatively) The Roving Gambler [Laws H4] (File: LH04)
===
NAME: Blue-Eyed Boy, The: see My Blue-Eyed Boy (File: R759)
===
NAME: Blue-Eyed Ella: see The Jealous Lover (II) (File: E104)
===
NAME: Blue-Eyed Ellen: see The Jealous Lover (II) (File: E104)
===
NAME: Blue-Eyed Girl: see Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss (File: CSW066)
===
NAME: Blue-Eyed Lover: see Dear Companion (The Broken Heart; Go and Leave Me If You Wish To, Fond Affection) (File: R755)
===
NAME: Blue-Haired Boy (Little Willie II, Blue-Haired Jimmy)
DESCRIPTION: (Willie/Jimmy) has gone ("He never died so suddenly before"). After undergoing horrendous medical treatments..."he sneezed and smiled and died/He blew his nose and smiled and died again". Singer vows to plant a bunch of whiskers on his grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (unissued recording, Cumberland Mountain Fret Pickers)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Parody of sentimental death songs; (Willie/Jimmy) has gone ("He never died so suddenly before). After undergoing horrendous medical treatments, including bathing his head in boiling lead and filling his mouth with glue..."he sneezed and smiled and died/He blew his nose and smiled and died again". Singer vows to go to the barber shop, per the deceased last request and plant a bunch of whiskers on his grave
KEYWORDS: disease grief request death dying mourning humorous nonsense paradox parody family
FOUND_IN:  US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 134-135, "Little Willie II" (1 text, tune referenced)
Cumberland Mountain Fret Pickers, "Little Blue-Haird (sic) Boy" (unissued Brunswick/Vocalion mx TK-145, 1929)
Roud #1411
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "Blue-Haired Jimmy" (on Barker01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Willie (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: It sounds like this should be a parody of a particular song, rather than a pastiche of a genre, but so far I haven't found an original on which it's based. - PJS
Listed by the Pankakes as being sung to "Jesse James," although other versions appear to use different tunes. One suspects that their tune is a retrofit by their informant.
The Pankakes also have a song (on the same page) called Little Willie I. It is by no means clear that this is the same song, but I haven't seen it elsewhere; I suspect it is a parody of all the various songs about murderers and other vile folks named Willie. - RBW
File: RcBlHaJi
===
NAME: Blue-Haired Jimmy: see Blue-Haired Boy (Little Willie II, Blue-Haired Jimmy) (File: RcBlHaJi)
===
NAME: Blue-Tail Fly, The [Laws I19]
DESCRIPTION: A young slave is made into a household servant, with the particular task of keeping away the (stinging) blue-tail flies. One day the master goes out riding; a fly stings his pony; the master is thrown and dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1844
KEYWORDS: bug servant death
FOUND_IN: US(SE,SW)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws I19, "The Blue-Tail Fly"
BrownIII 414, "Jim Crack Corn" (1 text plus 2 mixed fragments and 2 excerpts)
Friedman, p. 453, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 267, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 91-92, "Jim Crack Corn or the Blue Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 201-203, "De Blue-Tail Fly"  (1 text plus some fragments, 1 tune); also p. 190, (no title) (1 fragment, with a verse of "The Jaybird" and the chorus of this piece); also p. 224, (no title) (1 short text, with the "Jim crack corn" chorus and the "My ole mistus promised me" verse)
Arnett, p. 66, "Jim Crack Corn (Blue-Tail Fly)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 709, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 12, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 30, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 312, "Jim Crack Corn"
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 477, "The Blue-Tailed Fly" (source notes only)
DT 669, BLUETAIL
ST LI19 (Full)
Roud #4185
RECORDINGS:
Bob Atcher, "Blue Tail Fly" (Columbia 20538, 1949)
Doc Hopkins, "The Blue Tailed Fly" (Radio 1410A, n.d., prob. late 1940s - early 1950s)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Blue Tail Fly" (Majestic 6010, 1947)
Pete Seeger, "Jim Crack Corn" (on PeteSeeger03, PeteSeegerCD03); "The Blue Tail Fly" (on PeteSeeger17)
Riley Shepard, "The Blue Tail Fly" (King 523, 1946)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Shoo Fly" (chorus)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jimmie Crack Corn
NOTES: Sometimes credited to Dan Emmett (e.g. by Spaeth), and one of the earliest publications was in a series credited to him -- but the absence of his name on the earliest copies goes far toward discrediting his authorship. - RBW
The subtext for this song is that the slave in fact killed the master himself, blaming it on the blue-tail fly. This is hinted at, to varying degrees, in some versions of the song. -PJS
File: LI19
===
NAME: Blueberry Ball, The
DESCRIPTION: The Jubilee lands its freight at Daniel's Harbour and stays three days. The crew and sharemen dance all night, have a good "scuff" and leave to "prepare for a time in the bay"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: fight ship dancing drink humorous
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 43-44, "The Blueberry Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9945
NOTES: Daniel's Harbour is on the northwest coast of Newfoundland, north of St Paul's [perhaps, since 1973, I should place it north of Gros Morne National Park] - BS
File: Pea043
===
NAME: Bluebird, The
DESCRIPTION: About Captain Moar's water-boat Bluebird. If you "come to Merrimashee, You will see the noble Bluebird, Through the waters she will fly, And the Captain says he'll run her Till the tank runs dry"
AUTHOR: Martin Sullivan of Kouchibougac (Manny/Wilson)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship work nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 6, "The Bluebird" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi006 (Partial)
Roud #9204
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "The water-boats were schooners fitted with tanks. They supplied the ships in port with water." - BS
File: MaWi006
===
NAME: Blues Ain't Nothin', De
DESCRIPTION: "I'm gonna build myself a raft An' float dat ribber down, I'll build myself a shack In some ol' Texas town... 'Cause de blues ain't nothin... But a good man feelin' bad." The singer will go to the levee and rock until her sweetheart comes -- if he does
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: separation nonballad river
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp.234-235 , "De Blues Ain' Nothin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: San234
===
NAME: Bluestone Quarries, The
DESCRIPTION: "In eighteen hundred and forty one, They put their long red flannels on (x2), To work in the bluestone quarries." Stories of the Irish immigrants who became bluestone miners, and faced poverty, uncaring bosses, and cruel conditions
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: work mining boss poverty
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 174, "The Bluestone Quarries" (1 text + appendix, 1 tune)
ST FSC174 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy Works on the Railway" (tune & meter)
File: FSC174
===
NAME: Bluey Brink
DESCRIPTION: Bluey Brink, "a devil for work and a devil for drink," walks into Jimmy's bar and demands the closest available liquid -- the sulfuric acid used to clean the bar. Brink stomps out, and Jimmy fears for his life. But Brink returns next day asking for more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: Australia talltale humorous drink poison
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 148-149, "Bluey Brink" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 258-260, "Billy Brink" (1 text)
DT, BLUBRINK*
Roud #8838 and 3317
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Bluey Brink" (on JGreenway01)
A. L. Lloyd, "Bluey Brink" (on Lloyd4, Lloyd8)
SAME_TUNE:
The Wedding of Lochan McGraw (Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 181-182)
NOTES: Fahey suspects this of having been the work of A.L. Lloyd, who originally collected it. Australians like to boast of their drinking, however (though their per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages, other than beer, is actually rather low), so they have gladly adopted the song. Note that the name in Paterson/Fahey/Seal is "Billy Brink," implying some folk processing. Though the Paterson/Fahey/Seal version (collected from Simon McDonald by O'Connor and Officer) isn't as clever as Lloyd's version. Perhaps the likeliest explanation is that Lloyd tightened up a traditional song.
Meredith/Covell/Brown add that the tune for this is "The Wedding of Lochan McGraw." - RBW
File: FaE148
===
NAME: Blushing Bride
DESCRIPTION: Bride Mary Bell blushes as she walks down the aisle: "Every boy in every pew/Knows how she can bill and coo/No wonder she's a blushing bride." Even the preacher remembers her in her younger days; so does the best man.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Jim Miller & Charlie Farrell)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Mary Bell and Jackie Horner are to be married. The bride blushes as she walks down the aisle, and the singer says she has every reason to; "Every boy in every pew/Knows how she can bill and coo/No wonder she's a blushing bride." Even the preacher remembers her in her younger days; so does the best man. "Don't tell me she knows her stuff/She should; she's practiced long enough..."
KEYWORDS: courting marriage sex wedding humorous lover clergy
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Edith Clifford, "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride" (Columbia 901-D, 1927)
Golden Melody Boys, "Blushing Bride" (c. 1928 [unissued]; on TimesAint04)
Jim Miller & Charlie Farrell, "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride" (Victor 20291, 1926)
[Moe] Thompson & [Carson] Robison "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride" (Gennett 6062, 1927)
NOTES: Nothing overt is mentioned, but I put "sex" as a keyword, and defy all challenges. - PJS
File: RcBluBri
===
NAME: Blythe and Bonny Scotland: see The Paisley Officer (India's Burning Sands) [Laws N2] (File: LN02)
===
NAME: Blythe Mormond Braes
DESCRIPTION: "O, wat ye wha's in yon wee hoose Beneath blythe Mormond Braes?" It is where pretty Nellie sits bleaching her clothes. He praises her beauty, and urges her to "blink owre the burn" with him. They love each other, and will wed, dowry or no
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting dowry
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 60-61, "Blythe Mormond Braes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4598
NOTES: Apart from the title, this has nothing in common with the better-known "Mormond Braes." - RBW
File: Ord060
===
NAME: Blythesome Bridal, The
DESCRIPTION: A call to a wedding: "Fy let us a' tae the bridal, For there will be lilting there, For Jock's tae be married tae Maggie, The lass wi' the gowden hair." The elaborate feast is described in extravagant and nauseating fullness, as are the guests
AUTHOR: Francis Sempill ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: marriage humorous wedding food party
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan3 606, "Fy, Let's A to the Bridal" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 82, "The Blythesome Bridal" (1 text)
ST PBB082 (Full)
Roud #5889
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(218), "The Blithsome Bridal" ("Come, fy, let us a' to the wedding"), unknown, no date
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lanigan's Ball" (theme)
cf. "A Glorious Wedding" (theme)
cf. "The Wedding at Ballyporeen" (theme)
cf. "Sheelicks" (theme)
cf. "Pat's Wedding"
cf. "The Skipper's Wedding" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
The Sports o' Glasgow Green (File: Ord397)
NOTES: By the seventeenth century, the "penny bridal" was common in Scotland: At a marriage, anyone could get into the feast by paying the penny fee. The results were often uproarious. - RBW
For another Penny Bridal song, see "The Road to Peterhead." - RBW
File: PBB082
===
NAME: Bo Lamkin: see Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)
===
NAME: Bo-wow and Bo-wee
DESCRIPTION: A fragmentary ballad in which the old woman condemns the old man for "flashing," then has sex with him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, p. 135, "Bo-wow and Bo-wee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11501
File: RL135
===
NAME: Boar's Head Carol, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer brings in the boar's head, "bedecked with bays and rosemary," to help celebrate Christmas. Chorus: Caput apri defero, Redens laudes domino."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1790 (Ritson); earliest versions c. 1500 (Hill MS., Balliol Coll. Oxf. 354; Wales National Library Porkington 10)
KEYWORDS: carol Christmas food party nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
OBC 19, "The Boar's Head Carol" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Brown/Robbins, _Index of Middle English Verse_, #3313, 3314
Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #75, "The Boar's Head in Hand Bear I" (1 text)
NOTES: The Latin chorus translates as "[The] head of [the] boar I bring, giving praises to God." 
This is said to be the "earliest English carol to appear in print"; Ian Bradley's _Penguin Book of Carols_ reports it to have appeared in van Wynken's _Christmase Carolls Newly Emprynted at London_ (1521). Since I have not seen the latter book, though, and no one else mentions that publication, I haven't listed that as an earliest date.
Folklore also has a rather fantastic account of the origin of the song: An Oxford student named Copcot was on his way to mass when attacked by a boar. He allegedly killed it by stuffing a volume of Aristotle down his throat (an act, it seems to me, more likely to kill a lazy student than a boar), then took the head to the cooks. - RBW
File: OBC172
===
NAME: Boar's Head in Hand Bear I, The: see The Boar's Head Carol (File: OBC172)
===
NAME: Boarding-House, The: see Hungry Hash House (File: San207)
===
NAME: Boarding-School Maidens, The
DESCRIPTION: Johnny disports one after the other with "two boarding-school maidens, charming and bright."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman II, pp. 658-659, "The Boarding-School Maidens" (1 text)
File: RL658
===
NAME: Boardman River Song
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of his work, skills and history on the Boardman River (and many others), saying he will never waste his money on drink, but will save it for his old age.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger drink
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 27, "Boardman River Song" (1 text)
Roud #8857
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Manistee River Song"
cf. "The Kipawa Stream"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jolly Pinewoods Boys
NOTES: According to Beck, the "Manistee River Song" is alleged to have been composed by Ole Nelson in 1880. However, he notes that this very similar song was being sung along the Boardman River in the 1880s. - PJS
And, similarly, note "The Kipawa Stream." Chances are that there is some ancestral pierce (we can hardly tell which) which various singers localized.
File: Be027
===
NAME: Boat, A Boat, Across the Ferry, A
DESCRIPTION: Round: "A boat, a boat across the ferry, For we are going to be merry, To laugh and quaff and drink old sherry."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: ship drink
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 225, "A Boat, A Boat, Across the Ferry" (1 text)
File: Br3225
===
NAME: Boat's Up the River: see Alabama Bound (Waterbound II) (File: BMRF598)
===
NAME: Boatman, The (Fhear a Bhata): see Fhear a Bhata (Fhir a Bhata: I Climb the Mountains) (File: HHH834)
===
NAME: Boatman's Dance, The: see De Boatman Dance (File: BMRF566)
===
NAME: Boatsman and the Chest, The [Laws Q8]
DESCRIPTION: The boatsman's wife is being visited by the tailor when he comes home unexpectedly. The tailor hides in a chest. Knowing its contents, the husband deliberately takes the chest back to his ship. He tells the tailor he abducted him to keep him from his wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: infidelity punishment hiding abduction
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE) Canada(Newf) Britain(England) Ireland
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws Q8, "The Boatsman and the Chest"
Eddy 46, "Jolly Boatman" (1 text)
JHCoxIIA, #23, pp. 91-93, "The Wealthy Merchant" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 138, "The Jolly Boatswain"  (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 53, "The Boatswain and the Tailor" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 306-311, "The Old Bo's'n" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
SHenry H604, pp. 505-506, "The Tailor in the Tea [Sea] Chest" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 52, "The Boatswain and the Chest" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 52, "The Boatsman and the Chest" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gilbert, pp. 26-27, "The Sailor and the Tailor" (1 text)
JHJohnson, pp.71-73, "The Boatswain and the Tailor" (1 text)
DT 346, BOATTAIL TRPRTAIL*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 38, #3 (1993-1994), p, 70, "The Charleston Merchant" (1 text, 1 tune, apparently from Sam Hinton)
Roud #570
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Will the Weaver" [Laws Q9] (plot)
cf. "The Major and the Weaver" [Laws Q10] (plot)
cf. "The Dog in the Closet (The Old Dyer)" [Laws Q11] (plot)
cf. "The Trooper and the Tailor" (plot)
cf. "The Little Cobbler" (plot)
cf. "The Greasy Cook (Butter and Cheese and All, The Cook's Choice)" (plot)
cf. "Murphy in the Cupboard" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Randy Tailor
NOTES: In one version, the husband ships the chest (and the tailor) off to China. - PJS
This and similar songs are sometimes traced back to a story in Boccaccio (seventh day, second story: Gianella, Peronella, and her husband). But the story is really one of the basic themes of folktale, and doubtless predates Boccaccio as well as these songs. - RBW
File: LQ08
===
NAME: Boatswain and the Tailor, The: see The Boatsman and the Chest [Laws Q8] (File: LQ08)
===
NAME: Bob Cranky's 'Size Sunday
DESCRIPTION: "Ho'way and aw'll sing thee a tune, mun, 'Bout huz seein' my lord at the toon, mun... Nyen them aw cut a dash like Bob Cranky." The singer sets out for a celebration in town, gets drunk and dirty, and tells of the exploits of Cranky
AUTHOR: Words: John Selkirk? / Music: Thomas Train
EARLIEST_DATE: 1812 (Bell)
KEYWORDS: drink clothes humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  88-89, "Bob Cranky's Size Sunday" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR088 (Partial)
Roud #3146
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bob Cranky's Adieu" (character)
File: StoR088
===
NAME: Bob Cranky's Adieu
DESCRIPTION: "Farewell, farewell, ma comely pet! Aw's forced three weeks to leave thee; Aw's doon for parm'nent duty set." The singer must obey the sergeant during the long parting -- but if the girl wishes to see him, they can always meet in the "yell-house"
AUTHOR: Words: John Shield
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay); Shield died 1848
KEYWORDS: soldier separation drink reunion humorous parody
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  91-93, "Bob Cranky's Adieu" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR091 (Partial)
Roud #3148
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bob Cranky's 'Size Sunday" (character)
NOTES: According to Stokoe, "This song is a parody on the popular song of the Peninsular War period, entitled 'The Soldier's Adieu.'" - RBW
File: StoR091
===
NAME: Bob Ingersoll and the Devil
DESCRIPTION: "Some dese days gwine hit 'im. Ingersoll sing anudder song When de debill git 'im. Debbil watch fo' sich as him." The singer describes with seeming relish how the Devil will gather Ingersoll and dance as the dead man suffers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: devil Hell humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 348, "Bob Ingersoll and the Devil" (1 text)
Roud #11736
File: Br3348
===
NAME: Bob Sims: see Logan County Jail (Dallas County Jail) [Laws E17] (File: LE17)
===
NAME: Bob Vail Was a Butcher Boy
DESCRIPTION: Bob Vail is a butcher who would "rather fight than eat." He is bald on top and uses marrow to grease his hair. He courts Codfish Lize. When he asks her to marry "Her teeth fell out and she lost her wig"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: courting humorous hair
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 67, "Bob Vail Was a Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB067 (Partial)
Roud #2760
File: CrSNB067
===
NAME: Bob-a Needle
DESCRIPTION: "Well oh bob-a needle bob-a needle, And oh bob-a needle." "Bob-a needle is a running, Bob-a needle ain't a-running." "And oh bob-a needle, bob-a needle... You got bob-a"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, children of Lilly's Chapel School)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 159, "(Bob-a Needle)" (1 text)
Roud #11001
RECORDINGS:
Children of Lilly's Chapel School, "Bob a Needle (Bobbin Needle)" (on NFMAla6, RingGames1)
Pete Seeger, "Bob-a-Needle" (on PeteSeeger21)
NOTES: Courlander reports that a source suspects this title to be a mistake for "bobbing needle," but as he does not list either his own source or the source of the speculation, it is difficult to know what to make of this. - RBW
File: CNFM159A
===
NAME: Bobbed Hair, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer is horrified that "my Biddy darling ... had bobbed her hair." She says "'Tis all the fashion now.'" She says it was started by Black and Tans. He leaves her: "your neck is bare, like Paddy McGinty's drake." The asses, goats and swallows protest.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1974 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: hair humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 23, "The Bobbed Hair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3077
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls?" (theme)
NOTES: The reference to the Black and Tans is curious. The Black and Tans were, of course, the soldiers the English imported to Ireland as an auxiliary police force after the First World War (see, e.g., "The Bold Black and Tan"). I recall reading, somewhere, of an Irish girl having her head shaved for being too close to the English. I can't recall hearing of one cutting her hair to imitate them. - RBW
File: RcTBobHa
===
NAME: Bobby Campbell
DESCRIPTION: Bobby Campbell, though he weeps for the dead, hears the pipes "calling the clans to war," and remembers how his father told him not to dishonor the clan. He goes to war and is killed; his Mary grieves for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: soldier death
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 272, "Bobby Campbell" (1 text)
File: FSWB272B
===
NAME: Bobby Shafto's Gone To Sea: see Bobby Shaftoe (File: FSWB170A)
===
NAME: Bobby Shaftoe
DESCRIPTION: "Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea, Silver buckles on his knee, He'll come back and marry me, Bonnie Bobby Shaftoe." The singer praises Bobby's appearance. (In some versions she ends by noting that he is "getting a bairn")
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1805 (Songs for the Nursery, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: sailor love beauty pregnancy
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North)) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
BrownIII 132, "Bobby Shaftoe" (1 text)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 12-13, "Bobby Shaftoe" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 198, "Bobby Shaftoe" (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 60, "Bobby Shafto's gone to sea" (2 texts) 
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #153, pp. 116-117, "(Bobby Shafto's gone to sea)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 75, "(Bobbie Shaftoe's gone to sea)" (1 short text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 170, "Bobby Shaftoe" (1 text)
DT, BOBSHAFT
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; notes to #352, ("Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea") (1 text)
Roud #1359
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bonny Bobby Shaftoe
Bobbie Shaftoe
NOTES: According to Stokoe, "Tradition connects this song with one of the Shaftoes of Bavinngton, who ran away to sea to escape the attentions of an enamoured lady of beauty and fortune.... The original air was entitled 'Brave Wully Forster,' and appears so in a manuscript music book in the Antiquarian Society's possession, dated 1694."
The Baring-Goulds, however, report that the "original Bobby Shafto is said to have lived at Hollybrook, County Wicklow, and died in 1737." But they add that a later verse, not found in "Songs for the Nursery," "was composed by the supporters of another Bobby Shafto -- Robert Shafto of Whitworth, a candidate for parliament in the election of 1761. He was said to be exceedingly handsome."
I wouldn't bet on any of those identifications. - RBW
File: FSWB170A
===
NAME: Bodies o' the Lyne o' Skene, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer says "better never hae I seen dwals into the Lyne o' Skene." He names places from which "I've drawn mony a shinnin' groat." "May health and peace their steps attend ... the open-handed, kindly-hearted bodies o' the Lyne o' Skene"
AUTHOR: W Chisholm (died c. 1863) (source: GreigDuncan3, quoting a broadside)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: virtue nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 512, "The Bodies o' the Lyne o' Skene" (1 text)
Roud #5996
NOTES: GreigDuncan3, quoting Duncan: "'Chisolm was a wandering packman, or pedlar, carrying odds and ends.'"
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Lyne of Skene (512) is at coordinate (h1,v7-8) on that map [roughly 11 miles W of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: GrD3512
===
NAME: Bog Down in the Valley-O: see The Rattling Bog (File: ShH98)
===
NAME: Bogend Hairst, The: see Rhynie (File: RcRhynie)
===
NAME: Boggy Creek or The Hills of Mexico [Laws B10b]
DESCRIPTION: A group of cowboys is hired for an expedition away from home. Mistreated by their boss, they eventually rebel (and kill him)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: cowboy revenge boss
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws B10b, "Boggy Creek or The Hills of Mexico"
Lomax-FSNA 196, "On the Trail to Mexico" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife XV, pp. 195-218 (31-33), "Buffalo Range" (6 texts, 2 tunes, though the "B" text is "Boggy Creek," C and D appear unrelated, and E is "Canada-I-O")
Fife-Cowboy/West 30, "The Hills of Mexico" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 109, "Trail To Mexico" (1 text)
DT 377, (ARIZONIO* -- clearly a member of this family of songs, and closer to this than Laws B10a or C17, although it perhaps should be classified as a separate piece)
Roud #634
RECORDINGS:
Roscoe Holcomb, "The Hills of Mexico" (on Holcomb-Ward1)
Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock, "The Trail to Mexico" (Victor V-40016, 1929; on MakeMe)
Carl T. Sprague, "Following the Cow Trail" (Victor 20067, 1926; Montgomery Ward M-4468, 1934; rec. 1925; on AuthCowboys)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Buffalo Skinners" [Laws B10a]
cf. "Shanty Teamster's Marseillaise" (plot)
cf. "Canaday-I-O, Michigan-I-O, Colley's Run I-O" [Laws C17]
File: LB10B
===
NAME: Boghead Crew, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer joins the Boghead harvest crew. The crew are described by name, task, and characteristics. The meals seem happy enough. "Noo, I mysel comes in the last My heart it is richt glaed To follow up the merry crew And wag the hinmost blades"
AUTHOR: James Trail (source: Greig #5, p.3)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work moniker nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #3, pp. 1-2, "The Boghead Crew" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 409, "The Boghead Crew" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Roud #5406
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hairst o' Rettie" (subject: harvest crew moniker song) and references there
cf. "The Kiethen Hairst" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
cf. "The Ardlaw Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song) 
cf. "The Northessie Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
NOTES: The song has the same happy tone about the harvest work as "The Kiethen Hairst" by the same author.
Greig/GreigDuncan3 409A dates the harvest: "Twas in the year 1870, On August the 16th day From the parish of Longside I northward took my way."
Greig #7, p. 3 reports that he has in hand another version that "contains the two or three verses which I omitted; but as Mr Trail himself quite approves of the omission we need not re-open the matter."
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Boghead (409) is at coordinate (h6-7,v9-0) on that map [roughly 38 miles N of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: GrD3406
===
NAME: Bogie's Banks and Bogie's Braes
DESCRIPTION: "I hae a housie oh my ain ... On the bonnie banks oh the Bogie" The singer lives there with grannie at her wheel, a cow, hen and duck and "a laddie leel an true" He knows every step and stone "frae Craig tae Huntly" He will soon sleep in the churchyard.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: age home nonballad animal bird chickens family
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 547, "Bogie's Banks and Bogie's Braes" (1 text)
Roud #6023
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Corn Riggs" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
File: GrD3547
===
NAME: Bogie's Bonnie Belle
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets Bogie and goes to work for him; his daugher Isabel meets him by the river. She delivers a son, and Bogie sends for the singer, who promises to marry her. Bogie says the singer's not worthy of his daughter. Bogie's daughter marries a tinker
AUTHOR: Unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956 (Kennedy)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, going to Huntley, meets Bogie and arranges to drive horses for him; his daugher Isabel chooses him for her guide, down by the river. Later, she delivers a son, and Bogie sends for the singer, who promises to marry her. Bogie says the singer's not worthy of his daughter, so (the singer takes his son away while) Bogie's daughter marries a tinker; the singer takes his leave (and boasts of having taken her maidenhead) (or he wishes her well)
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness courting seduction sex bragging pregnancy baby father lover
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 340, "Bogie's Bonnie Belle" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 81, "Bogie's Bonnie Belle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BOGIEBEL*
Roud #2155
RECORDINGS:
Davie Stewart, "Bogie's Bonny Belle" (on FSB1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Adieu to Bogie Side" (lyrics)
NOTES: According to Kennedy, a "literary" version of the song by John Riddel was printed in Ford's _Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland_, 1900. - PJS
This is an instance of a difficult conundrum, which initially led me to lump the songs. There is good evidence that this "literary" version is a traditional song (Ford and Ord have very different versions, and Grieg found quite a few versions). And Ord's longish version has clear links to Kennedy's song. Links, but not really the same plot (e.g. the pregnancy vanishes). Still, I suspect there are versions which mix. Best to check the references to both songs.
I find myself wondering if Riddell didn't know both songs, and create his version (with its references to the muses, etc.) from scraps of both. - RBW
File: DTbogieb
===
NAME: Bogie's Braes
DESCRIPTION: "By Bogie's streams that rin sae deep, Fu' aft wi' glee I've herded sheep... Wi' my dear lad on Bogie's braes.... But waes my heart the days are gane... While my dear lad maun face his faes." She laments all that she will do alone in his absence
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love separation parody
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 114, "Bogie's Braes" (1 text)
Roud #5542
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Logan Water"
cf. "Logan Braes"
NOTES: Ord notes that this is "simply a parody on Logan Braes," and (given its rarity) it might almost be filed with that piece -- but "Logan Braes" isn't in the index yet. - RBW
File: Ord114
===
NAME: Bogieside: see Ye're Noo on Bogieside (File: Ord281)
===
NAME: Bohunkus (Old Father Grimes, Old Grimes Is Dead)
DESCRIPTION: Old Grimes, "the good old man,"  was always dressed in a long black coat and was widely respected. He had two sons, (Tobias) and Bohunkus. "They has a suit of clothes... Tobias wore them through the week, Bohunkus on a Sunday."
AUTHOR: Words: Albert Gorton Greene?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1822 (Providence Gazette)
KEYWORDS: father children death clothes humorous
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Belden, pp258-259, "Old Grimes is Dead" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 428, "Old Father Grimes" (1 short text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 321, "Josephus and Bohunkus" (2 texts plus a fragment)
Gardner/Chickering 194, "Old Grimes" (1 fragment)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 576-577, "Old Grimes" (1 text)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 83-84, "Bohunkus" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 150-151, "Old Grimes" (1 text)
JHCox 170, "Old Grimes" (1 text, with an "Old Grimes" first verse and the rest unrelated)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 156-157, (No title listed) (1 text, tune referenced)
ST R428 (Full)
Roud #764
RECORDINGS:
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Josephus and Bohunkus" (Victor, unissued, 1927)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Auld Lang Syne" (tune)
NOTES: This piece seems to fall into two parts, one describing Old Grimes, his clothes, and the respect with which he was treated (so, e.g., in Spaeth's _Weep Some More_ and Botkin's _New England Folklore_).
The other describes the humorous exploits of (Tobias/Josephus) and Bohunkus (so in Speath, _Read 'Em and Weep_; also the "B" text and perhaps the "C" fragment in Brown), who shared almost everything, usually with one brother having rather the better of the distribution. In Randolph's version, for instance, Tobias gets the clothes for six days out of seven.
On the other hand, in Spaeth, when they went to the theatre, Bohunkus was in the gallery and Josephus in the pit; Bohunkus died of cholera but Josephus "by request"; Bohunkus went to heaven and Josephus to Hell (or, in one book, "Sing Sing"!)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (_Little House in the Big Woods_, chapter 10) has a different sort of a plot, in which Grimes's wife is so stingy with cream that he blows away in the wind.
Based on the notes in Brown, it appears that Green wrote only the "Old Grimes" text, with the rest coming from elsewhere. But this does not solve the matter, for it  appears that Greene was not responsible for the first verse of "Old Grimes"; when he confessed authorship in 1833, he denied writing the opening stanza.
Spaeth's "Old Grimes" text is so feeble that it's hard to believe such a thing could enter tradition. And, indeed, no traditional form similar to the printed versions from Spaeth and Botkin seems to have turned up; they all add some sort of comic ending (see Randolph, Cox, Wilder; Brown "A").
My feeble guess is that "Old Grimes" did not become traditional until it picked up some sort of humorous element, perhaps from "Bohunkus," and circulated only in that form. "Bohunkus" very possibly did not enter tradition at all on its own; although the Pankakes have a text which may have come from oral tradition, it is so short that it could be a fragment of a Grimes/Bohunkus conflation. But it's probably best if you examine the matter yourself.
This should not be confused with the piece called "Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey)" in this collection, which also goes under the title "Old Grimes." - RBW
Opie-Oxford2 6, "Old Abram Brown is dead and gone" is the usual first verse for this song: "Old Abram Brown is dead and gone, You'll never see him more; He used to wear a long brown coat That buttoned down before." - BS
File: R428
===
NAME: Boil dem Cabbage Down: see Bile Them Cabbage Down (File: LoF269)
===
NAME: Boil Them Cabbage Down: see Bile Them Cabbage Down (File: LoF269)
===
NAME: Boire un P'tit Coup C'Est Agreable (Sipping is Pleasant)
DESCRIPTION: French. Let's go to the woods together, marionette. We will gather apples and hazelnuts. Marie has a marionette; Marie has us both, we will sleep in the same little bed. Chorus: "Sipping is pleasant. Sipping is gentle. Swigging makes the spirit sick"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting sex drink bawdy nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 508-509, "Boire un P'tit Coup C'Est Agreable" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea508
===
NAME: Bolakin: see Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)
===
NAME: Bolamkin: see Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)
===
NAME: Bold Belfast Shoemaker, The: see James Ervin [Laws J15] (File: LJ15)
===
NAME: Bold Ben Hall: see The Death of Ben Hall (File: MA098)
===
NAME: Bold Benjamin, The
DESCRIPTION: Admiral Cole sails for Spain on the Benjamin with five hundred men, to gain silver and gold; he returns with sixty-one men. On their return to Blackwall, mothers and widows lament the lost sailors.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (Firth)
KEYWORDS: navy war death mourning ship shanty sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 23, "The Bold Benjamin" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN464, "Captain Chilver's gone to Sea"
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 89, "The Benjamin's Lamentation for their Sad Loss at Sea by Storms and Tempests" (1 text)
Roud #2632
NOTES: This song is a remake of the black-letter ballad (c. 1679) "The Benjamin's Lamentation for their Sad Loss at Sea, etc." - (PJS)
File: VWL023
===
NAME: Bold Black and Tan, The
DESCRIPTION: "Says Lloyd George to MacPherson, I give you the sack To uphold law and order you haven't the knack." The English create the Black and Tan army, which commits atrocities, but the Irish vow they will defeat the English
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion violence Civilwar IRA
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1920-1921 - The Black and Tan War
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 63-64, "The Bold Black and Tan" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT,BLACKTAN*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boys from County Cork" (subject: Irish Civil War) and references there
cf. "The Boys of Kilmichael" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Burning of Rosslea" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "Charlie Hurley" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "Down in the Town of Old Bantry" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "Mac and Shanahan" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "General Michael Collins" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Piper of Crossbarry" (subject: Irish Civil War) and references there
cf. "The Rineen Ambush" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Quilty Burning" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Valley of Knockanure" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Valley of Knockanure (II)" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Boys of Kilmichae" (subject Irish Civil War)
NOTES: By 1920, Irish terrorism had clearly reached the point where the normal authorities could not control it.
This was especially true since the regular members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) were losing their enthusiasm. By this time, though only a few dozen had been killed, their morale was falling; by late 1920, roughly 10% had resigned (see Robert Kee, _Ourselves Alone_, being Volume III of _The Green Flag_, p. 96), and the rest had perhaps lost their edge. The British saw a need for more replacements than could possibly be raised in Ireland itself (Kee, p. 97, says that they eventually recruited some 7000 new police), and started importing potential police from Britain itself.  British Prime Minister David Lloyd George therefore recruited a special auxiliary force (known as the Black and Tans) to try to restore order.
The Black and Tans are often called the dregs of British society. This is at best an exaggeration. It is true that most were unemployed -- but this is hardly their fault; they were World War I veterans, often taken into the army as soon as they finished school, and then returned home to an England where all the jobs were filled.
As Calton Younger puts it (_Ireland's Civil War_, p. 105), "They were not the dregs of English jails, as Irishmen have so often alleged, but bored, unsettled, often workless ex-soldiers, young men whose ordinary pity and honour had been dried up by their long and merciless ordeal in the trenches." One might add that, having been so long under discipline, it took only a few really bad apples to lead them to brutality.
Their black and tan uniform was largely an accident; as there were not enough Royal Irish Constabulary uniforms available, the Black and Tans received a mixture of oddments.
The Irish correctly accuse the Black and Tans of atrocities -- the British (exhausted by World War I) had little choice but to fight terror with terror. The Black and Tans were the worst mostly because they had no experience of the Irish except during the terrorism. With their comrades being attacked from hiding with terrorist weapons, they took revenge where they could -- even if it meant random revenge which hurt their cause more than it helped.
The British did not entirely ignore the Black and Tan problem; Kee reports (p. 117) that 218 of them were dismissed as unsuitable, and a few dozen were subjected to prosecution for their behavior. This did little to control the problem. Technically, the Black and Tans were keeping Ireland in British hands; Richard Mulcahy, the Irish Chief of Staff, who was one of those chiefly responsible for fighting them, observed that, for all the deaths, the Irish rebels had never managed to drive the English out of anything more significant than "a fairly good-sized police barracksÓ (see Kee, p. 145). But military control is not peace. (Just ask any citizen of Iraq.)
The results were intolerable. Both sides agreed to a truce in 1921, with elections to follow in Ulster and the rest of Ireland. As it proved, Sinn Fein won overwhelmingly in Ireland and Unionist (i.e. pro-British) parties almost as completely in Ulster. The path to Irish independence was at last clear -- as long as the country was willing to accept partition.
The MacPherson of the song is Sir Ian MacPherson, Lloyd George's Irish Minister, who believed in Home Rule and, although he fought to keep order, was not strict enough for the Prime Minister.
Macready is Major General Sir Nevil Macready, Commander in Chief of the British forces in Ireland.  George Dangerfield describes him as impartial in the Irish struggles; "he disliked both sides" (nationalists and Ulstermen; see Dangerfield, _The Damnable Question_, p. 319; also p. 110, where it is said he had "no sympathy for either Nationalists or Orangemen"). - RBW
File: PGa063
===
NAME: Bold Brannan on the Moor: see Brennan on the Moor [Laws L7] (File: LL07)
===
NAME: Bold Daniels (The Roving Lizzie) [Laws K34]
DESCRIPTION: Bold Daniels and the "Roving Lizzie" meet a pirate ship which calls for their surrender. Though outnumbered, Daniels and the "Lizzie" fight so effectively that they capture the pirate and take it to (Baltimore) as a prize
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: pirate battle ship
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws K34, "Bold Daniels (The Roving Lizzie)"
Rickaby 43, "Bold Daniel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 39-40, "Bold Daniel" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 57, "Bold Daniel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 149-151, "Bold Daniels" (1 text)
DT 567, BOLDDANL
Roud #1899
File: LK34
===
NAME: Bold Deserter, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves a girl. "She first advised me for to list and afterwards desert" He is hiding, thinking of those he left behind, terrorized even by "the bird that flutters on each tree." He will return. If they "pardon me, I would desert no more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(64))
KEYWORDS: courting soldier desertion
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn 68, "The Bold Deserter" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BOLDDSRT*
Roud #1655
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(64), "Bold Deserter" ("My parents rear'd me tenderly, I being their only son)," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Firth c.14(126), Harding B 26(66), 2806 c.15(183), Harding B 19(42), "[The] Bold Deserter"; Firth c.14(128), "The Bold Deserter" or "Why Did I Desert?"
File: OLoc068
===
NAME: Bold Dickie and Bold Archie: see Archie o Cawfield [Child 188] (File: C188)
===
NAME: Bold Dighton [Laws A21]
DESCRIPTION: The French on Guadeloupe have imprisoned hundreds of seamen. Dighton offers 500 guineas to relieve their distress and is himself imprisoned. He manages to free all the prisoners and, fighting off a pursuing ship, escape to Antigua
AUTHOR: P. Russell?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie); also in at least some versions of the Forget-Me-Not Songster
KEYWORDS: prisoner escape
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws A21, Bold Dighton"
Gardner/Chickering 94, "Bold Dighton" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 83, "Bold Dighton,Ó ÒThe Tiger and the Lion" (2 texts)
DT 696, BLDIGHTN
Roud #2209
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as101290, "Bold Dighton," L. Deming (Boston), 19C 
NOTES: Mackenzie attributes this to P. Russell (of whom I know nothing) -- but this is based on an advertising blurb on a broadside copy, and we know what those are worth. - RBW
"Being the account of an action fought off Gaudaloupe (sic.), in 1805, where ninety-five Americans, and near three hundred Britons made their escape from the prison at that place." (Source: Note included in America Singing as101290 broadside) - BS
File: LA21
===
NAME: Bold Doherty
DESCRIPTION: Doherty loves drink and women. He fools his mother into giving him money. He passes two tinkers fighting over the effect of Doherty on his wife. Doherty goes home. His mother has locked him out. He doesn't mind "for I can get lodging with Nora McGlinn"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (recording, Mary Ann Carolan)
KEYWORDS: sex drink mother rake home
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #2992
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Carolan, "Bold Doherty" (on Voice13)
File: RcBolDoh
===
NAME: Bold Dragoon, The: see The Bold Soldier [Laws M27] (File: LM27)
===
NAME: Bold English Navvy, The: see The Courting Coat (File: RcWMPBO)
===
NAME: Bold Escallion and Phoebe: see Corydon and Phoebe (File: K125)
===
NAME: Bold Fenian Men (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "See who comes over the red-blossomed heather, Their green banners kissing the pure mountain air...." Fenians come from all over Ireland, boasting of their victories (!) over the English. Refrain "Out and make way for the bold Fenian men!"
AUTHOR: Michael Scanlon
EARLIEST_DATE: 1864 ("first printed in Chicago", according to Zimmermann p. 48 fn. 65)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 51-52, "The Bold Fenian Men" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 323, "The Bold Fenian Men" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(168), "The Fenian Men", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
LOCSinging, sb10126b, "The Fenian Men", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also as201000, "The Fenian Men" 
NOTES: The Fenians were an Irish Independence organization -- but they were also among the most absurdly inept plotters in history. The depth of their feelings are illustrated by the fact that they kept on after an endless litany of failures. (For examples, see "A Fenian Song," "The British Man-of-War," and "The Smashing of the Van (I)." Robert Kee, in _The Bold Fenian Men_, being Volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 37, perhaps sums up their record best: "This iron, selfless dedication to a cause which, though often viewed with sympathy by the Irish people, was made consistently ludicrous by events, became an important feature of the Fenian movement.)
This song, however, appears to come from their heady early days, when they were still growing and had not started to mess up. For this early part of their history, see "James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy." - RBW
Broadsides LOCSinging sb10126b and Bodleian Harding B 18(168): 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.
Broadsides LOCSinging sb10126b and Bodleian Harding B 18(168) are duplicates. - BS
File: PGa051
===
NAME: Bold Fisherman, The [Laws O24]
DESCRIPTION: The fisherman comes to court the lady. Having tied up his boat, he takes her hand and removes his coat. This reveals three golden chains. Seeing that he is rich, the lady asks forgiveness for calling him a fisherman. The two go home and are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3114))
KEYWORDS: fishing marriage courting money
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws O24, "The Bold Fisherman"
Flanders/Olney, pp. 218-219, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 112-114, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 603-604, "The Young Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 692-693, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text)
PBB, "The Royal Fisherman" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 42, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 483, FISHBOLD*
Roud #291
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "The Bold Fisherman" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3114), "The Bold Fisherman," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Johnson Ballads 596; Harding B 11(840)=B 11(841), "The Bold Fisherman," H. Such (London), 1863-1885
File: LO24
===
NAME: Bold Fusilier, The
DESCRIPTION: "A bold fusilier came marching down through Rochester, Off to the wars in the north country, And he sang as he marched the dear old streets of Rochester, 'Wha'll be a sodger for Marlbro' and me?'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941
KEYWORDS: soldier recruiting
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1650-1727 -  Life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
1701-1714 - War of the Spanish Succession, pitting France and Spain against Britain, Austria, and many smaller nations. Marlborough made a reputation by winning the battles of Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), and Oudenarde (1708) (he fought a draw at Malplaquet in 1709)
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, (COMBSOLD* COMBSOL2)
NOTES: The currency of this song in oral tradition is rather open to debate. This is not due to any defect in the song itself, but its precise parallels to "Waltzing Matilda," which has made the history of the song rather a fetish for Australians.
The facts:
1. There are no early collections of the song, and some have judged the language inappropriate for the early seventeenth century. There do not appear to be broadside prints. (The verses quoted in the Digital Tradition are modern reconstructions by Peter Coe of the extant fragments remembered by recent informants)
2. The song clearly *refers to* events of the time of the War of the Spanish Succession, when Marlborough was the English general in chief and when the recruiting sergeant still roamed the streets sweeping up recruits.
Does this date the song to the seventeenth century? The only other alternative I've seen is a suggestion that the song was written during the Boer War (1899-1902) as some sort of parody on the Churchills. I find this hard to believe.
The question will probably never be settled to everyone's satisfaction, barring discovery of an early broadside print or the like. - RBW
File: DTcombso
===
NAME: Bold Grenadier, The: see One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14] (File: LP14)
===
NAME: Bold Hawke
DESCRIPTION: Sir Edward Hawke takes Royal George out of Torbay December 18 and December 28 fights a French fleet of five ships. They sink Lily and burn Rising Sun and Glory.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: battle navy sea France
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 20, 1759 - "Sir Edward Hawke [defeats] the Brest fleet... at Quiberon Bay on the coast of France" (Lehr/Best)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 10, "Bold Hawke" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Heart of Oak" (context of the Battle of Quiberon Bay)
NOTES: A 1760 Bodleian broadside, "Admiral Hawke's welcome to old England, on his compleating the ruin of the French navy," says about the battle that  "Five Ships did, reluctant, the Combat sustain While eight, trembling, sneaked up the River Vilaine And the rest flew, like Feathers, all over the Main" -- shelfmark 5 Delta 278(16). Lehr/Best: "This battle was recorded in British history as one of the greatest naval victories of all time." Hawke had been driven to Torbay by a November gale, giving the French a chance to sail from Brest (Source: Royal Navy site re Royal Naval History "The Battle of Quiberon Bay 1759"). Torbay is in Devon, on the English Channel, though it may have tickled Newfoundlanders to transfer the base in their mind's eye to Torbay, seven miles north of St John's. - BS
Sir Edward Hawke (1710-1781) was, after Anson, the chief admiral of the late phase of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), and was to prove a brilliant innovator. Lacking political connections (he was the son of an unimportant barrister), he rose to the rank of captain on merit. Early in the war, he had disobeyed the orders of his commander, Admiral Mathews, at Toulon, capturing the only significant prize -- an affair resulting in a nasty set of charges and counter-charges (see Arthur Herman, _To Rule the Waves_, pp. 266-267). It nearly cost Hawke his job; he was slated to be "promoted" from active-duty Captain to half-pay (inactive) Rear Admiral. But George II himself objected, and Hawke was kept on (Herman, p. 271) -- and assigned to minor duties.
He then got lucky. He had been assigned to what amounted to a desk job, but briefly assumed command of the Western Squadron when Vice Admiral Warren came down with scurvy. And, during what was supposed to be a minor tour of duty, the French tried to break a convoy out of Brest. Hawke caught up with them and won a brilliant victory at the second battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747 (Herman, pp. 271-273). From then on, his career was secure.
He took good advantage, revising naval tactics (modifying the line-ahead method of attack and also creating a system of blockade based on a few ships close in to watch for breakouts while the main fleet stood out to sea to guard against other fleets arriving) -- and solving the scurvy problem by having supply ships regularly bring fresh food to his ships on patrol. Never again would ships on patrol duty be forced to return to port every few weeks, though scurvy would still bother sailors on long-distance voyages (Herman, p. 280).
The Seven Years' War had initially gone well for France, but by 1759, they were taking a beating in Canada, and decided to try for an assault on Britain (yes, this sounds very much like Napoleon and the Trafalgar campaign; see Walter R. Borneman, _The French and Indian War_, Harper-Collins, 2006, pp. 238-239). This required the French to concentrate their fleet.
The key to this was getting the force in Brest down to Quiberon Bay.  Admiral Hawke was blockading the port. Eventually, helped by weather that troubled the British fleet the French got out (see Alfred Thayer Mahan, _The Influence of Sea Power Upon History_, pp. 300-301) -- but Hawke caught up with them at Quiberon Bay, chased them when they sailed toward shore, and inflicted a signal defeat.
As Mahan says (p. 304), "All possibility of an invasion of England passed away with the destruction of the Brest fleet. The battle of Novermber 20, 1759 was the Trafalgar of this warÓ (compare Borneman, pp. 242-243, which in fact quotes Mahan on the point).
Quiberon Bay itself is the bay off Lorient in Brittany, which after the unification of France gradually became one of France's chief havens.
This song appears rather confused; the dates match neither Quiberon Bay nor Cape Finisterre, and neither do the circumstances. (E.g. Quiberon Bay went as it did largely because it was fought in terrible storms.) The description in the song may be based on the fact that the French fleet lost five ships at Quiberon Bay, though the names are wrong. The song is correct in calling Hawke's flagship the _Royal George_.
Hawke's exploits seem to have inspired several songs and poems; in addition to this and the broadside mentioned by Ben, C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 197, has an item called "Admiral Hawke," and on p. 217 prints "Hawke's Engagement," with "Lord Anson and Hawke" found on page 225. The Roud index lists a number of broadsides of "Admiral Hawke" and so forth. But this appears to be the only traditional song about Hawke, and even it barely survives. - RBW
File: LeBe010
===
NAME: Bold Irvine: see James Ervin [Laws J15] (File: LJ15)
===
NAME: Bold Jack Donahoe
DESCRIPTION: The singer sadly recalls the death of Donahoe. He and his companions are overtaken by three policemen. Walmsley refuses to fight, and Donahoe is left alone. He is shot and killed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck); c.1870 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Australia death cowardice fight outlaw
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 1, 1830 (the ballad says Aug 24) - Jack Donahue, formerly of Dublin (transported 1823), is killed by police near Sydney
FOUND_IN: Australia US(MW) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 63-64, "Bold Jack Donahoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 89, "Bold Jack Donohue" (1 text)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 50-51, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 22-23, "Bold Jack Donahoe" (1 text)
Zimmermann 76, "Bold Jack O'Donoghue" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #611
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Donahue" [Laws L22]
cf. "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (tune)
cf. "The Wreck of the Eliza" (tune)
cf. "The Aranmore Disaster" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Jim Jones at Botany Bay (File: PBB096)
The Wreck of the Eliza (File: Ran056)
The Aranmore Disaster (File: Ran125)
NOTES: This ballad often mixes with "Jack Donahue" (for obvious reasons), and they are lumped by Roud, but the two can be distinguished by the mention of Donahue's companions at the time of Donahoe's capture. Some scholars think this the older of the two.
For historical background on Donahue, see "Jack Donahue" [Laws L22]. - RBW
Zimmermann 76 makes a Fenian connection: "I turned out as a Fenian boy as I'd often done before"; "...that Fenian bold called Jack O'Donoghue."
Zimmermann: "The name of Captain Mackey ["There was MacNamara, Andrew Ward, and Captain Mackey too, They were the chiefs and associates of bold Jack Donoghue"] helps us to date this version. William Mackey commanded the Fenians at Ballyknockane, County Cork, in an attack upon the police barracks during the rising of 1867. He was sentenced to 12 years' penal servitude in March 1868." The connection with Jack O'Donoghue, killed in 1830, would -- if Zimmermann is right -- be fictitious. - BS
Zimmermann's version is attributed to "John McCarthy." But the list of co-conspirators is unusual at best. The version of this song I know best lists Donohue's companions as "Jacky Underwood, and Webber and Walmsley too."
According to Harry Nunn's _Bushrangers: A Pictorial History_, p. 16, the members of the Underwood Gang (active 1820-1832) were "William Underwood, John Donohue [not O'Donohue, note], George Kilroy, William Smith, John Walms[l]ey, John Webber and others." It notes that "Donohue and Webber shot by police 1830. Underwood shot 1832. Walmsley turned informer, Smith and Kilroy hanged 1832." Thus my guess would be that McCarthy took an existing song and converted it for Fenian purposes. - RBW
File: MA063
===
NAME: Bold Jack Donahoo: see Jack Donahue [Laws L22] (File: LL22)
===
NAME: Bold Jack Donahue (II): see Jack Donahue [Laws L22] (File: LL22)
===
NAME: Bold Kidd, the Pirate
DESCRIPTION: The singer's ship is newly put to sea when she spots a pirate. The mate identifies the ship as Captain Kidd's. The captain turns about and flees. After a long chase, she escapes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: escape pirate sea
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1699 - Arrest of Captain William Kidd in Boston
May 23, 1701 - Execution of Captain Kidd
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 16-18, "Bold Kidd, the Pirate" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FO016 (Partial)
Roud #528
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Kidd" [Laws K35]
cf. "The Bold Princess Royal" [Laws K29] (plot)
NOTES: For background on Captain Kidd, see the notes to "Captain Kidd" [Laws K35]. It seems highly unlikely, however, that this song is contemporary with Kidd; it doesn't appear to fit Kidd's actual behavior. - RBW
File: FO016
===
NAME: Bold Larkin (Bull Yorkens)
DESCRIPTION: In 1855 the Elizabeth runs for land in a heavy sea. Andrew Shean/Sheehan, a sailor, falls into the sea. Captain Bull Yorkens reluctantly orders the rescue attempt abandoned. At St John's he consoles the parents and offers a prayer for Sheehan.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Murphy)
KEYWORDS: death drowning mourning ship sea father mother sailor storm
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 907-908, "Bull Yorkens" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 11, "Bold Larkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4420 and 9807
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "New York to Queenstown" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Loss of Andrew Sheehan
NOTES: According to Lehr, "'Bold Larkin,' also known as 'The Loss of Andrew Sheehan,' was composed by John Grace. Sheehan was a native of St John's. In a version of the song printed in Murphy's _Songs Their Fathers Sung_, the date of the event is '55 and not '65 as in our version. Larkin is also written Harkin in Murphy's book." 
Cape Spear is less than four miles from St John's harbour. - BS
File: Pea907
===
NAME: Bold Lieutenant, The: see The Lady of Carlisle [Laws O25] (File: LO25)
===
NAME: Bold Lover Gay [Laws P23]
DESCRIPTION: The young man wins shy May's heart with promises of an easy life and fine clothes. He takes her to his home across the sea. His promises prove false; a year later she is homesick and pregnant, with no fine clothes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: seduction marriage poverty pregnancy
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws P23, "Bold Lover Gay"
Belden, pp. 208-209, "All on Account of a Bold Lover Gay" (1 text)
DT 505, LOVERGAY
Roud #996
File: LP23
===
NAME: Bold M'Dermott: see Bold McDermott Roe (File: OLoc028)
===
NAME: Bold Manan the Pirate [Laws D15]
DESCRIPTION: The pirate Bold (Manning/Manan) captures a merchant ship. To prevent the sailors from fighting over a young woman found on board, Manning kills her. But (the next day) Manning encounters a warship and the pirate ship is sunk
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: pirate murder sea
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws D15, "Bold Manan the Pirate"
Peacock, pp. 848-851, "William Craig and Bold Manone" (1 texts, 2 tunes)
Ranson, pp. 59-61, "Manning, The Pirate" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 45, "Young Mannon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 139-141, "Bold Manning" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 752, BLDMANAN
Roud #673
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Merchantman and the Pirate
File: LD15
===
NAME: Bold Manning: see Bold Manan the Pirate [Laws D15] (File: LD15)
===
NAME: Bold McCarthy (The City of Baltimore) [Laws K26]
DESCRIPTION: Bold McCarthy sails from Liverpool (as a stowaway) on the City of Baltimore. An argument with the mate turns into a fight, and the Irishman handily defeats the mate (and several others). The captain appoints McCarthy an officer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: sea fight rambling
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws K26, "Bold McCarthy (The City of Baltimore)"
Doerflinger, pp. 128-129, "The City of Baltimore (Bold McCarthy)" (1+ texts, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 174, "Bold McCarthy" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 860-861, "Bold McCarthy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 46, "The City of Baltimore" (1 fragment)
Creighton-NovaScotia 58, "City of Baltimore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ranson, pp. 54-55, "The City of Baltimore" (1 text, 1 tune)\
Ives-DullCare, pp. 187-189,242, "Bold McCarthy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 62, "The City of Baltimore (Bold McCarthy)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 408, CITYBALT* CITYBAL2
Roud #1800
NOTES: The Inman line of steamers, active starting in 1850, had a history of naming ships "The City of X," e.g. the _City of Philadelphia_, the _City of Manchester_ (see John Malcolm Brinnin, _The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic_ (1986, pp. 208-209). I have found no references to the _City of Baltimore_ in my sources, but that may be just as well; Inman line ships seem to have become famous mostly for spectacular wrecks. The line was at its peak from about 1855-1880. - RBW
File: LK26
===
NAME: Bold McDermott Roe
DESCRIPTION: McDermott Roe heads the Roscommon Defenders but is taken, tried and convicted. He is taken to Dublin to hang in spite of his parents' wealth. "To back the poor against the rich with them did not agree, And so McDermott Roe must die in shame and misery"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(12)); c.1800? (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: battle rebellion trial execution Ireland patriotic
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
OLochlainn 28, "Bold McDermott Roe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 23, "Bold McDermott" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Moylan 43, "Bold McDermott Roe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 50-51, "(A New Song Called) Bold M'Dermott" (1 text)
ST OLoc028 (Partial)
Roud #3021
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(12), "Bold M'Dermott," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also Harding B 19(83), "Bold M'Dermott"
NOTES: In the late eighteenth century, as more legitimate Irish nationalists combined to form the United Irishmen, a more extreme branch went on to form the Defenders, devoted to defending Catholicism against the Protestants, notably in Ulster. 
