NAME: It's Gettin' Late over in the Evening: see It's Getting Late in the Evening (File: CNFM065)
===
NAME: It's Getting Late in the Evening
DESCRIPTION: "Lord, it's gettin' late over in the evenin'... The sun most down." The singer asks that John not seal his book until the singer's name is entered. The Spirit seals the book. The singer warns sinners against their ways and prepares to depart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 65-66, "(It's Gettin' Late over in the Evening)" (1 text); pp. 234-235, "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10967
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (on NFMAla4)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John the Revelator" (theme)
NOTES: The theme of sealed and unsealed books is not uncommon in the Bible; we see several instances in the Revelation to John, often based on hints in the prophets (e.g. Ezek. 2:9-10).
The Book of Life is mentioned in Rev. 20:12. There is also the scroll sealed with seven seals of Rev. 5-8 (note that the scroll was the ancient form of a book). A second, "little" scroll occurs in Chapter 10. Chapter 7 describes  another sort of seal -- the "sealing" of God's servants. - RBW
File: CNFM065
===
NAME: It's Good fuh Hab Some Patience
DESCRIPTION: "It's good fuh hab some patience, patience, patience, It's good fuh hab some patience, Fuh ter wait upon de Lawd." "My brudder, won't you rise en' go wid me (x3), Fuh ter wait upon de Lawd." "My sister...." "My fader...." "My mudder...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 597, "It's Good fuh Hab Some Patience" (1 text)
Roud #11910
File: Br3597
===
NAME: It's Hard to Leave You, Sweet Love: see Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove) (File: Wa097)
===
NAME: It's Lookin' fer Railroad Bill: see Railroad Bill [Laws I13] (File: LI13)
===
NAME: It's Me for the Inland Lakes
DESCRIPTION: "If ever I follow the ships again, To gather my spuds and cakes, I'll not be working a deep-sea hack,, It's me for the inland Lakes." The singer says that sailors on lakers live in better conditions, make short runs, and get better pay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (collected from Captain Walkingthaw by Walton)
KEYWORDS: sailor work
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdoch, pp. 85-86, "It's Me for the Inland Lakes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15922
File: WGM085
===
NAME: It's Me, Oh Lord: see Standing in the Need of Prayer (File: FSWB350A)
===
NAME: It's No Business of Mine
DESCRIPTION: The singer, while proclaiming "Of course it's no business of mine," criticises the girls who are "after the fellow that's got the cash," the "temperate" men who "wouldn't touch whisky" but have red noses "caused by the cold," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting drink money accusation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 392, "It's No Business of Mine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7616
File: R392
===
NAME: It's Once I Courted As Pretty a Lass: see Hog-tub, The (File: OO2298)
===
NAME: It's Raining Here
DESCRIPTION: "It's raining here, storming on the deep blue sea (x2) Ain't no black-headed mama Can make a fool out of me." "Now I can see a train coming...." "Talk about trouble, that's all I've ever known." The singer, despite poverty, will not sing the blues
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: poverty separation train
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 508, "It's Raining Here" (1 text)
Roud #11810
File: Br3508
===
NAME: It's Raining, It's Pouring
DESCRIPTION: "It's raining, it's pouring, The old man is snoring. (He) bumped his head and he went to bed And he couldn't get up in the morning."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 227, "It's Raining, It's Pouring" (1 text)
NOTES: Another of those things I learned too far back to remember and without really wanting to learn. Makes it a folk song in my book. - RBW
File: PHCF227b
===
NAME: It's Seven Long Years
DESCRIPTION: Willie the sailor is gone seven years with no letter to Nancy. She regrets "it was my trembling hand deceived you, Caused my youthful tongue to lie." She dreams "Willie was landed safe on shore" but wakes to reality, "stark despair to reign supreme"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: grief love separation dream sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 59, "It's Seven Long Years" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB059 (Partial)
Roud #2757
File: CrSNB059
===
NAME: It's the Same the Whole World Over: see She Was Poor But She Was Honest (I) (File: EM128)
===
NAME: It's the Syme the Whole World Over: see She Was Poor But She Was Honest (I) (File: EM128)
===
NAME: It's Time for Us to Leave Her: see Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her (File: Doe089)
===
NAME: It's Time I Was a Bride
DESCRIPTION: "I'd like mighty well to change my name And share another's home." The woman is of marriageable age, and tired of being alone. "But he must be a soldier, A veteran of the wars, One who has fought for southern rights Beneath the Stars and Bars."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic oldmaid marriage
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 241, "It's Time I Was a Bride" (1 text)
Roud #7711
NOTES: I can't help but suspect that this song is an old piece about a girl who misses a man. Someone then tacked on the final stanza to give it a Confederate twist. - RBW
File: R241
===
NAME: Italy: see Going Across the Sea (File: RcItaly)
===
NAME: Itisket, Itasket: see Atisket, Atasket (I Sent a Letter to My Love) (File: BAF806A)
===
NAME: Its G-L-O-R-Y to Know I'm S-A-V-E-D: see S-A-V-E-D (File: FSWB349)
===
NAME: Ivan Skavinsky Skevar: see Abdul the Bulbul Emir (I) (File: LxA341)
===
NAME: J. B. Marcum (A Kentucky Feud Song) [Laws E19]
DESCRIPTION: Curt Jett shoots J. B. Markham dead in the courthouse. Judge Jim Harkis allegedly tries to prevent a conviction by fixing the jury; this fails when the case is transferred to another county. Jett and accomplice Thomas White end up in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: murder trial prison feud
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1905 - Murder of J. B. Markham in Breathitt County, Kentucky
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws E19, "J. B. Marcum (A Kentucky Feud Song)"
Combs/Wilgus 60, pp. 159-160, "J. B. Marcum" (1 text)
Burt, pp. 249-251, (no title) (1 text)
DT 773, JBMARCUM
Roud #692
RECORDINGS:
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner ("Mac & Bob"), "The Murder of J. B. Markham" (Brunswick 305, 1929; Supertone S-2035, 1930; rec. 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] (tune & meter)
File: LE19
===
NAME: J. C. Holmes Blues
DESCRIPTION: "Listen, people, if you want to hear A story about a brave engineer, J. C. Holmes was the rider's name...." Floating verses about Holmes, the people who want to ride his trains, the freight he wants to carry, the rails he'd like to ride
AUTHOR: Gus Horsley (but based on older materials)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Bessie Smith)
KEYWORDS: nonballad railroading floatingverses
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 163-165, "J. C. Homes Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1] (form, lyrics)
NOTES: I suffered for quite a while trying to decide whether to list this as its own song or as a by-blow of "Casey Jones." Formally, I probably should have done the latter; the amount of original material in this song is almost nil. It's simply a fixup of the blues ballad version of Casey Jones/Joseph Mikel/Jay Gould's Daughter (which already constitute an almost impossible mess to untangle).
I finally decided to keep this separate because it appears "J. C. Holmes" is a sport: It split off from the main "Casey" stock, but did not go into tradition in any recognizable form. Neither does it seem to have further influenced the "Casey" tradition. - RBW
File: LSRa163
===
NAME: J. R. Birchell: see The Murder of F. C. Benwell [Laws E26] (File: LE26)
===
NAME: Ja, Ja, Ja!
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, aimed at sailors whose native language is not English. The chorus runs, "Ja, Ja, Ja!"; the rest may be deliberate gibberish or slurs on those who say "Ja" for "Yes" or talk of the usual sailor-ashore themes of drinking and chasing women
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: shanty foreigner
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 86, "Ja, Ja, Ja!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 504-505, "Yaw, Yaw, Yaw!" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 372-373]
ST Doe086 (Full)
Roud #8236
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rollin' Home by the Silvery Moon" (similar tune)
File: Doe086
===
NAME: Jack and Jill
DESCRIPTION: "Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1767 (Newbery)
KEYWORDS: injury
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 254, "Jack and Jill went up the hill" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #48, pp. 58-59, "(Jack and Gill)"
Roud #10266
NOTES: In line with her standard attempts to make mountains out of nursery rhymes, Katherine Elwes Thomas thought that this song was about Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (d. 1530). Evidently it isn't just Republican Presidents who live in fantasy worlds. - RBW
File: BGMG058
===
NAME: Jack and Joe
DESCRIPTION: Jack and Joe set sail to seek their fortunes. Jack is quickly successful. As he prepares to go home, Joe ask him to "Give my love to Nellie, Jack, Kiss her once for me." When Joe at last heads home, he finds that Jack has married Nellie
AUTHOR: William B. Gray
EARLIEST_DATE: 1894
KEYWORDS: love work exile return infidelity marriage
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,Ro,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 813, "Jack and Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 116-118, "Jack and Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 274, "Jack and Joe" (3 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 10 more)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 135, "Jack and Joe" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 67-68, "Jack and Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #782
RECORDINGS:
John A. Bivens, "Jack and Joe" (on HandMeDown1)
Blue Ridge Mountain Singers, "Give My Love to Nell" (Columbia 15580-D, 1930)
Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers, "Give My Love to Nell" (Paramount 3065/Broadway 8080, rec. 1927)
Bradley Kincaid, "Give My Love to Nell" (Supertone 9350, 1929) (Brunswick 403, 1930)
[Asa] Martin & [Doc] Roberts, "Give My Love to Nellie, Jack" (Conqueror 7745 [as Asa Martin]/Banner 32246/Perfect 12744, 1931)
David Miller, "Give My Love to Nell, Jack" (Champion 15502 [as Oran Campbell]/Challenge 392 [as Don Kutter], 1928)
E. R. Nance Singers, "Jack and Joe" (ARC, unissued, 1930)
Riley Puckett, "Jack and Joe" (Columbia 15139-D, 1927)
George Reneau, "Jack and Joe" (Vocalion 15182, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Jack and Joe" (OKeh 40408, 1925)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Give My Love to Nell
NOTES: The author, William B. Gray, is also responsible for "She's More to Be Pitied Than Censured." - RBW
File: R813
===
NAME: Jack and Tom
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a North-countrie man, in Redesdale born... And two such lads to my house never com' As them two lads called Jack and Tom." The two decide to set out to sea. They visit various inns along the way. But both die overseas
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: drink sailor death
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 126-127, "Jack and Tom" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR126 (Partial)
Roud #3157
File: StoR126
===
NAME: Jack Barry
DESCRIPTION: Commodore Barry in Alliance meets the British Sibyl. "We fought them till our cannon brought the British ensign down." Alliance captures Sibyl and returns with their prize to Philadelphia.
AUTHOR: William Collins (1838-?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: battle navy war
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Mar 10, 1783 - John Barry on board Alliance defeats "Sybille" in the last battle of the Revolutionary war (source: _The Father of the American Navy_ by Richard M. Reilly in "The Journal of American History," 1907, quoted on Jeffrey C Weaver's New River Notes site)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 80, "Jack Barry" (1 text)
Roud #7348
NOTES: Ranson: "In searching for the songs of the Wexford coast I was very anxious to find something in ballad form about the Tacumshane man who was the founder of the American Navy. [This ballad is] attributed to William Collins, the Irish-American poet." - BS
John Barry (1745-1803) did not actually found the American navy, though he was its senior officer when he died. (Not admiral, we note; the American navy did not have its first admiral until the Civil War.)
Born in Tacumshane, he moved to Philadelphia in 1760, and was given his first ship, the _Lexington_, in 1776. He commanded the _Alliance_ from 1780-1782, though she did not make her first voyage under his command until 1781. Peace with Britain came in January 1783, but with communications so slow, neither Barry nor the commander of the 28-gun _Sybil_ knew of it, and so fought their battle during peacetime. The battle is usually dated March 10, but I've seen a source dating in March 11.
The _Alliance_ (36 guns), built in 1777, was initially named _Hancock_ but renamed when the French allied with the American revolutionaries. Her early career was not distinguished; Captain Pierre Landais seemed to have more interest in attacking his commander John Paul Jones than in fighting the British (at one point, he is thought to have deliberately rammed the _Bonhomme Richard_). He was eventually relieved, commandeered what had been his own ship, and was imprisoned by his crew.
_Alliance_ itself was paid off in 1785, the last ship in the American navy at the time. When the navy was revived a few years later, Barry became the commander of its first major ship, the _United States_. - RBW
File: Ran080
===
NAME: Jack Combs
DESCRIPTION: "As I passed by where Jack Combs was murdered, As I passed by there so early one day, I spied a cold corpse wrapped up in fine linen." The victim (?) discusses his burial and says "For I have been murdered and you know they've done wrong"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: cowboy murder burial
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Combs/Wilgus 49B, p. 180, "Jack Combs" (1 text)
Thorp/Fife XIII, pp. 148-190 (29-30), "Cow Boy's Lament" (22 texts, 7 tunes, the "M" text being in fact a version of this piece)
Roud #2
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Streets of Laredo" [Laws B1] (tune & meter, lyrics) and references there.
NOTES: This is almost certainly a localized form of "The Streets of Laredo" (itself an adaption of "The Unfortunate Rake") -- but the focus is different (note the last line, "and you know THEY'VE done wrong"), so it deserves a separate listing. - RBW
File: CW180
===
NAME: Jack Dolden: see The Wild Colonial Boy [Laws L20] (File: LL20)
===
NAME: Jack Donahoo: see Jack Donahue [Laws L22] (File: LL22)
===
NAME: Jack Donahue [Laws L22]
DESCRIPTION: Irish highwayman Jack Donahue, transported for life, soon escapes prison and returns to his trade. After a hair-raising career, he is confronted by a gang of police and shot after inflicting several casualties upon the constables
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: transportation crime death prison
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 1, 1830 - Jack Donahue, formerly of Dublin (transported 1823), is killed by police near Sydney. He was 23. None of the police were injured in the battle
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So,SW) Canada(Mar) Australia Ireland
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Laws L22, "Jack Donahue"
Hudson 103, pp. 241-242, "Jack Donahoo" (1 text)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 104-106, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text)
Mackenzie 123, "Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 97-98, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 76A, "Bold Jack O'Donohoe" (1 text)
Morton-Maguire 21, pp. 47-49,111,165, "Bold Jack Donohue" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 99, "Bold Jack Donohue" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 59, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 82-83, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 71, pp. 158-159, "Jack Donahoo" (1 text)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 48-49, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 69-72, "Bold Jack Donahoo" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 111-113, "Jack Donahue" (1 text -- the Lomax "Cowboy Songs" version)
Silber-FSWB, p. 198, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text)
DT 428, DONAHUE DONAHU2*
Roud #611
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Bold Jack Donahue" (on JGreenway01)
A. L. Lloyd, "Bold Jack Donahue" (on Lloyd4, Lloyd8)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Bold Jack Donahue" (on NLCR05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wild Colonial Boy" [Laws L20]
cf. "Bold Jack Donahoe" (subject)
NOTES: John Greenway believes this ballad to be the ancestor of "The Wild Colonial Boy" (see the notes on that song). On the other hand, it looks to me as if his version is a mixture of "Bold Jack Donahoe" and "The Wild Colonial Boy." 
This piece mixes frequently with the other Donahue ballad, "Bold Jack Donahoe." The key element to distinguishing them appears to be that the other song describes Donahue's desertion by his companions at the time of his fatal fight. This song does not mention the companions.
(Exception: The Lomax text in "Cowboy Songs" mentions the companions, but in very debased form. It might be another of the Lomaxes' deliberately muddied versions. But Laws files it here, so I do the same.)
Robert Hughes, in _The Fatal Shore_, notes that Jack Donahue was not the first bushranger -- in Van Diemen's Land, in fact, they existed from the start, because the only means the colony survived was by hunting kangaroos, which meant that the convicts were armed. But the Tasmanian bushrangers, even though they all but controlled the island, left little if any ballad record.
Bushranging came much later to Australia proper, and Jack Donahue was the first truly memorable example. Again according to Hughes, Donahue was given a life term in 1823 (p. 237). Arriving in Australia 1825, he was assigned to work for a settler, acted up, spent time on a road gang, was assigned again, and took to the bush (p. 238).
Donahue's crime in Australia was robbing bullock teams; at this time (December 1827), he had companions Kilroy and Smith. All three were taken; they were sentenced to be hung in March 1828. "Kilroy and Smith duly swung" [though Harry Nunn, in _Bushrangers: A Pictorial History_, p. 16, gives the date as 1832], but Donahue escaped. The price on his head eventually reached a hundred pounds (Hughes, p. 239).
When the police caught him near Bringelly, Donahue cursed them and tried to fight, but was shot in the head by a trooper named Muggleston or some similar name. His confederate Walmsley would later turn informer, and led police to some thirty settlers who had traded with him.
According to Nunn, p. 76, Donohue was only 21 at the time of his death (though Hughes, p. 237, gives his birth year as 1806, making him 23 or 24), which would mean he was barely in his teens at the time of his transportation. The Underwood Gang, to which he belonged, operated in the vicinity of "Campbelltown, Liverpool, Penrith, and Liberty Plains for nearly twelve years" [i.e. 1820-1832]. On p. 16, Nunn reports that Webber was also killed in 1830, and Underwood in 1832.
Prior to his death, Donohue seems to have been less noteworthy than his companions. George Boxall, _The Story of the Australian Bushrangers_, refers to him only once, on pp. 55-56, calling him "Johnny Donahue," listing him as a member of the Underwood gang, and briefly mentioning that he was killed by "Maggleton." Nunn, p. 16, also calls him a member of the Underwood gang, though conflating his time with Underwood, Webber, and Walmsley with his earlier exploits with Kilroy and Smith.
Nunn, p. 76, reports that Donohue was known as "The Stripper" but was "less violent than most bushrangers, gallant to women and had a sense of humour enough to make him a popular hero." He does not cite the source for this data.
Ironically, Donahue was the only famous bushranger of the transportation era. All the other "big name" came later.- RBW
File: LL22
===
NAME: Jack Dowling: see The Wild Colonial Boy [Laws L20] (File: LL20)
===
NAME: Jack Gardner's Crew
DESCRIPTION: Jack Gardner is the lumber camp's "champion boy of the day." When in town, the loggers (?) find themselves in a barroom fight. Thanks to Gardner, the loggers are victorious. Gardner moves on to still greater fighting triumphs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: logger fight
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
FSCatskills 7, "Jack Gardner's Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JACKGARD*
Roud #4617
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cumberland Crew" [Laws A18] (tune & meter)
File: FSC007
===
NAME: Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl) [Laws C25]
DESCRIPTION: Jack Haggerty has reformed his behavior to be a fit husband for the blacksmith's daughter. Following his long absence at work, she jilts him. He blames her mother, but gives up on women in general
AUTHOR: Dan McGinnis
EARLIEST_DATE: 1872
KEYWORDS: courting virtue separation love work
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE,So) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws C25, "Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl)"
Doerflinger, pp. 245-246, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 260, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text)
Rickaby 1, "Jack Haggerty's Flat River Girl" (3 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 108, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 4 more, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 214-217, "Jack Haggerty or The Flat River Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 6, "The Flat River Raftsman" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #63, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 421, "Jack Haggerty" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 392-393, "Flat River Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 566-567, "Jack Haggerty, or the Flat River Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 50, "The Flat River Girl" (6 texts, 1 tune)
DT 607, FLATRVR*
Roud #642
RECORDINGS:
 John Leahy, "Jack Haggerty" (on Lumber01)
John Norman, "Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl)" (AFS, 1938; on LC56)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Harry Bale (Dale, Bail, Bell)" [Laws C13] (tune)
cf. "I've Got No Use for the Women" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Platte River Girl
The Salt Creek Girl
NOTES: While this is usually a lumberjack's song, Beck reports a cowboy version from Texas. - PJS
It's actually a sort of a gag; see the report Geraldine J. Chickering (summarized by Laws, NAB pp. 58-59). Haggerty (fl. 1872) was an actual person, but he never had anything to do with the girl in the story; the author, Dan McGinnis, stuck Haggerty's name on another person's story.
Rickaby, interestingly, investigated in the Flat River area, where he reported that every singer claimed to have known Haggerty (whom he reports to have died c. 1915 -- obviously quite possible), giving additional details about the man's career. But Rickaby failed to uncover McGinnis's involvement in the song.
Linscott knew a report that the song was by Larry Gorman; this of course is just legend. - RBW
File: LC25
===
NAME: Jack Haggerty's Flat River Girl: see Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl) [Laws C25] (File: LC25)
===
NAME: Jack Hall: see Sam Hall (Jack Hall) [Laws L5] (File: LL05)
===
NAME: Jack Hinks
DESCRIPTION: Jack Hinks is described by the singer as a sailor with heroic qualities who is never short of money or fun and is successful with women. The singer finds himself and others wrecked on the rocks but Jack manages to save himself.
AUTHOR: Johnnie Quigley
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: sailor wreck rescue talltale
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 131, "Jack Hinks" (1 text)
Doyle2, p. 9, "Jack Hinks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 9, "Jack Hinks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 30-31, "John Hinks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4431
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "John Hinks" (on NFOBlondahl01,NFOBlondahl05)
NOTES: The song has a typical formulaic introduction where the singer asks the Muses to come to the aid of the "poor bard" which shows the humble attitude of the singer found in many songs from Newfoundland. - SH
Or maybe an imitation of Homer? - RBW
File: Doy09
===
NAME: Jack in London City: see Jack the Jolly Tar (I) (Tarry Sailor) [Laws K40] (File: LK40)
===
NAME: Jack Is Every Inch a Sailor
DESCRIPTION: "Jack is every inch a sailor; He'd see a pretty girl and hail 'er. He'd vow his love will never fail 'er, Then go sailing with his heart still free." All the girls come running when Jack is in town, all hoping to win his heart, but he will not settle down
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Frank Crumit)
KEYWORDS: sailor courting sex
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 84, "Jack Is Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text)
Roud #4541
RECORDINGS:
Frank Crumit, "Jack Is Every Inch a Sailor" (Victor 21668, 1928)
NOTES: This should not be confused with "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor," which has a similar first line and a some similarities in form and tune. The other song is a tall tale about a sailor who won a battle with a whale. - RBW
Although this song concerns Jack and the ladies, it's still clean -- but we have a hint that it was once bawdy. - PJS
File: FSWB084B
===
NAME: Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7]
DESCRIPTION: A rich girl loves a soldier/sailor; her father does not, and has the boy pressed to Germany. She disguises herself and enlists under the name (Jackie Monroe). When her lover is wounded, she nurses him. She reveals her identity; they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1818 (Garret, _Merrie Book of Garlands_)
KEYWORDS: love cross-dressing disguise injury medicine marriage
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So) Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (23 citations)
Laws N7, "Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany)"
Greig #45, pp. 1-2, "Jack Munro" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan1 171, "Jack Munro" (8 texts, 6 tunes); GreigDuncan1 172, "Jackie Went A-Sailing" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 171-177, "Jack Munro" (5 texts)
Randolph 42, "Men's Clothes I Will Put On" (Of Randolph's six texts, only two -- "C", with melody, and "F" -- belong  with this piece; "A" and probably "D" are variants of "The Banks of the Nile"; "B" and "E" may be "Banks of the Nile" or "William and Nancy I")
Eddy 35, "Jack Went A-Sailing" (2 texts plus fragments, 3 tunes) 
Gardner/Chickering 59, "The Wealthy Merchant" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 139, "Jack Munro" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 143, "Johnny's Gone A-Sailing" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 99, "Jack Monro" (2 texts plus 1 fragment and 1 excerpt )
Chappell-FSRA 59, "Jacke Went A-Sailing" (1 text)
Hudson 34, pp. 147-148, "The Wars of Germany" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. "203-210, The Silk Merchant's Daughter" (4 texts, which despite Scarborough's title are all this song; local titles are "Jackaroe," "Jacky Freasher," "Jackie Frazier," "Jackie Frazier"; 1 tune on p. 410)
Brewster 37, "Jackie Fraisure" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 38, "Jackaro" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 65, "Jack Went A-Sailing" (20 texts, 20 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 32, "Jack Went a-Sailing" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
Lomax-FSNA 82, "Lily Munroe" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 98, "Jackie Fraisure" (3 texts)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 30-31, "Across the Rocky Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune -- a rewritten and expanded version by Roscoe Holcomb)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 82-83, "Jackie's Gone A-Sailing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 121-123, "Jack Monroe" (1 text)
DT 331, JACKROE* JACKROE2 JACKSAIL* JCKSAIL2* ACROSRCK*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 23, #2 (1974), p, 16, "Lilly Munroe" (1 text, 1 tune, the Uncle Eck Dunford version)
Roud #268
RECORDINGS:
George Davis, "Love of Polly and Jack Monroe" (on GeorgeDavis01)
 Sarah Hawkes, "Ho Lilly Ho" (on Persis1)
Roscoe Holcomb, "Across the Rocky Mountain" (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Doug Wallin, "Jackaro" (on Wallins1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(152), "Jack Munro," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 25(934), Harding B 11(392), Johnson Ballads 2086, Harding B 11(1835), "Jack Munro"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jolly Plowboy (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy)" [Laws M24]
cf. "Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser)" [Laws N6]
cf. "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)" [Laws N8]
cf. "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9]
cf. "High Germany"
cf. "The Girl Volunteer (The Cruel War Is Raging)" [Laws O33]
cf. "The London Heiress"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Bold Munro
Pretty Polly
NOTES: The Cohen/Seeger/Wood version, from Kentuckian Roscoe Holcomb, shares some words with "The Girl I Left Behind." - PJS
The version in Fife and Fife, "Roving Cowboy," at first glance bears no relationship with this piece, since it lacks the ending about the girl rescuing the young man. However, the earlier verses are clearly "Across the Rocky Mountains," which is evidently a version of this song. "Roving Cowboy" has simply lost the ending. - RBW
File: LN07
===
NAME: Jack Munro: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jack o' Diamonds: see Rye Whisky (File: R405)
===
NAME: Jack of Diamonds (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Jack o' diamonds, jack o' diamonds, Jack o' diamonds is a hard card to find." "Say, whenever I gets in jail, Jack o' diamonds goes my bail." The singer vows to get even for being worked too hard. He admits to losing his money to Jack o' diamonds
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: gambling cards hardtimes work chaingang
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 279-280, "Jack o' Diamonds" (1 text, 1 tune, with a final verse probably from a "Lula" song)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rye Whiskey" (lyrics)
NOTES: This is pretty definitely related to the "Jack of Diamonds" versions of "Rye Whiskey," but the direction is different enough that I decided to split them. But fragmentary texts might well have been filed with that song. - RBW
File: ScaNF280
===
NAME: Jack of Diamonds (II): see Rye Whisky (File: R405)
===
NAME: Jack of Tar, The: see The Saucy Sailor (Jack and Jolly Tar II) [Laws K38] (File: LK38)
===
NAME: Jack Reilly: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Jack Robinson
DESCRIPTION: Robinson lands in Portsmouth with "prize money." He recognizes the alehouse landlady to be Polly. He shows her the handkerchief she had given him. She says she married when someone told her he had died. "He was off before you could say Jack Robinson"
AUTHOR: Thomas Hudson(1791-1844)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Firth c.13(200))
KEYWORDS: return farewell sailor gold promise reunion marriage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 40, "Jack Robson" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS040 (Partial)
Roud #1794
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.13(200), "Jack Robinson," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(1847), Harding B 17(143b), Harding B 11(52), Johnson Ballads 2587, Harding B 16(117a), Harding B 11(51), Johnson Ballads fol. 132 [barely legible], Firth c.13(199), Harding B 11(53), "Jack Robinson"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brave Marin" (Brave Sailor) (theme)
cf. "Le Jeune Militaire" (The Young Soldier) (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
The College Hornpipe (per broadsides Bodleian Firth c.13(200), Bodleian Harding B 16(117a), Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 132, Bodleian Harding B 11(53))
The Heart of a True British Oak, or The College Hornpipe (per broadside Bodleian Firth c.13(199))
NOTES: Jack Robinson shares this theme with the (older?) French ballads: the sailor/soldier returns after a long absence, stops at an inn, recognizes the hostess as his sweetheart/wife, and leaves when she explains that she has married because he had been reported dead.
The attribution is from the wordorigins site explaining "faster than you can say Jack Robinson":"there was a very popular song by Thomas Hudson in the early 19th century that told the story of a sailor of that name who returns to find his lady married to another. Given the date, it is obviously not the origin."
A description -- posted by the bookseller Olde Musick & Cokery Books, Hobart, Australia, on the Abebooks site -- of _The Spider & the Fly and A Frog He Would a Wooing Go_ by Thomas Hudson and W Wilson: "The composer/singer Thomas Hudson (1791-1844) was one of the stars of the very early music hall/supper clubs and indeed for many years ran his own theatrical tavern near Covent Garden and is considered one of the original constituents that developed into the music hall . He published his songs yearly from 1818-31 and his most notable were Jack Robinson The Lively Flea and of course The Spider & the Fly written in the 1830s and most famously sung by Henry Russell. Here coupled with A Frog He would a Wooing Go made notable by amongst others the famous clown Grimaldi in 1837." - BS
File: CrNS040
===
NAME: Jack Robson: see Jack Robinson (File: CrNS040)
===
NAME: Jack Rogers
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you tender Christians, I hope you will lend ear... For the murder of Mr. Swanton I am condemned to die." "My name it is Jack Rogers, my name I'll never deny." Drunk, he assaults Swanton in the street, flees, is captured, and is condemned to die
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: murder drink gallows-confession fight trial punishment execution
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dean, pp. 50-51, "Jack Rogers" (1 text)
Roud #9557
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Charles Guiteau" [Laws E11] (form & meter) and references there
File: Dean050
===
NAME: Jack Sheppard [Laws L6]
DESCRIPTION: Jack Sheppard, the apprentice of carpenter William Woods, is scorned by his master's daughter. After marrying two (!) women, he seeks to rob Woods, is captured, but is freed by an accomplice. Imprisoned, he escapes again, but is at last taken and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: courting robbery outlaw execution apprentice
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1724 - execution of Jack Sheppard
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws L6, "Jack Sheppard"
Mackenzie 127, "Jack Sheppard" (1 text)
DT 568, JCKSHEPP
Roud #1903
NOTES: There are a number of Jack Sheppard broadsides, including song collections, in the Bodleian catalog, but I don't find this song; see, for example, the eight songs headed "Jack Sheppard's Songs" [Bodleian, Harding B 11(1841),..., unknown, n.d.]. There is no question, though, that Mackenzie 127 is Laws L6: it is Laws's only reference. - BS
Nor does it seem to have turned up in tradition anywhere else; one wonders why Laws listed it as a current traditional song rather than relegating it to the list of doubtful songs.
Sheppard was a real person; according to Benet's _Reader's Encyclopedia_ he was born c. 1701 to a carpenter in Smithfield. He turned highwayman at a young age.
By 1724 he was captured; he twice escaped from Newgate, but was caught again and executed in that year. Daniel Defoe wrote a romance about him (titled, naturally, _Jack Sheppard_) in the year of his execution, and W. H. Ainsworth also wrote about him in 1839. - RBW
File: LL06
===
NAME: Jack Sprat
DESCRIPTION: "Jack Sprat could eat no fat, His wife could eat no lean, And so between the two of them They licked the platter clean."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1659 (Howell's Proverbs, or old Sayed Sawes & Adages, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: food husband wife
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 264, "Jack Sprat could eat no fat" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #52, p. 63, "(Jack Sprat)"
NOTES: This is probably only a nursery *rhyme*, and not a nursery *song*, and so properly does not belong in the Index. But Tony and Irene Saletan recorded it as part of their version of "Hail to Britannia" (which includes many nursery rhymes), so I decided to play it safe and include it.
The Baring-Goulds believe that the hero of this song was initially the dwarf "Jack Prat."
Katherine Elwes Thomas, who proves that scholars can produce tall tales as well as any entertainer, believes that this refers to Charles I of England (executed 1649) and his Catholic wife Henrietta Maria of France (died 1666). The events she attributes to some of Charles's early troubles with his parliaments. - RBW
File: BGMG052
===
NAME: Jack Tar (I) [Laws K39]
DESCRIPTION: Jack newly paid off from sea, enters an inn and calls for a party. All goes well until his money is spent, whereupon the landlady bids him to leave. Jack starts a brawl, but the watch at last persuades him to return to sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1891 (Ashton)
KEYWORDS: sailor party fight poverty
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Ont) Britain(England(Lond,South)) US(MA,NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws K39, "Jack Tar"
Creighton/Senior, pp. 168-169, "Jack Tar" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT 743, JACKTAR1* JACKTAR2
Roud #919
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "Jack Tar on Shore" (on LastDays)
Jim Doherty, "When the Shantyboy Comes Down" (on Lumber01 -- a version in which the sailor becomes a logger)
Walter Pardon, "Jack Tar Ashore" (on Voice02)
File: LK39
===
NAME: Jack Tar (II): see The Saucy Sailor (Jack and Jolly Tar II) [Laws K38] (File: LK38)
===
NAME: Jack the Guinea Pig
DESCRIPTION: "When the anchor's weigh'd and the ship's unmoored, And the landmen lag behind, sir, The sailor... prays for a wind, sir!" The singer compares sailors, who brave every danger, with landsmen who get sick, go below, and despair at sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: sailor bragging humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 132-135, "Jack the Guinea Pig" (1 text)
NOTES: I could imagine sailors singing this, since it certainly flatters their courage, but based on the evidence, I rather doubt they did. - RBW
File: ShaSS132
===
NAME: Jack the Jolly Tar (I) (Tarry Sailor) [Laws K40]
DESCRIPTION: Jack overhears a girl tell her lover that she will lower a string from her window to let him find her. Jack comes to her window early and enjoys the girl's charms until morning when she realizes the truth. Having had his romp, he returns gaily to his ship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: sailor love trick sex bawdy humorous
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws K40, "Jack the Jolly Tar (I)"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 50, "Tarry Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 288-290, "Jack the Jolly Tar" (1 texts, 3 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 38, "Jack in London City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 63, "Jolly Jack Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 168-169, "Do Me Ama" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 82-86, "Jack, the Jolly Tar" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 54-55, "Jack the Jolly Tar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 260-261, "The Squire's Lost Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 101-102, "Jack the Jolly Tar" (1 text)
DT 416, DUMIAMA*
Roud #511
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Jack the Jolly Tar-O" (on Maynard1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 22(169)[some words illegible], "The Merchant's Courtship to the Brazier's Daughter," unknown, n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Glasgerion" [Child 67] (theme)
cf. "The Butcher's Daughter" (theme: sex and disguise by darkness)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Dumiama
The Merchant's Courtship to the Brazier's Daughter
NOTES: In several versions, including [the Penguin text and the Copper text], the story ends: Jack offers to steal away quietly; the lady tells him not to stray too far for "I never will part from my jolly Jack Tar." - PJS
The first instance of this motif in English-language folklore appears to go back to none other than Shakespeare: according to a story in the diary of John Manningham, it came during a performance of Richard III.
A lady in the audience sent a note to Richard Burbage, who played Richard, inviting him to her bed. Shakespeare got wind of it, and he, rather than Burbage, enjoyed her charms. When Burbage arrived, Shakespeare allegedly said, "William the Conqueror was before Richard III."
Hey, I didn't say I believed it.
For an account of this, see Jeremy Potter, _Good King Richard? An Account of Richard III and His Reputation_, 1983 (I use the 1989 Constable edition), p. 154.
The notes in Flanders connect this with "Glasgerion" (Child 67).All we can say is, the theme is somewhat similar, but they're differentsongs.- RBW
File: LK40
===
NAME: Jack the Plowboy: see The Crafty Farmer [Child 283; Laws L1] (File: C283)
===
NAME: Jack the Rabbit: see Can'cha Line 'Em (File: LxU078)
===
NAME: Jack the Sailor (I): see The Sailor and the Tailor [Laws P4] (File: LP04)
===
NAME: Jack the Sailor (II): see Will You Wed with a Tarry Sailor? [Laws K37] (File: LK37)
===
NAME: Jack the Sailor (III): see Quare Bungo Rye (File: Log416)
===
NAME: Jack the Sailor Boy: see Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43)
===
NAME: Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor
DESCRIPTION: "Jack was every inch a sailor... He was born upon the bright blue sea." Having been brought up as a whaler, one day Jack is swept overboard and swallowed by a whale. He escapes by pulling the whale inside out
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: talltale sea humorous whaler
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 125, "Jack was Ev'ry Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 40-41, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 13, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 33, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 56, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 84, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (1 text)
DT, EVRYINCH
Roud #4541
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (on NFOBlondahl01,NFOBlondahl05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ambletown" (occasional floating lyrics)
cf. "Paddy and the Whale" (theme)
cf. "The Catfish" (Banjo Sam) (fish story)
NOTES: This is almost certainly a cleaned-up bawdy song. - PJS
The versions I know all seem more in the Paul Bunyan vein -- extraordinary exaggerations. (But maybe I don't have imagination enough.) I suspect Paul is referring to "Jack Is Every Inch a Sailor," which is similar only in its first line and metrical form, and which IS sexual in theme. - RBW
File: FJ040
===
NAME: Jack Went A-Sailing: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jack Williams [Laws L17]
DESCRIPTION: Jack Williams, a boatman, meets a fine young girl. He turns to robbery to support her. He is captured and sent to prison; she scorns him, saying "I hate thievish company." He is sentenced (to transportation/execution) (but escapes and vows to avoid women)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: crime prison trial transportation courting
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Britain(England) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws L17, "Jack Williams"
Mackenzie 114, "Jack Williams" (1 text)
Eddy 62, "Jack Williams" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 136, "Jack Williams" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 67, pp. 152-153, "Jack Williams" (1 text)
DT 572, JCKWLLM
Roud #1906
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(223), "The Boatman" ("I am a boatman by my trade, Jack Williams is my name"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also 2806 c.17(48), "The Boatman"; Harding B 11(351), Harding B 11(734), Harding B 25(229), Harding B 11(1414), "The Boatsman"; Harding B 25(949), "Jack Williams, the Boatman"; Harding B 11(3265), "Jack Williams the Boatswain," Harding B 11(978), Harding B 20(268), Harding B 28(241), Harding B 11(1850), "Jack Williams" 
File: LL17
===
NAME: Jack Wrack: see Dixie Brown [Laws D7] (File: LD07)
===
NAME: Jack-a-Maria: see Aunt Maria (File: BSoF705A)
===
NAME: Jack-All-Alone: see The Shirt and the Apron [Laws K42] (File: LK42)
===
NAME: Jackaroe: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jacket So Blue, The (The Bonnet o' Blue)
DESCRIPTION: The girl sees a soldier marching past and falls in love. She meets him and offers to buy his discharge; he replies that he already has a girl at home. She asks for a portrait to console her; this at least is granted
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1806
KEYWORDS: love courting soldier clothes separation
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So) Ireland Britain(England,Scotland) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 212-214, "The Bonnet o' Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 43, "The Jacket So Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, p. 301, "The Wagoners" (1 text, fragmentary and localized to make the soldier a wagoner)
Logan, pp. 101-106, "Bonnet o' Blue" (1 text)
SHenry H644, p. 367, "The Bonnet sae Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 275-277, "The Bonnet of Blue" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 295-296, "The Bonnet o' Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 42, "His Jacket Was Blue" (1 text, 1 tune); 43, "His Jacket Was Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC43 (Full)
Roud #819
RECORDINGS:
Nathan Hatt, "His Jacket Was Blue" (on NovaScotia1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(393), "Bonnet So Blue" ("In Liverpool town in fair Lancashire"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 25(251), Harding B 28(160), Harding B 11(4088), Harding B 28(104), Firth c.14(187) , Firth c.14(188), Firth c.14(190), Harding B 11(2653), "Bonnet So Blue"; 2806 c.17(52), Harding B 11(392), "Bonnet So Blue" ("At Kingston upon Woolwich, a town near Yorkshire")
LOCSinging, as101360, "Bonnet So Blue" ("In Liverpool town, in fair Lancashire"), L. Deming (Boston), 19C; also as101360, "Jacket So Blue" ("A ship's crew of sailors as you shall now hear") 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Manchester Angel" (theme)
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as101360 includes both a "troop of soldiers ... from Scotland" version ("Bonnet So Blue") and a "crew of sailors ... from Greenwich" version ("Jacket So Blue"). These correspond to Creighton-SNewBrunswick 42 and Creighton-SNewBrunswick 43, respectively. - BS
File: FSC43
===
NAME: Jackets Green, The
DESCRIPTION: "When I was a maiden young and fair on the pleasant banks of the Lee," the girl loved young Donal in his jacket green. Donal serves under Sarsfield in the fight against the English and is slain. The singer urges Irish women to love only Irish patriots
AUTHOR: Michael Seanlan
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (for USBallinsloeFair, according to site irishtune.info, Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Alan Ng's Tunography, ref. Ng #2612)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1690 - Battle of the Boyne. William III crushes the Irish army of James, at once securing his throne and the rule of Ireland
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 97-98, "The Jackets Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 38-39, "The Jacket Green" (1 text, tune on pp. 20-21)
Roud #9520
RECORDINGS:
John Sheridan, "The Jackets Green" (on USBallinsloeFair)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 3214, "The Jacket Green," P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.7(38)[some words illegible], "The Jacket Green"
LOCSinging, as106510[barely legible], "The Jacket Green," unknown, 19C 
NOTES: Patrick Sarsfield, made Earl of Lucan by James II, was one of the Irish cavalry commanders.