The Defenders, though they started mostly by demonstrating against the Protestant Peep o' Day Boys, eventually attacked a group of the latter -- who, though outnumbered, were victorious and eventually turned into the Orange Society.
The precipitating event was the so-called Battle of the Diamond, a riot "won" by the Protestants in September 1795 (see Robert Kee, _The Most Distressful Country_, being Volume I of _The Green Flag_, p. 71).
The Defenders, poor and Catholic, continued to grow after this, and the British, with their brilliant ability to always do the wrong thing in Ireland, cracked down ever harder. This song no doubt tells of one of the victims of that oppression -- though one suspects that McDermott Roe was probably guilty of more than just politics; the Defenders engaged in quite a bit of looting and burning.
For another song on the battles between these two groups, see "The Noble Ribbon Boys." For the Battle of the Diamond itself, see "The Battle of the Diamond." - RBW
File: OLoc028
===
NAME: Bold McIntyres, The
DESCRIPTION: "In County Kildare on Hibernia shore Lived a fam'ly of John McIntyres. There was Mike and Tim, the twins, as they stand upon their pins; We're the elegant bold McIntyres." The song continues through the rest of the family
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (recording, Arthur Moseley)
KEYWORDS: family nonballad moniker
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #5413
RECORDINGS:
Arthur "Happy" Moseley, "The Bold McIntyres" (AFS, 1940; on LC55)
File: RecTboMc
===
NAME: Bold Nelson's Praise
DESCRIPTION: A song in praise of Lord Nelson and other English heroes. Details are sketchy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: war navy drink
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1758-1805 - Life of Horatio Nelson, Britain's greatest naval hero, killed at Trafalgar
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sharp-100E 88, "Bold Nelson's Praise" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1574
File: ShH88
===
NAME: Bold Northwestern Man, The [Laws D1]
DESCRIPTION: A band of Indians, come to sell furs, find weapons aboard the "Lady of Washington"; they try to capture the ship. Eventually they are defeated, losing some seventy of their number. The Europeans raid the Indian village to reclaim their property
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: fight Indians(Am.)
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1791 - Attack on the Lady Washington
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Laws D1, "The Bold Northwestern Man"
DT 843, BOLDNW*
Roud #2227
File: LD01
===
NAME: Bold O'Donahue
DESCRIPTION: "Well, here I am from Paddy's land... I've broke the hearts of all the girls for miles round Keady town." The singer boasts of his ability to court, wishes his love were a rose so he could rain on her, and speaks of courting Queen Victoria's daughter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1975 (fragment in the Sam Henry collection from 1924)
KEYWORDS: courting flowers
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H10i, p. 3, "(Old Choir Rhymes -- Additional Verses, text #1)" (1 text)
DT, BOLDODON
NOTES: The Sam Henry text (reportedly sung to the tune "Irish") is only a fragment, a dialect version of
I wish my love was a red rose
Beside yon garden wall,
And I myself a drop of dew
Upon that rose to fall.
This (half)-stanza almost certainly floats, but the only song I've met it in is "Bold O'Donahue," so here it files. - RBW
File: HHH010i
===
NAME: Bold Peddler, The: see The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood [Child 132] (File: C132)
===
NAME: Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood, The [Child 132]
DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood and Little John meet a pedlar. Neither Robin nor John can out-wrestle the pedlar. They exchange names, and the pedlar (Gamble Gold, a murderer) proves to be Robin's cousin. They celebrate the reunion in a tavern
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1775
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight return robbery family outlaw
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,North),Scotland(Aber)) US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Child 132, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text)
Bronson 132, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (14 versions+ 2 in addenda)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 457-461, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 songster text plus extensive notes)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 217-218, "Bold Robing Hood" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #14}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 67-69, "Bold Robin Hood and the Pedlar" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 101-106, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (2 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #3, #14}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 67-69, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
Creighton-NovaScotia 6, "Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text, called "Pedlar Bold" by the singer, 1 tune) {Bronson's #12}
Leach, pp. 383-385, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text)
Niles 46, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 88, "Robin Hood and the Pedlar" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5, emended}
DT 132, RHPEDLAR* RHDPDLR2
Roud #333
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(381), "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(380), Harding B 11(382), "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood"
Murray, Mu23-y4:007, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" [Child 282] (plot)
cf. "Robin Hood Newly Revived" [Child 128] (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Bold Peddler
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.
Child considered this a variation of "Robin Hood Newly Revived," but Bronson argues that this is not so. - RBW
File: C132
===
NAME: Bold Peter Clarke: see Peter Clarke (File: MA100)
===
NAME: Bold Pirate, The [Laws K30]
DESCRIPTION: A British ship is overhauled by pirates. Though outnumbered, the sailors beat off the pirates. A broadside prevents the pirate's escape. The pirate ship is hauled back to England, and the sailors are made rich by the spoils
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (Creighton/Senior); 19C (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.12(64))
KEYWORDS: pirate ship money fight
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws K30, "The Bold Pirate"
Creighton/Senior, pp. 229-230, "Pirate Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 150-151, "On the Twenty-First of May" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 128-130, "The Bold Pirate" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 411, BOLDPRT
Roud #984
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(64), "The Bold Pirate," J. Scott (Pittenweem), 19C
File: LK30
===
NAME: Bold Poachers, The
DESCRIPTION: Three brothers go poaching one night in January. The sound of their guns brings the gamekeepers. One shoots a gamekeeper, then another. The brothers are taken prisoner; two are sentenced to be transported, the third is hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.19(47))
KEYWORDS: violence crime execution poaching punishment transportation death murder
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
MacSeegTrav 98, "The First Day in October" (1text, 1 tune); this entry also contains 1 nearly-complete text for "The Bold Poachers" (collected by E. J. Moeran, not by them)
DT, POACHRS
Roud #1686
RECORDINGS:
Wiggie Smith, "The Oakham Poachers" (on Voice18)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.19(47), "Oakham Pachers [sic] ("Young men in every station"), E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1855-1861; also 2806 c.15(253), Harding B 20(199), "Oakam Poachers" or "The Lamentation of Young Perkins"; Firth c.19(63), Johnson Ballads 2038, "The Oakham Poachers" 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Keepers and Poachers" (plot)
cf. "The Poacher's Fate" [Laws L14] (subject)
NOTES: MacColl & Seeger call "The First Day in October" a composite, and so it is, but the similarities to "The Bold Poachers," particularly the use of the name Parkins for the guilty young man, have persuaded me to place it here. - PJS
File: McCST098
===
NAME: Bold Princess Royal, The [Laws K29]
DESCRIPTION: The Princess Royal is overtaken by an unknown ship which tries to come alongside. The captain realizes that the other is a pirate, and safely outruns the other.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1870 (broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(145))
KEYWORDS: ship pirate escape
FOUND_IN: US(NE,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Laws K29, "The Bold Princess Royal"
Doerflinger, pp. 142-143, "The Bold Princess Royal" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Colcord, pp. 148-149, "The Fair Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 421, "The Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 35, "The Bold Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 835-836, "The Bold Princess Royal" (1 texts, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 75, "Bold Princess Royal" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 53, "Bold Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 153, "The Bold Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ranson, p. 91, "Kelly, the Pirate" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 126-128, "The Bold Prince of Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 150, "The Prince Boys" (1 text, 1 tune, incorrectly equated with Laws K39)
BrownII 119, "The Lorena Bold Crew" (1 fragment)
Chappell-FSRA 26, "Buxter's Bold Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 206-207, "The Bold 'Princess Royal'" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 47, "The Bold Princess Royal" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
DT 410, PRNCROYL*
Roud #528
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "The Bold 'Princess Royal'" (on Voice12)
Sam Larner, "The Bold Princess Royal" (on SLarner01,  SLarner02, HiddenE)
Bob Roberts, "The Bold Princess Royal" (on LastDays)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(63), "The Bold Princess Royal," H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Firth b.25(136), 2806 b.11(9), Harding B 11(384)[some illegibility], "The Bold Princess Royal"; Firth c.12(65), "The Old Princess Royal, and the Pirate Ship"
Murray, Mu23-y4:019, "Bold Princess Royal," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(145), "Bold Princess Royal," unknown, c.1870
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Kidd, the Pirate" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Buxter's Bold Crew
Prince of Royal
She Came Bearing Down On Us
NOTES: Greenleaf/Mansfield names the ship Prince of Royal and refers to a variant that calls the ship Royal Apprentice.
In Ranson's version the usually anonymous pirate announces "This is Kelly, the Pirate"; that is the only mention of the name that gives the version its title.
Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 12" - 11.9.02: "Colcord dates this song to the beginning of the American War of Independence." - BS
There were a number of British ships named _Princess Royal_; including a battlecruiser that fought at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 (unlike several of her sister ships, she survived). But the most famous was probably the flagship of the fleet of Admiral John Byron (1723-1786). Byron served in the Caribbean in the late 1770s, with limited results. At the Battle of Grenada, his fleet was mauled by a superior French force, and he ended up fleeing the fight. This, I would guess, is the basis of Colcord's date (though she also mentions the usage of "glass" for an hour, a usage which died out about that time).
If Colcord's guess is accurate, is it possible that this was inspired as some sort of slur on Byron for fleeing the battle? - RBW
File: LK29
===
NAME: Bold Privateer, The [Laws O32]
DESCRIPTION: (Johnny) tells (Polly) that he must go to sea. She begs him to stay safe at home. (He points out that her friends dislike him and her brothers threaten him. He offers to exchange rings with her), and promises to return and marry her if his life is spared
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1891 (Kidson, _Traditional Tunes_)
KEYWORDS: sea farewell
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE) Britain(England(North)) Ireland Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws O32, "The Bold Privateer"
Randolph 233, "The Union Volunteer" (1 text, 1 tune, with a "Union Volunteer" substituted for the "Bold Privateer" but no other substantial changes)
Eddy 79, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text)
SharpAp 138, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H514, pp. 297-298, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 486, BOLDPRIV BLDPRIV2*
Roud #1000
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "The Bold Privateer" (on Ontario1)
Robert Cinnamond, "The Wild Privateer" (on IRRCinnamond03)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pleasant and Delightful" (meter)
cf. "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" (lyrics)
NOTES: Some versions of this are so mixed with "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" that they might almost be one song. But there are sufficient distinct versions that I think they must be considered separate songs.
The Sam Henry text contains an interesting reference, "The French they are treacherous, right very well you know, Did they not kill their own poor king not so very long ago?" Presumably this refers to the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, though there are other possibilities, including Louis's son Louis XVII, who died in 1795, some say by poison.
Huntington placed his version of "Our Captain Calls All Hands (Fighting for Strangers)" here, and early editions of the Index did the same, but while there is some similarity in theme, they are certainly separate songs. - RBW
File: LO32
===
NAME: Bold Rake, The
DESCRIPTION: Johnny meets Sally at Culgreany chapel. He promises to marry her. They spend two nights and all her money together and he decides to leave. Johnny will confess to his clergy; if forgiven he will "go home to Longacre and live with my own lawful wife" 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(60))
KEYWORDS: seduction infidelity promise separation rake wife
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn 37, "The Bold Rake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3036
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(60), "The Bold Rake" ("I am a bold rake and this nation I travel'd all round)" , P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867
LOCSinging, as101320, "The Bold Rake," P. Brereton (Dublin), 19C
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as101320 appears to be the same as Bodleian 2806 b.9(60) printed by P. Brereton (Dublin). - BS
File: OLoc037
===
NAME: Bold Ranger, The
DESCRIPTION: The huntsmen go out to seek the fox: "Come and hunt Bull (Ranger) (Reynard?) Among the hills and rocks." Along the way, they meet various people, who may tell them where the fox has gone
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: hunting animal
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 76, "Bold Ranger" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Eddy 84, "The Ranger" (2 texts, 1 tune)
JHCox 164, "The Ranger" (1 text)
BrownII 190, "Three Jolly Welshmen" (5 text, but only "A" and "B" are "Three Jolly Huntsmen"; "C," "D," and "E" appear to belong here)
Chappell-FSRA 101, "The Foxes" (1 text, 1 tune, a bare fragment with no mention of Reynard; it includes only the conversations with the people the hunters meet, and might possibly belong to other members of this song group)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 7+10, "Tom Redman" (1 text; tune on p. 385)
SharpAp 214, "The Three Huntsmen" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R076 (Partial)
Roud #796
RECORDINGS:
J. L. Peters, "How Happy is the Sportsman" (AFS, 1946; on LC55)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (form, theme, lyrics)
cf. "Three Jolly Huntsmen"  (theme, some lyrics)
NOTES: This appears very much to be a worn-down version of "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)," possibly influenced by "Three Jolly Huntsmen." For further discussion, see the notes to "Bold Reynard."
It's worth noting that Roud subdivides this song differently, with "The Hare's Dream" being one group and "Bold Reynard" plus the "Bold Ranger" being the other. - RBW
File: R076
===
NAME: Bold Reynard ("A Good Many Gentlemen")
DESCRIPTION: "A good many gentlemen take great delight in hunting bold Reynard, the fox, for he... lives upon fat geese and ducks." The hunters give chase, and catch and kill the fox. They go home and rejoice at having taken the rogue
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(261))
KEYWORDS: animal hunting
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 243, "Bold Reynard" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REYNFOX
Roud #1868
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(261), "Sly Reynard the Fox" ("Some gentlemen take great delight"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (theme)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
cf. "Joe Bowman" (theme)
NOTES: Although this song has points of similarity to "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)," Kennedy and others clearly state that they are different -- and indeed, they have few details in common except that they describe a foxhunt. - RBW
File: K243
===
NAME: Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)
DESCRIPTION: "The first morning of March in the year '33" the King's County fox hunt finally takes Reynard. He asks for pen, ink and paper to write his will. He leaves his estate and money to the hunters and backs it up by giving them a check on the National Bank.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs); before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.34(114))
KEYWORDS: animal hunting political lastwill Ireland humorous
FOUND_IN: US(So) Britain(England(West)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
O'Conor, p. 124, "The Fox Hunt" (1 text)
Croker-PopularSongs, p. 208, "Reynard the Fox" (1 fragment)
OCanainn, pp. 84-85, "The Cork National Hunt" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Leather, pp. 265-266, "The Fox-Hunting Chase" (1 text); also probably pp. 264-265, "The Herefordshire Fox-Chase" (1 text), though the latter appears reworked or mixed
DT, REYNRDFX RENOLDS
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 295-296, "Reynard the Fox"  (1 text)
Roud #2349
RECORDINGS:
Eugene Jemison, "Come All You Merry Hunters" (on Jem01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.34(114), "The Fox Chase"("The sun had just peep'd his head o'er the hills"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(1255), Firth c.19(120)[some words not legible], "The Fox Chase"; Johnson Ballads 505, "Fox Chase" or "Tally Ho Hark Away" [all versions end with the fox being taken]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hare's Dream" (lyrics)
cf. "Bold Reynard ('A Good Many Gentlemen')" (theme)
cf. "The Bold Ranger" (form, theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
cf. "Joe Bowman" (theme)
cf. "The Call of Quantrell (form)
cf. "The Kielder Hunt" (subject, phrase)
cf. "Donagh Hill" (form, hunting theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Balriginor
Bull Raider
NOTES: This is a real mess -- so much so that every new text I've turned up has forced me to reclassify the old ones. There seem to be four related families of texts here. This is lyrically very close to the Irish song "The Hare's Dream," but after much hesitation I've split that off because it's found mostly if not entirely in Ireland (perhaps only in Ulster), and it's about a hare, not a fox.
That leaves three versions with English roots:
1. The political "Bold Reynard" versions.
2. The Fox Chase versions not ending in the death of the fox
3. The Fox Chase versions ending in the death of the fox
The first of these seems to exist in fragments, so although the political content seems clear, it's not obvious just which politicians are involved.
The second is the one I have heard recorded -- though it came from a bunch of folkies, so they may have preferred a non-hunting version. My original description of that form was: "The hunters set out in pursuit of Reynard the Fox. Crafty Reynard leads hunters and hounds on many a wild goose chase. At last the hunters give up, and Reynard returns to his snug den. (He sends the hunters a cheque to pay for their losses!)"
The third, which is the basis for the description, is what appears in Leather and O'Conor.
Possibly these types should be split, but it would be impossible to split fragments and one has to suspect that all the rewriting is deliberate.
In the United States (or possibly in England, if a fragment from Baring-Gould constitutes evidence), the song changed even more dramatically -- so much so that, after some hesitation and discussion, we reclassified it as a separate song, "The Bold Ranger."
The song is still about a hunt (sometimes for "Reynard," but now often for "Rainer" or "Ranger"), but the result is almost a moniker song, with verses perhaps influenced by "Three Jolly Huntsmen." No longer does the song start in the victim's lair; no longer is Reynard leading the huntsmen astray; rather, they meet various people who tell them how to find the fox. The choruses in this version are often extravagant, though the verse retains the "Tallyho" form.
Leather reports that her version was written by a Richard Matthews "in the reign of George III." Matthews may well have been responsible for a particular version, but without more evidence, I hesitate to attribute the whole song to him.
Although this song has points of similarity to "Bold Reynard ('A Good Many Gentlemen')," Kennedy and others clearly state that they are different -- and indeed, they have few details in common except that they describe a foxhunt. - RBW
Hoagland begins "The first day of spring in the year ninety-three" and adds a subtitle of "A Song Celebrating the Great Hunt of 1793." - BS
File: DTReynrd
===
NAME: Bold Richard, The
DESCRIPTION: The "Phoebus[?] frigate Young Richard" cruises the French main with the Shannon. They encounter two merchants and "the finest frigate that did sail out of Brest." They sink all three, rescue their crews and land in Kingston where they enjoy drinks.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (ENMacCollSeeger02)
KEYWORDS: battle sea ship drink France
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1351
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Bold Richard" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
NOTES: From ENMacCollSeeger02 album cover notes: "E.J. Moeran recorded this song from James Sutton, 'Old Larpin', of Winerton, Norfolk, in 1915. In a note to the song printed in the Folksong Journal, Ann Gilchrist suggests that The Bold Richard is an English adaptation of an American sailor's song which describes the adventures of Paul Jones' ship, Old [sic] Richard." The song is nothing like either of Laws's Paul Jones ballads (Paul Jones, the Privateer [Laws A3] and Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4]) - BS
If we assume "Phoebus" is an error for "famous," then it is likely that Paul Jones's _Bonhomme Richard_ is indeed meant. But she never sailed with the _Shannon_; the consorts of the former _Duc de Durac_ were the _Alliance_, _Pallas_, and _Vengeance_ -- none of them in any way famous.
And this still leaves us with the curiosity of the reference to Kingston. Is this Kingston in England? In that case, the singers can hardly be telling of John Paul Jones, who fought against England. Is the reference, then, to the Quasi-War with France fought in the years before 1800? But Jones died in 1792 -- and I can't find any battle involving other ships which fits. Alternately, is it Kingston, Jamaica? Jones sailed the Carribean several times early in his career -- but as a merchant saior, not a naval captain.
In the end, I think we simply must conclude that we don't know what this is about. Probably it's mixing two or more battles. - RBW
File: RcBolRic
===
NAME: Bold Robert Emmet
DESCRIPTION: "The struggle is over, the boys are defeated, Old Ireland's surrounded with sadness and gloom... And I, Robert Emmet, awaiting my doom." Emmet, "the Darling of Ireland," recounts the failure of his rebellion and awaits execution
AUTHOR: Sometimes ascribed to Tom Maguire (Source: Zimmermann, Hoagland)
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1900 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1778 - Birth of Robert Emmet, younger brother of Thomas Addis Emmet (a leader of the United Irishmen)
1798 - Robert Emmet expelled from Trinity College; he eventually goes to France
1798 - the (failed) Irish Rebellion
1802 - Emmet returns to Ireland
1803 - Emmet attempts a new rebellion. The revolt is quickly crushed, and Emmet eventually hanged
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
PGalvin, p. 32, "Bold Robert Emmet" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 87, "Bold Robert Emmet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 155, "Bold Robert Emmet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 91, "The Last Moments of Robert Emmet" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROBTEMMT*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 626-627, "Bold Robert Emmet" (1 text)
Roud #3066
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Emmet's Death" (subject)
cf. "Emmet's Farewell to His Sweetheart" (subject)
cf. "My Emmet's No More" (subject)
cf. "The Three Flowers" (briefly mentions Emmet)
cf. "She is Far From the Land" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
cf. "Oh! Breathe Not His Name" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
cf. "When He Who Adores Thee" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
cf. "Nell Flaherty's Drake" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
cf. "The Man from God-Knows-Where, The" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
NOTES: Zimmermann: "The ballad is sometimes sung to the American tune 'The Streets of Laredo'." See that song for more information on the history of that tune.
Zimmermann p. 40: ... Robert Emmet's rising, on 23rd July, 1802. After a skirmish in the streets of Dublin the revolt fizzled out. Emmet was executed on 23rd September. In spite of his failue, he became the favourite hero of the Irish patriots, "the darling of Erin" (song [Zimmermann] 91); but this glorification did not take place immediately. In 1803, nowhere in the country does there seem to have been much enthusiasm for the rising." - BS
Robert Emmet's fruitless revolt is usually treated as a sequel to the 1798 Rising. This is oversimplified. The British government reacted to 1798 by proclaiming the Union of Ireland and Britain.
Ironically, a series of Catholic Relief Acts in 1778 and 1782 had given Catholics more rights, and under the (informal but working) constitution of 1782, Britain no longer could compel Ireland into Union. But the English managed to pull it off anyway, by much the same means as they had earlier used to form the union with Scotland: Bribery, by-elections, and every other sort of political trick. Robert Kee, on p. 158 of _The Most Distressful Country_ (being Volume I of _The Green Flag_) note the "inadequacy of the word 'corruption'" to describe the level of under-the-counter payoffs.
To make it worse, the statute that finally passed altered Pitt's original Union proposal, eliminating the provisions for Catholic Emancipation. (This even though Viceroy Cornwallis, who had finally suppressed the rebellion, argued that they should be kept. But the only way to get the proposal through the parliaments -- especially the all-Protestant Irish parliament -- was to use the Union as a stick to beat the Catholics.)
Union was passed in 1800, and came into effect in 1801. The terms were actually quite favorable to Ireland in terms of seats in parliament; had there been an Irish party, it would almost always have held the parliamentary balance of power in Britain. But the Irish, with no program of their own, could neither fit into the British political system nor form a strong party. And the Catholic/Protestant problem continued to plague them. As a result, Ireland found itself politically neutralized.
Emmet of course did not know this. He, like the vast majority of Irishmen, knew only that he didn't like the changes. But, once again, he had no answer to the problems of Union, and so was unable to produce either a working political party or a working rebellion -- only about thirty people were killed, mostly by ambush. These included the Lord Kilwarden, Chief Justice of Ireland (Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 92; Kee, p. 167, adds that Kilwarden was a "remarkably humane man," while Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, _A History of Ireland_, p. 215 note that he was "not an unpopular man").
Another element of Emmet's personal tragedy was that he very nearly left the country, which would have saved everyone a lot of trouble. But with his brother Thomas Addis Emmet (1764-1827), a leader of the United Irish rebellion, in exile and unable to return, Robert decided that he could not leave their aging parents alone and grieving (Kee, p. 162). Obviously, as it turned out, he did leave them alone, and grieving even more.
Emmet also started a sad tradition that persisted in Ireland for more than a century: The Rebellion By Gimmick. Emmet's forces had fold-up pikes (that could be hidden under a coat) and black powder rockets, and similar "secret weapons." What they didn't have was a real organization -- which, on the one hand, meant that the government didn't know of their existence, but on the other, meant that they had absolutely no way to accomplish anything. All he did was assemble a small mob and watch it be dispersed.
Emmet is remembered less because of his defiant acts (after all, there were many others equally rebellious and entirely obscure) but because of a brilliant farewell speech which eventually was widely quoted by nationalists: "Let no man write my epitaph.... When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then and not till then, let my epitaph be written" (Golway, p. 92; Fry/Fry, p. 215; Kee, p. 168, with the note that Emmet's words probably were not taken down with perfect accuracy. Not that it mattered; what counts is what people *thought* he said).
Charles Townshend (in _Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion_, pp. 8-9) suggests that the simplicity of Emmet's message contributed to his fame: "Theobald Wolfe Tone, a serious political thinker, was less widely accepted than the simple heroism of his youthful successor Robert Emmet. Tone, a child of the Enlightenment... aimed to reconstitute Irish identity through eroding the separate traditions of 'Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter [.'] The secularization this envisaged was less attractive than his simple slogan 'break the connection....' EmmetÕs failed rebellion of 1803 became an icon of romantic activism, its incompetence ignored while the brutality of the British reaction was played up. (Emmet never got his tiny force out of its assembly point, Thomas Street, toward his target, Dublin Castle; his hoped-for 2,000 insurgents had dwindled to 20 by the time they reached the end of the street.)Ó
It is perhaps not coincidental that Emmet became one of the chief inspirations for the future head of the 1916 RebellionPadraig Pearse (Townshend, p. 23); for Pearse's hazy notion of a mystic sacrifice redeeming Ireland, see the notes to "The Boys from County Cork."
It is ironic that Robert's brother Thomas, whose association with rebellion was much older and deeper, lived. Emmet was one of the United Irish leaders taken when the British raided their Dublin leadership in early 1798. (That may not have been smart on the British part; Emmet was a cautious man who was trying to cool things down. By taking him, the British left the leaderless United Irish chapters to rise in desperation.)
Thomas Emmet spent some time in prison, but was released in 1802, went briefly to France, then emigrated to the United States in 1804, where he found success in the legal profession.
According to Hoagland, Tom Maguire was born c. 1870 and went on to join the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood (the chief independence organization in the late nineteenth century -- a largely secret group), and later became part of the Irish parliament. But I've seen no absolute proof he wrote this song; much depends on when it actually first appeared. - RBW
File: PGa032
===
NAME: Bold Robin Hood (I): see Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)
===
NAME: Bold Robin Hood and the Pedlar: see The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood [Child 132] (File: C132)
===
NAME: Bold Robin Hood Rescuing the Three Squires: see Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)
===
NAME: Bold Robing Hood: see The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood [Child 132] (File: C132)
===
NAME: Bold Sodger Boy, The
DESCRIPTION: "O! There's not a trade that's going, Worth showing or knowing, Like that from glory growing For the bold sodger boy." The singer describes how the girls watch the marching soldiers, and urges the listeners to follow the soldier's trade
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: soldier recruiting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 321-322, "The Bold Sodger Boy" (1 text)
Roud #12829
File: FVS321
===
NAME: Bold Soldier, The [Laws M27]
DESCRIPTION: A father threatens to kill his daughter because she loves a soldier. He settles for sending (seven) men to kill her lover. The soldier fights the brigands off. The frightened father is then negotiated into making the soldier his heir
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1679 (Roxburghe)
KEYWORDS: father children love soldier fight
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (26 citations)
Laws M27, "The Bold Soldier"
Bronson 7a, "The Lady and the Dragoon" (24 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 377-382, "The Soldier's Wooing" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #6}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 232-233, "The Poor Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #14}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 131-149, "The Bold Soldier" (7 texts plus a fragment, 5 tunes) {C= Bronson's #18, F=#14}
Belden, pp. 103-104, "The Soldier's Wooing" (1 text)
Randolph 70, "The Valiant Soldier" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 88-90, "The Valiant Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 70A)
Eddy 3, "Earl Brand" (3 texts, 1 tune, but all clearly this piece) {Bronson's #3}
FSCatskills 46, "The Bold Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 86, "The Soldier's Wooing" (4 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 50, "The Lady and the Dragon" (sic.) (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4}
Davis-Ballads [4], "[Earl Brand]" (1 text, filed as an appendix to that ballad)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 201-202, "The Lady and the Dragoon" (1 text, with local title "A Brave Soldier"; 1 tune on pp. 409-410) {Bronson's #16}
Brewster 5, "Erlinton" (1 text, called "The Soldier's Wooing" by the informant)
SharpAp 51, "The Lady and the Dragoon" (4 texts plus 4 fragments, 8 tunes) {Bronson's #19, #8, #21, #23, #20, #24, #22, #17}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 30, "The Lady and the Dragoon" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version) {Bronson's #23}
Warner 55, "Only a Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 248-249, "The Bold Dragoon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 12, "Song of a Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #15}
Leach-Labrador 32, "The Soldier and the Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 27, pp. 68-69, "The Soldier" (1 text)
JHCox 117, "The Soldier's Wooing" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 116-117, "The Valiant Soldier" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 169, "The Bold Soldier" (1 text)
DT, (DOUGTRD4*)
Roud #321
RECORDINGS:
Harry Brazil, "Bold Keeper" (on Voice18)
Pete Seeger, "The Valiant Soldier" (on PeteSeeger29)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2237), "The Bold Dragoon" ("My father is a lord, a lord of high renown"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Firth c.14(210, "The Bold Dragoon"; Harding B 22(320), "The Valiant Dragoon"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Earl Brand" [Child 7]
cf. "Erlinton" [Child 8]
NOTES: It will be observed that Bronson lists this as an appendix to Child 7, "Earl Brand," though he notes the obvious signs of broadside publication. Laws mentions that others have connected it to Child 7 (and Child 8, "Erlinton," which is where Barry et al file it), but does not seem himself to consider the two related. Neither does he mention Bronson's title, "The Lady and the Dragoon." Cazden connects it with Child 214 and/or 215. - RBW
File: LM27
===
NAME: Bold Tenant Farmer, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer, drinking in Ballinascorthy, overhears a landlord's son and a tenant farmer's wife. He threatens eviction. She says the National Land League protects the tenants and they are members. She praises Father O'Leary, John Dillon, and Davitt. He leaves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (recording, Mickey Cronin)
KEYWORDS: drink farming political labor-movement
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1879 - formation of the Irish Land League
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #5164
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Bold Tenant Farmer" (on IRClancyMakem02)
Mickey Cronin, "The Bold Tenant Farmer" [fragment] (on Lomax42, LomaxCD1742)
Joe Heaney, "The Wife of the Bold Tenant Farmer" (on Voice08)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Moneygran Pig Hunt" (subject)
cf. "The Blackbird of Avondale (The Arrest of Parnell)" (subject of Charles Stewart Parnell)
cf. "The Land League's Advice to the Tenant Farmers of Ireland" (character of Parnell, plus the Land League)
cf. "We Won't Let Our Leader Run Down"  (subject of Charles Stewart Parnell)
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject of Charles Stewart Parnell)
cf. "Michael Davitt" (subject) and references there
cf. "The Devil and Bailiff McGlynn" (subject of problems during the Land War)
NOTES: Another eternal frustration from Lomax; he tells us that this is part of a "cocky and aggressive" Land League ballad, but gives not a clue of the subject matter.
Formed in 1879, the Irish tenant farmers' Land League fought evictions and spearheaded land reforms through Parliament. - PJS
IRClancyMakem02 has only four verses that mention the dispute and Land League but not the resolution. The Musica site has a thirteen verse version used as the basis for the description. - BS
The tenants' rights movements began in the 1840s (in Ulster of all places!), but did not become a major force until 1879. In that year, Michael Davitt (whose family had been thrust off its land when he was a child; see the notes to "Michael Davitt") came back to Ireland from America. He formed the Land League in his ancestral home in County Mayo. The new Gladstone government tried to make concessions in 1880, but was blocked by the House of Lords.
This was even though the landlords of Ireland were good for very little except brutality. They kept rents as high as possible, and discouraged land improvements. They were so widely despised that Belfast M.P. Joseph Biggar declared that he opposed shooting landlords on the grounds that the assailant often missed and might hit someone else (see Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 79).
The Land League reacted with strikes and demonstrations (the word "boycott" is believed to date from this event; Charles Boycott was a British officer charged with evicting tenants). Kee writes (p. 79) that by "1880 there were parts of Ireland where the queen's writ no longer ran." It *did* run on Boycott's land -- but it reportedly took 7000 British soldiers to guard the workers he had brought in from Ulster! (Kee, p. 81.)
Davitt (and Charles Stewart Parnell, another leader of the movement, who also was the de facto leader of the Irish representatives in the British parliament) opposed violence, but their followers were not so peaceful. The pressure was on the English parliament. Their first reaction was to tighten restrictions on the Irish, suppressing the Land League -- but the English people at last began to understand the plight of the Irish tenants.
Gladstone eventually (1881) came up with laws to protect the tenants (it was these which, in effect, finalized the split between Ulster and the rest of Ireland; Ulster was satisfied, Catholic Ireland was not). But Parnell refused his whole-hearted support. He certainly favored the law, but he wanted Home Rule and he didn't want to offend the more radical Irish. The British, in an act of incredible stupidity, arrested him briefly (see "The Blackbird of Avondale (The Arrest of Parnell)." This further radicalized the Irish; even as Parnell was released, they took to assassinating British officials.
In 1882, the outlawed Land League was replaced by the Irish National League -- a true political party rather than an activist group. This group won nearly every Irish seat in Parliament in the next election. This allowed Parnell to gain land concessions from the minority Conservative government, and also meant that Parnell was the controlling element in the next Parliament -- whichever party he supported would govern.The Land League had, in effect, triumphed.
Unfortunately, Parnell simply couldn't work out a Home Rule compromise. Conditions in Ireland improved, but not enough. Ireland continued on its destructive road to eventual independence. - RBW
File: RcTBTF
===
NAME: Bold Thady Quill
DESCRIPTION: Girls "anxious for courting" should see Thady Quill. He is a champion in field events, a partisan for Ireland, and a star at hurling. At the Cork match a rich and sickly lady remarked that she would be cured by "one squeeze outa bold Thady Quill"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem01)
KEYWORDS: sports Ireland humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, THADQUIL*
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Bold Thady Quill" (on IRClancyMakem01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Victorious Goalers of Carrigaline and Kilmoney" (subject of hurling)
cf. "Black and Amber Glory" (subject of hurling)
cf. "The Convict of Clonmel" (subject of hurling)
cf. "The Carrigaline Goalers Defeated" (subject of hurling)
NOTES: The description is from the Digital Tradition text for "Bold Thady Quil"; although its credit is "Recorded by Clancys" its version has more verses than that in IRClancyMakem01. 
IRClancyMakem01 cover notes refer to Thady Quill as "a champion hurler from county Cork, whom I understand is still alive" [1959]. - BS
Robert Gogan, _130 Great Irish Ballads_ (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 14, has a very different story (which he admits is "legend") of Thady: "It is reported that Thady Quill was no athlete at all, but a lazy farm worker employed by a farmer named Johnny Tom Gleeson in Ballinagree, a townland in Muskerry. The local story goes that Johnny Tom Gleeson penned these verses as a satire to Thady's laziness and inactivity."
On the other hand, _Soodlum's Irish Ballad Book_ reports that "Thady Quill is rumoured to have lived in the Mushra Mountains near Macroom, Co. Cork."
Hurling is an ancient Irish sport, somewhat similar to hockey (it involves sticks, two teams of 15, and a complicated set of rules for sticking or kicking or carrying the ball), seemingly mentioned in twelfth century records and possibly before that. According to the _Oxford Companion to Irish History_, the rules were formally codified in 1870 and the Irish Hurley Union formed in 1879.
It was already mentioned in song before that, to be sure; see "The Victorious Goalers of Carrigaline and Kilmoney."
There is an interesting political twist on this, because the sport is Irish: It is seen, in a small way, as a form of anti-Protestant demonstration. 
The Irish nationalist Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) doesn't appear to have anything significant to do with hurling, but the Hurley Union dissolved around the time of his death, with other leagues having gradually taken its place.- RBW
File: RcBoThQu
===
NAME: Bold Trellitee, The: see The Golden Vanity [Child 286] (File: C286)
===
NAME: Bold Trooper, The: see The Trooper and the Tailor (File: FSC139)
===
NAME: Bold William Taylor (I): see William Taylor [Laws N11] (File: LN11)
===
NAME: Bold William Taylor (II): see Keepers and Poachers (File: K254)
===
NAME: Bold Wolfe: see Brave Wolfe [Laws A1] (File: LA01)
===
NAME: Bold, Brave Bonair, A: see One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14] (File: LP14)
===
NAME: Boll Weevil Blues, The: see The Boll Weevil [Laws I17] (File: LI17)
===
NAME: Boll Weevil Song: see The Boll Weevil [Laws I17] (File: LI17)
===
NAME: Boll Weevil, The [Laws I17]
DESCRIPTION: The boll weevil, which is just "a-lookin' for a home," inevitably comes in conflict with the cotton farmer. The farmer tries many techniques to drive the weevil out; the weevil, far from being inconvenienced, is often represented as thanking the farmer
AUTHOR: possibly Postal McCurdy & Emabel Palmer
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (recordings, Al Bernard & Ernest Hare)
KEYWORDS: animal bug poverty farming
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: c. 1898 - Boll Weevil arrives in the southern U.S. from Mexico
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So,SE)
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Laws I17, "The Boll Weevil"
BrownIII 214, "Boll Weevil Blues" (2 texts)
Hudson 72, pp. 199-200, "Mister Boll Weevil" (1 text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 66, (no title) (1 excerpt, probably of this song); pp. 77-79,  "Mr. Boll Weevil" (plus other versions with no title) (2 texts plus 3 excerpts, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 319, "The Ballet of the Boll Weevil" (2 texts+1 fragment, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 8-10, "Boll Weevil Song"; 252-253, "De Ballet of de Boll Weevil" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Scott-BoA, pp. 316-318, "The Ballad of the Boll Weevil" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax-FSUSA 69, "The Boll Weevil" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 112-117, "De Ballit of de Boll Weevil" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
Lomax-FSNA 285, "The Boll Weevil Holler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 916-918, "Boll Weevil Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 140-141, "Boll Weevil" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 751, "Boll Weevil" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 244-246, "Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues"; "The Boll Weevil" (2 texts)
Silber-FSWB, p. 118, "Ballad Of The Boll Weevil" (1 text)
DT, BOLLWEEV* BLLWEEV2* (BOLWEV2)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 163, (no title) (1 fragment)
Roud #3124
RECORDINGS:
Pink Anderson, "Bo Weevil" (on PinkAnd1)
Arkansas Trio, "Boll Weevil Blues" (Edison 51373-R, 1924)
Al Bernard, "Boll Weevil Blues" (Brunswick 2092, 1921)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Dixie Boll Weevil" (OKeh 40095-B, 1924)
Jaybird Coleman, "Boll Weevil" (Black Patti 8055, 1927; on StuffDreams1)
[Vernon] Dalhart, [Ed] Smalle & [Harry] Reser, "Boll Weevil Blues" (OKeh 40156, 1924)
Fats Domino, "Bo Weevil" (Imperial 5375, 1956)
Vera Hall, "Boll Weevil" (AFS 1323 A1, 1937)
Ernest Hare, "Boll Weevil Blues" (Vocalion 14151, 1921)
Lead Belly, "The Boll Weevil" (Musicraft 226, rec. 1939)
W. A. Lindsay & Alvin Condor, "Boll Weevil" (OKeh 45346, 1929; rec. 1928)
The Masked Marvel (pseud. for Charley Patton), "Mississippi Boweavil Blues" (Paramount 15805B. 1929; on AAFM1, BefBlues2)
Charlie Oaks, "Boll Weevil" (Vocalion 5113, c. 1927)
Ma Rainey w. Lovie Austin & her Blues Serenaders, "Bo-Weavil Blues" (Paramount 12080, 1924)
Tex Ritter, "Boll Weevil" (Capitol 40084, 1948)
Carl Sandburg, "The Boll Weevil" (Victor 20135, 1926)
Pete Seeger, "Boll Weevil" (on PeteSeeger05) (on PeteSeeger43); "Ballad of the Boll Weevil" (on PeteSeeger31)
Bessie Smith, "Boweavil Blues" (Columbia 14018-D, 1924)
Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett, "Boll Weevil Blues" (Columbia 15016-D, c. 1924)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Man Blues" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Frankie and Albert" [Laws I3] (tune)
NOTES: Sandburg reports collections of Boll Weevil verses dating back to 1897, but it is not clear in context whether these are actually part of this song. - RBW, PJS
And indeed, the origins of the song are obscure, or at least messy. The Bernard, Hare & Arkansas Trio recordings credit the authorship to McCurdy & Palmer, as does a regional guide to the town of Fakes Chapel [state unknown] which claims that McCurdy wrote the "'well-known' folk song" there in 1923. The recordings, of course, make this date impossible, but he seems to have had a hand in the creation of some well-known verses. Fiddlin' John Carson copyrighted his version in 1924, and it certainly contains some of the classic lines. - PJS
File: LI17
===
NAME: Bollochy Bill the Sailor
DESCRIPTION: A dialogue song in which Bill -- who "just got paid and wants to be laid" -- seeks to get the fair young maiden into bed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 ("Immortalia")
KEYWORDS: bawdy dialog sailor seduction
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 49, "Abram Brown the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cray, pp. 81-86, "Bollochy Bill the Sailor" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 204, "Rollicking Bill the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune, probably truncated since it ends with Bill asking for a place to sleep and the girl declaring she has only one bed)
Colcord, pp. 182-183, "Abram Brown" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 164-166, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 440-442, "Abel Brown the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbrEd, pp. 331-333]
Fuld-WFM, pp. 128-129, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor"
DT, BARNBILL BARNBIL2
Roud #4704
RECORDINGS:
Anonymous singers, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" (on Unexp1)
Bix Beiderbecke w. Paul Whiteman's Orchestra, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" (Victor 25371, 1936)
Bud & Joe Billings (Frank Luther & Carson Robison), "Barnacle Bill The Sailor" (Victor V-40043, 1929; Victor V-40153, 1929 [as Bud Billings & Carson Robison])
Ned Cobbin [pseud. for Irving Kaufman], "Barnacle Bill the Sailor"  (Harmony 861-H/Diva 2861-G, 1929)
Billy Costello (Popeye), "Barnacle Bill, the Sailor" (Decca 1573, 1937)
Frank Luther & His Pards, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" (CYL: Edison 5678, c. 1929) (Edison 52532, 1929)
Carson Robison, "Barnacle Bill, the Sailor" (Broadway 4054, c. 1932)
Pete Wiggins, "Barnacle Bill, the Sailor" (OKeh 45295, 1929)
SAME_TUNE:
Frank Luther & his Pards "Barnacle Bill the Sailor, No. 2" (Edison 20008, 1929) 
Bud & Joe Billings (Frank Luther & Carson Robison), "Barnacle Bill The Sailor No. 2" (Victor V-40102, 1929)
Bud & Joe Billings (Frank Luther & Carson Robison), "Barnacle Bill the Sailor No. 2" (Victor V-40102, 1929); "Barnacle Bill The Sailor No. 3" (Victor V-40153, 1929)
Carson Robison, "Here I Go to Tokyo, Said Barnacle Bill, the Sailor" (Bluebird B-11460, 1942)
Vernon Dalhart, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor - No. 2" (Harmony 1304, 1931)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Barnacle Bill the Sailor
NOTES: For a history of this onetime sea song, see Cray, _Erotic Muse_ II, pp. 83-85. - EC
Most of the printed versions of this song are fairly "clean." But Cray and Fuld are in agreement that it is properly a bawdy song. Fuld doubts the existence of its ancestor "Abram Brown the Sailor," but Cray quotes a text from the Gordon collection [and there is a version in Greenleaf/Mansfield- (BS)].
There is also a nursery rhyme about Abram Brown, found in Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #230, p. 150, ("Abram Brown is dead and gone"), but if that is associated with any song, it is probably "Old Grimes Is Dead."
Carson Robison is sometimes credited with a popular version of this ("Barnacle Bill the Sailor"), but obviously his part was no more than a clean-up (and production of sequels). - RBW
In the interest of history, it is worth recording that the scientists of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, during the Sojourner mission, named a particularly lumpy rock on the surface of Mars "Barnacle Bill the Sailor." - PJS
File: EM081
===
NAME: Bolsum Brown
DESCRIPTION: "There's a red light on the track for Bolsum Brown, for Bolsum Brown, for Bolsum Brown... And it'll be there when he comes back." "Hop along, sister Mary, hop along.... There's a red light on the track And it'll be there when he comes back."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: railroading
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 355, "Bolsum Brown" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST San355 (Full)
File: San355
===
NAME: Bon Vin, Le (The Good Wine)
DESCRIPTION: French. We drink and a friend sings [the chorus] in my ear. Be careful of this beautiful woman. She had three captains, one in Bordeaux, one in La Rochelle and the other in Versailles. Chorus: "Good wine makes me dead, Love wakes me again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sex wine bawdy nonballad rake mistress
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 249-250, "Le Bon Vin" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Passant par Paris
File: Pea249
===
NAME: Bonaparte
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you natives far and near Come listen to my story... Boni would not be content Until he was master of the whole world." He divorces his wife, fights the church, fights England, fails at Waterloo, and is exiled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1834 (Journal from the L.C. Richmond)
KEYWORDS: Napoleon war wife pride exile
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1769 - Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte
1796 - Napoleon marries Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814)
1796 - Napoleon given command of the Army of Italy. Over the next eight years he will have many conflicts with Austria and the Pope in the Italian peninsula
1809 - Napoleon divorces Josephine (partly on the grounds of her notorious infidelity, partly because she is barren); he marries Maria Louisa (Marie Louise) of Austria the next year
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
July 15, 1815 - Napoleon is sent to Saint Helena on the Bellerophon
1821 - Death of Napoleon. He died with Josephine's name on his lips
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 209-212, "Bonaparte" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST SWMS209 (Full)
Roud #1992
NOTES: This seems to be the only text of this song known; it may never have gone into tradition. But I decided to include it to show the wealth of Napoleon songs.
File: SWMS209
===
NAME: Bonaparte on St. Helena: see Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena) (File: E096)
===
NAME: Bonaparte's Farewell
DESCRIPTION: Bonaparte bids farewell to France which has abandoned him because of its weakness: "Decay'd in thy glory and sunk in thy worth!" "But when Liberty rallies Once more in thy regions, remember me then ... and call on the Chief of thy choice"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1865 (broadside, LOCSinging as200400 and Bodleian Harding B 18(52))
KEYWORDS: freedom Napoleon
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 208, "Bonaparte's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(52), "Bonaparte's Farewell," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 [same as LOCSinging, as200400]; also Harding B 18(593) [yet another copy of the same sheet]
LOCSinging, as200400, "Bonaparte's Farewell," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 [same as Bodleian, Harding B 18(52)]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain O'Kean" (tune, per broadsides LOCSinging as200400 and Bodleian Harding B 18(52))
NOTES: This song has absolutely no historical references; the only proper noun in the whole song is "France." Theoretically, the speaker might not even be Napoleon -- though the bombast fits him. The only specific reference is that a diadem crowned him -- more relevant to a parvenu emperor than to the legitimate Bourbons, but  Bourbon *could* have said such a thing.
Still, Napoleon seems to be the intended speaker. It sounds like something he would have said before his exile to Elba (1814), rather than the exile to St. Helena (1815). This because, in 1813-1814, Paris and the government actually voted him out of power. In 1815, there wasn't time for any of that. - RBW
Broadsides LOCSinging as200400 and Bodleian Harding B 18(52): 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: Moyl208
===
NAME: Bonavist Line, The
DESCRIPTION: Hard times for "the red roarin' devils on the Bonavist [or Riverhead] Line." The railway construction workers are charged high rates for terrible food and simple services. Go to the store and the old woman there won't give you a thing without "a tip"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: sex food hardtimes railroading nonballad worker
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 768-771, "The Bonavist Line" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 92, "Riverhead Line" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5206
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The North Shoreman's Line
The Shoal Harbour Line
NOTES: Peacock says the Bonavista Line serving the tip of the Bonavista peninsula and Riverhead Line serving Conception Bay are spurs of Newfoundland's now defunct narrow-gauge trans-insular railway. - BS
File: Pea768
===
NAME: Bonavista Harbour
DESCRIPTION: "They started to make a harbour here quite early in the Spring; The people came from Canada with all kinds of machines ...." A list of people doing all the jobs but now that they've finished they'll surely have to come back and patch it every year.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: moniker warning technology work tasks worker nonballad
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doyle3, pp. 16-17, "Bonavista Harbour" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 52, "Bonavista Harbour" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7290
NOTES: [The breakwater described was built sometime between 1943 and 1945.]
As the song predicts, by the end of 1945 there are already comments about improving the harbour by dredging [per Charles Granger, "Bonavista Cold Storage Co., Limited" in Fishermen's Advocate, December 21, 1945] - BS
File: Doyl3016
===
NAME: Boney
DESCRIPTION: Napoleon's story in the space of a shanty: "Boney was a warrior, Way up! A warrior and a tarrier, John Francois!" He fights the Russians, comes to Waterloo, is defeated, goes to Saint Helena, and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909
KEYWORDS: shanty Napoleon exile battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1812- Napoleon's Russian campaign
1815- Battle of Waterloo
1821- Death of Napoleon on Saint Helena
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 6-7, "Boney" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 78-79, "Boney" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
Bone, p. 42, "Boney" (1 partial text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 29, "Boney" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 40-41, "Boney" (1 text, 1 tune plus 1 fragment of "Jean Francois")
Harlow, pp. 27-28, "John Francois (Boney Was a Warrior)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 445-446, 448 "Boney," "Hilonday" (2 English and 1 French text, 2 tune) [AbrEd, pp. 333-335]
Sharp-EFC, XLIX, p. 54, "Bonny Was a Warrior" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 310, "Boney" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 88, "Boney Was A Warrior" (1 text)
DT, BONEYNAP*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919)." Boney was a Warrior" is in Part 4, 8/4/1917.
Roud #485
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Francois
Jean Francois de Nantes
File: Doe006
===
NAME: Boney on the Isle of St. Helena: see Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena) (File: E096)
===
NAME: Boney Was a Warrior: see Boney (File: Doe006)
===
NAME: Boney's Defeat: see Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena) (File: E096)
===
NAME: Bonhomme Tombe de L'Arbre, Le (The Fellow Falls from the Tree)
DESCRIPTION: French. Willie goes hunting for partridges. He goes up in a tree to see his dogs running. The branch breaks; Willie falls and breaks his thigh. All the girls in the village hear his cries and run to bandage his leg.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage help hunting injury
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, p. 45, "Le Bonhomme Tombe de L'Arbre" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea045
===
NAME: Bonhomme! Bonhomme!
DESCRIPTION: French: "Bonhomm', Bonhomm', sais-tu jouer?" "My friend, my friend, can you play this? Can you play the violin... flute... drum... horn... jug."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1954
KEYWORDS: cumulative nonballad music foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 120-121, "Bonhomme! Bonhomme!" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FJ120
===
NAME: Bonnet o' Blue: see Jacket So Blue, The (The Bonnet o' Blue) (File: FSC43)
===
NAME: Bonnet of Blue, The: see Jacket So Blue, The (The Bonnet o' Blue) (File: FSC43)
===
NAME: Bonnet sae Blue, The: see Jacket So Blue, The (The Bonnet o' Blue) (File: FSC43)
===
NAME: Bonnets o' Blue, The
DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing ye a sang in praise o that land Whaur the snaw never melts ..." Culloden is recalled: "nae traitors were there mang the bonnets o blue" The "brave Forty Twa" in Egypt, Waterloo, Lucknow and "avenging Cawnpore" is recalled.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: pride army war Scotland nonballad patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 16, 1746 - Battle of Culloden Muir ends the 1745 Jacobite rebellion
1801 - Black Watch fought at Aboukir (Mar 8) and subsequent battles between March and August in the Egyptian campaign against Napoleon (source: "French & Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815: Egyptian Campaign 1801" at Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth [regiments.org] site)
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
Sept 20, 1854 - Battle of Alma. The allies win an expensive victory over the Russians
July 17, 1857 - Recapture of Cawnpore in the Sepoy Rebellion (source: "Background" in _Second Battle of Cawnpore_ at Wikipedia)
November 1857-March 1858 - Capture of Lucknow in the Sepoy Rebellion (source: "Indian Sepoy Rebellion 1857-1858" at Land Forces of Britain ...)
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 524, "The Bonnets o' Blue" (1 text)
Roud #6006
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(22a), "The Bonnets o' Blue," The Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "McCaffery (McCassery)" (subject: 42nd Highlanders or Black Watch) and references there
cf. "Wha Saw the Forty-Second" (subject: 42nd Highlanders or Black Watch) and references there
cf. "The Gallant Forty-Twa" (subject: 42nd Highlanders or Black Watch)
cf. "Here's to the Black Watch" (subject: 42nd Highlanders or Black Watch)
NOTES: Commentary to broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(22a): "This ballad sings the praises of the Royal Highland Regiment, better known as the Black Watch, who wore small round blue bonnets. It concerns an incident during the Crimean War, 1854-6, when Queen Victoria sent her 'lads wi' the Bonnets o' Blue' 'up the Alma's grim heights for tae conquror[sic] or die'." If so, it celebrates other deeds as well. GreigDuncan3 replaces "Victoria" with "King Edward" in broadside lines "Victoria kens ; aye, she kens braw an' weel, That oor ain kiltie lads are as true sa their steel"  - BS
Re "avenging Cawnpore": Cawnpore was captured by the Indian rebels in 1857. The rebels broke a safe-conduct agreement condition of surrender, killed some of the British and took others hostage. When the British were about to recapture Cawnpore in July "the prisoners, about two-thirds of whom were women, children & babies, were butchered by their captors." (source: "First War of Independence 1857" in _Kanpur_ at Wikipedia).
General Neill was left in charge of Cawnpore and avenged the massacre by lashing and hanging those identified as perpetrators, "a piece of savagery unrivalled in British military history." (source: "James George Neill" at FirstFoot.com, which describes itself as "Scotland's humour site." )
For another discussion of Cawnpore see Saul David, _The Indian Mutiny: 1857_ (Viking, London, 2002). The massacre of the British is discussed on pp. 199-200, the retribution on pp. 258-260. The discussion of the retribution illustrates how the perpetrators were forced through tabus against their caste. David writes (p. 259) that the retribution was considered just by most Britons in India at the time. - BS
Byron Farwell, _Queen Victoria's Little Wars_ (Norton, 1972), p. 107, gives an example of this. Major William Hodson "appears to have worked himself into a frenzy. Seizing a carbine from one of his sowars, he ordererd the princes to strip and then personally shot each of them in cold blood, one after the other. The horrified crowd drew back in silence. Hodson ordererd the corpses to be thrown into a bullock cart and then carried them into Delhi. 'I am not cruel,' he wrote to his brother, 'but I confess I did rejoice at the opportunity of ridding the earth of those wretches.'"
And, before we start making pious-sounding comments about cultural imperialism, I have one word: "Thuggee." This had in fact largely been suppressed by 1857 -- but the memory was still very recent. Three wrongs no more make a right than do two, but British-Indian relations were still scarred by the very recent memories of ritual murder.
For the Battle of Culloden, see especially the notes to "The Muir of Culloden." For Alma, see "The Heights of Alma (I)" [Laws J10]. It is interesting to note that the commander of the Highlanders at both Alma (where he commanded the Highland Brigade) and the Indian Mutiny (where he was the overall boss) was Sir Colin Campbell, for whom see "The Kilties in the Crimea." - RBW
File: GrD3524
===
NAME: Bonnie Annie [Child 24]
DESCRIPTION: A ship's captain seduces (Annie) and takes her to sea with him. The ship they are sailing is caught in a storm which will not die down. (The crew) decides that Annie is the guilty party and throws her overboard. (The captain may order her rescue)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (reported by Lloyd)
KEYWORDS: seduction sea death storm childbirth pregnancy bastard
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 24, "Bonnie Annie" (3 texts)
Bronson 24, "Bonnie Annie" (18 versions)
OBB 20, "Bonnie Annie" (1 text)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 15, "The Banks of Green Willow" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
DBuchan 45, "Bonnie Annie" (1 text)
DT 24, GREWILLO* BONNYANN*
Roud #172
NOTES: In the Vaughan Williams/Lloyd version, the sailor Johnny has persuaded the girl to steal her mother's money and run away to sea with him. When she has his baby, he (not the crew) throws her overboard, along with her baby.  - PJS
File: C024
===
NAME: Bonnie Banks o' Airdrie, The: see Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14] (File: C014)
===
NAME: Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond, The: see Loch Lomond (File: FSWB257B)
===
NAME: Bonnie Banks of the Virgie, O, The: see Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14] (File: C014)
===
NAME: Bonnie Barbara, O: see Bonnie Lass of Fyvie, The (Pretty Peggy-O) (File: SBoA020)
===
NAME: Bonnie Black Bess: see My Bonnie Black Bess I [Laws L8] AND My Bonnie Black Bess II [Laws L9] (File: LL09)
===
NAME: Bonnie Blue Flag, The
DESCRIPTION: "We are a band of brothers, and native to the soil, Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil... Hurrah for the bonny blue flag that bears the single star." The states which joined the Confederacy are chronicled and praised
AUTHOR: Words: Harry McCarthy
EARLIEST_DATE: 1861
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Belden, pp. 357-359, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text)
Randolph 214, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 379, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text plus mention of 1 more probably from the same informant)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 34-38, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, p. 220, "The Bonny Blue Flag (Southern)" (1 partial text, tune referenced)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 52-53, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hill-CivWar, p. 210, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text)
Krythe 8, pp. 133-141, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 349-350, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text)
DT, BONBLUE*
ST R214 (Full)
Roud #4769
RECORDINGS:
Mary C. Mann, "Bonnie Blue Flag" (AFS A-488, 1926)
Old South Quartette, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (Cyl.: Edison Amberol 389, 2175, 1909)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Jaunting Car" (tune& meter)
cf. "The Homespun Dress" (tune & meter)
cf. "The Northern Bonnie Blue Flag" (tune & meter)
cf. "The Southern Girl's Reply (True to the Gray)" (tune & meter)
cf. "Counties of Arkansas" (tune & meter)
SAME_TUNE:
The Southern Girl's Reply (True to the Gray) (File: Wa156)
The Homespun Dress (File: R215)
The Northern Bonnie Blue Flag (File: SBoA218)
The Counties of Arkansas (File: R876)
Gathering Song (by Annie Chambers Ketchum) (War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy, pp. 329-330)
NOTES: This song, written by an immigrant Irishman very early in the Civil War (Belden has a note that Fitz-Grald credits the words to Annie Chambers Ketchum, with Harry McCarthy supplying the tune, but almost all sources credit the song to McCarthy), refers to the first Confederate flag, later succeeded by the "Stars and Bars." 
The order the states are mentioned is roughly the order in which they left the Union. South Carolina was first, obviously, followed by the various states of the Deep South (Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida; Louisiana and Texas took slightly longer because of their remote location). It was not until after the attack on Fort Sumter that the border states of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and (last of all) North Carolina seceded.
Jefferson Davis was, of course, the first and only President of the Confederacy, and Alexander Stephens its Vice President.
Krythe's notes on this song contain several errors. The captain of the _Alabama_ was not "Admiral Symmes" but Captain (later Admiral) Raphael Semmes, and General Wickham's first name was not William but Williams (with an s).
Harry McCarthy was only 27 when he wrote this song, but managed to avoid Confederate service as a British citizen. What's more, he fled to the North once the outlook for the Confederacy turned bad enough. He never wrote anything else of note, either. - RBW
File: R214
===
NAME: Bonnie Bonnie Banks of the Virgie-O, The: see Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14] (File: C014)
===
NAME: Bonnie Bower, The: see The Famous Flower of Serving-Men [Child 106] (File: C106)
===
NAME: Bonnie Breist-knots, The
DESCRIPTION: "Hey, the bonnie, ho, the bonnie, Hey, the bonnie breist-knots, Blythe and merry were they a' When they got on their bonnie breist-knots." "There was a bridal in the toun" to which many came; the song tells of their happy and wild adventures
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #214)
KEYWORDS: marriage music dancing clothes husband wife food
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 303-306, "The Bonnie Breist-knots" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan3 611, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Hey the Bonnie Breistknots" (1 text, 1 tune) 
Roud #5888
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:087, "The Bonnie Breast-Knots," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hey the Bonnie Breistknots
The Breast Knots
File: FVS303
===
NAME: Bonnie Brier Bush, The
DESCRIPTION: "There grows a bonnie brier bush in oor kailyaird, And sweet are the blossoms on't in oor kaildyaird. Beneath the... bush a lad and lass were scared... busy courtin'." The singer tells of the joys of courting in the kailyaird, as was first done by Adam
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 157, "The Bonnie Brier Bush" (1 text)
Roud #1506
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(39b) "Bonnie Brier Bush," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
NOTES: Kennedy lumps this with "The Cuckoo's Nest (II)" and this equation is accepted by Roud. But that song is definitely erotic, and this is merely a courting song. I can't see lumping them, though I'm sure other sources have been guilty of doing so. - RBW
File: FVS157
===
NAME: Bonnie Broom-Fields, The: see The Broomfield Hill [Child 43] (File: C043)
===
NAME: Bonnie Buchairn
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks, "Quhilk o' ye lasses will go to Buchairn (x3) And be the gudewife o' bonnie Buchairn?" He turns down the pretty girls, wanting "the lass wi' the shaif o' bank notes." He describes his plans for the wedding
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: courting wedding money
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kinloch-BBook XX, pp. 69-70, "Bonnie Buchairn" (1 text)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 119-121, "Glowerowerum" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST KinBB20 (Full)
Roud #1101
NOTES: In dealing with old songbooks which do not list sources, it is a perpetual problem to determine what is traditional and what is just space-filling garbage. Kinloch's looks a little artsy and archaizing, as if touched up -- but the basic text seems very traditional.
Either that, or it's the first-ever proposal for an urban renewal grant. - RBW
File: KinBB20
===
NAME: Bonnie Farday: see Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14] (File: C014)
===
NAME: Bonnie Fisher Lass, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets and is captivated by "a bonny fisher lass" on her way "to get my lines in order" and get bait. Her father's "on the ocean wide, a toiling on his boat" and she worries "when a storm arises ... lest he should meet with a watery grave"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: fishing sea father
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #153, p. 2, "The Bonnie Fisher Lass" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 485, "The Bonnie Fisher Lass" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #5881
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Fisher Lass
NOTES: Greig: "There are not many traditional songs dealing with fisher folk; and as for fisher folk themselves they do not seem to have any old minstrelsy dealing with their special calling and interests." - BS
File: GrD3485
===
NAME: Bonnie George Campbell [Child 210]
DESCRIPTION: Bonnie George Campbell sets out on his horse. The horse comes home, but he does not: "High upon Hielands and low upon Tay, Bonnie George Campbell rade oot on a day; Saddled and bridled and gallant rade he; Hame cam his guid horse but never cam he"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1807
KEYWORDS: death horse
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord)) US(Ap,NE,SE)
REFERENCES: (19 citations)
Child 210, "Bonnie James Campbell" (4 texts)
Bronson 210, "Bonnie James Campbell" (5 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 279-284, "Bonnie George Campbell" (2 text plus a printed version and a composite reconstruction, 1 traditional plus one printed tune) {The "C" reprint is Bronson's #1, the traditional tune "D" is Bronson's #23}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 237-238, "Bonnie James Campbell" (1 badly damaged fragment)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 31-311, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text, with a peculiar final verse probably not traditional and edited by Ford)
Davis-More 35, pp. 267-269, "Bonnie James Campbell" (1 text)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 25-26, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, p. 560, "Bonnie James Campbell" (2 texts)
OBB 96, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
Warner 106, "James Campbell" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 57, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 162+335, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 34, pp. 126-127, "Bonnie James Campbell" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 145, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
TBB 18, "Bonnie James (George) Campbell" (2 texts)
HarvClass-EP1, p. 27, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
DT 210, GEORCAMP* GEORCMP2*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #50, "Bonnie George Campbell" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 25, #4 (1977), p, 21, "Bonnie James Campbell" (1 text, 1 tune, from Frank Proffitt)
Roud #338
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Caudill Hurst & Carolyn Margaret Hurst, "Bonnie George Campbell" (on JThomas01)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Bonnie George Campbell" (on BLLunsford01) {Bronson's #2}
Frank Proffitt, "James Campbell" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cumberland Gap" (tune)
cf. "The Killin' in the Gap"(Stevie Allen) (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bonnie Johnnie Campbell
NOTES: Although several names have been suggested as the original hero of this ballad, the details suggested in the song are so few that none can be viewed as more than a possibility. There were, after all, many casualties in the long conflict between the MacDonalds and the Campbells -- including the very first Campbell known to history, Collin Campbell, ambushed at the String of Lorne in 1296 (see Thomson: Oliver Thomson, _The Great Feud: The Campbells & The Macdonalds_, Sutton Publishing, 2000, p. 3).
In an interesting twist, it seems likely that this song was known to relatively upper-class southerners in the Civil War era. Shelby Foote, _The Civil War: A Narrative (Volume I: Fort Sumter to Perryville)_ (Random House, 1958), p. 131 quotes a South Carolina lady's description of an early visit from Robert E. Lee to her area: "Preux chevalier, booted and bridled and gallantrode he, but so far his bonnie face has only brought us ill luck." - RBW
File: C210
===
NAME: Bonnie Glasgow Green
DESCRIPTION: "As I went out one morning fair On Glasgow green to tak the air, I spied a lass wi' yellow hair And twa bewitching e'en, O."  The girl will not betray her mason. He asks if she can trust a mason. She decides to turn to the singer. He praises Glasgow Green
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection betrayal
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 121-122, "Bonnie Glasgow Green" (1 text)
Roud #6262
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Birken Tree" (form)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bonny Glasgow Green
NOTES: And the singer *wants* a girl who changes her mind that easily? Ouch.
At least some versions of this appear to have been sung to "The Birken Tree," to which it is highly similar in detail. - RBW
File: Ord121
===
NAME: Bonnie Highland Laddie: see Hieland Laddie (File: Doe050)
===
NAME: Bonnie Hind, The [Child 50]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor, new come from the sea, sees a girl and sleeps with her. After the deed is done, they exchange names, only to find they are brother and sister. The sister stabs herself; the brother buries her and goes home grieving
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1771 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: incest death seduction mourning suicide grief
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 50, "The Bonnie Hind" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 172, "The Bonny Hind" (1 text)
DT 50, BONNYHND
Roud #205
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The King's Dochter Lady Jean" [Child 52] (plot)
cf. "Sheath and Knife" [Child 16] (plot, lyrics)
cf. "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie" [Child 14] (plot)
cf. "Lizie Wan" [Child 51] (theme)
NOTES: Friedman states that the only recorded collection of this song was from a Scottish milkmaid in 1771. -PJS
On the scientific evidence that brothers and sisters raised apart are particularly likely to fall in love, and some further speculation as to why, see the notes to "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14]." - RBW
File: C050
===
NAME: Bonnie House o Airlie, The [Child 199]
DESCRIPTION: Argyle sets out to plunder the home of his enemy Airlie while the latter is away (with Bonnie Prince Charlie?). Argyle summons Lady Airlie, asking for a kiss and threatening ruin to the house if she will not. She refuses; they plunder the house
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1790 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: feud courting
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1640 - Argyle commissioned to clean up certain "unnatural" lords
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Canada(Mar) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Child 199, "The Bonnie House o Airlie" (4 texts)
Bronson 199, "The Bonnie House o Airlie" (15 versions)
Hogg2 76, "Young Airly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #58, p. 2, "The Bonnie House o' Airlie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 233, "The Bonnie Hoose o' Airlie" (9 texts, 5 tunes) {A and E=Bronson's #4 and #10, C=#9, D=#5}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 266-269, "The Bonnie House of Airlie" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #11}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 191-192, "The Bonnie House of Airlie" (1 fragment, "The Sacking of Arlee")
Gardner/Chickering 80, "Prince Charlie" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #8}
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 296-299, "The Bonnie House o' Airlie" (1 text)
JHCox 20, "The Bonnie House o' Airlie" (1 text)
Ord, p. 470, "The Bonnie House o' Airlie" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 15, "The Bonnie House o' Airlie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 70-71, "The Bonny House o' Arlie" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #16}
Leach, pp. 537-538, "The Bonnie House of Airlie" (2 texts)
OBB 135, "The Bonnie House o Airlie" (1 text)
DT 199, BONAIRLI*
Roud #794
RECORDINGS:
John MacDonald, "The Bonnie Hoose O' Airlie" (on Voice17)
Belle Stewart, "The Bonny Hoose o' Airlie" (on FSBBAL2) (on SCStewartsBlair01)
Lucy Stewart, "The Bonnie Hoose o' Airlie" (on LStewart1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.15(264), "The Bonnie House o' Airly" ("It fell on a day, a bonny summer day"), R. McIntosh (Glasgow), 1849-1859; also Firth b.26(179), "The Bonnie House o' Airly"
Murray, Mu23-y1:027, "The Bonnie House o' Airly," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Young Airly" (subject and tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Bonnie Den o' Airlie (broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(130b), "Bonnie Den o' Airlie" ("It fell upon a day, on a bonnie simmer's day"), Poet's Box (Dundee), n.d, with no tune indicated but clearly this is meant)
NOTES: This song seems to have originated in the period when Scotland was in open rebellion against Charles I over the issue of religion -- Charles had tried to impose an Episcopal prayer book on Scotland; that Presbyterian nation reacted with the Covenant, a defiant rejection of Charles's religious schemes. (For this see, e.g. Rosalind Mitchison, _A History of Scotland_, second edition, p. 206ffff.)
Although almost all of Scotland accepted the Covenant, a religious agreement was not a government. The various factions proposed various ways to govern their nation. The two key factions were those headed by Montrose (who still stood by the monarchy, and who would by his military genius later become its chief prop) and Argyle (who was anti-royalist and out for his own profit).
On June 12, 1640, as Charles I was trying to attack Scotland but being delayed by his finances and the increasing unrest of his English subjects, Argyle was empowered by the Scottish parliament (then meeting for the first time without a royal representative) to deal with certain lords as enemies of the Church. One of those under suspicion was the Earl of Airlie (then away in England, apparently to avoid signing the Covenant).
Montrose had taken the lands of Airlie from the Earl's son Lord Ogilvie, but Argyle felt the urge to deal with the house more strenuously.
The earliest copies of the ballad refer to Airlie being present with "King Charlie" (Charles I, reigned 1625-1649). In later versions, "King Charlie" became "(Bonnie) Prince Charlie," a confusion perhaps encouraged by the fact that the Earl of Airlie of 1745 was a follower of Charlie.
The "B" text in Barry et al is even more confused, it dates itself to the days of "the wars of Roses white and red And in the days of Prince Charlie" -- which is, of course, impossible, since the Wars of the Roses took place two and a half centuries before the Jacobite rebellions, and a century and a half before Airlie's first commission. Nor were any of the royal pretenders of the period named Charles. (Indeed, until the Stuart succession, there was never a member of the English royal family named Charles; it was, after all, a French name!) The context of the version suits the Forty-Five. - RBW
Among the parodies is NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(130b), "Bonnie Den o' Airlie," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890.
Hogg2 76 is one of two texts Hogg has entitled "Young Airly." The other is not the Child ballad, though it shares its subject and tune.
Hogg2: .".. from the verses in Cromek [i.e. _Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song_], and a street ballad collated." Cromek's text is one of the ones cited by Child as a source for his version C.- BS
File: C199
===
NAME: Bonnie James Campbell: see Bonnie George Campbell [Child 210] (File: C210)
===
NAME: Bonnie Jean O' Aberdeen, She Lang'd for a Baby
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, there was a farmer's daughter And she longed for a baby And she rolled up a big grey hen And she put it into the cradle ... she rocked the cradle, saying: If it wasn't for your big long neb I would gie ye a draw of the diddy, oh"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Mother Goose's Melody, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: bird baby humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Opie-Oxford2 183, "A girl in the army" (4 texts)
Roud #2293
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Butcher, "The Farmer's Daughter" (on IREButcher01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rose Tree in Full Bearing" (tune, notes to IREButcher01)
NOTES: The opening lines of the four Opie-Oxford2 texts are "A girl in the army She longed for a baby,' "There was a miller's dochter, She couldna want a babie,' "The little lady lairdie She longt for a baby" and "There once was a lady Who longed for a babby oh."
"Neb" can be either beak or nose. "Diddy" is teat. (source: _Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged_, 1976).
See Tim Coughlan, _Now Shoon the Romano Gillie_, (Cardiff,2001), #28, pp. 227-228, "As I Bung Through the Dodder's Wood" [Scotto-Romani/Tinklers' Cant from MacColl and Seeger, _Till Doomsday in the Afternoon_ (1986)]. - BS
File: OOx2183
===
NAME: Bonnie Jean o' Bethelnie: see Glenlogie, or, Jean o Bethelnie [Child 238] (File: C238)
===
NAME: Bonnie Jeanie Cameron
DESCRIPTION: "You'll a' hae heard tell o' bonnie Jeanie Cameron, how she fell sick... And a' that they could recommend her Was ae blythe blink o' the Young Pretender." She sends a letter to Prince Charlie, who arrives soon after and takes her in his arms.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love disease Jacobites
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 221-223, "Bonnie Jeanie Cameron" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13082
NOTES: Ford has several stories allegedly about the later life of this young woman, who supposedly died in 1773. I checked both a biography of Bonnie Prince Charlie and assorted histories of the Forty-Five, however, and found no mention of a liaison, even brief, with a woman of this name.
Abby Sale pointed me to the apparent solution to the question. According to a web commentary on Eyre-Todd's _Ancient Scots Ballads_, based on Ray's _Complete History of the Rebellion_, Cameron had been born as early as 1695, and had been in trouble with men by the time she was in her mid-teens. Not even putting her in a nunnery could apparently control her passions, and after the death of her father and brother, managed to take a spot as "tutor" to her nephew, who reportedly was of limited intellectual capacity.
At the time of the 1745 rebellion, Ray reports, Cameron raised the Camerons of Glendessary, bringing some 250 men to Bonnie Prince Charlie, who under the circumstances naturally treated her to a large dose of his considerable charm. Considering that Jean Cameron was rather older than Charlie's mother, one doubts any romantic connection. But singers might easily ignore that.
The Eyre-Todd report continues through much contradictory data, finally going so far as to speculate that perhaps there were *two* Jean Camerons. I must add that the histories no more mention Jean Cameron of Glendessary as a leader of soldiers than as a love interest of Prince Charles. - RBW
File: FVS221
===
NAME: Bonnie Jeanie Shaw
DESCRIPTION: "I'm far awa frae Scotland, Nae lovin' voice is near, I'm far frae my ain folk... I'll wander hame to Scotland An' my bonnie Jeaanie Shaw." The singer misses the sights, sounds, people of home, and repeatedly promises to go back
AUTHOR: Words: Alexander Melville
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: home emigration return
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 344, "Bonnie Jeanie Shaw" (1 text)
Roud #3945
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(24a), "Bonnie Jeanie Shaw," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
File: Ord344
===
NAME: Bonnie Jeannie o Bethelnie: see Glenlogie, or, Jean o Bethelnie [Child 238] (File: C238)
===
NAME: Bonnie John Seton [Child 198]
DESCRIPTION: Forces from north and south prepare for battle at the Brig o' Dee. John Seton, with great foresight, makes his will. He is killed in the battle, and the highlanders routed by cannon. The leaders of the enemy forces despoil Seton's body
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1832
KEYWORDS: battle death nobility
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Junw 18, 1639 - Montrose's attack on the Bridge of Dee
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 198, "Bonnie John Seton" (2 texts)
Leach, pp. 535-536, "Bonnie John Seton" (1 text)
DBuchan 36, "Bonny John Seton" (1 text)
Roud #3908
NOTES: Were it not for the mention of Montrose in the final stanzas of Child's "B" version, it would be almost impossible to connect this with historical events. As it is, the ballad focuses entirely on Seton; the setting of the battle is entirely ignored. It relates to a minor incident of the English Civil Wars, but this is rather trivial in context. Child provides such additional background as is available. - RBW
File: C198
===
NAME: Bonnie Johnnie Campbell: see Bonnie George Campbell [Child 210] (File: C210)
===
NAME: Bonnie Johnnie Lowrie: see Johnny Lowre (File: FVS193)
===
NAME: Bonnie Kellswater: see The Lover's Curse (Kellswater) (File: HHH442)
===
NAME: Bonnie Lad That Handles the Plough, The: see The Laddie That Handles the Ploo (File: Ord081)
===
NAME: Bonnie Laddie, Hieland Laddie: see Hieland Laddie (File: Doe050)
===
NAME: Bonnie Lass Among the Heather
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a shepherdess and offers to buy her sheep if she would live with him: he has cattle and lives on "level ground," not in the cramped highlands among the heather. She tells him to keep his land and money; she is happy at home with her parents.
AUTHOR: Paddy Tunney
EARLIEST_DATE: 1991 (Tunney-SongsThunder)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection dialog sheep
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 30-31, "Bonnie Lass Among the Heather" (1 text)
Roud #2894
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Queen Among the Heather" (theme) and references there
cf. "The Fair o' Balnaminna (The Lass Among the Heather)" (theme)
NOTES: Although Tunney's title "Bonnie Lass Among the Heather" suggests "Queen Among the Heather," the two share only a few lines and the story outcome is different. In answer to a query, John Moulden clarified the relationship between McWilliams's "The Lass Among the Heather" [see John Moulden's book _Songs of Hugh McWilliams : schoolmaster, 1831_]/"The Fair O' Balnaminna"/"The Blooming Heather" versions and Tunney's song. In a note posted to IRTRAD-L on September 21, 1996 he wrote "almost certainly, all this except [four lines] have been written by Paddy Tunney." John Moulden is researcher at the "Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change" at National University of Ireland, Galway whose subject is "the printed ballad in Ireland."
To compare Tunney-SongsThunder with the "original" see
John Moulden, Songs of Hugh McWilliams, Schoolmaster, 1831 (Portrush,1993), p. 15, "The Lass among the Heather"
Gavin Greig, Folk-Song in Buchan and Folk-Song of the North-East (Hatboro,1963), XLIV, p.1, "The Fair o' Balnaminna" - BS
File: TST030
===
NAME: Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie, The: see Bonnie Lass of Fyvie, The (Pretty Peggy-O) (File: SBoA020)
===
NAME: Bonnie Lass of Fyvie, The (Pretty Peggy-O)
DESCRIPTION: A troop of soldiers comes to town. The (captain) falls in love with (Peggy). He asks her to marry; she says she will never marry a soldier. When ordered to leave, he asks more time to persuade her. It is denied. He departs, and dies for love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.16(125))
KEYWORDS: love courting soldier hardheartedness rejection death
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 121-123, "Bonnie Barbara, O" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 84, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "The Bonnie Lass O' Fyvie" (23 texts, 19 tunes) 
Greig #15, pp. 1-2, "The Bonnie Lass O' Fyvie" (2 texts)
Ord, pp. 304-305, "The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie" (1 text)
Belden, p. 169, "Pretty Peggy O" (1 text)
BrownIII 381, "Pretty Peggy" (1 text)
Hudson 49, pp. 165-166, "Pretty Peggy-O" (1 text)
SharpAp 95, "Pretty Peggy O" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Scott-BoA, pp. 20-22, "The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 282, "Peggy-O" (1 text)
DT, FYVIOLAS* FENARLAS* FYVIOLS2 (FYVINOTE -- background notes)
Roud #545
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Maid of Fife-E-O" (on IRClancyMakem02)
Jimmy McBeath, "Bonnie Lass O' Fyvie" (on Voice01)
John Strachan, "The Bonnie Lass O' Fyvie" (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.16(125), "Pretty Peggy of Derby" ("There was a regiment of Irish dragoous [sic]"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 15(244a), "Pretty Peggy of Derby"; Harding B 25(1565), "Pretty Peggy of Derry"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Noble Duke O'Gordon" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Pretty Peggy of Derby
Lowlands o' Fyvie
File: SBoA020
===
NAME: Bonnie Lassie O: see The Shearin's Nae for You (File: RcShNaYo)
===
NAME: Bonnie Lassie, Come to the North Hielands: see The North Highlands (File: Ord087)
===
NAME: Bonnie Lassie's Answer, The
DESCRIPTION: "Farewell to Glasgow city, likewise to Lanarkshire, Farewell, my dearest parents, I'll never see you more." Poverty forces the young man to sea. The girl wishes he would stay, or that she could come along, "the bonnie lassie's answer was aye no, no."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1835 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(493))
KEYWORDS: poverty separation love rejection sailor war navy cross-dressing
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 68-70, "The Bonnie Lassie's Answer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #53, pp. 2-3, "The Bonnie Lassie's Answer" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan1 98, "The Bonnie Lassie's Answer" (8 texts, 8 tunes)
Ord, pp. 73-75, "The Bonnie Lassie's Answer Was Aye Oh No" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3326
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(493), "The Bonny Lassie's Answer ("Farewell to Glasgow, Likewise to Lanarkshire"), G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also Harding B 26(70), 2806 c.15(269), "The Bonny Lassie's Answer"; Harding B 11(2149), 2806 c.14(48), 2806 c.14(52), "The Bonnie Lassie's Answer"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.73(127b), "The Bonnie Lassies' Answer," James Lindsay (Glasgow), c.1870; also RB.m.168(063), L.C.Fol.178.A.2(087), L.C.Fol.178.A.2(078), "The Bonnie Lasses' (sic.) Answer," James Lindsay (Glasgow), c. 1880; also L.C.Fol.178.A.2(087), "The Bonnie Lassie's Answers," unknown, n.d. (part of a multi-song sheet also containing a "Kangaroo" song)
File: FVS070
===
NAME: Bonnie Light Horseman, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer calls on listeners to hear of a "maid in distress" who wanders forlorn; "She relies upon George for the loss of her lover." She tells how he went to fight Napoleon and was slain. (She wishes she could join her lover at his grave, and die there)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1107))
KEYWORDS: soldier death separation burial bird Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1760-1820 - reign of George III (the George of the song)
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
SHenry H122a, pp. 88-89, "The Bonny Light Horseman" (1 text, 1 tune, with many variations in the source texts)
Moylan 181, "The Bonny Light Horseman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 69, "Bonny Light Horseman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BONLGHT* BONLGHT3 BONLGHT4*
Roud #1185
RECORDINGS:
Martin Howley, "The Young Horseman" (on Voice08)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1107), "The Light Horseman Slain in the Wars ," J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 25(260), Harding B 28(165), Firth c.14(182), Firth c.14(183), Firth c.26(266), "[The] Bonny Light-Horseman"; Harding B 18(55), Harding B 16(34a), 2806 c.16(249), Johnson Ballads 1914, Harding B 20(174), "[The] Bonny Light Horseman"; Firth b.25(230), Harding B 11(413), Harding B 15(29b), "Bonny Light Horseman Slain in the Wars"; Harding B 11(3413), "Bonny Light Horseman Slain in the Wars!"; Harding B 11(1106), "The Light Horseman Slain in the Wars" or "The Lamenting Maiden"
NOTES: Napoleon was famous for his handling of artillery (he was the one who gave a crowd the "whiff of grapeshot"), so it is no surprise to find a reference to "Boney" "[fixing] his cannon the victory to gain." - 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 Bonny Light Horseman" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) Hall, notes to Voice08: "'The Young Horseman' is the story of a British soldier who dies in the Egyptian campaign, 1798-1802"; "I once loved a soldier ... To the dark plains of Egypt he was forced for to go.... It was brave Napoleon ... slew brave MacDonald coming over from Spain." - BS
Though, to be nitpicky, Napoleon didn't himself fight the British in any significant way in Egypt. After the British beat the French fleet in Aboukir Bay, Napoleon fooled around a little in Palestone, then left the area, leaving his army in Egypt to be defeated and captured. - RBW
File: HHH122a
===
NAME: Bonnie Lyndale
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls "bonnie Lyndale, My dear and early home." He recalls the glens, peaceful homes, the robin's and milkmaid's songs. He thinks of the plowman: since leaving "I've plowed the sea. I've sailed with sailors ... Far from bonnie Lyndale"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: home lyric nonballad emigration
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 115-116, "Bonnie Lyndale" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12460
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Scarborough Settler's Lament" and references there
File: Dib115
===
NAME: Bonnie Mally Stewart
DESCRIPTION: "The cold winter is past and gone, And now comes on the spring, And I am one of the King's Life-Guards, And must go fight for my king, my dear, And must go fight...." She offers to go with him. When he leaves, she follows; (when they meet, he denies her)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: soldier separation reunion betrayal cross-dressing
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 174-175, "Bonnie Mally Stewart" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 97, "Molly Stuart" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5789
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "It Was A' for Our Rightfu' King" (lyrics)
cf. "I Once Loved a Boy" (tune)
NOTES: This song ends with a verse also associated with Burns's "It Was A' for Our Rightfu' King,"  and follows the same metrical pattern. Ford thinks it the source of the Burns song, and this is certainly possible -- except that this song, which also looks composed, is not attested until the nineteenth century, and in broadsides. - RBW
The verse shared with "It Was A' For Our Rightfu' King" -- and the only lines shared -- is "He turn'd him right and round about, Upon the Irish shore; And gae his bridle reins a shake, With adieu for evermore, my dear, And adieu for evermore." - BS
File: FVS174
===
NAME: Bonnie Mason Laddie (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "Simmer's gaun awa'... And the bonnie mason laddies They'll be comin' home... And the bonnie mason laddie He will marry me." The singer describes all the men she will not have (sailor, ploughman, blacksmith, weaver), "But I will hae the mason."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: love courting work
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Greig #40, pp. 1-2, "The Bonnie Mason Laddie" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 464, "The Bonnie Mason Laddie" (1 text)
Ord, p. 108, "The Bonnie Mason Laddie" (1 text)
Roud #5540
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me)" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Masons" (subject: praise of masons)
cf. "The Mason Laddie" (subject: praise of masons)
NOTES: This is so like "Soldier Boy for Me" in lyrics and theme that at first I lumped them. I still suspect cross-fertilization, but this is sufficiently close-knit that I've split it off. - RBW
File: Ord108
===
NAME: Bonnie Mason Laddie (II), The: see The Mason Laddie (File: GrD3465)
===
NAME: Bonnie Mill-Dams o' Binnorie, The: see The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)
===
NAME: Bonnie Moorhen, The
DESCRIPTION: "My bonny moorhen's gane over the main" and won't return before summer. Her feathers are red, white, green and gray, "but nane o' them blue" "Ronald and Donald are out on the fen, To break the wing o' my bonny moorhen"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1819 (Hogg1)
KEYWORDS: Jacobites bird exile colors
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hogg1 77, "The Bonny Moorhen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 17, "(The bonnie moor-hen)" (1 short text)
Roud #2944
NOTES: With only the internal evidence of the text, Hogg says "the song is only a fragment." 
Hogg comments that "the allegory is ... perfectly inapplicable, but there can be no doubt who is meant [James III and VIII]. Had it been a moorcock the likeness would have been much better. The colours are supposed to allude to those in tartans of the Clan-Stuart." - BS
This is one of those conundrums. The lyrics by the Montgomeries seem to be a simple rhyme about a bird. But sources going back to Hogg's _Jacobite Relics_ have a fuller text in which the singers give a toast to the bonnie moorhen, who is in exile, and who wears red, green, white, and grey but not blue feathers (colors associated with the Stuart tartan).
It seems clear that these two forms are related, though which is earlier I cannot tell.
Then there is the version that provides most of Roud's texts, often starting "You brave lads of Wardhill/Wardale I pray tend an ear." This exists in several Bodleian broadsides [Harding B 25(261),  ""Bonny moor hen," Stephenson (Gateshead), 1821-1850; also Harding B 11(414), Firth c, 19(39)]. This is an even fuller text, mostly about hunting, though there might be some Jacobite elements in there somewhere. My feeling is that that should be split off, though Roud lumps them.
Incidentally, it might be noted that Bonnie Prince Charlie, handsome though he was, would not have met the moorhen standard for attractiveness. According to Olivia Judson's tongue-in-cheek book on evolutionary biology, _Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation_ (Henry Holt, 2002), p. 126, the ideal male moorhen is fat (because the males sit on the eggs, and a fat bird can sit on them longer) and small (because a small bird can get fat more easily). - RBW
File: RcMyBoMu
===
NAME: Bonnie Muirhen, The: see The Bonnie Moorhen (File: RcMyBoMu)
===
NAME: Bonnie Parks o' Kilty, The
DESCRIPTION: "On the south side o Perth there lived a fair maid, She wandered late and ear' and never was afraid." A young man stops her and lays her down. Her father comes out and demands that the lad marry her. He agrees, and she becomes lady o' Kilty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting seduction sex marriage nobility
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 113-114, "The Bonnie Parks o' Kilty" (1 text)
Roud #3953
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Broom of Cowdenknows" [Child 217] (plot)
cf. "The Wylie Wife of the Hie Toun Hie" [Child 290] (plot)
cf. "The Dainty Doonby" (plot)
File: Ord113
===
NAME: Bonnie Redesdale Lassie, The
DESCRIPTION: "The breath of spring is gratefu', As mild it sweeps alang... Yet the bonnie Redesdale lassie Is sweeter still to me." The singer praises each season, but loves the girl best; he would not trade her for kingdoms
AUTHOR: Words: Robert White
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  37-38, "The Bonnie Redesdale Lassie" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR037 (Partial)
Roud #3057
File: StoR037
===
NAME: Bonnie Ship the Diamond, The
DESCRIPTION: "The Diamond is a ship my lads, For the Davis Straight she's bound." The ship goes whaling near Greenland, "Where the sun it never sets." The singer toasts various ships, and promises to return home. When the ship returns, sailors and girls go on sprees
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: ship sea whaler return sex
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Greig #85, p. 2, "The Diamond Ship"; Greig #87, p. 2 (2 texts) 
GreigDuncan1 11, "The Diamond Ship" (10 texts, 8 tunes)
Ord, pp. 312-313, "The Bonnie Ship the Diamond" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 319-320, "The Diamond" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 94, "The Bonny Ship the Diamond" (1 text)
DT, BDIAMOND*
Roud #2172
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "The Bonny Ship the Diamond" (on Lloyd9)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Pretty Ship the Diamond
NOTES: According to Ord, _The Bonnie Ship the Diamond_ sailed from Aberdeen -- and, yes, he considers the ship's name to be _The Bonnie Ship the Diamond_, not just _The Diamond_. He does not, however, cite a source.
The internal date for this song seems to be the first quarter of the nineteenth century, based on its mention of the _Resolution_. According to Lincoln P. Paine's _Ships of the World_, p. 430, the ship sailed from North Whitby. Her most famous captains were William Scoresby Senior, who commanded from her fitting out in 1803 until 1810, and his son William Junior, captain from 1810 to 1813.
In 1806, Scoresby took _Resolution_ to 82 degrees 30 minutes north latitude (see Pierre Berton, _The Arctic Grail_, p. 97) -- the unofficial record for "farthest north" at the time, not to be broken for twenty years, and not to be broken by a ship for many years after that. The Scoresbys became famous, and some thought the younger one (whose discoveries set the Admiralty to thinking about the Northwest Passage, since they reported that the polar ice was retreating) should have led John Ross's northward expedition (for background on these, see the notes to "Lady Franklin's Lament (The Sailor's Dream)" [Laws K9]). The navy wouldn't trust a civilian whaler, however.
The _Resolution_ was sold in 1813 (Scoresby the Younger would eventually turn to the priesthood), but Paine reports that she continued to work out of Whitby until 1829. She was sold to Peterhead interests in 1829; Paine does not record her final fate. - RBW
File: FSWB094
===
NAME: Bonnie Susie Cleland: see Lady Maisry [Child 65] (File: C065)
===
NAME: Bonnie Udny
DESCRIPTION: "O Udny, bonnie Udny, you shine whaur you stand." The singer praises the land and its people; he recalls walking the land and going out to meet his beloved. "Wherever I wander, I'll still think on you"; he hopes to return to the place and its people
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: home travel separation
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 341-342, "Bonnie Udny" (1 text)
Roud #3450
File: Ord341
===
NAME: Bonnie Wee Lass of the Glen, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes "up to a neat little cottage" and is amazed at the beauty of the girl living here. When he courts her, she accuses him of flattery and deception, and says she is too young to marry. He wishes her happiness and hopes to change her mind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H14a, pp. 356-357, "The Bonnie Wee Lass of the Glen" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Roud #6879
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Maid with the Bonny Brown Hair" (tune)
File: HHH014a
===
NAME: Bonnie Wee Lassie Fae Gouroch, The
DESCRIPTION: Piper MacFarlane will wed the daughter of a grocer in Gouroch. He's "popped her the question and bought her the ring." Everywhere the couple go she causes a stir among men. In "a first-class hotel" they show they are not city folk.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1976 (recording, Belle Stewart)
KEYWORDS: courting fight humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #5212
RECORDINGS:
Belle Stewart, "The Bonnie Wee Lassie Fae Gouroch" (on Voice01)
NOTES: Gourock is about 25 miles west of Glasgow at the mouth of the Clyde. - BS
File: RcTBWLFG
===
NAME: Bonnie Wee Lassie That Never Said No, The: see The Bonnie Wee Lassie Who Never Said No (File: DTnevsay)
===
NAME: Bonnie Wee Lassie Who Never Said No, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer invites a lass to drink with him; she accepts; she is the "bonnie wee lassie who never said no." She says to take the night's rent from her pocket, but he'll owe half a crown for laying her down. He reaches in, finds 5 pounds, and takes off with it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1856 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(985))
KEYWORDS: sex abandonment money drink landlord whore
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Morton-Maguire 30, pp. 72-74,117,168, "Bonnie Wee Lassie that Never Said No" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, NEVSAYNO
Roud #2903
RECORDINGS:
Jeannie Robertson, "The Bonnie Wee Lassie Who Never Said No" (on FSB2, FSB2CD, Voice13)
BROADSIDES:
John Maguire, "Bonny Wee Lassie That Never Said No" (on IRJMaguire01)
Bodleian, Harding B 11(985), "The Bonny We [sic] Lassie That Never Said No" ("You lads of this nation, of high and low station"), W. Wright (Birmingham), 1842-1855
File: DTnevsay
===
NAME: Bonnie Wee Tramping Lass, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer passed the carter's mill on a Saturday night and meets "a bonnie wee tramping lass", She explains her job "winding hanks of yarn." They discuss love and go home together. They marry happily and now have three children.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, Willie Scott)
KEYWORDS: love marriage sex children
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #5129
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "The Bonnie Wee Tramping Lass" (on Voice10)
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice10, describes this as an "innocent courtship" leading to a "fortunate and happy marriage." - BS
File: RcBWTrLa
===
NAME: Bonnie Woodha'
DESCRIPTION: The singer and his Annie must part; he is a soldier and has been called away. His regiment goes into battle and he is wounded. He says he would recover better if Annie were there. He regrets leaving the collier's trade. (He thinks of deserting)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Grieg)
KEYWORDS: mining soldier separation injury desertion
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H476, p. 84-85, "Bonnie Woodha'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 310, "Sweet Calder Burn; or Bonnie Woodha'" (1 text)
Roud #3778
File: HHH476
===
NAME: Bonnie Woodhall: see Bonnie Woodha' (File: HHH476)
===
NAME: Bonnie Woods o' Hatton, The
DESCRIPTION: "Ye comrades and companions... To my sad lamentation I pray ye give an ear." The singer courted a beautiful girl, but at last she bid him depart. Now he prepares to leave home, still remembering her in Hatton and hoping that she will regret her decision
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 185, "The Bonnie Woods o' Hatton" (1 text)
Roud #5531
RECORDINGS:
Cathie Stewart, "Hatton Woods" (on SCStewartsBlair01) [called "Hattan Woods" on the LP jacket but "Hatton Woods" on the lyrics sheet]
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(32), "Hatton Woods or the Bonnie Woods o' Hatton," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
CROSS_REFERENCES:
Hattan Woods
File: Ord185
===
NAME: Bonny Anne: see The Sea Apprentice (File: HHH739)
===
NAME: Bonny at Morn
DESCRIPTION: "The sheep's in the meadows, The kye's in the corn, Thou's ower lang in thy bed, Bonny at morn." "Canny at night, Bonny at morn, Thou's ower lang in...." The parents complain of the children's laziness: "The lad winnot work And the lass winnot lairn."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: work mother children
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  66-67, "Bonny at Morn" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BONMORN BONYMORN
Roud #3064
File: Stor066
===
NAME: Bonny Baby Livingston [Child 222]
DESCRIPTION: Clenlion carries Bonny Baby Livingston off to the Highlands. She refuses to show any favor unless she is returned. At Glenlion Castle, Glenlion's sister helps Baby get a letter away to her true love. He arrives with armed men, and carries Baby back home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1800
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Bonny Baby Livingston is carried off to the Highlands by Glenlion. She refuses to smile or speak or show any favor unless she is returned. Glenlion's brother John wants to return her, but Glenlion hopes to win her love. At Glenlion Castle, Glenlion's youngest sister helps Baby get a letter away to her true love Johnny at Dundee. He arrives with armed men, and carries Baby back home.
KEYWORDS: love abduction rescue family
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 222, "Bonnie Baby Livingston" (5 texts, 1 tune)  {Bronson's [#1]}
Bronson 222, "Bonnie Baby Livingston" (1 version+1 in addenda)
Leach, pp. 579-583, "Bonny Baby Livingston" (1 text)
OBB 147, "Baby Livingston" (1 text)
DBuchan 24, "Bonny Baby Livingston" (1 text)
DT, BABLIVST*
Roud #100
File: C222
===
NAME: Bonny Banks of Ardrie-O, The: see Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14] (File: C014)
===
NAME: Bonny Barbara Allan [Child 84]
DESCRIPTION: A knight lies dying for love of Barbara Allan. His servant summons her, but she scorns him. As she returns home, she hears the death-bell, repents, and in turn dies. Buried close together, a briar grows from her grave, a rose from his; they entwine
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1740 (Tea-Table Miscellany; mentioned by Pepys in 1666)
KEYWORDS: love hardheartedness death flowers
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord,Hebr),England(All)) US(All) Canada(Mar,Newf,West) Ireland
REFERENCES: (63 citations)
Child 84, "Bonny Barbara Allan" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #79}
Bronson 84, "Bonny Barbara Allan" (198 versions+2 in addenda)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 195-200, "Barbara Allen" (3 texts plus 1 fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #15, #188}
Percy/Wheatley III, pp. 128-130, "Barbara Allen's Cruelty"; pp. 133-135, "Sir John Grehme and Barbara Allen" (2 texts)
Belden, pp. 60-65, "Barbara Allen" (1 full text+3 fragments, 4 tunes, plus references to 11 other versions) {G=Bronson's #55, K=#159, M=#158, N=#181}
Randolph 21, "Barbara Allen" (11 texts plus 4 fragments, 6 tunes) {A=Bronson's #114, B=#135, E=#172, J=#163, M=#119, N=#162}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 41-44, "Barbara Allen" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 21M) {Bronson's #119}
Eddy 16, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (4 texts plus 2 fragments (the fragments might be any rose-and-briar song); 4 tunes) {Bronson's #191, #53, #22, #160}
Gardner/Chickering 8, "Barbara Allen" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more; 1 tune) {Bronson's #187}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 197-200, "Mary Alling" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 246-292, "Barbara Allen" (16 texts plus 9 fragments, 13 tunes -- some of the items rather oddly related, e.g. H1, H2, H3 are said to derive from the same informant but the melodies of H2 and H3 differ)
Linscott, pp. 163-164, "Barb'ry Ellen or Barbara Allen" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 24, "Bonny Barbara Allan" (28 texts plus 4 fragments, 12 tunes, all entitled "Barbara Allen"; 56? more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #89, #101, #102, #189, #169, #75, #182, [#s, unprinted], [#t, unprinted], #141, #171, #184}
Davis-More 25, pp. 182-198, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (7 texts plus a fragment, 8 tunes)
BrownII 27, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (9 texts plus 10 excerpts and citations of 12 more)
Chappell-FSRA 13, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (1 short text)
Hudson 15, pp. 95-107, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (6 texts plus 7 excerpts and mention of 3 more)
Fuson, pp. 47-48, "Barbara Allen" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 66-68, "Barbara Allen" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 248, "Barbara Ellen" (1 fragment)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 83-96, collectively titled "Bonny Barbara Allen"; individual versions are "The Ballet of Barbara Allan," "Barbry Ellen," "Barbara Allen," (no title), "Barbare Allen," (no title), "Barbara Ellen," "Barbara Ellen," "Barbarie Allen" (9 texts; 5 tunes on pp. 386-388) {Bronson's #183, #107, #180, #168, #118}
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 59-60, (no title; the song uses the name "Bob-ree Allin") (1 text)
Brewster 15, "Barbara Allen" (12 texts plus a fragment and mention of 1 more, 1 tune) {Bronson's #150}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 49-58, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (6 texts plus 1 fragment, 4 tunes) {Bronson's #85, #36, #37, #38}
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 13-14, "Bonny Barbara Allan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 12, "Barbree Ellen" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 649-661, "Barbara Allen" (4 texts, 6 tunes)
Mackenzie 9, "Barbara Allan" (1 text); "Barbara Ellan" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Leach, pp. 277-280, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (3 texts)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 1, "Barbara Allen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #151}
Friedman, p. 88, "Barbara Allen" (3 texts, 1 tune)
OBB 158, "Barbara Allen's Cruelty" (1 text)
Warner 40, "Barbara Allen"; 187, "Barbara Allen" (2 texts, 2 tunes; the first tune is in 5/4 and seems to be the only American instance of this metre, commonly found in British tunes in Bronson's "A" group)
PBB 59, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 102-105, "Barb'ry Allen" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 24 "Barbara Allen" (7 texts plus 6 fragments, 16 tunes){Bronson's #88, #116, #136, #76, #176, #152, #178, #184, #106, #121, #110, #48, #49, #78, #111, #137}
Sharp-100E 7, "Barbara Ellen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Niles 36, "Bonny Barbara Allan" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 19, "Barbara Ellen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #49}
Sandburg, p. 57, "Barbara Allen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #35}
Scott-BoA, pp. 7-8, "Bawbee Allen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 278-279, "Barbara Allen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 89, "Barbara Allen" (1 text, 1 tune, probably composite as no source it listed)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 169-171," [Barbry Ellen]" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #142}
Ritchie-Southern, p. 73, "Barbry Ellen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #142}
Ord, pp. 476-477, "Barbara Allan" (1 text)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 820-822, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (1 text, 1 tune)
TBB 12, "Bonny Barbara Allan" (1 text)
SHenry H236, pp. 375-376, "Barbara Allen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 9, "Barb'ry Ellen" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 11, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gilbert, pp. 25-26, "Barbara Allen" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 68-69, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, p. 143, "(Barbara Allen)" (1 tune, partial text)
LPound-ABS, 3, pp. 7-9, "Barbery Allen"; p. 10, "Barbara Allen" (2 texts)
JHCox 16, "Bonny Barbara Allen" (9  texts plus mention of 3 more; 2 tunes)  {Bronson's #138, #91}
Darling-NAS, pp. 50-54, "Barbara Allen"; "Barbro Allen" (2 texts)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 79, "Barbara Allen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 179 "Barbara Allen" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1459, "In Scarlet Town where I was bound"
DT 84, BARBALEN* BARBALN2*  BARBALN3* BARBALN4 BARBALN5
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 212-213, "(Barbara Allen)" (1 text)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #368, "Bonny Barbara Allan" (1 text)
Roud #54
RECORDINGS:
Bob Atcher, "Barbara Allen [pts. 1 & 2]" (Columbia 20481, c. 1948; rec. 1947)
Alex Barr, "Barbara Allen" (AFS 4228 A/4228 B, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Andy Cash, "Barbary Ellen" (on IRTravellers01)
James B. Cornett, "Barbara Allen" (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Vernon Dalhart, "Barbara Allen" Brunswick 117/Vocalion 5140, 1927; Supertone S-2002, 1930 {Bronson's #131}) (Okeh 45090 [as Tobe Little], 1927) (Columbia 15126-D [as Al Craver], 1927) (Grey Gull 4239 [as Jeff Calhoun], 1928) (Champion 15246/Black Patti 8028, 1927; Supertone 9228, 1928) (Challenge 268, 1927) 
Rosie Day, "Barbara Ellen" (on JThomas01)
Patsy Flynn, "Barbara Allen" (on IRHardySons)
Newton Gaines, "Barbara Allen" (Victor V-40253 [as Jim New?], 1930) {cf. Bronson's #71}
Molly Galbraith, "Barbara Allen" (on Saskatch01)
G. Marston Haddock, "Barbara Allen" (Musicraft 262, c. 1944)
Seena Helms, "Barbara Allen" (on HandMeDown2)
(Queen) Hule Hines, "Barbara Allen" (AFS 2714 B2, 1939)
Rebecca King Jones, "Barbara Allen" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
Bradley Kincaid, "Barbara Allen" (Supertone 9211, 1928); (Melotone 12349/Conqueror 7982, 1932; Vocalion 02685, 1934; rec. 1930)
Sam Larner, "Barbara Allen" (on SLarner01)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Barbara Allen" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
Sarah Makem, "Barbara Allen" (on Voice17)
Jessie Murray, Fred Jordan, Charlie Wills, Ma[r]y Bennell, Thomas Moran, Phil Tanner [composite] "Barbara Allen" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Barbara Allen" (on NLCR10)
Bill Nicholson w. Zane Shrader, "Barbara Allen" (AFS; on LC14) {Bronson's #70}
Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Barbara Allen" (AFS 201 A, 1933; on LC54)
Granny Porter w. Wade Ward, "Barbry Allen" (on Persis1)
Mr. Rew, "Barbara Allen" (on FieldTrip1)
Jean Ritchie, "Barbry Ellen" (on JRitchie01) {cf. Bronson's #142}
Pete Seeger, "Barbara Allen" (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger40)
Lucy Stewart, "Barbary Allen" (on LStewart1)
Art Thieme, "The Cowboys' Barbara Allen" (on Thieme01) (on Thieme06)
The Vagabonds, "Barbara Allen" (Bluebird B-5300/Montgomery Ward M-4442, 1934; rec. 1933)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 3(49), "Barbara Allen's Cruelty" or "The Young Man's Tragedy," J. Davenport (London), 1800-1802; also Douce Ballads 3(3a), "Barbara Allen's Cruelty" or "The Young Man's Tragedy"; Harding B 25(115), Harding B 11(730), Johnson Ballads 266, Firth c.21(22), Firth c.21(23), Harding B 16(14a), 2806 c.17(19), Harding B 11(1011), Firth c.21(21), Harding B 11(729), "Barbara Allen"; Harding B 11(2121), "The Life, Death, and Love, of Barbara Allen"
Murray, Mu23-y1:138, "Barbara Allen" and "Barbara Allen the Cruel," Poet's Box (St. Andrew's), 19C [two distinct texts, with critical introduction]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shantyman's Life (I)" (tune)
cf. "Brother Green" (tune)
cf. "Leslie Allen" (tune)
cf. "Mother, Mother, Make My Bed" (floating verses)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Barbara Ellen
Barbary Allen
NOTES: Ed Cray makes the interesting note that, in a study he did with Charles Seeger, he found four basic versions of the text of this song (which can be initially sorted by their first lines), and Seeger found four basic tune families. But the text groupings and tune groupings do not overlap.
Bronson, too, finds four tune families (Group A of 39 tunes, B of 11, C of 87, and D of 54, plus a handful of odds and ends). Not all of Bronson's texts can be proved to be Barbara Allen (e.g. #1 could come from several ballads), but spot checks of Bronson seem to support at least partly Cray's thesis. While many versions could not be identified based solely on first lines, I found the following:
Of the 39 texts in Bronson's "A" group, 12 have the opening "In Scarlet Town (Reading Town, London Town, Scotland) where I was born," 7 start with "All in the merry month of May (June)," and 3 open with "So early, early in the Spring."
Of the texts in the "B" group, 4 begin "It was about the Martinmas time," two are "Merry month of May," and one is "Scarlet Town."
In the huge "C" group, 34 versions were "Merry month," 20 were "Scarlet Town," 2 were "Martinmas," and 4 were "So early."
In the "D" group, 27 were "Merry Month," 9 were "Scarlet Town," and 2 were "So early."
Based on this, we might speculate that:
1. The original text was "All in the merry month of May" (70 instances) and that the tune was, if anything, Bronson's "C" group. This group is described as pentatonic, though the timing varies.
2. "Scarlet Town" goes with the "A" group, and might be next in age, since the first line is second to "Merry month" in popularity (42 instances). Bronson considers this tune to be primarily English, and perhaps somewhat related to the "C" tune.
3. "Martinmas" is originally (and still primarily) associated with the "B" group. Bronson lists this group as primarily Scottish.
4. "So Early," might seem, by elimination, to go with the "D" group. But this group is entirely American, and the tune (according to Bronson) is related to "Boyne Water," so this seems unlikely. Perhaps "D" has no special text associated with it.
But this is all very tentative (and based on only a few minutes' work on my part); if studies of classical texts teach us anything, it's that variants are to be weighed and not counted!