After Aughrim (for which see "After Aughrim's Great Disaster"), he defended Limerick, but seeing that his cause was hopeless, he made a treaty with William III and surrendered. (This was not a betrayal of the Irish cause; Sarsfield gained significant concessions, including religious tolerance, in return for ending Irish resistance.) - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as106510 looks like the Bodleian Brereton broadsides but all are difficult to read. - BS
File: PGa097
===
NAME: Jackfish, The: see The Catfish (Banjo Sam) (File: Vr3182)
===
NAME: Jackie and Mossy
DESCRIPTION: When a mouse runs into the private parts of a farmer's wife, the farmer is forced to call upon Jackie the farmhand to use his much longer "root" to pry the rodent out.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1770, as published in Frisky Songster (London or Dublin, 1770, reprinted 1802) [according to G. Legman]
LONG_DESCRIPTION: When a mouse runs into the private parts of a farmer's wife, the farmer is forced to call upon Jackie the farmhand to use his much longer "root" to pry the rodent out. In older versions, Jackie makes the farmer agree to double his wages before he will consent to have sex with the wife, and when the woman has been sexually satisfied, she lets the mouse out of her sleeve.
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous farming wife animal
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 293-295, "Jackie and Mossy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11226
File: RL293
===
NAME: Jackie Fraisure: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jackie Frazer: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jackie Jackie
DESCRIPTION: "Jackie Jackie was a smart young fellow... Yet he sat by the river of his people Underneath a great gum tree." Jackie's ancestral life is described. It is pointed out that the whites took this away, substituting liquor and gambling
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: Australia discrimination
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 147, "Jackie Jackie" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "Jackie" is, of course, white slang for an Australian aborigine. The song is surprisingly balanced in its outlook -- probably because it is believed to be of aboriginal origin. - RBW
File: MA147
===
NAME: Jackie Rover: see Haselbury Girl, The (The Maid of Tottenham, The Aylesbury Girl) (File: K176)
===
NAME: Jackie Tar: see Jacky Tar With His Trousers On (File: Ord324)
===
NAME: Jackie Went A-Sailing: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jackie's Gone A-Sailing: see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Jackison and Dickison: see The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4] (File: LL04)
===
NAME: Jackson: see Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)
===
NAME: Jackson and Jane
DESCRIPTION: Jane is Hugh Jackson's grey mare. She is challenged to win the steeplechase cup at Cootehill a third time. The odds were ten to four against her. Half way around the jockey tells her that her opponents "are not yet in view." Jane wins easily.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: horse gambling racing
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Morton-Ulster 43, "Jackson and Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2913
NOTES: Morton-Ulster: The singer tells Morton that "Jackson owned a linen-spinning mill in Ballybay, Co Monaghan, though he doesn't know in what period." - BS
It makes me think of "Creeping Jane," though I'm not sure why. - RBW
File: MorU043
===
NAME: Jacksons
DESCRIPTION: "As we started out from Nariel one early morn in spring," the group stops at "Jacksons on the road to Omeo." They have a wild spree, spend their money, and have to head home. The singer declares that he will not return to Jacksons
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: drink money rambling
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 272-272, "Jacksons" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lazy Harry's (Five Miles from Gundagai)"  (plot, lyrics, portions of tune)
NOTES: When I read this, I thought it was a version of "Lazy Harry's," but Meredith et al consider it distinct though clearly related. So it gets its own listing. Just barely. - RBW
File: MCB271
===
NAME: Jacky Me Lad
DESCRIPTION: Progressive rhymed chant: "Oh, Jacky me lad, he loved his dad, He put him in a peer flad [sic]; The peer flad it was so thick They put him in the bacon click; The bacon click it was so fat, They put him in old grand-dad's hat...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: nonballad nonsense humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 60, "Jacky Me Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA060A
===
NAME: Jacky Tar: see Come Ashore Jackie Tar (File: GrD1060)
===
NAME: Jacky Tar With His Trousers On
DESCRIPTION: After Jack sets out for sea, his love mourns. Even after peace is proclaimed, he is slow to return. At last he returns "with his trousers on." She greets him with joy. He tells of his far voyages. He promises he will travel no more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(130a))
KEYWORDS: sailor separation reunion
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Logan, pp. 52-53, "Jacky Tar" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 324-325, "Jacky Tar" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 59, "Jackie Tar" (4 texts)
ST Ord324 (Partial)
Roud #5603
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.13(279), "Jack Tar with his Trowsers On" ("When Jack had pull'd the oar, and the boat was gone"), W. and T. Fordyce (Newcastle), c.1840; also Firth c.12(162), "Jackie Tar"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(130a), "Jackie Tar," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1855
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Come Ashore Jackie Tar" (some verses) 
NOTES: Ord lists the tune for this piece as the "Jack Tar Hornpipe." The NLScotland broadside has the economically interesting tune "I'd Rather Have a Guinea than a One Pound Note." Logan calls the tune by the more familiar title of "The Sailor's Hornpipe." But, since none actually prints a tune, we can't tell if this is the usual "Sailor's Hornpipe." - RBW
File: Ord324
===
NAME: Jacky-Jacky
DESCRIPTION: "Jacky-Jacky was a smart young fellow, Full of fun and energy." Jacky hunts in the wild till the white men come and fence the land. The white give government handouts until money runs short, then try to give the land back to Jacky instead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: Australia discrimination money
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 94-95, "Jacky-Jacky" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Presumably based on some particular incident in the long sad history of Aboriginal relations in Australia, but the details are vague enough that I can't tell what it refers to in particular. - RBW
File: PASB094
===
NAME: Jacob's Dream (Jacob's Ladder IV)
DESCRIPTION: "Jacob dreamt he seed a ladder, Climbing up the sky, Angels going up and down it, Climb up, children, climb." "Climb up, ye little children, Climb up, ye older people, Climb up to the sky. Go up in six and sevens, Climb up, children, climb."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 536, "Jacob's Ladder" (3 texts; this is the short "A" text)
Roud #2286
NOTES: In Gen. 28:12, Jacob dreams of a "ladder" (ramp/stairway) from earth with its top "reaching to heaven, and the angels of God climbing up and down it." - RBW
File: Br3536
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (I)
DESCRIPTION: "I am (we are) climbing Jacob's ladder... And I won't be troubled any more. As soon as my feet strikes Zion's walls, I won't be troubled any more." "Goin' to see my father/mother/sister/brother in the kingdom...." Alternate end: "Soldiers of the cross."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
BrownIII 536, "Jacob's Ladder" (3 texts, but only the "B" text could be this, and even it might be something else)
Combs/Wilgus 320, p. 190, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 235, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text, 1 tune, plus a union/liberal parody)
Fuson, p. 204, "Hide Thou Me" (1 text, probably a mix, with the form of "Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over Rock of Ages" but verses from "Jacob's Ladder"); p. 213, "I Am On My Way" (1 text)
SharpAp 212, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 358, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text)
DT, JACOBLDR*
Roud #2286
RECORDINGS:
Armstrong & Highley, "Climbing Jacob's Ladder" (Paramount 3291, 1931)
Chumbler Family, "Jacob's Ladder" (Columbia 15481-D, 1929)
Maddox Bros. & Rose, "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder" (4-Star 1473, n.d. but post-WWII)
Frank & James McCravy, "Jacob's Ladder" (Victor 21188, 1928) (OKeh 45128, 1927) (Brunswick 192, 1928)
Pete Seeger, "Jacob's Ladder" (on HootenannyCarnegie) (on PeteSeeger47) (on PeteSeeger26)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Don't You Weep After Me" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Jacob's Ladder (V)" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: In Gen. 28:12, Jacob dreams of a "ladder" (ramp/stairway) from earth with its top "reaching to heaven, and the angels of God climbing up and down it." - RBW
File: CW190A
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (II): see Don't You Weep After Me (File: R262)
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (III): see Welcome Table (Streets of Glory, God's Going to Set This World on Fire) (File: San478)
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (IV): see Jacob's Dream (Jacob's Ladder IV) (File: Br3536)
===
NAME: Jacob's Ladder (V)
DESCRIPTION: "I want to climb up Jacob's ladder, Jacob's ladder, O Jacob's ladder, I want to climb up Jacob's ladder, But I can't climb it till I make my peace with the Lord." "O praise ye the Lord, I'll praise him till I die... And sing Jerusalem."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 96, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2286
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jacob's Ladder (I)" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: In Gen. 28:12, Jacob dreams of a "ladder" (ramp/stairway) from earth with its top "reaching to heaven, and the angels of God climbing up and down it."
Roud and others have lumped this with the common "Jacob's Ladder (I)," which is the commonly-known "Jacon's Ladder."  Obviously they share a theme, But there are very few words in common except "climb" and "Jacob's Ladder," and the tune of this is not the "Jacob's Ladder" tune I know. It's perfectly possible that the same image could have inspired two songs, or that one inspired but was not the actual source of the other. Certainly they strike me as distinct songs *now*. So I split them. - RBW
File: AWG096
===
NAME: Jaeger Gik At Jage, En (A Hunter Went Out Hunting)
DESCRIPTION: Norwegian or Swedish pumping shanty. Translation: "A hunter went out a-hunting (2x) out in the woods so green. Chorus: Hali, halo, hali, halo, We sail and we pull (2x). Further verses were supposedly too obscene to print.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (L.A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty hunting
FOUND_IN: Sweden Norway
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 505-507, "En Jaeger Gik At Jage" (3 texts-Norwegian & English, 2 tunes)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Keeper" (general feeling)
NOTES: Hugill makes note that this shanty was originally a hunting song, though doesn't give a specific reference. - SL
File: Hugi505
===
NAME: Jailer's Daughter, The: see Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)
===
NAME: Jake and Roanie
DESCRIPTION: Jake and Roanie spot (a) steer and give chase; it lures them into a gulley and they are thrown by their horses. Forced to flee the steer, Roanie climbs a tree while Jake heads for a cave. Jake keeps popping out; there is a bear in the cave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse animal humorous
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 46, "Jake and Roanie" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr046
===
NAME: Jal Along
DESCRIPTION: Travellers' cant. Singer tells her girl to walk along; they hope to find a good house to beg food or cash from in exchange for matches. They've drunk up all their money in champagne
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 or 1966 (collected from Caroline Hughes)
KEYWORDS: poverty drink begging foreignlanguage children Gypsy
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 128, "Jal Along" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: According to Caroline Hughes, in the old days Travellers would make matches, sell them, buy champagne and get drunk. After recovering, they'd have no money left for food. The song is macaronic, incorporating cant and English. "Jal" = walk. - PJS
File: McCST128
===
NAME: Jam at Garby's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jam at Gerry's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jam on Gary's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jam on Gerrion's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jam on Gerry's Rock, The [Laws C1]
DESCRIPTION: Young Monroe and his crew do not wish to work on Sunday, but when a log jam forms, they turn out. The jam breaks and all are cast into the water, with foreman Monroe being drowned. In some accounts, his sweetheart dies for love and is buried with him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning lumbering
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,NW,SE) Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont,Que)
REFERENCES: (40 citations)
Laws C1, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock"
Greig #132, pp. 1-2, "The Lumbering Boys" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan2 230, "The Lumbering Boys" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Doerflinger, pp. 238-239, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock"; pp. 239-240, "The Jam on Jerry's Rock" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 111-113, "Young Monroe at Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 213, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (3 texts)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 267-268, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 102, "The Jam at Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 57, "The Jam on Gary's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 163, "Young Monroe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 752-753, "The Jam at Garby's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 153, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (2 texts)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 33-35,247, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 26-29, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 23, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #27, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (2 texts, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 4, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Warner 16, "The Jam on Gerrion's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 51, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 152-153, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks (The Foreman John Monroe or Young Monroe)" (1 text)
JHCox 51, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (2 texts plus mention of 2 more)
JHCoxIIB, #7, pp. 137-138, "The Jam at Gerry's Rock" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Rickaby 2, "Gerry's Rocks" (2 texts plus 2 fragments, 4 tunes)
Dean, pp. 25-26, "Young Munroe" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 109, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more, 2 tunes)
Linscott, pp. 217-220, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 771-773, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 418, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 78-79, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 394-395, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 175-178, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Lomax-FSUSA 50, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 448-450, "Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 847-849, "Gerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 240, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text)
Arnett, pp. 122-123, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 127-128, "The Jam on Jerry's Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 176-178, "The Jam on Jerry's Rock" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 101 "Jam on Jerry's Rocks" (1 text)
DT 600, JAMGERR1* JAMGERR2*
Roud #256
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (on Lumber01)
Warde Ford, "Foreman Monroe / Young Monroe" (AFS 4214 A1, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Marie Hare, "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (on MRMHare01)
Jim Kirkpatrick, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (AFS, 1948; on LC56)
Bill McBride, "The Jam on Gerry's Rocks" (AFS, 1938; on LC56)
Pete Seeger, "Jam on Jerry's Rocks" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Death of Harry Bradford" [Laws C12] (plot, tune)
cf. "'Twas on the Napanee" (plot)
cf. "The Loss of the Antelope" (tune)
cf. "The Wreck of the Asia" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Death of Young Monroe
Garbey's Rock
Foreman Young Monroe
File: LC01
===
NAME: Jam on Jerry's Rock, The: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Jamaica Girl: see The Gallant Brigantine [Laws D25] (File: LD25)
===
NAME: Jamboree: see Whip Jamboree (Whup Jamboree) (File: Br3230)
===
NAME: James A. Garfield: see Charles Guiteau [Laws E11] (File: LE11)
===
NAME: James and Flora (Flora and Jim, The United Lovers)
DESCRIPTION: Flora asks James to leave sailing. He won't. She breaks a ring and gives half to him. She dresses as a sailor and follows him until he is discharged. She tells the captain the story. The captain gives them gold to get married.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.12(254))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage ring promise cross-dressing sea ship brokentoken lover sailor money reunion disguise
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 190-191, "Flora and Jim" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1701
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(254), "James and Flora," H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Harding B 11(3887), "James and Flora"; Firth b.26(446), "James and Flora" or "The United Lovers"; 2806 c.15(60)[some illegible words], Firth c.12(256), "James and Flora United"
Murray, Mu23-y2:048, "James and Flora" unknown (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser)" [Laws N6] (plot)
File: Pea190
===
NAME: James Bird [Laws A5]
DESCRIPTION: James Bird leaves his family to join Perry's fleet on Lake Erie. In the battle, he fights valiantly, continuing to serve even after being wounded. Later, however, he tells his parents that he is to be executed for desertion.
AUTHOR: James Miner
EARLIEST_DATE: 1814 (newspaper, "The Gleaner")
KEYWORDS: execution war battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 10, 1813 - Battle of Lake Erie. The Americans under Perry defeat the British.
Oct 1814 - Execution of James Bird for desertion while on guard duty
FOUND_IN: US(All) Canada
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Laws A5, "James Bird"
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 104-107, "James Bird" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 118, "James Bird" (1 text plus a gragment, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 296-297, "James Bird" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 18-21, "James Bird" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 9, "The Kingston Volunteers" (1 text, 1 tune, much more heavily "folk processed" than most other texts)
Warner 17, "James Bird" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 38-41, "James Bird" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 41, pp. 93-97, "James Bird" (1 text)
JHCox 62, "James Bird" (1 text)
BrownII 221, "James Bird" (1 text)
Rickaby 38, "James Bird" (1 tune, partial text)
Burt, pp. 183-184, "(James Bird)" (1 excerpted text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 158-159, "James Bird" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "James Bird" (source notes only)
DT 361, JAMEBIRD*
ST LA05 (Full)
Roud #2204
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "James Bird" (on GreatLakes1)
John W. Green, "James Bird" (1938; on WaltonSailors; the text printed in Walton/Grimm/Murdock does not list an informant, but is similar to Green's version, except that it is fuller; the tunes are not entirely the same)
Warde Ford, "James Bird" [fragment] (AFS 4202 A1, 4202 A2, 1938; in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Fifer" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Dying Fifer (File: BrII227)
NOTES: The American victory on Lake Erie was something of a surprise due to the inexperience of the U.S. forces. To that point, the Americans had done very badly on the Canadian frontier (see the notes to "Brave General Brock [Laws A22]" and "The Battle of Queenston Heights"). If the Americans were to have any hope of reversing things, command of Lakes Erie and Ontario seemed crucial.
To make matters worse, both sides were concentrating most of their forces on Lake Ontario, which was downstream, easier to reach, and and has more people in the area. The naval force the British sent to Lake Erie, for instance, consisted of only about two dozen men headed by a 27-year-old Lieutenant by the Robert Heriot Barclay (see Walter R. Borneman, _1812: The War that Forged a Nation_, p. 121) -- who was, however, a veteran of Trafalgar, and he had lost an arm in later fighting. If nothing else, he was aggressive.
The commander of the American fleet was a 27-year-old Master Commandant (a rank later retitled "Commander") named Oliver Hazard Perry, who had accepted the Lakes command (considered a step down from the blue-water navy) in order to at least see some action (see see John K. Mahon, _The War of 1812_, Da Capo, 1972, p. 166). He was a friend of the James Lawrence who had recently died on the U.S.S. _Chesapeake_ (see the notes to "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20]). Perry would try to emulate Lawrence's spirit; fortunately he did not emulate Lawrence's inept tactics.
Perry initially suffered one major disadvantage: His ships were in Presque Isle Bay -- a good place to build a ship, but there was a bar in the harbor mouth which was too shallow to get his biggest ships out. Barclay blockaded the harbor entrance; had Perry tried to take his big ships out in those circumstances, they would surely have been destroyed and would have blocked the passage as well. But Barclay at the end of July 1813 briefly sailed away, and the Americans managed to get their ships out (Borneman, pp. 123-125; Donald R. Hickey, _The War of 1812_, p. 131; Mahon, p. 170; Fletcher Pratt, _A Compact History of the United States Navy_, p.86, opines that the British, who had not yet completed their flagship _Detroit_, thought the American fleet too large to fight, but most others think it was a supply problem or the like. Mahon mentions a folktale that Barclay went to a dinner in Dover). The Americans would settle at Put-In Bay, not far from the British base at Amherstberg (Mahon, p. 170). 
That may have been the decisive move of the campaign. Rather than the blockader, Barclay was now the blockaded. He had the single biggest ship on the lake, the _Detroit_, but it was not finished until mid-August, by which time the American blockade had made it impossible for the British to bring in big guns. The _Detroit_ ended up armed rather haphazardly, using the few guns at hand (taken from a land fort; Mahon, p. 171); according to Hickey, p. 132, most of them had to be fired by shooting a pistol over the fire-hole (Mahon, p. 176, blames this on bad matches, but the result is the same). The next-best British ship, the _Queen Charlotte_, had almost no long guns. To add to Barclay's problems, he had to supply not only his own ships but the sundry army troops and Indians in the vicinity (Hickey, p. 132).
The Americans had their own problems. The main force of their fleet consisted of the two brand-new brigs, the _Lawrence_ (named for James Lawrence) and the _Niagara_, both armed mostly with short-range carronades (these were the two ships that had been so hard to get out of Presque Isle Bay). He also had a medium-sized vessel, the _Caledonia_; the rest of his fleet was small schooners with only a few guns.
The fleets that fought at Lake Erie were probably about equal in practical strength. The American fleet had ten ships to six (so most sources; Mahon, p. 169, credits the Americans with only nine and gives numbers of guns I haven't seen elsewhere), but in ships larger than gunboats, the British had four and the Americans three. Worse, none of the Americans vessels had ever served as warships before, nor even had much of the way of a shakedown (all the British ships except the _Detroit_ had at least spend time maneuvering on Lake Erie), and the crews were inexperienced. And the American vessels were badly undermanned; it had initially been thought he would need about 740 crewmen, but apparently he decided to sail with only about 500 (Borneman, pp. 123, 125; Mahon, p. 169, says he had 490) -- and many of these were landsmen from General Harrison's army (Hickey, p. 132).
Barclay too had to put soldiers on his ships (Mahon, p. 169; p. 176 cites a British enquiry which claims there were no more than ten experienced seamen on each ship), but only Mahon seems to think this seriously handicapped him.
According to Mahon, the American vessels had a combined broadside of 896 pounds, the British 459 -- though Mahon has a tendency to magnify American competence, and no other source mentions quite such a discrepancy.
The battle was a rather disorderly affair. Perry had the advantage of the wind guage, letting him choose the time and distance of the fight (Hickey, p. 132); but Perry used that to change his fleet arrangements once he saw BarclayÕs fleet. In the confusion that followed, the two biggest British ships, the _Detroit_ and the _Queen Charlotte_, both turned on American flagship _Lawrence_, while the _Niagara_ (commanded by Jesse Duncan Elliot, formerly PerryÕs superior; Borneman, p. 125) stayed in its place far back in the line rather than doing something about _Queen Charlotte_. As a result, the _Lawrence_ would be crippled and out of the fight (Borneman, p. 128; Hickey, p. 133, reports that her crew suffered 80% casualties).
Perry eventually decided to leave the _Lawrence_ (which would suffer about two-thirds of the American casualties in the battle; Borneman, p. 132) and head for the _Niagara_. Even though his ship was being destroyed (she was still floating, but dismasted and unmaneuverable and incapable of firing a proper broadside) and his crew slaughtered, he forbid his former flagship to surrender (see William Ratigan, _Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals_, revised edition, Eerdmans, 1977, p. 172). Sure, he might cause many more men to die -- but what was that compared with his reputation?
Barclay, meanwhile, had been wounded; he ordered his men to try to sink the boat in which Perry was fleeing, but then had to be taken below. And Perry  got lucky. _Queen Charlotte_ had lost her captain and the next two officers in command (Mahon, pp. 175-176), and Barclay was disabled on the _Detroit_ (which had itself suffered badly at the hands of _Lawrence_), and the two British ships ran afoul of each other. _Niagara_ was able to cross the T of the other two ships, and Elliot (who had left the _Niagara_ when Perry came aboard) brought up several smaller American ships to attack the other side, and the four smaller British ships were unable to stop him. _Queen Charlotte_ struck her colors, then _Detroit_ (Borneman, p. 132), and the other four British ships apparently preferered to give in rather than fight or flee (to be sure, _Niagara_, a square-rigged ship, should have been faster than the schooners and could probably have sunk most of them).
The fate of the British ships varied; that of the _Detroit_ was particularly absurd. There was apparently in this period a habit of loading a boat with innocent animals and sending it over Niagara Falls (Ratigan, p. 1790. The _Detroit_ was one ship so used; Ratigan, p. 181 reports that her sacrifice ended the appalling practice; "that is the last record of such a fresh-water Roman holiday."
Perry's announcement of the battle result is famous; he reported to General William Henry Harrison, "We have met the enemy and they are ours."
This was fortunate for Harrison (one of many lousy American generals of 1812; with the military academy still new, most of the generals were political picks -- see Mahon, p. 103, which lists the four Major Generals, including Harrison, appointed in early 1813; all were old and well-connected. It says something that, by the standards of the time, Harrison was a *good* general; the others were basically disasters).
Harrison had already suffered badly at the hands of British commander Henry Proctor, who defeated pieces of Harrison's army in detail. After Lake Erie,  with his supply lines in danger, Proctor should have fallen back, but waited too long, then let his Indian allies talk him into battle at Moravian Town on the Thames River (about half way between modern Windsor and London, Ontario). And his forces were not very strong -- perhaps 800 regulars and 500 Indians, most of whom had been on short rations (Hickey, p. 137; Mahon, pp. 182-183). The Americans charged, and Proctor's thin line was broken; his surviving European troops were sent reeling back, and many of the Indians, including the brilliant Tecumseh, were killed (Borneman, pp. 158-161).
Harrison, though he couldn't advance much farther, had secured Detroit, and that, combined with his treacherous slaughter at Tippicanoe, would later make him President. Richard Mentor Johnson, who had trained up an elite cavalry unit (nearly every Kentucky regiment was mounted, but only Johnson's were allowed to take their horses into Canada; Mahon, pp. 181-182) and led the charge that won the battle and took part in the slaughter of the Indians, would eventually end up in a presidential race against Harrison in 1836; he was Martin Van Buren's vice presidential candidate, with the absurd campaign slogan "Rumpsey dumpsey, Rumpsey dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh" (see Samuel Eliot Morison, _The Oxford History of the American People_, p. 454. Johnson almost certainly did not personally kill Tecumseh, but no one knew who had -- his body was reportedly never found, though Hickey, p. 139, talks of soldiers bringing home Tecumseh relics). As a result, Johnson was able to make at least an informal claim to have killed the Indian leader.
So strange was the 1836 election -- which featured three Whig candidates plus Democrat Martin Van Buren -- that, though Van Buren was elected directly, the electoral college did not settle on a Vice President and the matter was settled in the Senate, where the Democratic majority naturally picked Johnson over the leading Whig candidate).
There is a broadside ballad about the Battle of Lake Erie, called "Perry's Victory" or something similar. Ratigan, p. 175, reports, "Considering the ratio of population, the ballad of Perry's victory outold any popular recording of today. It was still a prime favorite at county fairs and other festivals half a century later." But it seems to have left no hold on tradition.
There are few other monuments to the campaign, either. Lake Erie was the first and only true naval battle of the War of 1812 (as opposed to single-ship combats), and because it was a complete victory, there was no real need for further fighting. And, because a ship on the Upper Lakes could not be sent over Niagara Falls, there was no other practical use for the ships, _Lawrence_, badly battered, was not preserved; _Niagara_, after Americans and British reached an agreement to disarm the lakes, was scuttled in Misery Bay (see Michael J. Varhola, _Shipwrecks and Lost Treasures: Great Lakes_, Globe Pequot Press, 2007 [listed as copyright 2008, but I bought my copy in November 2007], p. 44). The cold fresh water preserved her, and she was eventually raised -- but the _Niagara_ sailing now is a replica reassembled based on the raised ship (Varhola, pp. 45-46).
James Bird seems to have been a fairly typical American soldier of the period: Brave, but completely impervious to discipline. After joining the army, he transferred to the marines to escape the regimentation of army life. He showed great courage at the Battle of Lake Erie, but hated the tedium of garrison work, neglected his duties, and was court-martialed and executed at Erie, Pennsylvania. - RBW
File: LA05
===
NAME: James Campbell: see Bonnie George Campbell [Child 210] (File: C210)
===
NAME: James Connolly
DESCRIPTION: "Where O where is our James Connolly? Where O where is that galland man? He's gone to organize the Union." Conolly's Union and a citizen army fight for freedom, but he is wounded, imprisoned, and killed; Ireland buries and mourns him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion death labor-movement prison execution IRA
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1916 - Execution of James Connolly, Irish patriot, union leader, and socialist
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 99-100, "James Connolly" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JMCONNLY (JIMCON -- probably a sequel to the remainder, but not part of the original poem)
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 82-83, "James Connolly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12495
NOTES: James Connolly (1868-1916) was one of the first labor organizers in Ireland. Brought up in Scotland, and a veteran of the British army, he was interested in Marxism and believed that Ireland's political freedom was linked to the strength of her labor movement.
In 1913, Connolly and James Larkin (1876-1947, for whom see "Jim Larkin, R.I.P.") organized a great strike against the United Tramway Company. It eventually spread to most of Ireland, but some political blundering cost them support in Britain, and the strike fizzled in 1914. Larkin fled to America, not to return until 1923, leaving Connolly as Ireland's leading labor figure.
Incidentally, the reference to a "citizen army" is probably not a reference to the 1916 rebels. according to Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being Volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 199, "A so-called 'Irish Citien Army' was officiallly formed on 23 November 1913 (in reaction to an army crackdown on August 21).
By 1916, Connolly was leading rebels in Dublin; he commanded the assault on that city's GPO which ended with Padraic Pearse proclaiming the Irish Republic. Connolly was one of the signers of the proclamation. But less than a week later (April 29), Connolly was directing his forces to surrender to the overwhelming British forces.
(It should be noted that the failure of the rebellion was expected, at least by Pearse and some of his associates. In a way, they didn't even want to succeed. They thought Irish independence could only be achieved by a sort of mystic sacrifice -- and set out to make it. Their timing was bad, as well; with millions of British troops fighting in France, Britain had to end the rebellion with all possible speed -- i.e. with great brutality.)
In the process of the fighting, Connolly received an ankle wound which turned gangrenous. He was executed on May 12, 1916, already so ill that he had to be strapped into a chair to be shot. He had had to be taken to the site of the execution in an ambulance (see Robert Kee, _Ourselves Alone_, being volume III of _The Green Flag_, p. 6).
Kee also notes (p. 57) that Connolly's influence lasted after his death. The Dail -- the Sinn Fein congress elected in 1918 had as one of its early acts "the unanimous adoption of a so-called Democratic Programme containing vague socialistic phrases which claimed to emanate from 'our first President, Paraic Pearse,' but were more truly an acknowldegement to the memory of Connolly." - RBW
File: PGa099
===
NAME: James Ervin [Laws J15]
DESCRIPTION: The singer enlists in the British Army, but deserts because he is worked too hard. Helped by his sweetheart, he escapes, fights off his pursuers, and takes up shoemaking. Discovered and taken, he again escapes, proud of his ability to outfight the English
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1841 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(24))
KEYWORDS: soldier desertion prison escape
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 26, 1798 - Beginning of the Wexford rebellion
May 27, 1798 - The Wexford rebels under Father John Murphy defeat the North Cork militia
June 5, 1798 - The Wexford rebels attack the small garrison (about 1400 men, many militia) at New Ross, but are repelled
June 21, 1798 - The rebel stronghold a Vinegar Hill is taken, and the Wexford rebellion effectively ended
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws J15, "James Ervin"
GreigDuncan1 82, "The Belfast Shoemaker" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
OLochlainn 25, "The Bold Belfast Shoemaker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 79, "The Bold Belfast Shoemaker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 92, "James Ervin" (1 text)
Eddy 116, "On the Eighth Day of November' (1 text, 1 tune) (The first stanza of this version goes with "Saint Clair's Defeat," but the last two verses come from "James Ervin")
Creighton-NovaScotia 83, "Rambling Shoemaker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 93, "Bold Irvine" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 766, BLFSTSHO* JAMERVIN
Roud #982
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(24), "Belfast Shoe-maker," J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840; also 2806 c.15(252), "The Belfast Shoe-maker!"; Harding B 25(167), "Belfast Shoemaker!"; Firth c.14(130), "Bold James Irvine"
LOCSinging, sb10038a, "The Bold Shoemaker," H. De Marsan (New York), 1859-1860; also as101350, "The Bold Shoemaker" 
SAME_TUNE:
What You Will (per broadside Bodleian Firth c.14(130))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Deserter
NOTES: Daithi Sproule has a version of this ballad in which James Erwin is one of Father Murphy's Irish rebels; so also the Digital Tradition text BLFSTSHO. The latter is said to be the OLochlain version; it's similar but not identical to Sproule's. For information about this phase of Irish history, see the notes to "Boulavogie," "Father Murphy (I)," and the references cited there. - RBW
Re the Father Murphy connection: the following is from OLochlainn 25/Moylan 79. O Lochlainn has it from a broadside.
I next joined Father Murphy as you will quickly hear
And many a battle did I fight with his brave Shelmaliers. 
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Bold Belfast Shoemaker" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
The whole piece is rather peculiar in its incompleteness; one can understand an Irishman boasting of some of it, but how could someone at New Ross not admit it was a defeat, and how did the singer escape from Vinegar Hill?
Some parts make sense: There were, for instance, many Irish youths serving in the British army in 1798; with land scarce, it was hard for them to make a living otherwise. And quite a few deserted in 1798, and some did indeed serve with Father Murphy.
Lord Mountjoy was a British militia commander who had actually been popular with his Irish soldiers. But he was killed at New Ross, perrhaps while trying to reason with the Irish.
New Ross itself was not a victory for the Irish, though it should have been. The rebels fought their way into town, and seemed to have the militia defeated -- but, having fought like regular soldiers to that point, their command arrangements broke down and they ended up fleeing the town. From that point, the tide of the Wexford rebellion began to ebb.
There is also the interesting problem of what "Orangemen" were doing in Wexford. The Orangemen were a well-known Belfast group who fought against the Catholic defenders, so a man from Belfast would doubtless know them -- but there were no Orangemen in the south; the handful of Protestants were Anglican landowners.
Chapelizod was the site where the English forces in Dublin kept their artillery. There were, naturally, soldiers there, many of them Irish. The United Irishmen, after their leadership was captured, hoped to grab it. The mention of the site may be a confused recollection of this -- but it definitely seems confused. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb10038a: H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: LJ15
===
NAME: James Grant [Child 197]
DESCRIPTION: James Grant is besieged; he tells his attackers, the folk of Ballindalloch, that he has no quarrel with them. Despite this, he is forced to the hills
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1878
KEYWORDS: feud fight escape
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1628 - John Grant of Carron killed by John Grant of Ballindalloch
1630 - James Grant of Carron, the uncle of John Grant, takes revenge on Ballindalloch and turns outlaw. The authorities authorize Clan Chattan to bring him to justice, and later others, but none could catch him. In 1639 Grant made peace with the king
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 197, "James Grant" (1 text)
Roud #3918
NOTES: This ballad exists only in a fragment -- so brief that it is hard to be certain that it pertains to the events described, let alone which phase of the chase is mentioned. Child's notes say just about all there is to say about the piece. - RBW
File: C197
===
NAME: James Harris: see The Daemon Lover (The House Carpenter) [Child 243] (File: C243)
===
NAME: James Hatley [Child 244]
DESCRIPTION: (Hatley) is accused of stealing the king's jewels, though (Fenwick) is in fact the thief. One of the king's children convinces the king to let Hatley fight for his honor; (Hatley/the prince) kills Fenwick. Hatley is made a high official
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1859 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: nobility royalty thief lie fight accusation help
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 244, "James Hatley" (3 texts)
Leach, pp. 606-608, "James Hatley" (1 text)
DT, JHATLEY
Roud #4022
NOTES: This more-than-usually-romantic ballad seems to have no basis in fact. The negotiations surrounding Hatley's release remind me strongly of "Hughie Grame" [Child 191], though there seems to be no actual relationship, and of course the context and outcome are different.  - RBW
File: C244
===
NAME: James Kennedy
DESCRIPTION: James Kennedy goes to visit his sweetheart; he comes to the Moyola and, unable to swim, is swept away. None is brave enough to rescue him. His parents wonder why he was visiting Moyola on the Sabbath. His fiancee is told they will meet at his grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love river drowning death
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H633, p. 147, "James Kennedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #189
NOTES: Roud treats this as a variant of Laws Q33, "The Lake of Cool Finn (Willie Leonard)." But this song is explicit: Kennedy could not swim. "Cool Finn" lacks any such theme. - RBW
File: H633
===
NAME: James MacDonald [Laws P38]
DESCRIPTION: James promises his pregnant sweetheart Annie that he will marry her, and bids her meet him secretly. When he has her alone he attacks her and flees. She is found the next day and lives just long enough to tell what happened. James is sentenced to death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan2); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 19(109))
KEYWORDS: murder execution pregnancy betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(MA,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws P38, "James MacDonald"
Greig #137, p. 2, "The Longford Murderer" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan2 204, "The Longford Murderer" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Peacock, pp. 622-623, "The Murder of Ann O'Brien" (2 texts, 1 tune)
SHenry H37, pp. 485-486, "[Pat O'Brien]" (1 fragment in the notes, tune referenced)
Creighton-NovaScotia 21, "James McDonald" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 6, "The St. Albans Murder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 477-479, "The Longford Murder" (1 text)
DT 515, JIMMACD*
Roud #1412
RECORDINGS:
Theresa White, "The Murder of Ann O'Brien" (on NFMLeach)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 19(109), "James M'Donald, Who Was Executed in Longford for the Murder of Anne O'Brien," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.15(230), "James M'Donald, Who Was Executed in Longford for the Murder of Anne O'Brien"; 2806 c.15(309)[some lines illegible], "James M'Donnell"
Murray, Mu23-y1:079 "James M'Donnell," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John T. Williams"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Logford Murder
The Murderer Repaid
NOTES: Yet another John T Williams gallows-confession type: Peacock includes a fragment "My name is James MacDonald, from life I must now part, For murdering of young Ann O'Brien I'm sorry to the heart; I hope the Lord will pardon me all on the Judgement Day, And when I'm on the gallows, good Christians for me pray."