Phillips Barry speculates that this is based on the lives of Barbara Villiers and King Charles II. This is characteristic of Barry: Clever but completely unconvincing. - RBW
The name "Barbara," cognate with "barbarian," means "foreigner" [technically, someone who doesn't speak Greek - RBW]; Martin Carthy has conjectured that the original story involved a Gypsy or North African woman, and that racial prejudice explains why William slights her, and why she is so cold to him as a result. - PJS
If we're going for the way-far-out, Peter Underwood's _Gazeteer of British, Scottish & Irish Ghosts_, pp. 343-344, has a tale which sounds amazingly like this one: Edmund Graeme (a name not far from that of one of the name for Barbara's swain) fell in love with an unnamed girl. They were engaged, but she betrayed his trust. He died for love. She repented within moments of his death. She asked to be buried (alive, in Underwood's version) with him. His story is that her ghost haunts the site.
Of course, all this would be much better for documentation. And dates; it might well be more recent than Barbara's story.
There is one element in the song which does have a strong foreign element: The rose-and-briar ending. This, of course, is not unique to this song, though it's most strongly associated with Barbara and her love. But the rose-and-briar-and-lover's-knot theme has been found as far away as Hungary (Romania?); Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 228, prints a Transylvanian version, "Kadar Kata," "Katie Kadar," with a loose English translation. In that version, the mother has drowned the girl, and the boy drowns himself where he finds her ghost. In that version, he is the rose, she the briar -- and the mother tears them out of the ground. The rose then curses his mother. (Could this be the origin of some sort of legend of the undead?)
The story also has roots in Ireland. For a version of the story of Deirdre of the Sorrows, see Padraic Colum, editor, ÒA Treasury of Irish Folklore_, revised edition, 1954, 1967 (I use the 1992 Wings Books edition), pp. 73-83; also the much shorter summary in Peter Beresford Ellis's _A Dictionary of Irish Mythology_, Oxford, 1991, pp. 80-81. Deirdre, it was foretold at her birth, would grow up to be the most beautiful woman in Ireland, but also to cause great grief to the one who married her and to his nation. Although Conor cared for the child, promising to wed her himself (and hence prevent any sorrow for anyone who mattered), she was not interested in an old man (more to the point, perhaps, she may have felt the normal aversion children feel for those they grow up with; for background, see the notes to "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14]"). She instead fell in love with Naisi, and though strenuous efforts were made to keep them apart, he was killed and she killed herself. They slept side by side, and a tree grew from each, and the trees intertwined.
The intertwining of branches is also found in the romance of Tristan and Iseult.
Cambiaire claims there is a Spanish romance parallel to "Barbara Allen." Unfortunately he does not name it. Still, it seems clear that the rose-and-briar-intertwining theme is widespread at least across Europe. Cultural cross-fertilization, independent invention, or does this go back all the way to Indo-European? Perhaps there is a dissertation in there somewhere. - RBW
Broadside Murray Mu23-y1:138, "Barbara Allan the Cruel," ends as a parody in which Barbara "gets another spark" after Johnny dies and, when she eventually dies," she is buried beside him "For she wished to be his bride in death, Though in life she couldn't abide 'un." - BS
File: C084
===
NAME: Bonny Bay of Biscay-O, The
DESCRIPTION: The sailor fondly recalls his home, knowing that in a year he will be able to settle down with his love: "Of all the harbors east or west, There is one place that I love best, So whichever way the wind doth blow, I'll steer for the bonny Bay of Biscay-O"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: sailor love
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Warner 67, "The Bonny Bay of Biscay-O"
DT, BISCAYO*
Roud #6949
File: Wa067
===
NAME: Bonny Bee Hom [Child 92]
DESCRIPTION: The lady sits lamenting her absent love. She vows to wait seven years. Meanwhile, her love has received a talisman which will tell him if his love is dead or untrue. (After a year), the talisman turns dark. He sails for home, but his love is already dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: death separation magic
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 92, "Bonny Bee Hom" (2 texts)
Leach, pp. 287-288, "Bonny Bee Hom" (1 text)
OBB 74, "Bonny Bee Ho'm" (1 text)
Roud #3885
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lowlands of Holland"
NOTES: "Bonny Bee Hom" is often linked with "The Lowlands of Holland" ("The Lily of Arkansas"), a link dating back to Child. The matter has been much studied, without clear conclusion. It might be noted, however, that "Bonny Bee Hom" involves a magic device (the stone that tells the lover whether his sweetheart is true), a theme not found in "The Lowlands of Holland."
The idea of a token which reveals infidelity is widely known. Emeralds in particular were said to ensure fidelity -- and to lose their color if a lover was unfaithful. (Note that George MacDonald was still using this idea in the nineteenth century in _The Princess and Curdie_). This idea was so widespread that it was actually used by monarchs -- around 1525, the English sent an emerald ring from the young Mary Tudor, heir to the English throne, to the Emperor Charles V, who was officially engaged to her but still shopping for other brides (see H. F. M. Prescott, _Mary Tudor: The Spanish Tudor_, revised edition, 1952 (I use the 2003 Phoenix paperback), p. 32). It didn't work -- Charles married a Portugese princess, although Mary Tudor would in time marry a younger Habsburg (who quickly ignored her).
It probably goes without saying that emeralds don't lose their color that easily. Chances are that someone found a green gem of some other sort (green quartz, perhaps? I haven't found a clear suggestion on that). It was mistaken for an emerald, then denatured perhaps in sunlight -- and so gave rise to the legend. - RBW
File: C092
===
NAME: Bonny Birdy, The [Child 82]
DESCRIPTION: A bird tells a knight that his wife is unfaithful. The two speed to his home, to find his wife in the arms of another man. He slays the intruder.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: infidelity death bird
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 82, "The Bonny Birdy" (1 text)
Niles 35, "The Bonny Birdy" (1 text, 1 tune -- another instance where it is left to the reader to decide if Niles's version could possibly be legitimate)
Roud #3972
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard" [Child 81] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Tattletale Birdy
File: C082
===
NAME: Bonny Black Hare, The
DESCRIPTION: A hunter goes out to shoot at the bonny black hare (hair), meets a willing maid, and beds her until his "ramrod is limber" and he cannot fire more.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex hunting
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(England,Scotland) US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 42-43, "The Bonny Black Hare" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT, BLACKHAR*
Roud #1656
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "The Bonnie Black Hare" (on BirdBush1, BirdBush2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie Moorhen"
NOTES: Legman's notes link this broadside ballad to the older Scottish "The Bonnie Muir Hen." - EC
File: RL042
===
NAME: Bonny Blue Handkerchief, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a girl with a blue kerchief under her chin. She says that it is a local fashion. Entranced by her beauty, he offers her marriage and wealth. In some versions, she accepts; in others, she refuses; the handkerchief is a token from her love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1892 (Baring-Gould/Sheppard)
KEYWORDS: love courting clothes work factory
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H161a+b, p. 456-457, "The Pretty Blue Handkerchief (I and II)" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #378
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:024, "Blue Handkerchief," unknown, 19C
NOTES: In the first Sam Henry text, we are explicitly told that the two went to church. In the second, it's not made explicit, but the song ends after his proposal, so it sounds as if she agrees to marry. In the Murray broadside, she turns him down. Looking at the three, I thing the broadside text more likely to be original; the Henry texts are choppy, and the verse where she accepts appears an intrusion. - RBW
File: HHH161
===
NAME: Bonny Blue-eyed Jane
DESCRIPTION: Leaving his native home, the singer will think of "my blooming girl, my bonny blue-eyed Jane." The girls from sunny Spain may win his friendship but not his love. If he gets rich he'll hurry back to marry Jane.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: courting love separation Spain
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 12, "Bonny Blue-eyed Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LeBe012
===
NAME: Bonny Bobby Shaftoe: see Bobby Shaftoe (File: FSWB170A)
===
NAME: Bonny Boy (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The girl says, "I once had a boy, a bonny bonny boy, / A boy that I thought was my own." But the boy has taken another girl. She adds, "Let him go... I never will mourn." The ending varies; she may unsuccessfully seek another or refuse to do so
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Chappell dates it to "the reign of Charles II")
KEYWORDS: courting separation loneliness abandonment betrayal love
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Eddy 90, "Now, My Bonny, Bonny Boy" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 37, "The Bonny Boy' (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 52, "My Bonny, Bonny Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H215, pp. 393-394, "The Bonny Bonny Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BONNBOY*
Roud #293
RECORDINGS:
Recordings: Anne Briggs, "My Bonny Boy" (on Briggs1, Briggs3)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dear Companion (The Broken Heart; Go and Leave Me If You Wish To, Fond Affection)" (lyrics)
cf. "The Grey Hawk"
cf. "The Twitcher" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Cupid's Trappan
The Bonny Bonny Bird
I Once Loved a Girl
File: FSC037
===
NAME: Bonny Boy (II), The: see A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing) [Laws O35] (File: LO35)
===
NAME: Bonny Boy in Blue, The: see My Sailor Boy (A Sailor Boy in Blue) (File: HHH759)
===
NAME: Bonny Brown Hen, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer's brown hen is missing. He tells how it laid six eggs a week and never strayed. He gives the bird's pedigree. He offers a reward for the return of the hen
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: chickens abduction
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H88, p. 18, "The Bonny Brown Hen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9053
File: HHH088
===
NAME: Bonny Bunch of Roses, The [Laws J5]
DESCRIPTION: Young Napoleon promises his mother that he will capture "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (Great Britain). She warns him of his father's disaster in Russia and of the strength of the British. They sorrowfully prepare for the lad's death.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes); c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Napoleon dialog family political war Russia
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1805 - Battle of Trafalgar ends Napoleon's hopes of invading Britain
1811 - Birth of Napoleon Francis Joseph Charles Bonaparte (Napoleon II)
1812-1813 - Napoleon's Russian Campaign
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon forced into exile
1821 - Death of Napoleon I
July 22, 1832 - Death of Napoleon II
FOUND_IN: US(MA,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(Lond),Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (22 citations)
Laws J5, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses"
Greig #94, pp. 1-2, "The Bonnie Bunch of Roses" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan1 155, "The Bonnie Bunch o' Roses" (6 texts, 6 tunes)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 84, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 68, "Bonny Bunch of Roses O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 3, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 105-107, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 202-203, "Bonny Bunch of Roses, O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 200, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 207-209, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 16, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 32B, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses, O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 184, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 17-18, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 301-302, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 85, "The Bonnie Bunch of Roses" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Peacock, pp. 988-989, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 72, "The Bonnie Bunch of Roses" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
O'Conor, p. 127, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (1 text)
DT 392, BONBUNCH* BONBUNC2
ADDITIONAL: Richard Hayward, Ireland Calling (Glasgow,n.d.), pp. 18-19, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (text, music and reference to Regal Zonophone recording [probably Regal Zono MR-2830 recorded ca. May 1938])
_Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 22, #1 (1973), p, 15, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses-O" (1 text, 1 tune, the Seamus Ennis version)
Roud #664
RECORDINGS:
Sam Larner, "Bonny Bunch of Roses" (on SLarner01)
Cyril Poacher, "The Bonny Bunch O' Roses" (on Voice08)
Brigid Tunney, "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(403), "The Bonny Bunch of Roses, O!" ("By the dangers of the ocean"), J. Harkness (Preston) , 1840-1866; also 2806 c.16(296), Harding B 16(31d), Harding B 11(404), Harding B 11(406), Harding B 11(405), "Bonny Bunch of Roses, O"; Harding B 17(350a), Harding B 11(18), Firth b.25(245), Harding B 11(4381), "Young Napoleon" or "The Bonny Bunch of Roses"; Firth b.27(457/458) View 1 of 4, "Bonny Bunch of Roses"; Firth b.27(8), "Young Napoleon"
LOCSinging, as109240, "Young Napoleon" or "The Bonny Bunch of Roses," Taylor's Song Mart (London), 19C
Murray, Mu23-y1:115, "Bonny Bunch of Roses," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The New Bunch of Loughero" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
The Bunch of Rushes, O! (per broadsides Bodleian Harding B 17(350a), Bodleian Harding B 11(18), Bodleian Harding B 11(4381))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bold Blucher
NOTES: Zimmermann: "The bunch of roses is usually said to symbolize England, Scotland, and Ireland, or the red coats of the English soldiers. In a ballad printed both in England and in Ireland, 'The Grand Conversation on Napoleon', we find the lines: 'The bunch of roses did advance And boldly entered into France,' alluding to Napoleon's enemies after Waterloo."
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 Bonny Bunch of Roses" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001))
The probable recording date and id for Hayward's record is provided by Bill Dean-Myatt, MPhil. compiler of the Scottish National Discography. - BS
File: LJ05
===
NAME: Bonny Bunch of Rushes Green: see An Binnsin Luchra (The Little Bench [or Bunch] of Rushes) (File: RcABLtlb)
===
NAME: Bonny Bushes Bright, The: see The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248] (File: C248)
===
NAME: Bonny Busk of London, The: see The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)
===
NAME: Bonny Ca' Laddie for Me, A
DESCRIPTION: "On a mossy bank Jenny was sitting She had on a gay gown sae new And busily she was a knitting A yarn of bonny sky blue" "Last night ... He fed me with gingerbread sweet, He called me his dear and his honey And everything else that was neat"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes food
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 33, "A Bonny Ca' Laddie for Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2276
File: CrMa033
===
NAME: Bonny Earl of Murray, The [Child 181]
DESCRIPTION: The Earl of Huntly slays the Earl of Murray (in his own bed?) as a result of the violent feud between them. The largest part of some versions is devoted to describing how noble Murray was
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1750 (Ramsay)
KEYWORDS: feud murder
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb 7, 1592 - Murder of the Earl of Moray. James VI ordered the Earl of Huntley to apprehend Moray/Murray (said to be involved in rebellion), and Huntley apparently decided to do more than that
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US(MA,MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Child 181, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (2 texts)
Bronson 181, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (6 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 468-469, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (notes to a version called "The Treachery of Huntley" plus parts of 2 texts from Child)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 226-228, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 133-134, "Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 185-189, "The Bonnie Earl of Murray" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 36, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 491-493, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 264, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
OBB 95, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 155+334, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 144, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
TBB 24, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 107-108, "The Bonny Earl of Murray" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 212, "The Bonny Earl Of Murray" (1 text)
DT 181, EARLMURY* EARLMUR2*
ST C181 (Full)
Roud #334
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Willie Macintosh" [Child 183] (characters & situation)
NOTES: James Stewart (c. 1567-1592) became Earl of Moray as a result of marrying a daughter of Lord James Stewart (1531-1570), the bastard of James V who had been Regent of Scotland for much of the early reign of James VI prior to being murdered (see Rosalind Mitchison, _A History of Scotland_, second edition, Methuen, 1982, p. 160). The younger James succeeded to the earldom in 1590.
His murder by Huntley seems to have been the result of a feud between the two, though James VI (by then ruling in fact as well as name) didn't seem too bothered by it; Huntly (c. 1563-1636), despite several quarrels with James VI (some of which look suspiciously like rebellion) was made a marquis in 1599. It probably helped that Huntly had married a daughter of the Earl of Lennox, a favorite of James's (Mitchison, p. 151).
The murdered Moray doesn't seem to have been a particularly noteworthy figure, except for his looks and the fact that he was murdered. In a place as messed-up as sixteenth century Scotland, getting killed by a rival was probably a positive.
In a combination of police work and propaganda, Moray's mother had a painting made of his corpse, of which a copy can be seen in Magnus Magnusson's_Scotland: The Story of a Nation_ (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000). The corpse has a caption (it almost looks like a speech balloon), "God revenge my cavs [cause]."
The artist looks to have been completely incompetent -- but, if the drawing is accurate, it's hard to tell what actually killed Moray. There is a large wound on his leg, but that could not have been fatal unless he bled to death. The only wounds in the chest area are a couple of small scratches on his right side, the largest near the shoulder and not in a particularly vital area; in any case, it does not appear deep. There are the scratches on the face, but both look like flesh wounds (though one came close to Moray's right eye).
According to Oliver Thomson, _The Great Feud: The Campbells & The Macdonalds_, Sutton Publishing, 2000, p. 60, the conspiracy was also supposed to eliminate several senior members of Clan Cambell, who controlled the great Earldom of Argyll, but little came of that part.
According to Magnusson, pp. 396-397, the plot arose because James VI was having trouble with his barons (in other words, nothing unusual in Scotland). The Earl of Bothwell had been fighting against the King -- at one time almost capturing him -- and Moray was allied with Bothwell.
James was even more afraid of Bothwell than he would have been of an ordinary rebel, because he was deeply superstitious, and Bothwell was reputedly involved with witches (Mitchison, p. 150). The king commissioned Huntley to put down Bothwell's faction, meanwhile negotiating with Moray. But Huntley had a grudge against Moray (whose father had enriched himself at the expense of an earlier Huntley -- plus Huntley had a chance to perhaps inherit the huntley earldom).
Moray was at Donibristle, awaiting the chance to confer with the King, when Huntley showed up on February 7 and set fire to the castle. Moray reportedly escaped out a side gate, but was found and killed -- folklore claims that Huntley struck the first blow.
James may have been prepared to negotiate with Moray, but he certainly didn't grieve for him; Huntley was merely placed under house arrest for a week. This is what caused Moray's mother to raise such a stink; she wanted justice for her son.
James VI never did catch up with Bothwell, though the earl eventually fled into exile. But he did not die until 1624, only a year before James himself. - RBW
File: C181
===
NAME: Bonny Flora Clark, The
DESCRIPTION: "Six sporting youths" borrow Donald's Bonny Flora Clark "in the chilly months of autumn" and sail up Grand River Harbour. They go through ice to a party and drink and fight. As Donald dreams, Bonny Flora Clark is wrecked in the ice on the way home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1969 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: moniker fight ship dream drink party river wreck humorous
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 210-212, 242, "The Bonny Flora Clark" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13986
NOTES: Grand River is on the north coast of Prince County, Prince Edward Island. - BS
File: IvDC210
===
NAME: Bonny Garrydoo
DESCRIPTION: On March 1, 1845, the singer leaves his comrades in Garrydoo. He crosses the seas (? or to Ballydoo?). He joins (departs?) a Masonic lodge, where McCracken is the master; there are 31. He praises the Orangemen and their girls, "Orange flowers."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration home
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H800, p. 164, "Bonny Garrydoo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13473
NOTES: This is a confusing song. Does the singer leave Garrydoo, or come there? If he started and ended there, why did he go to sea? Is he a Mason or a patriot? Did he join before or after sailing? I can't tell. - RBW
File: HHH800
===
NAME: Bonny Green Tree, The: see Tripping Over the Lea [Laws P19] (File: LP19)
===
NAME: Bonny Grey, The: see The Cock-Fight (File: VWL027)
===
NAME: Bonny Hind Squire, The: see Proud Lady Margaret [Child 47] (File: C047)
===
NAME: Bonny Irish Boy
DESCRIPTION: "His name I love to mention, in Ireland he was born." The girl recalls her Irish boy, now gone to America. She follows him, seeking him in New York and other cities. She dreams of him -- and finds him at her door. They marry and live free and happy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation emigration dream reunion marriage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 560-561, "My Bonnie Irish Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 54, "Bonny Irish Boy" (1 text)
File: Pea560
===
NAME: Bonny Irish Boy, The: see The Bonny Young Irish Boy [Laws P26] (File: LP26)
===
NAME: Bonny Kilwarren
DESCRIPTION: The singer overhears two lovers beside the canal in Kilwarren. He is leaving and he'll miss her sweet smile. He says birds must leave -- "gone to their nest" -- in their time. "Make few words excuse me for I must away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond01)
KEYWORDS: love parting
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #6991
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Bonny Kilwarren" (on IRRCinnamond01)
NOTES: Cinnamond says this is about lovers parting as he goes to war. Kilwarren is a parish in County Galway. - BS
File: RcBoKilw
===
NAME: Bonny Laboring Boy, The [Laws M14]
DESCRIPTION: A rich girl loves a working boy. Her parents try to prevent the marriage by locking up the girl and exiling the boy. Both manage to escape; they flee to Belfast and prepare to take ship for America
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1860 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2525))
KEYWORDS: love prison exile escape emigration
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont) Britain(England(South)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws M14, "The Bonny Labouring Boy"
FSCatskills 52, "The Bonny Laboring Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 66, "The Bonny Laboring Boy" (1 text)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 200-202, "The Railroad Boy" (1 text, 1 tune -- a Canadian adaption which has lost most of the plot, including the girl's imprisonment and the escape to America, but which retains so many of the lyrics that it can still be considered the same song)
Fowke/MacMillan 69, "The Bonny Labouring Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H576, pp. 435-436, "The Bonny Labouring Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 564-565, "My Bonny Labouring Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 69, "The Bonny Labouring Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 84-85, "My Bonny Laboring Boy" (1 text)
OLochlainn 9, "The Bonny Labouring Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 147, "The Bonny Labouring Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 433, LABORBOY* LABORBO2
Roud #1162
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Beades, "The Bonnie Labouring Boy" (on Voice05)
Harry Cox, "The Bonny Labouring Boy" (on HCox01)
Martin Sullivan, "The Railroad Boy" (on Ontario1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2525), "My Bonny Labouring Boy," A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1845-1859; also Johnson Ballads 311, Firth b.27(109/110) View 1 of 2, Firth c.18(178), 2806 c.8(287), 2806 b.9(252), Harding B 19(17), Harding B 19(18), Harding B 19(43), "[The] Bonny Labouring Boy"; Harding B 11(838), "Bonny Laboring Boy"; Firth c.18(179), Johnson Ballads 1110, Harding B 25(256) (largely illegible), "My Bonny Labouring Boy"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Plains of Baltimore" (theme)
cf. "My Jolly Shantyboy" (tune, theme)
File: LM14
===
NAME: Bonny Lass of Anglesey, The [Child 220]
DESCRIPTION: A group of lords is come to "dance and win" the crown away from the king (?!). The king, knowing he cannot prevail, summons the Bonny Lass of Anglesey, who easily out-dances all comers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: dancing royalty contest
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 220, "The Bonny Lass of Anglesey" (2 texts)
DT 220, ANGLELAS*
Roud #3931
File: C220
===
NAME: Bonny Light Horseman, The: see The Bonnie Light Horseman (File: HHH122a)
===
NAME: Bonny Lighter Boy (I), The: see Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser) [Laws N6] (File: LN06)
===
NAME: Bonny Lighter Boy (II), The: see The Bonny Sailor Boy [Laws M22] (File: LM22)
===
NAME: Bonny Lizie Baillie [Child 227]
DESCRIPTION: Lizie goes to Gartartain to visit her sister, and there meets Duncan Grahame. She falls in love, and declares that she will have a Highlander rather than any lowland or English lord. Her family tries and fails to change her mind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: love courting family
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 227, "Bonny Lizie Baillie" (1 text)
Bronson 227, "Bonny Lizie Baillie" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 585-588, "Bonnie Lizie Baillie" (1 text)
DT, LIZBAILI*
Roud #341
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(045), "Bonny Lizie Balie," unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Glasgow Peggy" [Child 228] (theme)
NOTES: Reportedly based on an actual story, but no real details are forthcoming. The NLScotland notes claim the broadside was printed in 1701, but offers no basis for this.  - RBW
File: C227
===
NAME: Bonny Mary Hay
DESCRIPTION: "Bonny Mary Hay, I will lo'e thee yet, For thine ee is the slae and thy hair is the jet."  After praising Mary's looks, the singer asks her to come away with him. He says it is a holiday for him when she is with him. He begs her not to refuse him
AUTHOR: Archibald Crawford?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1829 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H568, p. 226, "Bonny Mary Hay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7975
File: HHH568
===
NAME: Bonny Peggy Irvine: see The Earl of Aboyne [Child 235] (File: C235)
===
NAME: Bonny Portmore
DESCRIPTION: The singer mourns the loss of Portmore's trees which have been cut down and floated away by "the long boats from Antrim" The birds weep saying "Where will we shelter or where will we sleep?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1976 (OBoyle)
KEYWORDS: lament nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OBoyle 5, "Bonny Portmore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3475
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Bonny Portmore" (on IRRCinnamond01)
NOTES: OBoyle: In 1761 the castle built in 1664 by Lord Conway was removed. When the estate was broken up many of its trees were sold. The text comments on the "woeful destruction of your ornament tree"; O Boyle says this refers to "the Great Oak of Portmore which was blown down in 1760.... It was fourteen yards in circumference."
See SHenry H775, p. 171, "Bonny Portrush" (1 text, 1 tune), apparently written by Henry "by request.... The first verse is parodied on the old ballad 'Bonny Portmore.'" I wouldn't call it a parody: the O Boyle lines are "If I had you [Portmore] as I had once before All the Lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore"; the Henry lines are "Were I near you now as I once was before, All the gold of old England would ne'er part us more."
Greig #32 dicusses parallels between "Bonny Portmore" and "Bonny Udny" and similar songs. While his "Bonny Portmore" is not this song (Greig's has nothing to do with trees) it begins with practically the same lines: "O bonny Portmore, ye shine where ye charm, The more I think on you it makes my heart warm" but continues "But when I look on you it makes my heart sore To think of the valiant in bonny Portmore." Greig notes the same sort of pattern in "The Boys of Kilkenny" ("Kilkenny's a pretty town, and shines where it stands, And the more I think on it the more my heart warms; Oh! If I was in Kilkenny I'd think myself at home, For 'tis there I get sweethearts, but here I get none.") and "Bonnie Paisley." - BS
File: OBoy005
===
NAME: Bonny Sailor Boy, The [Laws M22]
DESCRIPTION: A rich girl and a poor sailor are in love. The girl's father hears them courting in the garden, bursts in, and threatens the boy with transportation. The girl swears to remain faithful
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: poverty sailor love transportation
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(South)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws M22, "The Bonny Sailor Boy"
Kennedy 163, "My Darling Ploughman Boy" (1 text, 1 tune, much worn down)
GreigDuncan3 413, "My Ploughman Boy" (1 text)
Ord, p. 328, "My Bonnie Sailor Boy" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, p. 179, "Jolly Young Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 18, "The Newry Prentice Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 39, pp. 127-128,171, "The Dandy Apprentice Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 745, BONSAIL*
Roud #843
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy McBeath, "My Darling Ploughman Boy" (on FSB1)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Bonny Lighter Boy
NOTES: This seems a group of songs sharing a single verse in which the father overhears the lovers and threatens to transport the man and a verse in which the woman talks of making her bed with leaves. Roud numbers GreigDuncan3 as #5935.
OLochlainn-More 18: the boy is "a weaver lad and him apprentice bound." Roud makes this version #2934. 
Morton-Maguire is like another Irish version (OLochlainn-More) in that the apprentice is a weaver; it ends "And so she sang and the valleys rang and she gained her apprentice boy." - BS
File: LM22
===
NAME: Bonny Saint John
DESCRIPTION: "Where have you been, My bonny Saint John? You've bidden sae lang (x2)." "Up on yon hill... And I couldna win hame." "Now, what will you give me Unto my supper?" "A clean dish for you And a clean spoon, For biding sae long."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: food home travel
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 191, "Bonny Saint John" (1 text)
Roud #3899
NOTES: Sort of a cross between "Lord Randall" and a scold to a child for being late for dinner. If it didn't go back to Buchan, I'd have guessed a sixties parody. - RBW
File: MSNR189
===
NAME: Bonny Tavern Green
DESCRIPTION: The singer falls in love with a girl in Tavern Green. Her killing glances wounded his heart. "If I was Queen of England as Queen Ann was long ago ... she never would want money while I would rule as queen"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (IRPTunney01)
KEYWORDS: love floatingverses nonballad royalty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1702-1714 - Reign of Queen Anne of England, daughter of James II. She was succeeded by her cousin Geroge I
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 155, "Bonnie Tavern Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3110
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "Tavrin Green" (on IRPTunney01); "Bonny Tavern Green" (on Voice15)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Girl" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Lover's Resolution" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Floating verses: from "The Irish Girl": "Oh, love it is a killing thing, I hear the people say."
Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Reviews - Volume 15" by Fred McCormick - 27.2.99: "I am also curious over the fact that this song is told from a man's perspective, since the last verse fantasises about him being Queen of England 'as Queen Ann was long ago'. Are we witnessing a former woman's song which has undergone a less than perfect gender change?" 
Maybe this is a corrupted version, with roles reversed, of "Lover's Resolution." That would explain the "If I was Queen of England" line which both share; they also share "love it is a killing thing, I hear the people say." - BS
The reference to Queen Anne is interesting. Anne was hardly the most famous Queen of England (obviously Elizabeth I earns that distinction), and she wasn't particularly noteworthy for brains or (especially) looks, but she was the *last* ruling queen until Victoria ascended in 1837. Indeed, prior to Victoria, Anne and Elizabeth I had been the only queens to really rule England. So maybe that explains the references to her.
The other possibility is that Queen Anne was not ruling queen, but merely wife of a king. The last wife of a King named Anne was Anne Hyde, wife of James II, but she died before he succeeded and can be ignored.
Prior to that, James VI and I was married to Anne of Denmark. And Henry VIII had had two wives named Anne.
Given the careers of those consorts Anne, I have to think the ruling queen is meant. - RBW
File: RcBoTaGr
===
NAME: Bonny Wee Lass (As I Went Out One Summer's Day)
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes out and meets a shy girl on the road. He cajoles her into talking to him; they talk of her work and of love. They are married and live happily ever after; he looks fondly on the road where he met her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H763, p. 458, "The Bonny Wee Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Wee Trampin'
File: HHH763
===
NAME: Bonny Wee Window, The [Laws O18]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny comes to visit Nellie, whose window lacks a pane. The two talk until Nellie must go to bed, when Johnny sticks his head through the window for a kiss -- and finds himself stuck! Nellie's grandmother beats him till he pulls out frame and all
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1899
KEYWORDS: courting humorous nightvisit
FOUND_IN: US(So) Britain(Scotland,England(North)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws O18, "The Bonny Wee Window"
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 20-23, "The Bonnie Wee Window" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 122, "The Bonny Wee Window" (1 text)
Kennedy 123, "The Bonny Wee Window" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 99-100, "The Bonnie Wee Window" (1 text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 76, "The Neat Little Window" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 479, WEEWINDO*
Roud #989
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(314), "Kissing at the Window," Haly (Cork), 19C; also Firth b.27(282), 2806 b.11(278), Harding B 19(41), "Kissing at the Window"; Harding B 26(312), "Kissing Through the Window" 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Crockery Ware" (plot)
SAME_TUNE:
Imphm (by James Nicholson)
File: LO18
===
NAME: Bonny Willie Macintosh: see Willie Macintosh [Child 183] (File: C183)
===
NAME: Bonny Wood Green
DESCRIPTION: Singer enlists at Kells Barracks "to fight for my Queen" and leaves Nellie behind in Wood Green. He leaves in a troop ship from Larne Harbour. He is shot in Flanders and asks his comrades to take a message to Nellie in Ireland near Portaballintree.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (IRHardySons)
KEYWORDS: love war parting death Ireland soldier
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #9246
RECORDINGS:
Packie McKeaney, "Bonny Wood Green" (on IRHardySons)
NOTES: Notes to IRHardySons: "It would appear to be an Antrim song, given the mention of Portballintree, but there's no parish or townland called Wood Green anywhere nearby." - BS
There is also the curiosity of fighting "for [the] Queen" in Flanders. Which Queen? Elizabeth I? Too early. Victoria? There were no major British interventions in Flanders in her time. Which leaves us only Queen Anne and the War of the Spanish Succession. But that's a lot of time for things to get confused. My guess is that this is a song from some earlier war, perhaps in Victoria's reign, imperfectly updated for World War I. - RBW
File: RcBoWooG
===
NAME: Bonny Young Irish Boy, The [Laws P26]
DESCRIPTION: The girl is sorely hurt when her Irish boy leaves her to cross the ocean. She follows him across the sea, only to learn that he has married another. She dies of a broken heart and asks to be buried in Ireland
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 20(178))
KEYWORDS: separation rejection marriage death burial
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland Canada(Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws P26, "The Bonny Young Irish Boy"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 95, "The Bonny Young Irish Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 562-563, "My Bonnie Irish Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H168, pp. 399-400, "My Bonnie Irish Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 40, pp. 128-129,171, "The Bonny Irish Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 162-163, "My Bonnie Irish Boy" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 64, "The Bonnie Irish Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 506, YNGIRISH*
Roud #565
RECORDINGS:
 O. J. Abbott, "The Bonny Irish Boy" (on Abbott1)
John Maguire, "The Bonny Irish Boy" (on IRJMaguire01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(178), "The Bonny Irish Boy" ("It's once I was courted by a bonny Irish boy"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also 2806 b.11(276), "Bonny Irish Boy"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cupid's Trepan (Cupid's Trappan, The Bonny Bird)" (tune)
NOTES: In the Bodleian broadsides the singer has not died yet: "In rattling of my chains and on a bed of straw I lie." - BS
File: LP26
===
NAME: Bonny, Bonny
DESCRIPTION: The singer, or his love, recalls his beautiful home and situation. But now he has been taken by the press gang and serves aboard the Nightingale. He will depart soon, and expects once more to be pressed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (JIFSS)
KEYWORDS: pressgang
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H75b, pp. 199-200, "Bonny, Bonny" (1 text, 1 tune, a fragment to which Henry added four stanzas)
NOTES: The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "The Nightingale" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) - BS
File: HHH075b
===
NAME: Bony Lost it Fairly
DESCRIPTION: "Lord Wellington long kept him down, And boldly did advance, He drew his armies out of Spain, And then invaded France. For all his quick and warlike tricks, They tossed him from his station, No more to rise and reign again The scourge of every nation"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: war France Spain Napoleon
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 150, "Bony Lost it Fairly" (1 fragment)
Roud #5823
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Miller of Drone" (tune)
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan1 fragment. - BS
It is, at least, reasonably accurate as a description of the situation in 1814. Wellington had finally won the battle for Spain (the Peninsular campaign) and was preparing to cross the Pyrenees into France as the other allies closed in on Paris; Napoleon agreed to abdicate and went to Elba. Of course, Napoleon didn't stay abdicated; he came back and fought at Waterloo. Given the state of the fragment, we don't know whether that was covered. - RBW
File: GrD1150
===
NAME: Bony's Lament: see Napoleon's Farewell to Paris (File: GC089)
===
NAME: Boogaboo, The: see The Foggy Dew (The Bugaboo) [Laws O3] (File: LO03)
===
NAME: Bookerman, The
DESCRIPTION: "Got to sleep, little baby, Before the bookerman catch you, Turkey in the next Can't get a rest, Can't get a rest for the baby."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: lullaby nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 157, (no title) (1 short text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wind Is in the West" (theme)
File: ScNF157B
===
NAME: Books of the Bible, The: see Old Testament in Verse (The Books of the Bible) (File: R875)
===
NAME: Booth Killed Lincoln
DESCRIPTION: "Wiles Booth came to Washington, An actor great was he, He played at Ford's Theater And Lincoln went to see." Booth sneaks up on Lincoln and shoots him, then flees. The dying Lincoln says "'Of all the actors in this town, I loved Wilkes Booth the best'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: death Civilwar murder
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 14, 1865 - John Wilkes Booth shoots Abraham Lincoln.
Apr 15, 1865 - Lincoln dies
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Burt, pp. 224-225, "(Booth Killed Lincoln)" (1 text)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 90-91, "Booth Killed Lincoln" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Booth Shot Lincoln
NOTES: Five days after Lee's surrender, John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) entered Abraham Lincoln's box at Ford's Theatre and shot the President. Booth fled across the stage and, despite breaking his leg, escaped. Eventually he and his fellow conspirators were caught; Booth died when the barn in which he was hiding took fire. Most of the other conspirators were sentenced to death or long imprisonment. - RBW, (PJS)
File: SCW90
===
NAME: Boothbay Whale, The
DESCRIPTION: Lauding the clever fisherfolk of Boothbay. One-legged Skipper Jake sets out to catch a whale, even though it is too big for his boat. He jumps on the whale's back, sticks his peg in its blowhole, and causes it to blow out its brains as it tries to exhale
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: whale humorous talltale fishing
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 399, "The Boothbay Whale" (1 text)
File: FSWB399A
===
NAME: Bootlegger, The (Trammell's Bootlegger)
DESCRIPTION: "Hee-haw, hee-haw, Blind Jack is my name, I romp, I paw, I snort, I snooze, For I am in the business of selling booze." But the police are after him; he hopes to escape, but apparently is punished -- and hopes to win a prize for his poetry about it
AUTHOR: "Trammell"
EARLIEST_DATE: Dated to 1915; printed by Fuson 1931
KEYWORDS: drink punishment judge
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 154, "The Bootlegger" (1 text)
ST Fus154 (Partial)
Roud #16369
NOTES: Seemingly not traditional, and certainly not very good (or very easy to understand), but Fuson includes it as a "type of extreme modern ballad." - RBW
File: Fus154
===
NAME: Border Affair, A: see Spanish Is the Loving Tongue (A Border Affair) (File: FCW052)
===
NAME: Border Widow's Lament, The: see The Famous Flower of Serving-Men [Child 106] (File: C106)
===
NAME: Bordon's Grove
DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders by Bordon's Grove and hears a girl lamenting. He courts her; she says she is waiting for Johnny. He asks about Johnny, and she says he was wounded in Flanders. She sees his love token, and declares they will never meet again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation reunion brokentoken
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H529, pp. 320-321, "Bordon's Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2322
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Borland's Groves
NOTES: The Sam Henry version of this is very fragmentary; there is little real deceit. Presumably more happened in the original versions. - RBW
File: HHH529
===
NAME: Boring for Oil
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes boring for oil with his "auger," and in some versions contracts a venereal disease.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1976 (collected from Riley Neal by Logsdon)
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex disease warning
FOUND_IN: Canada(West) US(MA,MW,NE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 58-60, "Boring for Oil" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Logsdon 26, pp. 160-162, "Boring for Oil" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BOREOIL*
Roud #10094
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fire Ship" (plot) and references there
NOTES: Logsdon says this "may be the oldest bawdy oil occupation song in tradition." There isn't much competition for that title. But Logsdon's version refers to "Oil City," which he believes to be in the Pennsylvania oil fields, which might date the song as early as the 1860s. And one of Randolph's variants apparently did date back to c. 1910. So while proof is lacking, Logsdon's claim is possible. - RBW
File: RL058
===
NAME: Boss of the Section Gang, The
DESCRIPTION: Mike Cahooley, an Irish immigrant, goes to work on the railroad; he advances to  boss of the section gang. When the company president comes around, he shakes Mike's hand; his workers fear him. He is going home to his wife, but hearers are welcome to visit
AUTHOR: Possibly "Cyclone" Harry Hart
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893 (broadside by Harry Hart)
KEYWORDS: pride bragging emigration railroading work family boss worker
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #8585
RECORDINGS:
Minta Morgan, "The Boss of the Section Gang" (AFS 922 B2, 1937; on LC61)
File: RctBotSG
===
NAME: Boston: see Boston Harbor (File: BAF831)
===
NAME: Boston Burglar, The [Laws L16]
DESCRIPTION: The youth is brought up by honest parents, but turns wild. At last he is taken and, despite his parents' entreaties, sentenced to transportation (in American texts, prison). He dreams of release, plans to give up bad ways, and warns others to do the same
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(4372)); c.1840 (broadside, NLScotland APS.4.86.33)
KEYWORDS: crime outlaw trial punishment warning  father mother transportation prison
FOUND_IN: US(All) Britain(Scotland) Australia Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (32 citations)
Laws L16, "Botany Bay A [Laws L16A]/The Boston Burglar (Botany Bay B) [Laws L16B]"
Greig #132, p. 1, "The Boston Smuggler" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 260, "Boston Smuggler" (3 texts)
Randolph 136, "The Louisville Burglar" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Eddy 85, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 131, "Botany Bay" (1 short text); 137, "The Boston Burglar" 1 text pllus an excerpt and mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 64-65, "Bound for Charlers Town"; pp. 96-97, "Bound for Sydney Town"; pp. 139-140, "Moreton Bay"; pp. 257-258, "Boston City" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 48-50, "The Botany Bay Transport" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 53-54, "Boston Burglar" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 220, "Botany Bay; p. 222, "The Boston Burglar" (2 texts)
FSCatskills 114, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 242, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more)
Chappell-FSRA 56, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 69-71, "Botany Bay (The Boston Burglar)" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 289-296, "The Boston Burglar" (5 texts plus a fragment of a playparty, with local titles "The Boston Burglar," "Covington," "I Was Borned and Raised in Covington," "Frank James, the Burglar" (which despite the title is clearly not about Jesse's brother), "The Boston Burglar"; 3 tunes on pp. 433-435)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 243-244, "To Huntsville" (1 text, which seems to have lost the beginning)
Brewster 41, "The Boston Burglar" (2 texts plus mention of 3 more)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 10-11, "Bound for Botany Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H691, p. 119, "Botany Bay"; H202, pp. 119-120, "The Boston Burglar" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
OLochlainn 44, "Boston City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dibblee/Dibblee, p. 73, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 132-133, "Louisville Burglar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 158-160, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 23, pp. 57-58, "The Boston Burglar"; pp. 59-60, "Charlestown" (2 texts)
JHCox 84, "The Boston Burglar" (3 texts)
JHCoxIIA, #29, p. 105, "The Boston Burglar" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 92, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 101, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 96, "Boston Burglar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 108-110, "Botany Bay"; "Louisville Burglar" (2 texts)
Silber-FSWB, p. 67, "The Boston Burglar" (1 text)
DT 425, BSTNCITY BOTNYBAY
Roud #261
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Boston Burglar" (OKeh 40419, 1925)
Vernon Dalhart, "Boston Burglar" (Brunswick 2942, 1925) (Edison 51608 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], 1925)
Hickory Nuts, "Louisville Burglar" (OKeh 45169, 1927; on RoughWays2, ConstSor1)
Frank Hutchison, "The Boston Burglar" (OKeh 45425, 1930; rec. 1929)
Claude Moye, "Boston Burgular" (Gennett 6748 [as Pie Plant Pete]/Champion 15752 [as Asparagus Joe]/Supertone 9351 [as Pie Plant Pete], 1929) (Conqueror 8435 [as Pie Plant Pete], 1934)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Louisville Burglar" (on NLCR02)
Riley Puckett, "The Boston Burglar" (Columbia 15050-D,  1926; rec. 1925)
L. D. Smith, "Frank James, the Roving Gambler (The Boston Burglar)" (AFS; on LC14)
Carl T. Sprague, "The Boston Burglar" (Victor 20534, 1927)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4372), "Botany Bay" ("Come all young men of learning, take warning by me"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Firth c.17(55), "The Transport" or "Botany Bay"
NLScotland, APS.4.86.33, "The Edinburgh Convicts," Walker (Durham), after 1840
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Harrison Town" (theme)
cf. "The Prisoner's Song (II)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Coon-Can Game" [Laws I4] (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bound for Charlestown
Bound for Sydney Town
I Was Born in Boston
NOTES: For the history of the penal colony (that never was) at Botany Bay, see the song with that title.
The original version of the piece was a transportation song to Botany Bay, but this seems to have been largely overshadowed by the ""X Burglar" type, so we have lumped them and filed them under the "Burglar" type.
The subfamily of texts known as "The Boston Burglar" is now credited (Marks, Spaeth, Cazden et al; cf. Randolph) to Michael J. Fitzgerald. The amount of reworking done by Fitzgerald, however, was slight, and older and newer versions continue to mix. - RBW
One of the Meredith/Anderson references goes under the name "Moreton Bay". This should not be confused with the song by the same name, indexed as "Moreton Bay (I), which includes the killing by an Aborigine of the oppressive Captain Logan. - PJS
File: LL16
===
NAME: Boston City: see The Boston Burglar [LawsL16] (File: LL16)
===
NAME: Boston Come-All-Ye, The: see Song of the Fishes (Blow Ye Winds Westerly) (File: LxA496)
===
NAME: Boston Harbor
DESCRIPTION: "From Boston Harbor we set sail, The wind was blowing the devil of a gale." The captain gives cruel orders, curses the sailors, demands drink, and goes to his cabin to avoid the storm. They hope he dies; (when he does, they threaten his son)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: ship sailor storm death hardtimes drink children
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Colcord, pp. 168-169, "Boston" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 155-157, "Boston" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 831-832, "Boston" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BSTNMRBR*
Roud #613
File: BAF831
===
NAME: Boston Smuggler, The: see The Boston Burglar [LawsL16] (File: LL16)
===
NAME: Boston Tea Tax, The
DESCRIPTION: "I snum [declare] I am a Yankee lad, And I guess I'll sing a ditty." The singer describes all that his people would have done then had America been free (e.g. crossed a bridge that wasn't built yet). Failing that, they dumped the tea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933
KEYWORDS: rebellion ship 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: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 539-541, "The Boston Tea Tax" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, TEATAX*
NOTES: Although this song refers to events of 1773, the references to changes which took place after that time make it clear that it is more recent. Botkin dates it to the period 1830-1840. - RBW
File: BNEF539
===
NAME: Bosun's Alphabet, The: see The Sailor's Alphabet (File: RcTSAlp)
===
NAME: Bosun's Story, The
DESCRIPTION: Walkaway (stamp and go) shanty. Exaggerated story about a whaling voyage. The crew nails the ship to a whale's tail and thus sails to the North Pole and back. Each stanza ends with "'And that's the truth', said he."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (_Sea Breezes_)
KEYWORDS: shanty whale bragging talltale
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 157-159, "The Bos'un's Story" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9141
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bos'un's Song
NOTES: [Harlow's version is] taken from a 1935 issue of _Sea Breezes_ magazine, published in Liverpool, as given by Capt. A.G. Cole. - SL
File: Harl157
===
NAME: Botany Bay (I)
DESCRIPTION: The singer is paying for his life of crime by being transported to Botany Bay. He describes the miserable fate of the convicts on board the prison vessel, warns others against such crimes, and wishes he could return to his love at home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1885
KEYWORDS: transportation separation crime Australia
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1788 - First penal colony founded in Australia
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(So) Australia
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 96, "Botany Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 36-37, 113, "Botany Bay" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 86, "Botany Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 24-25, "Botany Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, p. 22, "Botany Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 67, "Botany Bay" (1 text)
DT, BOTBAY2*
Roud #3267
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Botany Bay" (on JGreenway01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "Too Rally" (tune)
cf. "The Prisoner's Song (I)"
NOTES: The American Revolutionary War meant that, after the 1780s, Britain could no longer transport convicts to America. In 1788, therefore, an expedition was mounted to carry prisoners to Australia.
The fleet's original destination was Botany Bay (so-called because of all the wildlife found by the original explorers), but this proved so barren that the fleet's commander, Captain Arthur Phillip (1738-1814; governor 1788-1792), decided to move a short way up the coast to Sydney. Despite the fact that Botany Bay was never settled, its name came to be synonymous with Australian penal colonies.
This song seems to have begun life in the music halls, perhaps as a rewrite of "Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries." It is credited to Stephens and Yardley,  and appeared in the 1885 comedy "Little Jack Shepherd." - RBW
File: R096
===
NAME: Botany Bay (II): see The Boston Burglar [LawsL16] (File: LL16)
===
NAME: Botany Bay Courtship (The Currency Lasses)
DESCRIPTION: "The Currency Lads may fill their glasses And drink to the health of the Currency Lasses, But the lass I adore... Is a lass in the Female Factory." Having met Molly (who was "tried by the name of Polly"), the two plan marriage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1832
KEYWORDS: courting Australia punishment robbery drink transportation
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 68-69, "The Currency Lasses" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Washerwoman" (tune & meter)
NOTES: The "Female Factory" was the compound at Parramatta where female immigrants were kept. Settlers were allowed to come in and seek wives. 
The Factory wasn't much of a solution to Australia's problems; fewer than one transportee in six was female, and not all of them were of "marriagable age" (though the authorities eventually started trying to send young women). The women at the Factory, in addition, were those who were not wanted by contractors.
To top it off, the Factory was quite a dreadful place, a hall above a prison, not nearly large enough for all the women sent there. Many had to be lodged on the town, and the whole place presented a picture of squalor and, hence, of other vices as the women strove to survive.
A "currency lad" or "currency lass" was a child born in Australia in the colony's early years, and usually illegitimate. The title arose because Australia had very little money, and so turned to odd, makeshift native products. Since the children, too, were native products, they were called "currency." (As opposed to the handful of British-born non-convict landowners, the "Sterling.") - RBW
File: FaE068
===
NAME: Botany Bay Transport, The: see The Boston Burglar [LawsL16] (File: LL16)
===
NAME: Bothwell Bridge [Child 206]
DESCRIPTION: Earlston bids farewell to his family and sets out for Bothwell Bridge (to join the Covenanters). Monmouth, who commands the enemy, welcomes him but orders him to disarm. The two sides cannot agree, and a bloody battle ensues
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: battle death nobility
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 22, 1679 - Battle of Bothwell Bridge (Bothwell Brig)
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 206, "Bothwell Bridge" (1 text)
Bronson 206, "Bothwell Bridge" (4 versions)
Leach, pp. 551-553, "Bothwell Bridge" (1 text)
Roud #337
NOTES: The battle of Drumclog (1679; see "Loudon Hill, or Drumclog," Child 205), at which Dundee was defeated, brought many more men to the Covenanter cause. These new men, however, were anything but disciplined; they didn't even really agree on what they wanted (they were anti-Episcopal, but there were all sorts of ways to oppose bishops!).
As a result of this disorganization (abetted by bad leadership), the Covenanters were routed at Bothwell Bridge by Charles II's illegitimate son Monmouth, the royalist commander. According to G. N. Clark's _The Later Stuarts, 1660-1714_, the presbyterian forces lost about 400 killed and over 1000 captured; many were sold into slavery in Barbados.
Despite the failure of the rising, the mere fact that it happened caused the Duke of Lauderdale (John Maitland, 1616-1682), the Secretary of State for Scotland who had implemented the High Church policy, to lose most of his power.
The ballad implies that Claverhouse was a senior officer at Bothwell Bridge -- but in fact he was only a captain of no great importance at this battle.
It should be noted that various sources list July 2 as the date of the battle. This is, I believe, a case of Old Style (Julian) versus New Style (Gregorian) dates.
There is at least one unrelated (but quite old) broadside about this battle, NLScotland, APS.4.99.4, "Bothwell-Bridge: Or, Hamilton's Hero," T.B. (London), 1679 - RBW
File: C206
===
NAME: Bothy Lads o' Forfar, The: see Tattie Jock (File: GrD3377)
===
NAME: Bottle O: see Sailor Likes His Bottle-O, The (File: Hugi055)
===
NAME: Bottle Up and Go
DESCRIPTION: "She may be old, ninety years, But she ain't too old to shift them gears. You got to bottle up and go... All you high-power women." The singer encourages women to have fun, and appreciates their existence
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (recording, Picaninny Jug Band)
KEYWORDS: courting sex nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 73, "Bottle Up and Go" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Tommy McClennan "Bottle It Up and Go" (Bluebird B-8373, 1940, rec. 1939)
Memphis Jug Band, "Bottle Up and Go" (OKeh 8959/Vocalion 03080, 1935; rec. 1934)
Picaninny Jug Band, "Bottle Up and Go" (Champion 16615, 1933; Varsity 6025, n.d.; rec. 1932)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Salty Dog" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Step it Up and Go"
NOTES: This song and "Step It Up and Go" look very alike at first glance, but the verses seem to be very different. They might both be "Salty Dog" spinoffs. Until I see an intermediate version, I am (tentatively) classifying them separately. - RBW
File: FSWB073B
===
NAME: Bottler: see Sir Lionel [Child 18] (File: C018)
===
NAME: Boulavogue
DESCRIPTION: "At Boulavogue, as the sun was setting...  A rebel hand set the heather blazing And brought the neighbors from far and near." Father Murphy's rebels for a time defeat the English, but at last are defeated and Murphy executed
AUTHOR: P.J. McCall (1861-1919) (Source: Zimmermann)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 ("First printed in the _Irish Weekly Independent_, 18th June, 1898," according to Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland death clergy execution
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 26, 1798 - Beginning of the Wexford rebellion
May 27, 1798 - The Wexford rebels under Father John Murphy defeat the North Cork militia
June 5, 1798 - The Wexford rebels attack the small garrison (about 1400 men, many militia) at New Ross, but are repelled
June 21, 1798 - The rebel stronghold a Vinegar Hill is taken, and the Wexford rebellion effectively ended
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 28-29, "Boulavogue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 90, "Father Murphy of the County Wexford" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Moylan 58, "Boolavogue" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BOULVOGE*
Roud #2356
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Boulavogue" (on IRClancyMakem03)
Davie Stewart, "Boulavogue" (on Voice08)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Father Murphy (I)" (subject of Father Murphy) and references there
NOTES: Zimmermann pp. 65: "The ceremonies marking the centenary of the 1798 rebellion brought out a new flow of ballads, (the best was song [Zimmermann] 90)"
Zimmermann 90: "P.J. McCall most probably found the inspiration for this song in the old ballads "Come all you warriors" and "Some treat of David" (Songs [Zimmermann] 10 and 11), though he never borrowed more than half-a-line at a time." - BS
Boulavogue is a small town in County Wexford.
Although many parts of Ireland rose in rebellion in 1798, the revolts were uncoordinated and much too late; the leaders of the rebellion, for the most part, were already in British hands (the British authorities arrested most leaders of the United Irishmen in March 1798; the last major leader, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, was taken into custody, mortally wounded, on May 19.  For more about him, see the notes to "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)").
The Irish had been waiting for foreign help, but it was not forthcoming (for the Bantry Bay fiasco and the Battle of Camperdown, see the notes on "The Shan Van Vogt").
What was left of the organization (which wasn't much, really; with the leaders gone, there was no way to coordinate a rebellion) decided to proceed with their planned attack Dublin on May 23. The idea was to pin down the British leaders. Unfortunately, the United Irishmen had nothing left in Dublin; all the forces there were dispersed.
In Ulster, rebellion did break out, but it was so uncoordinated that it really amounted to little more than rioting (with absolutely no coordination between Irish Catholics and Protestants, whose distrust of each other was heightened by events in Wexford), and was quickly put down.
As a result, only the Wexford uprising had any success. Led by the "Croppy Priest," Father John Murphy (for whom see especially "Father Murphy (I)"), the Catholics killed hundreds of Protestants at Vinegar Hill and other places and forced the English (who were already engaged in pacifying the county, as they feared a French invasion) to gather real forces to defeat them. But defeat them she did, with much violence -- and though the English government disclaimed the violence and offered more liberal terms, it was the violence that the Irish remembered.
The British, now led by Cornwallis, proceeded to offer generous amnesties -- only to have the French finally invade! (See "The Men of the West") - RBW
File: PGa028
===
NAME: Bounce Upon Bess
DESCRIPTION: The Irishman every night spends what he earns each day on Walker's "Bounce upon Bess." English porter and ale grow bad as they grow stale; this whisky improves with age. It's good in all weather. Give your sweetheart some and her heart will grow soft.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 86-88, "Bounce Upon Bess" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Priest and His Boots" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "'Bounce upon Bess' seems to have been a cant term for strong whisky." Croker [explains the term by telling] a long story about a woman who had such strong liquor that "it knocked her down so flat, she couldn't stand after it." As in the song, the liquor was "Walker's best whisky.... The song is given from a manuscript copy, which has been in the Editor's possession upwards of twenty years [that is: before 1819]. Mr Walker was an eminent distiller in Cork." - BS
Despite Croker's improbable tale, my guess is that "Bounce upon Bess" is rhyming cant, perhaps inspired by hope of revenge upon Queen Elizabeth ("Bess"), during whose reign much of Ireland was conquered. The problem, with this theory, I admit, is that "Bess' does not rhyme with any term for strong drink that I can think of except for "Guinness." Which obviously doesn't fit very well here. - RBW
File: CrPS086
===
NAME: Bouncing Girl in Fogo, The
DESCRIPTION: "There's a bouncing girl in Fogo that I am going to see... She is the sweetest colour of roses a soldier ever knew... You may talk about your Scotland girls, from Boston or the Strand, But you'll get no girl to suit you like the girls from Newfoundland"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting love separation derivative soldier
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, p. 354, "The Bouncing Girl in Fogo" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea354 (Partial)
Roud #2800
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (theme, lyrics)
NOTES: Peacock says "This is the only surviving fragment of a native love eulogy. Fogo is a strongly Irish community off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. The song probably dates from the World War I period."
Considering how close an adaptation the words are of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" [Roud in fact lumps them - RBW], it is strange that the tune has not also been used.  The "Bouncing Girl" tune is in 6/8 time and is not at all related to "Yellow Rose." - BS
File: Pea354
===
NAME: Bound Away on the Twilight
DESCRIPTION: "She's an iron ore vesel, a vessel of fame, She sails from Oswego and the Twilight's her name." The singer tells of saiing west to Marquette, where the singer's hands get sore loading ore. He proceeds to describe the voyage back east
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (collected from John S. Parsons by Walton)
KEYWORDS: sailor ship travel
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 122-124, "Bound Away on the Twilight" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Ed Vandenberg, "Bound Away on the Twilight" (1955; on WaltonSailors; this version, with guitar accompaniment, seems to be sung by a revival singer, not an original informant)
NOTES: The notes to Walton/Grimm/Murdock think this is based on "Red Iron Ore," which it obviously resembled thematically. The difficulty is that its form is more typical of "The Dreadnought" [Laws D13]. Of course, Walton/Grimm/Murdock's version of "Red Iron Ore" seems to use the tune of "The Dreadnought." But at least one other Great Lakes version of "Red Iron Ore," Dean's, uses the Derry Down tune. So we have a complicated question of dependence here, which Walton/Grimm/Murdock ignore. - RBW
File: WGM122
===
NAME: Bound Down to Newfoundland [Laws D22]
DESCRIPTION: Young Captain Stafford Nelson of the Abilene falls sick. Unable to get up on deck, he cannot navigate the ship, and none of the other sailors know the coast. Unable to reach Halifax, they wind up in Arichat, where the captain dies
AUTHOR: Captain Cale White
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: sea wreck disease death
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws D22, "Bound Down to Newfoundland"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 156, "The Schooner Mary Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 905-906, "Bound Down for Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 201-203, "Bound Down to Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 73, "The Schooner Mary Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 104, "Banks of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 195-196, "Bound Down to Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 87, "Newfoundland" (1 text)
DT 615, BNDNEWF* BNDNEWF2*
Roud #647
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(588), "The Loss of the Mary Ann" A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1845-1859; also Firth c.13(58)=Harding B 16(132b), "The Loss of the Albion," unknown, no date
NOTES: In Greenleaf/Mansfield the schooner is Mary Ann and the illness, which kills all but two, is smallpox. - BS
This story has interesting similarities to the story of the clipper _Neptune's Car_, though that ship sailed around Cape Horn rather than in Canada. The story has been widely retold; I found versions in the February 2005 issue of _American History_ magazine, in Lincoln P. Paine's _Ships of the World: An Historical Encylopedia_ (Houghton Mifflin, 1997), p. 356, andin A. A. Hoehling's _Ships that Changed History_ (1992; I used the 2007 Barnes & Noble edition), pp.11-12.
Shortly before the _Car_ was to set sail from New York to San Francisco in 1857, her first mate broke her leg. Captain Joshua Adams Patten was forced to sail with a mate hired by the shipping company.
It turned out to be a bad decision; the mate may have been a ringer (Patten was racing two other ships around the Horn).  Whatever his reasons, he seems to have tried to slow the ship's passage. Patten had him arrested. 
But that left Patten as the only qualified navigator aboard -- and he was suffering from tuberculosis (so Paine and _American History_; Hoehling calls it a "mysterious" ailment). He tried to work two shifts, and eventually collapsed.
In a sense, the story of _Neptune's Car_ was happier than this song. Salvation came in the form of Patten's wife, a teenager who was pregnant for the first time -- but whom Joshua Patten had taught navigation on a previous voyage.  With the help of the crew and the second mate, she took over the ship, brought her through Cape Horn, and eventually got it to San Francisco. It was a slow passage, but they made it.
Her name? Mary Ann.
But if the Neptune's Car made it to port, the story then reverts to what is found in this song: The captain did not survive. Joshua Patten, who was barely 30, died in mid-1857, and Mary Ann Patten, not yet 25, had contracted his tuberculosis and died in 1861. (The ship itself outlived them; _Neptune's Car_ was still in service, under the British flag, in 1870.)
The source of this song? Probably not. But one wonders if there might not have been a _Neptune's Car_ song which mixed with the Greenleaf/Mansfield version. - RBW
File: LD22
===
NAME: Bound for Botany Bay: see The Boston Burglar [LawsL16] (File: LL16)
===
NAME: Bound for Canada: see My Dear, I'm Bound for Canady (File: GrMa154)
===
NAME: Bound for Charlestown: see The Boston Burglar [Laws L16] (File: LL16)
===
NAME: Bound for Glory Noo
DESCRIPTION: The singer is a "really saved" carter "wha loves the Lord and hates the drink." He used to whip and kick his horse. He was known by police "when drink set me aflame." "Withoot an oath I couldna speak." He's "bound for glory noo"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad religious horse
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 680, "Bound for Glory Noo" (1 text)
Roud #6103
File: GrD3680
===
NAME: Bound for South Australia: see South Australia (File: Doe071)
===
NAME: Bound for Sydney Town: see The Boston Burglar [LawsL16] (File: LL16)
===
NAME: Bound for the Promised Land
DESCRIPTION: "On Jordan's stormy banks I stand And cast a wishful eye To Canaan's fair and happy land Where my possessions lie. I am bound for the promised land...." The rest of the song describes the wonders of the promised land.
AUTHOR: Words: Samuel Stennett
EARLIEST_DATE: 1787 (lyrics only)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
BrownIII 581, "I Am Bound for the Promised Land" (1 text)
Randolph 624, "I'm Bound for the Promised Land" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 99, "Bound for the Promised Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 98, "I Am Bound for the Promised Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11897
RECORDINGS:
Charles Butts Sacred Harp Singers, "Promised Land" (OKeh 45252, 1928)
Harmon E. Helmick, "Bound for the Promised Land" (Champion 16744, 1934)
Alfred G. Karnes, "I Am Bound for the Promised Land" (Victor 20840, 1927)
Frank & James McCravy, "The Promised Land" (OKeh 40371, 1925)
Old Southern Sacred Singers, "I Am Bound for the Promised Land" (Brunswick 161, 1927; Supertone S-2096, 1930)
Singers from Stewart's Chapel, Houston, MS, "New Jordan" (on Fasola1)
Turkey Mountain Singers, "I Am Bound for the Promised Land" (Victor 20942, 1927)
Walker Brothers, "I'm Bound for the Promised Land" (Broadway 4121, c. 1932?)
Frank Welling & John McGhee, "I'm Bound for the Promised Land" (Perfect 12780, 1932)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Heavenly Port," "Jordan," "Jordan's Shore," "My Home," "New Jordan," "Sweet Prospect" (all share "On Jordan's Stormy Banks" verses)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Promised Land
NOTES: Randolph describes his fragmemt ("I'm bound for the promised land, I'm bound for the promised land, Oh who will come an' go with me? I'm bound for the promised land") as a "jump-up song" which could be used as the chorus to several hymns. It is apparently used most often with "On Jordan's Stormy Banks."
The Sacred Harp lists no fewer than seven tunes ("Heavenly Port," "Jordan" [this not the same as the Missouri Harmony's "Jordan"], "Jordan's Shore," "My Home," "New Jordan," "Sweet Prospect," "The Promised Land") for Samuel Stennett's "On Jordan's Stormy Banks." The Missouri Harmony has it to the tune "Canaan."
One of those shape note tunes (according to the editors of Brown, quoting Jackson) is described as "practically identical with the old Scottish 'The Boatie Rows."" The lyrics do fit "The Boatie Rows," but to declare any of the Sacred Harp tunes the same as "The Boatie Rows" appears an extreme stretch to me. - RBW
The Karnes recording is a hybrid; the words are "Bound for the Promised Land," but the tune is a direct lift from "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down." - PJS
File: LxU099
===
NAME: Bound for the Stormy Main: see The Greenland Whale Fishery [Laws K21] (File: LK21)
===
NAME: Bound to Australia: see The First of the Emigrants (File: Doe149)
===
NAME: Bound to California
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Good-bye my lads good-bye, no one can tell me why. I am bound to California, to reap the shinning gold. Good-bye, my lads, good-bye."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (C. Fox Smith, _A Book of Shanties_)
KEYWORDS: shanty mining farewell gold
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, p. 118, "Bound to California" (1 short text, 1 tune) [AbEd, o. 101]
Roud #11253
NOTES: Hugill guesses this is of Negro origin. C. Fox Smith thinks it has some relationship to "Shallow Brown." - SL
File: Hug118
===
NAME: Bound to Go (I)
DESCRIPTION: "I built my house upon the rock, O yes, Lord, No wind, no storm can blow it down, O yes, Lord. March on, member, bound to go; Been to the ferry, bound to go...." The singer builds a stout house, picks sweet berries, and gathers in brothers and sisters
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, pp. 22-23, "Bound to Go" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Scott-BoA, pp. 202-203, "Bound to Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 323-324, "Bound to Go" (1 text)
Roud #11974
NOTES: For the story of the men who built their houses on rock and sand, see Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49. - RBW
File: SBoA202
===
NAME: Bound to Go (II): see Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go) (File: Doe062)
===
NAME: Bound to Rio: see Rio Grande (File: Doe064)
===
NAME: Boundless Mercy (Drooping Souls, No Longer Grieve)
DESCRIPTION: "Drooping souls, no longer grieve; Heaven is propitious. If in Christ you can believe, you will find him precious." "From his hands, his feed, his side Flows the healing balsam." "Boundless mercy, how it flows; Now I hope I feel it."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1838 (Knoxville Harmony)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 528, "Drooping Souls, No Longer Grieve" (1 text)
Chappell-FSRA 95, "The Mourner's Comfort" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #11820
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Zion's Sons and Daughters"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Mourner's Comfort
File: Br3528
===
NAME: Bounty Jumper, The
DESCRIPTION: "Friends and jolly citizens, I'll sing you a song... It's all about a jumper, Old Donald was his name." Captured at last, he prefers death to revealing where his money is hidden. The jumper is condemned, executed, and buried.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: death execution money Civilwar
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
FSCatskills 17, "The Bounty Jumper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 92-93, "The Bounty Jumper" (1 text)
Dean, p. 101, "The Bounty Jumper" (1 text)
ST FSC017 (Partial)
Roud #1976
NOTES: During the Civil War, the Union grew so desperate for men that it began to use drastic recruitment measures. One of these was the bounty -- paying a man a large sum (sometimes as much as $300) to enlist, and then giving him leave to go off and spend it. Naturally, a large number of men -- the "Bounty Jumpers" -- took the money and ran. The harsh punishment a captured jumper received did little to discourage the practice. - RBW
File: FSC017
===
NAME: Bow Wow Wow
DESCRIPTION: Primarily as tune used for various broadsides and late folk songs, recognized monotonal measures followed by arpeggios on a pentatonic scale. Chorus something like "Bow wow wow, all the dog did say to them was, Bow wow wow."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1859 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: dancetune nonballad animal
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, p. 183, "The Barking Barber" (1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Guy Fawkes" (tune)
cf. "Jog Along Till Shearing" (tune)
cf. "Row-Dow-Dow" (tune)
cf. "The Carrier's Song" (tune)
NOTES: I've yet to find a complete text of this piece, which makes it hard to write a proper description. I'm not sure Bow Wow Wow, as a song in its own right, exists in tradition. But it was used for so many traditional songs (see the cross-references) that it clearly belongs here. - RBW
File: ChWII183
===
NAME: Bow-Legged Rabbit
DESCRIPTION: A dance song: "Bow-legged rabbit, A box ankle Joe, Flea bite me so bad I can't dance no mo'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1949
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 709, "Bow-Legged Rabbit" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: BSoF709
===
NAME: Bowie, Bowerie: see The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)
===
NAME: Bowl of Green Peas, The
DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing you a ditty Of a fair maid so pretty Who lives from the city Some seventeen miles." The singer went to court "Mariar" in a briar. When he asked to wed, she smashed a bowl of green peas over his head. Now his friends are always offering him peas
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage humorous
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 378, "The Bowl of Green Peas" (1 text)
Roud #7629
File: R378
===
NAME: Bowling Green
DESCRIPTION: "Wish I was in Bowling Green sittin' in a chair, One arm 'round my pretty little miss, the other 'round my dear." The singer offers to let her man go, wishes she were a bumblebee who could settle on her man, and sets out to ramble because she has no home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (recording, Cousin Emmy)
KEYWORDS: home love betrayal abandonment rambling
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 43, "Bowling Green" (1 text)
Green-Miner, p. 230, "Bowling Green" or "Shady Grove" (1 fragmentary text)
DT, BOWLGREN*
RECORDINGS:
Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "I Wish I Was in Bowling Green" (Decca 24214, 1947)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mary from Dungloe" (floating verse)
File: FSWB043
===
NAME: Bows of London, The: see The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)
===
NAME: Box Them Off, My Jolly Tars: see The Little Fighting Chance [Laws J19] (File: LJ19)
===
NAME: Box Upon Her Head, The: see The Undaunted Female (The Box Upon Her Head; The Staffordshire Maid; The Maid and the Robber) [Laws L3] (File: LL03)
===
NAME: Boy and the Mantle, The [Child 29]
DESCRIPTION: A boy enters King Arthur's court wearing a rich mantle. He offers the mantle to whichever woman proves virtuous (the appearance of the mantle will show who is chaste and who is not). Only one woman in the court proves virtuous.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: clothes infidelity magic
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 29, "The Boy and the Mantle" (1 text)
Percy/Wheatley III, pp. 3-12, "The Boy and the Mantle" (1 text); cf. pp. 315-323, "The Boy and the Mantle" (a rewritten version)
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 257-264, "The Boy and the Mantle" (1 text, from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition)
Leach, pp. 113-118, "The Boy and the Mantle" (1 text)
OBB 17, "The Boy and the Mantle (A Ballad of King Arthur's Court)" (1 text)
DT 29, BOYMANT1
Roud #3961
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Twa Knights" [Child 268] (theme)
NOTES: The custom in Arthur's court of always having an entertainment before dinner (at least on a high day) occurs also in the (somewhat earlier) "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," Stanza 4 (lines 85-106) -- a story in which, interestingly, it is the *man's* fidelity which comes under attack.
The contest over women's fidelity is common in folklore; in the Child canon, cf. e.g. "The Twa Knights" [Child 268]. Flanders-Ancient mentions the French fabliau _Le Mantel Mautaillie_ (which is also the first analog mentioned in Child's notes) and von Zatzikhoven's _Lanzelet_. Richard Garnett and Edmund Gosse, _English Literature: An Illustrated Record_ four volumes, MacMillan, 1903-1904 (I used the 1935 edition published in two volumes), volume I, p. 300, also believe this derived from a French fabliau, though they do not specify the particlar tale.
Incidentally, the Sir Craddoccke (Caradoc) of this song makes a brief appearance in Gilbert and Sullivan: In _The Pirates of Penzance_, the Modern Major General tells us that "I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's"; one suspects Gilbert got it from Percy. - RBW
File: C029
===
NAME: Boy He Had an Auger, A
DESCRIPTION: "A boy, he had an auger, It bored two holes at once; A boy, he had an auger, It bored two holes at once. And some were eating popcorn, And some were eating pickles (Spoken:) And the 'G' is silent as in 'fish.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonsense nonballad technology wordplay
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 343, "A Boy He Had an Auger" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Louisiana Lowlands" (another parody of "The Golden Vanity" verse beginning "Some were playing cards and some were playing dice")
NOTES: The only part of this I'll try to explain is the line about "the 'G' is silent as in 'fish.'" This may go back to Shaw, who proposed to spell the word fish "ghoti." Other verses and other conclusions (e.g. "The Q is silent as in electricity") make even less sense.
This may, I suppose, have been *very* loosely inspired by "The Golden Vanity." - RBW
File: San343
===
NAME: Boy in Blue, The: see The Express Office (He Is Coming to Us Dead) (File: R696)
===
NAME: Boy Killed by a Falling Tree in Hartford
DESCRIPTION: Young Isaac Alcott, newly arrived in Hartford, goes riding. He goes to "cut some timber for a sled" and is hit by a falling branch. Found many hours later, it is too late to save his life. His funeral is described; the song ends with a moralizing stanza
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: death burial mourning injury warning
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 167-169, "Boy Killed by a Falling Tree in Hartford" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FO167 (Partial)
Roud #4680
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Harry Dunn (The Hanging Limb)" [Laws C14]
cf. "Chance McGear" (plot)
cf. "The Substitute (plot)
File: FO167
===
NAME: Boy of Love, The: see When a Man's in Love [Laws O20] (File: LO20)
===
NAME: Boy on the Land, The
DESCRIPTION: Little boy, working on the land, is given an old coat, "old stiff collar button'd to the throat." Second, he's given an old gun; "Sometimes she gave fire, sometimes she gave smoke, She gave my shoulder the devil's own poke"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: farming work worker
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SharpAp 164, "The Boy on the Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kerry Recruit" (hints of plot)
NOTES: This is a conundreum; from the fragmentary text it's not clear whether the boy gets the coat and gun for his agricultural work or because he's been conscripted into the army. If the latter, just possibly "The Kerry Recruit" is related, but it's all very tenuous. - PJS
Roud in fact lumps them, but until we find some sort of substantial version, it will be hard to prove either way. - RBW
File: ShAp2164
===
NAME: Boy That Found a Bride, The (Fair Gallowa')
DESCRIPTION: The singer, born in Gallowa', has taken to rambling when he sees a beautiful girl. He courts her urgently until he must return home. He asks her to marry him before he takes to the road. After some hesitation, she agrees; they marry and live in Gallowa'
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Grieg)
KEYWORDS: home rambling marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H665, pp. 454-455, "The Boy that Found a Bride" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH665
===
NAME: Boyndlie Road
DESCRIPTION: "The year 1803 Our gentlemen did all agree To make a live road o'er the lea Out through the haughs o' Boyndlie." When nothing was being done Forbes made a plan and he and a few men fought "our esquires ... to make the roads thro' Boyndlie"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: commerce travel
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #8, p. 3, ("'Twas in the year eighteen hundred and three") (1 fragment) 
GreigDuncan3 459, "Boyndlie Road" (1 text)
Roud #5962
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Buchan Turnpike" (subject: road building)
NOTES: Greig: "We give a few verses of the homely rhyme." Greig gives the first four verses reported in GreigDuncan3. - BS
File: GrD3459
===
NAME: Boyndlie's Braes
DESCRIPTION: "Boyndlie's banks and braes are steep And decked wi' flo'ers o mony a hue...." "There does dwell my bonnie Nell... And I cam' ower frae Aberdour To lat her taste my fruits sae rare." He is young and poor, but they expect to keep company in the future
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 88, "Boyndlie's Braes" (1 text)
Roud #5585
File: Ord088
===
NAME: Boyne Water (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "July the First in Ouldbridge Town there was a grievous battle...." The song describes William's attack on the Irish positions at the Boyne. The listeners are reminded that the "Protestants of Drogheda have reason to be thankful"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1798 (_Constitutional Songs_, according to Zimmermann)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: "July the First in Oldbridge town there was a grievous battle." William, shot in the arm, refused Schomberg's advice to avoid personal involvement. "William said, 'He don t deserve the name of Faith's Defender, Who would not venture life and limb to make a foe surrender'." When Schomberg was killed William "would be the foremost; 'Brave boys,' he said, 'be not dismayed, for the loss of one commander, For God will be our King this day, and I'll be general under.'" He rescued the Protestants of Drogheda who had been tried at the Millmount. The French left Duleek for Dublin, setting the fields on fire as they fled. William let his men rest rather than pursue the French: "sheathe your swords and rest a while, in time we'll follow after."
KEYWORDS: battle Ireland royalty rebellion
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1685-1688 - Reign of James II (James VII of Scotland), the last Catholic king of Britain
1688 - Glorious Revolution overthrows James II in favour of his Protestant daughter Mary II and her husband and first cousin William III of Orange
Mar 12, 1689 - James arrives in Ireland and begins, very hesitantly, to organize its defense. 
April-July, 1689 - Siege of Londonderry. James's forces fail to capture the Protestant stronghold, leaving Ireland still "in play" for William
August, 1689 - Marshal Schomberg brings the first of William's troops to Ireland. James continues to be passive, allowing more troops to reinforce them
March, 1690 - James receives reinforcements from France but still does nothing
June 14, 1690 - William lands in Ireland
July 1, 1690 - Battle of the Boyne. William III crushes the Irish army of James, at once securing his throne and the rule of Ireland. Irish resistance continues for about another year, but Ireland east of the Shannon is his, and the opposition is doomed.
FOUND_IN: Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 117-119, "The Battle of the Boyne" (1 text, mixing this and "The Boyne Water (I)")
PGalvin, p. 15, "The Boyne Water" (1 partial text)
Brewster 72, "The Battle of the Boyne" (2 texts, one short and from tradition, the other an excerpt from Peter Buchan's 1817 text; it is probably this version, since it mentions William's injury and title as Faith's Defender, but it's too fragmentary to be sure)
DT, BOYNWATR*
Roud #795
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(186), "Battle of the Boyne. Enniskillen, Aughrim, Boyne, Derry, 1690" ("July the first in Oldbridge town," The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1854
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of the Boyne (I)"  (subject: The Battle of the Boyne) and references there
cf. "The Battle of the Boyne (II)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The cross reference in broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(186) implies that there is a previous song as source of the tune.
Three ballads seem confused: the most commonly recorded "The Boyne Water (I)," the "old version," "The Boyne Water (II)," and Colonel Blacker's "The Battle of the Boyne." The three are clearly distinct though Roud currently numbers both "Boyne Water" ballads as #795 and Colonel Blacker has been named by some as author of "The Boyne Water (I)" for more than 100 years. While this discussion may not settle the confusion, it may provide a fair starting point.
One missing piece of evidence is Rev Abraham Hume's "The Two Ballads on the Battle of the Boyne," in _Ulster Journal of Archeology_ (1854).
Zimmermann, pp. 300-301, says "An old ballad on this subject, known as 'The Boyne Water' [II], was later replaced by a shorter one entitled 'The Battle of the Boyne' [I]. Gavan Duffy gave a fragment of the old version in 1845, and Rev Abraham Hume published the whole ballad - nineteen stanzas - in 1854 [OrangeLark 9 has twenty]. The shorter version was then said to have first appeared in 1814, which is not true, as it is found in song books printed in the 1790's [Fn 28] For instance in _Constitutional Songs_, 1798 [when Colonel Blacker was 21 years old], pp. 9-12]"
Duffy (Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, _The Ballad Poetry of Ireland_ (1845)) prints (I) as an anonymous "Old Ballad" though he knew Colonel Blacker's work and included Blacker's "Oliver's Advice" in his book. He comments that "This version of the 'Boyne Water' is in universal use among the Orangemen of Ireland, and is the only one ever sung by them. But that it is not the original song, written a century and a half ago, is perfectly certain" [p. 144] In Note A to the Appendix he prints the fragments. He comments that "They appear to us infinitely more racy and spirited than anything in the song which has strangely superseded them."
H. Halliday Sparling, _Irish Minstrelsy_ (London, 1888), reprints Duffy's texts and some of Duffy's comments. On page 509 he writes of his "Battle of the Boyne" that it is the "accepted version of this famous song which is sung at Orange meetings; wrongly attributed to Colonel Blacker"; on p. 495 he notes "The 'Battle of the Boyne' is wrongly attributed to him; he wrote a poem of that name, but not the famous song."
As Sparling noted, Colonel William Blacker (1777-1855) did write a poem on the subject which Hayes printed in 1855 (Edward Hayes, _The Ballads of Ireland_ (Boston, 1859 (reprint of 1855 London edition)), Vol I, pp. 210-211) and O'Conor reprinted in 1901. I don't know that it was ever sung; it is included in the Index to help clear up the confusion.
The Index entry for each of the three ballads includes a LONG DESCRIPTION that should eliminate any thought that the three are related. The texts of Duffy's fragments (II) and Colonel Blacker's poem are included in the Supplemental Tradition Text File; the text of (I) is available at a Digital Tradition site.
Versions of (I) and (II) share only the two lines of William's comment on the death of Schomberg ("He says, 'my boys, feel no dismay at the losing of one commander For God shall be our king this day, and I'll be general under.'") though OrangeLark 9 (II) replaces them ("I'll go before and lead you on-Boys use your hands full nimble; With the help of God, we'll beat them all, And make their hearts to tremble.") Colonel Blacker's poem shares no lines with the other two.
Of the songs collected since Duffy I know of only one that is clearly the "old version." Art Rosenbaum, in _Folk Visions & Voices_ (1983) prints "King William, Duke Shambo, collected in Georgia in 1980 (p. 65).
The last two verses of Hayward-Ulster are from "the old version": the Prince Eugene reference and "Now, praise God, all true Protestants ..." [see the Supplemental Tradition Text File].
The common fragment (for example, George Korson,_Pennsylvania Songs & Legends_)
They fought with clubs and they fought with stones, King William on a charger,
"He says now boys, don't be dismayed on losing a commander"
On and on the battle raged, 'til caught by the fearful slaughter
Ten thousand Micks got killed with sticks at the Battle of Boyne Water
might be from either version (I) or (II). - BS
The Battle of the Boyne was nearly the last gasp of fighting directly connected with the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James II, having been forced to abdicate, fled, but returned to Ireland to try to regain his throne. William of Orange gathered an army and followed.
James showed some military sense in choosing his position along the Boyne; William's army was larger, better equipped, better trained, and better disciplined. The only Jacobite hope was to hold a strong defensive position. But this wasn't enough; the English and their allies quickly got across the Boyne, and from then on, the battle was little more than a rearguard action by Irish cavalry against the advancing English.
In the aftermath, the power of the Old Ireland, and of the Old English who were the primary Irish leaders from the time of Henry II to that of Elizabeth -- already much diminished by Cromwell -- was completely and finally broken.
For a fuller description and background, see the notes to "The Battle of the Boyne (I)."
The Hoagland text includes several scriptural references. Nabal of Carmel lived during the time of King Saul of Israel, and David's rebel band asked him for protection money. (The Bible doesn't say so straight out, but that's what it was.) Nabal refused; his wife Abigail paid behind his back, then told him; it sounds as if he had a stroke and died a few days later. The story occupies most of 1 Samuel 25.
The reference to Zerubbabel as deliverer is strange; Zerubbabel led one of the several Jewish returns to Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity, and was the secular leader who started the building of the Second Temple -- but, if we piece together the data in Ezra, Haggai, and Zechariah together, he wasn't around at the end. And he was too young for a natural death to have been likely. The best guess is that the Persian authorities thought him a rebel and removed him. - RBW 
File: PGa015
===
NAME: Boyne Water (II), The
DESCRIPTION: "July the First, of a morning clear, on thousand six hundred and ninety, King William did his men prepare...." The forces of James and William clash; Schomberg is killed; William's forces win the battle; Protestants are urged to plaise God
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Duffy)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: July the First, of a morning clear," 1690, King William and 30000 men faced King James near the Boyne. They advanced to "Lillibalero." When Duke Schomberg was killed William said, "my boys, feel no dismay at the losing of one commander For God shall be our king this day, and I'll be general under." William's forces formed a body bridge to cross the Boyne. Dermot Roe fled. Lord Galmoy advanced but "never three from ten of them escaped." The French were battered. Prince Eugene advanced against James's forces who ran away because "the brandy ran so in their heads." The Enniskillen men were restrained from following the fleeing Jacobite forces; in contrast, though James would have tried to restrain them, "had the Papists gain'd the day, there would have been open murder."
KEYWORDS: battle Ireland royalty rebellion drink
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1685-1688 - Reign of James II (James VII of Scotland), the last Catholic king of Britain
1688 - Glorious Revolution overthrows James II in favour of his Protestant daughter Mary II and her husband and first cousin William III of Orange
Mar 12, 1689 - James arrives in Ireland and begins, very hesitantly, to organize its defense. 
April-July, 1689 - Siege of Londonderry. James's forces fail to capture the Protestant stronghold, leaving Ireland still "in play" for William
August, 1689 - Marshal Schomberg brings the first of William's troops to Ireland. James continues to be passive, allowing more troops to reinforce them
March, 1690 - James receives reinforcements from France but still does nothing
June 14, 1690 - William lands in Ireland
July 1, 1690 - Battle of the Boyne. William III crushes the Irish army of James, at once securing his throne and the rule of Ireland. Irish resistance continues for about another year, but Ireland east of the Shannon is his, and the opposition is doomed.
FOUND_IN: Ireland US(SE)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
OrangeLark 9, "The Boyne Water" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 117-119, "The Battle of the Boyne" (1 text, mixing this and "The Boyne Water (I)")
PGalvin, pp. 14-15, "The Battle of the Boyne" (1 text)
Graham, p. 8, "The Boyne Water" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 248-249, "The Boyne Water"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 249-250, "The Boyne Water"
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 13-14, 448-450, "The Boyne Water"
Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, pp. 105-106, "The Boyne Water" (1 text)
Thomas Kinsella, _The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1989), pp. 179-180, "The Boyne Water"  (1 text)
ST PGa014 (Partial)
Roud #795
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of the Boyne (I)"  (subject: The Battle of the Boyne) and references there
NOTES: "[On the Duleek road during the retreat,] there was a small riot when some men broke ranks and smashed open barrels of spirits and proceeded in a number of cases to become very drunk" (source: Michael McNally, _Battle of the Boyne 1690: the Irish Campaign for the English Crown_ (Oxford, 2005), p.86). For another ballad with the theme of drink after a loss see "The Boys of Wexford."
Viscount Galmoy's mounted regiment joined the French brigade, Maxwell's dragoons and Sarsfield's horse. When James left the field Sarsfield's and Maxwell's regiments were sent to protect him, leaving Galmoy's among the inadequate force left to counteract the Williamite cavalry. (source: McNally, p. 86)
I found no reference in McNally to McDermott Roe or Prince Eugene of Savoy in this battle. [Since McDermott Roe lived in the era of the Defenders, a century after the Boyne, he obviously was not there. Eugene was at least alive at this time, but he was making his reputation in Italy at the time. I think this is an extended confusion -- Eugene worked with Marlborough, and Marlborough with William III and Anne. - RBW]
Of the songs collected since Duffy I know of only one that is clearly the "old version." Art Rosenbaum, in _Folk Visions & Voices_ (1983) prints "King William, Duke Shambo, collected in Georgia in 1980 (p. 65).
The last two verses of Hayward-Ulster, pp. 117-119, "The Battle of the Boyne" [version I] are from "the old version": the Prince Eugene reference and "Now, praise God, all true Protestants...." - BS
For background on the Battle of the Boyne, see "The Battle of the Boyne (I)." For the relationship between this song and "The Boyne Water (I)" (which are much confused because both begin "July the First" and refer to many of the same events), see the notes to "The Boyne Water (I)." - RBW
File: PGa014
===
NAME: Boys and Girls Come Out to Play
DESCRIPTION: "Girls and boys come out to play. You must have a holiday. Heigh-o, heigh-o, have a holiday." "If you want hay sweet and fine, Rake it when the sun doth shine. Heigh-o, heigh-o, when the sun doth shine."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Flanders/Brown)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad playparty
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Flanders/Brown, p. 187, "An English Round" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FlBr187 (Full)
Roud #5452
NOTES: The first line of this occurs in _Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, Volume II_ (1744?), and the Tommy Thumb text occurs in various texts of the period (see the _Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes_); this may explain why Flanders and Brown call this "An English Round," but I know of no English collections of the actual form in Flanders/Brown. - RBW
File: FlBr187
===
NAME: Boys Around Here, The: see A Comical Ditty (Arizona Boys and Girls) (File: JHCox057)
===
NAME: Boys at Ninety-Five, The
DESCRIPTION: Mike takes the Bonavista Branch to Deer Lake and is sent to lumbercamp 95 "with not a decent tree." The skipper, foreman, and cook are named with comments on drink and dawn-to-dark hard work
AUTHOR: Mike Brennan
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: lumbering drink moniker cook logger
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 746-747, "The Boys at Ninety-Five" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9802
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wabash Cannonball" (tune)
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme)
NOTES: The melody shown by Peacock is very close to "The Wabash Cannonball." He notes that the "writer was away during my visit, so I had no opportunity to get the 'correct' tune." He collected the song at Stock Cove, near Bonavista.
The Bonavista Branch of the narrow gauge Newfoundland Railway started at Bonavista on the northeast coast. Deer Lake is about 350 miles west by Trans-Canada 1 and other roads that pretty much follow the route of the railway. The Bonavista Branch ran from 1913 to 1989 according to the Blanford site. - BS
The failure to collect a tune is particularly sad given the likelihood that this is derived from some other logging song, e.g. "We Work for Hay and Company" (which also uses "The Wabash Cannonball"). - RBW
File: Pea746
===
NAME: Boys Can Whistle, Girls Can Sing
DESCRIPTION: "Grandma Grunt said a curious thing, Boys can whistle but girls must sing." Various people confirm this observation: "[Papa] said to me, 'It's the usual thing For boys to whistles and girls to sing.'" Whistling girls will reportedly meet a bad end
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: music nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 145, "Whistling Girls and Crowing Hens" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 73, "Boys Can Whistle, Girls Can Sing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7012
NOTES: The first place I  saw this was in the Prairie Home Companion book, and the Brown collection proves that it is a genuine folksong. Sadly, the Prairie Home Companion book does not document sources, so we do not know where this song survives. - RBW
File: PHCFS073
===
NAME: Boys from County Cork, The
DESCRIPTION: "You've read in history's pages of heroes of great fame...." The singer notes that the heroes of Ireland's history are those who died in the 1916 rebellion. The singer lists heroes from old Ireland, noting that the Boys from Cork beat the Black and Tans
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion nonballad IRA
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 24, 1916 (Easter Monday) - beginning of the Easter Rebellion
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
PGalvin, p. 70, "The Boys from County Cork" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 95, "The Boys from Rebel Cork" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9774
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Foggy Dew (III)" (subject)
NOTES: People and things mentioned in this song include:
"The Black and Tans" (for which see "The Bold Black and Tan") -- A special English constabulary recruited to quell Irish violence. They failed, and in fact contributed to the brutality
MacSweeney -- presumably Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, who was arrested for seditious speech, then died in a hunger strike (1920). (See the notes to "Shall My Soul Pass Through Ireland"), though others in his family were also involved in the struggle against the British
The other possibility is Terence's sister Mary, who was one of the die-hards who fought in parliament against the Free State Treaty with England. (Coogan, p. 307, quotes her speech against the Anglo-Irish treaty: "This is a betrayal, a gross betrayal... I tell you there can be no union between the representatives of the Irish Republic and the so-called Free State"[for bibliography, see the note at the end of this entry]. In Coogan's view, her statement ended any hope of peace between the radicals and the more rational majority. Certainly a pointless civil war followed.)
Cathal Brugha - An officer in the resistance forces, famed for how hard he fought. He was also a political leader, arguing strenuously for a Republican government; he refused to join the delegation that negotiated with Lloyd George to negotiate the treaty of semi-independence. For his eventual fate, see "The Death of Brugh."
Padraic Pearse (1879-1916) -- Irish poet and historian, acclaimed provisional president of the 1916 Irish Republic. He declared the Republic on Easter Monday of 1916, surrendered it the following Saturday, and was executed on May 3 of that year. According to Kee (II, pp. 206-207), "Patrick Pearse [his name before he Gaelicized it] [was a] Gaelic League poet and schoolmaster, son of a Birmingham stone-mason and an Irish mother, who since 1908 had been running a nationally minded school for boys called St Enda's at Rathfarnham on the outskirts of Dublin." Townshend, p. 13, notes that his first major activity was with the Gaelic League journal _An Claideamh Soluis_: "When he became editor in 1903 his position as chief ideologue of the language movement was cemented."
But Irish nationalism at this stage was very fragmented (even Pierce apparently started out by trying for a Gaelic revival, not a revolt). What the vast majority opposed could still come about in the hands of a determined minority (the whole thing, frankly, reminds me of how Lenin first hijacked Russian Communism and then all of Russia). In May 1915, a small part of the leadership of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood appointed Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, and Eamonn Ceannt to look into a rebellion. Kee notes that it wasnÕt until September that even the full Supreme Council of the IRB knew of Pearce's committee. And the IRB was a minority in the Sinn Fein Volunteers, which was a minority of the National Volunteers, who did not represent all of Ireland (Kee II, p. 236). The Easter Rebellion was not a popular rebellion; had it somehow succeeded, it would have been called a coup d'etat, and its leaders a junta. But, of course, it did not succeed in anything except laying much of Dublin in ruins.
In one sense, the rebelsÕ timing was bad; with millions of British troops fighting in France, Britain had to end the rebellion with all possible speed -- i.e. with great brutality. But that made them martyrs -- and *that* reawakened the nationalist cause. Many English leaders begged to have the rebels treated leniently (see Kee III, p. 1).
Pearse, perhaps more than any other, foresaw the course of the Rising -- including its spectacular failure. The failure was fully expected, at least by Pearse and some of his associates. (Indeed, Pearse in 1915 wrote a play, "The Singer," about a hypothetical Irish rebellion, in which he described a handful of men going into battle against a multitude; told it was foolish course, one of the lost-hopers replied "And so it is a foolish thing. Do you want us to be wise?" -- see Kee II, p. 255. The hero went forth unarmed, but declaring "One man can free a people as one Man redeemed the world"; Townshend, p. 15).)
Many nationalist leaders opposed the Rising for this very reason (Kee II, p. 235). In a way, Pearse didn't even want to succeed. He thought Irish independence could only be achieved by a sort of mystic sacrifice -- and set out to make it. In this sense, they were wise -- think how the fate of William Wallace roused Scotland, or in later years how the destruction of the Algerian liberation organizations caused the Algerian public to demand independence. It's the modern version of Tertullian's dictum "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church."
Kee summarize this attitude as follows (II, p. 235): "Pearse... consistently proclaimed to the effect that a blood sacrifice, however hopeless its chances of military succes, was necessary to redeem Ireland from her loss of true national pride, much as Jesus Christ by his blood had redeemed mankind from its sins." It's probably not coincidence that Pease much admired Robert Emmet despite the utter futility of the latter's rebellion (Townshend, p. 23. For background, see the notes to "Bold Robert Emmet.Ó)
And, because the rebels were repressed, it changed public opinion. Until then, it seems certain that most Irish wanted home rule and peace. After the Rising, the IRA and resistance took over. Pearse sacrificed himself to win a free Ireland. One might say that the gods accepted the sacrifice. But they also exacted a price. J. C. Beckett (amplifying and paraphrasing a comment of Michael Collins) remarks that Pearse's sacrifice placed Ireland under the "tyranny of the dead." The dead cannot compromise. If the Rising had not taken place, Ireland might have found a peaceful solution. Because it did take place, Ireland was condemned to the Black-and-Tan War and the Civil War which followed.
The whole story shows how tragic the fate of Ireland was. The rebels destroyed much of Dublin, and the ordinary Irish, who had no part in the rebellion, at first reviled them. But, as Golway notes (240-241), the speed and brutality of British justice caused public opinion "to turn against Britain's pursuit of vengeance. The spat-upon rebels were becoming martyrs." In the end, it was Pearse's mystic incompetents -- schoolteachers and poets who thought themselves soldiers, though it turned out that Pearse couldn't even stand the sight of blood -- who became the Irish heroes. Kee III, p. 15, mentions a case of a girl actually making reference to "Saint Pearse."
de Valera -- Eamon de Valera (1882-1975) was born in America but became a leader of the 1916 rising, and barely avoided execution after its collapse. (He was among those about to be executed, but the British government realized he was an American citizen and halted the executions). Having survived, he was nominated in a parliamentary by-election in 1917 (the first chance to nominate a Nationalist since the Easter Rising) -- and was elected by a 2:1 margin (Kee III, pp. 27-28). He became the President of Sinn Fein in 1917, then of the rebel Irish parliament; he opposed the Treaty which led to the partition of Ireland, but formed the Fianna Fail party and won the 1932 election, then established the 1937 constitution. He remained Ireland's leading politician for fifty years, serving as President from 1959 to 1973.
>>*BIBLIOGRAPHY*<<:
In writing this summary, in addition to the standard references such as the _Oxford Companion to Irish History_, I have consulted the following works:
Coogan: Tim Pat Coogan, _Michael Collins_ (Roberts Rinehart, 1996). A biography of Collins, but since Collins nearly *was* Ireland from 1918 until his death, there is much good history here
Golway: Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_ (Simon & Schuster, 2000). A full history of relations between Britain and Ireland, though with curious gaps.
Kee II: Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being volume II of _The Green Flag_ (Penguin, 1972), seems to me to be among the most balanced histories of Ireland I've seen. This second of three volumes covers the period from around 1848 until the Easter Rising.
Kee III: Robert Kee, _Ourselves Alone_, being volume III of _The Green Flag_ (Penguin, 1972) is of course the sequel to Kee II; it covers the brief but intense period from 1916 to the establishment of constitutional government in the 1920s.
Townshend: Charles Townshend, _Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion_ (Ivan R. Dee, 2005, 1006). This is specific to the 1916 rebellion, but tries to offer a good historical context. - RBW
File: PGa070
===
NAME: Boys from Rebel Cork, The: see The Boys from County Cork (File: PGa070)
===
NAME: Boys of Bedlam: see Tom a Bedlam (Bedlam Boys) (File: Log172)
===
NAME: Boys of Coleraine, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer invites listeners to drink to the boys of Coleraine. He recalls the exiles, and calls for another drink. He looks over the sea, and the thought saddens him. He once again toasts the boys of Coleraine
AUTHOR: Robert Thompson ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home emigration drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H87b, p. 182, "The Boys of Coleraine" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #8005
File: HHH087b
===
NAME: Boys of Fair Hill, The
DESCRIPTION: The boys of Fair Hill love the girls, hunting with the Harrier Club, drinking water at Fahy's well and porter at Quinlan's pub, and spending "a day with our Hurling Club." "Here's up 'em all say the boys of Fair Hill"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: hunting sports drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OCanainn, pp. 34-35, "The Boys of Fair Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Fair Hill is a suburb of Cork City.
OCanainn: "This is one of Cork's most popular songs." The current [1978] pub version had inconsequential or disrespectful lines compared to the original. For example, "Shandon steeple stands up straight and the River Lee flows underneath," "The Blarney hens don't lay at all and when they lays they lays them small," "The Blackpool girls are very small up against the Sunbeam wall," "The Montenotte girls are very rude; they go swimming in the nude," and so on. - BS
File: OCan034
===
NAME: Boys of Kilkenny, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh the boys of Kilkenny are brave roaring blades." They kiss and coax every girl they meet. The singer remembers a "pretty dame" from Kilkenny. Now he's in exile; if he were in back there, he could get "sweethearts but here can get none"
AUTHOR: Words: Arthur Matthison/Music: W. F. Wellman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1807 (sung by Thomas Moore, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: homesickness courting exile nonballad rake
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
OLochlainn 73, "The Boys of Kilkenny" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 44, "The Boys of Kilkenny" (1 text)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 196-199, "The Boys of Kilkenny" (1 text)
Roud #1451
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2403), "The Boys of Kilkenny," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Firth b.26(318), Firth b.25(595/596) View 2 of 2, 2806 b.11(171), "[The] Boys of Kilkenny"
LOCSinging, as101550, "The Boys of Killkenny," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. The Boys of Virginia (theme, some lyrics)
cf. "The Old Head of Denis" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
NOTES: Source: Re author--the Bodleian Library broadside.
Croker-PopularSongs says Thomas Moore, whom he admits he incorrectly believed wrote the song, "sung 'The Boys of Kilkenny' in England, where he became a permanent resident about 1807."
Broadside LOCSinging as101550: J. Andrews dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: Ocon044
===
NAME: Boys of Kilmichael, The
DESCRIPTION: When honouring "the martyrs who have long since died," remember the boys of Kilmichael who "conquered the red white and blue." The Tans left Macroom November 28 with two Crossley tenders and were wiped out by the Column. The Column returned to Glenure.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle Ireland patriotic IRA
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 28, 1920 - Tom Barry's IRA Flying Column ambushes Auxiliaries at Kilmichael (source: Donal Buckley, _The West Cork Trail: Scenes From the Anglo-Irish Civil Wars, 1920-1922_, "The Kilmichael Ambush" on The Wild Geese Today site).
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OCanainn, pp. 50-51,121-122, "The Boys of Kilmichael" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bold Black and Tan" (subject: Irish Civil War) and references there
cf. "Rosin the Beau" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Men of the West" (tune and some phrases)
cf. "The Piper of Crossbarry" (subject: the exploits of Tom Barry)
NOTES: OCanainn: "At Kilmichael, West Cork's Flying Column under Commander Tom Barry, ambushed a group of Auxiliaries - a force introduced by the British some three months previously."
Kilmichael and Macroom are in County Cork. - BS
Robert Kee in _Ourselves Alone_, being Volume III of _The Green Flag_, pp. 120-121, describes this event (and quotes am accurate version of this song which uses language coarse enough that he expurgated it):
"Two lorry-loads of the company of Auxiliaries stationed at Macroom Castle ran into a well-laid ambush position prepared by Tom Barry an the West Cork Flying Column on a lonely site of bogland and rocks near Kilmichael. It was the Auxiliaries' first major engagement and a terrible one.
"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 as wiped out, and seventeen of the eighteen Auxiliaries were killed. The eighteenth was so severely wounded that he was in hospital for long afterwards. Some of the Auxiliaries' bodies were afterwards found to have wounds inflicted after death and the first officer on the scene after the fight 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 as his eyes met there."
Calton Younger has a stronger stomach for atrocity. In _Ireland's Civil War_, pp. 13-14, he writes:
"Tom Barry set up his ambush, not in a place he would have chosen, but one dictated by circumstances, a little to the south of Kilmichael on the road to Gleann. It is treacherous, eerie country, where heather grows sparsely on the bogland and the only cover is provided by outcrops of gaunt rock. Barry's plan was brilliantly conceived an his column, only one or two of whom ha fired a shot in anger, matched with courage his inspiration.
"Eighteen Auxiliaries in two lorries died that day. Some need not have died but their own treachery recoiled upon them. Crying surrender, they fired again when some of the column showed themselves. Barry was merciless then and his men did not let up until every one of the enemy was dead. An when the morale of his own men showed signs of cracking, he drilled them in the light of the burning lorries until discipline gripped again. Three men he had lost, two of them because of the surrender trick."
Younger does not supply a citation for his information, I suspect Barry's _Guerilla Days in Ireland_. Kee also examined Barry's book, but took additional information from the _Irish Times_ (which documented the mutilations the Auxiliaries suffered after death) and other sources. It will be evident that all eyewitness testimony was from Barry's side. Given Barry's overall record, I don't think this can be trusted very far, particularly as regards the false surrender. - RBW
File: OCan050
===
NAME: Boys of Mullabawn, The
DESCRIPTION: "A vile deceiving stranger ... has ordered transportation for the boys of Mullabawn." The women lament and "without hesitation, we are charged with combination And sent for transportation from the hills of Mullabawn"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Hayward-Ulster); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(265))
KEYWORDS: farming transportation Ireland political
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
OLochlainn-More 56, "The Boys of Mullabawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 42, "The Boys of Mullaghbawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 26-27, "The Boys of Mullabawn" (1 text)
OBoyle 6, "Boys of Mullaghbawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2362
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(265), "The Boys of Mullaghbawn," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.15(180), Harding B 19(40), "The Boys of Mullaghbawn"
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "This song records a real happening during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the transportation of peasant farmers for some agrarian offence at Mullaghbawn near Newry, Co. Armagh. (See F. J. Bigger: _The Ulster Land War_.)" 
Moylan: "This song could be about Defenderism or United Irishmen or, according to one theory, the transportation of men who had attempted to abduct an heiress, an activity for which clubs existed in 18th-century Ireland. It is set in the heart of Defender country in south Armagh, but local tradition associates the song with the United Irishmen." At the end of the eighteenth century the Catholic "Defenders" were opposed to the Protestant "Peep o'Day Boys" or "Orangemen" (source: Zimmermann). - BS
File: LcMullB
===
NAME: Boys of Mullaghbawn, The: see The Boys of Mullabawn (File: LcMullB)
===
NAME: Boys of Old Erin the Green, The
DESCRIPTION: "Concerning that terrible battle, Where bloodshed and battery was seen, With the beef-eating bullies of England And the boys of old Erin the Green." The boys stop at an alehouse and head for the English in the market. The "cowardly English" are banished
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: battle drink Ireland humorous patriotic
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn 101, "The Boys of Old Erin the Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3050
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Harvestmen's Triumph" (subject)
File: OLoc101
===
NAME: Boys of Sandy Row, The
DESCRIPTION: Orangemen, remember King William who "ended Popish sway." Presbyterians, defend your rights "from Fenians and Papists vile." At Sandy Row we made the Papists "fly like chaff before the wind." Toast Johnston. Remember the Boyne and Derry Walls
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: violence Ireland nonballad political religious
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jul 12-19, 1857 - Belfast riots between Catholics of the Pound and Protestants of Sandy Row (source: Janice Holmes, "The Role of Open-Air Preaching in the Belfast Riots of 1857," Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy_ v. 102c, pp. 47-66 (2002)).).
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OrangeLark 25, "The Boys of Sandy Row" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The chorus is "Then band together firmly, and Popery overflow, Like to your gallant brethren, the boys of Sandy Row."
OrangeLark: "[The song] refers to the riots of 1857 over the open-air preaching of Rev. Hugh 'Roaring' Hanna and other Protestant Evangelicals... Despite the reference to William Johnston [see 'Bangor and No Surrender' and references there] the song may have been written 1868 by which time he was already well-known as a champion of Orangeism through his editorship of the _Downshire Protestant_"
I wonder if the riots referred to are not the 1872 riots in Belfast opposing the parade in support of Home Rule on Lady's Day (the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin). Both Rev. Hanna, Catholics from the Pound and Protestants from Sandy Row were involved [again, as they were in 1857] (source: Neil Jarman and Dominic Bryan, _From Riots to Rights; Nationalist Parades in the North of Ireland_ (1997), pp. 13-14). That date would also make toasting William Johnston more reasonable. Johnston was, admittedly, a public figure in 1857, the date of "his first and unsuccessful bid to enter Parliament as the Member for Downpatrick"; in the 1860's he bacame "the leading campaigner against the unpopular Party Processions Act of 1850. It was his opposition to this legislation which was to make William Johnston of Ballykilbeg a folk-hero." (source: Ian McShane, "William Johnston of Ballykilbeg" on OrangeNet site).
On the other hand, the reference to Johnston may be to one of the Presbyterian Ministers of that name involved in the 1857 conflict (see Holmes, cited in Historical References, above). [But William Johnston fits very well; see in this index the notes to "William Johnston of Ballykilbeg." - RBW]
For background on "Derry Walls" see "Derry Walls Away" and its Notes.[Also "The  Shutting of the Gates of Derry." - RBW
For background on the Fenians see Notes to "A Fenian Song (I)." - BS
File: OrLa025
===
NAME: Boys of Sanpete County, The [Laws B26]
DESCRIPTION: A wagon train from Sanpete County, headed by Captain (William Stewart) Seeley, must cross the Green River. The wagons are safely ferried, but as the crew attempts to bring the cattle over, six of them are drowned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: travel river death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1868 - Captain Seeley's expedition sets out for Laramie, Wyoming
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Laws B26, "The Boys of Sanpete County"
DT 830, SANPETE*
Roud #3245
File: LB26
===
NAME: Boys of the Island, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer, from Prince Edward Island, warns against life in the logging camps. Many Islanders have headed for the Maine woods, to be instantly spotted by the old hands. In an place of bad drink and hard work, he must suffer without recourse to the law
AUTHOR: Larry Gorman?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1949
KEYWORDS: logger abuse hardtimes foreigner
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Dibblee/Dibblee, p. 44, "The Boys of the Island" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 19-20,242, "The Boys of the Island" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 218-219, "The Boys of the Island" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9427
RECORDINGS:
Arthur Dalton, "The Boys of the Island" (on MREIves01)
File: Doe218
===
NAME: Boys of Virginia, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh the boys of Virginia are brave roaring blades, Deceiving young maidens is part of their trade...." "I'll build you a castle on Virginia's free ground... And if anyone asks you whatever's my name, My name is Joe Thorpe, from Virginia I came"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: rake courting home parody
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 670, "The Boys of Virginia" (1 text)
Roud #1451
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boys of Kilkenny" (tune, meter, floating lyrics)
NOTES: This is so close to the "Boys of Kilkenny" that I thought of classifying it as a localized variant; Roud unsurprisingly lumps them. But it has some lyrics I have not seen in "Kilkenny" versions, and Randolph's text does not specify a tune, so I tentatively keep them separate. - RBW
File: R670
===
NAME: Boys of Wexford, The
DESCRIPTION: "In comes the captain's daughter, the captain of the yeos Saying 'Brave United Irishmen, we'll ne'er again be foes.'" They win at Ross and Wexford, lose at Vinegar Hill. "For bravery won each battle But drink lost evermore" 
AUTHOR: Robert Dwyer Joyce (1830-1883) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1873 (Joyce's _Ancient Irish Music_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death drink Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: October 1791 - Society of United Irishmen founded in Belfast
September 1795 - The Battle of the Diamond
May 23, 1798 - United Irishmen seize the Dublin mail coaches as a signal to start the uprising
May 26, 1798 - 34 suspected United Irishmen executed at Dunlavin
May 26, 1798 - Father John Murphy launches the Wexford rebellion
May 27, 1798 - Murphy's almost-unarmed force defeats a small militia force at Oulart (called "Oulast" in one version)
May 29, 1798 - Father Murphy leads the insurgents against Enniscorthy
May 29, 1798 - new leaders appointed to head the Ulster Provincial Council of the United Irishmen
June 5, 1798 - The Wexford rebels attack the small garrison (about 1400 men, many militia) at New Ross, but are repelled
June 7-8, 1798 - Rebel defeat at Antrim
June 9, 1798 - Father Murphy, trying to lead his forces into Wicklow, defeated at Arklow
June 12, 1798 - United Irishmen under Henry Monro defeated at Ballynahinch
June 21, 1798 - Vinegar Hill is lost
[some dates from _The 1798 Irish Rebellion_ by Professor Thomas Bartlett at the BBC History site)]
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
OLochlainn 48, "The Boys of Wexford" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 68, "The Boys of Wexford" (1 text, 1 tune); 69, "The Boys of Wexford" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BOYSWEXF* BOYSWEX2*BOYSWEX3*
ADDITIONAL: C. Day Lewis, editor, English Lyric Poems (1961), "The Boys of Wexford"
Roud #3015
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Boulavogue" (historical setting)
cf. "Father Murphy (I)" (subject of Father Murphy) and references there
NOTES: Re "In comes the captain's daughter, the captain of the yeos": "Following an affray at Loughgall in Co. Armagh in 1795 the Orange Order was founded [the successor of the earlier Peep o' Day Boys - RBW], 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.64 and fn.20: "'The Boys of Wexford' was ... one of the rallying songs of the Parnellites" [in the 1890's]. "Some of Parnell's well-known supporters were from County Wexford."