The Peacock fragment is the last verse of the Murray broadside. It is also the fragment quoted in SHenry from the Houston collection [see SHenry, p. 485], the only significant difference being that the murderer's name is [mis]stated as Pat O'Brien; the note to "Henry, the Sailor Boy," referring to the tune printed for that song, is that "almost all the [Irish] murder ballads [including 'Pat O'Brien'] were composed to it." [In so far as they can be read, the Bodleian broadsides have the last verse but omit the last line.]
Leach (notes to NFMLeach) believes "that the murder took place in Longford Co. Ireland, and that, as was customary, a broadside was published at the time." - BS
File: LP38
===
NAME: James Magee (McKee)
DESCRIPTION: The singer, sentenced to New South Wales, gives his name as James Magee. An orphan brought up by his grandmother, his aunt brings charges against him to gain his inheritance. He laments for his wife and children, and curses the aunt
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: crime accusation trial punishment transportation separation family
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H136, p. 125, "James Magee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Ulster 40, "James Magee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 51, pp. 146-147,175, "James Magee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2492
NOTES: [The] Morton-Ulster text makes this a religious conflict. The aunt "married an Orangeman"; the last verse is
Once I had a well furnished house no room could it afford,
To enter in an Orangeman, when he'd be on record,
But if a Ribbonman would call that way, well treated he would be,
Ah but now there does not dwell a man where dwelt young James Magee.
Morton-Ulster: "No doubt, especially since the famine, land and the possession of it has been to the Irish what cocaine must be to the drug-addict. The more he got the more he wanted. No doubt avarice got the better of many and they used the politico-religious situation for their own gain."
Zimmermann p. 19: "In some parts of Ulster, Protestant and Catholic tenants were mingled and contended for the land; the peasantry was thus divided into two camps, each having its oath-bound association. This led to a sort of religious war. At the end of the eighteenth century the Catholic "Defenders" were opposed to the Protestant "Peep o'Day Boys" or "Orangemen." The "Defenders" were succeeded by the "Ribbonmen," (song [Zimmermann] 39). - BS
Sean O'Boyle lists this as the same tune as "Henry Joy (McCracken)."  The two are indeed nearly identical in meter, but I would not call them the same, though they are close. - RBW
File: HHH136
===
NAME: James McKee: see James Magee (McKee) (File: HHH136)
===
NAME: James Munks's Confession
DESCRIPTION: Munks tells the story of how he turned from his parents' good ways. He killed Reuben Guile, took his horse and money, hid his body, and fled. Captured and taken, he has been sentenced to die. He now reveals details of the murder
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: murder execution robbery
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Eddy 113, "James Munks's Confession" (1 text)
ST E113 (Full)
Roud #4100
NOTES: This song is item dE40 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: E113
===
NAME: James Phalen: see James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC07)
===
NAME: James Reilly: see John (George) Riley (II) [Laws N37] (File: LN37)
===
NAME: James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy
DESCRIPTION: James Stephens is born in Marble City, wounded at 16 fighting in Killenaule, wounded at Ballingarry, subject of a mock funeral as he sails, in disguise, to Paris, imprisoned on testimony of "Nagle the informer," escapes and is not caught again, and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: battle rebellion betrayal prison escape disguise trick death France Ireland memorial patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: April 2, 1901 - James Stephens (1825-1901) dies in Dublin
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 3, "James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Escape of James Stephens" (subject)
NOTES: The Fenians were an organization devoted to freeing Ireland. The organization was founded in 1858 by James Stephens, who in that year began to coordinate with O'Donovan Rossa's Phoenix Society (for whom and for which see "Rossa's Farewell to Erin").
Stephens himself was quite the character: He was involved in the attempted revolution of 1848, which of course was a complete fiasco. He was reported dead at the time, and he did leave the country, finally -- like many other Irishmen -- deciding that he couldn't stay away.
He seems to have been quite moody, and his return home depressed him; there seemed little hope of reviving Irish nationalism. He set out on a walking tour to verify this for himself, and estimated that he walked three thousand miles in 1856 (see Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 8).
Based on his accounts of the trip, one suspects that the real reason for his change of heart was simply the improved attitude that comes with exercise; he found little encouragement. Despite the seemingly-poor prospects, he still decided to found an independence organization. One of the groups he founded would become the Irish Republican Brotherhood, of which much would be heard in the next half century.
Technically, the term "Fenian" should refer to the American society founded by Stephens. Stephens went to the United States in late 1858 on a fundraising tour, returning in 1859 with very little money -- but having set up an organization led by John O'Mahoney and known as the Fenians (a name given by O'Mahoney, who was more attracted to Gaelic than Stephens). Although it's O'Mahoney's term for O'Mahoney's organization, it came to be used of both the American and Irish societies.
The Fenian Society quickly spread; and by 1865 was getting close to the point of rebellion. Unfortunately, it suffered the usual batch of informers. The British government felt the need to suppress the Irish version in 1865. Their newspaper _The Irish People_ closed down, and many leaders arrested. Stephens managed to remain free for two months, but he too was taken eventually.
What followed was arguably the high point of the Fenian movement: Stephens was rescued from prison. Kee, p. 26, observes that "[s]ometimes it seems that all the bungling during these years was on the Fenian side. But the escape was a masterly achievement."
Indeed, it upset the British, who went after the leaders of the rescue with vigor. Their capture of Captain Thomas Kelly, a leader of the rescuers and later declared shadow head of the Irish Republic, led to the affair of the Manchester Martyrs, for which see "The Smashing of the Van (I)."
Unfortunately, his time in prison had changed Stephens; he no longer had the nerve to take aggressive action. Plus the American version of the movement, which provided much of its money and energy had split into two halves, led by John O'Mahony and Thomas Sweeney. Stephens had closer ties to O'Mahony, but both groups disagreed with him on methods (see Kee, pp. 26-28, and Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_), and both would be involved in madcap invasions of Canada (see "A Fenian Song(I)"). The group had promised to rebel by the end of 1865, but Stephens managed to postpone that. In response, he was forced out of the leadership (Kee, p. 31).
His followers carried on, but that pretty well killed the group as an active set of rebels; their attempt at an Irish rebellion failed in 1867. They spent many  more years trying various stunts in America; some were very showy, and others somewhat deadly; none helped the cause of Irish independence.
Kee says of Stephens (pp. 8-9) that "he lacked almost all the qualities of a great revolutionary leader, being jealous and boastful, capable of small-mindedness and untruthful at least to the point of self-deception," but credits him with "an extraordinary capacity for organization and work." (Among his organizational methods was a cell system in which hardly anyone knew anyone else, so that informers couldn't betray much. He also avoided recruiting the upper classes, meaning he had fewer members capable of detailed planning but also fewer capable of being paralyzed by doubts.) It is probably his strength at an organizer that allowed the Fenians to survive a series of failures that would have caused any normal organization to curl up and die of embarrassment at its utter ineptitude. - RBW
File: OLcM003
===
NAME: James Wayland: see James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC07)
===
NAME: James Whaland: see James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC07)
===
NAME: James Whalen [Laws C7]
DESCRIPTION: Jim Whalen is told by his foreman to help clear a logjam. When the jam breaks, he is thrown into the rapids and drowned.
AUTHOR: John Smith (?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning lumbering
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws C7, "James Whalen"
Doerflinger, pp. 243-244, "Whalen's Fate (George Whalen)"
Rickaby 3, "Jim Whalen" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 110, "James Wayland" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 82-83, "Jim Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #31, "Jimmy Whelan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 25, "Jimmy Whelan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 39-41, "James Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 389, "James Whaland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 53, "James Whalen" (1 text)
DT 601, JMMYWHEL*
Roud #638
RECORDINGS:
Emerson Woodcock, "Jimmie Whelan" (on Lumber01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lost Jimmie Whalen" [Laws C8] (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
James Phalen
NOTES: Rickaby reports this to be based on an actual incident, in which James Phalen (so spelled; pronounced Whalen) died at "King's Chute" on the Mississippi River. (That's the Canadian Mississippi, a tributary of the Ottawa). Rickaby's informant, Cristopher Forbes, is the source of the claim that John Smith of Lanark wrote the song.
The date of the event is uncertain; Rickaby states it was in 1878, but Fowke quotes Phalen's grand-niece to the effect that the date was 1876. - RBW
File: LC07
===
NAME: Jamestown Flood, The: see The Johnstown Flood [Laws G14] (File: LG14)
===
NAME: Jamestown Homeward Bound, The
DESCRIPTION: Forecastle song. Verses describe voyages to the Mediterranean and wishes for home. Chorus ends "So fill out sails with the favoring gales and with shipmates all around. We'll give three cheers for our Starry flag and the Jamestown homeward bound."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: foc's'le sailor home travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Colcord, pp. 133-134, "The Jamestown Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JAMETOWN*
Roud #4700
NOTES: [According to Colcord, the] vessel referred to here is *not* the Confederate gunboat _Jamestown_, but a sloop of war built in 1844. She was lent by the US government to a relief organization and sailed from Boston to Cork in March, 1847 loaded with food and supplies to help the victims of the famine in Ireland. - SL
That voyage to Ireland, which Colcord claims is the shipÕs only claim to fame, is not mentioned in her (seemingly unique) version. I must admit that I am not convinced that the song is about the _Jamestown_; it could merely be about a ship with its homeport there. - RBW
File: Colc133
===
NAME: Jamie and Jeanie
DESCRIPTION: Jeanie asks why Jamie looks so sad. He replies that she danced with three other men at the ball. She asserts it means nothing; when he remains doubtful, she gives back his ring. He offers it again, and they reconcile
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection dancing ring
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 108-109, "Jamie and Jeanie -- A Duet" (1 text)
Roud #3952
NOTES: This has all the hallmarks of a composed piece: Ornateness, stupidity, and non-folk idiom. But Ord and Grieg both collected it, so here it is.
I'm not betting anything on the success of that marriage, though. - RBW
File: Ord108
===
NAME: Jamie and Mary: see The Faithful Rambler (Jamie and Mary, Love's Parting) (File: HHH825)
===
NAME: Jamie and Nancy
DESCRIPTION: Jamie and Nancy meet; she reports that her parents "had proved severe."  He tells her that she is always welcome to him. She dreams Jamie is slain, and sets out to find him. When she does, they agree to marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love father mother separation dream reunion
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H738, p. 478, "Jamie and Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9056
NOTES: I have to think there is something missing in this song -- presumably something which parts the two lovers. But until another version turns up, we can hardly reconstruct it. - RBW
File: HHH738
===
NAME: Jamie and Nancy of Yarmouth: see Nancy of Yarmouth (Jemmy and Nancy; The Barbadoes Lady) [Laws M38] (File: LM38)
===
NAME: Jamie Broon
DESCRIPTION: Jeems Broon goes to the hiring fair at Turra Toon to work at the Hilton farm. Six were hired but "five o' them did leave Jeems Broon"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 390, "Jamie Broon" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #5923
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "James Brown and his son, of the same name, farmed at Hilton of Culsh in the parish of New Deer (see map) from the 1850s to the 1890s." 
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Hilton of Culsh (390) is at coordinate (h4,v9) on that map [near New Deer, roughly 28 miles N of Aberdeen] - BS
File: GdR390
===
NAME: Jamie Douglas [Child 204]
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments that her happy marriage to Lord James Douglas has been ruined by accusations made by (Blackwood). She tries to convince her husband that she is true. He will not be convinced, and sends her away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: marriage separation lie infidelity
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 204, "Jamie Douglas" (17 texts)
Bronson 204, "Jamie Douglas" (8 versions including "Waly, Waly")
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 469-474, "Jamie Douglas" (notes and scattered stanzas, plus a text of "Waly Waly" and a part of Child A)
Leach, pp. 546-551, "Jamie Douglas (3 texts, but the third is "Waly Waly")
Friedman, p. 101, "Jamie Douglas" (2 texts, but the second is "Waly Waly")
OBB 87, "Jamie Douglas" (1 text)
Roud #87
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Waly Waly (The Water is Wide)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Although based on actual events, the stress of this song seems rather different from the history outlined by Child. That this song is akin to "Waly, Waly" is beyond doubt; too many of the lyrics of the former show up in the latter. "Waly, Waly" has, however, achieved a life of its own (despite the near-compete loss of plot), and so is listed separately.
Most scholars think this the older song, but there are those who hold out for the influence passing the other way -- i.e. that verses from "Waly Waly" have entered "Jamie Douglas." - RBW
File: C204
===
NAME: Jamie Foyers
DESCRIPTION: During the Peninsular War, volunteers from Wellington's army led by militiaman Foyers storm Blucher's castle in Spain. Foyers is wounded. He asks a comrade to tell his father of his death, recalls his home life, then dies. All mourn him as he is buried.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: grief request battle violence war farewell death dying funeral mourning Spain lament father soldier Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1812 - siege of Burgos during the Peninsular War
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 18-20, "Young Jamie Foyers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #139, pp. 1-2, "Young Jamie Foyers" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan1 106, "Jamie Foyers" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord, pp. 294-295, "Young Jamie Foyers" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 84, "Jamie Foyers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 71, "Jamie Foyer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 32-34, "Young Jimmy Foulger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 103, "Jimmy Folier" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JAMFOYE2 JAMEFOYR*
Roud #1941
RECORDINGS:
Sheila Stewart, "Young Jimmy Foyers" (on Voice08)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(7), "Jamie Foyers" ("Far distant, far distant, lies Scotia the brave"), unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.14(195) View 4 of 5, "Young Jamie Foyers"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(080), "Jamie Foyers," unknown, c. 1875
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of the Nile" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jamie Fires
NOTES: To quote MacColl & Seeger, "The Duke of Wellington's investment of Marshal Marmont's French forces and the retreat which followed were not particularly bloody by modern standards -- a mere 10,000 or so died. Wellington gained an earldom and a Perthshire militiaman gained an epitaph which is still sung round the campfires of travelling people." Note that Blucher, an enemy of Napoleon, is here described as his ally. - PJS
That seems to be a peculiarity of the John MacDonald's version, though; neither Ford nor Ord have such a reference. Ford, who reports collecting the song c. 1870, reports a newspaper item listing John MacNeill as author.
Burgos, almost due north of Madrid and about two-thirds of the way from there to the ocean, is not one of the great cities of Spain, but it lies in a gap in the mountains and thus guards the most direct path between France and Madrid. As long as Napoleon's enemies held Burgos, most of Spain (except the Ebro valley and cities such as Zaragosa and Barcelona) were safe, and as long as France held it, she could operate armies in Spain freely.
Early in the Peninsular War, Napoleon directed several campaigns toward Burgos, and later on, it became one of the chief Coalition objectives. Capture Burgos, and the French garrisons in Spain would be cut off from reinforcements.
Wellington besieged Burgos in September and October of 1812, but -- despite the indirect implication of the song -- did *not* capture it; he abandoned the siege as a relief army approached. - RBW
Greig: "A man of the name of John M'Neill has been mentioned as the author of 'Young Jamie Foyers.'"
Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03: "Some authorities cite one James MacNeil as a possible author for the song." - BS
File: McCST084
===
NAME: Jamie Judge (or, Bonshee River): see Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4] (File: LC04)
===
NAME: Jamie Raeburn (Caledonia)
DESCRIPTION: "My name is (Jamie Raeburn), in Glasgow I was born." Convicted (of a crime he did not commit), he has been sentenced to transportation. He bids farewell to family, sweetheart, and his beloved home in Caledonia. He hopes to return when free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1866 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.14(19))
KEYWORDS: transportation separation farewell Scotland
FOUND_IN: Australia Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(MW)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 243-244, "Jamie Raeburn's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 85-86, "Caledonia"; 245-246, "Caledonio" (2 texts, 2 tunea)
SHenry H151, p. 124, "Jamie Raeburn's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 43, "Jimmy Leeburn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 357-358, "Jamie Raeburn's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 94, "Jamie Raeburn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 90-91,"Farewell to Caledonia" (1 text)
DT, JIMRAEBN
Roud #600
RECORDINGS:
 Tom Scott, "Jimmy Raeburn" (on Borders1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(19), "James Raeburn," unknown, n.d.
Murray, Mu23-y1:106, "Jamie Raeburn" James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(75a), "Jamie Raeburn," unknown, c.1875; also RB.m.143(121) "Jamie Raeburn," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890
NOTES: Ford claims that this is based on an actual incident c. 1840, though the details he offers are scant. - RBW
Charters says this has been traced to "a penny broadsheet published in the 1840s," but offers no further details. - PJS
It [may be] possible to date broadside Bodleian 2806 c.14(19) from its note to the ballad shared on the broadside with "James Raeburn." Specifically, for "The Lament of Andrew Brown," there is a note that Brown "is at present lying under Sentence of Death in Forfar Jail for the Murder of Captain Greig [Creig?], on board the Nymph [illegible; perhaps "while"?] on her passage from Montrose to London"; the broadside itself dates the crime as September 6 and the execution January 31.
[Therefore we can conclude that the date of the broadside] is January 1866 based on the note for "The Lament of Andrew Brown." Specifically, Brown was tried January 8, 1866 in Edinburgh, and sentenced January 10 to be executed January 31. ["Murder at Sea," The Times of London, Tuesday, Jan 11, 1866; pg. 12; Issue 25392; Start column: D. (Copyright 2002 The Gale Group)] - BS
File: MA085
===
NAME: Jamie Raeburn's Farewell: see Jamie Raeburn (Caledonia) (File: MA085)
===
NAME: Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead [Child 190]
DESCRIPTION: The Captain of Bewcastle raids the Fair Dodhead. Jamie Telfer, the victim, races about the countryside in search of assistance. Some refuse, but he gathers enough friends to fight the raiders. The avengers suffer casualties, but Bewcastle is defeated
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: violence robbery revenge help
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 190, "Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead" (1 text)
OBB 141, "Jamie Telfer in the Fair Dodhead" (1 text)
PBB 67, "Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead" (1 text)
Roud #3364
NOTES: Child lists several speculations about this song (derived mostly from Scott, who is the only source for this piece). These tie it, very tentatively, to an event of 1582, at which time Bewcastle was a well-known haunt of robbers and sundry criminals. All of this, however, must be treated as little more than speculation. Nor is there any real evidence that the piece is traditional. - RBW
File: C190
===
NAME: Jamie, Lovely Jamie: see The Plains of Baltimore (File: Wa005)
===
NAME: Jamie's Braw Claes
DESCRIPTION: The singer's son Jamie volunteered; "it wasna for fechtin' but jist for the claes." He struts in his uniform. Grannie thinks his obsession "it's a' far past jokin'" If the French blades would cut his buttocks he would not be so proud of his clothes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: vanity clothes humorous nonballad soldier
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 651, "Jamie's Braw Claes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6080
File: GrD3651
===
NAME: Jamie's on the Stormy Sea
DESCRIPTION: "Ere the twilight bat was flitting, in the sunset at her knitting, Sang a lonely maiden... Fitful rose the tender chorus, 'Jamie's on the stormy sea.'" The singer listens to the girl praying -- and at last steps out and reveals himself as Jamie
AUTHOR: Bernard Covert
EARLIEST_DATE: 1849 (Journal from the _Euphrasia_)
KEYWORDS: sailor love separation reunion
FOUND_IN: Ireland US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H78, p. 484, "Jamie's on the Stormy Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 34-36, "Jamie's on the Stormy Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9048
NOTES: At least he didn't dress up to trick her into thinking he was someone else. - RBW
File: HHH078
===
NAME: Jane Jenkins: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: Jane Shore
DESCRIPTION: Jane Shore, "that was beloved of a king," laments her fate. She had come to the attention of Edward IV, who loved her long but died young. Now she is at the mercy of his successor Richard III, who harries her relentlessly
AUTHOR: Thomas Deloney?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy); reference in the Stationer's Register in 1603, but no copy recovered
KEYWORDS: love royalty death prison adultery
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1461-1470 AND 1471-1483 - Reign of Edward IV
1483-1485 - Reign of Richard III
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 263-273, "Jane Shore" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1391, "If Rosamund that was so fair"
cf. BBI, ZN2929, "Why should we boast of Lais and his Knights"
NOTES: Jane Shore, the wife of a London merchant, seems to have been the last great love of Edward IV's life (though Edward IV was truly prodigal with his energies). She is said to have been charming as well as beautiful, but this simply meant that she was feared as having too much influence over the king.
Desmond Seward, _The Wars of the Roses_, makes Jane Shore one of his main "viewpoint characters." According to Seward, Jane was born around 1450 (though in another of his books, _Richard III: England's Black Legend_, p. 203, he says she "must have been in her early forties in 1483"; this, it appears to me, impossibly early). She was born "Elizabeth Lambert" (this based on recent research linking Mistress Shore with Mistress Lambert; I don't know if it is universally accepted).
Elizabeth Lambert's father John Lambert was a London alderman. This is about all we can derive from ordinary records. Most of the rest of what we know about Elizabeth "Jane" Lambert Shore comes from Thomas More's _The History of Richard III_. This is an extremely controversial source, and one containing many errors of fact, but since Shore was still alive, it may perhaps have some value here. I'm using the text printed in the sixth edition of _The Norton Anthology of English Literature_, which prints More's description of Jane and no other part of the history (perhaps because the editors didn't want to have to deal with all the arguments about this history).
Jane's surname, it is generally accepted, came from her husband William Shore, a successful mercer who was probably at least ten years older than his wife (Seward, p. 88). They were divorced in 1476 (Seward, pp. 225-231; More, in the first of the three long paragraphs of the account in the Norton Anthology, says merely that "her husband dwelled not with her," adding in his second paragraph that she was "very well married, saving somewhat too soon").
Then she took up with Edward IV. Edward was an incredibly lusty liege (I know of no complete count of his bastards, but there must have been a lot of them); at one point he boasted of three mistresses at once, "one the merriest, one the wiliest, and one the holiest harlot in his realm" (More, paragraph 2). Jane Shore, according to More, was the first of these; in her "the King therefore took special pleasure. For many he had, but her he loved" (More, paragraph 2; cf. Anthony Cheetham, _The Life and Times of Richard III_ (with introduction by Antonia Fraser), George Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972 (I used the 1995 Shooting Star Press edition), p. 205, which punctuates the passage rather differently).
When Edward IV died, his friend Lord Hastings seems to have become involved with Mistress Shore, but Richard III soon had Hastings executed. From that time on, Shore had no protector. (It can't have helped that Hastings apparently used Shore as a go-between to Elizabeth Woodville, the Queen of Edward IV, who was Richard's strongest enemy; see Elizabeth Jenkins, _The Princes in the Tower_, Coward, McCann & Geoghan, 1983, pp. 162-163.) The Marquess of Dorset, Edward's stepson, apparently wanted her (Seward, p. 269), but as an obvious enemy of Richard III, he had no influence.
Richard's persecution was severe and probably unfair ("he spoiled her of all that she ever had, above the value of two or three thousand marks, and sent her body to prison.... [H]e caused the Bishop of London to put her to open penance, going before the cross in procession upon a Sunday with a taper in her hand" -- so More, paragraph 1; the carrying of a taper was the standard punishment of a harlot). Rather puritanical himself, and (despite Shakespeare) seemingly devoted to Edward IV, Richard seems to have blamed Shore for much of Edward's dissipation, which resulted in Edward's death at about 42.
Jenkins, p. 166, reports that "on a Sunday, wearing nothing but her kirtle, she was led barefoot through the streets, a taper in her hand. More... says that first she was very pale but the gaze of the crowds made her blush, and 'she went so fair and lovely, her great shame won her much praise among those that were more amorous of her body than concerned for her soul." (The cynical part of me can't help but note that both More and his source, Bishop Morton of Ely, were celibate Catholics. Just who was doing the lusting here?)
After the fall of Richard III, she took one Thomas Lynom (listed by Seward, p. 16, as Richard's solicitor) as her second husband.
It is not likely that this or any other Jane Shore ballad went into tradition, but there seem to have been enough of them that they deserve an entry here. The main reference is to the "If Rosamund that was so fair" text; the cross-references are to other Jane Shore pieces. - RBW
File: Percy2263
===
NAME: Jane, Jane
DESCRIPTION: "Hey, hey, Jane, Jane, My Lordy, Lord, Jane, Jane, I'm gonna buy, Jane, Jane, Three mocking birds, Jane, Jane, One a-for to whistle...." "I'm gonna buy... Three hunting dogs... Three muley cows... Three little blue birds...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: bird playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 392, "Jane, Jane" (1 text)
File: FSWB392A
===
NAME: Janet: see Lady Maisry [Child 65] (File: C065)
===
NAME: Janet Jamieson
DESCRIPTION: Listeners are warned of the sad fate of Janet Jamieson. A rich hunter sees the beautiful girl and begs her to come with him. At last he convinces her -- but a week later casts her out. She wanders alone, then dies. He is killed in Hindustan
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction betrayal abandonment death soldier exile warning
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 470-471, "Janet Jamieson" (1 text)
Roud #5623
NOTES: This song has the curious characteristic of being a warning song that doesn't really warn against any particular action. - RBW
File: Ord470
===
NAME: Janey Ferguson: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: Janey on the Moor: see Janie of the Moor [Laws N34] (File: LN34)
===
NAME: Janie of the Moor [Laws N34]
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets Janie and proposes marriage. She says that she has promised to remain true to her love Dennis Ryan/Riley. He pulls out Dennis's ring and says he has died in battle. She faints; she revives when he reveals that he is Dennis
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3134))
KEYWORDS: courting brokentoken
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 20, 1854 - Battle of Alma (Crimean War). The Anglo/French/Turkish forces win an expensive victory over the Russians
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws N34, "Janie of the Moor"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 89, "Jennie on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 125, "Janie on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H107, p. 320, "Jennie of the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 70-71, "Sweet Jinny on the Moor" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 61, "Janey on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 66, "Janie on the Moor" (2 texts)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 96, "Dennis Ryan" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 58, "Sweet Jenny of the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 461, JANEMOOR
Roud #581
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3134), "Sweet Jenny of the Moor," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1855-1861; also Firth b.25(286), "Sweet Jenny of the Moor"; Harding B 16(336a), Firth c.12(287), Harding B 11(1864), Harding B 11(1865), "Jenny of the Moor"
LOCSinging, as203560, "Sweet Jenny of the Moor," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also sb40502a, Firth b.25(177), "Sweet Jenny of the Moor"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there, especially N29
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sweet Jenny of the Moor
NOTES: The texts seem rather uncertain as to the battle in which Dennis didn't get himself killed. The Sam Henry text mentions Alma, a battle of the Crimean War. Mackenzie's Nova Scotia text mentions "Vendons Town"; I cannot find this in either the history or the atlas, unless it is an error for something such as Vendome. - RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield has Dennis "fighting with the allied boys" while Leach-Labrador has it "in a battle of Nor Amerikay." Some of the Bodleian broadsides simply mention "while in the war while fighting" but others -- as well as the America Singing copies -- do refer to "fighting at the Alma." Since I can't definitely date a "while in the war" broadside before the Crimean War I can't say which is the older version.
Broadside LOCSinging as203560: H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: LN34
===
NAME: Janie on the Moore: see Janie of the Moor [Laws N34] (File: LN34)
===
NAME: Janie Sharp Ballet, The
DESCRIPTION: After leaving "sin's way" at 16, Janie Sharp made friends with all she met, but at 18 "by criminal beast her journey ceased." The singer theorizes about her last hours, thinking she warned the murderer, was killed, and taken to heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: murder rape
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hudson 68, pp. 194-195, "The Janie Sharp Ballet" (1 text)
Roud #4115
NOTES: Hudson reports, "Some thenty-five or thirty years ago [i.e. c. 1910] a young girl named Janie Sharp was brutally murdered in the Rural Hill neighbourhood near French Camp. Her former lover, Swinton Permenter, was charged with the murder and was prosecuted on circumstantial evidence, but was not convicted."
Hudson also comments that is was "A poor composition, perhaps, at the outset," and hardly improved by some years of garbling. I'd have to agree; the result is at once poor in style, weak in detail, and monotonous in its description of Janie's hypothesized transport to heaven.
This is item dF43 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Hud068
===
NAME: Jawbone Song, The
DESCRIPTION: ""Dance all night with a bottle in my hand/Just 'fore day give the fiddler a dram."  "Jawbone walk and jawbone talk/Jawbone eat with a knife and fork" "My old Miss is mad at me, Cause I wouldn't live in Tennessee" 'I laid that jawbone on the fence...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: music marriage nonballad nonsense floatingverses dancetune
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 259, "The Jawbone Song" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 222-223, "The Jawbone Song" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 259)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 103, (no title) (1 fragment, without the chorus); also p. 103, "Dweley" (1 text, a collection of floating verses including one from this song, one from "Crawdad," and others); also p. 104, "Lula Gal" (1 text, 1 tune, at least partly this song though the chorus appears to be something else)
SharpAp 246, "Give the Fiddler a Dram" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7728 and 3657
RECORDINGS:
Carter Bros. & Son, "Old Joe Bone," "Give the Fiddler a Dram" (both on OKeh 45289, 1929)
Willie Chapman, "Jaw Bone" [instrumental] (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Crazy Hillbillies Band, "Danced All Night with a Bottle in My Hand" (OKeh 45575, 1934)
Clayton McMichen & his Georgia Wildcats, "Give the Fiddler a Dram" (Joe Davis 3510, n.d.)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Old Joe Bone" (on NLCR13, NLCRCD2)
Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers, "Jaw Bone" (Victor 21577, 1928)
Stripling Brothers, "Dance All Night with a Bottle In My Hand" (Vocalion 5395, 1930)
Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett, "Alabama Gal Give the Fiddler a Dram" (Columbia 119-D, 1924)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Dance All Night with a Bottle in your Hand" (Columbia 15108-D, 1926)
Tennessee Ramblers, "Give the Fiddlers a Dram" (Vocalion 5363, 1929)
Tweedy Brothers, "Dance All Night with a Bottle in your Hand" (Supertone 9174, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Yellow's Dead" (chorus format)
NOTES: I'm including versions of "Give the Fiddler a Dram/Dance All Night With a Bottle In Your Hand" here, because many of them share the same tune and several verses. A case could be made for splitting as well, but in practice the two branches of the family are hard to distinguish. - PJS
This is an instance where, unusually, Roud does not lump; "Jawbone" is Roud #7728 and "Give the Fiddler a Dram" is #3657. But Paul has heard far more of the 78 recordings than I have. My initial description of "Jawbone" was as follows:
"My old Miss is mad at me, Cause I wouldn't live in Tennessee, Wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang, An' a wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang." "I laid that jawbone on the fence, An' I ain't seen that jawbone since. Wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang...." - RBW
File: R259
===
NAME: Jay Gould's Daughter: see Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)
===
NAME: Jaybird Died With the Whooping Cough
DESCRIPTION: "Jaybird died with the whoopingcough, Sparrow died with the colic, On came a frog with a fiddle on his back, Inquiring the way to the frolic." Other verses tell other stories about the lives of other birds, or perhaps predators or other animals
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: bird death disease nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 153, "The Jaybird" (4 short texts, of which "B" and "C" are this piece; "D" is "The Jaybird"; "A" mixes the two)
Roud #748
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Buckeye Jim" (lyrics)
File: Br3153A
===
NAME: Jaybird Up a Simmon Tree: see Bile Them Cabbage Down (File: LoF269)
===
NAME: Jaybird, The
DESCRIPTION: Songs about the exploits about the jaybird and how it cheekily survives, e.g. "The jaybird a-setting of a swinging limb, He winked at me and I winked at him, He laugh at me when my gun 'crack.' It kick me on the flat o' my back."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Talley)
KEYWORDS: bird humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 153, "The Jaybird" (4 short texts, of which ""D" is this piece; "B" and "C" are "Jaybird Died With the Whooping Cough; "A" mixes the two)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 190-191, (no title) (2 fragments, the first having the verse of "The Jaybird" and the chorus of "The Blue-Tail Fly" [Laws I19])
File: Br3153B
===
NAME: Jaybird's Altar, The (I've Been to the East)
DESCRIPTION: "I've been to the east, I've been to the west, I've been to the jaybird's altar, But the prettiest girl I ever seen Was Temmie Slinkard's daughter."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (JAFL 24)
KEYWORDS: courting travel
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 574, "The Jaybird's Altar" (1 text)
Roud #7664
File: R574
===
NAME: Jealous Brother, The (The Jealous Lover)
DESCRIPTION: When Mary "dressed herself in men's attire" to meet Jimmie, he mistakes her for his brother whom, he assumed, had been "to enjoy my dear." He shoots Mary. When he realizes Mary is dying he shoots himself, saying "be ye ware of jealousy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: jealousy courting murder suicide cross-dressing
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 103, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2706
File: CrMa103
===
NAME: Jealous Brothers: see The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)
===
NAME: Jealous Husband Outwitted, The
DESCRIPTION: A (hosier) from Leicester has "a handsome witty wife," but he does not trust her, and threatens to set her aside. She disguises herself as the devil, and with the help of two boys, frightens him so much that he never dares mistreat her again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869
KEYWORDS: husband wife trick disguise Devil
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Logan, pp. 385-387, "The Jealous Husband Outwitted" (1 text)
DT 452, KATEHRN3*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kate and Her Horns" [Laws N22] (plot)
cf. "The Lawyer and Nell" (plot) 
NOTES: The Digital Tradition editors consider this to be a version of Laws N22, "Kate and Her Horns." There is the obvious similarity that both involve the woman disguising herself as the Devil. However, the motivation (in "Kate," the woman is betrayed BEFORE marriage), method, and ending all differ. This song may have been inspired by Laws N22 (or vice versa), but they are not the same. - RBW
File: Log385
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C]
DESCRIPTION: The jealous lover lures (Florella/Pearl Bryan) into the woods with the promise that they will discuss wedding plans. Once there, he stabs her. When captured, he is imprisoned for life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: murder prison jealousy death lover
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb 1, 1896 - Discovery of the headless body of Pearl Bryan, killed along with her unborn child by Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling, near Fort Thomas, Kentucky
1901 - Murder of Ella Maude "Nellie" Cropsey, presumably by her former lover Jim Wilcox
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (31 citations)
Laws F1, "The Jealous Lover (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II)"
Belden, pp. 324-330, "Florella (The Jealous Love)" (2 full texts plus 7 fragments which may be this piece and references to 9 others, 2 tunes)
Randolph 138, "The Jealous Lover" (7 texts plus 3 excerpts, 4 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 158-161, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 138A)
Eddy 104, "The Murdered Girl" (8 texts, 2 tunes; the D and E texts apparently belong here)
Gardner/Chickering 21, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text plus an excerpts and mention of 2 more, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 146, "Sweet Fair Ella" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 67, "Fair Florella" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 287-288, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 250, "Florella (The Jealous Lover)" (5 texts plus 7 excerpts, 2 framents,  and mention of 9 more; Laws places the "A", "B", "C" (apparently), "H," and "L" texts with F1A and "U" with F1B)
Chappell-FSRA 64, "Nell Cropsey, IV" (1 text plus 2 fradments, 2 tunes, apparently a local adaption to the Nell Cropsey story, for which see Nell Cropsey (I); Chappell's seem to be the only known versions of this adaption)
Fuson, pp. 65-66, "Edward" (1 text, probably this although it has at least hints of the "Willow Garden" versions of "Rose Connolly")
Cambiaire, p. 109, "Pearl Bryant" (1 short text, probably this though it is not long enough to be certain)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 251, "Fair Ellen" (1 fragment, probably of this family though it's too short to tell)
Brewster 46, "Florella" (3 texts plus mention of 3 more, all of the F1A type though Laws does not list them); 61, "Pearl Bryan" (3 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 3 more; 1 tune; the "C" text is this piece (of the F1B group) while "A" and "B" are Laws F2)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 59-60, "The Fair Flo-ella" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 180, "Florella" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 632-633, "Sweet Florella" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, p. 31, "(Pearl Bryan)" (1 stanza)
Leach, pp. 787-789, "Fair Florella or The Jealous Lover" (2 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 85-87, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 203, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 63D, pp. 174-175, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 137-138, "[Fair Ellen]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 29-31, "Fair Florella/Pearl Bryan" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 43, pp. 101-102, "The Jealous Lover"; pp. 102-103, "The Weeping Willow" (2 texts, of which the first is "The Jealous Lover (II)" but the second could well be this)
JHCox 38, "The Jealous Lover" (5 texts plus mentions of three more; of these, Laws identifies D and E as this song, belonging to the Pearl Bryan group)
JHCoxIIB, #5A-B, pp. 130-132, "The Jealous Lover," "Blue-Eyed Ellen" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "A" fragment might be this or "The Jealous Lover (II)"; the "B" text is probably the latter)
Darling-NAS, pp. 197-198, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text)
DT, JLSLOVR2*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 204, "(The Jealous Lover)" (1 text)
Roud #500
RECORDINGS:
[Richard] Burnett & Leonard Rutherford, "Pearl Bryan" (Columbia 15113-D, 1927; rec. 1926; on BurnRuth01, KMM)
Isabel Etheridge, "Nellie Cropsey" (on OBanks1)
Eugene Jemison, "Fair Florilla" (on Jem01)
David Miller, "Sweet Floetta" [Floella?] (Champion 15413, 1928/ Conqueror 7839, 1931)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lily of the West"
cf. "Pearl Bryan I" [Laws F2]
cf. "Pearl Bryan III" [Laws F3]
cf. "Pearl Bryan IV"
cf. "Nell Cropsey (I)" (subject of some versions) and references there
cf. "The Jealous Lover (II)"
SAME_TUNE:
The Philadelphia Lawyer (by Woody Guthrie) (File: Grnw283)
[The Drew Murder] (Hudson, no number or title, pp. 233-234)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Lone, Lone Valley
Down in a Lone Valley
The Love Valley
NOTES: The antecedents and relationships of this ballad are immensely complex, and cannot be described here. There are many related pieces.
There is some debate over whether the ballad is in fact a "native American" piece. Although most of its present forms are uniquely American, Barry points to a connection with the British piece, "The Murder of Betty Smith." For this song, see e.g. the broadside NLScotland, L.C.Fol.73(126), "Murder of Betty Smith," Robert McIntosh (Glasgow), c.1850.
(Belden also mentions a possible connection to T. H. Bayley's "She Never Blamed Him." This seems a stretch even in the versions where the girl forgives the murderer.)
Given the number of similar songs, the reader is advised to check references under Laws F2, Laws F3, "The Jealous Lover II," etc.
Fuller details on the story of Pearl Bryan may be found in the entry on Pearl Bryan (I) [Laws F2].