Moylan attributes Moylan 68 to Robert Dwyer Joyce; Moylan 69 is a revision by Edmund Leamy (1848-1904) and published in 1922. They are similar enough that I have not split them. - BS
The riot that turned the Peep o' Day Boys into the Orange Order was a Protestant/Catholic clash known as "The Battle of the Diamond" (for which see "The Battle of the Diamond"). A group of Defenders attacked a smaller party of Peep o' Day Boys, but were driven off "leaving twenty or thirty corpses on the field" (see Robert Kee, _The Most Distressful Country_, being Volume I of _The Green Flag_, p. 71).
It would be hard to claim that alcohol ruined the 1798 rebellion; that was foredoomed by lack of planning and the fact that the United Irish leadership was informant-riddled. (As, indeed, some versions of this song note: "...for want of leaders We lost at Vingegar Hill"). But the Fenians of the nineteenth century did often fall prey to drink. A still later rebel, Vinnie Byrne, claims it nearly cost them even after the 1916 rebellion: "[Michael] Collins was a marvel. If he hadn't done the work he did, we'd still be under Britain. Informers and drink would have taken care of us." (See Tim Pat Coogan, _ Michael Collins_, p. 116.) - RBW
P.W. Joyce, in _A Concise History of Ireland. 1916_, Chapter LXVI "The Rebellion of 1798 A.D. 1798 - George III" discusses the part played by drink in the defeats after Vinegar Hill. For example, "But there was no discipline; they fell to drink; and the soldiers returned twice and twice they were repulsed. But still the drinking went on; and late in the evening the military returned once more, and this time succeeded in expelling the rebels." (source: A Little Bit of Ireland site at Celtic Cousins). Drink in battle, after defeat, is a theme of "The Boyne Water (II)"; in 1798 that ballad was apparently still in wide use, at least among Orangemen. - BS
File: OLoc048
===
NAME: Boys Won't Do to Trust, The
DESCRIPTION: "The boys are very pretty, And sweet as they can be... But now you'd better watch them For they won't do to trust." The girl describes the tricks boys use, and the fine letters they write, but experience shows that none (at most one) can be trusted
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting trick betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 461, "The Boys Won't Do to Trust" (1 text plus a fragment and an excerpt of 1 more)
BrownII 207, "The Boys Won't Do to Trust" (1 text)
Roud #6495
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Beware, Oh Take Care" (theme)
cf. "Dark and Dreary Weather" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Girls Won't Do to Trust
File: R461
===
NAME: Boys, Keep Away from the Girls: see The Bald-Headed End of the Broom (File: FaE190)
===
NAME: Bra' Rabbit (Oyscha')
DESCRIPTION: Gullah dialect song: "Bra' Rabbit, wa' 'ere da do dere?" "I da pickin' oyscha' fa' young gal. Da oyscha' bite mah finger, Da young gal tek dat fa' laugh at."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal courting
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 175, "Bra' Rabbit -- (Oyscha')" (1 short text, 1 tune)
File: ScaNF175
===
NAME: Braddock's Defeat
DESCRIPTION: "It was our hard general's false treachery Which caused our destruction that great day." The singer tells how Braddock attacks his own men (?). Other generals take command, but it is too late; the forces across the river are slaughtered.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: battle death trick river
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1754-1763 - French and Indian War ("Great War for Empire"; fought in Europe 1756-1763 as the Seven Years' War)
July 9, 1755 - Defeat and Death of Edward Braddock in the Battle of the Wilderness
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 526-527, "Braddock's Defeat" (1 text)
ST LxA526 (Full)
Roud #4027
NOTES: 
According to Walter R. Borneman, _The French & Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America_ (Harper Collins, 2006), p. 40, "not until the golden-haired Custerfiled to emerge from the Little Bighorn more than a century later would another leader's defeat be so personalized" as that of Major General Edward Braddock (1695-1755).
Braddock was appointed in 1754 to command the American colonies in the French and Indian War. (Which technically hadn't been declared yet, but hey, if we can fight undeclared wars in this century, why couldn't they do it then?) According to Borneman, p. 41, this was based on the recommendation of the Duke of Cumberland, the infamous butcher of Culloden, who had little good on his military record except that one victory. (And who would be held responsible for England's loss of its one continentl possession in Hanover. After that, even George II had to get rid of his less than brilliant son. Borneman, pp. 96-97.)
The English situation at this time was uncomfortable. They had many more colonists in the Americas than had the French, but the French controlled most of the land beyond the Appalachians. The English colonists wanted more land, but the French would not allow it. Braddock's objective was to do something about that. If possible, he was to do this quietly, so as to prevent the trouble from spreading to Europe (Borneman, p. 42)
Braddock was assigned portions of two understrength regiments, in need of discipline, training, and recruits, all of which he was to supply in the colonies. Braddock, who had spent most of his career in non-combat posts (he had been an officer in the Coldstream Guards), seemed well enough suited for this task. But he had no combat experience (see Ted Pulliam, ÒA Huge, Red Bull's Eye,Ó article in _American History_ magazine, August 2005 issue, pp. 50-57; this particular reference is to p. 53), and soon was called upon to do something that couldn't be done "by the book." It didn't help that he quickly angered the colonials with his peremptory orders (Borneman, p. 46).
In early 1755, Braddock set out to capture Fort Duquesne -- a work begun by Americans, at the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela (the site of modern Pittsburg; see Pulliam, p. 53), but taken over by French Canadians. Unfortunately for Braddock, it was very well built and situated. Knowing it would he a hard nut to crack, he decided to bring as much heavy artillery as possible (Borneman, p. 48). Neither it nor he would ever come within range of the walls.
He would have been better off striking as quickly as possible. Instead, he wasted a lot of time and effort building a road in the forest for his wagon train, which accomplished nothing much except to given the French a clear area in which to take pot shots at the British, and a whole month in which to do it (Braddock spent 32 days covering an estimated distance of 110 miles; see Samuel Eliot Morison, _The Oxford History of the American People_, p. 162. To manage even that, he had to leave a third of his force behind; Pulliam, p. 55). And he didn't even have a force of Native American scouts to watch for the enemy (Borneman, p. 52)
The French and Indians ran into Braddock about twelve kilometers from Fort Duquesne -- not an ambush, technically, since the French were surprised too. But they responded quickly and effectiviely. Braddock apparently reacted by shoving more troops into the battle without making any attempt to build a defensive position (Borneman, p. 54). He wouldn't even let his men position themselves behind natural objects such as trees (Pulliam, p. 56). Naturally the situation quickly turned to chaos. Braddock was mortally wounded (he died four days later; Pulliam, p. 57), and two-thirds of his 1300 or o men men became casualties. The French had suffered less than a hundred, their Indian allies even fewer (Borneman, p. 55).
It was a major French victory, as it left the western parts of the American colonies exposed (Braddock's successor, Colonel Dunbar, made it worse by abanding several defensible forts and going into "winter quarters" in July; Borneman, p. 67, Morison, p. 163); many settlers were forced back across the Allegheny Mountains. On top of it all, it helped turn a local war into a world war (Borneman, p. 60).
Formally, the name of the fight was ÒThe Battle of the Monongahela" (Pulliam, p. 50), but everyone seems to call it "Braddock's Defeat."
Despite this, there is absolutely no record in our sources hinting that Braddock was a traitor. In addition, though the French planned to attack the British at a river crossing, they could not actually mount the attack because their Indian allies were not ready. Thus the only really historical part of this song is the fact that Braddock was defeated.
If the song is based on anything, it perhaps has to do with rumors that Braddock was killed by his own men; the story is that one Thomas Fausett killed Braddock after Braddock killed his brother Joseph for hiding behind a tree (a smart thing to do, but not something Braddock understood). But the only evidence for this was Fausett's own word, and most historians disbelieve the story.
That isn't the only inaccuracy in the (Lomax) text of this song. The command structure is all wrong. Braddock's title was "major general," but that was the title then assigned to brigade commanders; his successor, as noted, was Colonel Thomas Dunbar. He did have an officer named Horatio Gates, but his rank was captain, not general! For the life of me I can't imagine what this is based on.
One thing about Braddock's Defeat would prove very important: It allowed a young officer by the name of George Washington (a member of Braddock's staff) to gain combat experience. Two decades later, when the Continental Congress needed someone to run the army, "George Washington, a Virginia planter, was appointed to chair a committee on military supply. [He was t]he highest ranking former British officer with active military experience" (as a brevet brigadier); see Stanley Weintraub, _Iron Tears: America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire: 1775-1783_, Free Press, 2005, pp. 11-12.
This song is item dA28 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: LxA526
===
NAME: Brady: see Duncan and Brady [Laws I9] (File: LI09)
===
NAME: Braemar Poacher, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is "a rovin' Highlander, a native of Braemar." He recalls poaching, his capture in Benabourd, and trial in Aberdeen. He wishes success to poachers: "May they always be at liberty, with money at command." Now he is bound for Van Dieman's land.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: poaching transportation trial
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #33, pp. 1-2, "The Poacher of Benabourd"; Greig #35, p. 2, "The Roving Highlander" or "Braemar Poacher" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan2 253, "The Braemar Poacher" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #373
NOTES: Greig: "Benabourd is on Upper Deeside [about 60 miles west of Aberdeen]. The ditty appears to deal with a real character who had a reputation as a poacher. Caught at length he was tried and sentenced to transportation." - BS
File: GrD2253
===
NAME: Braes o Yarrow, The: see The Dowie Dens o Yarrow [Child 214]; also Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215] (File: C214)
===
NAME: Braes o' Birniebouzle, The
DESCRIPTION: "Will ye gang wi' me Lassie, To the braes of Birnibouzle?" The singer details all the things he will supply if the girl will we, and promises that she will be content
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside NLScotland, RB.m.168(070))
KEYWORDS: 
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #3343
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.168(070), "Braes of Birniebouzle," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
File: BrBrBirn
===
NAME: Braes o' Broo, The
DESCRIPTION: "Get up, get up, ye lazy loons, Get up, and waur them a', man, For the braes o' Broo are ill to ploo." "But the plooman laddie's my delight." The plowman must work very hard on the poor land, but the girl loves him enough to support him even so
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: love farming hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Greig #65, pp. 1-2, "The Braes o' Broo" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 443, "The Braes o' Broo" (6 texts, 5 tunes)
Ord, pp. 254-255, "The Braes o' Broo" (1 text plus an excerpt from Greig consisting of "modern verses")
Roud #5572
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The  Plooman Laddie
The Ploughman Laddie's My Delight
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "'From Mary Duffus, servant, about 1850. Noted 1905.'" - BS
File: Ord254
===
NAME: Braes o' Strathblane, The: see Braes of Strathblane (File: McCST053)
===
NAME: Braes of Balquhidder (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks a lass to "leave your father and your mither" and join him "on the braes o' Balquither" She refuses. He wins her over and she agrees to "leave acquaintance a' for thee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1843 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(431))
KEYWORDS: courting rejection elopement
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 84-85, "The Braes of Balquhidder" (1 text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 23, "The Braes of Belquether" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BALQUID
Roud #541
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(267), "The Braes O Balquither" ("Frae far beyond the Grampian hills"), unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 25(269), "The Braes o' Gleniffer"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Firth c.16(84))
NOTES: This is not the poem/broadside of the same name by Robert Tannahill (1774-1810). That is a lyric: "Let us go, lassie, go To the braes o' Balquither." The singer will build her "a bower By the clear siller fountain" He describes their happy life in winter and summer among the moors "and the wild mountain thyme":
NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(202), "Braes o' Balquhither," unknown, c.1880
Bodleian, Harding B 11(431), "Braes o' Balquhither" ("Let us go, lassie, go"), W. & T. Fordyce (Newcastle), 1832-1842; also 2806 c.14(84), 2806 c.14(36), Firth b.25(231), Harding B 11(429), Harding B 25(266), Harding B 11(3873), 2806 c.14(109)[partly illegible], Harding B 11(2422), "Braes o' Balquhither." - BS
File: SmHa084
===
NAME: Braes of Belquether, The: see The Braes of Balquhidder (I) (File: SmHa084)
===
NAME: Braes of Carnanbane, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer prepares to leave Carnabane for America, and will praise it as he leaves. He recalls the beauties of the land and the girls; it pains him to leave, but he has no choice. He blesses Carnabane
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home emigration
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H651, p. 160, "The Braes of Carnanbane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13457
File: HHH651
===
NAME: Braes of Strathblane
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a girl. He wants to marry her; she says her parents would be displeased if she married a rover. He'll go court another. She begs him to come back; she's changed her mind. She regrets slighting him, fearing she'll never find another
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford); c.1850 (broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(063))
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a young girl, bleaching her clothes. He tells her he's been wanting to marry her for the past year; she tells him to hold his tongue, as her parents would be displeased if she married a rover. He tells her the clouds are heavy, and he fears it will rain, so he'll go court another. She tells him to come back, for she's changed her mind. But he leaves, and she regrets slighting him, fearing she'll never find another man
KEYWORDS: courting rejection parting rambling lover
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,High)) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 77-78, "The Braes o' Strathblane" (1 text)
Ord, p. 125, "The Braes o' Strathblane" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 53, "The Braes of Strathblane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 499-500, "The Beach of Strablane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 61, "The Bleaches So Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 45, "Just As I Was Going Away" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 60, "The Braes of Strathblaine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1096
RECORDINGS:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(063), "The Braes of Strathblane," unknown, c.1850
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(73), "The Braes of Strathblane," unknown, n.d.; also Firth c.26(240), "The Braes of Strathblane"
Murray, Mu23-y1:044, "The Braes of Strathalbene," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(063) "The Braes of Strathblane," unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rejected Lover" [Laws P10] and references there
cf. "The Chippewa Girl" [Laws H10] (words, theme)
cf. "As I Stood At My Cottage Door" (tune, see notes for broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(063))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Blades of Strawblane
NOTES: Commentary to broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(063): "This song, indeed, an identical match to the lyrics of 'The Braes of Strathdon', which lies in Aberdeenshire. On other broadsides the suggested to tune to these lyrics is often 'As I stood at my cottage door'." - BS
File: McCST053
===
NAME: Braes of Sweet Kilhoyle, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks his listeners to hear him sing of Kilhoyle. He describes how all the boys and girls play there, admits that "Sometimes I work, more times I rest" there. He describes all the towns you can see, and says the locals are always friends in need
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H464, pp. 167-168, "The Braes of Sweet Kilhoyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13480
File: HHH464
===
NAME: Braes of Yarrow (I), The
DESCRIPTION: A man tells his bride-to-be to forget Yarrow where he killed her lover. She had warned her lover against the fight. Now her brother Douglas wants her to marry. She thinks of the dead body and won't marry. The groom tells her: "dry thy useless sorrow"
AUTHOR: William Hamilton (1704-1754) 
EARLIEST_DATE: 1794 (Ritson, _Scotish Songs_, GreigDuncan2 refers to the 1869 reprint of the 1794 publication)
KEYWORDS: wedding fight death brother
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan2 216, "The Braes of Yarrow" (1 fragment)
ADDITIONAL: Charles W. Eliot, editor, English Poetry Vol II From Collins to Fitzgerald (New York, 1910), #341, pp. 572-576, "The Braes of Yarrow" (William Hamilton of Bangour)
Roud #5838
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(003), "Braes of Yarrow," The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1870
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Busk Ye
NOTES: Child notes to 214, "The Braes o Yarrow": "'The Braes of Yarrow' ('Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny, bonny bride'), by William Hamilton of Bangour, was suggested by the present ballad." 
GreigDuncan2 is a fragment; Eliot is the basis for the description.
Broadside Bodleian, 2806 c.11(203), "Braes of Yarrow" ("Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride!"), The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1870 could not be downloaded and verified. It appears to be the same as NLScotland RB.m.143(003).
This is not to be confused with Broadside Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 28, "The Braes of Yarrow" ("Busk ye, busk ye, my bony [sic] bride"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838 by Allan Ramsay. That song ends with the man saying "O Queen of smiles, I ask nae mair, Since now my bony Bell's consenting." - BS
File: GrD2216
===
NAME: Braes of Yarrow (II), The: see The Dowie Dens o Yarrow [Child 214]; also Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215] (File: C214)
===
NAME: Braiding Her Glossy Black Hair
DESCRIPTION: The April sun is shining, the larks singing, when the singer seeds Mary as he heads off to work. His heart is ensnared as he watches her braid her hair. Others report that he is never the same cheerful worker again; he is distracted by dreams of Mary
AUTHOR: Words: Andrew Doey
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H493, pp. 237-238, "Braiding Her Glossy Black Hair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9472
File: HHH493
===
NAME: Brake of Briars: see The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)
===
NAME: Brakeman on the Train
DESCRIPTION: (O')Shaughnessy takes a job as brakeman. He doesn't know the signal to stop the train. The train is derailed though no one is killed. They tell him to throw a switch; the train goes in the ditch. He gets the blame. And it's a hard, cold, dirty job.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: railroading ordeal wreck train wreck
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) US(MW.So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Leach-Labrador 99, "Brakeman on the Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 510, "Twisting on the Train" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 16-17, "O'Shaughanesey" (1 text)
ST LLab099 (Partial)
Roud #8587
RECORDINGS:
Nobel B. Brown, "Oh, I'm a Jolly Irishman Winding on the Train" (AFS 8473 A2, 1946; on LC61)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
O'Shaughnessy
NOTES: I assume this is the same person as the "Noble B. Brown" featured on other LC recordings. Again, I have no idea which spelling is correct. - PJS
File: LLab099
===
NAME: Bramble Briar, The (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32]
DESCRIPTION: A girl wishes to marry a man her family disapproves of. Her brothers take the lad hunting and kill him. They claim to have lost him, but he appears to his lover in a dream and reveals the truth. Accused by their sister, the two brothers are forced to flee
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: murder brother love accusation dream 
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Laws M32, The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town)"
Belden, pp. 109-111, "The Bramble Briar" (2 texts)
Randolph 100, "The Jealous Brothers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 27, "The Bramble Brier" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 62, "The Bramble Brier" (2 texts)
Brewster 32, "The Bramble Briar" (1 text plus a mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 11, "The Apprentice Boy" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 705-707, "In Brunton Town" (1 text)
SharpAp 48, "In Seaport Town" (9 texts, 9 tunes)
Sharp-100E 2, "Bruton Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 24-25, "The Bramble Briar" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 22, pp. 53-54, "The Bamboo Briars"; pp. 54-58, "The Apprentice Boy" (2 texts)
JHCox 88, "The Bramble Briar" (2  texts)
JHCoxIIA, #16, pp. 70-72, "The Merchant's Daughter" (1 text, probably composite, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 20, "Brake of Briars" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Darling-NAS, pp. 119-120, "In Zepo Town" (1 text)
DT 309,  JEALBROS JEALBRO2 JEALBRO3 JEALBRO4* SEAPRTWN*
ST LM32 (Full)
Roud #18
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "Bruton Town" (on LEnglish01)
Louis Killen, "The Bramble Briar" (on ESFB2)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Bramble Briar" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
Lisha Shelton, "In Zepo Town (In Seaport Town)" (on OldLove)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Constant Farmer's Son" [Laws M33]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Bamboo Briers
The Bomberry Briar
NOTES: Boccaccio includes the story, hence my "14th century" date. It's also listed by Hans Sachs in the 16th century. Sachs' was in verse form, whereas Boccaccio's was prose. I'm tempted to list Sachs' version. -PJS
H. M. Belden wrote an article on the relationships of these texts, "Boccaccio, Hans Sachs, and The Bramble Briar," published in _Publications of the Modern Language Association of America_ in 1918. - RBW
Logan English learned this piece from a young Kentucky woman practicing it with a dulcimer on the sidelines of a folk festival... and concluded from textual evidence that she'd learned it from Cecil Sharp's book. Tradition, twentieth century style. - PJS
File: LM32
===
NAME: Bramble Brier, The: see The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)
===
NAME: Bramble, The
DESCRIPTION: "Thy fruit full well the schoolboy knows, Wild bramble of the brake, So put forth thy small white rose, I love thee for his sake." The singer tells how the tame flowers fade or are put aside; the wild bramble still blooms and lets the singer feel young
AUTHOR: Words: Ebenezer Elliot
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection); the author died 1849
KEYWORDS: flowers nonballad age
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H628, pp. 62-63, "The Bramble" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13333
File: HHH628
===
NAME: Branded Lambs [Laws O9]
DESCRIPTION: A girl, seeking her branded lambs, sees Johnny asleep under a thorn and asks if he has seen the flock. He tells her to seek them in a distant meadow. She seeks them; Johnny follows. They are not there, but he takes the chance to woo her. They are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (Creighton/Senior); before 1850 (broadside Bodleian, Harding B 22(266))
KEYWORDS: sheep courting marriage love shepherd
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws O9, "Branded Lambs"
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 252-253, "Young Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 134, "The Long and Wishing Eye" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 133-134, "Branded Lambs" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LO09 (Full)
Roud #1437
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 22(266), "The sex, by Mr. Holt. Jockey and the Damsel's Courtship" ("As Jockey was walking one midsummer morn"), unknown, no date (but apparently pre-1825)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Searching for Lambs" (theme)
NOTES: This song represents an instance where Laws perhaps produced a great deal of confusion with his classification. He cites only two texts, Creighton/Senior and Joyce, the latter of which he calls incomplete.
But is the Joyce text incomplete, or is it a different song? Laws's "Branded Lambs" has a plot, summarized in the description. The Joyce text doesn't really.
On its face, Joyce appears to be an instance of another song group, "Searching for Lambs" ("One Morning Clear"), which has no plot beyond the elementary one of "boy meets girl while watching flocks."
The problem is, the two have common lyrics as well as a common theme. Either they've cross-fertilized or the lyric "Searching for Lambs" is a wearing down of "Branded Lambs." Scholars are divided; Kennedy (who admittedly lumps songs based on only the feeblest of connections) lumps them; the notes to Henry/Huntington/Herrmann explicitly deny the connection.
Unfortunately, almost all the texts are in manuscript and not readily available. Roud distinguishes the two; "Searching for Lambs" seems to be his #576; "Branded Lambs" is #1437.
The earlier editions of the Index lumped the song, in desperation. I still feel desperate about some versions -- e.g. the Copper text is difficult; it has the length of the lyric version but is more reminiscent of the ballad version in its wording. But we're splitters, and have now separated the songs. Still, readers should probably consult both entries for absolute certainty. - RBW
File: LO09
===
NAME: Brands: see Whose Old Cow (File: TF21)
===
NAME: Brandy Leave Me Alone
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, brandy leave me alone (x3), Remember I must go home." "Oh, brandy, you broke my heart (x2); Oh, brandy, leave me alone; Remember I must go home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: drink home nonballad Africa
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 231, "Brandy Leave Me Alone" (1 text)
DT, BRNDYLV*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Brandy Leave Me Alone" (on PeteSeeger06, PeteSeegerCD01); "Brandy Leave Me Alone" (on PeteSeeger12)
NOTES: The history of this song is rather obscure; it probably does not qualify as a true ENGLISH-language folksong. Joseph Marais and Miranda seem to have found the chorus in South Africa, and added enough material to make it an actual song. - RBW
File: FSWB231
===
NAME: Brandywine: see Earl Brand [Child 7] (File: C007)
===
NAME: Brannan Fair o' Banff
DESCRIPTION: The people at the fair -- Cocker, Shusie, "Geordie Raeburn an' Willie Beer, But noo I see they're wantin there"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming moniker
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 370, "Brannan Fair o' Banff" (2 fragments, 1 tune)
Roud #5913
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 text count includes one verse on p. 626. 
The current description is based on the GreigDuncan3 fragments. While placed among songs about hiring fairs it is not clear to me that this is about a hiring fair.
GreigDuncan3: "The song described those that used to appear at the fair, but then all gone, with other sights of the day." - BS
File: GrD3370
===
NAME: Brannigan's Pup
DESCRIPTION: Brannigan's pup fought "seventeen hours of battle." The dog was ugly to begin with, and scarred, but it would attack anything -- clothes, other dogs, a young girl's leg -- until at last it attacked an organ grinder's monkey and choked on the tail
AUTHOR: Gus Phillips
EARLIEST_DATE: 1879
KEYWORDS: animal talltale dog
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
FSCatskills 122, "Ol' Mickey Brannigan's Pup" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MICKPUP*
Roud #2971
File: FSC122
===
NAME: Brannon on the Moor: see Brennan on the Moor [Laws L7] (File: LL07)
===
NAME: Brass-Mounted Army, The
DESCRIPTION: The soldier complains of the unfairness of Army life and the abuse he suffers at the hands of officers: "Oh, how do you like the army, The brass-mounted army, The high-falutin' army Where eagle buttons rule?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: Civilwar abuse soldier army
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 221, "The Brass-Mounted Army" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 211-213, "The Brass-Mounted Army" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 221)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 20-21, "The Brass-Mounted Army" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 180, "The Brass-Mounted Army" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BRSSARMY*
Roud #6693
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wait for the Wagon" (tune)
NOTES: Attributed to "an anonymous soldier of Col. A Buchel's regiment." Some southern versions refer to a [General] Kirby, presumably General Edmund Kirby Smith, sent to command in Texas when Grant's Vicksburg campaign was cutting the Confederacy in two. - RBW
File: R221
===
NAME: Brats of Jeremiah, The: see Unhappy Jeremiah (The Brats of Jeremiah) (File: FSC134)
===
NAME: Brave Defender, The: see The Banished Defender (File: Zimm024)
===
NAME: Brave Fireman, The (Break the News to Mother Gently)
DESCRIPTION: A fireman, mortally injured while rescuing a child, makes his last request: "Break the news to mother gently, Tell her how her son had died, Tell her that he done his duty...." His family and colleagues grieve but honor his memory
AUTHOR: Charles K. Harris
EARLIEST_DATE: 1891 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: death fire rescue farewell mother
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 687, "The Brave Fireman" (1 text)
Roud #7371
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Break the News to Mother" (tune, theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Break the News Gently
NOTES: Spaeth (Read _Em and Weep_, pp. 175-176) has another song built around the line "Break the news to mother." The plot, however, is completely different, and involves a soldier boy killed while rescuing a company's battle flag. That piece is by Charles K. Harris - RBW
The Spaeth song is Harris's 1897 rewrite, "Break the News to Mother," of his own "The Brave Fireman." - BS
Randolph's appears to be the only printed version of this piece taken from oral tradition, but it appears to have been found elsewhere. Tim Murphy contacted me about a fragment of the song he heard from his grandmother, Francis Mary Lawlor Skinner, born in 1880 in St. John's, Newfoundland; she later migrated to the United States. Based on Mr. Murphy's comments, it may be that the song was repeated in fire houses. In any case, it was known somewhere in eastern North America. - RBW
File: R687
===
NAME: Brave General Brock [Laws A22]
DESCRIPTION: Brock leads his men on a forced march against the Americans. The surprised U.S. commander surrenders soon after the fighting begins.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959
KEYWORDS: war Canada
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1812 - The Michigan campaign of Hull and Brock
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws A22, "Brave General Brock"
Doerflinger pp. 272-274, "Come All You Bold Canadians" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 62-65, "Come All You Bold Canadians" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 697, GENBROCK
Roud #2210
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of Queenston Heights" (for the death of Isaac Brock)
NOTES: One of the major American aims in the War of 1812 was to conquer Canada. The primary responsibility for the defense of Canada fell on the shoulders of Brigadier General Isaac Brock, Governor of Upper Canada, who faced several threats.
According to John K. Mahon, _The War of 1812_ (Da Capo, 1972, pp. 17-18, Brock had had a rather spectacular career, joining the army when very young and commanding a regiment by the time he was 28. He had combat experience in Europe, and had also spent years in Canada, so he was close to the ideal commander in Upper Canada (what we now call Ontario).
The overall British commander in North America, Sir George Prevost, thought him a little too impetuous, but there were only three active-duty infantry general officers in Canada (Prevost, Brock, and Major General Francis Rottenberg; Mahon, p. 34), so Prevost had little choice but to employ Brock. Very short of soldiers, and wanting to enforce the strategic defensive, Prevost limited Brock to 1600 regular troops to keep him from getting too lively (Mahon, p. 19). It was to prove a fateful decision for Brock, who would perform brilliantly but eventually die at Queenstown in part because of lack of troops.
There were supposed to be three American attack on Canada: One in the Detroit area (or, at least, in the region between Lakes Huron and Erie), one in the Niagara region between Lakes Erie and Ontario, and one up from Lake Champlain. The goal was to coordinate these attacks. The goal failed (which would allow Brock to personally deal with two of them).
The first attack came from the west (Mahon, pp. 38-39). The governor of Michican Territory was William Hull (1753-1825), a veteran of the Revolutionary War -- but he was by training a lawyer, and the highest rank he had held in the Revolution was lieutenant colonel (Mahon, p. 43). He was still relatively young at 58, but looked older; he had lost much of his energy (see Pierre Berton, _The Invasion of Canada [Volume I], 1812-1813_, Atlantic-Little Brown, 1980, p. 92, who calls him "a flabby old soldier, tired of war, hesitant of command, suspicious of the militia who he knows are untrained and suspects are untrustworthy. He has asked for three thousand men; Washington finally allows him two thousand. He does not really want to be a general, but he is determined to save his people from the Indians.... There is a soft streak in Hull, no asset in a frontier command. As a young man he studied for the ministry, only to give it up for the law, but something of the divinity student remains").
Gathering a motley and ill-equipped force of militia, with only a few regulars (and their commander outranked by the untrained militia officers; Mahon, p. 44), Hull crossed from Michigan into Ontario on Jyly 12 (see Donald R. Hickey, _The War of 1812_, p. 81; Mahon, p. 45), only to find that the local inhabitants didn't care and didn't want to be liberated (see Walter R. Borneman, _1812, The War that Forged a Nation_, p. 62). When a small British force forced its way across from Sault St. Marie to Mackinack, Hull fell back on Detroit (Borneman, p .67; Mahon, p. 48).
Brock brought up a few British forces to Detroit, made them look like more, and threatened to turn the Indians loose on Hull (Hickey, pp. 82-83). The American commander seemed utterly unable to comprehend what was going on as Brock maneuvered forces all around him (Mahon, p. 50). Although he could in fact have defeated Brock in detail, and very possibly could have prevailed in an open battle because of superior numbers, Hull surrendered Detroit on August 16, 1812 (Borneman, pp. 68-69).
Brock reportedly had 2500 prisoners; he listed his own forces as 750 whites and 600 Indians (Mahon, p. 50). Hull eventually would be court-martialed and sentenced to death, though his life would be spared (Borneman, p. 69; Hickey, p. 84; Mahon, p. 51). The only good thing that came out of the debacle, fir the American side, was that it forced them to start working on a fleet on Lake Erie, because they would need control of the lake to securely retake Detroit.
For the later career of Brock, see "The Battle of Queenston Heights."
Incidentally, as well as a good soldier, Brock seems to have had more liberal feelings than most people of his time. In an era when most people sneered at the Native Americans, Brock wrote of the "wrongs then continually suffer" (Berton, p. 66). Of course, he was trying to enlist them as allies in any possible war with the United States, so maybe he had an ulterior motive. 
Berton, pp. 81-82, says that Brock was utterly frustrated in Canada, and repeatedly requested transfer -- but, when finally granted the right to take a post in Britain, the War of 1812 was at hand, and he decided to stay at his post out of a sense of duty.
Berton, pp. 82-83, describes him as follows: "He is a remarkably handsome man with a fair complexion, a broad forehead, clear eyes of grey blue (one with a slight cast), and sparkling white teeth. His portraits tend to make him look a little feminine -- the almond eyes, the sensitive nostrils, the girlish lips -- but his bearing belies it; he is a massive figure, big-boned and powerful, almost six feet three in height. He has now, at forty-two, a slight tendency to portliness... but he is, in his own words, 'hard as nails.'
"He is popular with almost everybody, especially the soldiers who serve him -- a courteous, affable officer who makes friends easily and can charm with a smile. But there is also an aloofness about him.
-RBW
File: LA22
===
NAME: Brave Irish Lady, A: 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: Brave Marin (Brave Sailor)
DESCRIPTION: French. A brave sailor returns from war and stops at an inn. The hostess cries; she recognizes him as her husband. He asks why she has more children. She had reports that he had died and so remarried. He leaves silver and returns to his regiment.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill), with a possible origin in the period 1562-1630
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage marriage reunion children wife sailor husband wife money  return foc's'le
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) France
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lehr/Best 13, "Brave Marin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 111-112, "Le Retour du Marin" (1 fragment (in French), 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Grace Lee Nute, _The Voyageur_, Appleton, 1931 (reprinted 1987 Minnesota Historical Society), pp. 145-147, "Le Retour du Mari Soldat" (1 text plus English translation, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "Brave Marin" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Le Jeune Militaire" (theme)
cf. "Jack Robinson" (theme)
cf. "Snapoo" (similar tune)
NOTES: Lehr/Best: Best says "It dates from the wars of Louis XIV (the late 1600s) and was very popular in the southwest of France." Lehr/Best makes "Le Jeune Militaire" a version of "Brave Marin"; while the themes are very close the words are not. - BS
Colcord theorizes that this is the ballad from which "Snapoo" and subsequently "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" were derived. The tune is similar (though slower) and the lines end with the words "tout doux" which could have been transliterated into "snapoo." Tennyson used the same theme in his classic poem "Enoch Arden" in 1864.
Hugill (in _Songs of the Sea_, 1977) says that the song comes from the days of Louis XIII (1610-1643) and that the theme may have been derived from the story of Martin Guerre, which took place around 1560, though a significant difference in the two is that in "Retour du Marin" (and in "Enoch Arden") the returning sailor eventually goes on his way, rather than impersonating someone as Martin Guerre did. - SL
Obviously none of these theories of origin can be proved, though in some ways, the earlier, the better, as long as the song is of French/Catholic origin. By the eighteenth century, a Catholic woman could not remarry unless she could not only show her husband was dead but could point out the body -- a cause of much distress at Trafalgar, e.g.; the English would bury their dead at sea, but the French and Spanish wanted to stack their ships full of bodies.
Incidentally, in "Enoch Arden," the returned sailor dies for love. Whether that is a better ending is, I think, debatable. - RBW
File: LeBe013
===
NAME: Brave Nelson: see Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar (Brave Nelson) [Laws J17] (File: LJ17)
===
NAME: Brave Queen's Island Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: "Belfast may boast ... of its far-famed ships." "May the name of Harland and Wolff still stand At the top of the ship-building trade" "The Island Boys are marvels .... With their 'White Star Liner'" If a "Greyhound" is needed Belfast gets the contract.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1890-1918 (J Nicholson ballad sheet, according to Leyden)
KEYWORDS: pride commerce ship nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leyden 37, "The Brave Queen's Island Boys" (1 text)
NOTES: Leyden: "The song dates from the 1880s." Dargan's Island, renamed Queen's Island "after Queen Victoria's visit to the town in 1849," in the River Lagan, was part of the world-famous Belfast ship-building industry. "This reputation was largely due to the efforts of the Harland and Wolff company which formed in 1861.... In 1870 Harland and Wolff signed a contract to build ships for the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, better known as the White Star Line." [The _Titanic_ was built in Belfast for the White Star Line.] - BS
According to David Allen Butler, _"Unsinkable": The Full Story  of RMS_ Titanic, Stackpole, 1998, p. 4, "The origins of Harland and Wolff dated back to the 1840, when dredging of a deep-water passage in the of section of the River Lagan known as the Victoria Channel created Queen's Island in the middle of the channel. Robert Hickson built a shipyard on the new island and began construction of iron ships there in 1853. Edward J. Harland came to the yard, which was known as Hickson and Company, as a manager in 1854 and bought it outright from Hickson in 1859. Gustav Wolff was a silent partner when he first joined Harland in 1861, but by 1862 the yard was known as Harland and Wolff."
It was a line which produced many innovations, mostly at the instigation of Edward Harland, eliminating most of the equipment of sailing ships from the steamers of the White Star and other lines (Butler, p. 5). It also managed to build what we would now call a "vertical monopoly": It designed the ships, built them, and even built the primary components such as boilers and propellers.At its peak, the shipyard employed 14,000 men. It was a Harland and Wolff ship, the _Oceanic_, which created the luxury liner concept and put White Star at the forefront of the transatlantic trade. The two ended up with an arrangement that was satisfactory to both: Harland and Wolff produced the ships for White Star, and billed the line for its actual costs plus a fixed percentage of profit.
After Harland's death in 1894, William James Pirrie (who had started with the firm as an apprentice in 1862 at the age of 15) succeeded him; he became Lord Pirrie in 1895 (Butler, p. 6). He was still in charge at the time the _Titanic_ and her sisters were ordered, though Thomas Andrews handled most of the detail work.
According to Wyn Craig Wade, _The_ Titanic: _End of a Dream_, revised edition, Penguin, 1986, p. 13, "Harland and Wolff were considered the highest-priced and most painstaking shipbuilders in Europe."
Not even the _Titanic_ could change that. Irish partition and a series of economic downturns could. The Belfast shipping industry went into recession. Eventually Harland and Wolff was sold to a Norwegian company. Not even that could save the shipyards. And that company in 2003 sold the land of Harland and Wolff's old shipyard to a property developer. It may become a _Titanic_ memorial. It almost certainly won't be used to build ships (see Stephanie Barczewski, _The Titanic: A Night Remembered_, Hambledon Continuum, 2004, pp. 244-245.
The reference to a "greyhound" is ironic. If the song really does come from the 1880s, it predates the time of the most extreme transatlantic competition, when German and British companies were constantly building bigger, faster ships. At last two ships were built that were called "greyhounds," and for nearly a quarter century, no one tried to build faster ships. The two ships were the _Lusitania_ and _Mauretania_ -- but they were built for Cunard, not White Star, and Harland and Wolff was not involved in the design. They were built in Britain, not Ireland. - RBW
File: Leyd037
===
NAME: Brave Volunteers, The
DESCRIPTION: Henry leaves Margaret, his wife, and baby to volunteer "to fight 'neath a monarch of Portugal's banner." All 500 volunteers from Ireland and Scotland are lost with his ship on Galway's coast, outbound from Greenock, on Wednesday, November 28/29.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.12(120))
KEYWORDS: grief marriage war drowning wreck Ireland Scotland lament baby wife
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: c. Dec 4, 1832 - The Rival, out of Greenock bound for Oporto in Portugal with 472 volunteer troops to support Dom Pedro in the Miguelista War, sinks off the Galway coast.
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 432-433, "The Brave Volunteers" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea432 (Partial)
Roud #9784
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(120), "The Brave Volunteers" ("One cold stormy night in the month of November"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 26(74), "The Brave Volunteers"
NOTES: Greenock is on the west coast of Scotland across the North Channel from Ireland.  Galway is on the west coast of Ireland. 
[The song refers to the Miguelist] War of Two Brothers [and] an expedition from Britain supporting Pedro II [November 28, 1832 was a Wednesday ]
The real work on the historical basis of the ballad is in the following notes on other sources and historical references, posted between 3/8/2004 and 3/28/2004 to [the Ballad-L mailing list] by John Moulden.  The references are used with his permission.  In response to my [BS] query re the possible historical basis for the ballad John looked at his source texts to help narrow the date to the Miguelista War and then pinned down the likely actual disaster.
Begin John Moulden's notes:
Other Sources:
This appears on Irish printed ballad sheets and eight page song-books 
The references I have are: 
8 page song book:
The bonny light horseman together with The brave volunteers. The burial of General Sir John Moore. Steady she goes all's well. Waterford. Printed at W Kelly's. Cut - oval -horse (nose at right) , left foreleg raised, unsaddled, tail up, under tree. [Walter Kelly printer evidently worked in the 1830s - the sole firm date I have for him is 1839 but he was probably working as early as 1835.]
National Library of Ireland I6551 Song books Waterford (LO560) 4(3) British Library 11621aaa16 #9
Royal Irish Academy Irish song books Volume 1 12b'11 - 7
Queen's University Belfast Massey Gibson Collection Item 7:5
Ballad sheet:
Brave Volunteers The One cold stormy night in the month of November 
Trinity College Dublin John Davis White Collection 189t1 273 7 verses [8 lines] [The White Collection was made around the 1860s to 70s - this ballad has no imprint]
According to Steve Roud's Broadside index it was also printed by Such (Catalogue Entry only) and a copy is in the British Library's Crampton Collection
Further to this: Kelly, Waterford printed this song in another 8 page book: 
The loss of the Brave Volunteers together with Auld Lang Syne, Shule Agra, Molly Brannigan Waterford printed at W Kelly's, National Library of Ireland I6551 Song books Waterford (LO560) 33, Dublin City Library 821.04 (Song-books 1820-1845) No 12 Dix Donation 2588
British Library 11622 b 30 #16
Trinity College Dublin Early Books 66 u 165 - 35
Royal Irish Academy Irish song books Volume 1 12b'11 - 5
I copied the copy of this in DCL. It bears a text identical in all respects but for one word to the other Kelly printing (dreams for thoughts in the Line "Dark were my thoughts that night on my pillow." ) Kelly in both versions, has the ship sailing from Greenock on December 1st and foundering on "That night of the dark 21st of December" and it is said to have been a Saturday! 
The Bodleian offerings are by Such (presumably the print referred to [above]) but the print by Haly of Hanover Street is another Irish printing, made in Cork. Such dates the event [November 28], Haly [November 29]. The range of (probable) dates I can offer for Haly in his occupancy of the Hanover Street Address are 1826-1852. He occupied those premises in 1821 but is listed as a Straw Hat Maker and by 1853, he (or his daughter) had moved to South Main Street.
 Historical References:
I am fortunate to have a friend, Robert Anderson of Coleraine, who is an expert on matters maritime in Ireland and has good resources. On the basis that this happened, from the likely dates that the song was printed, in the range of years 1830-35 he searched the Shipwreck Index of Ireland and came up with a probability: The Rival, a brig, Captain John Wallace which had been hired to transport soldiers to Portugal, left the Clyde bound for Oporto and was reported lost on 4th December 1832. 
I then used my own resources to investigate further. Edward J Bourke Shipwrecks of the Coast of Ireland vol 3. cites Lloyd's List and gives a sailing date for the Rival of 24th November. Straw bedding and casks of rum were washed ashore. Citing the Dublin Newspaper the Freeman's Journal Bourke says it's not clear how many were aboard and says "This wreck may be the subject of a ballad." 
It seems fairly conclusive. More extensive newspaper search is indicated
End of John Moulden's notes.
Further confirmation is from two notes in the London Times archives
"Yesterday the Lusitania sailed from the Broomielaw, having on board 172 men for Oporto, to join forces under Dom Pedro. n the course of the present week another vessel, the Rival, will sail from the Broomielaw, having on board 472 men, destined for the same port and service. Glasgow Chronicle of Monday" [The Times Nov 16, 1832; pg. 2; Issue 15011; Start column: D 2048 words. Elec. Coll.: CS34627440. (Copyright 2002 The Gale Group)]
 "Dublin, JULY 16.  The Sarah, of Pwlheli, was lately fitted up with a diving-bell and suitable apparatus for the purpose of raising 11 vessels wrecked close to the Galway shore during the last severe winter, amongst which are understood to be the Thais, Falmouth packet; the Whitbread of London, the James of Tynemouth, the Rival of Glasgow, which had Don Pedro's troops on board ..." [The Times Jul 19, 1834; pg. 7; Issue 15534; Start column: C 854 words. Elec. Coll.: CS118514419.( Copyright 2002 The Gale Group)]
The following information has been supplied by Charlie Napier, President of the Clan Napier Society, and is quoted with his permission. While looking for information about the Miguelist War that might shed some light on "The Brave Volunteers" disaster I found no helpful references. The only promising reference was a book not available to me: "An Account Of The War In Portugal Between Don Pedro And Don Miguel" by Admiral Sir Charles Napier. Since Admiral Napier was a major player in that war and apparently remained popular with volunteers from Ireland and Scotland through the early Crimean War I hoped that he would have considered a loss like the Rival to be worth a comment.
Fortunately, I came across the Clan Napier Society website and asked if there might be a reference in the 1836 book to support what was, at the time, a speculation. Charlie Napier researched the matter at the National Library of Scotland. Here is his report: 
1. The book is in two volumes, with approximately 300 pages in each and about 9 inches by 5 inches.
2. The book was published in 1836, only two years after the War finished.
3. There are no dates anywhere in the main text of the book, so it is very difficult to work out which year you are in if you just dip into the book.
4. Each volume has an Appendix which contains a number of transcripts of letters, proclamations and speeches. These are dated, which is a little help.
5. There is no index in either volume, although there are voluminous "Contents Lists" at the beginning of each volume. These were really no help in trying to find the relevant passage.
6. After skim-reading Volume I from the beginning, I eventually found what I think is the passage relevant to your question.
7. It starts about two thirds of the way down page 121 and finishes about one third down page 122. It reads as follows:
"On the 5th of January nearly two hundred Scotch arrived and were put under the orders of Major Shaw, who was much pleased with having the command of his countrymen. Six hundred had been recruited in Glasgow, four hundred of whom were wrecked on the coast of Ireland, and every soul perished. This was a severe blow to the cause at a time when both men and money were so much wanted at Oporto. On the 15th a reinforcement of two hundred Portuguese arrived from the islands, and four hundred French; the whole were safely disembarked under the lighthouse, whose provisions continued to be landed, though frequently interrupted by surf."
8. There was no mention of the name of the ship that was lost and I think that the year in question must be 1833. - BS
File: Pea432
===
NAME: Brave Wolfe [Laws A1]
DESCRIPTION: Disappointed in love, Wolfe gives his beloved a ring and leaves her. He lands at Quebec to battle the French. Wolfe is mortally wounded, but when he learns that a British victory is assured, he says, "I die with pleasure."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1759 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: death war courting battle separation Canada
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1727-1759 - Life of General James Wolfe, British commander at the Battle of Quebec
1754-1763 - French and Indian War (in Europe, the Seven Years' War, fought 1756-1763)
Sept 13, 1759 - Battle of Quebec. Wolfe and Montcalm killed.
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,NE,SE,So) Canada(Newf,Mar) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (20 citations)
Laws A1, "Brave Wolfe"
Randolph 664, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 120-122, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 55-57, "Brave Wolfe/General Wolfe" (2 texts, 1 tune; the first text is in half-stanzas and does not use the "Blacksmith" tune; the second is the Green Mountain Songster version)
Leach, pp. 716-719, "Brave Wolfe" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 288, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 44, "Bold Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 986-987, "Bold Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 21-23, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 2, "Bold Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 46-49, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 75, "Quebec" (1 text)
Warner 21, "The Ballad of Montcalm and Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 36-38, "The Death of General Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 43, pp. 153-155, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 36, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 16, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 156-157, "Brave Wolfe" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 478, "Brave Wolfe" (source notes only)
DT 358, BRAVWOLF* BRVEWLF2*
ST LA01 (Full)
Roud #961
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as111310, "General Wolfe" ("Cheer up your hearts, young men, let nothing fright you"), Leonard Deming (Boston), 19C; also as102840, "The Death of General Wolf" 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blacksmith" (tune & meter)
cf. "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35] (tune)
cf. "General Wolfe" (subject)
SAME_TUNE:
The Blacksmith (File: K146)
NOTES: When William Pitt the Elder came became Britain's Prime Minister in 1757 (the first man ever to hold that title, which was coined because there was no real cabinet role for him otherwise), he decided that the army -- newly involved in the Seven Years' War (known in the American colonies as the French and Indian War) -- needed a good dose of youthful energy. In 1755-1756, British results had been disastrous (see, e.g., the notes to "Braddock's Defeat"; also McNaught, pp. 40-41. For references, see the Bibliography at the end of this note). The American colonies were in danger of being boxed in by the French, and the British were suffering losses -- mostly pinpricks, but losses -- all over Europe.
The Canadian expedition is an example of Pitt's determination to shake things up. Carroll, p. 61, notes that the French at this time were giving military commands to the nobility, competent or not, but "Pitt was constantly on the lookout for a sizzling young patriot willing to do the impossible -- to the devil with his ancestry." At the time of his appointment in 1758, North American army commander Jeffrey Amherst (1717-1797) was only forty years old, and newly jumped up from Lieutenant Colonel (Borneman, p. 100) and naval commander Edward Boscawen (1711-1761) was still on the young side of fifty (Bryant, p. 64).
Even in this company, James Wolfe (1727-1759) was almost a baby; he was commanding the equivalent of a division at the age of 30. The most famous story about him has to do with his appointment to the command in Quebec. A courtier, shocked, asked George II how he could appoint such a man. The courtier allegedly said that Wolfe was mad. King George replied, "Mad, is he? Then I wish he'd bite some of my other generals." (The exact words of this legend vary. IÕm not sure where I met the above phrasing. Borneman, p. 207, has George II say "Then I hope he will bite some of my other generals!Ó)
According to Borneman, p. 105, Wolfe was "tall and slight -- one might say gangly [Carroll, p. 23, lists his height as 6'3"] -- with reddish hair and a constitution given to a host of chromic ailments. He had been born in Westerham, Kent, on January 2, 1727... In 1741, at the age of fourteen, young Wolfe was given a commission as a second lieutenant in his father's marine regiment, though he soon transferred to the army because of his seasickness (Carroll, p. 22). Two years later, at Dettingen in Bavaria, Wolfe... received his first real test in battle.... Two years after that, at Culloden against the last gasp of the Stuarts, his regiment against suffered the most, losing one-third of its men."
The assault on Canada began with an amphibious assault on the great fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, a fortress and naval base which, if properly supplied, could prevent any expedition up the Saint Lawrence. Bryant, p. 64, says that 8000 sailors and 12,000 soldiers were involved in capturing the place; Wolfe, though not in charge, served bravely in the battle. (He also gained a reputation as a well-rounded man; Carroll, p. 27, notes that he was a flute player who kept up his practicing even in wartime. His cousin, the famous author Oliver Goldsmith, once sent him a dog -- Carroll, p. 39 --  though this was before Goldsmith achieved his real fame. And, as the ships headed for the landing above Quebec, he is reported to have said that he would rather have written Thomas Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" than capture Quebec -- Stacey, p. 122, though he doubts the detailed truth of the legend.)
Although Wolfe's illnesses are not a major subject of this song, they do seem to have affected his behavior: Since he thought he was gravely ill anyway, he probably didn't worry much about his survival. But no one eems to have figured out his problem.Carroll, p. 20, notes that he has been called a hypochondriac, though she dismissed the charge. Page 215 of Borneman, describing Wolfe's final illness, sounds to me rather like a venereal disease (Borneman, p. 215), though Carroll, p. 6, offers the opinion that it was kidney stones (on p. 37, she lists his full catalog of complaints as "fevers, scurvy, rheumatism, kidney stones, and possibly tuberculosis"). Keegan/Wheatcroft, p. 334, suspect consumption. Carroll, p.31, says that Wolfe's brother Ned died of consumption, so there is a likelihood that Wolfe himself would have been subject to the disease (not all people are), but in that case, it would be surprising if he took so long to contract it.
Although Amherst was in overall command of the attack on Louisbourg, it was Wolfe who led most of the tactical thrusts, including the initial landing west of the town (Borneman, pp. 108-114). Surrounded, and starving even before the siege started, the defenders surrendered on July 27, 1858 (Borneman, p. 116).
Louisbourg was the main French base in Canada. With it gone, the British could safely advance up the Saint Lawrence. They also could attack on other fronts -- and they did.
Much of the credit for the loss of Canada must go not to Wolfe himself but to the foolish enemy commanders. After the Battle of Fort Dequesne (for which see "Braddock's Defeat") and the victory at Ticonderoga, where the French had captured Fort William Henry and seem the Indians massacre defenders after they surrendered (Borneman, pp. 90-94), the French really had only to stand on the defensive and hold their ground (Brabant/Masters, p. 71, notes that the French success  in the Champlain forced the British to give up on that area and turn to the St. Lawrence, which should have been much easier for the French to hold).
But the French had several problems. One was divided command. The governor of New France was Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (who, according to Carroll, p. 47, cared only about Quebec, not about France, and who even in Quebec did little to control corruption; Carroll, pp. 48-49). The general-in-chief was an officer sent from France, the Marquis de Montcalm, who would fight Wolfe at Quebec. And the two didn't see eye to eye on anything (Borneman, pp. 82-83. According to Carroll, p. 43, Montcalm at one point commented on the inept administration in Quebec, "What a country! Here all the knaves grow rich and the honest men are ruined!"; she adds on p. 44 that he did not wish to go, but took the Canadian command out of duty.)
After the Battle of Fort Carrillon (or Ticonderoga -- the battle where Major Duncan Campbell was killed), Montcalm's prestige went sky-high (Keegan/Wheatcroft, p. 214, credit him with "virtually invent[ing] a new method of warfare"); he had, after all, defeated a much larger British force under Abercromby (Borneman, pp. 129-139). The fact that Abercromby had ordered a frontal attack on a strongly-defended position he had never seen was irrelevant. Montcalm was promoted over Vaudreuil, without really clarifying their relationship.
And that didn't solve the other problem of New France: The French had never really built a self-supporting colony, and there were shortages of food and other things (Borneman, pp. 98-99). In late 1758, the one thing Montcalm and Vaudreuil agreed on was that thing were close to collapse (Borneman, p. 189). And Montcalm was not a local to know how to deal with this fact; he tried to run a colonial war as if it were a European war, and failed badly. By 1759, the English had taken other forts besides Louisbourg, and the Quebec economy was being strained to the breaking point. Though most of Canada was still in French hands, there was a feeling that this was a last stand. Particularly since the British were attacking on several fronts.
Even though Amherst had been in charge at Louisbourg, he was relegated to the background in 1759, being handed command of the overall American theater. Wolfe was given command of the Quebec expedition -- a surprising appointment for a man who had only been made a colonel in 1757, and who had only had command of a brigade for one brief campaign (Stacey, p. 2).
Wolfe almost blew it by returning to England in the absence of orders (Borneman, pp. 204-205). But there was a reason: He was courting a woman named Katherine Lowther, and they became engaged during his time at home (Borneman, pp. 205-206. Carroll, p. 8, says that he had fallen in love three times; presumably this was love #3. We know little about the romance, though, since not one letter between them survives, according to Stacey, p. 123. He does report that she later became Duchess of Bolton). Wolfe then set out for his date with destiny.
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham is not really as much of a contest as is generally made out. Wolfe had 9000 men, of very high quality (Stacey, p. 5), though not all made it to the plateau; his opponent, Montcalm, only 4500 actually present in the field.  Wolfe himself noted the quality difference: "Montcalm is at the head of a great number of bad soldiers and I am at the head of a small number of good ones," (Brown, p. 186).