Laws breaks this ballad up into three subgroups. F1A is "The Jealous Lover" (Florella, Floella, Blue-Eyed Ella, etc.); F1B is the Pearl Bryan group; F1C is the Nell Cropsey song. I decided to "lump" the songs, however, as they differ in very little except names.
The "Pearl Bryan" versions of this song (Laws F1B) are told from other Pearl Bryan songs by a first verse similar to this:
Way down in yonder valley
There the violets fade and bloom,
There lies our own Pearl Bryan
In a cold and lonesome tomb. - RBW
Peacock is another who believes "this is an American ballad freely based on an English broadside and a sentimental English song by T.H. Bayly called She Never Blamed Him [sic], written in the 1820's and widely popular during the American Civil War." You can read the lyrics of "She Never Blam'd Him, Never," by Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1829), on the Library of Congress American Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets site, digital id as203280. Judge the likelihood for yourself.
Here's a description of "She Never Blam'd Him, Never": He visits and she receives him, vainly trying "to look the same." Though she was dying, only losing him made "her sweet voice ... faulter." She never blamed him for luring her "from the isle where she was born" into "the cold world's cruel scorn." He leaves and "she heard the bugle's sound... and strangers found her Cold and lifeless on the ground." 
In any case, T.H. Bayly's name has appeared in this index in connection with other songs [sometimes as Bayley]. What kind of poet writes songs that do pass into tradition? You can find out more about him and his songs in Andrew Lang's _Essays in Little_ - BS
File: LF01
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The jealous lover takes his girlfriend down to the woods. (She grows weary, and asks to return home.) He (tells her she will never return home, and) stabs her. With her dying breath she forgives him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Kelly Harrell)
KEYWORDS: murder jealousy
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Eddy 104, "The Jealous Lover" (8 texts, 2 tunes, but only the F, G, and H texts belong with this ballad; the others all go with the other ballads listed in the cross-references)
Hudson 62, pp. 185-187, "The Jealous Love" (2 texts plus mention of 8 more)
Lomax-ABFS 47, "The Lone Green Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 43, pp. 101-102, "The Jealous Lover"; pp. 102-103, "The Weeping Willow" (2 texts, of which the first is this but the second is short and could well be Laws F1)
JHCox 38, "The Jealous Lover" (5 texts plus mentions of three more; of these, Laws identifies D and E as "The Jealous Lover (I)"; since he does not catalog the other three, it appears they belong here)
JHCoxIIB, #5A-B, pp. 130-132, "The Jealous Lover," "Blue-Eyed Ellen" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "A" fragment might be this or "The Jealous Lover (I)"; the "B" text is probably this song)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 51-52, "Shady Valley (The Jealous Lover)" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 121-122, "Blue-Eyed Ellen, or The Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 122, "Come, Emily" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 104, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 198-199, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, filed with "The Jealous Lover (I) but belonging here by  the criteria outlined below)
DT 626, JLSLOVER*
Roud #500
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley" (Brunswick 143, 1927; Supertone S-2012, 1930)
Kelly Harrell, "Blue Eyed Ella" (OKeh 7010, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Posey Rorrer and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Blue Eyed Eller" (Edison, unissued, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II)" [Laws F1A, B, C]
cf. "The Banks of the Ohio" [LawsF5]
cf. "The Wexford Girl" [Laws P35]
NOTES: Given the number of similar songs, the reader is advised to check references under Laws F1, Laws F2, Laws F3, etc.
The element that most clearly distinguishes this from "The Jealous Lover (I)" is that the girl forgives the murderer. At least, that's my guess, based on the "Jealous Lover" texts Laws does not catalog.
I agree, it's a mess; Laws accuses students of persistently confusing his F1 and F2, but gives no method for distinguishing them, and does not treat this close relative at all! If it were me, I'd lump the Jealous Lover songs; even if they originated separately, they trade verses at an incredible rate. - RBW
File: E104
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (III), The: see Oxford City [Laws P30] (File: LP30)
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (IV), The: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (V), The: see The Jealous Brother  (The Jealous Lover) (File: CrMa103)
===
NAME: Jealous Lover (VI), The: see The Wexford (Oxford, Knoxville, Noel) Girl [Laws P35] (File: LP35)
===
NAME: Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley, The: see The Jealous Lover (II) (File: E104)
===
NAME: Jealous Woman, The: see An Sgeir-Mhara (The Sea-Tangle, The Jealous Woman) (File: K003)
===
NAME: Jean and Caledonia: see Caledonia (III -- Jean and Caledonia) (File: FVS237)
===
NAME: Jean and Her Sailor Lad
DESCRIPTION: Jean loves a sailor but he leaves for sea without marrying. When he returns she shuns him, saying she's being courted by a tailor, a ploughman, and a farmer. The sailor ridicules those professions and said he'd go to sea again. She calls him back.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: love reunion separation sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 58, "Jean and Her Sailor Lad" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #5811
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sailor Lad
There Was a Lass
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: "Learnt in Culsalmond fifty years ago. Noted December 1906." - BS
File: GrD1058
===
NAME: Jean Dalgarno
DESCRIPTION: "Miss Jean Dalgarno she was there A maid sae primp an' slim And fa think ye gaed hame wi' her But Arnot's shoudin sin"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: dancing
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 624, "Jean Dalgarno" (1 fragment)
Roud #6064
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 fragment.
The following songs are all one or two verses or fragments with a verse beginning "[so-and-so he/she] was there": "Mary Glennie," "Jean Dalgarno,"  "The Singing Class" and "The Auchnairy Ball." Should two or more be considered the same song? - BS
File: GrD3624
===
NAME: Jean Findlater's Loon
DESCRIPTION: "The winter was lang an the seed time was late An' the caul month o' March sealed John Findlator's fate." He wasted away until June and "left Jean a widow wi ae raggit loon [boy]"
AUTHOR: William Anderson (1802-1867) (source: Greig)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1854 (_The Aberdeenshire Lintie_, according to Greig)
KEYWORDS: death farming husband children disease
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig 173, p. 1, "Jean Findlater's Loun" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 662, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Jean Findlater's Loon" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6089
NOTES: The current description is based on the GreigDuncan3 fragment. - BS
File: Gr3662
===
NAME: Jean of Ballinagarvey
DESCRIPTION: "The first place that I saw my love was Ballymoney town... " He describes "lovely Jean's" beauty, and says that all the young men love her. He wishes he had riches to share with her. He says he will do his best to win her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H822, p. 239, "Jean of Ballinagarvery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9475
File: HHH822
===
NAME: Jean Pirie
DESCRIPTION: The singer says it's not many days that he asked his mother "if she saw I was growin' a man." His legs and arms are too long for his breeches and coat. He stands "over sixty nine inches in hicht, And my wecht was a creelfu' o' stanes"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880 (_People's Journal_, according to GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: clothes nonballad youth
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 653, "Jean Pirie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6082
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 may be a fragment. The editors do not explain the title. - BS
"Pirie" is sometimes used as an alternate spelling of "peerie," "small." So the title may mean "little Jean." Or Òpeerie" might mean "cunning, sly," in which case it is something like "Tricky Jean," and he's after something (like a girl?). - RBW
File: GrD3653
===
NAME: Jeanette and Jeannot
DESCRIPTION: "You are going far away from your poor Jeanette. There is no one left to love me now and you too may soon forget." The singer laments her lover's departure to be a soldier. She wishes she had the power to end war
AUTHOR: Charles Glover and Charles Jeffreys
EARLIEST_DATE: 1812 (Journal from the Minerva Smythe)
KEYWORDS: love separation soldier
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 245-246, "Genette and Genoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 102, "Jeannette and Jeaunot" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST SWMS245 (Partial)
Roud #391
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1850 481050, "Jeanette and Jeannot" or "The Conscript's Departure," A. Fiot (Philadelphia), 1850 (text and tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry and Mary Ann (Henry the Sailor Boy)"  (tune, per broadside Bodleian Firth c.12(284))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Conscript's Departure
NOTES: My sources do not agree on whether the (co-)author's last name was "Jeffreys," "Jeffreys," or "Jeffries." His poetry was not a great success; I have located only two other poems by him. One is a response to this, "Jeannot's Answer" (for which see Hazel Felleman _The Best Loved Poems of the American People_, which also contains a full text of "Jeannette and Jannot") and "We Have Lived and Loved Together" (also in Felleman). - RBW
Broadside Bodleian, Firth b.26(472), "Answer to Jeannette and Jeannot" ("Cheer up, cheer up my own Jeannette"), J. Wilson (Bideford), n.d. is [another version of the] sequel. - BS
File: SWMS245
===
NAME: Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair
DESCRIPTION: "I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair, Borne, like a vapor, on a summer's air." The singer praises her voice, her "day-dawn smile," etc., but sadly concludes, that he is "never more to find her where the bright waters flow."
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1854 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 249, "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 311-312, "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair"
DT, JEANBRWN
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Dream of Jeanie
NOTES: Jeanie was Foster's wife, Jane McDowell Foster. Had she known the uses to which her image would be put (from hair advertisements in the 1860s to idiotic television shows a century later), I can only think she would have filed for preemptive divorce.
Legman regards "Jeanie" as an adaption (he calls it plagiarism) of "To Daunton Me," found in the _Scots Musical Museum_ (#182). But Legman often saw kinship that others do not see; Fuld says there is "no similarity between the two songs," and I have to agree that I see no points of contact between either the text or the tune.
Spaeth (_A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 116) says of this song, "_Jeanie_ is the song that America discovered during those incredibly dull months when radio decided that it could get along without copyyrighted music. Before that it had been considered a choice bit of rather obscure Fosteriana." - RBW
File: FSWB249
===
NAME: Jeannie o' Planteenie
DESCRIPTION: Dialog. Jean, dressed as a man, asks Jamie, the shepherd, about his plans to marry. He has promised to marry someone. She encourages him to play the field. He is shocked. She reveals herself. They kiss, marry, and have "peace and plenty"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Dialog. Stranger asks directions to Traquair. Shepherd asks what he's been about. Stranger: I've had my fill of kisses. Shepherd: I'm afraid you've left someone mourning. Stranger, changing the subject: are you married? Shepherd: No but there's one "to whom I did promise To wed her as soon as my stock I'd get free." Stranger: "Ye're foolish to bind to a woman." Shepherd: "I likit her aye since we were at ta school." Stranger: I'm in no mind to marry. I visited one girl at night when her mother was away and took her to bed. Shepherd: Curse you for that. Stranger: Why? She'd pass as a maiden with any other. Shepherd: You both deserve beating with a hazel stick. Stranger, satisfied, reveals herself as Jean. Shepherd Jamie: "Grant me a' the kisses ye have got to spare" Both: "Now we are wedded and married together"
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage cross-dressing dialog shepherd
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 167, "Jeannie o' Planteenie" (5 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #5829
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jamie and Jeannie
The Shepherd
The Hills o' Traquair
NOTES: Is it just me, or does this *really* sound like a stage dialog? - RBW
File: GrD167
===
NAME: Jeannie's Bawbee (Your Plack and My Plack)
DESCRIPTION: "Your plack and my plack (x3), And Je(a)nnie's bawbee." "We'll put them in the pint stoup, Pint stoup, pint stoup, We'll put them in the pint stoup, And join all three." "And that was all my Jenny had... was a bawbee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: money nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 67, "(Your plack and my plack)" (1 text)
Roud #13579
File: MSNR067
===
NAME: Jed Hobson: see The Cobbler (I) (File: R102)
===
NAME: Jeff Davis: see The Southern Wagon (Union) (File: JHCox070)
===
NAME: Jeff Davis Rode a White Horse (Jeff Davis is a Gentleman)
DESCRIPTION: "Jeff Davis Rode a White Horse, Lincoln rode a mule, Jeff Davis was a gentleman, Lincoln was a fool." May be attached to floating sorts of lyrics about courting, traveling, food, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: political Civilwar
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 387, "Jeff Davis Rode a White Horse" (1 fragment)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 74, (no titles) (1 short text)
Roud #8813
File: Br3387
===
NAME: Jeff in Petticoats
DESCRIPTION: Jefferson Davis realizes he is in danger of capture by Union troops, and decides to dress in women's clothes to escape. The Union troops scorn him, saying, "Oh! Jeffy D. You 'flow'r of chivalree... Your empire's but a tinclad skirt...."
AUTHOR: George Cooper and Henry Tucker
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: cross-dressing disguise escape Civilwar
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: April 2, 1865 - Robert E. Lee evacuates Richmond. The Confederate government flees
April 8, 1865 - Lee's surrender
May 10, 1865 - Capture of Jefferson Davis
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Gilbert, pp. 11-12, "Jeff in Petticoats" (1 partial text)
DT, JEFFPETT*
NOTES: According to Jefferson Davis's account, he was wearing a shawl his wife had given him for warmth when he was captured. Union troops claimed he was trying to disguise himself as a woman. Although Davis's account is likely true, sarcastic Unionist songwriters could hardly leave it at that. - RBW
File: Gil011
===
NAME: Jefferson and Liberty
DESCRIPTION: Campaign song for Thomas Jefferson, to the tune of a reel: "The gloomy night before us flies, The reign of terror now is o'er; Its gags, inquisitors and spies, Its hordes of harpies are no more. Rejoice, Columbia's sons... For Jefferson and liberty"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1800
KEYWORDS: political nonballad
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1801-1809 - Presidency of Thomas Jefferson
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 100-101, "Jefferson and Liberty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 340, "Jefferson and Liberty" (1 text)
Arnett, pp. 42-43, "Jefferson and Liberty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 292, "Jefferson And Liberty" (1 text)
DT, JEFFLIB*
Roud #4668
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Jefferson and Liberty" (on PeteSeeger05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Adams and Liberty" (concept)
cf. "Lincoln and Liberty" (concept)
NOTES: The Jeffersonian ideal was a nation of small, independent farmers; this is alluded to in one of the verses. The "reign of terror" refers to the Alien and Sedition Acts, two pieces of Federalist policy designed to control dissent. Both passed in 1798; the former gave the President the power to arbitrarily expel foreigners while the latter made it illegal to speak against the federal government (!). Jefferson made good on his promises after the election; all victims of the Acts were freed.
Having finally sat down to read all dozen verses of this wordy piece, I must admit that listeners would probably have wanted liberty in the form of forcing the singer to just shut *up.* - RBW
File: SBoA100
===
NAME: Jehovah, Hallelujah
DESCRIPTION: "Jehovah, Hallelujah, the Lord will provide (x2)." "The foxes have a hole, and the birdies have a nest, The Son of Man he dunno where to lay the weary head."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus home nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 2, "Jehovah, Hallelujah" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11861
NOTES: The phrase "The Lord will provide" is proverbial, but with an interesting twist. In Genesis 22, Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice his only (legitimate) son Isaac. Abraham takes the boy to the land of Moriah, where Isaac asks, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answers, "God will provide." (Note the use of the word God, not Yahweh=The Lord). But as Abraham is about to murder his son, God intervenes and tells Abraham to sacrifice a ram he finds trapped instead. Abraham therefore names that place "Yahweh-Yireh," "Yahweh will provide," which in modern English versions is rendered "The Lord will provide."
The King James version, however, does not render the verse this way, reading instead, "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh, as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." Thus the first verse of this song seems to be based on a mixture of the King James rendering and an accurate rendering.
The second verse, about foxes having holes, derives from Matthew 8:20=Luke 9:58. - RBW
File: AWG002A
===
NAME: Jekkel Walls
DESCRIPTION: "When Jekkel walls fell down, It's no difference whar I stand... Dere's someone always ready To point de finger of scorn at me." The singer says he will "soon end at home." The singer wants others to celebrate as he celebrates in heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 601, "Jekkel Walls" (1 text)
Roud #11911
NOTES: The name "Jekkel" for "Jericho" (cf. Joshua 6) is new to me -- but we find "Shorty" Love, the informant in this case, using the same pronunciation in "Christ Was a Weary Traveler." - RBW
File: Br3601
===
NAME: Jellon Graeme: see Jellon Grame [Child 90] (File: C090)
===
NAME: Jellon Grame [Child 90]
DESCRIPTION: (Jellon Grame) murders the woman he claims to love (because she carries his child and he fears discovery/because she loves another whose child she carries). (He/her sister) raises the boy. He later reveals the murder to the boy, who kills him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: love pregnancy murder revenge
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 90, "Jellon Grame" (4 texts)
Bronson 90, "Jellon Grame" (1 version)
GreigDuncan2 198, "Jellon Graeme" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Davis-More 27, pp. 207-213, "Jellon Grame" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 284-286, "Jellon Grame" (1 text)
OBB 49, "Jellon Grame" (1 text)
PBB 55, "Jellon Grame" (1 text)
DT 90, JELGRAEM
Roud #58
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Fause Foodrage" [Child 89] (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jellon Graeme
NOTES: Davis seems to have no doubts about the authenticity of his text, the lone representative outside Scotland of a ballad with only the weakest roots in tradition even there -- this even though, as he himself admits, it has a surprising similarity to Child A. Well, if he won't question it, I will. I'm not saying it's a fake -- but I wouldn't be surprised if it were influenced by print. - RBW
File: C090
===
NAME: Jemmy Joneson's Whurry
DESCRIPTION: "Whei cowers biv the chimley reek, Begox! it's all a horney, For thro' the world aw wisht to keek... Aw thowt aw'd myek a voyage to Shiels Iv Jemmy Joneson's whurry." The singer tells of the various sights along the trip
AUTHOR: Thomas Thompson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay); Thompson died 1816
KEYWORDS: ship travel
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  46-47, "Jemmy Johnson's Wherry"  (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR046 (Partial)
Roud #3061
NOTES: Stokoe/Reay calls this song by two different names: The first page labels the vessel a "wherry"; all other references are to a "whurry." - RBW
File: StoR046
===
NAME: Jemmy O'Brien
DESCRIPTION: Jemmy O'Brien destroyed patriots. "With his dagger ... would he slaughter The husband, the wife, and the daughter." "The braggart he is now pulled down And all the great lawyers of the Crown Could not save poor Jemmy O'Brien!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893 (McCall's _In the Shadow of St Patrick's_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: execution political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 166, "Jemmy O'Brien" (1 fragment)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet" (subject)
cf. "The Major" (characters)
NOTES: Given its date, this sounds rather like a warning to those who opposed Irish independence. For the background, see the notes to "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet" and "The Major." - RBW
File: Moyl166
===
NAME: Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet
DESCRIPTION: "De night before Jemmy was stretch'd" "de corps of informers and spies" commiserates with him and wonder that the Major can't save such a loyalist. The hangman finds him imagining the ghosts of his victims and their wives and orphans. He is hanged.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (_Paddy's Resource or the Harp of Erin_(Dublin), according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: execution humorous nonballad political recitation ghost
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 166, "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jemmy O'Brien" (subject)
cf. "The Major" (characters)
cf. "The Night before Larry was Stretched" (tune)
NOTES: Moylan has his text from Dublin _Paddy's Resource_: a spoken narrative interspersed with verses sung to "De night before Larry was stretched" and "Welcome, welcome brother debtor." The complete heading is "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet as performed At de Sheriff's Ridotto, No. 1, Green street."
For more on the relationship between Jemmy O'Brien and Town Major Sirr see the notes to "The Major." Jemmy O'Brien appears as an informer in "The Croppy Boy" [Laws J14] and as an incidental character in "Hevey's Mare." - BS
File: Moyl166
===
NAME: Jennie Ferguson: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: Jennie Jenkins: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: Jennie of the Moore: see Janie of the Moor [Laws N34] (File: LN34)
===
NAME: Jennie on the Moore: see Janie of the Moor [Laws N34] (File: LN34)
===
NAME: Jennie P. King, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer "shipped in Tonawanda Some timber for to bring, From Toledo at a dollar a day On the barque the Jennie P. King." The singer describes the very mixed crew, Americans and Italians and Canadians and others. The voyage ends in Buffalo
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (collected from Norman MacIvor by Walton)
KEYWORDS: sailor ship travel foreigner horse
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 137-139, "The Jennie P. King" (1 composite text)
File: WGM137
===
NAME: Jennie Put the Kettle On: see Molly Put the Kettle On (Polly Put the Kettle On) (File: DarNS256)
===
NAME: Jennie, the Flower of Kildare
DESCRIPTION: "I am dreaming of Erin tonight and the little white cot by the sea, Where Jennie, my darling, now dwells...." The singer misses her, and is sure she is waiting for him; he hopes soon to return to Ireland to see her
AUTHOR: Words: Frank Dumont / Music: James E. Stewart
EARLIEST_DATE: 1873 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: separation reunion love Ireland
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dean, p. 81, "Jennie, the Flower of Kildare" (1 text)
Roud #5767
NOTES: Although not common in tradition, this song seems to have been popular in the 1870s; the American Memory collection at the Library of Congress has three different sheet music settings from 1873-1875, and the third one is a "transcrption" -- which generally means "a stolen version rearranged a little so we can get a cut of someone else's royalties."
Frank Dumont, according to Sigmund Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 91, reports, "Frank Dumont, originally a member of the Carncross [minstrel] company, eventually took charge of Philadelphia's Eleventh Street Opera House, which holds the record for continuous production of minstrel shows in America. Practically every star of black-face appeared there at some time in his career. Dumont himself was a versatile singer, author and compose, contributing much material to the shows of his day."
Douglas Gilbert, _Lost Chords_, p. 130, says of Dumont that he was "a sprightly writer of skits and lyrics. He wrote _The Book Agent_, a filthy vaudeville afterpiece that slopped around the dumps and slabs like stale beer. From it Charles Hoyt derived the immensely successful family farce, _The Parlor Match_.... Dumont wrote, too, the amazing song called 'The Aesthetic Girl; or Too Utterly Utter" -- amazing not only because it is one of the extremely few satirical songs of the '80s but also because it is clever...." - RBW
File: Dean071
===
NAME: Jennifer Gentle: see Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1] (File: C001)
===
NAME: Jenny Dear: see Nancy (I) [Laws P11] (File: LP11)
===
NAME: Jenny Go Gentle: see The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin [Child 277] (File: C277)
===
NAME: Jenny Jenkins
DESCRIPTION: The young man/men try to invite Jenny to the dance by asking her what color she will wear: "Will you wear the (red), O ne'er, o ne'er, o, Will you wear the red, Jenny Jenkins?" She objects to most colors, but at last may agree to one of them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1823
KEYWORDS: dancing questions courting rejection clothes colors
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Randolph 453, "I'll Never Wear the Red Any More" (1 fragment, related to if not part of this song)
BrownIII 69, "Jennie Jenkins" (2 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 1 more)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 164-167, "Jennie Jenkins," "Jane Jenkins" (2 texts plus some odds and ends, 1 tune; one of the texts is from the Green Mountain Songster)
Linscott, pp. 299-300, "Will You Wear the Red? or Jennie Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 260, "Will You Wear Red?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 15, "Jennie Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 65, "Will You Wear Red?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 48-49, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 11, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 346, "Jenny Jenkins" (1 text)
DT, JJENKINS JJENKIN2
Roud #731
RECORDINGS:
E. C. & Orna Ball, "Jennie Jenkins" (AFS 8, 1941; on LC02 [the latter listed as by Mr & Mrs. Estil C. Ball])
Warde Ford, "Jinnie Jenkins" (AFS 4198 B4, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Jinnie Jenkins" (on BLLunsford02)
Margaret MacArthur, "Jenny Jenkins" (on MMacArthur01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Jennie Jenkins" (on NLCR10)
Frank Proffitt, "Julie Jenkins" (on Proffitt03)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jillie Jenkins
NOTES: Often used as a courting game. The boy will ask the girl if she will wear a particular color. She is required to answer in rhyme (e.g. "Will you wear the blue... No, I won't wear the blue, for the color isn't true"). If she fails, she must kiss the boy or, perhaps, go to the dance with him.
This has been known to produce some rather strange rhymes -- "I won't wear purple; it's the color of a turtle"; "Orange I won't wear -- and it rhymes, so there!" "Oh, what do you care If I just go bare?" - RBW
File: R453
===
NAME: Jenny Jo: see Jenny Jones (Jennie Jo) (File: Lins026)
===
NAME: Jenny Jones (Jennie Jo)
DESCRIPTION: "We've come to see (Miss) (Jenny/Ginnie/Jennia) (Jones/Jan), Miss Jenny Jones, Miss Jenny Jones, We've come to see... And how is she today?" Mother answers she is busy/sick/dead. The discuss what color she shall wear
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty disease courting children colors
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland) US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Linscott, pp. 26-30, "Jennia Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden 20, "Jenny Jo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1047
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jinny Jan
Miss Jennie Jones
Ginny Jones
Jenny Ann Jones
We've Come to See Miss Jennie Jones
NOTES: Newell and Linscott both trace the name of this song to "Jennie Jo," a title which survives in Scotland. Linscott, whose version describes Jennia's death and is a discussion of the clothes in which she shall be buried, ends with Jennia coming to life and trying to snatch one of the audience, who then becomes her mother for the next round of the game.
Paul Stamler asks if, given the catalog of colors mentioned in the song, it might not be somehow connected with "Jenny Jenkins." I see his point, but this song feels very different somehow -- in this song, our heroine is never even seen. Sort of Jenny Jenkins meets the mother in "The Lass of Roch Royal." - RBW
File: Lins026
===
NAME: Jenny Saviour, The
DESCRIPTION: Francis Kenny ships on Jenny Saviour "to fish the banks of Newfoundland." Near Sable Island he is swept overboard in a gale. The crew see him drown: "it was too rough to lower a boat for his young life to save"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: drowning fishing sea ship storm
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 115, "The Jenny Saviour" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB115 (Partial)
Roud #2783
NOTES: Sable Island, Nova Scotia, about 23 miles long, is about 110 miles, at its nearest point, from the Nova Scotia coast. - BS
File: CrSNB115
===
NAME: Jeremiah of Bartibogue
DESCRIPTION: Jeremiah from Bartibogue gets a job at Billy Muirhead's saw-mill in Chatham. He dresses "to the tip of fashion" He takes up politics, unsuccessfully. He is "forced to leave Chatham" and falls "to this low station, Cooking for Casey on Sprigman's Hill"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: vanity clothes work humorous political cook
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 24, "Jeremiah of Bartibogue" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi024 (Partial)
Roud #9190
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "The official spelling of this river and settlement is Bartibog, but the old inhabitants spell it Bartibogue, and it is so pronounced." - BS
Manny/Wilson also note that, while the author of this is unknown, it "resembled Martin Sullivan's productions." Sullivan also wrote "The Bluebird."
The song lists Jeremiah as supporting Peter Mitchell. Mitchell was a New Brunswick legislator who became a Father of Confederation, so presumably the song was written in the second half of the nineteenth century. Manny/Wilson, p. 35, claims that the following jingle comes from the period 1880-1890:
Michael Adams tall and thin,
He's the man you can't put in.
Peter Mitchell short and stout,
He's the man you can't put out. - RBW
File: MaWi024
===
NAME: Jerry Ryan
DESCRIPTION: "Now all you young men who go chopping, ... I was working With that foreman, well known Jerry Ryan." Work is scarce, so the boys go logging in Bishop's Falls. The price is low for scrub spruce; the charge exorbitant for saw, board, and doctor fees.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: lumbering ordeal hardtimes logger
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Peacock, pp. 748-749, "Gerry Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 68, "The Foreman, Well Known Jerry Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 58, "Jerry Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 118, "The Foreman, Well-Known Jerry Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4414
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Twin Lakes" (theme)
File: Doyl3068
===
NAME: Jerry the Mule: see Timber (Jerry the Mule) (File: FSWB130B)
===
NAME: Jerry, Go and Ile that Car [Laws H30]
DESCRIPTION: Larry Sullivan has spent forty years maintaining the railroads; he is proud of the state of the tracks and of never having had a wreck. As he lies dying, he asks to be buried by the tracks. His last words are, "Jerry, go and ile that car."
AUTHOR: (credited by Loomis to "Riley the Bum")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (article by Charles F. Loomis with Arthur G. Wells)
KEYWORDS: train death work
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws H30, "Jerry, Go and Ile that Car"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 543-546, "Jerry, Go Ile That Car" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 26-27, "Jerry, Go Oil the Car" (1 text)
Belden, pp. 445-446, "The Old Section Boss" (1 text, very defective)
Sandburg, pp. 360-361, "Jerry, Go an' Ile That Car" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 216, "Jerry, Go and Ile that Car" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 441, "Jerry, Go and Ile That Car" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 691, JERRYILE
Roud #2192
RECORDINGS:
Warde H. Ford, "Jerry, will you ile that car" [fragment] (AFS 4215 B2, 1939; on LC61, in AMMEM/Cowell)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Jerry, Go Ile That Car" (Victor 21521, 1928; on RRinFS) (on GrowOn3) [the may be a pirate reissue of the Victor recording for all I know, but since McClintock was recording around the time this LP was issued, I class it separately. - PJS]
Art Thieme, "Jerry, Go & Oil That Car" (on Thieme06)
NOTES: Cohen's detailed examination of this song notes the earliest publication, by Loomis in 1904, which has been repeatedly reprinted, often without acknowledgment (e.g. by Lomax in _Cowboy Songs_). Loomis concluded, after much research, that the song was written in 1881 by "Riley the Bum," who could not otherwise be identified.
Despite the fact that very many of the texts now in circulation derive from Loomis, the handful of independent texts are just that -- independent, often with very different "feel." The description above is basically of the Loomis version.
Interestingly, the name Larry (O')Sullivan seems to be nearly constant, even as the song shifts around him. - RBW
File: LH30
===
NAME: Jerry, Go Ile That Car: see Jerry, Go and Ile that Car [Laws H30] (File: LH30)
===
NAME: Jerry, Go Oil the Car: see Jerry, Go and Ile that Car [Laws H30] (File: LH30)
===
NAME: Jersey City: see The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: LP24)
===
NAME: Jerusalem Moan: see Don't You Hear Jerusalem Mourn? (File: RcDYHJM)
===
NAME: Jerusalem Mourn: see Don't You Hear Jerusalem Mourn? (File: RcDYHJM)
===
NAME: Jerusalem, My Happy Home (Long Sought Home)
DESCRIPTION: "Jerusalem, my happy home, When shall I come to thee?" (Or "Oh how I long for thee.") The glories of the heavenly city are described, and the people to be found there listed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Ault); version from c. 1601 in "The Song of Mary"
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 325-328, "Jerusalem, My Happy Home" (1 text)
Roud #5053
NOTES: This is one of those pieces with a very difficult history. The printing in _A Song of Mary_ dates probably from 1601, and is anonymous; there is a different version in British Museum Add. MS. 15225. This latter is signed "F. B. P.," which probably refers to a presbyter with the initials F. B.
It has been claimed that the text is loosely based on St. Augustine. Since no one cites an actual *passage* in Augustine, this is hard to prove. (We should note that Augustine is one of the people listed as being found in heaven, so he probably isn't responsible for that part of the poem!)
The images of Jerusalem itself are largely from the Apocalypse -- e.g. the buildings of precious stones (Rev. 21:19f.), the gates of pearl (Rev. 21:21), the streets of gold (also 21:21).
Most of the characters in the song (David; "Our Lady"; [Mary] Magdalen; Simeon, for whom see Luke 2:25 and following; Zachary=Zacharias, for whom see esp. Luke 1:67 and following) are Biblical, but Ambrose is Bishop Ambrose of Milan, who lived in the time of the emperor Theodosius the Great (died 395), and Augustine (who is not really someone you'd want to meet, the stuck-up predestinarian pig) slightly later.
The original poem, of eighteen or so stanzas, is really rather pedestrian, and few anthologies print it in full. But the first few verses are popular.
Popular enough, in fact, to have been heavily adapted, and from there the waters get muddy. The song appears in the Sacred Harp hymnals, in very short and adapted form, as "Long Sought Home." The Original Sacred Harp, in fact, attributes it to "Francis Baker Priest, about 1750," (note the initials F.B.P.) which tells you how much its attributions are worth! Similarly, the Primitive Baptist Hymnal credits it to Cowper. The music is credited, both in the Sacred Harp and the Christian Harmony,  to William Bobo (1865). - RBW
File: NrecJMHH
===
NAME: Jesous Ahatonhia: see The Huron Carol (Jesous Ahatonia) (File: FJ130)
===
NAME: Jesse Cole
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "To one and all both great and small, the story I'll unfold/It makes me sad to think about the doom of Jesse Cole"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: grief death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SharpAp 195, "Jesse Cole" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #3615
NOTES: The text reprinted in the "Description" field is all that Sharp printed. - PJS
It's probably just coincidence, but it occurs to me that the maiden name of Jesse James's mother was Zerelda Cole. Could this somehow be tied in with the Jesse James legend? It's a low probability, to be sure.... - RBW
File: ShAp2195
===
NAME: Jesse James (I) [Laws E1]
DESCRIPTION: Jesse James's career is briefly described, with praise given to his (alleged) acts of charity. The story of James's murder is then told, focusing on the treachery of Robert Ford, "the dirty little coward that shot 'Mister Howard.'"
AUTHOR: unknown (many versions claim to be written by Billy Gashade)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1887 (Comic and Sentimental Songs)
KEYWORDS: outlaw death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,So,SE)
REFERENCES: (27 citations)
Laws E1, Jesse James (I)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 97-116, "Jesse James" (2 texts, 1 tune, plus sundry excerpts from various Jesse James songs and copies of two sheet music covers)
Belden, pp. 401-404, "Jesse James" (3 texts, of which only the first is this song)
Randolph 132, "Jesse James" (6 texts plus an excerpt, 6 tunes, but Laws refers the B version to Laws E2; the excerpt "C" may also go there)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 146-148, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 132F)
BrownII 243, "Jesse James" (4 texts plus 3 excerpts and mention of 3 more; of these, the "A" and "B" texts are certainly this, and probably "G" also though it has wandered far; "I" is "Jesse James (II)")
Chappell-FSRA 112, "Jesse James" (1 fragment, placed here by Laws although it's not typical of the type)
Hudson 99, pp. 235-237, "Jesse James" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 3 more; the "B" text and "C" fragment are Laws E1; the "A" text is Laws E2)
Cambiaire, pp. 17-18, "Jesse James" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 139, "Jesse James" (1 short text without a chorus plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Larkin, pp. 154-157, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 753-755, "Jesse James" (3 texts)
Friedman, p. 377, "Jesse James" (2 texts, but only the first is this ballad; Laws lists the second as Jesse James III, dE44)
Sandburg, pp. 374-375, "I Went Down to the Depot" (1 text, 1 tune, heavily folk processed); 420-421, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 80, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 183, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune, which Laws places here but which is noticeably different from most other texts of this type)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 128-131, "Jesse James" (2 texts, 1 tune, but only the first is this ballad; the second is Jesse James II, Laws E2)
Burt, pp. 191-192, "(Jesse James)" (1 excerpt)
Fife-Cowboy/West 93, "Jesse James" (5 texts, 2 tunes, of which the "A" and "B" texts are Laws E1 and the others are distinct)
LPound-ABS, 64, pp. 145-146, "Jesse James"; p. 146, "Jesse James" (2 texts)
JHCox 44, "Jesse James" (1 text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 36, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 190-191, "Jesse James" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 273, "Jesse James" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 202, "Jesse James" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 188-189, "Jesse James" (1 text)
DT  619, JESSJAME*
Roud #2240
RECORDINGS:
Bentley Ball, "Jesse James" (Columbia A3085, 1920)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Jesse James" (OKeh 45139, 1927)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Jesse James" (OKeh 40155, 1924)
Ken Maynard, "Jesse James" (1930, unissued; on RoughWays1)
Harry McClintock, "Jesse James" (Victor 21420, 1928; on WhenIWas2)
Clayton McMichen's Georgia Wildcats, "Jesse James" (Decca 5710, 1939)
Riley Puckett, "Jesse James" (Columbia 15033-D, 1925)
George Reneau, "Jesse James" (Vocalion 14897, 1924)
Almeda Riddle, "Jesse James" [fragment] (on LomaxCD1705)
Pete Seeger, "Jesse James" (on PeteSeeger16)
Ernest Thompson, "Jesse James" (Columbia 145-D, 1924)
Marc Williams, "Jesse James" (Brunswick 269, 1928)
Fields Ward, Glen Smith & Wade Ward, "Jesse James" (on HalfCen1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (II)" [Laws E2]
cf. "Jesse James (III)"
cf. "The Death of Jesse James"
cf. "Jesse James (IV)"
cf. "Jesse James (VI -- 'I Wonder Where My Poor Old Jesse's Gone')"
cf. "J. B. Marcum (A Kentucky Feud Song)" [Laws E19] (tune & meter)
cf. "Cooper Milton" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
Jesus Christ (by Woody Guthrie) (Greenway-AFP, pp. 301-302; DT, JESUSCHR)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Oh, People Ain't You Sorry
NOTES: It should probably be noted that Jesse James (1847-1882) wasn't as nice a person as this song depicts. He began his career with Quantrill's raiders (today we would say "terrorists"), and his behavior never improved much except that he eventually began to seek a more permanent residence.
"Thomas Howard" was the name used by James when he settled down in Saint Joseph, Missouri. It was not a "retirement name"; he was still committing robberies when he died.
The "Billy Gashade" mentioned in some texts as the author is unknown (the name "Billy Lashade" occurs in the 1887 songster text, for which see Cohen-LSRail).
This version is the "standard" Jesse James song, usually beginning "Jesse James was a lad who killed many a man, He robbed the Glendale train." The usual chorus runs, "(Poor) Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life, Three children, they were brave. But the dirty little coward who shot Mister Howard Has laid Jesse James in his grave."
For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: LE01
===
NAME: Jesse James (II) [Laws E2]
DESCRIPTION: The song starts with an account of James's robbery of the Pittsfield bank. The account of the murder is circumstantial and unflattering. James is planning a robbery; he knocks down his wife's picture; Robert Ford shoots him in the back
AUTHOR: Words: Roger Lewis? Music: F. Henri Klickmann?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911
KEYWORDS: outlaw robbery death marriage
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So,SE) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws E2, "Jesse James II"
Randolph 132, "Jesse James" (of Randolph's 6 texts plus 1 excerpt, Laws considers only Randolph's "B" text and tune to belong to E2, though the excerpt "C" is apparently also part of it)
BrownII 243, "Jesse James" (4 texts plus 3 excerpts and mention of 3 more; of these, only "I" is this song; "A,"  "B," and probably "G" are "Jesse James (I)")
Hudson 99, pp. 235-237, "Jesse James" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 3 more; the "A" text is Laws E2; the "B" text and "C" fragment are Laws E1)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 128-131, "Jesse James" (2 texts, 1 tune, but only the second text, to the tune of Casey Jones, is this ballad; the first text and tune is Jesse James I, Laws E1)
Burt, pp. 192-193, "(Jessey James)" (1 text)
Fife-Cowboy/West 93, "Jesse James" (5 texts, 2 tunes; this is the "D" text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 130-131, "Jesse James" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 60-65, "Jesse James" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Fife-Cowboy/West 93, "Jesse James" (5 texts, 2 tunes, of which the "C" text is Laws E2 and the others are distinct)
DT 620, JESSJAM3*
Roud #2241
RECORDINGS:
Frank Luther, "The Death of Jesse James" (Conqueror 7377, 1929)
George Reneau [actually sung by Gene Austin], (Vocalion 14897, 1924; on RoughWays2)
The Vagabonds, "The Death of Jesse James" (Montgomery Ward M-4443, 1934)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] and references there
NOTES: Much more even-handed than the commonly-found Jesse James ballad, this song shows James as he really was: A robber whose deeds caused people in their homes to "shake with fright" when they heard of them.
Cohen and McNeil both report that this piece was copyrighted on April 3, 1911 by Klickmann and Lewis, then on May 15 by Will Rossiter. McNeil believes the Klickman/Lewis claim of authorship to be legitimate; Norm Cohen (more probably in my opinion) thinks they cashed in on an existing piece. The Klickman/Lewis words can be sung to the tune of "Casey Jones," and the text been collected with that melody, although that is not the tune indicated in the original sheet music. McNeil gives a third melody as well.
Laws lists the characteristic opening verse/chorus of this song as:
Now people may forget a lot of famous names
But every nook and corner knows of Jesse James.
They used to read about him in their homes at night;
When the wind blew down the chimney they would shake with fright.
However, it appears that the most characteristic first line is "Way down in Missouri lived a bold bad man."
For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: LE02
===
NAME: Jesse James (III)
DESCRIPTION: Jesse's home life is described: "His mother she was elderly; his father was a preacher." Bob Ford, described as an inept train robber, is shown in consultation with the governor. Ford kills James, but is shot by a drunken cowboy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: outlaw death betrayal family
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
1892 - Robert Ford is killed in a barroom brawl in Creede, Colorado
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Belden, pp. 401-404, "Jesse James" (3 texts, of which only the third is this song)
Friedman, p. 377, "Jesse James" (2 texts, but only the second is this ballad; the first is "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1])
ADDITIONAL: William A. Settle, Jr., _Jesse James Was His Name_ (Bison Books edition, 1977), [used as a key to the Table of Contents and quoted at the head of each chapter]
ST FR379 (Partial)
Roud #7819
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] and references there
NOTES: This ballad includes several accurate details of James's life not found in most of the other Jesse James songs: The fact that his mother had her arm blown off (by Pinkertons in 1875); "Governor C"=Governor Crittenden; and the fact that Robert Ford also died by gunfire.
The amount of literature on the James Gang astonishes me; it appears that at least four books were published just in the period 1980-2000, with many more before that. Many of these, however, appear to be pretty bad. For the sources I've used, see the Bibliography at the end of this note.
The James Boys certainly were not born to be criminals; Yeatman, pp. 25-27, gives a rather impressive family history. Their father, Robert Salee James (c. 1818-1850) was the son of a Virginia Baptist minister, John W. James (Brant, p. 4). John James died when Robert was nine, and he and his siblings moved in with their older sister, the newly-married Mary James Mimms (Brant, p. 5). Mary Mimms was the mother of the future wife of Jesse James.
Robert Sallee James, despite being an orphan, managed an impressive education. He earned a B.A. in classics in 1843, and picked up a Masters in 1848. His library was not overly large, but in addition to theology, Latin, and Greek, it included volumes on mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, and philosophy (Settle, p. 7). In 1841, he married 16-year-old Zerelda Cole, who was blessed with a fairly substantial inheritance. (In case you're wondering -- no, the name Zerelda is *not* Biblical. It appears to be a family name in the Cole family, though I've seen no explanation of how it arose.) The young couple moved to Clay County, Missouri, in 1842.
Their residence in Clay County is significant. It's just east of Kansas City (the county seat is Liberty), and the settlers were mostly from border slave states like Tennessee. At the time of Lincoln's election in 1860, over a quarter of the residents of the county were slaves; clearly it was an area happy with slavery (Yeatman, p. 29). Indeed, one of the James stepfathers was a slaveowner (Yeatman, pp. 27-28), as was Robert James himself (Settle, p. 7).
After arriving in Missouri, Robert James became pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church, which during his time there grew to have several hundred members. He also farmed 275 acres. But, for some reason, he decided to follow the gold rush to California, leaving his family behind. He died of "fever" on August 18, 1850 at Hangtown, California.
From that time on, things were traumatic for the James boys, Alexander Franklin ("Frank"), born 1843, and Jesse Woodson, born 1847. (They had a sister Susan, born just before Robert went west.) Jesse had apparently been truly bothered when his father went away, and his mother's second and third marriages can't have helped; in 1852, she took the elderly Benjamin Simms as a second husband, but they separated and he died soon after (Brant, pp. 14-15; Settle, p. 8); her third, Dr. Reuben Samuel, whom she married in 1855, was the second slave owner among her husbands. Samuel and Zerelda would eventually have four children: Archie (of whom more below), John, Sallie, and Fannie (Brant, p. 8; Settle, p. 9).
When the Civil War came, Frank promptly joined the Confederate side, being part of the force (one hesitates, at that stage of the war, to call it an army) of General Sterling Price (1809-1867), for whom see, e.g. "Sterling Price." He was one of Price's rabble-in-arms (or, often, rabble-wishing-for-the-arms-they-didn't-have) at Wilson's Creek (for which see e.g. "The War in Missouri in '61" and "Jolly Union Boys"). Later that year, he came down with measles, was captured by Union troops, and paroled (Yeatman, p. 32; Settle, p. 20).
It's at this point that the James story starts to get genuinely ugly. Frank apparently took an oath to the Union in 1862. But Clay County was part of the area raided by both sides. Frank, even though he had sworn to support the union, joined Quantrill's Raiders (for whom see the notes to "Charlie Quantrell" as well as "The Call of Quantrell," "Quantrell," etc.), probably in 1863 (Yeatman, p. 35; Settle, p. 21-23, is not sure of the date though he notes that Cole Younger was in the band by the spring of 1862 and Jim Younger was acting as a guerrilla by 1864).
In May 1863, Frank managed to upgrade himself from oathbreaker to terrorist; in an ambush near Richfield, Missouri, he was part of an ambush in which a Lt. Graffenstein was killed after surrendering (Yeatman, p. 36). On August 7, Frank committed his first true robbery (Yeatman, p. 41). Meanwhile, the Federals were looking for Frank -- and they visited the James/Samuel home, with results hardly likely to endear them to the family. They beat up Jesse (who may already have been serving as a Confederate spy, and who some time during this period managed to shoot the end off one of his fingers; Settle, p. 31, suggests a date of June 1864, though accounts vary of how he lost it. According to Brant, the injury earned Jesse the nickname "Dingus," because he referred to the weapon that injured him as the "dodd-dingus pistol" he had ever used). Even more extremely, they half-hanged Dr. Samuel, perhaps as many as four times (Settle, p. 26); his voice was apparently affected for the rest of his life (Yeatman, p. 39). (Wellman, p. 54, claims it was his relatives who cut him down, but this seems highly unlikely; if the troops wanted to hang him, wouldn't they stick around for a few minutes to make sure he died?)
By 1864, when Jesse joined the Quantrill Gang (Yeatman, p. 50), the band were effectively out of Confederate control, preferring bushwhacking in Kansas and Missouri to regular service in Texas (Yeatman, p. 49). Not even Quantrill controlled most of them any more.  Their recruiting methods were also irregular; while Frank was properly a member of the Confederate forces, it appears Jesse joined the terrorists entirely as a freelance (Yeatman, p. 52). That's not his age; by 1864, the Confederates were happy to have 17-year-olds in the military. But Jesse chose to be an irregular.
He certainly was quick to get in trouble. In an early raid, Jesse was shot through the chest, apparently while stealing a saddle (Yeatman, p. 53), though the claim was later made that he was fighting the Yankees.
By the end of the war, the irregulars were robbing trains; at Centralia they captured, looted, and destroyed a train of the North Missouri Railroad, killing two dozen Union soldiers who were aboard on furlough (Yeatman, p. 55). The James Boys were probably not present for this (Brant, p. 35, allows the possibility that Jesse was there, but as usual his evidence is thin), but they must have heard about it. And the James boys *were* present when a rescue party was slaughtered; many of the bodies of the rescuers were deliberately mutilated (scalped, beaten, and worse; Yeatman, p. 56).
By 1864, the entire James/Samuels clan was in exile -- Dr. Samuels evicted from his home (Yeatman, p. 62), Jesse James with ruffians under "Arch" Clement who were somewhere around Texas, having proved too rough even for Quantrill (Yeatman, pp. 73-74), and Frank James with Quantrill, who headed for Kentucky with the remainder of his force (Yeatman, p. 65). By 1865, the Federals were on Quantrill's heels; many of the guerillas were being killed, captured, or left behind when they lost their horses Yeatman, (pp. 66-68); Quantrill himself was mortally wounded on May 10 (Yeatman, p. 71).
The Clement gang, including Jesse, was meanwhile attacking Kingsville, Missouri, burning, looting, and murdering (Yeatman, pp. 73-74). Somewhat later, with the war clearly lost, Jesse suffered another bullet wound (reportedly making a spectacular escape before passing out; Settle, pp. 30-31; Wellman, p. 66); while still on his sickbed, he was paroled May 21, 1865 (Yeatman, pp. 76-77).
The wound kept him bedridden for months (Settle, p. 31); there were times when he was expected to die. The twice-injured lung apparently troubled him for the rest of his life (Yeatman, p. 95, on the basis of a statement by Cole Younger). During his recovery, he was cared for by his aunt and uncle, and became secretly engaged to their daughter Zerelda ("Zee") Mimms (Settle, p. 34; Wellman, p. 67, says that they fell in love but does not claim they became engaged).
Frank James (who had apparently acquired the nickname "Buck" during the war) was finally forced to surrender, along with other Quantrill survivors, on July 26, 1865, by which time Quantrill had been dead seven weeks. They might have come in earlier, had not some members of the band raped a woman; the authorities demanded they find the perpetrators (Yeatman, pp. 80-81). Still, Settle, p. 32, notes that neither Frank nor Jesse was considered in any way noteworthy in 1865.
Yeatman speculates that the guerrilla fighting in Missouri (the most bitter in all the Civil War) left the two brothers suffering from post-traumatic stress (Yeatman, p. 104); like a number of other veterans (e.g. Tom Dula), they, or at least Jesse, seem to have come home intending to return to normal life (Yeatman, p. 91). For four years, they lived at home (Settle, p. 32), but there are hints that they occasionally vanished for a few days, and they lived in an area much affected by lawlessness. Their whereabouts in the period 1869-1874 are almost impossible to trace (Yeatman, p. 99), but they came to be famous as robbers in this period.
On February 13, 1866 occurred the robbery of the bank of Liberty, Missouri, which resulted in the loss of some $60,000 and cost a bystander his life; it was said to be the first daylight bank robbery in peacetime (O'Neal, p. 167; Settle, p. 34; Wellman, p. 69; Yeatman, pp. 85-86).
Later folklore would connect this with the James Boys, and Wellman accepts this without question (in fact, he is already calling Jesse the head of the gang, on pp. 69, 73, even though such evidence as we have of the James/Younger gang does not seem to imply that there was a head). Although the Liberty bank is close to the James home, there is no real evidence that either the Jameses or the Youngers were involved. Wellman's link to the event is that the Boys had sometimes ridden through the town shooting off pistols, as if to establish their willingness to be wild (pp. 69-71). Scaring the tellers into turning over the money sounds logical -- until you realize that the robbers never used their names during the Liberty robbery. How can men whose identities aren't known have a reputation? And, since there were reportedly ten robbers (Wellman, p. 73), it would seem as if someone in the vicinity could have identified them had they been locals and done something to make themselves identifiable.
(Note: I'm not saying the Jameses and Youngers weren't involved. I'm saying it cannot be proved, and can't even be stated as a likelihood. It is merely a possibility.)
Several other robberies took place in the same area over the next few years (Settle, pp. 34-36). Some were more successful than others; none were connected with the Jameses, though some reportedly involved ex-Quantrill men. There is a stronger connection with the March 20, 1868 robbery of the Russellville, Kentucky bank; the James friend Cole Younger was probably part of this (Yeatman, pp. 93-95), and Settle, p. 38, notes that on the day of the robbery, the James Boys were reportedly suffering from "war wounds" -- which would make a lot more sense if the wounds in fact had a recent cause.
On December 7, 1869 came the robbery of the Davies County Savings Association in Gallatin, Missouri -- one of the robberies famously tied to the Jameses (Wellman, p. 81, says without question that the James Brothers and Cole Younger did it, with circumstantial details, but these of course are unverified.) Captain John W. Sheets, one of the bank owners, was shot to death during the attack (Settle, p. 38; Wellman offers the theory that he was killed because he resembled S. P. Cox, responsible for the death of the guerilla "Bloody Bill" Anderson). At least two robbers were involved; one was said to resemble Frank James. The evidence was thin, but a posse turned up to arrest the James brothers, who would prove to have no real alibi.
Apparently not willing to risk arrest, Frank and Jesse fled the Samuels farm on horseback (Settle, pp. 39-40; Yeatman, pp. 95-97). Eventually a price of several thousand dollars would be put on their heads. Soon after, a paper published a letter allegedly from Jesse, denying any crime but saying it was impossible to get a fair trial in Missouri (Settle, p. 41). There would be many more such letters in coming years. Most, however, appeared in papers associated with John Newman Edwards, who also published articles allegedly clearing members of the gang (Settle, pp. 51-52).
A later letter, signed "Jack Shepherd, Dick Turpin, Claude Duval" (after three famous English highwaymen) promised to pay the medical expenses of a girl hurt in the course of a robbery, and denied that the participants were thieves; they preferred the term "robber." This letter (Yeatman, p. 105; cf. Settle, p. 46) seems to be almost the sole foundation for the claim that the Jameses gave to the poor.
In 1873, robbers derailed and robbed a train in Adair, Iowa; the engineer was killed in the wreck. Again we cannot show that the Jameses were involved, but the method of removing rails and piling debris on the track fits their mode of operation (Yeatman, pp. 106-108). Settle, p. 47, observes that the gang did not invent this particular dirty trick, but it was to become a James/Younger signature. This particular robbery brought in about $2000. Descriptions of the robbers, an their behavior, caused Jesse to be called the head of the gang for the first time (Settle, p. 48). The robbery was considered important enough that the Pinkertons would be called in (Settle, p. 58).
1874 finally brings us back to relatively firm history, as both Jesse and Frank were married in that year (Wellman, p. 87). Jesse finally married his cousin "Zee" Mimms, nine years after they had become engaged, on April 24, 1874. The Methodist Reverend William James, uncle to both Jesse and Zee, agreed to marry them after trying and failing to talk Jesse out of his violent lifestyle (Yeatman, p. 119)
Frank married later that year, to Annie (Anna?) Ralston, who had earned a degree in science and literature in 1872. Ralston's father was a Unionist from Ireland; her parents reportedly were horrified to learn that she had eloped with such an outlaw (Yeatman, pp. 120-121). The Ralstons learned of it only indirectly (Annie's letter to her parents said only that she had eloped), and once they did so, they kept it secret from the community as much as possible (Settle, p. 42).
By the 1870s, with Missouri still feeling the after-effects of the Civil War, the various outlaws roaming the state were becoming a political issue; the legislature took various ineffectual steps to try to halt the depredations. The Pinkertons received another call (Yeatman, pp. 111-114) after another train robbery, at Gads Hill in 1874. (No, I'm not making that up; apparently Missouri has such a place as well as England; Settle, p. 49;Wellman, p. 86.) This was another robbery where the perpetrators could not absolutely be identified -- one Jim Reed confessed to it on his deathbed (Yeatman, p. 138) and denied the James Boys were there -- but it was widely credited to the brothers. And it is apparently certain that the Jameses were working with the three surviving Younger brothers (Cole, Jim, and Bob) by that time.
Unfortunately, the Pinkertons called in to deal with the problem were not up to the task; they didn't catch anyone, and a young agent named John W. Whicher was soon killed (Settle, pp. 59-60). Two other agents died trying to capture the Younger brothers, though they succeeded in killing John Younger (Settle, p. 60; Wellman, pp. 90-92, gives a dramatized version of the incident. Pp. 92-94 dramatizes the death of Whicher).
The detective agency would add another tragic page to the James story: on January 28, 1875, the Pinkertons (or someone; Yeatman, Wellman, and Brant are certain; Settle is not) firebombed the Samuels home, in the belief that Frank and Jesse were there. (According to Brant, p., 134, the explosion could be heard three miles away, and much of the house caught fire. Yeatman and Settle give no hints of major pyrotechnics. Wellman, pp. 96-98, has a rather pathetic account of what occurred, but also thinks it a relatively small explosive, possibly a Civil War grenade though he thinks it an iron flare. Either way, he agrees with those who consider it a relatively small explosive device)
But the bombers did not catch their men. Instead, they killed Archie Peyton Samuel, the half-brother of Jesse and Frank (whose age is variously listed as eight [Brant, Wellman], nine [Settle] and 13 [Yeatman]). In addition, a shell fragment hit Mrs. Samuel on the right wrist, shattering it and forcing the amputation of her hand (Yeatman, pp. 134-137; Settle, p. 76. Brant, of course, says that her hand was "blown off," and Wellman says it was "torn off"). A grand jury eventually filed murder charges against Pinkerton and certain of his employees, not all named (Yeatman, p. 143). The charges were dismissed in 1877 (Settle, p. 80), mostly on the grounds that the case was not being actively pursued and the charges were stale.
The firebombing clearly disturbed the family. Dr. and Mrs. Samuels eventually tried to sell their property, but found no takers (Yeatman, pp. 149-150; Settle, pp. 86-101). And Jesse and Zee, who by this time was pregnant, moved to Nashville in early 1875. Jesse used the name "John Davis Howard" (which we will of course see again); Zee became "Josie." At the time, Mr. Howard listed his occupation as "wheat speculator," though he often vanished for weeks at a time.  During this period, Jesse apparently was trying to kill Allan Pinkerton (Yeatman, p. 151) -- but the result was rather Hamlet-like: He wanted Pinkerton to know and suffer, and he never had a chance to kill Pinkerton in such circumstances. If Jesse didn't get Pinkerton, the gang may still have committed murder: Daniel Askew, a neighbor of the Samuels family who may have helped the Pinkertons, was shot to death in April 1875 (Settle, p. 85). Most attribute the murder to the Jameses, though there was speculation the Pinkertons did it to silence a potential witness against them (Settle, p. 86).
In an interesting twist, Jesse also published several letters boasting (lying) about his whereabouts and activities. What is interesting is that they contain many more errors of grammar, spelling, and punctuation than the earlier letters he had supposedly published in the Edwards papers -- as if two different men had written them. If originals of any of these alleged letters survived, no one bothered to mention them.
In 1875, Zee gave birth to Jesse Edward James, publicly known as "Tim Howard"; he would answer to the nickname "Tim" all his life. (Yeatman, p. 161). There seems to be some dispute about the exact date; Settle, p. 129, says December 31; Yeatman, p. 161, has August 31.
At this time, the first known James associate was captured alive. Tim Webb, who had recently taken part in a robbery in Huntington, West Virginia, was captured, and though there is no evidence the Jameses or Youngers took part in this robbery (Settle, p. 87), Webb probably knew where Jesse was living in hiding. So Jesse and Zee moved to Baltimore for about a year (Yeatman, p. 162); Frank also spent some time there. But in 1876, the two returned to Missouri, leaving their wives behind (Yeatman, p. 164).
In Missouri, they met the Youngers, and for some reason decided to try a raid on Minnesota. On arriving in the state, they scouted various banks, according to Cole Younger, they eventually picked the bank in Northfield in part because former Union general and Mississippi carpetbagger governor Adelbert Ames was associated with the place, and the infamous general Benjamin "Beast" Butler (for whom see, e.g., "Hold On, Abraham") apparently had money there (Yeatman, p. 171; Settle, p. 95).
For the story of the disastrous Northfield raid itself, see the notes to "Cole Younger" [Laws E3]. Frank and Jesse were said to have been injured in the fracas (Settle, p. 98; cf. Brant, p. 179, who says that Frank's hand was crushed in the vault door), but it didn't slow them down; they were the only two to escape police. (Settle, p. 96, notes that, to this time, police still didn't have a reliable description of either brother, and indeed, Huntington, p. 50fff., describes occasions on which the pursuers actually encountered the robbers but did not recognize or succeed in capturing them.) After separating from the Youngers, Frank and Jesse  managed to reach the South Dakota border about ten days after the raid (Yeatman, p. 183).
(Lyle Lofgren tells me that the town of Garretson, South Dakota, on the Minnesota border northeast of Sioux Falls, has a "Jesse James's Leap," or some such thing, which Jesse is alleged to have ridden his horse across. Lyle adds that he thinks it too wide for any horse, and what are the odds that Jesse would have tried it on an unfamiliar horse?)
The brothers apparently decided that that was enough outlawry for a lifetime. Soon after that, they and their families found new homes and tried, at least for a while, to live quietly.
Frank apparently settled in Nashville. He seems to have used the name Ben J. Woodson. He reportedly worked very hard as a sharecropper, except perhaps for a brief time when he suffered from malaria (Yeatman, p. 202).
Jesse, still using the name "John Davis Howard," chose a more rural setting, in Humphries County some distance to the west. He didn't draw much attention except for owning a very fast horse, occasionally showing great skill with a pistol, and sometimes acting a little paranoid (Yeatman, pp. 196-197). Around this time, Zee gave birth to twin boys, Gould and Montgomery, who however died soon afterward (Yeatman, p. 201; Settle, p. 132). On February 8, 1878, Frank's wife Annie bore Robert Franklin James. In one of the strangest twists of the James saga, he was apparently called "Mary" as a baby (Yeatman, p. 203). Settle, p. 132, reports that Zee nursed Robert when Annie proved unable to produce enough milk.
Both Frank and Jesse were gamblers, but it appears Jesse wasn't nearly as good at it; he lost a lot, and also suffered from lawsuits over his financial dealings, and at least once bounced a check (Yeatman, p. 204). In December 1878, he moved again (Yeatman, p. 205). In 1879, it was his turn to suffer malaria (Yeatman, p. 207). In July of that year, his daughter Mary was born (Yeatman, p. 211; Settle, p. 129). This was Jesse's last child; note, therefore, that (contrary to most versions of "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1], he did *not* have three children when he died).
At about this time, Jesse seems to have decided it was time to return to outlawry. Frank, from what we can tell, just wanted to be left alone. (Reconstruction had ended with the disputed Hayes/Tildren election of 1876, and sympathy for unreconstructed rebels was less.) Frank in the years around 1880 was apparently deliberately courting friendships with pillars of the local community (Yeatman, p. 228), presumably to have character witnesses if he needed them.
Yeatman, p. 213, based on later testimony of Dick Liddil (cf. Settle, p. 148) says that Jesse's new gang consisted of his cousin Wood Hite (Robert Woodson Hite, a cousin of Jesse's whose family still lived in Kentucky), Ed Miller (the brother of the slain Clell Miller), Tucker Bassham, Bill Ryan, and Dick Liddil (this is the spelling of Settle, Yeatman, and even Brant; others have used "Liddell" or other forms). This gang in October 1879 robbed a train at Glendale (the one James robbery celebrated in song in which Frank played no part; Settle, pp. 133, 148). The take from this robbery, apart from non-negotiable securities, was about $6000 (Settle, p. 102).
Late in 1879, a report circulated that Jesse was dead (Settle, pp. 103-104). It was, of course, false.
Somewhat later, Tucker Bassham was arrested. It appears Jesse and Ed Miller rode off (to silence him?). Miller never returned; it is speculated that Jesse killed him (Yeatman, p. 218). On September 3, 1880, Jesse robbed a stagecoach in showy fashion, apparently trying to imitate the famous English highwaymen (and incidentally picking up some loot which would be found in his home after his death); other robberies followed (Yeatman, pp. 219-220).
In early 1881, Frank and Jesse were again briefly scared out of their homes; they went briefly to Alabama (Yeatman, pp. 229-230). This was fateful, because Jesse became aware of the large crew working on the Muscle Shoals canal. In March, he took Bill Ryan and Wood Hite and robbed the man carrying the workers' pay (Yeatman, pp. 233-234). The total haul was over $5000.
On March 25, Bill Ryan got drunk and turned rowdy. He was taken into custody carrying about $1400 and four firearms. Although he refused, upon being taken, to tell authorities anything, Frank, Jesse, and Dick Liddil concluded that they must again leave home. Frank would later confess to despair at "again becom[ing] a wanderer" (Yeatman, p. 240).
This is another vague period in the history of the James Boys; Jesse ended up in Kansas City using the name J. T. Jackson (Yeatman, p. 248), but witnesses disagree about where Frank was; he said he never went that far west, and stayed clean in this period (Yeatman, p. 260), but others claim he was part of the gang that, on July 16, 1881, attacked a train near Gallatin. Jesse, Dick Liddil, and Clarence and Wood Hite were very likely present. Two men including the conductor were killed; the total haul was about $700 (Yeatman, p. 249).
In the period around 1870, the press was split about outlaws. By 1880, it was more strongly against their depredations. Missouri governor Thomas T. Crittenden (1832-1909) had been elected in 1880 in part on a promise to settle the James Gang. (The Missouri Republican platform ha actually attacked the Democrats for failing to do what "a Republican state" had done, referring to Minnesota's prosecution of the Youngers; Settle, p. 106.) The law didn't permit him to set a price on their heads, but he induced the railroads and other businesses to offer a total of $50,000 for the members of the gang. For Jesse and Frank, the reward was $5000 each for their capture (if taken alive) and another $5000 upon conviction (Settle, p. 110; Yeatman, p. 252).
On September 7, 1881, a train was robbed at the "Blue Cut" curve. Along with the usual crew of Jesse, Clarence and Wood Hite, Dick Liddil, and perhaps Frank, there was a new recruit named Charlie Ford (Yeatman, pp. 253-254). Since the safe contained only about $400, the outlaws beat the express messenger, then robbed the passengers as well (Settle, pp. 111-112).
Bob Ford's first association with the gang seems to have been part of a robbery with brother Charlie, Dick Liddil, and Wood Hite; Jesse reportedly was not part of the crew (Yeatman, p. 261).
About this time, former gang member Tucker Bassham, sentenced to ten years, was offered full pardon in return for cooperation. He helped convict Bill Ryan, then fled the area, no doubt the fact that his home was burned added to his desire to depart. On September 28, 1881, Ryan was sentenced to 25 years (Settle, pp. 113-144; Yeatman, pp. 257-258).
Things finally started to come apart when the gang suffered from internal dissent. A young widow named Sarah Norris Peck had married the old widower George Hite, the father of Wood and Clarence. It appears the Hite children never liked her, and vice versa; eventually, she swore out a warrant against Wood Hite. The police captured Wood, but he escaped. However, when Wood met Dick Liddil, and Bob and Charlie Ford, Wood quarreled with Liddil (possibly over the affections of one Martha Bolton; Settle, p. 116). In the fight that followed, Liddil was hurt and Hite killed, reportedly by Bob Ford as he was shooting at Liddil (O'Neal, p. 143; Yeatman, pp. 261-262). Hite, recall, was Jesse's first cousin, so the Fords and Liddil now had reason to fear the leader of their former gang.
Liddil would surrender to authorities January 24, 1882, with promises of immunity if he could bring in the rest of the gang (Settle, p. 116) -- but the event was kept out of the papers to avoid rousing Jesse's suspicions. Clarence Hite, suffering from the tuberculosis which would kill him in 1883, and afraid of being caught, followed Liddil on February 11 (Settle, p. 117; Yeatman, p. 266). Thus, of the post-Younger Frank-and-Jesse-James Gang, only Frank and Jesse were still free; of the gang which followed that, which was really Jesse's alone, Jesse was the only one left.  Nor could he turn to Frank any more; Frank had decided to leave the west, possibly forever. In October 1881, he and his family, after visiting various spots in Virginia and North Carolina (trying to find a place that was safe, prosperous, and not troubled by disease), settled in Lynchburg, Virginia; he used the name "James Warren" (Yeatman, p. 263).
Jesse wasn't done with crime. On November 9, 1881, he went to St. Joseph, Missouri; he would settle at 1318 Lafayette Street. Jesse's companion on his first visit to the town was Charlie Ford. It was to be a short-lived but fateful partnership.
Ford family patriarch James Thomas Ford had been born in 1820 in Virginia; he moved back and forth from Missouri to Virginia several times (Yeatman, p. 264). He was in Missouri at the start of the Civil War, but moved back to Virginia in 1862; his son Bob was a newborn at the time. An older brother of Charlie and Bob, John Ford, would fight for the Confederacy with Mosby's Rangers (Yeatman, p. 265).
Around 1869, the Ford family returned to Missouri. Bob and Charlie apparently were introduced to Jesse in 1881 by Ed Miller. Charlie, as noted above, was the first to join the James Gang. But Jesse soon asked Charlie to recruit another man for his diminished gang, and Charlie recruited Bob (Yeatman, p. 267).
Bob was soon in touch with the authorities; he apparently didn't like Jesse's management (he is reported to have said that Jesse was "dead" as a gang leader; Yeatman, p. 265). Bob Ford met with Governor Crittenden on January 13, 1882 in Kansas City; he reports that he was offered $10,000 dead or alive for Jesse (and the same for Frank). Frank was out of reach, but Jesse was available.
The motivations of the Ford Brothers are rather unclear at this point. When word finally slipped out that Liddil had been taken, they may have feared that Jesse would try to get rid of them, too. Yeatman says, Jesse and the Fords were tending their horses when Jesse said he was too hot and took off his coat; he apparently also took off his gun belt. He turned his back to brush off some pictures, and the Fords pulled out their pistols. Bob apparently fired first; he hit Jesse in the back of the head (Yeatman, p. 269). Settle's account is more like the traditional one of Jesse climbing a chair to hang a picture, and mentions only Bob drawing his gun (p. 117). Brant's account (pp. 224-225) also mentions the chair, claiming that the Fords became suspicious when Jesse took off his guns, which Brant claims he never did. Whatever the exact events (for which, of course, we have only the accounts of the two brothers), Jesse was dead by gunshot When Zee arrived, Charlie claimed it was an accident -- but he and Bob quickly headed off to report to the authorities.
Some people were not convinced that the body was really Jesse's, but his mother and wife, and several others, attested to it -- and many relics of his robberies were found in his home (Settle, p. 1180.
Jesse's relics quickly became highly sought-after items; if eBay had existed in 1882, the Samuels would have been set for life. The owner of the house Jesse was renting did a fine business giving tours, though the visitors did much damage carving off souvenirs (Settle, p. 127). Jesse was initially buried on the family farm, apparently to protect his body; later he was moved to the family plot -- and his grave monument soon chiseled away by more relic-hunters (Settle, p. 166).
After Jesse's death, the Fords claimed that Governor Crittenden had offered the reward for Jesse dead or alive; Crittenden of course claimed he had demanded the capture of the Jameses (Yeatman, p. 271). According to Settle, it is still not known what money was paid to whom. Crittenden's role remains ambiguous -- he encouraged the betrayal of Jesse, but ended up treating Frank with tender loving care.
The Fords ended up facing murder charges, first for Jesse, then for Wood Hite, whose body was exhumed (Yeatman, p. 272). On April 17, 1882, Bob and Charlie pled guilty to the murder of Jesse. Sentenced to death, they were pardoned by Crittenden (Settle, p. 1189). They eventually were acquitted in the death of Hite (Yeatman, p. 275).
In October of that year, after complicated but obscure negotiations probably involving Crittenden, assorted prosecutors, and James apologist John Newman Edwards, Frank James finally turned himself in (Settle, pp. 130-131; Yeatman, p. 279). It took some time to decide on charges, since the statute of limitations had passed for many of his crimes. Eventually he was charged with a murder at Gallatin. The result was circus-like. A newspaper ascerbically remarked that it wasn't clear if Frank had surrendered to the State of Missouri or Missouri to Frank (Settle, p. 134).
There were few left to testify against Frank. Clarence Hite was dead. Bill Ryan had given no testimony against Frank. The Fords had not worked with him. The charges against him were mostly for crimes committed after Northfield, so the Youngers could not testify even if they wanted to. That left only Dick Liddil, who by this time was on trial in Alabama. And he was claiming he had not taken any part in Frank's crimes, which (it appears to me) would make his testimony hearsay. Authorities tried to award him clemency to get the real truth out of him; President Chester A. Arthur refused (Settle, pp. 137-138). The main case had to be tried in an opera house to provide seats for spectators (Settle, p. 139). Liddil was the only real witness. The jury needed less than four hours to reach a not guilty verdict.
It was then decided that Liddil's testimony could not be used further, since he was a felon, and the other Missouri charges dropped (Settle, p. 150). Frank then was sent to Alabama for the Muscle Shoals robbery. Again it was just Liddil's word, and Frank had an alibi; he was again found not guilty (Settle, pp. 152-153).  On February 21, 1885, the last of the charges based on Missouri crimes was dropped (Yeatman, p. 289). There was still the matter of the Northfield robbery, but no one from Minnesota was pursuing the matter. Frank was free.
It is interesting to note that Crittenden failed of renomination in 1884, partly because of the James affair (Settle, p. 154).
Frank seems to have stayed straight for the rest of his life. He moved to Dallas in 1887 and became a successful salesman for a time, then turned to other odd jobs. Eventually he was turned down for a patronage job he thought he deserved as a token of his reform (Settle, p. 163; Yeatman, p. 299), after which he went into acting. In 1903, he and Cole Younger (now out of jail and given a conditional pardon) opened a Wild West show that was named after them. It was to be surrounded by controversy and quarrels among the performers; at one point even Cole and Frank were indicted, though they got off by noting that they did not own, manage, or bankroll the show; they were simply paid performers lending their names to the production. When matters grew too troublesome, the two quit the show (Yeatman, pp. 302-311).
By that time, Frank's political disillusionment was so extreme that he publicly declared himself a Republican (generally regarded as unthinkable for a Confederate veteran) on August 20, 1904 (Settle, p. 164; Yeatman, p. 311); he would in time come out in favor of women's suffrage (Yeatman, p. 318). In 1907 he bought  farm in Fletcher, Oklahoma (Yeatman, p. 314). After stepfather Reuben Samuels died in 1908 in a mental hospital, suffering some sort of dementia, and Zerelda Samuels died February 10, 1911 (Yeatman, p. 317), Frank inherited the Samuels farm and turned it into a tourist attraction. It has served that function for much of the time since, though different owners have devoted different degrees of attention to it.
Frank never really told his story; once, when asked about his past, he said, "I neither affirm nor deny.... If I admitted that those stories were true, people would say, 'There's the greatest scoundrel unhung,' and if I denied 'em they'd say, 'There's the greatest liar on earth," so I just say nothing" (Yeatman, p. 319). He died February 18, 1915, the next to last of the Northfield robbers; Cole Younger, the last, would die in 1916.
Frank was certainly the most fortunate of the gang. The Youngers served long terms in prison; Bob died there, and Jim committed suicide after his release; Cole had some modest success as a showman. The other two Northfield raiders were dead. Wood Hite was dead. Clarence Hite died of tuberculosis (there were suspiciously many TB cases among the James Gang; one suspects someone carried the disease. Probably Jesse, given his lung problems. And the fact that several of them were related may have meant that they had the same genetic lack of immunity).
Charlie Ford also suffered from tuberculosis, and he apparently became addicted to morphine as a result; he killed himself on May 4, 1884 (Yeatman, p. 291). One suspects that this is the main reason why the Jesse James songs mention Bob and not Charlie.
Bob Ford wandered around the west, trying a short stint as a police officer before taking to saloon-keeping. He was at his third of these, in Creede, Colorado, when a man named Ed Kelly (Ed O. Kelly? Ed O'Kelly?) shot him on June 8, 1892 (Yeatman, p. 292). Ironically, Kelly himself would be shot to death in 1904 in Oklahoma City.
Jesse's wife Zee died on November 13, 1900 (Yeatman, p. 296). There were various imposters over the years -- a fake Zee arose as early as 1885, when Zee was obviously still around. A later Zee apparently was credited with charismatic gifts! (Yeatman, p. 297). There were also an assortment of fake Jesses over the years, including one John James in 1931 (easily discredited). One J. Frank Dalton was still making a claim as late as 1950, more than a century after Jesse's birth. (Fans of science fiction will be chagrined to note that the infamous Raymond F. Palmer, responsible for _Amazing Stories_ in its worst years, helped to promote this legend, mentioning it in a radio conversation; see Yeatman, pp. 328-333). A fake Frank arose while Frank was still alive (Settle, p. 164).
That was typical of the stories about the James Family: No lie was too outlandish to be told. The rumors that Jesse had not been assassinated were not really put to rest until the end of the twentieth century. In the 1990s, an autopsy showed that the body buried as Jesse James had bullets in the right places to be Jesse, and the mitochondrial DNA was properly matched to several of his relatives. Brant, p. 266, calls this proof that the body was Jesse's. The scientists quoted by Yeatman, pp. 371-376, in fact repeatedly denied that the matter was proved, but the evidence was "consistent" with the conclusion that it was. Under the circumstances, the probability is extremely high.
Jesse Jr. eventually studied law, and at one point became involved in a divorce proceeding and custody battle with his wife; they managed to reconcile, but he had a nervous breakdown in 1924 and was never really the same afterward. He died in 1951 (Yeatman, p. 320).
Mary James Barr died March 11, 1935 (Yeatman, p. 321). Anne Ralston James died in July of 1944 (Yeatman, p. 326), seventy years after she married Frank.
Books about the James Gang were beginning to appear even in their lifetimes, though the amount of fiction included was astonishing. Yeatman, p. 223, tells of one book that described a cave carefully fitted out as a hideout, with a stove, a panelled ceiling, beds, and stalls for horses. The Youngers were subject of a book published 1875 (Settle, p. 180); this book, by Augustus P. Appier, was reprinted as late as 1955 despite being highly inaccurate. The first book to include the Jameses seems to have been _Noted Guerilla_ by none other than John Newman Edwards; this 1877 book included many outlaws in addition to the James Brothers, but the James and Younger brothers were prominent. The James/Younger Gang was the sole subject of a book by J. A. Dacus in 1880; Settle, p. 184, notes 16 editions of this book. Even Frank Triplett's biography, which was assembled after some contact with the Samuels family, was cobbled together hastily after Jesse's death and contained a lot of false reports from the newspapers (Settle, p. 192; Yeatman, p. 275); if the family had any influence on it, it came in the form of the strong sympathy Triplett's book shows the Jameses. The various chapbooks about the Jameses were of course pure fiction.