Wolfe's ability showed best in his ability to get his troops to the battlefield. Quebec is a very hard nut to crack -- the name itself is Algonquin for "river narrows" (Borneman, p. 208), and the city is atop a large triangular bluff with cliffs carved by rivers on two sides. The city is effectively impregnable from land attack except from the southwest (upstream), and completely immune to naval gunfire. Wolfe did manage to get some batteries erected on neighbouring heights, and they tossed in a few cannonballs, but they did trivial damage (Borneman, p. 211). So Wolfe's task was somehow to get his troops ashore in a position where they could get to the Plains of Abraham southwest of the city.
His first attempt, on July 31, was a disaster (Bryant, p. 64); Montcalm had twice as many troops in the theater as Wolfe; they were numerous enough that the French could man the banks of the Saint Lawrence at every useful landing place, and even though they were inferior soldiers, they had the advantage of fighting from land. That July 31 landing cost the British 443 men and accomplished nothing (Borneman, pp. 212-213).
There was no choice for it. Wolfe had to go above the town, even though it meant that the French might be able to cut his supply line (Borneman, pp. 213-214). Six weeks after the July fiasco, he had most of his troops upriver, and he proceeded to sneak  his troops across the river and up an "impassable" cliff by night (Borneman, pp. 217-218). The admiral in charge of getting the troops to the foot of the cliff called the plan "the most hazardous and difficult task I ever engaged in" -- but he pulled it off (Borneman, pp. 218-219). It helped that the French were expecting to shift supplies by water that night, so they failed to note all the naval coming and goings (Stacey, p. 120). Apparently they were challenged by a small sentry post, but one of Wolfe's French-speaking officers bamboozled them (Stacey, p. 127). Some 4000 troops -- half of Wolfe's army -- managed to climb up to the Plains of Abraham. Finally they were in position to actually attack the city.
Needless to say, the line in the song about Montcalm and Wolfe meeting before the battle is false -- Wolfe would have had to have been truly insane to allow Montcalm more time to bring up troops. Carroll, p. 6, says in fact that the two never met in their lives. I wonder if the notion might not have arisen because they spent so much time dressing their line before the battle (Carroll, p. 15, says that this took an hour -- which is quite a delay for a maneuver that troops would have much experience in performing. Maybe Wolfe really did want his troops arranged "in a line so pretty").
By this time, Wolfe was in dreadful health (see the description above), and it may have encouraged some of his earlier errors in the campaign. But it was Montcalm who made the big mistake. He still had that two to one edge in numbers in the theater, and he could have tried to stand on the defensive. But he didn't. With perhaps 4500 men -- a quarter of his total forces -- he attacked Wolfe head-on on September 13 (Borneman, p. 221). This even though reinforcements were on the way and would have arrived in short order (Stacey, p. 169). In Montcalm's defence, he probably  hoped to take advantage of the British disorganization after they climbed the cliffs (Brown, pp. 187-188). It might have seemed like a good idea -- if it had worked. Instead, the British regulars calmly awaited the assault, and tore them apart.
Wolfe had been hit in the wrist by then (Borneman, p. 221). But he wouldn't let it slow him down; he ordered a bayonet charge, and in leading it suffered fatal injuries, dying on the field of battle (Borneman, p. 222). There is some dispute about how many wounds he suffered; although many accounts say he was hit three times (wrist, then groin, then breast), Stacey, p. 149, observes that the groin wound ("an inch below the navel," according to the _Gentleman's Magazine_) would almost certainly have been crippling if real, and notes that Brigadier Townshend witnessed only two wounds, wrist and breast. In any case, he stayed with the colors after the wrist injury (which he bound up with a handkerchief), and was killed by the breast wound.
Leckie, p. 364, tells a story of Wolfe's last words which almost parallels the song. One of his men declared, "The run! See how they run!" Wolfe asked which side ran. "The enemy, sir. Egad, they give way everywhere!" Wolfe made few final orders, concluded,"Now, God be praised, I will die in peace!" -- and breathed his last. Stacey, p. 150, reports that the words came from the careful research of Captain Knox, and may be accurate -- but notes that there are other versions.
In terms of deaths of commanders, the battle was a draw; Montcalm too suffered a mortal wound (perhaps during the retreat; Stacey, p. 151) and died the day after the battle. But the ratio of casualties heavily favored the British (Borneman, p. 223, lists 60 British soldiers killed and 600 wounded; the French had 200 killed, 1200 wounded).
Not everyone was impressed with Wolfe's leadership in the campaign. Brebner/Masters,  p. 71, declares, "The men who won the British victory have received too much attention, for students of warfare have demonstrated that their talents were moderate." Stacey, p. 170, notes that Lord Wolseley, the best British general of the late nineteenth century, regarded him as "never anything more than 'a good regimental officer.'" Stacey himself says that "His performance as a strategist... was sadly ineffective," and notes that he seemed unable to make a plan and stick with it. Even the strategy which finally worked, of landing above Quebec, Stacey notes on p. 172, was largely the idea of Wolfe's subordinates; his only real contribution was to choose the landing point (closer to the town than the brigadiers would have chosen; Wolfe's plan was more likely to win big but also carried greater risks, and Stacey, p. 173, thinks the plan unsound. I'm frankly not convinced).
Keegan/Wheatcroft, p. 334, "Wolfe was a safely dead hero, and many of the less attractive features of his personality were forgotten. Had he lived, he might have been the brilliant general which the British so desperately needed in the War of American Independence; but perhaps (more likely) he would have been yet another of those insubordinategeneralswhose wild schemes were to ruin the British cause."
After Montcalm's defeat, Governor Vaudreuil told the new commander at Quebec City to surrender once his supplies were exhausted (Borneman, p. 223). That took place on September 18.
The French around Quebec could perhaps have fought on -- Borneman, pp. 223-224, gives arguments why the could and perhaps should have. Indeed, the coming April, a force from Montreal came down to attack Quebec, and the British officer in charge after Wolfe's death emulated Montcalm, attacked from a poor position, and was whipped back into the town (Borneman, pp. 235-237). But the French government was too busy at home to support those remote efforts, and after its defeat at Quiberon Bay (for which see "Bold Hawke") had no way to support the colony anyway.
The population stopped supporting the militia, and it became almost impossible to put a strong force in the field. The British forces under Amherst came at Montreal from several directions. Montreal surrendered in 1860 (Borneman, pp. 251-252), and Britain ruled Canada.
It took a few more years to settle the Seven Years War -- peace was not made until 1863, and there were some Indian problems even after that -- but little that happened after than mattered much. The Treaty of Paris did some small shuffling around of European and Caribbean territories, but the main result was to put Canada in British hand (Borneman, p. 279).
There was one other side effect. Pitt had beaten the rest of the world -- but he had spent a vast amount of money doing it, and the Treasury needed to make it up. Pitt himself certainly would not have placed that burden on the colonies (see Borneman, p. 298) -- but Pitt had been out of power for four years by then. George III's new ministry, headed by people like Bute and Grenville, passed laws such as the Stamp Act to get the money out of the Americans. The result would cost the British more than the taxes ever gained them. For further details, see "Taxation of America."
>>BIBLIOGRAPHY<<
Borneman: Walter R. Borneman, _The French and Indian War_, Harper-Collins, 2006
Brebner/Masters: J. Bartlett Brebner, _Canada_, revised and enlarge by Donald C. Masters, University of Michigan Press, 1970
Brown: Craig Brown, editor, _The Illustrated History of Canada_, Key Porter, 1987-2000
Bryant: Samuel W. Bryant, _The Sea and the States_, Crowell, 1947
Carroll:  Joy Carroll, _Montcalm & Wolfe; their Lives, Their Times, and the Fate of a Continent_, Firefly, 2004
Keegan/Wheatcroft: John Keegan and Andrew Wheatcroft, _Who's Who in Military History from 1453_, 1976, 1987 (I use the 1991 LPR reprint)
Leckie: Robert Leckie, _A Few Acres of Snow: The Saga of the French and Indian Wars_, 1999 (I use the 2006 Castle reprint). Note: I found several major errors in the very first pages of this book, and have tried to use it only for matters not found elsewhere.
McNaught: Kenneth McNaught, _The Pelican History of Canada_, Pelican, 1969, 1982
Stacey: C. P. Stacey, _Quebec, 1859: The Siege and the Battle_, Macmillan Canada, 1959, 1966- RBW
While the Bodleian collection has a number of broadsides for other ballads on the death of General Wolfe it has none for this one. It has:
* Bodleian, Firth c.14(14), "Death of General Wolfe" ("In a mouldering cave where the wretched retreat"), J. Pitts (London), 1802 and 1819 ; also Harding B 11(832), Firth c.14(13) View 1 of 2, "The Death of General Wolfe"; Harding B 25(718), "Death of Wolfe"
* Bodleian, Harding B 25(718), "Gen. Wolfe's Song" ("How stands the glass around"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Johnson Ballads 2584, "General Wolfe's Song"; Harding B 28(7), "How Stands the Glass Around"; Harding B 11(1588), Harding B 25(866), 2806 c.18(146), "How Stands the Glass Around?" [Digital Tradition "How Stands the Glass Around (Why, Soldiers, Why?)"]
* Bodleian, Firth c.14(12), "Wolfe and Saunders" ("We'll gang abroad in a king's ship, and lead a soldier's life"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819 
* Bodleian, Harding B 25(716), "General Wolfe" ("Now general Wolfe to his men did say"), J. Grundy (Worcester), 18C; also Harding B 25(717), "General Wolfe"; Harding B 28(208), "General Wolf" [Digital Tradition "Bold General Wolfe (3)"]
* Bodleian, Firth c.14(16), "Britain in Tfars [sic] for the Loss of the Brave General Wolfe ("If ancient Romans did lament"), J. Jennings (London) , 1790-1840
* Bodleian, Firth c.14(11), "The Siege of Quebec"("Sound your silver trumpets, now, brave boys"), unknown, n.d.
My other usual online net broadside sources have none at all for other ballads on the death of General Wolfe. This all seems to support Mackenzie: "In both England and America the death of young General Wolfe in 1759 stimulated the ballad-makers to the production of songs of admiration and sorrow. [Mackenzie 75] is evidently of American composition."
Lines are similar to Opie-Oxford2 270, "Brave news is come to town" (earliest date in Opie-Oxford2 is 1842).
Firth c.18(130): "Strange news has come to me, strange news is carried, And now it's all the talk, my love he is married."
Opie-Oxford2 270: "Brave news is come to town, Brave news is carried; Brave news is come to town, Jemmy Dawson's married." - BS
(For the items listed above, see also Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #280, p. 165, "(Brave news is come to town)"; also Montgomerie-ScottishNR 96, "(Braw News is come to town)," in which the girl is Jean Tamson.  The similarity is only in the lyrics, though, not in the plot.) - RBW
File: LA01
===
NAME: Braw Black Jug, The: see Good Ale (I) (File: K273)
===
NAME: Braw Servant Lasses, The
DESCRIPTION: "Ye decent auld women, I'll sing you a song" to complain about the follies of the young. They dress up, go out "like a ship in full sail," visit the church but ignore what is said -- and end up pregnant. The singer admits being a 63-year-old bachelor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: clothes vanity pregnancy age bachelor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Greig 98, pp. 1-2, "The Braw Servan' Lasses" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 654, "The Servan' Lasses" (7 texts, 4 tunes)
Ord, pp. 275-276, "The Braw Servant Lasses" (1 text)
Roud #5597
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Meditations of an Old Bachelor (The Good Old-Fashioned Girl)" (subject)
cf. "The Hills of Glenorchy" (tune, per Greig)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Am an Aul' Bachelor
NOTES: I'm tempted to create a keyword "sour-grapes." - RBW
File: Ord275
===
NAME: Break the News to Mother
DESCRIPTION: "While shot and shell were screaming Across the battlefield, The boys in blue were fighting, Their noble flag to shield." The flag falls. A boy volunteers and rescues the flag; he dies asking that someone "break the news to mother"
AUTHOR: Charles K. Harris
EARLIEST_DATE: 1897 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: army battle war dying mother youth
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 179, "While the Boys in Blue Were Fighting" (2 texts)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 175-176, "Break the News to Mother" (1 text, 1 tune).
Roud #4322
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Brave Fireman (Break the News to Mother Gently)" (tune, theme)
NOTES: Charles K Harris wrote "The Brave Fireman" in 1891.  He rewrote it as "Break the News to Mother" in 1897.
Brett Page in "Writing for Vaudeville" quotes Harris: "When Gillette's war plays, 'Held by the Enemy' and 'Secret Service' caught the national eye, I caught the national ear with 'Just Break the News to Mother.'"
Realist playwright Gillette's "Held by the Enemy" was a hit in 1886; "Secret Service" opened in New York October 5, 1896 and ran for a year.  Both are set in the Civil War.
Harris wrote "Just Break the News to Mother" in 1897 and it became a big hit the following year with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War.
It became a hit again in 1917 when the World War I field uniform was no longer blue; in fact, blue uniforms were being phased out by 1898.
Harris's text can be found on the Mudcat Cafe site - BS
File: GrMa179
===
NAME: Break the News to Mother Gently: see The Brave Fireman (Break the News to Mother Gently) (File: R687)
===
NAME: Breaking in a Tenderfoot: see The Horse Wrangler (The Tenderfoot) [Laws B27] (File: LB27)
===
NAME: Breaking of Omagh Jail, The
DESCRIPTION: "I am a bold undaunted youth from the county of Tyrone," now in prison because "a girl against me swore." Soon to be sentenced, the singer makes a plan to escape, and manges to flee. He goes over the sea to escape his punishment
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: prison escape parting
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H181, pp. 131-132, "The Breaking of Omagh Jail" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3581
File: HHH181
===
NAME: Breast Knots, The: see The Bonnie Breist-knots (File: FVS303)
===
NAME: Brennan on the Moor [Laws L7]
DESCRIPTION: Irishman Brennan, perhaps in revolt against the English, turns robber in the hills. After various escapades, he is captured, only to be freed by a blunderbuss smuggled in by his wife. At last, betrayed by a woman, he is taken and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3014))
KEYWORDS: outlaw rambling execution
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1804 - Hanging of William Brennan, a highwayman who worked in County Cork
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,NW,MA,SE,So) Canada(Mar) Ireland Britain(England,Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (22 citations)
Laws L7, "Brennan on the Moor"
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 245-246, "Bold Brannan on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan2 258, "Brannon on the Moor" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Belden, pp. 284-286, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text plus a reference to 1 more)
Randolph 176, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 236-237, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 124, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 98-99, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 745-747, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 126-127,242-243, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 135, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 371, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 110, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 264-266, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 204, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text)
Kennedy 315, "Brennan's on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 73, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 59, "Brennen on the Moor" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 103-106, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 325, "Brennan On The Moor" (1 text)
DT 421, BRENMOOR
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 250-252, "Brennan on the Moor" (1 text)
Roud #476
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Brennan on the Moor" (on IRClancyMakem02)
William Jacob Morgan, "Brennan on the Moor" (AFS, 1946; on LC55)
Neil Morris, "Willie Brennan" (on LomaxCD1705)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3014), "Brennan On the Moor," J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1858-1861; also 2806 c.8(304), Firth b.26(276), Harding B 11(2135), 2806 b.9(178), Firth c.17(11)[some words illegible], 2806 b.9(242), Harding B 11(3014)[some words illegible], Harding B 11(443), Harding B 11(442), Harding B 19(26), "Brennan On the Moor"; 2806 b.10(112)[some words blurred], "Bold Brannan"; Harding B 11(365), 2806 c.15(240), Harding B 11(364), "Bold Brennan on the Moor"; Harding B 26 (341), "A Lament on the Execution of Captain Brennan"
LOCSinging, as101620, "Brennen on the Moor," Horace Partridge (Boston), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(015), "Brennan On the Moor," unknown, c. 1880; also APS.4.95.15(4), "Bold Brannan on the Moor" ("The first of my misfortunes was to list & desert"), unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Charlie Quantrell" (tune & meter, theme, lyrics)
File: LL07
===
NAME: Brewer Laddie, The
DESCRIPTION: "In Perth there lives a bonnie lad... And he courted Peggy Roy." "He courted her for seven long years... When there came a lad from Edinborough town." The girl goes off with the stranger, but ends up deserted; the brewer rejects her when she returns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment return rejection
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 95-97, "The Brewer Laddie" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 178-179, "The Brewer Lad" (1 text)
DT, BREWRLAD*
Roud #867
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosie Anderson" (plot)
cf. "Peggy and the Soldier (The Lame Soldier)" [Laws P13] (plot)
File: FVS095
===
NAME: Brian O Linn: see Brian O'Lynn (Tom Boleyn) (File: R471)
===
NAME: Brian O'Lynn (Tom Boleyn)
DESCRIPTION: Vignettes about Brian/Tom. Each describes a situation he finds himself in and ends with his comment, e.g., "Tom Bolyn found a hollow tree / And very contented seemed to be / The wind did blow and the rain beat in / 'Better than no house,' said Tom Bolyn."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1849 (Halliwell, citing a book printed c. 1560; reputedly mentioned in The Complaynt of Scotland, 1548); Jonathan Lighter notes a mention of a bawdy song called Brian O'Lynn in Hugh Henry Brackenridge's 1793 _Modern Chivalry_, volume III, p. 214
KEYWORDS: poverty talltale humorous clothes
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(England(All),Scotland) US(Ap,NE,So) Canada(Newf) Australia
REFERENCES: (19 citations)
Randolph 471, "Bryan O'Lynn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 155-157, "Brian O'Lynn" (2 fragmentary bawdy texts, 2 tunes)
Belden, pp. 501-502, "Tom Bo-lin" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 178-179, "Old Tombolin" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 151, "Tom Bolynn" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 290, "Brian-O-Linn" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H480a+b, pp. 52-53, "Bryan O'Lynn" (1 text, 2 tunes)
OLochlainn 15, "Brian O Linn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 199, "Brian O Linn" (1 text)
BrownII 189, "Bryan O'Lynn" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 109, "Brian O'Linn" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 64, "Bryan O'Lynn" (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 513, "Tommy o'Lin, and his wife, and wife's mother" (5 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose, p. 149, note 34, "(Tommy O'Lin, and his wife, and his wife's mother)"; compare #228, p. 150, ("The two grey kits") (this mentions Tom Boleyn, and is the right form, but doesn't feel like it originated with the piece somehow)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 174, "(Tam o the linn came up to the gate)" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 35, "O'Brien O'Lin" (1 text)
DSB2, p. 27, "Bryan O'Lynn" (1 text)
DT, TOMBOLYN* TOMBOLY2* JONBOLYN
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 252-254, "Brian O'Linn" (1 text)
Roud #294
RECORDINGS:
Thomas Moran, "Brian-O-Linn" (on FSB10)
Tony Wales, "Bryan O'Lynn" (on TWales1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(307), "Bryan O'Lynn," Stephenson (Gateshead), 1821-1850; also 2806 b.11(217), Harding B 15(36a), Harding B 11(480), Firth c.26(41), Firth c.20(135), 2806 b.11(106), Harding B 26(80), "Bryan O'Lynn"; Harding B 11(445), "Brian O'Lynn"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old John Wallis" (style)
NOTES: Sam Henry claims that Bryan O'Lynn (fl. 1770-1793) was an "apprizer" and grand juror in Cashel during the years specified. - RBW
Randolph-Legman offers good notes on sources to this ballad. - EC
A variant of the melody to this song is a popular fiddle tune in Ireland.
I'm wary of the "Complaynt of Scotland" (1549) citation until I see it. The title given, "Thom of Lyn," and the title "Ballet of Thomalyn," licensed 1558, are both perilously close to "Tam Lin," which is not only the name of a ballad (Child 39) but also a fiddle tune. And in our indexing of "Tam Lin", we note a reference from 1549 -- is that "Complaynt of Scotland"? The plot's getting thicker, says Brian O'Lynn. - PJS
Indeed, Dixon (notes to "Tam a Line," his version of "Tam Lin") cites the references from the _Complaynt of Scotland_; they are to the dance "thom of lyn" and the "tayl of the yong tamlene."
This obviously sounds more like "Tam Lin," but the tunes I've heard for "Tam Lin" are not very danceable. (Bronson's #1, from Ireland, might work as a dance tune, but it is nothing like any of the others.) "Brian O'Lynn" seems much more suitable for dancing.
To make the confusion worse, there are versions of this song beginning "Tom o' the Linn was a Scotsman born."
Plus there is the report that Charles Dibdin wrote a piece, "[Poor] Tom Bowling." Could this have given rise to the "Tom Boleyn" version?
Just in case you wanted more to worry about, _Sing Out_, Volume 35, #3 (1990), p. 76, prints a piece which it calls "Tumble O'Lynn's Farewell." There is only one stanza, so it's hard to be sure it's based on this piece, but it looks as if it is -- and the notes say "The composer is supposed to have been one Thomas Paginton, the court musician who presumably ghostwrote most of the music credited to Henry VIII." - RBW
File: R471
===
NAME: Brian the Brave: see Remember the Glories of Brian the Brave (File: OCon048)
===
NAME: Briar-Rose: see Sleeping Beauty (Thorn Rose, Briar Rose) (File: HHH599)
===
NAME: Brid Og Ni Mhaille: see Bridget O'Malley (File: K027)
===
NAME: Bridge Was Burned at Chatsworth, The: see The Chatsworth Wreck [Laws G30] (File: LG30)
===
NAME: Bridget Donahue
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of the pretty town of Kelorgan, noting "what makes it interesting Is my Bridget Donahue." From America, he asks her in Ireland, "Just take the name of Patterson And I'll take Donahue." 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting emigration marriage separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 784, "Bridget Donahue" (1 text)
Roud #7416
NOTES: Randolph had a songbook, which he could not identify, crediting this to Johnny Patterson. But we know how much attention to pay such claims. - RBW
File: R784
===
NAME: Bridget O'Malley
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments that Bridget has left him heartbroken. He describes her beauty most fulsomely, and says his Sundays are now lonely and full of another. (She is now married, but) he bids her meet him on the road to Drumsleve
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (recorded by Peter Kennedy)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal abandonment marriage foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 27, "Brid Og Ni Mhaille (Bridget O'Malley) (1 text+translation, 1 tune)
DT, BRIDOMAL*
NOTES: Kennedy does not seem aware of any English-language versions of this Irish Gaelic song, but Silly Wizard found a text somewhere. It may well be a modern translation; it's awfully flowery. Indeed, the publication in _Sing Out!_, Volume 37, #4, p. 84, implies that it was assembled by Ruth Morgan" (although it does not make it clear how much was already translated). But I decided to include the song here because some might search for it. - RBW
File: K027
===
NAME: Bridgwater Fair
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of the delights of Bridgwater Fair and the colorful characters to be found there.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: dancing party nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sharp-100E 76, "Bridgwater Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1571
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Truro Agricultural Show"
NOTES: [Sharp writes,] "St. Matthew's Fair at Bridgwater is a very ancient one, and is still a local event of some importance, although it has seen its best days." - PJS
File: ShH76
===
NAME: Bridle and Saddle, The
DESCRIPTION: "The bridle and saddle hang on the shelf, Fol an day chine day cheer an Cheerily an cherry (x2); If you want any more you can sing it yourself."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: music nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SharpAp 224, "The Bridle and Saddle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 80, "The Bridle and Saddle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3666
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pork in the Cupboard" (lyrics)
NOTES: This ending occurs in occasional texts of a vast variety of songs, including "Frog Went A-Courting," "The Swapping Boy," "Going to Banbury," and at least as many more that I've forgotten. I'm not even going to try to classify it. It does have a unique chorus line. - RBW
File: SKE80
===
NAME: Brien the Brave: see Remember the Glories of Brian the Brave (File: OCon048)
===
NAME: Briery Bush, The: see The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)
===
NAME: Brigade at Fontenoy, The
DESCRIPTION: "The green flag is unfolded" before the battle. "There are stains to wash away." "Thrice blest the hour that witnesses The Briton turned to flee" from the French and Irish. God "grant us One day upon our own dear land Like that at Fontenoy!"
AUTHOR: Bartholomew Dowling (1823-1863) (source: OLochlainn-More)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Duffy; also Duffy's magazine _The Nation,_ according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: army battle England France Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 11, 1745: the French defeat the British and their allies at Fontenoy in South West Belgium (War of the Austrian Succession or King George's War) (source: _The Battle of Fontenoy 1745_ at BritishBattles.com site; "Irish" does not appear in the article)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
O'Conor, p. 129, "The Brigade at Fontenoy" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 13, "The Brigade at Fontenoy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 215-218, "'The Brigade' at Fontenoy"
Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, pp. 229-231, "The Brigade at Fontenoy"
Roud #9758
NOTES: The first Irish Brigade, sent to France in 1688, became an integral part of the French army after the Jacobite defeat in Ireland. The Irish Brigade served the French army -- and did fight at Fontenoy -- until it was dissolved in 1791 as a result of the French Revolution. (source: _The Irish Brigade, A Brief History_ by David Kincaid at the Haunted Field Music site) - BS
Of course, by the time of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), it was a completely new set of Irish exiles from those who departed Ireland c. 1690.
The War of the Austrian Succession came about for complex reasons: When the Habsburg Emperor Joseph I died in 1711, just six years after his father, the Empire passed to his brother Charles VI even though Joseph had sons; the boys were too young to rule.
But Charles VI wasn't willing to pass the crown back when he died; instead, as early as 1713, he devised the "Pragmatic Sanction" to pass the succession to his descendents. Which, since he had no sons, meant his daughter Maria Theresa.
There was no particular reason for other countries to interfere, but the Habsburg Empire was a big place even prior to the reign of Charles VI, and Charles had gone so far as to try to reclaim Spain. So, at one time or another, Spain, France, Bavaria, Saxony, and Prussia went after Habsburg lands. (And, in Prussia's case, picked up a lot of them.)
The Fontenoy campaign began in April 1745, with Maurice of Saxony (Hermann Maurice , comte de Saxe, 1696-1750) leading a mostly French army against an alliance of Austrian, Dutch, Hannoverian, and British forces under the Duke of Cumberland (yes, the future "Butcher" Cumberland of Culloden) in the low countries. Cumberland's goal was to stop Saxe from taking Tournai.
Saxe, however, was much the better general; Cumberland, a typical Hannoverian, was brave and aggressive -- and stupid. Saxe picked the ground, and even though the English infantry proved better than the French, he used his artillery with enough effect to win the day.
The histories of the battle that I've read make little or no mention of Irish contributions; they were there, but they don't seem to have done anything decisive.
Tactically, Fontenoy was close to a draw: Both sides had about 50,000 troops in action, and both suffered about 15% casualties. But Saxe had won the campaign, relieving pressure on France; he had also lowered the reputation of British infantry. Maybe *that* is why the Irish celebrated it.
It's just possible that the Irish would have been better off had they done worse at Fontenoy. Susan Maclean Kybett, in _Bonnie Prince Charlie_, Dodd Mead, 1988, p. 111, implies that the result of the battle put great pressure on Bonnie Prince Charlie and his colleagues in Paris at the time. They of course wanted to invade Britain, but the French were not being helpful. Had the French felt more pressure, they might have given Charlie enough support to do some good -- which might have led to a Stuart restoration, which would certainly have helped the Irish. As it was, the French gave Charlie just enough support to get in trouble: They sailed off to start the Forty-Five, but with no money, no French soldiers, no French generals to argue around the inept clan chiefs, and no equipment. The surprise is not that the Forty-Five failed; it's that such a hurried, under-funded botch came so close to success.
Fontenoy resulted in a famous incident which says much about the fighting methods of the time, in which British and French soldiers invited the other to fire first (see Geoffrey Wawro, _The Austro-Prussian War: Austria's War with Prussia and Italy in 1866_, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 7). This wasn't politeness; in an era when muskets were extremely inaccurate, the side that fired first generally wasted its first volley, and it took a long time to relaod.
O'Conor apparently lists the author as B. "Bowling" rather than "Dowling"; given that Bartholomew Dowling is a recognized if relatively minor poet (_Granger's Index to Poetry_ has citations to his works "Our Last Toast," "The Revel," "Revelry for the Dying," and "Stand to your Glasses), I'm assuming "Dowling" is correct.
There is another Irish nationalist piece on Fontenoy; Thomas Davis wrote a poem "Fontenoy," published e.g. in Kathleen Hoagland, editor, _One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry_ (New York, 1947), pp. 476-478. I've seen no evidence that it is traditional. - RBW
File: OLcM013
===
NAME: Brigantine Sinorca: see Brigantine Sirocco (File: SmHa015)
===
NAME: Brigantine Sirocco
DESCRIPTION: The Sirocco/Sorocco/Sinorca/Sirorca springs a leak and lays aground at Shelburne. The leak is found and fixed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-Nova Scotia)
KEYWORDS: sea ship
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Smith/Hatt, p. 15, "Brigantine Sorocco" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 106, "Brigantine Sinorca" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST SmHa015 (Full)
Roud #1814
NOTES: No two versions of this song seem to give the ship the same name. I've called the song "Brigantine Sirocco" because that's the only title that means anything in a language I know. A sirocco is a desert wind, not exactly suitable for a ship -- but it's also a fast wind, so maybe it makes sense.
The other possibility is that "Sinorca" is a corruption of "Saint (something-or-other)," and the rest corruptions of that.  But only one of the four names known to me starts with the S[?]n phoneme combination; the others are S[?]r. So I think Sinorca a secondary corruption, probably of something like "Sirorca." - RBW
File: SmHa015
===
NAME: Brigantine Sorocco: see Brigantine Sirocco (File: SmHa015)
===
NAME: Brigg Fair
DESCRIPTION: Singer goes to Brigg Fair expecting to meet his sweetheart; she arrives and he takes her hand, rejoicing, and hopes they will never part.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (recording, Joseph Taylor)
KEYWORDS: love courting reunion lover
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1083
RECORDINGS:
Isla Cameron, "Brigg Fair"  (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Joseph Taylor, "Brigg Fair" (cylinder, on HiddenE)
NOTES: About as basic a story as can be, but still complete. - PJS
File: RcBF
===
NAME: Brigham Young
DESCRIPTION: "Now Brigham Young (is/was) a Mormon bold" with "five and forty wives." He leads the Mormon citizens of "Great Salt Lake, Where they breed and swarm like hens on a farm." Most of the song describes how Young's wives have sapped his vigor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: marriage humorous age
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1801-1877 - Life of Brigham Young
1832 - Young becomes a Mormon
1844 - Young becomes leader of the Mormons
1847 - Mormon migration to Utah
1850 - Young made Governor of Utah territory. From 1857, however, the U.S. Government enforced various restrictions on the Mormons and their governor, mostly in response to polygamy.
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 432-433, "Brigham Young" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 290, "Brigham Young" (1 text)
Roud #8056
NOTES: In defense of Young (if not of Mormon doctrines of polygamy, which reportedly are still secretly practiced in some circles, resulting in severe inbreeding), it should be noted that he was a forceful and effective leader who successfully founded the Mormon colony in Utah, allowing the faith to survive despite severe persecution.
Sally Denton, _American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 11, 1857_ (Secker & Warburg, 2003) gives a brief account of Young's early life starting on page 32. Young was one of several children of John Young, a revolutionary war veteran. The family moved to Whitingham, Vermont, in 1801, and Brigham was born later that year. The family quickly fell into poverty; that, plus severe family discipline, seemed to forge a strong determination in Brigham.
Very handsome in his early years, he first married in 1824, and watched in despair as his wife sickened and he failed to prosper. Then his brother Phinehas gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, just recently published. In 1832, Brigham was baptised into the Mormon church. He met Mormon founder Joseph Smith later in that year, and once his wife died, Young became one of Smith's key assistants. By this time, the Mormons were starting on their wanderings. When Smith was killed in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1844, the church was twice in crisis: It had no leader and it was finding it almost impossible to find a home.
The contest to succeed Smith ended in what was reported as a miracle. Denton, pp. 30-31, reports that "When [Young] opened his mouth to speak, it was not his voice that emanated, according to many of those in the audience, but a voice uncannily like that of Joseph Smith. Many in the crow rushed the platform to see if their prophet had risen from the dead, only to be further mystified by the same 'supernatural radiance' that had enveloped Smith now illuminating Young." Stegner's version of this (p. 34) is that Young took on the appearance and voice of Smith. Bernard DeVoto, in _The Year of Decision: 1846_ (Little, Brown and Company, 1943), p. 77, concurs: "[T]he Saints beheld a transfiguration. [Young's] pudgy body suddenly became the tall, handsome, commanding body of the martyred prophet." Combine that with good organizing ability, and Young naturally became head of the Mormons.
Not everyone accepted this, to be sure, including many of Smith's relatives. Many who did not accept Young would coalesce into the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints; Denton, p. 37. This group is largely concentrated in southern Missouri. A member of the group tells me that while they still use the Book of Mormon and other Smith-related writings -- in editions slightly different from those used by the "regular" Mormons -- they generally fall closer to orthodox Christianity DeVoto, p. 77, mentions some other splinters that broke off the main body of the church: "all told these half dozen, dividing by mitosis, were to form over twenty minute churches,  each one the true apostolic succession from the prophet."
But the majority of the Mormons, though, accepted Young. "This was a much greater man than Joseph. Instead of a man drunk on deity... who could produce no effective leadership, no effective government, no effective social organization, there had come to lead the Church out of the land of Egypt one of the foremost intelligences of the time, the first American who learned how to colonize the desert" (DeVoto, p. 77). 
Young gradually consolidated his position, and in 1847 had a revelation which caused him to order his people to head for Utah (Denton, pp. 54-55). The land was so poor that Young was forced to change the Mormon economy, already rather socialist, into something approaching a Leninist centrally-directed communism (Denton, pp. 59-60). Unlike Russian Leninism, though, Young made his version work -- perhaps because he ran it himself, with fewer communist functionaries; perhaps because the people were all volunteers and actually gave it their best shot; perhaps something of both.
It is little surprise, then, that Allan Nevins, in _The Emergence of Lincoln, Volume I: Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos 1857-1859_ (Scribner's, 1950), p. 315, declares that "Brigham Young was the most commanding single figure of the West. This rugged Vermonter, who had been given only eleven days' formal schooling before he set to work as carpenter, glazier, and painter, possessed an inexhaustible energy, a domineering temper, and a rocklike will which made him seem truly the Lion of the Lord."
Young's goal in moving to Utah seems to have been partly one of getting out of the United States (Utah was Mexican territory prior to the Mexican War) and partly to move to land no one else would want. He didn't really succeed in either; the Mexican War ended with all that land becoming part of the U.S., and land hunger in the east was so great that people settled even the basically uninhabitable parts of New Mexico territory. Young put small colonies in many areas of his "Deseret" territory. Most struggled even more than the settlement by the Great Salt Lake. And when Utah Territory was organized, it was much smaller than Young's projected fiefdom (Denton, p. 66). Still, President Fillmore appointed Young its governor after Thomas Leiper Kane turned down the job. Young also was given the titles of commander of the militia and superintendant of Indian affairs (Nevins, p. 315, who declares that, "In short, he confirmed Young's dictatorship").
Nevins, p. 316, adds that "Despite his coarse an brutal vein, his egotism, an his frequent pettiness, Brigham Young was popular. He treated his own people with affability, throwing his arm over any Mormon's shoulder and asking corially about his wives and children. His rough and ready manners, provincialisms of speech ('leetle,' 'beyend,' 'disremember,' and 'they was'), his kindness, an his justice in business dealings, were all assets in [Deseret]."
Young, like Joseph Smith before him, had problems with authoritarianism, which would result in the Utah War (and probably, indirectly, in the Mountain Meadows Massacre; see that song for details).
Folklore lists Young as having as many as sixty wives; it should be noted, however, that only 17 wives (along with 56 children) were alive at the time of his death. Of course, he had repeatedly denied that the Mormons engaged in plural marriage at all, until John Williams Gunnison exposed the truth (Denton, p. 69-70). - RBW
File: LxA432
===
NAME: Bright Morning Stars (For the Day Is A-Breakin' In My Soul)
DESCRIPTION: "I hear the Savior calling (x3) (For the) day is a-breaking in my soul." "How I long to meet him...." "The golden bells are ringing...." "I want to see my father...." "I want to meet my Jesus...." "Bright morning stars are rising...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (collected by Shellans from Norman Lee Vass)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Shellans, pp. 89-90, "For the Day Is A-Breakin' In My Soul" (1 text, 1 tune, which does not mention the Bright Morning Stars)
DT, BRTMORNS*
Roud #7335 and 18268
NOTES: I'm not sure that the title "Bright Morning Stars" is actually traditional for this song, but I chose it because that's the title I've heard sung in the revival.
File: Shel089
===
NAME: Bright Orange Stars of Coleraine, The
DESCRIPTION: Marching song. The singer describes the celebrations on the twelfth of July. The marchers celebrate to the memory of William (of Orange). The singer praises Coleraine, and intends never to forget William's triumph
AUTHOR: Robert Thompson ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: political Ireland nonballad
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 1, 1690 - Battle of the Boyne. William III crushes the Irish army of James II, at once securing his throne and the rule of Ireland. Irish resistance continues for about another year, but Ireland east of the Shannon is William's, and the opposition is doomed.
July 12, 1691 - Battle of Aughrim. Decisive defeat of Irish Catholic forces
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H87a, pp. 181-182, "The Bright Orange Stars of Coleraine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8006
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of the Boyne (I)"  (subject: The Battle of the Boyne) and references there
NOTES: This is probably the most political song in the Henry collection, and gives little evidence of being traditional. The _Northern Constitution_ was published in Ulster, of course, so such sentiments were permissible -- but I'm still surprised it was published. Other Irish songs may allude to William of Orange's triumph, but this is one of the few to gloat over it. - RBW
File: HHH087a
===
NAME: Bright Phoebe
DESCRIPTION: "Bright Phoebe was my true love's name, / Her beauty did my heart contain." The singer and his love agree to marry when he returns from sea. By the time he returns, she is dead. He promises to spend the rest of his life mourning
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation sea death mourning
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
FSCatskills 70, "Bright Phoebe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, p. 104,"Sweet Mary Jane" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 119-120, "Bright Phoebe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 434-435, "Bright Phoebe" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 96-97, "Phoebe" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
DT, BRTPHOEB
Roud #1989
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Lovel" [Child 75] (plot)
File: FSC070
===
NAME: Bright Shades of Blue, The
DESCRIPTION: The convict recalls leaving Britain in chains, saying, "I'd left all my joys in those bright shades of blue." Once in Australia, he prospers, and at last returns to Britain -- to find that he misses Australia. He is old and alone far from his new home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: Australia transportation homesickness
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 136-137, "The Bright Shades of Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA136
===
NAME: Bright Sherman Valley: see The Red River Valley (File: R730)
===
NAME: Bright Star of Derry, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves Mary, a widow's daughter, and praises her as the bright star of Derry. She is beautiful, sweet, and gentle.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1809 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: love beauty lyric nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 33, "The Bright Star of Derry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9754
File: OLcM033
===
NAME: Bright Sunny South, The: see The Sweet Sunny South (I) [Laws A23] (File: LA23)
===
NAME: Bright-Eyed Little Nell of Narragansett Bay: see Little Nell of Narragansett Bay (File: Brew88)
===
NAME: Brightest and Best
DESCRIPTION: "Hail the blest morn when the great Mediator down from the regions of glory descends." The song describes the baby Jesus's humble birth and the feeble gifts they offer him. "Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, Dawn on our darkness...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1854 (Southern Harmony)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus Christmas gift
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 150-151, "[Brightest and Best]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 55, "Brightest and Best" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #13, "Brightest ans Best of the Sons of the Morning" (1 text)
Roud #5743
RECORDINGS:
Ritchie Family, "Brightest and Best" (on Ritchie03)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Star in the East
NOTES: Earlier editions of this index credited this piece to Reginald Heber (1783-1826), on the basis of Irwin Silber's _The Season of the Year_. Ian Bradley's _The Penguin Book of Carols_ also attributes the song to Heber, and says it was the first hymn he wrote. The _New Oxford Book of Carols_ , however, credits the arrangement to William Walker, while submitting that the "refrain and vv. 2-4 [are] after Reginald Heber." But Spaeth, in _A History of Popular Music in America_, places the whole thing in the hands of Walker.
George Pullen Jackson does not mention either Walker or Heber; he finds it first in William Caldwell's 1837 _Union Harmony_ (but it's not clear whether this is text or tune or both).
The phrase "sons of the morning" is thought to have been inspired by Isaiah 14:12, which the King James Bible renders "How art though fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" This has sparked some controversy, because "Lucifer" is equated with Satan. But this is one of those over-reactions to the King James rendering. The translators used "Lucifer" in its Latin sense of "Light-bringer," which is a fair rendering of the Hebrew word which means something like "one who brightens." Modern versions render the Hebrew word something like "Day Star"; it's thought by some to be a reference to the pretensions of the Kings of Babylon.
I'm a bit leery of this whole interpretation anyway. The idea of "Children of Light" or "Children of the Morning" is a common one in mythology, and might just have occurred to the author (whether Heber or someone else) because it sounds good.
Bradley cites Routley to the effect that 19 different tunes have been used for this set of lyrics. - RBW
File: JRSF150
===
NAME: Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning: see Brightest and Best (File: JRSF150)
===
NAME: Brighton Camp: see The Girl I Left Behind Me (lyric) (File: R546)
===
NAME: Brilliant Light, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer asks "a brother" to be "admitted." He passes a test and is taken to a door. He is admitted. He begins his ordeal. He meets Moses at the burning bush, casts his own rod as serpent, and is shown a great light. He swears not to reveal the secrets.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.21(36))
KEYWORDS: ritual religious
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann, p. 302, "The Brilliant Light" (1 fragment)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.21(36), "The Brilliant Light" ("Come all you loyal marksmen that circle around"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1865; also Harding B 1(35) View 2 of 2, "An admired Masonic song, called the Brilliant Lights" ("Come all you loyal Crafts-men that's circled round")
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Grand Mystic Order" (subject and some phrases)
cf. "The Knight Templar's Dream" (subject)
cf. "The Grand Templar's Song" (subject)
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 302: "The songs inspired by the ritual of the Orange Institution are the most extraordinary. They are resolutely cryptic, with lines like: 'I'll tell you a secret your enemies do not know ...' ['Brilliant Light']." 
Zimmermann p. 302 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian Firth c.21(36) is the basis for the description. - BS
Moses's rod (later Aaron's rod) that became a serpent is first mentioned in Exodus 4:3. I'm not sure if there is a direct significance to the great light. Perhaps it's a reference to the light that shone at the conversion of Paul/Saul (Acts 9:3, etc.), or a reference to Isaiah 9:2=Matthew 4:16, etc. - RBW
File: Zimm302
===
NAME: Brimbledon Fair: see Rambleaway (File: ShH31)
===
NAME: Brindisi Di Marinai
DESCRIPTION: Fisherman's shanty for hauling the nets, refrain "Lampabbo! Lampa!" Verses revolve around drinking.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Favara, _Canti della Terra e del Mare di Sicilia_)
KEYWORDS: shanty fishing drink foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Italy Sicily
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 245-246, "Brindisi Di Marinai" (1 text [Italian and English], 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Reuben Ranzo" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lampabbo Lampa
NOTES: Hugill theorizes that this may have been the origin of "Reuben Ranzo." The hauling of nets and the hauling of halyards are similar jobs, and the two songs have identical melodies and the pulls are in the same places. The method of singing is also the same as deep-sea shanties, where the final note of the refrain is overlapped with the first note of the solos, and vice versa. - SL
File: Hug245
===
NAME: Bring Back My Barney to Me: see Bring Back My Johnny to Me (File: HHH007)
===
NAME: Bring Back My Bonnie to Me: see My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean (File: DTmybonn)
===
NAME: Bring Back My Johnny to Me
DESCRIPTION: "He's gone, I am now sad and lonely, He has left me to cross the salt sea, And I know that he thinks of me only, And will soon be returning to me." The singer misses (Johnny), and asks, "Blow gently, sweet winds of the ocean, And bring my Johnny to me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation sailor poverty
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H7, p. 290-291, "Bring Back My Barney to Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BRINGJON*
Roud #1422
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean"
NOTES: A. L. Lloyd, in his liner notes to the Watersons' "For Pence and Spicy Ale", says [this] was "A stage song favoured by Irish comedians from the 1860s on. During the 1880s, apparently on American university campuses, close-harmony groups remade it into the better-known -- and even more preposterous -- "My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean...." - PJS
Steve Roud notes British songster versions starting from 1872 and possibly earlier. - (RBW)
File: HHH007
===
NAME: Bring Him Back Dead or Alive
DESCRIPTION: "Gannon killed a man in Texas in the year of forty-five, Bring him back dead or alive!" The sheriff follows. Gannon kills the sheriff, then realizes it is his brother he has killed. He gives up: "If you will hang me quick I'll escape my brother's voice!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959
KEYWORDS: murder brother police crime punishment
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 91, "Bring Him Back Dead or Alive" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11205
File: FCW091
===
NAME: Bring in the Punch Ladle: see Fathom the Bowl (File: K268)
===
NAME: Bring Me Back the Boy I Love: see My Blue-Eyed Boy (File: R759)
===
NAME: Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie
DESCRIPTION: "Bring me little water, Sylvie, Bring me little water now, Bring me little water, Sylvie, Ev'ry little once in a while." The field worker, toiling in the hot sun, calls on Sylvie to bring him something to drink. (She points out that she is coming.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936
KEYWORDS: work worksong nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 283, "Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 87, "(Bring Me a Little Water, Sylvie" (partial text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 128, "Bring Me A Little Water, Sylvie" (1 text)
DT, WATRSYLV
Roud #11654
File: LoF283
===
NAME: Bring the Gold Cup Back to Newtown
DESCRIPTION: Three hundred supporters cheer for the Newtown football team at Enniskillen. The critical plays and players are named as Newtown defeats Irvinestown. "We've conquered two great teams: Lisnaskea and Roslea and "brought the gold cup for the second time"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1980 (IRHardySons)
KEYWORDS: sports moniker
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #17890
RECORDINGS:
Big John Maguire, "Bring the Gold Cup Back to Newtown" (on IRHardySons)
NOTES: Notes to IRHardySons: "All the place-names mentioned make it clear that Newtown is Newtownbutler." - BS
File: RcBtGCBN
===
NAME: Bring Us Good Ale
DESCRIPTION: The singer, "for our blessed Lady's sake," demands that the server "Bring us in good ale." Other foods are rejected (e.g. "Bring us in no brown bread, for that is made of bran, And bring us in no white bread, for therein is no gain.")
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1475 (MS. Bodl. 29734)
KEYWORDS: food drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Stevick-100MEL 82, "(Bryng Us in Good Ale)" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 30-31, "Nowell, Nowell" (1 tune, with a fragment of this text appended)
DT, BRINGALE*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #72, "Bring Us In Good Ale" (1 text)
Brown/Robbins, _Index of Middle English Verse_, #549
NOTES: This is another song that cannot be demonstrated to have circulated in oral tradition. Its prevalence in the printed collections (starting with Ritson), however, argues for its inclusion here -- especially as there are two distinct Middle English texts. - RBW
File: MEL82
===
NAME: Bring Us in Good Ale: see Bring Us Good Ale (File: MEL82)
===
NAME: Bringing in the Sheaves
DESCRIPTION: The farmers go out "sowing in the morning (evening, sunshine, shadows, etc.), sowing seeds of kindness." In the end, "We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves"
AUTHOR: Words: Knowles Shaw (1834-1878) / Music: George A. Minor ((1845-1904)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recordings, Eva Quartet, Stamps Quartet)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 351, "Bringing In The Sheaves" (1 text)
DT, BRINGSHV*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp. 194-196, "Bringing in the Sheaves" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #14041
RECORDINGS:
Eva Quartet, "Bringing In the Sheaves" (Gennett 6335, 1927)
Earl Johnson's Dixie Entertainers, "Bringing In the Sheaves" (OKeh 45512, 1931; rec. 1930)
Parker & Dodd, "Bringing In the Sheaves" (Conqueror 8131, 1933)
Stamps Quartet, "Bringing In the Sheaves" (Victor 21035, 1927)
SAME_TUNE:
Bringing In the Cows (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 105)
NOTES: Based, rather loosely, on Psalm 126:6, translated in the King James version as "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." In the New Revised Standard Version, this becomes "Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, Carrying their sheaves." - RBW
File: FSWB351C
===
NAME: Brisbane Ladies
DESCRIPTION: The singer bids farewell to the Brisbane Ladies, promising, "We'll rant and we'll roar like true Queensland natives...." He describes the trip he and the boys make from town "to the old cattle station. What joy and delight is the life in the bush!"
AUTHOR: Saul Mendelsohn?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1891 (_Boomerang_ magazine)
KEYWORDS: travel work Australia
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 162-163, "Brisbane Ladies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 120-121, "Ladies of Brisbane (The Drover's Song)"; pp. 122-123, "Ladies of Brisbane (Augathella Station)" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 214-216, "Brisbane Ladies" (1 text)
DT, QUNSLAND*
Roud #687
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Brisbane Ladies" (on JGreenway01)
A. L. Lloyd, "Brisbane Ladies" (on Lloyd4, Lloyd8)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Spanish Ladies"  (plot, tune, lyrics) and references there
NOTES: An Australian rewrite of "Farewell and Adieu to you Spanish Ladies." The differences between the two, in this case, strike me as large enough to require separate classification.  - RBW
File: FaE162
===
NAME: Brisk and Bonny Lass, The (The Brisk and Bonny Lad)
DESCRIPTION: Cheerful description of the life of a farm girl. She wakes at dawn and milks the cows as the larks sing; at haying time they go dancing, At harvest they work, then celebrate; even in winter, all are happy; she declares herself content to be a country lass
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1891 (Barrett)
KEYWORDS: courting farming harvest work dancing nonballad worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 244, "The Brisk and Bonny Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #606
RECORDINGS:
James & Bob Copper, "The Contented Country Lad" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD41)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Country Life" (theme)
cf. "The Contented Countryman" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Country Lass
Harvest Home Song
NOTES: With mechanization and the change from female to male labor on farms, some versions have switched the sex of the narrator. - PJS
Sometimes in midstream, in fact.
I find myself wondering if this didn't start out as a fragment of a proper ballad about a brisk farm girl, with the actual plot (about a marriage, perhaps? -- the beginning of the song sounds very much like a ballad of that type) being broken off and replaced by these lyrics. - RBW
File: K244
===
NAME: Brisk and Lively Lad, The: see The London Heiress (The Brisk and Lively Lad) (File: MoMa033)
===
NAME: Brisk Young Bachelor (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Young man, recently married, laments the hard work his wife forces him to do and counsels other bachelors, before marrying, to reflect on his fate.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: marriage shrewishness work nonballad humorous bachelor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(SE) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Mackenzie 142, "The Old Bachelor" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 31, "The Poor Man's Labor's Never Done" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 69, "The Brisk Young Bachelor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 72-74, "The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1572
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Morton w. orchestra, "The Party That Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man"  (Victor 5513, 1908; Victor 16758, 1911)
New Lost City Ramblers, "The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man" (on NLCR03)
Charlie Parker & Mack Woolbright, "The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was A Married Man"  (Columbia 15236-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 14(152), "Poor Man's Labour Never Done," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.16(22), "Poor Man's Labour Never Done"; Harding B 25(1535) [partly illegible], "A Poor Man's Labour's Never Done"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sporting Bachelors" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Was a Young Man
NOTES: Although the theme is identical with "The Sporting Bachelors", it's a separate song, in my opinion.
Although the tune, chorus, etc. of ["The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man" ] are completely different from the British song, I unhesitatingly lump them together; the verses are essentially identical, although not identically worded. - PJS
A parody, perhaps? (I haven't seen the British song.) - RBW
File: ShH69
===
NAME: Brisk Young Bachelor (II), The: see The Holly Twig [Laws Q6] (File: LQ06)
===
NAME: Brisk Young Butcher, The
DESCRIPTION: A (butcher) stays at an inn; he offers a serving girl money to lay with him. She does. Given his bill, he says he gave the girl the money and didn't get change. A year later, he comes back. She shows him her child and says it is his change
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 216)
KEYWORDS: money trick sex pregnancy travel
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ord, pp. 158-159, "The Butcher and Chamber Maid" (1 text)
DT, XMASGOOS XMASGOO2*
Roud #167
RECORDINGS:
Harvey Nicholson, "The Copshawholm Butcher" (on Voice10)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 216, "The Leicester Chambermaid" ("Its of a brisk young butcher as I have heard 'em say"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(2105), Firth b.28(25a) View 2 of 2[some words illegible], Harding B 11(2103), Firth c.18(304), Harding B 11(2104), Harding B 11(2654), "The Leicester Chambermaid"; 2806 c.17(232), "London Butcher"; 2806 c.17(68), "The Chambermaid"
Murray, Mu23-y1:040, "The Butcher and the Chamber Maid," unknown, 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Basket of Eggs" (plot) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Christmas Goose
The Ten Dollar Bill
File: DTxmasgo
===
NAME: Brisk Young Farmer, The: see William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer) [Laws N30] (File: LN30)
===
NAME: Brisk Young Lad, The
DESCRIPTION: "There cam' a young man to my daddie's door... a-seeking me to woo." The singer feeds him while she bakes. He just sits there. At last she bids him depart. He trips over the "duck-dub"; they shout and laugh at him as he departs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1790 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #219)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 294-296, "The Brisk Young Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BRISKLAD
Roud #6139
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "An Old Man Came Over the Moor (Old Gum Boots and Leggings)"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Cauldrife Wooer
File: FVS294
===
NAME: Brisk Young Lover, The: see The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: LP24)
===
NAME: Brisk Young Rover, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer enlists in the army, is sent to Scotland, and falls in love. He gives her a ring and "she gave me her right hand." He is sent to the Indies. At sea, "still I thought on yon weel-faured maid The bonnie lass I loved most dearly"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: courting love army separation Scotland soldier
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #103, p. 2, "The Brisk Young Rover" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 85, "The Brisk Young Rover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5794
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Martimas Time" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
When I was in My 18th Year
File: GrD1085
===
NAME: Brisk Young Sailor Lad, The: see Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)
===
NAME: Brisk Young Sailor, A: see Tavern in the Town (File: ShH94)
===
NAME: Brisk Young Sailor, The: see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Bristol Channel Jamboree: see Whip Jamboree (Whup Jamboree) (File: Br3230)
===
NAME: Bristol Coachman, The
DESCRIPTION: A coachman is enticed home by a girl. Her husband catches him. The coachman proposes "if I have slept with your good wife, I'll let you sleep with mine." The husband demands forty or fifty pounds.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(109))
KEYWORDS:  infidelity bargaining humorous husband rake
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 409, "Up at Piccadilly oh!" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #238, p. 153, "(Up at Piccadilly oh!)"