Settle, p. 197, says that the first relatively sober history was not published until 1926 -- and eve it veered too far toward the dramatic. To this day, there are books being published treating Jesse as an unreconstructed Confederate rather than a plain and simple robber. The fact that Jesse worked mostly in former slave states, and shot quite a few Southerners, makes no difference. Wellman, p. 69, quotes William H. Wallace, himself a resident of the area: "The usual defence of the outlaws [that it was forced upon them by the North]... is overwhelmed by the evidence. Every bank robbed by them during the fifteen years of their career[,] with possibly two exceptions, belonged to Southern men.... The truth is, too, that the persons killed in these bank robberies were Southerners. We had as well admit the truth -- they robbed for money, not for revenge"; compare also Wellman, p. 88, also from Wallace: "the charge [has been] made hundreds of times that the Southern people of Missouri endorsed the depredations of these outlaws and were opposed to their being overthrown. This is absolutely untrue. Especially his it been charged that the ex-Confederates of Missouri... endorsed the conduct of the James Boys. Precisely the opposite is true."
Jo Frances James (daughter of Jesse Junior) once sold a manuscript to Hollywood, which supposedly underlay the Tyrone Power/Henry Fonda film "Jesse James."  But Jo Frances said of the result, "I don't know what happened to the history part of it. It seems to me the story was fiction from beginning to end.... About the only connection it had with fact was that there once was a man named James and he did ride a horse" (Yeatman, pp. 326-327). That strikes me as a pretty good last word on the whole legend.
>>*BIBLIOGRAPHY*<<
In writing this summary, in addition to the standard references such as the _Concise Dictionary of American Biography_, I have heavily consulted the following works:
Brant: Marley Brant, _Jesse James: The Man and the Myth_, 1998. Despite its title, which might seem to indicate scholarly caution, this book strikes me as incredibly credulous, taking as certain many things where the sources conflict, and often relying on the less reliable sources. It also has a very clear sympathy with any Confederate Good Ol' Boys who just might be terrorists on the side. I have been cautious in using it except where it coincides with information in other books, or where it reports some third-hand absurdity which might have influenced the James legend. (Frankly, I eventually started checking the index rather than finish reading the thing).
Huntington: George Huntington, _Robber and Hero: The Story of the Northfield Bank Raid_, Christian Way Co., 1895; reissued by the Minnesota Historical Society Press in 1986 with a new introduction by John McGuigan. Although this is considered a relatively sober and accurate account of the raid, with much information from those present, the 1986 introduction detailing the later careers of the Youngers is probably the best part.
O'Neal: Bill O'Neal, _Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters_, 1979. A general work, and as with most such things it appears to have a few details wrong, but a handy source for dates and such.
Settle: William A. Settle, Jr., _Jesse James Was His Name_, 1966 (I used the 1977 Bison edition) was one of the first serious James biographies. It is relatively short, but carefully documented, and pays more attention to the songs than the other James books I've seen.
Wellman: Paul I. Wellman, _A Dynasty of Western Outlaws_, 1961. This covers a series of outlaws starting with Quantrill's Raiders and ending with Pretty Boy Floyd, so it gives a lot of historial context -- but also has a Brant-like tendency to believe any old crazy rumor. (My favorite, on p. 55, is a claim that Frank and Jesse James weren't full brothers because they looked and behaved somewhat differently. But in the only photo I've seen of them together, they *do* look alike, and as for personality differences, it should be recalled that both went through much trauma, but at different ages. If Frank was quiet and had self-control, while Jesse was loud and had none, that seems little surprise.) Like Brant, it strikes me as a better source for information on the James legend than on fact.
Yeatman: Ted P. Yeatman, _Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend_, 2000, is among the newest and most authoritative books; although clearly intended for popular consumption, it is well-footnoted, very large, and new enough to include the results of DNA investigations. I can't help but think that this book and Settle are reliable, and the other sources are largely junk. - RBW
File: FR379
===
NAME: Jesse James (IV)
DESCRIPTION: "You've heard of heroes brave in all their glory...." These heroes are contrasted with James, who "joined the bad guerrillas," robbed banks, "invented robbing trains," avoided the Pinkertons -- and finally was shot by Robert Ford
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: outlaw death train betrayal
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 93, "Jesse James" (5 texts, 2 tunes; this is the "E" text)
Roud #11225
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] and references there
NOTES: For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: FCW093E
===
NAME: Jesse James (VI -- "I Wonder Where My Poor Old Jesse's Gone")
DESCRIPTION: Jesse James song recognized by the chorus, "Oh I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone... I will meet him in that land where I've never been before." Jesse is killed by Robert Ford; his life is recalled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963 (The Golden Ring)
KEYWORDS: outlaw death betrayal
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 4, 1882 - Shooting of Jesse James (then in semi-retirement under the name of Howard) by Robert Ford, a relative and a former member of his gang tempted by the $10,000 reward
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Darling-NAS, pp. 187-188, "Jesse James" (1 text)
DT, JESSJAM1
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] and references there
NOTES: I don't know if this version is actually traditional; the Golden Ring text is collated, and I believe someone (Mitchell Trio?) attributed it to Paul Clayton. I've never seen a pure dyed-in-the-wool text from tradition.
For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: DarNS188
===
NAME: Jesse James (VII - "Jesse James Was a Bandit Bold")
DESCRIPTION: Jesse and Frank James come to town with ponies for sale. While there, they attend a ball, and have great success with the girls. The local men try to attack them, but Jesse and Frank out-fight them and escape to Mexico
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (University Missourian)
KEYWORDS: outlaw dancing escape
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 401-404, "Jesse James" (3 texts, of which only the second, called "A Missouri Ballad" in the original publication, is this song)
Roud #2242
NOTES: This is item dE44 in Laws's Appendix II.
For full background on Frank and Jesse James, see the notes to "Jesse James (III)," the James song which has perhaps the strongest factual basis. - RBW
File: Beld419b
===
NAME: Jessey James: see Jesse James (II) [Laws E2] (File: LE02)
===
NAME: Jessie and Jimmie: see The Sons of Liberty [Laws J13] (File: LJ13)
===
NAME: Jessie at the Railway Bar: see Jessie, the Belle at the Bar (File: R051)
===
NAME: Jessie Munroe [Laws P40]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny is entranced by Jessie and asks her too marry, offering her houses and land. She says that his holdings are poor and he unattractive. Johnny returns to Betty, less attractive but more faithful
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: courting beauty virtue
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws P40, "Jessie Munroe"
Peacock, pp. 291-292, "Jessie Munro" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 78, "Jessie Munroe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 72-73, "Jessie Munro" (3 texts, 1 tune)
DT 517, JESSMUNR
Roud #1807
File: LP40
===
NAME: Jessie of Ballington Brae: see Bessie of Ballington Brae [Laws P28] (File: LP28)
===
NAME: Jessie, the Belle at the Bar
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees Jessie working at the railroad bar. He courts her. Though warned that she is fickle, he offers to wed; she accepts -- then runs off with the costly wedding dress and marries a newspaper publisher
AUTHOR: G. Ware
EARLIEST_DATE: 1884 (broadside L.C.Fol.70(121b))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage abandonment
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 51, "Courting Jessie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 169, "Pretty Jessie of the Railway Bar" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 70-72, "(Jessie, the Belle at the Bar)" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "Jessie at the Railway Bar" (source notes only)
Roud #3265
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(121b), "Jessie at the Railway Bar," unknown (probably Glasgow), 1884
NOTES: The commentary for broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(121b) states "the location of the railway station in 'Jessie at the Railway Bar' occasionally varies, with one version placing the events in Moorgate station rather than Brighton station." - BS
File: R051
===
NAME: Jest Talkin': see Talking Blues (File: LoF224)
===
NAME: Jesus and Joses: see notes under The Bitter Withy (File: L689)
===
NAME: Jesus At Thy Command
DESCRIPTION: "Jesus at Thy command I launch into the deep And leave my native land Where sin lulls all asleep." Singer trusts Christ to save him and asks for a heavenly wind to take him to a heavenly port.
AUTHOR: Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1796 (see note quoting William Allen)
KEYWORDS: religious sea ship ship nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Frank Verrill, "Jesus At Thy Command" (on Voice02)
NOTES: Re: The London Missionary Society: "The first missionary party, consisting of over thirty persons, sailed down the Thames in the ship 'Duff' on the 10th August, 1796, singing, 'Jesus at Thy command we launch into the deep.'" (source: _The History of Revivals of Religion_ by William Allen, "Chapter I - The History of Revivals of Religion - Part III," at The New Revival Library site)
"['Jesus At Thy Command'] is in the Primitive Methodist Hymnal of 1889 and was written by Augustustas[sic] Montigue Toplady." (source: The Veteran "traditional folk music label" site). - BS
Augustus Montague Toplady is most famous for writing the words to "Rock of Ages." Charles Johnson's _One Hundred & One Famous Hymns_ gives a brief biography of Toplady which seems to consist mostly of denomination-jumping. He is said to have been "always in frail health," which explains his early death.
He is credited with two volumes of religious lyrics. Nonetheless _Granger's Index to Poetry_ lists only seven of his works which made it into their voluminous database  (and it appears that two of those are actually alternate names for "Rock of Ages"). This is not one of the works they cite. - RBW
File: RcJeATCo
===
NAME: Jesus Born in Bethlehem: see Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)
===
NAME: Jesus Born in Galilee: see Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)
===
NAME: Jesus Borned in Bethlea: see Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)
===
NAME: Jesus Christ I Want to Find
DESCRIPTION: "Jesus Christ I want to find; Pray tell me where he is, 'Cause him alone can ease my mind And give my conscience peace." "Tell me which way my redeemer's gone." The singer describes how to recognize Jesus, and is thanked for his lecture
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 602, "Jesus Christ I Want to Find" (1 text)
Roud #11913
File: Br3602
===
NAME: Jesus Done Taken My Drifting Hand
DESCRIPTION: "Hush, little baby, and don't you cry; Yo' mudder an' fader is bo'n to die! Jesus done taken my driftin' han'. Good Lord, Lord, Lord! Over de hills bright shinin' lan'." "Mind out, Sister, how you step on de cross...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 580, "Hush, Little Baby" (1 text)
Roud #11896
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "All My Trials" (floating lyrics) and references there
File: Br3580
===
NAME: Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dyin' Bed (Tone the Bell Easy)
DESCRIPTION: "When you hear dat I'se a-dyin', I don' want nobody to mo'n... Well, well, well, tone de bell easy, Jesus gonna make up my dyin' bed. The singer recounts Jesus's death, prays that Jesus be with him, and remembers the faith of his dead mother
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Blind Willie Johnson)
KEYWORDS: Jesus death farewell religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 605-608, "Tone de Bell Easy" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
DT, TONEBELL
Roud #10975; also 15557
RECORDINGS:
Blind Willie Johnson "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed"  (Columbia 14276-D, 1927; on BWJ01, BWJ02)
Jubilee Gospel Team, "Lower My Dying Head" (QRS, 1928; on Babylon) 
Charley Patton, "Jesus is a Dying-Bed Maker" (Paramount 12986, 1930; rec. 1929)
Dock Reed, "Jesus Goin' to Make Up My Dyin' Bed" (on NFMAla2)
Horace Sprott, "Jesus Going to Make Up My Dying Bed" (on MuSouth04)
Unknown artists, "Jesus Goin' Make Up My Dyin' Bed" (AFS CYL-5-8, 1933)
NOTES: Josh White sings a much, much simpler version of this song, with the same chorus and some of the same verses. The Lomaxes admit that their very long (fourteen stanza) version is composite. I can't really tell how much comes from tradition and how much they mortared in. - RBW
File: LxA605
===
NAME: Jesus Is a Rock
DESCRIPTION: "Jesus is a rock in a wearied land, In a wearied land, in a wearied land... A shelter in a time of storm, in a time of storms." "He is whom I fix my hopes upon, A narrow way till in my view...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Henry, from Hettie Twiggs)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus mother storm
FOUND_IN: US(SEmSo)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 657, "Jesus Is a Rock" (1 fragment)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 193, "Jesus is a Rock" (1 text)
Roud #7580
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
My God is a Rock in a Weary Land
NOTES: This reminds me somewhat of "My Father's Gone to View That Land," but Randolph's fragment doesn't seem to have any actual words in common with that piece.
Henry's fragment is rather different in form ("Jesus is a rock in a whirly wind, A shelter in the time of storm, Hope my mother will be there, A shelter in the time of storm," repeated with other family members replacing "Mother," but the overall similarity is clear. - RBW
File: R657
===
NAME: Jesus Lover of My Soul
DESCRIPTION: Original hymn: "Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly." Parody: "Jesus, lover of my soul, Set me on top of telegraph pole. When the pole begins to break, Take me down for Jesus's sake."
AUTHOR: Original words: Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1740 (publication); parody collected 1919
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 347, "Jesus Lover of My Soul" (1 short text, the "telegraph pole" form)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), p. 41, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" (1 text, 1 tune, credited to John B. Dykes)
Roud #11737
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Jesus Lover of My Soul" (Vocalion 5316, 1929; on CGospel1)
Rambling Rangers, "Jesus Lover of My Soul" (Vocalion 04628, 1939)
NOTES: The Charles Wesley lyric seems to be very popular in churches; the Sacred Harp has it to the tune "Martin" (listed as by S. B. Marsh); I have seen a Baptist hymnal with both that tune (listed there as "Marsh") and the tune "Refuge" (by Joseph P. Holbrook). A Lutheran hymnal has the Marsh tune (called "Martyn"). And a Methodist hymnal reveals two texts, one to "Martyn" and one called "Hollingside" by John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876). My best guess is that the Dykes tune is the only one written for these lyrics.
However, I have yet to find any of these texts in tradition. The "telegraph pole" parody, by contrast, *is* from tradition, though it's not clear how widespread it is. - RBW
You wanted it from tradition? Uncle Dave Macon! - PJS
File: Br3347
===
NAME: Jesus Met the Woman at the Well
DESCRIPTION: Jesus meets a (Samaritan) woman as she comes to draw water, and tells her "everything [she] has ever done." She proclaims him a prophet, and announces the news in the town
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (recorded by the Selah Jubilee Quartet)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 59-60, "(Jesus Met the Woman at the Well)" (1 text plus a fragment); p. 252, "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" (1 tune, partial text)
RECORDINGS:
Pilgrim Travelers, "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" (Specialty 329, n.d.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Maid and the Palmer" [Child 21] (subject)
cf. "See the Woman at the Well" (subject)
cf. "Lift Him Up That's All" (subject)
NOTES: For the story of Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, see John 4:5-26 - RBW
File: CNFM059
===
NAME: Jesus Never Come in the Morning
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Jesus never come in the morning, Neither in the heat of the day, But come in the cool of the evening And wash my sins away." The singer warns against riches, looks forward to the end of the war, and is willing to die for God
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, p. 72-73, "Jesus Nevuh Come in the Mornin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10023
File: MWhee072
===
NAME: Jesus Nevuh Come in the Mornin': see Jesus Never Come in the Morning (File: MWhee072)
===
NAME: Jesus on the Water-Side
DESCRIPTION: "Heaven bell a-ring, I know the road (x3), Jesus sitting on the water-side." "Do come along, do let us go (x3), Jesus sitting on the water-side."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, pp. 28-29, "Jesus on the Water-Side" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11978
File: AWG028
===
NAME: Jesus Says Go
DESCRIPTION: Singer is told that if he wants to be converted he should pray. He does, until his heart melts, then "my hands was tied, my feet was bound...." Cho: "Jesus says go -- I'll go with you/Preach the gospel and I'll preach with you...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recorded by Mississippi Jubliee Singers)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer is told that if he wants to be converted he should pray. He does, until his heart melts, then "my hands was tied, my feet was bound/The elements opened and the Lord come down/The voice I heard sounds so sweet/The love run out at the sole of my feet" Cho: "Jesus says go -- I'll go with you/Preach the gospel and I'll preach with you/Lord if I go, tell me what to say/For they won't believe on me"
KEYWORDS: ordeal religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #6984
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "Jesus Says Go" (on Chandler01)
Heavenly Gospel Singers, "You Go and I'll Go With You" (on Bluebird B-6928, 1937)
George Herod, "Lord, When I Was a Sinner" (on MuSouth07)
Mississippi Jubliee Singers, "Jesus Said If You Go I'll Go" (on Paramount 12495, 1927)
Sparkling Four Quartette, "They Won't Believe in Me" (on OKeh 8741, 1929)
NOTES: This song was also in the repertoire of Cas Wallin; he said that it was often sung by members of Holiness churches. Mary Sands, one of Cecil Sharp's most valuable ballad sources, claimed to have written it; the fact that it was also collected in 1954 from George Herod, an African-American from near Scott Station, Alabama, and recorded in 1927 by the Mississippi Jubilee Singers, makes this unlikely although not impossible. - PJS
File: RcJeSaGo
===
NAME: Jesus Says, "You Goes and I Goes Wid  You"
DESCRIPTION: Jesus says, "You goes and I goes wid you; Preach de gospel and I'll preach wid you." The singer asks Jesus to tell him what to say. After some back-and-forth, the singer reports, "De elements opened and de Lawd come down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 603, "Jesus Says, 'You Goes and I Goes Wid You" (1 text)
Roud #11912
NOTES: This starts with elements of the commissioning of the Twelve (Matthew 10, and parallels; Matt. 28:19-20), but the ending is pure apocalyptic imagination. - RBW 
File: Br3603
===
NAME: Jesus Setta Me Free
DESCRIPTION: "Let's go and tell it on the mountains (x3), Jesus setta me free." "It's come on everybody in the marvelous light, Jesus setta me free, Where the yoke is easy and the burden is light, Jesus setta me free." "Let's go and tell it on the mountains...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Forbes)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 100, "Jesus Setta Me Free" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST ChFRA100 (Full)
Roud #16941
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Go Tell It on the Mountain (I -- Christmas)" (lyrics)
cf. "Go Tell It on the Mountain (II -- Freedom)" (lyrics)
File: ChFRA100
===
NAME: Jesus Walked in Galilee: see Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)
===
NAME: Jesus, Won't You Come B'm-By?
DESCRIPTION: "You ride dat horse, You call him Macaroni; Jesus, won't you come b'm-by? You ride him in de mornin' And you ride him in de evenin'; Jesus, won't you come b'm-by? De Lord knows de world's gwine to end up...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious horse nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 60, "Jesus, Won't You Come By-and-bye?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 469, "Jesus, Won't You Come B'm-By?" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 11, (no title) (1 fragment, a single stanza that might be this)
Roud #12021
File: San469
===
NAME: Jesus, Won't You Come By-and-Bye?: see Jesus, Won't You Come B'm-By? (File: San469)
===
NAME: Jeune Fille Sans Amant, La (The Young Girl Without a Lover)
DESCRIPTION: French. A girl says she must have a lover. Mother says wait; go to the convent. The girl wants to go to a lover. Mother says here's money to get to the convent; the girl says with that money I will buy myself a man. You will be sorry, says the mother.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sex warning dialog humorous lover mother
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 293-294, "La Jeune Fille Sans Amant" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (theme)
File: Pea293
===
NAME: Jeune Fille si Amoureuse, La (The Girl So In Love)
DESCRIPTION:  French. A girl says she must have a lover. Her mother sends her to a convent. At the convent a Brother consoles her. A Sister says that the Father would marry them. The girl says that her lover is not here but is a slave among the barbarians.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage captivity love separation lover sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 525-526, "La Jeune Fille si Amoureuse" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Belfast Sailor" (theme)
File: Pea525
===
NAME: Jeune Militaire, Le (The Young Soldier)
DESCRIPTION:  French. After years in the army a soldier stops at an inn. The hostess cries; she recognizes him as her husband. He asks why she has more children. She had reports that he had died and so remarried. He asks about her husband. She gives him gold to leave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1983 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage marriage reunion children wife soldier adultery
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 59, "Le Jeune Militaire" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best, "Le Jeune Militaire" (on NFABest01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brave Marin" (theme)
cf. "Jack Robinson" (theme)
NOTES: [According to] Lehr/Best, "Le Jeune Militaire" is a version of "Brave Marin"; while the themes are very close the words are not. - BS
File: LeBe059
===
NAME: Jew Lady, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Jew's Daughter, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Jew's Garden, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Jeweled Ring, The: see Hind Horn [Child 17] (File: C017)
===
NAME: Jewish Lady, The: see Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)
===
NAME: Jigger, Rigger, Bumbo: see Ole Marse John (File: LoF271)
===
NAME: Jilson Setters's Blind Song
DESCRIPTION: "In sorrow and sadness I'm destined to roam, Distracted and forsaken I wander alone." The singer hears the birds and feels the breezes but cannot see nature or people. He prays God to take him to heaven "where the blind may all see."
AUTHOR: Jilson Setters (James W. Day)?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS:  injury hardtimes music rambling
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 181-183, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blind Fiddler" (theme) and references there
File: ThBa181
===
NAME: Jilson Setters's C.I.O. Song
DESCRIPTION: "I am going to tell you people, Perhaps you do not know, We all should work together And protect the C.I.O." The singer urges men to "stick together And defend the union plan." He points out that laborers do all the work
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: labor-movement nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 244-245, (no title) (1 text)
File: ThBa244
===
NAME: Jilson Setters's Courting Song
DESCRIPTION: "It was all in the month of winter, I arrived by wagon to this place; I chanced to meet with a youthful lady...." He courts the girl and asks her to come away; her mother refuses and he is forced to depart; he hopes to meet the listeners in heaven
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: courting rambling rejection
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 184-185, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: Said to be built around a Riley ballad, though it's not clear which one.
Setters told Thomas that he used this song to make his wife jealous so she would court him. I wonder, though -- according to Thomas, it was his wife Rhuhamie who urged him to sing it to Thomas. - RBW
File: ThBa184
===
NAME: Jilson Setters's Indian Song
DESCRIPTION: "In an early day folks crossed the sea To explore the Indians' land." The Indians befriend the Whites; "Little did the Indian think They would spoil his hunting ground." "The white man done the Indian wrong"; they go to war -- but lose for lack of guns
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) hunting exploration war technology
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 186-187, (no title) (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Logan's Lament" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Although this doesn't seem to be very anthropoligically correct, it is quite sympathetic to the Indians -- rather surprising for the time. - RBW
File: ThBa186
===
NAME: Jim Along Josey: see Jim Along Josie (File: R575)
===
NAME: Jim Along Josie
DESCRIPTION: Originally a blackface minstrel piece, now often reduced to odd lyrics held together by the refrain, "Hey jim-along, jim-along Josie; Hey jim-along, jim along Jo." Sample verse: "Any pretty girl that wants a beau, Just fall in the arms of Jim Along Joe"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1840 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: nonsense lyric playparty
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 575, "Jim Along Josie" (1 text plus a fragment)
Warner 180, "Git Along Josie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 105, "Jam A-long, Josey" (1 text, 1 tune); also probably p. 106 (no title), (1 text, using this chorus in some instances; the verses include the terrapin and the toad, "My ole missus promise me When she die she set me free," "You get there before I do....")
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 103-104, "Jim Along Josey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4618
RECORDINGS:
Coon Creek Girls, "Jim Along Josie" (Songs from Renfro Valley - Bell, mx. 2002, n.d., postwar)
Lawrence Older,  "Jim Along Josie" (on LOlder01)
Pete Seeger, "Jim Along Josie" (on PeteSeeger3, PeteSeegerCD03)
Tom Smith, "Hey, Get Along, Josie" (on USWarnerColl01)
NOTES: Spaeth suggests that this is a minstrel tune, and he's probably right. He suggests that it was written by Edward Harper, who presented it in his 1838 play "The Free Nigger of New York."
But it has entered oral tradition -- though perhaps in a filed-down form; Spaeth's text has a four-line verse while the traditional forms often use two-line stanzas. The choruses are the same. - RBW
File: R575
===
NAME: Jim and Me
DESCRIPTION: Singer says that he and his old friend Jim used to be sinners, smokers and drinkers, but that God has saved them, and their money is now spent on their families. "What our God has done for us/He's done for Jim and me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (unissued recording, Kentucky Thorobreds)
KEYWORDS: virtue sin drink religious family gods
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #7381
RECORDINGS:
Garner Brothers, "Jim and Me" (JGS 20088, n.d.)
Kentucky Thorobreds, "Jim and Me" (Paramount, unissued, rec. 1927)
Preston & Hobart Smith, "Jim and Me" (on LomaxCD1704)
NOTES: Again fragmentary, but a narrative. - PJS
File: RcJaM
===
NAME: Jim Blake
DESCRIPTION: "'Jim Blake, your wife is dying,' came over the wires tonight." Railroad engineer Blake wires back that he is coming. But his train is wrecked, "derailed by an open switch." Blake's last message to his wife says they'll meet in heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (_Railroad Man's Magazine_, according to Cohen)
KEYWORDS: train wreck disaster death husband wife
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 332-337, "Jim Blake's Message" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 139-140, "Jim Blake" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "Jim Blake" (source notes only)
Roud #3531
RECORDINGS:
The Carter Family, "Jim Blake's Message" (Decca 5467, 1935)
Vernon Dalhart, "Jim Blake" (Brunswick 173, 1927); "Jim Blake the Engineer" (Columbia 15192-D [as Al Craver], 1927)
File: GC479b
===
NAME: Jim Blake's Message: see Jim Blake (File: GC479b)
===
NAME: Jim Crack Corn: see The Blue-Tail Fly [Laws I19] (File: LI19)
===
NAME: Jim Crow (I): see Hop High Ladies (Uncle Joe) (File: R252)
===
NAME: Jim Crow (II): see Jump Jim Crow (File: Gilb018)
===
NAME: Jim Crow Car: see She Gets There Just the Same (Jim Crow Car) (File: DarNS355)
===
NAME: Jim Fisk [Laws F18]
DESCRIPTION: Jim Fisk, though a rich and fine man, still remembers the poor and gives aid to many at the time of the Chicago fire. Fisk is shot by Edward Stokes (his rival for a girl); the singer is afraid that Stokes's wealth will allow him to win his freedom
AUTHOR: William J. Scanlon ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: murder trial money
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 6, 1872 - Edward Stokes shoots Jim Fisk, "his rival for... the actress Josie Mansfield." Stokes (who, despite the song, was not rich) spent four years in prison for manslaughter
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws F18, "Jim Fisk"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 90-96, "Jim Fisk" (2 texts, 1 tune, plus a copy of the cover of the sheet music)
Belden, pp. 415-416, "Jim Fisk" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 30-31, "Jim Fisk" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 207, "Jim Fisk" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, p. 75, "Jim Fiske" (1 fragment, linked to this mostly on the strength of the line "He never went back on the poor.")
Burt, pp. 49-50, "(no title)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 416-419, "Jim Fisk" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 550-552, "Jim Fisk" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 101-102, "Jim Fisk or He Never Went Back on the Poor" (1 text)
DT 631, STOVRDCT*
Roud #2215
NOTES: Belden calls "Jubilee Jim" Fisk (1834-1872)  "Jay Gould's fellow bandit in Wall Street."
He did in fact work with Jay Gould to secure control of the Erie Railroad from Cornelius Vanderbilt, and also helped manipulate the "Black Friday" gold crash of Sept. 24, 1871, but his business practices do not appear to have been unusual for the time -- and, unlike many speculators, he did try to appeal to the public (he has been called "the most opulent of the robber barons"). According to Gilbert, he sent supplies to help the survivors of the Chicago Fire (October 8, 1871). It is ironic that it is his murder, rarely mentioned in the histories, that gained him a place in oral tradition.
Fisk's assassin, Stokes, died in 1901, reportedly having spent his last years in neurotic fear of Fisk's ghost (e.g. Stokes would only sleep in lighted rooms).
Much additional information can be found in Cohen, who notes incidentally that the recorded versions of this song are generally much shorter than the original "Stokes' Verdict" text.
Botkin, apparently quoting Barry, claims there are three Jim Fisk songs. This one (which exists in many variants, but is recognized by the fact that most stanzas end with the word "poor") is said to be the "most popular" -- and is, as of this writing, the only one I have encountered.
Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, mentions this song several times, noting on p. 217 both the fact that this song was attributed to William J. Scanlon (whom he calls a typical composer of the era) and the difficulty with this attribution: The first sheet music, published in 1874, has the initials "J. S.," rather than "W. J. S.," and Scanlon in any case was only 15 at the time. - RBW
File: LF18
===
NAME: Jim Fiske: see Jim Fisk [Laws F18] (File: LF18)
===
NAME: Jim Haggerty's Story
DESCRIPTION: The speaker and his companion go down to town, where the companion will confront a man hired to kill him. They enter the bar. The hired gun's girlfriend begs him not to shoot; the other is her father. But both men draw and fire and are killed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: death father family murder
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 135-136, "Jim Haggerty's Story" (1 text)
Roud #15550
NOTES: While this may be legitimate folklore (it has rather a tall tale feel), there is no evidence that it was ever a song, or traveled in the same traditional circles as ordinary folk songs. - RBW
File: LxA135
===
NAME: Jim Harris
DESCRIPTION: Famous captain Jim Harris, in Ronald P out of St Kyran's, runs down the Irene anchored in Paradise Sound. "It's all right when the wheel goes up, till it turns for to come down And you might make that same mistake as Jim Harris in Paradise Sound."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: sea ship crash
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 60, "Jim Harris" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: St Kyran's and Paradise Sound are in Placentia Bay, west of the Avalon Peninsula and on the south coast of Newfoundland. The song places the incident on May 31, 1934. It appears neither ship was lethally damaged and there was no loss of life. - BS
File: LeVe060
===
NAME: Jim Hatfield's Boy
DESCRIPTION: "You're sending me for life, judge, For killing Bill McCoy, But maybe you don't know, Judge, that I'm Jim Hatfield's boy." The singer, unnamed, describes the history of the Hatfield/McCoy feud and his need for revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: feud death mother children revenge trial judge punishment
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1880 - Beginning of the Hatfield/McCoy feud
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 13-16, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, p. 248, "(Jim Hatfield's Son)" (1 excerpt)
ST ThBdM013 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Death of Fan McCoy" (subject) and references there
NOTES: For details on the Hatfield/McCoy feud, see "The Death of Fan McCoy." - RBW
File: ThBdM013
===
NAME: Jim Jones at Botany Bay
DESCRIPTION: The singer, Jim Jones, is taken, tried, and sentenced to transportation. En route, his ship is attacked by pirates, but the crew holds them off. Arriving in Australia, Jones vows to escape, join the bushrangers, and get revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (Old Pioneering Days in the Sunny South)
KEYWORDS: outlaw poaching trial transportation pirate
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
PBB 96, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (1 text)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 50-52, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (1 text)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 28-29, "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 12-13, "Jim Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST PBB096 (Partial)
Roud #5478
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Jack Donahoe" (tune) and references there
File: PBB096
===
NAME: Jim Larkin, R.I.P.
DESCRIPTION: Jim Larkin fought the Peelers in 1913 and "was treated to the batons by the Forces of the Crown." "The worker is a freeman now by his persevering fight." "R.I.P"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 ("Sold in the streets of Dublin the day of James Larkin's funeral," according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: strike violence labor-movement Ireland memorial death police
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 30, 1947 - "James Larkin died in his sleep." (source: _James Larkin_ on the Spartacus Educational site)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 20, "Jim Larkin, R.I.P" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Larkin founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union in 1909.
"By 1913 so many Dublin workers had joined the IT&GWU that employers refused to employ unionised workers, resulting in the infamous Dublin Lock-Out when over 100,000 workers were sacked and many more refused admittance to their workplace for over eight months. After the Lock-Out the IT&GWU was firmly established."
From 1914 to 1920 he organized workers in New York anLarkin founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union in 1909.
"By 1913 so many Dublin workers had joined the IT&GWU that employers refused to employ unionised workers, resulting in the infamous Dublin Lock-Out when over 100,000 workers were sacked and many more refused admittance to their workplace for over eight months. After the Lock-Out the IT&GWU was firmly established."
From 1914 to 1920 he organised workers in New York and was jailed until 1923 for "criminal syndicalism." He returned to Ireland and established the Worker's Union. He was later elected to the Dublin City Council and Dail Eireann. (source: Searc's Web Guide to 20th Century Ireland - James Larkin (1876-1947)). - BS
That Dublin needed organization around the turn of the twentieth century is hardly to be denied. According to Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 207, prior to the activities of Larkin, "nearly half of all annual deaths [in Dublin] took place in workhouses, asylums, and prisons"; he points out that many workers were putting in seventy hour weeks to earn pay equivalent to what we would now call only about half of the "poverty line."
Similarly, Robert Kee (_The Bold Fenian Men_, being Volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 195) writes, "The poverty and squalor of much of Dublin in the early years of the twentieth century appalled all who encountered it. A government report issued in 1914 assessed that of a Dublin population of 304,000, some 194,000, or about sixty-three percent, could be recokined 'working classes'. The majority of these working classes lived in tenement houses, almost half of them with no more than one room to each family. Thirty-seven per cent of the entire working class of Dublin lived at a density of more than six persons per roon; fourteen per cent in houses declared 'unfit for human habitation.'"
Larkin's troubles with the British police were not entirely related to his union activities, though. Born in Liverpool, he did not settle in Ireland until 1906/1907, when James Sexton (head of the National Union of Dock Labourers) sent him to Belfast to organize the dock workers there.
Larkin was a fine choice for the role. According to Ulick O'Connor, _Michael Collins & The Troubles_, pp. 54-55, "Larkin was a remarkable orator and journalist who could lift the people from their knees woth a brilliant phrase. He had a voice that could carry across a prairie, and a towering, crag-like presence. His quivering face... became the symbol of hope to the downtrodden and hungry masses who listened to him."
Larkin did manage to bring many of the workers into a union, leading them on strike late in 1907. The strike turned violent, though some of the police sided with Larkin. With the union going bankrupt, Sexton settled over his head. Larkin therefore broke away from Sexton's group to form the IT&GWU in 1908.
Socialist in principles, Larkin was associated with James Connolly (1868-1916; for more on him, see "James Connolly") in the United Tramway Company strike. This turned into a lockout as William Martin Murphy, who was responsible for management bargaining, set out to destroy Larkin.  (see Charles Townshend, _Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion_, p. 48; O'Connorm pp. 55-56).
Larkin, who had spent a few weeks in prison before the government relented (Townshend, p. 49), rose to fine heights of oratory (when the Catholic hierarchy opposed his union, he declared, "They cannot frighten me with hell. Better to be in hell with Dante and Davitt than to be in heaven with [Ulster leader Edward] Carson and Murphy"; see O'Connor, p. 57). But strikers were starving, and the government blocked all attempts to help them (O'Connor, p. 56). Larkin fled Ireland after the strike fizzled in 1914 -- while Connolly stayed, and was one of the instigators of the Easter Rising. Larkin of course went to America, where he was imprisoned during a "Red Scare" in 1916 (O'Connor, p. 55).
Larkin came back to Ireland in 1923, to find that his own Union -- which was about twenty times as big as when he left home -- had no leadership place for him. He founded a socialist political party; though he eventually joined the Labour Party, he spent most of the rest of his life feuding with his old associates. Still, he was remembered by the people as a founder of the union movement.
Regarding his relations with other leaders, Kee writes (p. 198), "Subsequent dramatic events... have had the effect of making Connolly seem the major labour figure in twentieth-century Irish history.... But the fact that Connolly was to be cut off in his prime and win a martyr's crown in 1916, while Larkin, accidentally missing the heroics, was to live on to 1948 through years of Irish disillusion, political quarrelling, and personal identification with Soviet Communism, should not blind one historically to the other fact that it was Larkin who first effectively brought the old incoherent national emotions into Irish twentieth-century labour relations."
The song's description of fighting the Peelers in 1913 appears to be a reference to events of August 31, 1913. Larkin had been arrested for seditious libel on August 28, but was released on bail. He was supposed to speak in Dublin on August 31. He appeared in disguise, but it was clear it was him. Once the crowd started cheering him, the police attacked the crowd, resulting in one death and many injuries (O'Connor, p. 56).
This is not the only song about Larkin and 1913; Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 32-33, prints a piece, "Dublin City, 1913" by Donagh McDonagh, which covers events of 1913 to 1916. - RBW
File: OLcM020
===
NAME: Jim Porter's Shanty Song: see The Lumber Camp Song (File: Doe210)
===
NAME: Jim Ross Song, The
DESCRIPTION: Ross, "an elderly gent" courts Mary Ann, "the pride of Dundas," offering "houses and lands" because he has little money. She agrees to marry but does not appear for the wedding. She explains why she changed her mind [the song breaks here].
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: age courting wedding rejection
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 112-113, "The Jim Ross Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12459
NOTES: Dundas is near the east coast of Kings, Prince Edward Island. - BS
File: Dib112
===
NAME: Jim Strainer Blues
DESCRIPTION: Jim Strainer tells Lula that if he catches her with Willie he'll kill her. Singer follows Lula to the burying ground. Jim Strainer has killed her, on the ballroom [barroom?] floor. Willie is sentenced to 15 years; Jim Strainer gets 99, and cries
AUTHOR: possibly Will Shade
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, Memphis Jug Band)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Jim Strainer tells Lula that if he catches her with Willie he'll kill her. Singer tells the hearse driver to roll slowly, so he can see Lula one more time. He follows her to the burying ground and watches as they ease her down. Jim Strainer has killed her, on the ballroom [barroom?] floor. Willie is sentenced to 15 years; Jim Strainer gets 99, and cries
KEYWORDS: grief jealousy love warning violence crime murder prison punishment trial burial death mourning lover
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Memphis Jug Band, "Jim Strainer Blues" (Victor 23421, 1933; rec. 1930; on StuffDreams1)
File: RcJiStBl
===
NAME: Jim the Roper
DESCRIPTION: "The dug him a grave at the set of the sun, His riding was over, his roping was done." The cowboys bury Jim, and return to "their cabins, deserted and lorn." "No sound save the Yellowstone dashing a-foam." Jim's ghost is seen be the rive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Larkin)
KEYWORDS: death burial cowboy ghost
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Larkin, pp. 164-165, "Jim the Roper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5764
File: Lark164
===
NAME: Jim Whalen: see James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC07)
===
NAME: Jim, the Carman Lad: see Jim, the Carter Lad (File: FSC096)
===
NAME: Jim, the Carter Lad
DESCRIPTION: The carter/driver reports on his happy life: "Crack, crack, goes my whip, I whistle and I sing, I sit upon my wagon, I'm as happy as a king." He ignores bad weather, recalls being trained by his father, and tells of courting his sweetheart in the cart
AUTHOR: E. H. Harding?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1870
KEYWORDS: work travel courting
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Ireland Britain(England(North,South),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Greig #99, p. 1, "Jim the Carter Lad" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 457, "Jim the Carter Lad" (3 texts, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 96, "The Stage Coach Driver's Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 244-245, "Jim the Carter Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 228, "Jim, the Carter Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H171, p. 40, "Jim, the Carman Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JIMCART*
Roud #1080
RECORDINGS:
Jack Goodfellow, "Jim The Carter Lad" (on FSB3)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (lyrics)
File: FSC096
===
NAME: Jimmie and Nancy: see Nancy of Yarmouth (Jemmy and Nancy; The Barbadoes Lady) [Laws M38] (File: LM38)
===
NAME: Jimmie Brown the Newsboy
DESCRIPTION: Singer, Jimmie Brown, the newsboy of the town, wears no hat or shoes, and is cold and hungry. [He wanders from place to place.] He tells of his drunkard father, who  has abandoned the family. His mother says he will "sell the gospel news" in heaven
AUTHOR: A. P. Carter?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Carter Famiy)
KEYWORDS: poverty travel abandonment work drink father worker
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, JIMBROWN
Roud #4996
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "Jimmie Brown, the Newsboy" (Victor 23554, 1931; Montgomery Ward M-5027, 1936; rec. 1929)
Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & the Foggy Mountain Boys, "Jimmie Brown, the Newsboy" (Columbia 20830, 1951)
NOTES: Almost no one lists a composer for this song, but the Harry Fox Agency has two separate listings. One is for A. P. Carter, the other is for Jimmy Rodgers and George Vaughan. I'm inclined to believe the former, since I've found no evidence Rodgers ever recorded the song, but on the other hand he seems to have collaborated with Vaughan on at least one other song. - PJS
File: RcJBtNew
===
NAME: Jimmie Crack Corn: see The Blue-Tail Fly [Laws I19] (File: LI19)
===
NAME: Jimmie Jones: see Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)
===
NAME: Jimmie Jot: see Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4] (File: LC04)
===
NAME: Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4]
DESCRIPTION: Jimmie tries to break a logjam and is drowned. His badly cut up body is recovered the next day. He is mourned by sweetheart, family, and fellow workers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws C4, "Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River)"
Warner 18, "Jamie Judge (or, Bonshee River)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 55, "The Beau Shai River" (2 texts, one entitled "Jimmie Jot")
Gardner/Chickering 112, "Jimmie Judd" (1 fragmentary text)
Fowke-Lumbering #29, "Jimmy Judge" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
DT 680, JIMJUDGE
Roud #636
NOTES: Fowke quotes Gravelle to the effect that James Angus Dudge was born in Quebec in 1846, but Gravelle can only speculate about the date of his death; he suspects the date was c. 1866. - RBW
File: LC04
===
NAME: Jimmie Rendal: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jimmie Tucker: see The Chisholm Trail (II) (File: EM186)
===
NAME: Jimmie Whalen: see Lost Jimmie Whalen [Laws C8]; also James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC08)
===
NAME: Jimmie Whalen's Girl: see Lost Jimmie Whalen [Laws C8]; also James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC08)
===
NAME: Jimmie-Ma-Riley-Oh!: see Jimmy My Riley (File: Br3195)
===
NAME: Jimmy: see On Top of Old Smokey (File: BSoF740)
===
NAME: Jimmy and his Own True Love [Laws O30]
DESCRIPTION: Jimmy and Annie are out walking one fine day just before he sets sail. She bids him farewell and gives him a diamond ring as a token of her love. He promises to return to her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1841 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(276))
KEYWORDS: courting sea farewell ring
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws O30, "Jimmy and his Own True Love"
Mackenzie 44, "Jimmy and His Own True Love" (1 text)
DT 485, JIMMTRUE
Roud #958
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(276), "Sailor and his Truelove," J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840; also Firth c.12(147), Harding B 17(266b), "[The] Sailor and his Truelove"; Firth c.12(149) , "Jemmy's Farewell" ("As a sailor and his true love one morning in May") 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jimmy and Nancy (III)" (plot)
File: LO30
===
NAME: Jimmy and I Will Get Married: see The Lover's Curse (Kellswater) (File: HHH442)
===
NAME: Jimmy and Nancy (I): see Nancy of Yarmouth (Jemmy and Nancy; The Barbadoes Lady) [Laws M38] (File: LM38)
===
NAME: Jimmy and Nancy (II): see A Seaman and His Love (The Welcome Sailor) [Laws N29] (File: LN29)
===
NAME: Jimmy and Nancy (III)
DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells his true love "It is all for your sweet sake I am bound to cross the ocean." Her mother and father are against them but she will not turn against him. He promises to be true. They kiss and part; she wishes him well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: love separation dialog lover sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 528-529, "Jimmy and Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 52, "Jimmy and Nancy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #958
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jimmy and his Own True Love" [Laws O30] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jimmy and Nancy the Departure
Lisbon
NOTES: Roud lumps this with Laws O30, "Jimmy and his Own True Love." It's a difficult question, since the only field collection of O30 in Laws is from Mackenzie. But the Mackenzie version revolves around the giving of the ring. Until and unless I see the broadsides Laws cites, I'm keeping them separate.
In addition, it appears that at least one version of this song is entitled "Lisbon," a title usually reserved for "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)" [Laws N8]. Laws did not know any of the Newfoundland collections cited for this song. Again, we separate, because this has no cross-dressing theme or promise by the girl to come with him.  - RBW
This is not
Bodleian, Harding B 12(155), "William and Nancy's Parting" ("Come all you pretty maidens that have a mind to go"), Burbage and Stretton (Nottingham), 1797-1807; also Johnson Ballads 1597, Harding B 11(1999), Harding B 25(2062), Johnson Ballads 1059, 2806 c.18(336), Firth c.12(172), "William and Nancy's Parting"
or
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(332), "William and Nancy's Farewell," unknown, n.d. - BS
File: Pea528
===
NAME: Jimmy and Nancy on the Sea: see William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8] (File: LN08)
===
NAME: Jimmy Bell's in Town
DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy Bell's in town, Lordy, walkin' round, He got greenbacks enough, sweet babe, to make a man a suit." Bell preaches a sermon, warning of the dangers of hell; "All them sisters sittin' in the back corner Cryin' Jimmy Bell my man."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: clergy nonballad Hell
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 75, "Jimmy Bell's in Town" (1 text, probably partial)
File: CNFM075
===
NAME: Jimmy Burse
DESCRIPTION: "I saw the undertakers leavin' With a casket in the hearse... The remains of Jimmy Burse." Burse goes out to transport a convict in his car, but is shot by the prisoner York. Burse is buried; the singer hopes he will find justice
AUTHOR: unknown (but very possibly by someone in the Vass family)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (collected by Shellans from Ruby Vass, who had a manuscript dated 1937)
KEYWORDS: prison murder escape technology burial
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1932 - Murder of taxi driver Jim Burrus. Shellans prints a newspaper chronology of the saga.
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shellans, pp. 70-71, "Jimmy Burse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7323
File: Sel070
===
NAME: Jimmy Folier: see Jamie Foyers (File: McCST084)
===
NAME: Jimmy Hughes's Feastio
DESCRIPTION: "Come, let us all to Georgetown go .. At Jimmy Hughes's feastio"; 100 are expected but only 30 show up. "The Senator arose with pride ...My son shall run the countrio. They turned him down, my darling boy, They did not know his worthio"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: rejection food party humorous political
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 12-13, "Jimmy Hughes's Feastio" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12484
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee: "When Senator J.J. Hughes received his appointment to the Senate he wanted his son to replace him as the local Member but his son was not nominated. A Testimonial dinner was held for the Senator in Georgetown but very few people showed up. It was written circa 1930." - BS
File: Din012
===
NAME: Jimmy Judge: see Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4] (File: LC04)
===
NAME: Jimmy Leeburn: see Jamie Raeburn (Caledonia) (File: MA085)
===
NAME: Jimmy Loud: see The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)
===
NAME: Jimmy Mo Veela Sthore (Jimmy, My Thousand Treasures)
DESCRIPTION: The singer misses Jimmy, who "travels the wide world o'er" on a quest for wealth. Her parents "never do give me ease." They want her to marry someone rich. She would go to the woods where no one will tease her and stay there until Jimmy returns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: courting separation money father mother
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 28A, "Jimmy Mo Veela Sthore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9782
File: OLcM028A
===
NAME: Jimmy Murphy
DESCRIPTION: "On the banks of Kilkenny... Is Joe Jimmy Murphy Who is lost and forsaken." "Tomorrow he will ride... through the city." "Tomorrow he will hang; But it's not for sheep-stealing But for courting a pretty girl By the name of Moll Figen"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: death execution playparty courting
FOUND_IN: US(So) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Belden, p. 291, "Joe Jimmy Murphy" (1 text)
Moylan 119, "Little Jimmy Murphy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7951
NOTES: Belden calls his text "possibly a game song, but certainly originally a song about a hanging, and evidently Irish." To me, his version looks like a serious song that took on a game-song chorus. - RBW
Moylan has "the serious song." From the description of Belden, I think the "game song" is close enough to Moylan that the songs should be kept together. [Perhaps more decisive is the fact that Belden's text seems to be nearly unique, though it has wandered far from the Irish roots. - RBW] Here is some more of Moylan
We gathered our pikes and flintlocks and green branches
And into old Wexford we soon were advancing.
Chorus: Skinny-ma-link, killy-ma-jo, whiskey, frisky too-ra-loo
Rank-a-diddle-i-doe, ding-doora-lie-o.
We fought through New Ross, Vinegar Hill and through Gorey
But it was the boys of the Cork Militia that deprived us of glory. 
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Luke Cheevers, "Little Jimmy Murphy" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes) 
Moylan: "This unusual piece appeared in the Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society in 1913. The note to the song says that it was heard by the informant being sung by a street-singer in Liverpool in 1830." - BS
For the battles of New Ross, Gorey, etc., see the notes to "Father Murphy (I)" and the various cross-references there. - RBW
File: Beld291
===
NAME: Jimmy My Riley
DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy-my-Riley was a grand old rascal, Jimmy-my-Riley ho (x2)." "Pick it up and shuck it up and throw it over yonder." "The cows in the old field hornin' Jimmy Riley." "The mules in the old field kickin' Jimmy Riley."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad food work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 195, "Jimmy My Riley" (1 text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 188, "Jimmie-Ma-Riley-Oh!" (1 short text); Scarborough has another stanza which she files here though it looks to me as if it might be a much-debased version of "Reuben Ranzo" or something like that
NOTES: As often happens with items like this, the Borwn and Scarborough verses don't have quite the same format. But the chorus line seems enough reason to lump. - RBW
File: Br3195
===
NAME: Jimmy Randal: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jimmy Randolph: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jimmy Ransome: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Jimmy Rose
DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy Rose he went to town (x3) To 'commodate the ladies." "Fare ye well, ye ladies all (x3), God Almighty bless you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 100, "Jimmy Rose" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, p. 211, "Jimmy Rose" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST SBoA211 (Full)
Roud #11596
File: SBoA211
===
NAME: Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo: see Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo (File: MA130)
===
NAME: Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo
DESCRIPTION: "If you want a situation and you'd like to know the plan To get on a station... Pack up the old portmanteau and label it Paroo, with a name that's aristocratic -- Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo." The song details how the "aristocratic" name can bring benefits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Paterson, _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: Australia work animal
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 130-131, "Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 114-115, "Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo" (1 text)
Roud #8394
NOTES: According to Patterson/Fahey/Seal, a Jackaroo was a young man working on a station to gain experience -- in effect, an apprentice. Naturally he was teased and held in low esteem.
The spelling is uncertain (Jackaroo/Jackeroo), as is the origin; Andrew and Nancy Learmonth _Encyclopedia of Australia_2nd edition, Warne & Co, 1973, article on "Jackeroo" (their spelling) says that the "origin is uncertain, most probably a coined Aus.-ouning word based on a 'Jacky Raw', but an Aboriginal origin is also claimed." It adds that a female parallel, "Jillaroo," dates from the twentieth century. - RBW
File: MA130
===
NAME: Jimmy Walsh and Stephen: see Two Jinkers (File: Doy11)
===
NAME: Jimmy Whelan: see Lost Jimmie Whalen [Laws C8]; also James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC08)
===
NAME: Jine 'Em
DESCRIPTION: "On Sunday mornin' I seek my Lord, Jine 'em, jine 'em oh! Oh jine 'em, believer, jine 'em so, Jine 'em, jine 'em oh." "Join, brethren, join us O... In Jesus's name we sing and pray"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 21, "Jine 'Em" (1 short text with a possible variant, 1 tune)
Roud #11972
File: AWG021A
===
NAME: Jinger Blue: see Ginger Blue (File: R298)
===
NAME: Jingle at the Window (Tideo)
DESCRIPTION: Playparty. "Jingle at the window, (tideo/dideo)....' "Pass one window, tideo...." Pass two windows, tideo...." "You swing heads... I swing feet... Ain't dat nice... walkin' on de ice."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (JAFL 24)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 525, "Jingle at the Window" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 208, "Tideo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 115-116, "Dance Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, p. 134, "Tideo" (1 text, with two verses of "Tideo" and one probably from "Go In and Out the Window")
Roud #3597
NOTES: For the possible relationship of this to "Sugar in My Coffee," see the notes to that song.
Scarborough's version of this has stanzas twice as long (eight lines) as Randolph's, but presumably this is just the usual story of half the tune being lost. - RBW
File: R525
===
NAME: Jingle Bells
DESCRIPTION: In praise of sleighing in the snow. Taking his "one horse open sleigh," the singer courts Miss Fanny Bright. Even a brief detour into a snowbank does not deter his ardor. The singer urges others to get a horse and sleigh and go courting
AUTHOR: James Pierpont
EARLIEST_DATE: 1857
KEYWORDS: horse nonballad courting
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 93-96, "Jingle Bells Or the One horse open Sleigh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Krythe (16), pp. 219-220, "Jingle Bells" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 376, "Jingle Bells" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 313+, "Jingle Bells"
DT, JNGLBLL*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Pony Song" (approximate tune, theme, and some words)
File: RJ19093
===
NAME: Jingle-Berry Tea
DESCRIPTION: "Buck-skin moccasin tow-headed Bill, Once went a-courtin' up on the hill, The first one he courted was a pretty gal to see, Set right down to Jingleberry tea."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 416, "Jingleberry Tea" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7613
NOTES: Randolph informs us that "This is a fragment of a ribald song popular in the [1870s], and is said to have been brought west from Tennessee." However, he fails to give us enough additional detail to identify the song.
He also knew an informant who suggested the name be changed to "sassifras," on the grounds that "It's ag'in the law to print words like jingle-berry in a book." - RBW
File: R416
===
NAME: Jingo Ring (Merry-Ma-Tanzie, Around the Ring)
DESCRIPTION: "Here we go around the ring; Choose you one while we do sing; Choose the one that you love best, And she will come at your request." "Now you've got her, and I wish you much joy, You are my son and childish joy... Kiss her quick, and that will do."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap) Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fuson, p. 173, "Around the Ring" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 65, "(Here we go round the jing-a-ring" (1 text)
ST Fus173 (Full)
Roud #12970
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lipto" (lyrics)
File: Fus173
===
NAME: Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad: see Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad (File: FVS045)
===
NAME: Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, ken ye my love Johnnie, he lives doon on yonder lea, and he's lookin', and he's joukin', and he's aye watchin' me." The singer describes her deep fondness for (Johnnie/Jockie), and looks forward to a happy life despite his poverty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 45-47, "Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNLAD
Roud #6131
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Johnny Lad" (on SCMacCollSeeger01)
File: FVS045
===
NAME: Jinny Get Your Hoecake Done
DESCRIPTION: Fiddler's mnemonic for a moderately well-known tune: "Jinny, get your hoecake done, my love, Jinny, get your hoecake done; Jinny, get your hoecake done, my love, Jinny, get your hoecake done."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: dancetune nonballad food
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 158, "The Hoe-Cake" (eighth of 12 single-stanza jigs) (1 short text)
ST Fus158C (Full)
Roud #16825
File: Fus158C
===
NAME: Jinny Go Round and Around
DESCRIPTION: "Where did you get your whisky? Where  did you get your dram?.... Down in Rockingham. Cho: Jinny go round an' around (x3) Way down in Rockingham." The remaining verses may give reasons why the singer will not marry or describe river life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage drink dancing playparty floatingverses river
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 272, "Jinny Go Round and Around" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 233-234, "Jinny Go Round and Round" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 272)
BrownIII 389, "The Privates Eat the Middlin'" (1 fragment, probably a Civil War adaption of this piece)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 589, "[Number Ninety-Nine]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 711, "Where'd You Get Yo' Whisky?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 121-122, "(Number Ninety-nine)" (1 text, 1 tune)
MWheeler, pp. 24-25, "Master Had a Bran' New Coat" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R272 (Full)
Roud #836 (etc.)
RECORDINGS:
Earl Johnson & His Dixie Entertainers, "I Get My Whiskey From Rockingham" (Okeh 45183, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cindy" (floating lyrics)
cf. "A Railroader for Me (Soldier Boy for Me)" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Way Down in Rockingham
Rockingham Cindy
NOTES: This is an extremely problematic piece, recognized by the "Where did you get your whiskey" stanza. The rest is no unity, but the results are too fragmentary to classify as separate songs.
Almost all of these lyrics of some versions show up in one or another version of the "Cindy/Jubilee" family, but the chorus is different, so I've separated them. The Botkin Mississippi River piece (compare Courlander's) is almost equally remote from both "Cindy" and "Jinny," but not worth another entry, so I file it here.
Paul Stamler notes another piece, "Rockingham Cindy"; I suspect that to be a variant of this one.
The chorus "Jinny go round..." does not appear in all versions; I don't know if it is an addition to the Randolph text or if it dropped out of the usual versions sung by old-time singers. - RBW
File: R272
===
NAME: Jinny Jenkins: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: Joan and John Blount: see Get Up and Bar the Door [Child 275] (File: C275)
===
NAME: Joan's Ale Is Good: see When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)
===
NAME: Job: see Come All You Worthy Christian Men (File: ShH91)
===
NAME: Job, Job
DESCRIPTION: "Oh Job, Job, good Lord, Tell me how you feel, good Lord." Sundry Biblical incidents are narrated: Pilate's wife and her dream of Jesus, Joshua stopping the sun, etc. Verses are very long, with variable numbers of lines 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recordings, Rich Amerson, Dock Reed-Vera Hall Ward)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 53-56, "(Job, Job)" (1 text); pp. 225-226, "Job, Job" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10964
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "Job Job" (on NFMAla4)
Dock Reed & Vera Hall Ward, "Job Job" (on NFMAla5) (on ReedWard01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Swing Low" (a few lines)
NOTES: The account of Joshua stopping the sun is found in Joshua 10:12-13. Pilate's wife's dream is found in Matthew 27:19 (only; the other gospels have no hint of the story). - RBW
File: CNFM225
===
NAME: Jock and Meg: see The Week After the Fair (I) (Jock and Meg) (File: GrD3585)
===
NAME: Jock Geddes: see Jock Gheddes and the Soo (File: RcJGatSo)
===
NAME: Jock Gheddes and the Soo
DESCRIPTION: Jock's mother warned him to "Come hame sober" but Jock "as usual soon forgot." Arriving home he falls in a dung hill where a sow, liking the smell, licks his mouth. Jock wakes, "spat for near an hour," has the pig killed, and has not had whisky since.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous animal death
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 573, "Jock Geddes" (1 text)
Roud #5130
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "Jock Gheddes and the Soo" (on Voice13)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Courtin' in the Stable (The Workin' Steer)" (plot)
cf. "Doran's Ass [Laws Q19]" (plot)
File: RcJGatSo
===
NAME: Jock Hamilton
DESCRIPTION: Duke Hamilton bet five hundred guineas he can go through London singing but not speaking. Though thrown in jail he does not speak. The bailiff's daughter tries but only gets a gold ring. He wins the bet and the bailiff's daughter by singing. 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: ring prison gambling music
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan2 324, "Jock Hamilton" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #5869
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Duke Hamilton
Lord Hamilton
NOTES: The chorus, which is the Duke's song, is .".. Tey ey addlety, Tey ey addlety tam; ... Eetify addlety, Tey ey addlety tam." Since "He's won her by singin' song, He's won her by Eetify addlety, Tey ey addlety tam" this seems a case of bawdy words replaced by nonsense sounds (as in Blind Blake's explicit "I wish someone would tell me what 'diddie wa diddie' means"; also see "The Chandler's Wife" and "Jack the Jolly Tar" [Laws K40]). - BS
File: GrD2324
===
NAME: Jock Hawk
DESCRIPTION: "One night I into Glesga went To spend my penny fee, Twas then a girl gave consent To bear me company." They go to a tavern. A crowd of sailors comes in -- then are called away. Jock is left to pay the entire bill. He warns others of the trick
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: drink money trick sailor warning
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan2 295, "Jock Hawk" (10 texts, 5 tunes)
Ord, pp. 278-279, "Jock Hawk's Adventures in Glasgow" (1 text)
Roud #2311
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jock Hack
One Day I Up to Glasgow Went
File: Ord278
===
NAME: Jock o Hazeldean: see John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)
===
NAME: Jock o the Side [Child 187]
DESCRIPTION: Jock o the Side has been taken prisoner in a raid. His neighbors hope to ransom him, but (Hobie Noble/The Laird's Jock) will free him with five men. They make their way to Jock's prison, break down the doors and perform other feats, and bring Jock away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1774 (Percy papers)
KEYWORDS: borderballad prisoner escape rescue
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 187, "Jock o the Side" (4 texts)
Bronson 187, "Jock o the Side" (4 versions)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 145-147, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text, 1 tune) {Compare Bronson's #3, a variant of the same tune but with different text}
Friedman, p. 246, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
OBB 138, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
Warner 191, "Bold Dickie and Bold Archie" (1 text, 1 tune, primarily Child 188 but possibly with elements of 187)
TBB 25, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
DT (187/188), JOCKSIDE JOHNWEBB*? BOLDARCH*?
Roud #82
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hobie Noble" [Child 189] (characters)
cf. "Archie o Cawfield" [Child 188] (plot)
NOTES: Jock o' the Side (Side is a region in Liddesdale) was a well-known thief and raider of the 1560s. - SF
It is interesting to note that (apart from Jock himself), the characters in this drama are completely unfixed; in one version, Robin Hood's companion Much the miller's son is one of the raiders (and not a very bold one). - RBW
File: C187
===
NAME: Jock o' Rhynie (II): see Rhynie (File: RcRhynie)
===
NAME: Jock o' Rhynie (The Praise o' Huntley)
DESCRIPTION: "I've been abroad, I've been at hame... But noo I've come to Huntley." The singer escapes his parents and sets out to earn his fee. His parents offer no support. After working with Mr. Stephen and Jock o' Huntley, he vows to be "mair wiser."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work farming father mother
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Greig #146, p. 3, "The Praise o' Huntly" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 349, "The Praise o' Huntly" (8 texts, 4 tunes)
Ord, pp. 338-339, "In Praise o' Huntley" (1 text)
Roud #3943
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Huntly (349) is at coordinate (h4,v5-6) on that map [roughly 34 miles WNW of Aberdeen]; Mains of Rhynie (348,349) is at coordinate (h2-3,v5) on that map [roughly 31 miles WNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: Ord338
===
NAME: Jock Scott
DESCRIPTION: Jock recalls the first time he saw Mary, whose beauty ensnared him. He takes a job with her father, and wins her heart. They plan to flee. Her father follows and drags her away. When they try again, he is accused of forgery. He hopes to win free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting servant father punishment trick
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 448-450, "Jock Scott" (1 text)
Roud #5620
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry Connors" [Laws M5] (plot)
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" [Laws M6] (plot)
cf. "William Riley's Courtship [Laws M9]" (plot)
cf. "Jock Scott" (plot)
cf. "The Footboy" (plot)
File: Ord448
===
NAME: Jock Sheep
DESCRIPTION: A lady asks a knight not to lie with her "for spoilin' o' my goun." She asks that he take her to her father's castle first. Once there she shuts the door in his face. Disguised as a lady in labor the knight lures her out and rapes her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Jock Sheep, a knight, and a lady set a tryst but she asks him not to lie with her "for spoilin' o' my goun." She asks that he take her to her father's castle where "ye shall hae your wills o' me." Once there she shuts the door in his face. Then she taunts him by comparing him to a marigold, and impotent cock and impotent stallion. He disguises himself as a lady in labor in the wood. When his lady goes to "her" aid she finds Jock. He rapes her, repeating her taunts. She asks that "sin you've taen your wills o' me You may conduct me hame." He does.
KEYWORDS: seduction escape trick knight rape disguise
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kinloch-BBook V, pp. 17-21, "Jock Sheep" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 302, "Jock Sheep" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
DT JOCKSHEP
Roud #5862
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Baffled Knight [Child 112]" (plot)
cf. "The Broomfield Hill [Child 43]" (first verse)
cf. "Errol on the Green" (tune, according to GreigDuncan2)
cf. "The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4]" (motif: "damsel in distress" as lure)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Whistle o' Yer Thoom
NOTES: Child notes to 112, "The Baffled Knight": "There is a Scottish ballad in which the tables are turned upon the maid in the conclusion. This being of comparatively recent, and not of popular, but of low literary origin, cannot be admitted here. It can be found in Kinloch's Ballad Book, 'Jock Sheep,' p. 16, and the Kinloch MSS, I, 229, communicated by James Beattie, Mearnsshire. Other versions are, in the Campbell MSS, 'Dernie Hughie,' II, 233; 'Jock Sheep, or, The Maiden Outwitted,' Buchan MSS, I, 155."
The first verse of Kinloch matches "The Broomfield Hill," Child 43A and Child 43C, which sets a different tone than Child 112: here Jock and the lady set the tryst; in Child 112 (as in other Child 43 versions) the meeting is not planned. What is not clear here is why the lady changes her mind; the lady's dilemna described in "The Broomfield Hill" is not stated here.
The version of Child 112 closest to "Jock Sheep" is version D.b. The taunts -- the marigold, impotent cock and shy stallion -- are only in that version of Child 112. In other versions of "Jock Sheep" references to an impotent bull and ram are added to the list (for example, Greig-Duncan).
The non-fragmentary text from GreigDuncan2 preserves the "Jock Sheep" characteristic of taking its first verse from Child 43, "The Broomfield Hill." GreigDuncan2 notes that "Jock Sheep," as a result, had "formerly been treated in print as versions of this ballad [Child 43]." - BS
File: C112A
===
NAME: Jock Stewart (The Man You Don't Meet Every Day)
DESCRIPTION: (Jock Stewart) invites the company to enjoy his generosity. "So be easy and free when you're drinking with me; I'm a man you don't meet every day" The singer may talk of his well-built hut, his hunting trips, or whatever people discuss in pubs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink hunting friend
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland US(So) Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 476, "The Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 161-162, 286, "A Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (2 texts, 2 tunes, heavily localized)
DT, JSTEWART*
Roud #975
RECORDINGS:
Cornelius O'Sullivan, "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (Victor 79126, late 1920s-early 1930s)
Belle, Sheila, and Cathie Stewart, "Jock Stewart" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bound to Australia" (meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "The First of the Emigrants" (tune, meter, chorus)
File: R476
===
NAME: Jock Tamson's Tripe
DESCRIPTION: On his wedding night Jock comes home drunk, goes to his tripe can in the dark, and eats one of the caps his mother had washed and put in the can. He gets sick and, to everyone's amazement, vomitsa clean cap instead of tripe.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: wedding clothes drink food humorous mother disease
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan2 286, "Jock Tamson's Tripe" (6 texts, 4 tunes)
Roud #5835
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jock Tamson
File: GrD2286
===
NAME: Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant [Child 282]
DESCRIPTION: A "merry merchant" comes to a tavern and finds himself in a series of contests with (a disguised) Jock the Leg. They set out together, and Jock demands the merchant's pack. The merchant fights him off, then six of his men as well; they declare friendship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: robbery outlaw fight
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 282, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (1 text)
Bronson 282, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (7 versions)
Greig #35, p. 1, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 263, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (6 texts, 5 tunes) {A=Bronson's #2, B=#6, C=#1, D=#5, E=#3}
DT, JOCKLEG*
Roud #3856
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" [Child 132] (plot)
NOTES: Child observes that this is essentially a Robin Hood ballad with the names changed. One wonders if it might not be a Scottish redaction of "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood." - RBW
File: C282
===
NAME: Jockey Hat and Feather
DESCRIPTION: "As I was walking out one day A-thinking of the weather I saw a pair of roguish eyes 'Neath a hat and feather." The girl asks how the singer likes her hat. He likes it (or her?) very much. She leaves; he misses her, and dreams of the hat
AUTHOR: Fred Wilson and W. H. Brockway
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: clothes dream loneliness separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 490, "Jockey Hat and Feather" (1 text)
Gilbert, p. 59, "Jockey Hat and Feather" (1 text)
Roud #7586
NOTES: Spaeth (_A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 173) says that this was "one of a large group of songs [in the 1860s] that discussed details of feminine attire," but mentions only this and "Tassels on Her Boots." - RBW
File: R490
===
NAME: Jockey to the Fair
DESCRIPTION: Jocky puts on his Sunday suit and goes to Jenny's house, wakes her by tapping at the window. Jenny says, "Everyone's asleep or out: are you going to hold to your vows?" He says yes. They run off to the Fair and get married. Returning, they bless the day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(118d))
KEYWORDS: love clothes elopement marriage courting sex promise family
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(England(South,West), Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 90-92, "Jockey to the Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 170-171, "Jocky to the Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3344
RECORDINGS:
Edmund Henneberry, "Jocky to the Fair" (on NovaScotia1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(118d), "Jocky and Jennys Trip to the Fair," J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 16(119a), Firth b.26(244), Harding B 11(1884), "Jocky and Jenny's Trip to the Fair"; Firth c.19(152), Firth b.26(407), Harding B 11(1886), Firth b.26(372), Harding B 25(972), Harding B 28(64), "Jockey to the Fair"; 2806 c.16(62), "Jockey and Jenny"; Harding B 21(13), "Trip to the Fair"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
With Jockey to the Fair
NOTES: There's also a fiddle tune, "Jockey to the Fair", to which these words can be sung. As for the keyword "sex" -- it's not mentioned in the song, but you can believe what you like. - PJS
For another version see Robert Bell, editor, [The Project Gutenberg EBook (1996) of] Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), "Jockey to the Fair" - BS
File: CrSe170
===
NAME: Jockey's Lament, The: see Alec Robertson (II) (File: MA146)
===
NAME: Jockey's Lamentation: see O'er the Hills and Far Away (I) (File: Arn017)
===
NAME: Jocky and his Owsen
DESCRIPTION: "Twa afore ane, Three afore five [the order in which oxen are yoked] ... An' Jocky at the last; Jenny and her five kye Fullin' in fast"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1881 (Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, according to GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad animal
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 430, "Jocky and his Owsen" (1 text)
Roud #5946
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 quotes a more complete version on p. 639 from Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (1881). - BS
File: GrD3430
===
NAME: Jocky Said to Jeanie
DESCRIPTION: "Jocky said to Jeanie, wilt thou do't? Ne'er a fit, quo' Jeannie, for my tocher good." She says her dowry is too good for such as him. He says he has gold, gear, and land. She consents: "Ye're welcomer to tak me than to let me be."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1796 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: love courting dowry
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 22, "Jocky Said to Jinnie" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ST CrNS022 (Full)
Roud #1792
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jocky Said to Jeany
NOTES: Creighton-NovaScotia heard this song in Gaelic and French as well as English and always to the same tune. - BS
My feeling is that Creighton's version was a local adaption. Her tune (in 2/4 and with a range of only a fourth) bears no resemblance to that, e.g., in the Scots Musical Museum (in 3/2 and with a full octave range). My guess would be that a Gaelic drone went into French and English. - RBW
File: CrNS022
===
NAME: Jocky Said to Jeany: see Jocky Said to Jeanie (File: CrNS022)
===
NAME: Jocky Said to Jinnie: see Jocky Said to Jeanie (File: CrNS022)
===
NAME: Jocky to the Fair: see Jockey to the Fair (File: CrSe170)
===
NAME: Jody Chant: see Sound Off (Cadence Count, Jody Chant) (File: LoF317)
===
NAME: Joe Bowers [Laws B14]
DESCRIPTION: Joe Bowers leaves for California to raise money to marry Sally. Returning home, he is irritated to find that she has married another, a red-haired man, and has a red-haired baby
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1856 ("Johnson's Original Comic Songs")
KEYWORDS: travel marriage infidelity settler
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,So,SE,SW)
REFERENCES: (22 citations)
Laws B14, "Joe Bowers"
Dean, pp. 98-99, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Belden, pp. 341-343, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, apparently a collation of four versions, 1 tune)
Randolph 187, "Joe Bowers" (3 texts plus an excerpt, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 190-193, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 187D with the tune re-transcribed)
BrownII 258, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Hudson 70, pp. 197-198, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Shellans, p. 23, "The Disappointment of Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 751-752, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 431, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Warner 63, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 421-423, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 174, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 12, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 88, pp. 186-188, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
JHCox 50, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCoxIIB, #24A-B, pp. 186-187, "Joe Bowers" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 63, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 171-172, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 207, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Joe Bowers" (source notes only)
DT 381, JOBOWERS*
Roud #2806
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "Joe Bowers" (on Cansler1)
Logan English, "Joe Bowers" (on LEnglish02)
Jean Ritchie, "Joe Bowers" (on Ritchie03)
Pete Seeger, "Joe Bowers" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The State of Arkansas (The Arkansas Traveler II)" [Laws H1] (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Ghost of the Peanut Stand (File: CrSNB070)
NOTES: Various suggestions have been put forward regarding the author of this song; Laws quotes Louise Pound's attribution to John A. Stone (Old Put). Friedman advocates John Woodward. The Lomaxes mention the Johnson of "Johnson's Original Comic Songs." Belden alludes to Merwin's attribution to Frank Swift. I suspect the matter can no longer be settled. - RBW
File: LB14
===
NAME: Joe Bowman
DESCRIPTION: Singer and friends meet hunt-master Joe Bowman at dawn; they go out in search of game, and flush a fox. He runs swiftly and cleverly, but is killed in the end. All gather around the fire and drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (recorded from John Dalton)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer and friends meet hunt-master Joe Bowman at dawn; they go out in search of game, and flush a fox. He runs swiftly and cleverly, but is killed in the end. All gather around the fire and drink. Chorus: "When the fire's on the hearth and the good cheer abounds/We'll sing to Joe Bowman and the Uilswater hounds/For we ne'er shall forget how he woke us at dawn/With the crack of his whip and the sound of his horn"
KEYWORDS: death hunting drink animal worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 252, "Joe Bowman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1858
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard ('A Good Many Gentlemen')" (theme)
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (theme)
cf. "The Innocent Hare" (theme)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
NOTES: Joe Bowman (1851-1940) was a well-known and well-liked character in the Lake District; he hunted the Uilswater foxhounds for forty years. - PJS
Kennedy claims there are "many" songs about Bowman -- but cites only one, which he does not quote, and cites only his own recording of "Joe Bowman." One thinks Kennedy, as so often, has been a bit on the overenthusiastic side. - RBW
File: K252
===
NAME: Joe Brady and Dan Curley
DESCRIPTION: The singer claims that Joe Brady and Daniel Curley are innocent of Burke's murder but that the informer Carey, a confessed killer is free: "Carey is more guilty than any of the rest ... the daggers which had done the deed he broke them into bits"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: betrayal execution murder trial political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Chronology of the Phoenix Park murders (source: primarily Zimmermann, pp. 62, 63, 281-286.)
May 6, 1882 - Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish and the Under Secretary Thomas Henry Burke are murdered by a group calling themselves "The Invincible Society."
January 1883 - twenty seven men are arrested.
James Carey, one of the leaders in the murders, turns Queen's evidence.
Six men are condemned to death, four are executed (Joseph Brady is hanged May 14, 1883; Daniel Curley is hanged on May 18, 1883), others are "sentenced to penal servitude," and Carey is freed and goes to South Africa.
July 29, 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell kills Carey on board the "Melrose Castle" sailing from Cape Town to Durban.
Dec 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell is convicted of the murder of James Carey and executed in London (per Leach-Labrador)
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 84, "Lamentable Lines on Joe Brady and Dan Curley" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders) and references there
NOTES: For broadsides on the same subject see
Bodleian, Harding B 14(186), "Lines on the trial & sentence of Joe Brady and Dew Curly and others for the Phoenix park murder" ("All in high and low station who dwell in this nation," unknown, n.d.
Bodleian, Harding B 40(6), "Lines written on the execution of Joe. Brady ("Good christians all on you I call to hear my lamentation"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?),1850-1899; I could not download the image for verification.
Zimmermann p. 62: "The Phoenix Park murders and their judicial sequels struck the popular imagination and were a gold-mine for ballad-writers: some thirty songs were issued on this subject, which was the last great cause to be so extensively commented upon in broadside ballads." - BS
File: Zimm084
===
NAME: Joe Brook
DESCRIPTION: The singer leaves Grey Rapids in October 1924 and takes the train for Deersdale to go logging with Coughlan on Joe Brook. The crew has men from every country. Key men in the crew are named.
AUTHOR: Frank O'Hara
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS:  lumbering moniker
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 77-80, "Joe Brook" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 25, "The Joe Brook Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST IvNB077 (Partial)
Roud #1948
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: The song "describes life at Coughlan's Camp in a lumber operation for Geo. Burchill & Sons of South Nelson" near the Miramichi River. - BS
File: IvNB077
===
NAME: Joe Fowler Blues, The: see I'm Going Down the River (File: MWhee050)
===
NAME: Joe Higgins: see I Don't Mind If I Do (File: MA263)
===
NAME: Joe Hill
DESCRIPTION: The singer "dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, Alive as you and me." He points out that Hill is dead. Hill replies, "I never died." The singer describes the details of Hill's death; Hill answers, "What they forgot to kill Went on to organize."
AUTHOR: Words: Alfred Hayes/Music: Earl Robinson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (music copyright; the words are older)
KEYWORDS: death dream labor-movement lastwill
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1879-1915 - Life of Joel Emmanuel Hagglund, known as "Joe Hillstrom" or "Joe Hill."