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(109), "Whip Away For Ever O" ("Come all you country lasses, come listen to my song"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 25(287), "The Bristol Coachman"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Jolly Bristol Coachman
File: OO2409
===
NAME: Britannia on Our Lee
DESCRIPTION: "A wet sheet and a flowing sea And a wind that follows fair... Away our good ship flies and leave (Columbia/Britannia) on our lee." The singer hopes for a good wind and rejoices in the life at sea
AUTHOR: Words: Allan Cunningham (1785-1842)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1844 (Journal from the Citizen)
KEYWORDS: ship sea sailor nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 49-50, "A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL:  [No author listed], _The Household Treasury of English Song_, T. Nelson and Sons, 1872, pp. 182-183, "A Sea-Song" (1 text)
Roud #2014
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Columbia on Our Lee
File: SWMS049
===
NAME: Britannia Sat Weeping
DESCRIPTION: Britannia weeps as pleasure is replaced by war and sailors fight for "country and king"; "John Bull has been ruin'd by pension and place." Rich and poor are brothers and we can never kindle war and still flourish with liberty in our happy home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.15(294))
KEYWORDS: war England political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: ()

BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.15(294), "Britannia Sat Weeping" ("Britannia sat weeping as pleasure pass'd by"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(3769), Harding B 16(37c), "Britannia Sat Weeping"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Daughter of Israel" (tune, per broadside Bodleian 2806 c.15(294))
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 54 uses "Britannia Sat Weeping" to illustrate the popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries of a country -- Italy, France, Ireland and Britain -- as "a poor woman asking for help."
Does the reference to the king date the origin to a war before Victoria? - BS
File: BrdBrSWe
===
NAME: Britannia, the Pride of the Ocean: see Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean (Britannia, the Pride of the Ocean) (File: FSWB044)
===
NAME: British Grenadiers, The
DESCRIPTION: "Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules... And such great men as these..." but none can compare, "with a row- row-row, row-row-row To the British Grenadiers." The prowess of the Grenadiers is praised, and toasts are offered to them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1823 (_Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine_, Vol. XIV, No. LXXVIII, p. 9)
KEYWORDS: soldier drink battle nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Logan, pp. 109-112, "The British Grenadiers" (plus parody, "Aitcheson's Carabineers")
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 262-264, "Nancy; or, Sir Edward Noel's Delight; or All You That Love Good Fellows" (3 tunes, reputed to be ancestor of these tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 279, "The British Grenadiers" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 153-154+, "The British Grenadiers"
DT, BRITGREN*
ST Log109 (Full)
Roud #11231?
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Cornwallis's Surrender" (tune)
cf. "Free America" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Free America (File: Arn014)
Lord Cornwallis's Surrender (File: SBoA088)
Eight Hour Day (Sing Out!, Volume 28, #3 (1980), pp. 28-29)
NOTES: That this song is old is obvious. Logan argues that the words must date from between 1678 (when the Grenadier companies were formed) and the reign of Queen Anne (died 1714), when Grenadiers ceased to carry grenades and became simply elite troops. The earlier date is fairly solid; the latter, of course, has the problem that a songwriter might not know that grenadiers had become a general term.
The same problems attend the tune. Fuld reports on various prints from around 1750, and the various parodies and adaptions categorically date it before 1780. It appears the tune is much older (and may not even be British), but no precise data can be offered. - RBW
File: Log109
===
NAME: British Man-of-War, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer hears a sailor telling his love that he must leave her; he must go into battle. She begs him not to go. He says that he might win glory. He has fought before; he will fight again. He tears his handkerchief in two and gives her half as a token
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: war separation farewell brokentoken
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Belden, pp. 379-380, "The Yankee Man of War" (1 text)
FSCatskills 13, "The Yankee Man-of-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 181-182, "British Man-O'-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 96, "Lovely Susan" (1 stanza, which the editors cannot identify but which matches many texts of this song)
Scott-BoA, pp. 226-227, "The Yankee Man o' War" (1 text, 1 tune)
PGalvin, pp. 48-49, "The Fenian Man o' War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 108-110, "The British Man-of-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BRITMANO
Roud #372
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 15(397a), "[Young] William of the Man-of-War" ("One winter's day as I was walking"), W. Jackson and Son (Birmingham), 1842-1855; also Harding B 16(309b), Harding B 11(4232), Harding B 11(4233), Harding B 11(4234), 2806 c.16(59), "William of the Man-of-War"; Harding B 31(127), Harding B 31(141),"[A] Yankee Man-of-War"; Harding B 11(466), Firth c.12(135), Firth b.26(180), "British Man-of-War"
LOCSinging, hc00037c, "A Yankee Man-of-War," Charles Magnus (New York), no date; also as115330, "Yankee Man of War" 
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(139), "British Man-of-War," unknown, no date
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lowlands of Holland" (tune, theme)
cf. "The Cork Men and the New York Men" (subject)
cf. "On Board of a Man-of-War (Young Susan)" (theme, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Fenian Man-of-War
NOTES: As the titles make clear, this general text and tune were applied to whatever war seemed most convenient at the time (e.g. the Mexican War, the Civil War; a British text refers to fighting "the proud Chinee," presumably during the Opium Wars).
The Fenian version (named for the Fenians, a group of Irish-Americans who thought they could gain freedom for Ireland by invading Canada) is slightly changed; the opening is the same, but the broken token is missing, and in the end Bridget agrees that her Patrick should fight for Ireland.
The Fenians actually did purchase a ship, which they named _Erin's Hope_, but it accomplished nothing except to make one voyage to Ireland -- where no one wanted them. (For more details, see the notes to "The Cork Men and New York Men.") Similarly, they invaded Canada -- and were easily repelled, with many taken captive. Later they built a submarine; its only use was as a fundraising device.
Viewed from any standpoint except pure Irish patriotism, the Fenians were utterly ineffective and really quite silly. (For other examples, see "A Fenian Song (I)" and "The Smashing of the Van.") - RBW
Broadsides Bodleian Harding B 11(466), Firth c.12(135) and Firth b.26(180) refer to the Opium War of 1840-1842; Harding B 31(141) and Harding B 31(141) refer to the American Civil War of 1861-1865; the "William" broadsides are not specific. There are also "answers" [such as Bodleian, 2806 c.16(90), "Susan's Adventures in a British Man-of-War"] and "No. 2's" [such as LOCSinging, cw106880, "Yankee Man-of-War. No. 2." - BS
File: FSC013
===
NAME: British Soldier (I), The (A British Soldier's Grave)
DESCRIPTION: "The war was all ended, And the stars were shining bright" as a soldier lies dying. He sends messages home, telling mother he has kept her gift and promising to meet in heaven. He bids his sister not to weep. He recalls home and the old beech tree
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: soldier death farewell mother sister war burial lover
FOUND_IN: US(Ap) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 171-172, "The British Soldier" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 110, "The British Soldier's Grave" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #1223
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 2600, "A British Soldier's Grave" ("The battle it was over, the stars were shining bright"), unknown, no date; also Harding B 11(470), "A British Soldier's Grave"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying British Sergeant" (subject)
File: MHAp171
===
NAME: British Soldier (II), The: see The Dying British Sergeant (File: Wa010)
===
NAME: British Soldier's Grave, The: see The British Soldier (I) (A British Soldier's Grave) (File: MHAp171)
===
NAME: Brockagh Brae
DESCRIPTION: John leaves Mary "to take a trip strange lands to explore." He promises to be true and leaves for Belfast. He sails. When he lands at Greendock [sic] he is told to return home. He does, and returns to Mary. They marry and settle at Brockagh Brae.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (recording, Geordie Hanna)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage parting return reunion separation Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #5171
RECORDINGS:
Geordie Hanna, "Brockagh Brae" (on Voice04)
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice04: "'Brockagh Brae' at first sight seems to fall into the category of a footloose young man seeking adventure in emigration, but is actually about the seasonal migration of farm workers to the harvest in Scotland."
Brockagh Mountain is in the Dublin/Wicklow area. Greenock is on the west coast of Scotland across the North Channel from Ireland. - BS
File: RcBroBra
===
NAME: Broder Eton Got de Coon: see Uncle Eph (File: RcUncEph)
===
NAME: Broken Bridges: see London Bridge Is Falling Down (File: R578)
===
NAME: Broken Engagement (I -- She Was Standing By Her Window), The
DESCRIPTION: The girl asks her fiancee if he truly loves another rather than her. He says he does. She releases him from his promise, and says they will be strangers henceforth. She dies; (he realizes as he stands by her coffin that she was his true love)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Kelly Harrell)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 771, "The Broken Engagement" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 496-498, "The Broken Engagement" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 771)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 147-148, "The Broken Engagement"; pp. 149-150, "He Was Standing By the Window" (2 texts)
BrownII 157, "They Were Standing by the Window" (4 texts)
Shellans, p. 29, "Broken Engagement" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3535
RECORDINGS:
Emry Arthur, "The Broken Engagement" (Decca 5067, 1935)
Betty Garland, "Broken Engagement" (on BGarland01)
Kelly Harrell, "Broken Engagement" (Victor 20280, 1926; on KHarrell01)
Charlie Oaks, "The Broken Engagement" (Vocalion 15144, 1925; Vocalion 5076, c. 1927)
C. A. West, "The Broken Engagement" (Challenge 429, 1928)
Henry Whitter, "The Broken Engagement" (OKeh 45081, 1927; rec. 1926); Henry Whitter & Fiddler Joe [Samuels], "The Broken Engagement" (OKeh, unissued, 1926)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Broken Engagement (II)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Broken Heart
NOTES: Belden and Randolph both have songs from the Ozarks called "The Broken Engagement," and they share some lyrics. But the plots are so distinct that I have to list them as separate songs.
Kelly Harrell's song "The Broken Engagement" is again quite different, but it clearly goes with Randolph's text (which it predates and might even have inspired) rather than Belden's. - RBW
File: R771
===
NAME: Broken Engagement (II -- We Have Met and We Have Parted), The
DESCRIPTION: "You may go and win another, Go and win her for your bride." The singer says he has "broke the trust you've plighted." She says not to think of her, though she is true. They will meet as strangers. She will return his letters, and wish they never met
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Belden, pp. 212-213, "The Broken Engagement" (1 text)
BrownII 155, "We Have Met and We Have Parted" (4 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 2 more)
BrownIII 248, "The Inconstant Lover" (5 texts plus a fragment, admitted by the editors to be distinct songs but with many floating items; "A,"  "B," and "C" are more "On Top of Old Smokey" than anything else, though without that phrase; "D" is primarily "The Broken Engagement (II -- We Have Met and We Have Parted)," "E" is a mix of "Old Smokey" and "The Cuckoo," and the "F" fragment may also be "Old Smokey")
Randolph 755, "The Broken Heart" (9 texts, 2 tunes, several of which, notably "H," but also the "D" fragment, go here or at least mix with this song)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 165-166, "Last Good-Bye" (1 text)
Shellans, p. 42, "We Have Met and We Have Parted" (1 text, 1 tune, which does not mention a broken engagement)
Roud #4250
RECORDINGS:
Frank Blevins, "We Have Met and We Have Parted (Columbia, 1928; unissued but probably this)
Otis High, "Young Ladies Take Warning" (on HandMeDown1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Broken Engagament (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Belden and Randolph both have songs from the Ozarks called "The Broken Engagement," and they share some lyrics. But the plots are so distinct that I have to list them as separate songs (note that Randolph also has a text of this song, which he filed with the "Dear Companion/Fond Affection" group).
Kelly Harrell's song "The Broken Engagement" is again quite different, but it clearly goes with Randolph's text (which it predates and might even have inspired) rather than Belden's. - RBW
File: Beld212
===
NAME: Broken Engagement (III): see Broken Ties (I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes) (File: BrII156)
===
NAME: Broken Heart (II -- Dearest One, Don't You Remember)
DESCRIPTION: "Dearest one, don't you remember The last time we did part? My feelings of[t]times have been tender While piercing pains roll through my heart." The singer recalls how they loved each other; she says troubles caused them to part. She still dreams of him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 158, "The Broken Heart" (1 text)
Roud #6575
NOTES: Standard treacle, and not necessarily a song; it comes from manuscript. Neither the editors of Brown nor I recognize it. It looks rather composed to me -- it's quite stiff. - RBW
File: BrII158
===
NAME: Broken Heart, The: see Dear Companion (The Broken Heart; Go and Leave Me If You Wish To, Fond Affection) (File: R755)
===
NAME: Broken Home, The
DESCRIPTION: "The church bells they were ringing... Just two short years ago... Two hearts had been united, Fair (Lillian) and Joe." All was well until a former lover showed up and stole Ann away. Now Joe is left lamenting with a broken home and a child in the cradle
AUTHOR: Will H. Fox
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Spaeth)
KEYWORDS: love marriage betrayal separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 768, "The Broken Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 166-167, "The Broken Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 270-271, "The Broken Home" (1 text)
ST R768 (Full)
Roud #7411
NOTES: The plot here is sort of a cleaned-up, de-mystified version of the "House Carpenter." It pretty well demonstrates the intellectual impoverishment that results from appealing to popular culture. - RBW
File: R768
===
NAME: Broken Ring (I), The: see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Broken Ring (II), The: see The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor) [Laws N35] (File: LN35)
===
NAME: Broken Ring Song: see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Broken Ring Song fragment: see The Sailor Boy (I) [Laws K12] (File: LK12)
===
NAME: Broken Ties (I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes)
DESCRIPTION: "It would have been better for us both to have never In this wicked world never met." The singer recalls how the other once loved (her?); when she is dead, she asks if he will come and shed a tear on her grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal death burial
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
BrownII 156, "Broken Ties" (3 texts plus mention of 1 more)
Randolph [811], "How Sadly My Heart Yearns Toward You" (omitted from the second edition)
Fuson, p. 140, "Broken Vows" (1 text)
Cambiaire, p. 60, "Blue Eyes" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 167, "Blue Eyes" (1 text)
DT, BLUEEYES
Roud #460
RECORDINGS:
The Carter Family, "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" (Victor V-40089, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4230, 1933) (Perfect 35-09-23/Conqueror 8539, 1935)
Denver Darling & his Texas Cowhands, "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" (Decca 46225, 1950)
Montana Slim [pseud. for Wilf Carter] "I'm Thinking Tonight of my Blue Eyes" (Bluebird B-9032, 1942)
Saddle Tramps, "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" (Vocalion 04037, 1938)
Shelton & Fox, "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" (Decca 5184, 1936)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Broken Engagement
NOTES: Paul Stamler  suggests that we should call this song "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes." Certainly that's the version most of us know today. It appears, however, that the majority of versions are called either "Broken Ties" or "Broken Vows." Of course, the whole family is rather amorphous; I could argue, for instance, for splitting off Fuson's "Broken Vows." As it is, I split it more than Roud, who also includes the "Forget You I Never May" family here.
Pre-Carter Family texts of this seem to lack the "Blue Eyes" chorus, but some later versions (e.g. the "C" text in Brown, from 1930) add it; there may be some sort of cause and effect. - RBW
File: BrII156
===
NAME: Broken Vows: see Broken Ties (I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes) (File: BrII156)
===
NAME: Broken-Down Sport: see The Tramp (II) (File: R843)
===
NAME: Broken-Down Squatter, The
DESCRIPTION: "For the banks are all broken they say, And the merchants are all up a tree, When the bigwigs are brought to the bankruptcy court, what chance for a squatter like me?" Tales of a (bankrupt and now wandering) squatter's life in depression times
AUTHOR: Charles Flower
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Paterson, _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: horse poverty Australia hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 42-43, 236-237, "The Broken-Down Squatter" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 154-155, "The Broken-Down Squatter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 115-118, "The Broken-Down Squatter" (1 text)
DT, BRKSQUAT*
Roud #8392
NOTES: Meredith and Anderson date this to a period of economic downturn between 1891 and 1893. The Penguin Book of Australian Folksongs dates it to the 1880s. Patterson/Fahey/Seal says that Flower was driven off his property by the economic troubles of the 1880s, so perhaps that is the most likely date. - RBW
File: MA042
===
NAME: Broken-hearted Boy, The: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: Broken-Hearted Gardener, The
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a broken-hearted gardener and don't know what to do, My love she is inconstant and a fickle jade too." The singer calls her his myrtle, geranium, and other flowers. He botanically describes his misery, but rejects suicide because she wants him dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment flowers suicide
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H499, pp. 387-388, "The Broken-Hearted Gardener" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7966
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Broken-Hearted Fish Fag"
NOTES: This resembles "The Gardener" (Child #219) in its use of flowers to describe emotions, but doesn't use the same sort of emotional symbolism. To this singer, the girl is the flower; in "The Gardener," the flowers describe their relationship.
The fullest description of flower symbolism I've found is from a piece in Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 69-73, "A Nosegay Always Sweet, for Lovers to Send for Tokens of Loave at New Year's Tide, Or for Fairings," which was printed 1584. It offers this list:
"Lavender is for lovers true....
"Rosemary is for remembrance....
"Sage is for sustenance....
"Fennel is for flatterers....
"Violet is for faithfulness....
"Thyme is to try me [the usual meaning is of course virginity]....
"Roses is to rule me....
"Gillyflowers is for gentleness....
"Carnations is for graciousness....
"Marigolds is for marriage....
"Pennyroyal is to print your love So deep within my heart....
Cowslips is for counsel...."
It will be noted that many of the gardener's flowers aren't in this list.
File: HHH499
===
NAME: Broncho Buster, The: see The Bucking Broncho (The Broncho Buster) [Laws B15] (File: LB15)
===
NAME: Bronco Buster, The
DESCRIPTION: "I once knew a guy that thought he was swell... He tooted and spouted... He could ride any critter that ever wore hair." A group of cowboys bring a horse, Sue, to test him. He is thrown: "The evidence shows that he didn't make good."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse recitation
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 82, "The Bronco Buster" (1 text)
File: Ohr082
===
NAME: Brookfield Murder, The [Laws F8]
DESCRIPTION: Joseph Buzzell, who is being sued by Susan Hanson for breach of (marriage) contract, hires [Charles] Cook to kill her. The body is discovered by the family. Young ladies are warned against "reptiles" such as Buzzell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: murder corpse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1847 - Joseph Buzzell arranges for the murder of Susan Hanson. The murder is carried out by Charles Cook, who is mentally handicapped. Buzzell was therefore executed and Cook condemned to life in prison
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws F8, "The Brookfield Murder"
Linscott, pp.175-177, "The Brookfield Murder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 552-553, "The Brookfield Murder" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 667, BROOKFLD*
Roud #2257
NOTES: Although Linscott's text, seemingly the only collected and printed version (Botkin's version is from Linscott) calls the girl "Hanson," Laws at one point calls her "Heston." Typo? - RBW
File: LF08
===
NAME: Brooklyn Fire, The: see The Brooklyn Theatre Fire [Laws G27] (File: LG27)
===
NAME: Brooklyn Theatre Fire, The [Laws G27]
DESCRIPTION: A large audience is in the Brooklyn Theatre (to watch a performance of "The Two Orphans"). The scenery catches fire and the crowd panics. The next day the theatre is a charred ruin packed with bodies. A mass funeral is planned
AUTHOR: P. J. Downey
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: fire death funeral disaster
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 5, 1876 - 295 people die in a fire at a Brooklyn theatre
FOUND_IN: US(ME,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws G27, "The Brooklyn Theatre Fire"
Randolph 688, "The Brooklyn Fire" (1 text)
DT 640, BRKLYNFR*
Roud #3258
File: LG27
===
NAME: Broom o the Cowdenknowes (II - lyric), The
DESCRIPTION: "How blythe each more was I to see My lass come ower the hill, She tripped the burn and ran to me, I met her wi' good will." The singer is exiled for loving the girl (who is above his station?). "To wander by her side again Is a' I crave or care."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1797 (_Scots Musical Museum_, #69); almost certainly in existence in some form by 1750 (see notes)
KEYWORDS: love separation exile
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Bronson 217, "The Broom of Cowdenknows" (21 versions+1 in addenda; the #4 version belongs here, implying that at least some of #1-#6 also go with this piece)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 293-295, "The Broom of Cowden-Knowes" (1 excerpt plus a text and tune from the Child ballad)
DT, COWDENKN*
Roud #8209
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Broom of Cowdenknows" [Child 217] (tune & meter)
NOTES: Although this song is very popular in folk revival circles (probably because it has the excellent "Cowdenknowes" tune but is short), it is much less popular in tradition than its ballad cousin.
It's interesting to note that the _Scots Musical Museum_ version, which is by far the earliest known to me, is longer than any I've ever heard sung: Eight stanzas plus the chorus. I rather suspect rewriting, because some of the verses are pretty poor. The tune is not quite the same as what we usually hear today.
That the song is even older than that seems nearly certain from the existence of a broadside, NLScotland, Ry .III.a.10(007), "The New Way of the Broom of Cowden Knows," unknown, n.d. Said broadside clearly is based on this song -- the lyric begins "Hard Fate that I should banishet be, And Revell called with Scorn. For serving of a Lovely Prince, As e'er yet was Born. O the Broom, the Bonny Broom, The Broom of Cowding (sic.) knows, I wish his Frinds had Stayed at home, Milking there Dadys Ewes."
There can be no question that this is a Jacobite song. The notes at the NLScotland site suspect it of coming from the 1715 rebellion, probably because it mentions Huntly and his treachery, plus Seaforth. I'd be more inclined to date it to 1746, because 1. It refers to a *prince* (James III was King, in the Jacobite view, in 1715 as well as 1745), and it wishes his friends had stayed at home -- a much more likely sentiment after 1746, when the Highlanders were ruined, than in 1715, when nothing much happened.
Either way, though, the broadside is strong evidence for the existence of the lyric version of "Broom" long before the 1797 publication. - RBW
File: DTcowden
===
NAME: Broom of Cowdenknows, The [Child 217]
DESCRIPTION: A gentleman sees a pretty (shepherdess), and lies with her (without her leave). She becomes pregnant. Some weeks or months later, the gentleman returns and claims her for his own
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1768 (Percy collection; tune mentioned 1632)
KEYWORDS: seduction pregnancy abandonment return marriage bastard
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 217, "The Broom of Cowdenknows" (15 texts)
Bronson 217, "The Broom of Cowdenknows" (21 versions+1 in addenda)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 293-295, "The Broom of Cowden-Knowes" (1 text plus an excerpt from "Broom (II)," 1 tune) {Bronson's #21}
Roud #92
RECORDINGS:
Stanley Robertson, "The Ballad of the Ewe Buchts" (on Voice06)
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:041, "Ewe Buchts," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(004), "Ewe Buchts," unknown, n.d. (the site says 1840-1850, but a second ballad on the sheet refers to [Charles Stewart] Parnell, which puts it least thirty years after that); also L.C.Fol.70(2b), "Ewe Buchts," unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wylie Wife of the Hie Toun Hie" [Child 290] (plot)
cf. "The Dainty Doonby" (plot)
cf. "The Sleepy Merchant" (plot)
cf. "The Bonnie Parks o' Kilty" (plot)
cf. "A Nobleman" (plot)
cf. "The Broom o the Cowdenknowes (II - lyric)" (tune & meter)
SAME_TUNE:
The New Way of the Broom of Cowden Knowes (Broadside NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(007), "The New Way of the Broom of Cowden Knowes" ("Hard Fate that I should banisht be, And Rebell called with Scorn, for serving of a Lovely Prince, As e'er yet was born"), unknown, prob. 1716)
The Glasgow Factory Lass (per broadside Murray, Mu23-y1:010, "The Glasgow Factory Lass," unknown (Glasgow), no date)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Laird o Ociltree Wa's
Laird o Lochnie
Ewe Buchts
NOTES: Note that this melody is used for two pieces, both called "Broom o' the Cowdenknow(e)s," and both Scottish: The ballad listed here, and a more lyric piece about a man who must leave home because he fell in love with a girl above his station.
Although the texts of this piece are generally quite late, the tune appears much older. BBI ZN2610, "Through Lidderdale as lately I went," registered in 1632, claims a "pleasant Scotch tune, called, The broom of Cowdenknowes" as its melody. 
It's ironic to add that the tune you've almost certainly heard for this song (Bronson's #1) is from Playford, without lyrics -- and neither the Playford tune nor any of its immediate relatives in Bronson has a text (Bronson's group Aa includes six tunes; #4 has a single stanza of lyrics, the rest none -- and that stanza in #4 is the lyric version of the song, not the ballad!). - RBW
File: C217
===
NAME: Broom, Green Broom: see Green Broom (File: ShH49)
===
NAME: Broomfield Hill, The [Child 43]
DESCRIPTION: A girl wagers with a boy that "a maid I will go to the Broomfield Hill and a maid I shall return." At home she regrets her error, but a witch tells her how to make her love sleep on the hill. She arrives on the hill, leaves a token, and wins her wager
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1769 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: magic wager sex trick witch
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland) US(Ap,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Child 43, "The Broomfield Hill" (6 texts)
Bronson 43, "The Broomfield Hill" (30 versions -- but the last six are "The Maid on the Shore" -- plus 1 in addenda)
GreigDuncan2 322, "The Bonnie Broom-Fields" (2 texts)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 438-442, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 songster version plus extensive notes)
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 275-279, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 150-152, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text)
OBB 24, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 148, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text)
PBB 16, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 26, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #23}
Combs/Wilgus 11, pp. 113-114, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text)
SHenry H135, p. 414, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 7, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 43, BROOMFLD* BROMFLD2* BROMFLD3
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #325, "The Broomfield Hill" (1 text)
Roud #34
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "A Wager, A Wager" (on Maynard1)
Walter Pardon, "Broomfield Hill" (on WPardon01, HiddenE)
Cyril Poacher, "Broomfield Hill (The Broomfield Wager)" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1) (on Poacher1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Maid on the Shore (The Maid on the Sea Shore; The Sea Captain)" [Laws K27]
cf. "Martinmas Time"
cf. "Lovely Joan"
cf. "The Maid and the Horse"
cf. "The Sleepy Merchant" (plot)
cf. "Geaftai Bhaile Atha Bui (The Gates of Ballaghbuoy)" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Broomfield Wager
Green Broom
The Merry Green Fields
NOTES: For some inexplicable reason, the notes in Sam Henry claim that H133, "Bess of Ballymoney" (p. 461) is this song. I believe this is an accidental repetition of the notes on H135. - RBW
File: C043
===
NAME: Broomhill's Bonnie Daughter
DESCRIPTION: "'Twas at the summer feeing time, When ploughmen lads they fee, That I engaged with Broomhill His foremost lad to be." The daughter of the place steals his heart; he tries to win her; she agrees, saying she loved him at first sight also
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: farming courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 232-233, "Broomhill's Bonnie Dochter" (1 text)
Roud #2175
File: Ord232
===
NAME: Broomhill's Bonnie Dochter: see Broomhill's Bonnie Daughter (File: Ord232)
===
NAME: Broon Cloak On, The: see The Broon Cloak (File: FVS086)
===
NAME: Broon Cloak, The
DESCRIPTION: "Some lads are ne'er at rest Till wi' crowds o' lassies press'd... But pleasure mair I find... Wi' ae lassie true and kind, And her broon cloak on." Relatives warn the lad of falling in love too young or wrongly, but he still loves the brown-cloaked girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love clothes family warning mother
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 86-88, "The Broon Cloak On" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5648
File: FVS086
===
NAME: Brother Ephrum Got de Coon and Gone On: see Uncle Eph (File: RcUncEph)
===
NAME: Brother Green
DESCRIPTION: The dying singer asks Brother Green to write a letter to his wife, "For the southern foe has laid me low." He prays for his family, tells his wife not to grieve, and remembers his brothers who are fellow soldiers for the Union. He prays (and dies)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar dying soldier
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Belden, p. 377, "Brother Green" (1 fragment)
Randolph 211, "Brother Green" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Eddy 111, "The Song of Brother Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 18 "Brother Green, or the Dying Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 193-194, "Brother Green" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 13-14, "The Dying Soldier" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 212-213, "Brother Green" (1 text)
JHCox 72, "Brother Green" (2  texts)
BrownIII 393, "Brother Green" (1 very full text plus mention of 2 more)
Brewster 47, "Brother Green" (1 text)
Silber-CivWar, p. 15, "Brother Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R211 (Partial)
Roud #3395
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "The Dying Soldier" (Montgomery Ward M-4735, 1935)
 Clarence Ganus, "The Dying Soldier" (Vocalion 5396, 1930; rec. 1929)
Buell Kazee, "The Dying Soldier" (Brunswick 214, 1928; on TimesAint01, KMM)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Barbara Allen" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Go Tell Little Mary Not to Weep
NOTES: Various legends swirl about the origin of this song; they are not compelling. Although every text known to me is from the Civil War (usually Union; Randolph mentions a Confederate text), the name, style, and reference to the Virgin Mary (in some versions; others manage to cover it up) lead one to suspect Irish ancestry. - RBW
File: R211
===
NAME: Brother Jim Got Shot
DESCRIPTION: Singer and brother Jim start a fight in a restaurant; Jim is shot and killed. Jury says singer is innocent. Singer's wife gets scared one night, and a mouse runs down her throat. Later, she swallows a rat, cat, cheese. Jury still says singer is innocent.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: fight murder trial death humorous nonsense animal wife
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #16643
RECORDINGS:
Dock Boggs, "Brother Jim Got Shot" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
NOTES: This song, almost certainly of minstrel-show origin, probably circulated as a "ballot" (song sheet). For sheer surrealism, it's up there with the works of Uncle Dave Macon. - PJS
File: RcBJGS
===
NAME: Brother Jonah
DESCRIPTION: Brother Jonah is called to duty, but is reluctant and goes to sea; the winds begin to blow, and the whale swallows him. The whale feels ill, and eventually throws Jonah up. Refrain: "Yessir, the whale he swallowed Brother Jon-oh. Oh! Brother! Jon-oh!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (recording, Famous Blue Jay Singers of Birmingham)
KEYWORDS: travel storm Bible religious animal whale
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Famous Blue Jay Singers of Birmingham, "Brother Jonah" (Champion 50025, c. 1935; rec. 1932; on VocQ2)
NOTES: The story of Jonah and his travels is, of course, the subject of the Biblical book of Jonah. The Bible, however, consistently calls the sea creature that swallowed him a "fish." - RBW
File: RcBrotJo
===
NAME: Brother Moses Gone
DESCRIPTION: "Brother Moses gone to the promised land, Hallelu, Hallelujah."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 49, "Brother Moses Gone" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #12006
NOTES: A rather ironic title; presumably the "Moses" of this song is a slave, not the Biblical Moses -- but if it is the Biblical Moses, he in fact did *not* enter the Promised Land: "Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And YHWH showed him all the land.... And YHWH said to [Moses], 'This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, "I will give it to your descendants." I have let you see it... but you shall not enter it.' So Moses the servant of YHWH died there in the land of Moab...." (Deuteronomy 34:1-5). - RBW
File: AWG049A
===
NAME: Brother Noah
DESCRIPTION: "Brother Noah, Brother Noah, May I come into the Ark of the Lord, For it's growing very dark and it's raining very hard." Noah says that the other cannot come aboard. The rejected man curses Noah and predicts light rain. Noah says it will rain like hell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: religious ship rejection
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 200-201, "Brother Noah" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8821
File: ShaSS200
===
NAME: Brother, Guide Me Home
DESCRIPTION: "Brother, guide me home an' I am glad, Bright angels biddy me to come;" "What a happy time, children (x3), Bright angels biddy me to come." "Let's go to God, children, Bright angels biddy me to come."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 86, "Brother, Guide Me Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12044
File: AWG086
===
NAME: Brother's Revenge: see The Cruel Brother [Child 11] (File: C011)
===
NAME: Brothers John and Henry Sheares, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the sentencing and execution. The informer watches. The verdict is guilty. "One day between the sentence and the scaffold." No sword is raised to save them. They are beheaded. The bodies in their coffins are "life-like to this day"
AUTHOR: "Speranza" (Jane Francesca Elgee, Lady Wilde) (source: Hayes)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (Edward Hayes, _The Ballads of Ireland_ (Boston, 1859), Vol I)
KEYWORDS: rebellion betrayal execution trial patriotic brother
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 14, 1798 - John and Henry Sheares, members of the National Directory of the United Irishmen, hanged. (source: Moylan)
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Moylan 107, "The Brothers John and Henry Sheares" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, pp. 240-242, "The Brothers"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Tree of Liberty" (same subject from the other side)
NOTES: Moylan: The brothers were hanged [not beheaded]. As described in the ballad, the informer, Captain John Warneford Armstrong, had "enjoyed the hospitality of their family home." Further, the "bodies lie in the vaults of St Michan's Church in Church Street, Dublin, where they remain in a state of preservation due to some remarkable property of their surroundings." - BS
Robert Kee (in _The Most Distressful Country_, being volume I of _The Green Flag_, p. 46) writes of John Sheares, "His death was in fact to be particularly ignominius, for by some clumsiness on the part of the executioner he was hauled up on the rope for nearly a minute before being lowered again to the platform for his final drop." Kee also notes his lack of fame: "He has a small street named after him in Cork but otherwise his name... has little popular appear in modern republican Ireland." And, indeed, three of the first four histories I checked do not even mention the Sheares Brothers.
Yet the two were among the most important figures of 1798. When the British captured most of the leaders of the United Ireland movement in March of that year, "leadership of the metropolitan organization... devolved on Lord Edward [Fitzgerald, for whom see "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)"], John and Henry Sheares and, recently released from prison, Samuel Neilson. All, including a fatally wounded Lord Edward, were in custody by the eve of the rebellion" (from Jim Smyth, _The Men of No Property_, p. 176).
The informer Captain Armstrong did indeed betray them, but much of the fault belongs with the rebels. Thomas Pakenham, in _The Year of Liberty_, p. 78, tells of how Armstrong visited tbe bookstore of Patrick Byrne. He browsed "left-wing pamphlets," and apparently this was enough to cause Byrne to introduce him to the Sheares brothers, and enough to make them trust him! Pakenham, p. 81, reports that "Lawless and the Sheares brothers staked all on the loyalty of... Captain John Warneford Armstrong." To be sure, Pakenham notes that these leaders were now effectively cut off from the rest of the United Irish movement, including all the fighters they had so painfully raised. They needed help from the other side -- Armstrong. They didn't get it.
Pakenham, p. 90, reports that the brothers were lawyers with no understanding of military issues anyway. What leadership they did apply was largely negated by another government spy, Francis Mangan, who had actually been appointed to the Directory (Pakenham, p. 91).
The Sheares Brothers resigned from the Directory shortly before the rising began (Pakenham, p. 92).
On May 21, the brothers were arrested, and a proclamation of independence, in the handwriting of John Sheares, was found among their papers (Pakenham, p. 96).
Their trial came a month and a half later. Pakenham (pp. 285-287) describes it as all hanging on the testimony of Armstrong, a self-declared atheist and liberal. In a truly ironic twist, the lawyer for the Sheares Brothers, John Philpot Curran (for whom see "The Deserter's Lamentation" and "Emmet's Farewell to His Sweetheart") tried to use the fact that Armstrong was a follower of Thomas Paine (who of course inspired much of the Irish thinking) as reason not to trust his testimony. It didn't help. The jury (which apparently was carefully chosen) declared both brothers guilty in just 17 minutes. They were hanged the following day, and apparently their heads were severed after death.
Moylan's statement about the preservation of the body perhaps requires some caution. Pakenham's account (p. 287) describes a shorter term of preservation: "In the peculiar atmosphere of [St. Michan's], the coffins soon crumbled away. Twenty years later Curran's son visited the place and was shown the severed heads, trunks, and 'the hand that once traced those lines' not yet mouldered into dust."
Of course, that account was contemporary when "Speranza" was born. "Speranza," a frequent contributor to the nationalist publication _The Nation_ was in fact Jane Francesca Elgee (died 1896; birth date variously listed from "c. 1820" to 1826, but 1821 is the most common). She wrote much Irish nationalist poetry, most of it after the death of that paper's founder Thomas Davis in 1845, though only a few pieces can be found in present-day anthologies. (_Granger's Index to Poetry_, in fact, cites only one: "The Famine Year": "Weary men, what reap ye? -- 'Golden corn for the stranger.' What sow ye? -- 'Human corses that wait for the avenger.' Fainting forms, hunger-stricken, what see ye in the offing? 'Stately ships to bear our food away amid the stranger's scoffing....'" (For the full text, see Kathleen Hoagland, editor, _One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry_ (New York, 1947), pp. 494-496, or Charles Sullivan, editor, _Ireland in Poetry_, (Abrams, 1990), pp. 98-99.)
Terry Golway (_For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 111) describes her as "tall, dark, and attractive" (which, if the portrait he prints on page 110 is to believed, strikes me as an understatement), and a heavy reader. Still, she married rather late; it was not until 1851 that she wed Sir William Wilde. They had two sons; the younger of them was Oscar Wilde.
For a poem possibly by John Sheares himself, see "The Shamrock Cockade." - RBW
File: Moyl107
===
NAME: Broughty Wa's [Child 258]
DESCRIPTION: Burd Helen, heir of Broughty Walls, is being visited by her beloved when she is abducted by armed Highlanders. Her kidnappers try to console her, but she refuses comfort. At her first chance, she swims to escape, while one who pursues her drowns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: drowning abduction love separation escape
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 258, "Broughty Wa's' (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Bronson 258, "Broughty Wa's' (1 version)
Roud #108
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Glasgow Peggy"  [Child 228]
NOTES: It appears to me that Child has misinterpreted this ballad (which seems to be missing a key stanza or two). He believes that, when Helen is kidnapped, her love Glenhazlen follows, and it is he who drowns when she flees across the river.
There is, however, no evidence in the text that her lover followed; all we know is that, after she threw herself into the water, "It was sae deep he [who "he" is is unidentified] couldna wide, Boats werna to be found, But he leapt in after himsell, And sunk down like a stone." Also, Helen rejoices at her freedom following her escape. So it sounds to me as if one of the Highlanders (presumably the prospective husband) is the one who drowned, not Helen's lover. - RBW
File: C258
===
NAME: Brow of Sweet Knocklayd
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls watching the lambs play by sunset on Knocklayd. Now she (?) must leave friends and parens behind "to cross the ocean to some far-off foreign shore." The song ends with the moon rising over Knocklayd
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H19b, p. 196, "Brow of Sweet Knocklayd" (1 text,  tune referenced)
File: HHH019b
===
NAME: Brown Adam [Child 98]
DESCRIPTION: Brown Adam is a smith, banished from his kin. He builds a bower where he lives with his love. He goes hunting, returns to overhear a knight attempting to woo his love, finally threatening her life. He rescues his love, defeating the knight.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1494 (Ritson-Tytler-Brown ms.)
KEYWORDS: knight love separation home hunting courting rejection
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 98, "Brown Adam" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Bronson 98, "Brown Adam" (2 versions)
OBB 48, "Brown Adam" (1 text)
DT, BRNADAM*
Roud #482
File: C098
===
NAME: Brown and Yellow Ale, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer and his wife are walking when they meet the Brown and Yellow (Ale/Earl). He asks to take the wife aside. When she returns, he is so ashamed that he dies and is buried
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1983 (Harte), and said to have been sung by James Joyce; the Irish is older
KEYWORDS: seduction drink nobility death adultery
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
DT, BRWNYLLW BRWNYEL2
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 80-81, "The Brown and Yellow Ale" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Brown and Yellow Earl
NOTES: Reportedly a translation of the Irish "Chuaca Lan De Bui." Several translations are said to exist, including one by James Joyce.
What's interesting is the two titles: "The Brown and Yellow Ale," apparently Dominic Behan's title and followed by Harte, and "The Brown and Yellow Earl," which I heard from Debby McClatchy. Obviously one could be an error of hearing for the other -- indeed, *must* be an error of hearing, since the mistake could not occur in print. And yet, how could such an error slip through? There seem to be no genuinely traditional collections to explain it.
And which is original? Presumably the Irish Gaelic would make it clear, but I failed to turn up a reliable text, and Cliff Abrams did an earlier search which didn't net much either, at least in the way of genuine folk sources.
"Ale" seems much the more strongly attested -- but it hardly makes sense. Harte offers Sean O'Boyle's explanation, which is that drink has rendered the husband impotent so that his wife prefers a younger man. This is possible, but a stretch. Whereas if the Brown and Yellow item is an Earl, then he is exercising droit de siegneur, and the husband is a cuckold and commits suicide as a result. This makes perfect sense.
The flip side is, it makes such perfect sense that it's hard to imagine the change going the other way. So I think the weight of evidence favours "Brown and Yellow Ale." I wouldn't bet much on it, though. - RBW
File: Hart080
===
NAME: Brown and Yellow Earl, The: see The Brown and Yellow Ale (File: Hart080)
===
NAME: Brown Flour
DESCRIPTION: Hard times on Fogo. All we get is brown flour from Russia that won't rise, makes you "merry" and smells like banana. Merchants say we owe them money. You trade work for government rations: "you must shovel snow, This will help 'em reduce the taxation."
AUTHOR: Chris Cobb
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes starvation nonballad political food
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 46-47, "Brown Flour" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9946
RECORDINGS:
Ken Peacock, "Brown Flour, 1926" (on NFKPeacock)
NOTES: Per Peacock: the song dates from the late twenties or thirties. Fogo is off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. - BS
File: Pea046
===
NAME: Brown Girl (I), The [Child 295]
DESCRIPTION: The Brown Girl's former lover tells her he cannot marry her because she is so brown. She cares not. He writes again, saying he is sick and asking her to release him from his promise. She comes slowly and releases him, but promises to dance on his grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1788
KEYWORDS: courting promise betrayal revenge death
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,High)) Canada(Mar) Ireland US(MW,NE,NW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 295, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts)
Bronson 295, "The Brown Girl" (49 versions+2 in addenda, but mostly these are Laws P9; of the 49, #1, #3, #8, #13, #16, #17, (#19), #24, #25, #35, #36, #41, #44, #8.1 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, #41.1 are apparently LP9 as well; #4, #6, #7, #11, #31, #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 (Baring-Gould's) 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)
Leach, pp. 678-680, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts, but "B" is Laws P9)
OBB 157, "The Brown Girl" (1 text)
Roud #180
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. esp. "A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.)" [Laws P9]
cf. "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" [Child 73]
NOTES: Identified by some (including Roud) with the ballad Laws calls "A Rich Irish Lady" and Randolph labels "Pretty Sally of London." The difference between the two is that, in "The Brown Girl," the girl is unforgiving; in "Pretty Sally" it is the man. Laws therefore declares that the two ballads are related but distinct.
It should be observed that "A Rich Irish Lady" is much, much, much more popular; other than Baring-Gould's text (Child's B), I know of no traditional texts of the Child song. Any text listed as Child 295 should be carefully checked to see if it is not Laws P9 instead.
No attempt has been made to list here all the songs claimed as Child #295 when in fact they are Laws P9.
For further discussion on this point, including the opinions of various editors on the matter, see the entry on Laws P9. - RBW
File: C295
===
NAME: Brown Girl (II), The: see Lord Thomas and Fair Annet [Child 73] (File: C073)
===
NAME: Brown Girl (III), The: see The Banks of the Bann (I) [Laws O2] (File: LO02)
===
NAME: Brown Jug, The (Bounce Around)
DESCRIPTION: "I (took/sent) my brown jug down to town (x3) So early in the morning (or "Tra de al de ay,"  etc.)." "It came back with a bounce around (or "all flounced around")...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 534, The Brown Jug (2 texts, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 387, "I Sent My Brown Jug Downtown" (1 text, with some verses apparently from "Coffee Grows (Four in the Middle)")
Roud #7644
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Play Party" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b) (on PeteSeeger22)
File: R534
===
NAME: Brown Robyn [Child 97]
DESCRIPTION: The (king's) daughter loves lowly Brown Robyn, informs him so by song, sneaks him in to her bower, sneaks him out again by dressing him as one of her ladies. (His is shot by a suspicious porter who is hanged for it/They are allowed to marry.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: love disguise cross-dressing marriage death royalty
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 97, "Brown Robin" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Bronson 97, "Brown Robin" (2 versions)
PBB 58, "Brown Robin" (1 text)
DBuchan 18, "Brown Robin" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #1}
Roud #62
File: C097
===
NAME: Brown Robyn's Confession [Child 57]
DESCRIPTION: Brown Robyn and his men go to sea and meet a fierce storm. They cast lots to learn who is to blame, and Brown Robyn himself is thrown overboard. He sees the Virgin Mary, who offers to let him come to heaven or return to his men. He chooses heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: ship crime sea storm religious incest
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 57, "Brown Robyn's Confession" (1 text)
Bronson (57) [Brown Robin's Confession], comments only with the tune belonging to "Captain Glen"
OBB 21, "Brown Robyn's Confession" (1 text)
PBB 8, "Brown Robyn's Confession" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 142-143+331, "Brown Robyne's Confession" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #412, "Brown Robyn" (1 text)
Roud #3882
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Glen/The New York Trader (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B)" [Laws K22]
(Jonah theme)
cf. "Willie Was As Fine a Sailor" (Jonah theme)
cf. "Willie Grahame" (Jonah theme)
NOTES: This appears to be the only legitimate ballad that supports the doctrine of Justification by Faith. It is rather odd to find such a thing in Presbyterian Scotland. Especially given that Robyn had had incestuous relations with both his mother and his sister. - RBW
The theme of the sailor thrown overboard to calm a storm sent by God is found in Jonah 1.1-16. - BS
File: C057
===
NAME: Brown-Eyed Boy: see Likes Likker Better Than Me (Brown-Eyed Boy) (File: CSW075)
===
NAME: Brown-Eyed Gypsies, The: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Brown-Eyed Lee
DESCRIPTION: "Kind friends, if you will listen, A story I will tell, About a final dust-up...." The singer courts Brown-Eyed Lee; her parents disapprove. He says he will win her anyway, but she proved untrue. He curses the  day he met Lee but can't forget her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Larkin); reportedly written 1889
KEYWORDS: cowboy love betrayal mother
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Larkin, pp. 72-74, "Brown-Eyed Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4042
NOTES: This song is item dB35 in Laws's Appendix II.
It supposed was composed by the rejected lover himself. For once, this seems rather likely, because he clearly can't decide if he hates or loves her. - RBW
File: Lark072
===
NAME: Brown-Haired Lass, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer bids farewell to country and to the brown-haired lass. He describes courting the girl, and their sad farewell. He says he will never be happy until he marries the girl. As the ship sets sail, he offers a toast to her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration parting separation love courting
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H116a+c, pp. 201-202, "The Brown-Haird Lass (a), (b)" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
File: HHH116a
===
NAME: Brown-Skinned Woman, A
DESCRIPTION: "A brown-skinned woman and she's  choc'late to de bone, A brown-skinned woman and she smells like toilet soap...." The woman can make a train slide, or make a preacher "lay his Bible down"; "I married a woman, she was even tailor-made."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage Black(s)
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 278, "A Brown-Skinned Woman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11639
NOTES: Scarborough lists this as a blues; neither the form nor the apparent happiness of the singer supports this conclusion. - RBW
File: ScNF278A
===
NAME: Brown's Ferry Blues
DESCRIPTION: About a "hard-luck papa," etc.; "Hard-luck papa counting his toes... smell his feet wherever he goes"; "Hard-luck papa standing in the rain/If the world was corn, he couldn't buy grain"; "Refrain: "Lord, lord, got those Brown's Ferry blues."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (recording, Delmore Brothers)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 224-225, "Brown's Ferry Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 73, "Brown's Ferry Blues" (1 text)
DT, BRWNFERY
RECORDINGS:
Frank Bode, "Brown's Ferry Blues" (on FBode1)
Bill Cox, "Brown's Ferry Blues" (Melotone 13161/Oriole 8380, 1934)
Delmore Bros., "Brown's Ferry Blues" (Bluebird B-5403, 1934) (King 592, 1947)
McGee Brothers (Sam, Kirk), "Brown's Ferry Blues" (Decca 5348, 1937);  (Champion 45033, 1935)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Brown's Ferry Blues" (on NLCR01, NLCRCD1) (NLCR12) (NLCR16)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jackhammer John" (tune)
cf. "Dog House Blues" (tune)
cf. "Rubberneck Blues" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Shirt Factory Blues (by Cleda Helton and James Pyle) (Greenway-AFP, p. 143)
Philyaw Brothers, "Brown's Ferry Blues, No. 4" (Vocalion 04186, 1938) [that's not a misprint, I said Philyaw - PJS]
Delmore Brothers, "Brown's Ferry Blues - Part 2" (Bluebird B-5893, 1935; Montgomery Ward M-4553, c. 1935)
Callahan Brothers, "Brown's Ferry Blues - No. 2" (Melotone 6-04-59/Perfect 6-04-59/Conqueror 8627, 1936 [as Walter Callahan])
Log Cabin Boys, "New Brown's Ferry Blues" (Decca 5103, 1935)
NOTES: Both the McGee Brothers and the Delmore Brothers claim authorship of this piece. The obvious conclusion is that neither actually wrote it. - RBW
File: CSW224
===
NAME: Bruce's Log Camp: see Burns's Log Camp (File: Doe217)
===
NAME: Brughaichean Ghlinn-Braon (Braes of Glen Broom)
DESCRIPTION: Scottish Gaelic. "Lying in a French prison... No order from England To send me home free...." The singer thinks of his lost love, "the maid of thick tresses ... In the braes of Glen Broom"
AUTHOR: William Ross (1762-1790)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage love separation war prison lyric nonballad 
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 773-774, "Brughaichean Ghlinn-Braon" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Peacock notes that this "is called a milling song... used to accompany the work of shrinking wool homespun. The wet cloth is alternately kneaded and pounded on a large table by several people either seated or standing. A leader sings the verses, and everyone comes in on the chorus." "Milling wool" and "waulking tweed" is the same process. For a note on the process and the songs see "Waulking" by Craig Cockburn at the Silicon Glen site.
The description is based on a translation by George Calder in _Gaelic Songs_ by William Ross Collected by John MacKenzie Translated by George Calder (Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1937), specifically Ross 25, pp. 148-151.
Calder's Note G to Ross 25: "The song may have been composed by a prisoner of war in France and improved by Ross, or it may have been composed by Ross himself and based on one or other of the many tales of the French wars which raged during his short life." p. 192 - BS
File: Pea773
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NAME: Brule Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: Two men from Brule go to St Peter's to bring back rum in winter. They become lost in a storm and drift until Captain Harvey and his crew save them. They are taken to Marystown and from there return home. Moral: wait till spring to go to St Peter's.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: crime rescue sea ship storm drink
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 14, "The Brule Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Lehr/Best: Brule, on Merasheen Island in Placentia Bay "was one of the prime smuggling areas for the St Pierre rum-running operation." Other Newfoundland songs about running rum from St Pierre include "Young Chambers" and "Captain Shepherd." - BS
File: LeBe014
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NAME: Bruntie's: see Auld Luckie of Brunties (File: Ord246)
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NAME: Brunton Town: see The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)
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NAME: Brush Creek Wreck, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of a wreck near Bevier. As the train, moving at high speed, crosses a bridge, the switch "flew backward And sent them through the bridge." The engineer finds several fatally injured; the people of Brookfield mourn their dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1912 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: March 1, 1881 - The Brush Creek Wreck (actually wrecks, as the rescue train also went off the tracks, causing worse casualties)
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Belden, pp. 421-422, "The Brush Creek Wreck" (1 text)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 272, "Brush Creek Wreck" (notes only)
Roud #4137
NOTES: This is item dG37 in Laws's Appendix II.
Belden does not comment on the form of this piece, and has no tune, but it appears to me nearly certain that it was sung to "Casey Jones." Though it would take some squeezing to make it fit any tune; the text is highly irregular (and more than a little forced. Belden doesn't think it went far into tradition, and it's easy to see why). - RBW
File: Beld421
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NAME: Brushy Mountain Freshet, The
DESCRIPTION: "In the month of July, in the year 'sixteen, Came the awfullest storm that's ever been seen." The song describes the progress of the storm, and presumably details the various people killed or rendered homeless
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: disaster storm flood
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 284, "The Brushy Mountain Fresher" (1 text)
Roud #6643
NOTES: The notes in Brown describe notes attached to this song about the storm of 1916. The song, however, is so fragmentary that little can be verified about its connection with actual events. - RBW
File: BrII284
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NAME: Bruton Town: see The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)
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NAME: Bryan O'Lynn: see Brian O'Lynn (Tom Boleyn) (File: R471)
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NAME: Bryng Us in Good Ale: see Bring Us Good Ale (File: MEL82)
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NAME: Buachaill On Eirne (Boy from Ireland)
DESCRIPTION: Gaelic. Singer claims great wealth and would marry a girl without a dowry. He doesn't work but drinks and plays with women for a short time each. He warns not to marry an old man; a young man who lives only one year can give her a son or a daughter.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (IRLClancy01)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting marriage warning drink nonballad rake
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Liam Clancy, "Buachaill On Eirne" (on IRLClancy01)
NOTES: The description is based on the translation for "Buachaill on Eirne (Boy from Ireland)" for the Clannad site at jtwinc.com. - BS
File: RcBuOnEi
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NAME: Buachaill Roe, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer's lover, at twenty three, fought "for the cause of Ireland ... He never once retreated though his wounds were deep and sore." He was killed and his remains are at Inniskillen.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (IRPTunney01)
KEYWORDS: love battle rebellion death Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 147-148, "The Buachaill Roe" (1 text)
McBride 16, "Charming Buachaill Roe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5730
RECORDINGS:
Joe Tunney and Paddy Tunney, "My Charming Buachal Roe" (on IRPTunney01)
Paddy Tunney, "The Buachaill Roe" (on IRPTunney02)
NOTES: Paddy Tunney on IRPTunney02 translates the title as "The Red Haired Boy." - BS
File: RcTMCBR
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NAME: Buccaneers, The: see Dead Man's Chest  (File: LxA512)
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NAME: Buchan Miller, The: see Miller Tae My Trade (File: K218)
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NAME: Buchan Turnpike, The
DESCRIPTION: In 1808 "a road thro' Buchan was made straucht And mony a Hielan' lad o' maucht Cam' owre the Buchan border ... To put the road in order" Some of the workers are named. "This turnpike it will be a boon"
AUTHOR: John Shirris (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: commerce technology
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #7, p. 1, "The Buchan Turnpike" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 460, "The Buchan Turnpike" (6 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #5961
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnnie Cope" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
cf. "Boyndlie Road" (subject: road building)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Buchan Road
The New Turnpike
In the Year Auchteen Hunner an' Aucht
The Road-Makin'
NOTES: Not all the singers are happy about the road. GreigDuncan3 460E: "The thieves into my hoose they cam', An' to my leathern bags they ran, An' oot o' them they filled their han', An' sert them oot o' order."
[I wonder if this mightn't be a memory of something older, having to do with government repression. Most of the earliest roads in northern Scotland were built by the government to watch the Jacobite clans and allow quick movements of military forces. Of course, it also made it possible for the glens to eventually join the British economy. After they had been cleared, to be sure.]
Greig: "The making of a turnpike road, however important an event in its own way, hardly looks a subject for verse; and nowadays one could scarcely imagine a bard condescending on such a prosaic theme.... Any number of people throughout Buchan know about the making of the Peterhead and Banff turnpike from this song and from no other source of information; and here in the year 1908 we print the song in honour of the event which it commemorates." 
Greig's text concludes "The writer's name gin you should spier, I'm Jamie Shirran frae New Deer, A name weel kent baith far and near, I dwell near the road's border." GreigDuncan3 460C text has it as "I'm Jamie Shirris ...." GreigDuncan3 notes that Duncan "identified the author as John Shirran" and remembered three men who sang the name as "John Shirris, and all understood it to be the work of the well-known rhymer." - BS
File: GrD3460
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