1902 - Hill emigrates to the United States
Jan 10, 1914 - The Salt Lake City robbery/murder for which Joe Hill was arrested
1915 - Execution of Joe Hill for the murder
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Arnett, p. 175, "Joe Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, p. 95, "(Joe Hill)" (1 fragment)
DT, JOEHILL
ADDITIONAL: Sam Richards, "The Joe Hill Legend in Britain," essay in Archie Green, editor, _Songs about Work: Essays in Occupational Culture for Richard A. Reuss_, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1993, pp. 316-331 (1 full text plus excerpts and fragments, 1 tune0
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Joe Hill" (on PeteSeeger39) (on PeteSeeger48)
NOTES: Lori Elaine Taylor wrote an essay, "Joe Hill Incorporated: We Own Our Past," which appeared in Archie Green, editor, _Songs about Work: Essays in Occupational Culture for Richard A. Reuss_, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1993. According to p. 26,
* Alfred Hayes's poem was first pubished in _New Masses_ and then in a Communist anthology, _Proletarian Literature in the United States_
* Hayes gave a copy of the poem to Earl Robinson in 1936. Robinson set it to music to supply a song for a "Joe Hill campfire" that evening.
* The song spread across the country that summer.
* Reportedly Alfred Hayes "avoided association with the song througout his life," but Robinson was proud of it; he recorded it in 1941, and had earlier played piano on Michael Loring's recording. The song became even more popular after Paul Robeson recorded it.
Earl Robinson, shortly before his death, counted translations of the song in twelve languages.
Taylor suggests, p. 33, that it is this song more than anything else that accounts for the Joe Hill legend. Another part of the legend is due to Big Bill Haywood, Hill, according to Taylor, wrote to Haywood, "Don't waste any time mourning -- organize!" Haywood shortened this to the memorable "Don't Mourn -- Organize!" -- which proved a billiant slogan.
Green's book also contains the Sam Richards essay "The Joe Hill Legend in Britain" mentioned as an "Additional" entry above. It supplies evidence that this piece has actually gone into oral tradition -- and notes on p. 320 that this song about Hill is more popular than any of Hill's own songs except perhaps "The Preacher and the Slave." Richards in fact believes (p. 326) that this may be the most popular labor song in Britain today.
Richards mentions on pp. 320-321 that Paul Robeson premiered his version of the son in 1947 in Salt Lake City itself. That must have been something to see....
The innocence of Joel Emmanuel Hagglund, "Joe Hill," is such an article of faith in the folk community that it was stated as fact in the earlier editions of this index. This even though the sources containing this song knew so little about the case that different sources gave different dates for his execution.
An honest assessment has to admit uncertainty. Facts are sadly few -- indeed, little is known of Hill's dozen years of freedom in the United States; even before his death, he was legendary enough that he is said to have been part of far more labor actions than any man could possibly have participated in. He rambled -- but probably not as much as the tales imply. Presumably he worked at least some of the time, but records of this are few. All that is really certain is that he was the best and most important songwriter for the IWW.
The story of his execution is even more troubling.
What is known is that a murder took place in early 1914 at a grocery store in Salt Lake City. John G. Morrison and his son Arling were slain. Arling managed to kill one of the attackers; according to Morrison's surviving son Merlin, he shot another in the chest. The killers left without actually taking anything.
Hill later turned up at a doctor's with a bullet hole in his chest. It was a clean injury; the doctor treated and released him.
Still, when the police looked for a killer, they found Hill with an injury that fit the description, and he had no alibi. Arresting him was certainly not unreasonable; how many guys were there in 1915 Salt Lake City (the city of the conservative, law-abiding Mormons) with bullet wounds in their chests?
The problem was not the arrest but the trial. Hill attempted to defend himelf, all the while claiming the trial was fixed. This is probably overblown, but certainly the judge was prejudiced against him, and allowed the prosecution undue liberties. Hill, a non-lawyer, didn't know when to protest. No evidence could be presented to directly connect Hill with the murder (Merlin Morrison could not identify him), but with the city convinced he was guilty, and with no alibi except a vague claim about a woman's honor, he was naturally convicted.
One of those convinced that he should die was the governor of Utah. So the various calls for clemency and a new trial were denied. He was executed on November 19, 1915. He had written that he didn't "want to be caught dead in Utah," so his body was cremated and the ashes sent all over the country as a rallying point.
A good summary of the case is found in the December 2005 issue of _American History_ magazine. Author Ben Lefebvre sums up the whole case pretty well: "Whether Hill was guilty of murder or not, he clearly did not receive a fair trial, one that might have credibly determined the truth" (p. 62).
It does seem that few people actually want the truth. I visited Amazon.com in trying to find good additional sources to allow further research. The reader reviews were absolutely useless -- clearly most of them had already decided their opinions, and they reviewed the books positively or negatively based on what *they* think happened.
A mild example of this occurs in _Sing Out!_ magazine, volume 27, number 5 (1979), p. 39. which mentions the attempt, on the hundredth anniversary of Hill's birth, to win him a pardon. It mentions the holdup, and it mention's Hill's bullet wound. It does not mention the eyewitness testimony that one of the robbers was injured, nor does it describe how feeble Hill's alibit was, nor does it describe his attempts to represent himself. Thus, while it never quite says that Hill was innocent, it makes the case against him appear much weaker than it actually was.
The Richards essay cited above lists several books about Hill's life and trials. Richards himself thinks that Hill's conviction was on "very slender circumstantial evidence." (We should note that circumstantial evidence is now known to be generally more reliable than eyewitness evidence. The weak point in the evidence, if anything, is the eyewitness testimony to what went on during the fatal robbery.) Ralph Chaplin published an account that was largely hearsay. Wallace Stegner felt Hill to be guilty. Philip Foner is certain Hill never had a fair trial.  - RBW
File: Arn175
===
NAME: Joe Jimmy Murphy: see Jimmy Murphy (File: Beld291)
===
NAME: Joe Livermore
DESCRIPTION: Joe Livermore captains Columbia from Eastport. "When we got to Eastport it was on the lucky day, Each man took his chest and no longer would stay, If we can't do no better boys, we'll stay on the shore And we'll never go to sea with old Joe Livermore"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: ordeal sailor ship
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 124, "Joe Livermore" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS124 (Partial)
Roud #1826
NOTES: The tune as given by Creighton doesn't quite match any version of the Derry Down tune I know, but that is clearly the basis for the piece; looking at the lyrics, I suspect this is derived from "Red Iron Ore." The similarity is great enough that I instantly felt I had met this song before, even though (to the best of my knowledge) I haven't. - RBW
File: CrNS124
===
NAME: Joe Slinsworth: see Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth) (File: R219)
===
NAME: Joe Steinberg: see Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth) (File: R219)
===
NAME: Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth)
DESCRIPTION: The singer, (Joe Stiner), has apparently recently arrived in the West when he is induced to join the army. After various adventures under General Lyon, the army he is with is defeated and he flees back to Saint Louis, vowing not to fight again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar foreigner battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 10, 1861 - Battle of Wilson's Creek
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Belden, pp. 362-363, "Joe Slinsworth" (1 text)
Randolph 219, "Joe Stiner" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 223, "(Joe Steinberg)" (1 fragment)
Roud #3592
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jolly Union Boys" and references there (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
NOTES: This song describes, with fair accuracy, the campaigns of Captain (later General) Nathaniel Lyon in 1861. The action takes place in Missouri, which was the northernmost of all slave states. Although a minority favored secession, most Missourians probably wanted to stay with the Union.
Governor Jackson, however, was not one of them. Having the machinery of state government at his back, he moved to take Missouri from the Union.
The Union governor, John C. Fremont, did little to prevent him, so Lyon, with the political support of Frank Blair, Jr., set out to circumvent him. Lyon captured the Missouri arsenal, then took Camp Jackson from Confederate General Frost. He then drove the Confederates in rout from Rolla.
Then Lyon made his mistake. He decided to risk his 5000 men against 10000 Confederates in a surprise attack. This might have worked (especially as Confederate generals Price and McCulloch hated each other), but Lyon's outflanking force (led by the inept Franz Sigel-- the Siegel of the song) was routed with small loss to the enemy.
The Confederates were now warned, and had a better than five-to-two numerical edge. Even so, the remnants of Lyon's little army held on all day, until their commander was killed. The senior surviving officer, Major (later General) Curtis, ordered a retreat.
Wilson's Creek was not really a costly battle by later standards; the forces involved were small, and so badly trained that they were almost unable to inflict casualties. But the campaign had been a hard one (it succeeded, all by itself, in preserving most of Missouri for the Union); it would not be surprising if a few soldiers refused ever to return to the army. - RBW
File: R219
===
NAME: Joe Turner
DESCRIPTION: "They tell me Joe Turner he done come (or "done come and gone") (x2), Got my man and gone." "He come with forty links of chain (x2), Got my man and gone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (copyright, W. C. Handy)
KEYWORDS: separation police
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Sandburg, p. 241, "Joe Turner" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 137, (no title) (1 fragment)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 265, (no title) (1 fragment), followed by p. 266, (Joe Turner Blues) (1 text, the Handy version)
Handy/Silverman-Blues, p. 104-107, "Joe Turner Blues" (1 text, 1 tune, extremely heavily adapted; the original tune, with a single verse, appears on page 17)
DT, JOETURNR*
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Going Down the River for Long
NOTES: Courlander reports that this was based on an incident on 1892, when a flood cost a number of people their livelihood. A storekeeper named Turner (though not Joe Turner) anonymously supplied their needs until he died, whereupon the gifts stopped.
It should be noted, however, that this does not match Sandburg's song at all, though it has the same lyrics as Courlander's fragment. Presumably Courlander's source adapted an older song to a local need. In support of this, we note that Handy/Silverman, though dating the song to the same time, regard Turner (actually Joe Tourney, brother of the governor of Tennessee) as the leader of a chain gang.
Scarborough tells a variant on the same story: Joe Turner was the brother of one-time Tennessee governor Pete Turner, and seems to have been an enforcer of Jim Crow laws, grabbing Blacks seemingly at random and subjecting them to prosecution in kangaroo courts.
The notes in Handy/Silverman regard this as the archetypal folk blues -- perhaps even the ancestor of the entire genre. The former statement may arguably be true; the latter I must seriously doubt. It seems more like the ancestor of the popular blues. Handy, according to Scarborough, admitted to using the traditional piece and supressing Turner the corrupt policeman and turning him into a missing lover. - RBW
File: San241
===
NAME: Joe Williams
DESCRIPTION: "My name it is Joe Williams, my age is 21, I came out to this country a ramblin' son-of-a-gun...." "I went to town.... On Fifth Avenue I met a pretty lass, I introduced her to my elick, and I shoved it up her ass." His reward is a venereal disease
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1976 (recorded by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: derivative disease whore
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Logsdon 32, pp. 182-185, "Joe Williams" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10096
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier (I)" (tune) and references there.
File: Logs032
===
NAME: Jog Along Till Shearing
DESCRIPTION: "The truth, it's in my song so clear Without a word of gammon: The swagmen travel all the year Waiting for the lambin'." The shearers work when they must, drink when they can, and scratch along until the next shearing season begins
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953 (collected from Joe Cashmere)
KEYWORDS: sheep rambling Australia
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 86-87, "Jog Along Till Shearing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 142-143, "Jog Along 'til Shearing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 190-191, "Jog Along Till Shearing" (1 text)
DT, JOGSHEAR*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bow Wow Wow" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Big Gun Shearer" (plot)
File: MA086
===
NAME: Johanna Shay
DESCRIPTION: "In the Emerald Isle so far from here across the deep blue sea, There live a maid that I love dear...." He praises Johanna's beauty and fidelity. The birds' song remind him of her. He hopes she will soon become Mrs. O'Day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dean, pp. 106-107, "Johanna Shay" (1 text)
Roud #9575
File: Dean106
===
NAME: John (George) Riley (I) [Laws N36]
DESCRIPTION: A stranger urges a girl to forget her lover; she will not. He tells her that Riley had been aboard his ship, and that Riley had been killed in battle with the French. She is distressed; he reveals that he is Riley and will never again leave her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Shield's _Songs and Ballads in use in the Province of Ulster...1845_, according to Moylan) +1818 (William Garret, _Right Choyse and Merrie Book of Garlands_)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise reunion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws N36, "John (George) Riley I"
SharpAp 82, "George Reilly" (8 texts, 8 tunes)
Brewster 39, "George Reilly" (1 text)
Eddy 37, "George Riley" (2 texts, although Laws assigns only the A text to this ballad; the B text, which is fairly short, might go with this or N37)
JHCox 95, "George Reilly" (1 text plus mention of 2 more; Laws's citations are far from clear, since he cites the same page reference under both N36 and N37, but Cox's printed text is clearly this piece; presumably he thinks one of the unprinted texts to be N37)
Moylan 9, "George Reilly Who Fought at Port Royal Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 592, JREILLY6
Roud #267
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The New-Slain Knight" [Child 263]
cf. "The Banks of Brandywine"  [Laws H28]
cf. "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" [Laws H29]
cf. "Willie and Mary (Mary and Willie; Little Mary; The Sailor's Bride)" [Laws N28]
cf. "A Seaman and His Love (The Welcome Sailor)" [Laws N29]
cf. "William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer)" [Laws N30]
cf. "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32]
cf. "Lovely Nancy (I)" [Laws N33]
cf. "Janie of the Moore" [Laws N34]
cf. "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35]
cf. "John (George) Riley (II)" [Laws N37]
cf. "The Mantle So Green" [Laws N38]
cf. "MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe)" [Laws N39]
cf. "The Banks of Claudy" [Laws N40]
cf. "The Lady of the Lake (The Banks of Clyde II)" [Laws N41]
cf. "Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token)" [Laws N42] (one of the most common of the ballads of this sort, often known as "John Riley")
cf. "Blackbirds and Thrushes (I)"
cf. "As Broad as I was Walking"
cf. "Come All Ye False Lovers"
cf. "Skerry's Blue-Eyed Jane"
cf. "The Banks of the Clyde"
cf. "The Banks of the Dee (II)"
cf. "Lurgan Town (I)"
cf. "The Banks of the Inverness"
cf. "Cairn-o'-Mount"
cf. "Drumallachie"
cf. "Down by the Seaside" (part of plot, lyrics)
cf. "Yon Green Valley" (lyrics)
cf. "Bleacher Lassie o' Kelvinhaugh"
cf. "The Lass of Swansea Town (Swansea Barracks)"
cf. "The Soldier's Return"
cf. "Billy Ma Hone"
cf. "Mary of Sweet Belfast Town"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
George Riley
John Riley
Johnnie Riley
NOTES: The theme of a lover coming in disguise and testing his love is ancient; there is a version in Ovid's Metamorphoses (VII.685 and following). Cephalus doubts Procris, and (disguised by the goddess Diana) comes to her and tries to get her to be unfaithful to him. She utterly rejects his advances.
In that case, however, the ending is not happy. Although they are reunited, and happy for a time, she eventually starts to doubt him (prompted perhaps by his earlier doubts?). She follows him as he goes hunting, and he -- hearing a rustling in the leaves -- kills her with a cast of his javelin.
Even older, of course, is the version in the Odyssey. - RBW
See the notes to "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32] for Mackenzie's discussion of Laws N36 as source for "The Mantle So Green" [Laws N38] and "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32].
[On April 12, 1782], Admiral George Brydges Rodney defeated the French Admiral the Count De Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes in the Caribbean and brought the captured French ships into Fort Royal. (source} Moylan; _George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney_ at the Wikipedia site). [See also Arthur Herman, _To Rule the Waves_, pp. 316-318; Herman notes that Rodney pioneered the attack from the leeward side, assuring that the French could not escape him by running; Herman also considers the battle to have re-established British naval dominance, which was not broken even in the Napoleonic Wars. - RBW]
Both Laws and Moylan make fight the battle between Rodney and De Grasse. Laws has Reiley serving on _Belflew_; Moylan makes it _Balflour_. Moylan notes "The Formidable was Admiral Rodney's own vessel. The Barfleur was the ship which captured de Grasse's flagship, the Ville de Paris." - BS
Brewster's version also mentions the Rodney/De Grasse battle; the ship in his text is the _Belle Flower_, though the date is April 10. Eddy has the date right; the ship is the _Belflew_. Cox also lists the _Belflew_ (and has the April 12 date); presumably their agreement was the basis for the name in Laws.
File: LN36
===
NAME: John (George) Riley (II) [Laws N37]
DESCRIPTION: A stranger urges a girl to marry him; she replies that, having lost her chance to marry Riley, she intends to live single. He tries again, asking her to come to (Pennsylvania); she refuses. At last he reveals that he is Riley, and offers to marry her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1817 (The New American Songster)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Ireland Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Laws N37, "John (George) Riley II"
Randolph 56, "John Riley" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BrownII 93, "John Reilly" (1 text, presumably this song though Laws does not list it under any Riley ballad)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 267-270, "Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor" (3 texts; the second, "The Sailor," with tune on p. 427, is this song; the first, "Young Willie's Return, or The Token," with tune on pp. 426-427, is "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35]; the third, "Billy Ma Hone," with tune on p. 427, seems to be its own song)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 135-136, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 34, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, p. 95, "John RIley" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 82-83, "Young John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 79, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 210-211, "[John Riley]" (1 text, 1 tune, sufficiently abbreviated that the plot does not allow us to say which Riley ballad it is, but the first verse implies it goes here)
JHCox 95, "George Reilly" (1 text plus mention of 2 more; Laws is difficult to interpret on this point, but it appears he means one of Cox's un-printed texts to go here while the printed text in N36)
SHenry H826, p. 309, "James Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 149, "John Riley" (1 text)
DT, JREILLY2
Roud #267
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "John Riley" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01) (on PeteSeeger29); "Johnny Riley" (on PeteSeeger40)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. esp. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
George Riley
John Riley
Johnnie Riley
NOTES: The characteristic first verse of this particular Riley ballad runs something like
As I walked out one summer's morning
To take the fine and pleasant air,
There I spied a most beautiful damsel,
She appeared to me like lilies fair. - RBW
The first two Seeger recordings have distinctly different tunes. - PJS
File: LN37
===
NAME: John Anderson, My Jo (I)
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells how, when she first saw John, he was young, handsome, and her first love; now his hair is white, but she loves him still. They've climbed the hill together and must now totter down, but they'll go hand in hand and "sleep together at the foot"
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST_DATE: 1790
KEYWORDS: love age death hair
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 141, "John Anderson, My Jo (I)"
DT, JOHNAND3*
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #302, p. 419, "John Anderson My Jo" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1790)
ST FSWB141B (Full)
RECORDINGS:
Henry Burr, "John Anderson, My Jo" (Victor 4557, 1906; Victor 16213, 1909)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 12[some words illegible], "John Anderson My Jo" ("John Anderson, my jo, John, when we were first acquent")[2 verses], J. Catnach (London), 1829; also Firth b.25(600/601) View 1 of 2, Firth b.28(25a) View 1 of 2, Firth b.25(295), "John Anderson My Jo" [2 verses]; Firth c.14(21), "John Anderson My Jo" [6 verses]; Firth b.27(271), Johnson Ballads 528, Harding B 11(1894), "John Anderson, My Jo" [7 verses]; Harding B 11(487), "John Anderson My Joe[sic] ("John Anderson, my jo, John, when nature first began)" [5 verses]
Bodleian, Harding B 45(17) View 3 of 3, "John Anderson My Joe[sic], John" ("John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean"), unknown, no date; also Harding B 11(439), "John Anderson, my jo"
LOCSheet, sm1836 370070, "John Anderson my Jo John" ("John Anderson, my jo, John, when nature first began)," George Endicott (New York), 1836  (tune)
LOCSinging, sb20240a, "John Anderson, my Jo"("John Anderson, my jo, John, When we were first acquent"), J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo, John"
cf. "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (tune)
cf. "Cruiskeen Lawn" (tune)
cf. "John Barleycorn, My Jo" (temperance parody)
cf. "Wae Be to that Weary Drink, John Anderson, My Jo" (temperance derivative)
NOTES: This sounds like a version of "John Anderson, My Jo, John" that's been so thoroughly bowdlerized that nothing remains but the aging motif. The overall mood of the two songs is so different that I've split them. - PJS
This is actually the Burns rewrite, published in the Scots Musical Museum (and fairly often reprinted, e.g. in Palgrave's _Golden Treasury,_ item CXCVII). Apparently Burns didn't dare publish the bawdy original, but liked the feeling of ths song.
Those who want to see an even stranger rewrite should examine "John Barleycorn, My Jo, John" (Logan, pp. 221-222), a parody in which grain is the singer's love. Another broadside parody is "My Bonnie Meg, My Jo" [NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(105), "My Bonnie Meg, My Jo," unknown, c. 1875], which deals with a man's problems with an elderly shrew of a wife.
NLScotland L.C.Fol.60(15b), "John Anderson, My Jo (A New Reading)," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890, is also a raspy dialog between husband and wife, in which they decide to go to bed and fight another day; it is probably a rewrite of the Burns version, though there might be some bawdry from the traditional version.  - RBW
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 45(17) italicizes Burns's two verses among its total of eight verses; Harding B 11(439) has the same arrangement without the italics. This eight verse version, beginning "John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean" seems the basis for the temperance song "Wae Be to That Weary Drink, John Anderson, My Jo" ("John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean"). The first verse at least of this version seems to belong to "John Anderson, My Jo, John," viz.,
John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean
To rise so soon in the morning, and sit up so late at e'en.
Ye'll blear out a' your e'en, John, and why should you do so,
Gang sooner to your bed at e'en, John Anderson, my jo.
Broadside LOCSinging sb20240a: 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: FSWB141B
===
NAME: John Anderson, My Jo, John
DESCRIPTION: Singer upbraids her lover for rising so early and coming to bed so late, tells him he's aging and risking being cuckolded. She describes his attributes fairly explicitly, and her own, saying "'Tis all for your conveniency/John Anderson, my jo"
AUTHOR: Attributed to Robert Burns
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: age marriage sex husband bawdy
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 131-133, "John Anderson My Jo" (1 text, short and probably bowdlerized; Percy's first and final editions have some differences)
Silber-FSWB, p. 155 "John Anderson, My Jo (II)
DT, JOHNAND*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo (I)"
cf. "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (tune)
cf. "Cruiskeen Lawn" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
John Anderson, My Jo (I) (File: FSWB141B)
Johnny Bull, My Jo, John (File: SBoA118)
John Bull's Epistle (Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 172-174)
O Jimmy Fisk, My Jo, Jim (fragment in Cohen-LSRail, p. 91)
NOTES: It's clear that "John Anderson, My Jo (I)" is a thoroughly bowdlerized version of this song, but their mood is so different that I've split them. - PJS
And properly; Burns reportedly had to clean it us to make the song singable in polite society.
There is still a third version, the Digital Tradition's JOHNAND5, which is a temperance song.
Burns may have had his hand in some versions even of the bawdy text, but it is not all his; the "official" version, in the Scots Musical Museum (filed in the Index as  "John Anderson, My Jo (I)") is entirely Burns's work. - RBW
File: FSWB155A
===
NAME: John Atkins (The Drunkard's Warning)
DESCRIPTION: "Poor drunkards, poor drunkards, take warning by me, The fruits of transgression behold now I see." John Atkins, when drunk, slew his "dear companion." His family and friends are left weeping. He regrets his acts and warns against drink
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Henry, from Mrs. William Franklin)
KEYWORDS: drink warning execution murder
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 115, "John Atkins" (1 text)
Roud #4191
File: MHAp115
===
NAME: John B. Sails, The
DESCRIPTION: A description of a horrible journey on the "sloop John B." Refrain: "Let me go home! I want to go home; I feel so break-up, I want to go home." Among the problems on the voyage: A drunken first mate who is arrested for robbery and a cook who won't
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: ship sailor hardtimes cook Caribbean
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 22-23, "The John B. Sails" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 280, "The John B.'s Sails" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 93, "John B. Sails" (1 text)
DT, WRKJOHNB
Roud #15634
RECORDINGS:
Rex Allen, "Wreck of the John B" (Mercury 5573, 1951)
Cleveland Simmons Group: "Histe Up the John B. Sail" (AAFS 418 B2, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sloop John B.
The Wreck of the John B.
NOTES: Although I have yet to encounter a version of this song actually describing the sinking of the John B., the craft is said to lie at the bottom of Governor's Harbor in Nassau, where its remains are considered almost a historic monument. - RBW
File: San022
===
NAME: John Barbour: see Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)
===
NAME: John Barleycorn
DESCRIPTION: John Barleycorn is proclaimed dead but springs  to life when the rain/dew falls on him. At midsummer he grows a beard; then men with scythes cut him, bind him to a cart, wheel him to a barn, and brew him into beer. The last verse praises his merits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1625 (broadside from the reign of James I)
KEYWORDS: resurrection death magic drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(NE) Canada(Ont,Queb) Ireland
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Sharp-100E 84, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 276, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 56-57, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 216-217, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 89, "The Barley Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 13,13A, pp. 32,105,160-32,105,160-162, "John Barleygrain" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hodgart, p. 156, "Sir John Barleycorn" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 559, "John Barleycorn" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 101, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 46-48, "John Barleycorn" (1 text plus some excerpts, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN282, "As I went through the North Country"
DT, JBARLEY* BARLEY1
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #23, pp. 22-24, "John Barleycorn. A Ballad" (1 text, from before 1784)
Roud #164
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Barley Grain for Me" (on Abbott1)
Austin Flanagan, "The Barley Grain" (on Voice14)
Haxey Hood singers and customers at "The King's Arms," Haxey, Lincs. "John Barleycorn" (on FieldTrip1)
Fred Jordan, "John Barleycorn" (on Voice13)
A. L. Lloyd, "John Barleycorn" (on Lloyd3, Lloyd5)
Pete Seeger & O. J. Abbott, "Barley Grain" (on Newport59/60)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 3(83a), "A pleasant new ballad to sing ev'ning and morn, of the bloody murder of sir John Barley corn"; also Johnson Ballads 1408[many illegible words], "Sir John Barleycorn"("There was three knights came from the north"), W. Jackson and Son (Birmingham), 1842-1855; Harding B 11(1189), Harding B 15(386b), Johnson Ballads 2847[some illegible words], "Sir John Barleycorn"; 2806 b.9(38), "The Barley Corn"
LOCSinging, as100660, "The Barley Corn," P. Brereton (Dublin), 19C 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Barley Grain for Me
NOTES: Burns: "This is partly composed on the plan of an old song known by the same name." - BS
MacColl & Seeger  speculate that "John Barleycorn" was derived from the Scots ballad "Allan-a-Maut," found in the Bannatyne manuscript, 1568; its theme is similar. - PJS
Of course, the legend of the eternal grain is old -- as is the legend of the dying-and-resurrected God. Jesus, obviously, is the prototype of this, but there is also the Greek Persephone legend and others.
Incidentally, when Prohibition was passed in the United States, John Barleycorn was given a bonus funeral, beyond the annual supply. The February 2005 issue of _American History_ magazine showed an actual tombstone:
In Memoriam
John Barleycorn
Born B.C.
Died Jan. 16, 1920
Resurrection?
There are also broadsides commemorating his death, e.g. NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(099), "A Hue and Cry After Sir John Barleycorn," unknown, after 1720. The notes to the broadside state that this was made in respone to Robert Walpole's 1725 imposition of the malt tax -- but, in context, it seems likely that the idea was lifted from an early form of this song. - RBW
The Bodleian broadside Douce Ballads 3(83a) appears to be older than the other broadsides. Unfortunately, Bodleian has neither the printer nor date estimate. The tune is noted as "Shall I lye beyond thee."
Broadside LOCSinging as100660 appears to be the same as Bodleian 2806 b.9(38) printed by P. Brereton (Dublin). - BS
File: ShH84
===
NAME: John Barleycorn, My Jo
DESCRIPTION: The singer addresses John Barleycorn. "You rob me of my money John which ought to pay my bills." You go disguised "as Mr Porter." I take my first drink in the morning "before that I get up" Preachers preach against him: "on you we'll turn our backs"
AUTHOR: George Barron (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink derivative nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 601, "John Barleycorn, My Jo" (1 text)
Roud #6051
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo (I)" (form)
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo, John" (form)
cf. "Wae Be to that Weary Drink, John Anderson, My Jo" (another temperance derivative of "John Anderson")
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Barleycorn
File: GrD3601
===
NAME: John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold
DESCRIPTION: Singer praises Barleycorn; his robes are rich and green, his head speared with prickly beard; when stricken down, he uses his blood for England's good. Chorus: "Hey John Barleycorn/Ho John Barleycorn/Old and young thy praise has sung/John Barleycorn"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 20(81))
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer praises John Barleycorn for his heroic qualities; his robes are rich and green, his head speared with prickly beard; when stricken down, he uses his blood for England's good. All, great and small, find his aid valuable -- he "makes weak men strong and old ones young and all men brave and bold". The singer praises ale, scorning all other drinks. Chorus: "Hey John Barleycorn/Ho John Barleycorn/Old and young thy praise has sung/John Barleycorn"
KEYWORDS: age drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South), Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 277, "John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 227-229, "Hey! John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2141
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(81), "John Barleycorn" ("John Berleycorn [sic] is a hero bold"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 13(13), Harding B 11(1509), Harding B 11(3188), Firth b.26(301), Harding B 15(150a), "John Barleycorn"
LOCSinging, as111460, "John Barleycorn," W.S. Fortey (London), no date
NOTES:

CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Barleycorn" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hey John Barleycorn
NOTES: Although this shares subject matter and a few words with "John Barleycorn", it lacks the explicit death-and-resurrection plot of the latter, so I split them. - PJS
More interesting to me is the extreme similarity between the Ford and Kennedy versions.  The only substantial difference might be a mishearing on Kennedy's part: He transcribes the near-nonsense "fit nigh to serve the queen" for Ford's "fit knight to serve the queen." There are other differences, but they are such as might arise simply in a singer's minor variations between sessions. I have to think there is literary dependence. - RBW
Broadsides LOCSinging as111460 and Bodleian Harding B 11(3188) are duplicates. - BS
File: K277
===
NAME: John Barleygrain: see John Barleycorn (File: ShH84)
===
NAME: John Barlow: see Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)
===
NAME: John Brown Had a Little Indian: see Ten Little Indians (John Brown Had a Little Indian) (File: R594)
===
NAME: John Brown Had a Little Injun: see Ten Little Indians (John Brown Had a Little Indian) (File: R594)
===
NAME: John Brown's Body
DESCRIPTION: In stirring cadences, the story of anti-slavery zealot John Brown's death is told: "John Brown's body lies a-mould'ring in his grave (x3); his soul goes marching on." "He captured Harper's Ferry with his nineteen men so true...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1861
KEYWORDS: Civilwar Black(s) death execution memorial burial rebellion slavery
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1800 - Birth of John Brown
October 16-18, 1859 - John Brown and 20 others (fifteen of them, including Brown's three sons, are white) attack the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, hoping to gather the weapons needed for a slave rebellion. Forces led by Robert E. Lee soon attack the rebels; only Brown and four others live to be captured and placed on trial
Dec 2, 1859 - Hanging of John Brown at Charlestown, Virginia
FOUND_IN: US(SE,MA)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
BrownIII 378, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, mixed, plus two of the offshoot "Hang (John Brown/Jeff Davis) from a Sour Apple Tree")
Doerflinger, pp. 72-73, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune -- a curious sailor's version that mentions Brown only peripherally and replaces the "His soul goes marching on" with "Then it's hip, hip, hip, hurrah!")
Hugill, pp. 442-443, "John Brown's Body" (1 text plus fragments of a German version, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, p. 40, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, tune referenced)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 158-160, "John Brown" (1 text, slightly modified by Huntington, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 37, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 528-529, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 84-85, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 62, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 305, "John Brown's Body" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 131, "Battle Hymn of the Republic (Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us? -- John Brown -- Glory Hallelujah -- John Brown's Baby Had a Cold upon His Chest")
DT, JOHNBRWN*
Roud #771
RECORDINGS:
J. W. Myers, "John Brown's Body" (Victor A-824, c. 1901)
Pete Seeger, "John Brown's Body" (on PeteSeeger24) (on PeteSeeger28) (on PeteSeeger29)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (tune & meter)
cf. "Marching On" (tune & meter)
cf. "Solidarity Forever" (tune)
cf. "Marching Song of the First Arkansas" (tune)
cf. "James Brown" (tune)
cf. "On to Washington" (tune)
cf. "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School" (tune)
cf. "The Bulldog on the Bank" (tune)
cf. "Pass Around the Bottle (As We Go Marching Home)" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Battle Hymn of the Republic (File: RJ19022)
Solidarity Forever (File: SBoA282)
The Bulldog on the Bank (File: FSWB399B)
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School (File: PHCFS100)
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Horror of the Ending of the Term" (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 101)
James Brown (Greenway-AFP, p.p. 38-39)
On to Washington (Greenway-AFP, p. 62)
My Pink Pajamas (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 34; DT, PINKPAJ)
Chicken Sandwich (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 11)
Glory, Glory, Pork Superior (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 21)
The Bulldog and the Bullfrog (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 47)
Glory, Glory, How Peculiar (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 106)
The Bugs Marched Down the Aisle (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 154)
She Waded in the Water (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 209)
Birmingham's My Home (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 245)
Oh, Ay Liff in Minneapolis (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 246)
NOTES: The well-known tune of this piece, "Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us," is often credited to William Steffe, but I know of no absolute proof of this. The "John Brown" words were composed within months of the anti-slavery crusader's death, and had spread throughout the Union by the early stages of the Civil War. (Note that Huntington has a version from 1861!) - RBW
John Uhlemann reports that the tune has been traced from a 17th century Swedish Lutheran hymnal, and that it has also entered folk tradition in Hungary, presumably independently of its American associations. - PJS
I have seen it argued that the "John Brown" of the song was not the abolitionist but an obscure American soldier (Irwin Silber describes him as "Sergeant John Brown, a Scotsman, a member of the Second Battalion, Boston Light Infantry Volunteer Militia," who later joined the Twelfth Massachusetts). I suppose this is possible -- but everyone interpreted it to mean the fanatic who captured Harper's Ferry. - RBW
File: Doe072b
===
NAME: John Bruce: see John Bruce o the Forenit (File: DBuch67)
===
NAME: John Bruce o the Forenit
DESCRIPTION: "At Martinmas term I gaed to the fair... I feed wi' a mannie to ca' his third pair, They ca' him John Bruse o' the (Fornit/Corner)." The song starts with a recitation of the poor conditions, then lists the folk found there -- including the pretty daughter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work moniker hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greig #133, p. 1, "John Bruce" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 372, "John Bruce o' the Fornet" (5 texts, 1 tune)
DBuchan 67, "John Bruce o the Forenit" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
Ord, pp. 229-230, "John Bruce o' the Corner" (1 text)
Roud #3937
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Bruce o' the Fornit
Jockey Bruce o' the Fornet
John Bruce
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; South Fornet (372) is at coordinate (h1,v8) on that map [roughly 11 miles W of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: DBuch67
===
NAME: John Bruce o' the Corner: see John Bruce o the Forenit (File: DBuch67)
===
NAME: John Bruce o' the Fornet: see John Bruce o the Forenit (File: DBuch67)
===
NAME: John Buchan, Blacksmith
DESCRIPTION: "Dear John, my plough is come to hand" begins a letter to the blacksmith praising his work. "Her every joint is so exact ..." It makes the ox-team so fast "neighbors swear they are grown fat." Love to your family and "kind wishes to my Will"
AUTHOR: William Lillie (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 462, "John Buchan, Blacksmith" (1 text)
Roud #5965
File: GrD3462
===
NAME: John Bull and His Crew: see The Irish Harvestmen's Triumph (File: CrSNB104)
===
NAME: John Bull Lives In England
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "John Bull lives in England, Taffy lives in Wales. Sandy lives in Scotland where there is all the girls. Paddy lives in Ireland as ev'rebody knows. There never was a coward where the little shamrock grows."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sternvall, _Sang under Segel_)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong home
FOUND_IN: Sweden Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 453-454, "John Bull" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13694
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy Magee's Dream" (theme of national comparison)
NOTES: The Swedish shanty book _Sang under Segel_ had the only previous printed version of this, but Hugill seems to think that it originated in England and migrated to Sweden. - SL
I think this is true at least of the words (though I don't know if they migrated to Sweden). Steve Roud collected a version of the text, and there are rather similar nursery rhymes floating about. - RBW
File: Hugi452
===
NAME: John Burke
DESCRIPTION: "Bad luck attend you Percy wherever you may be. You would not assist my Johnny for he's drownded ... in the flurry off Kerry Bay." His true love comes to the funeral "dressed in her rich robes" and they bid "adieu to Johnny as we all marched away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: death funeral disaster lament lover mother sister clothes
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 467-468, "John Burke" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea467 (Partial)
Roud #9791
NOTES: Peacock notes "I was unable to find any reference to this lament in the Irish collections at my disposal." Burke's name and "Bad luck attend you" seem Irish enough, but maybe it's not Irish. There's a Kerry Bay near Gairloch in northwest Scotland across the Minch from the Outer Hebrides. The ballad mentions a "far field of glory on the leeward shore"; what war is this about? - BS
The prevailing winds in Britain are generally from the west (northwest in summer, southwest in winter). So the windward shore is Britain, the leeward the Hebrides, or Ireland -- or, just possibly, North America. It's hard to imagine a battle in the Hebrides that would be commemorated in an English song. And Kerry is on the southwest coast of Ireland. So "Kerry Bay" might be Dingle Bay, or just possibly Bantry Bay (which is just south of modern County Kerry, but in the same general area).
The most noteworthy battle in County Kerry proper was probably Callan (1261), but that is surely too early. So my guess (and it's just a guess) is that this refers to 1796 and the Bantry Bay landing, for which see "The Shan Van Voght." This fits on other grounds, since Hoche's Bantry Bay fleet had suffered badly from a storm (December 1796) and did not attempt to land. - RBW
File: Pea467
===
NAME: John Cherokee
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Refrain: "Alabama John Cherokee, Way-aye-yah! Alabama John Cherokee." Slave who keeps running away is caught and put on board a ship, from which he escapes again. He's put in chains, and finally starves to death in the hold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917
KEYWORDS: shanty slave escape Indians(Am) ghost
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Colcord, p. 103, "John Cherokee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 439, "Alabama" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd,p. 330]
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "John Cherokee" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #4693
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Alabama John Cherokee
NOTES: Colcord and Hugill both state this is definitely of Negro origin, probably introduced to seaman by slaves stowing cotton. - SL
File: Hugi439
===
NAME: John Dameray
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus, "John come down the backstay... John Dameray." The singer's mother urges him to come home; he decides to do so, for he has "no money and no clothes." He vows, "From sea I will keep clear, and live by selling beer"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893
KEYWORDS: shanty drink poverty homesickness
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 8-9, "John Dameray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 272-273, "John Dameray," "Johnny, Come Down the Backstay" (2 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 201-202]
ST Doe008 (Partial)
Roud #9439
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Damaray
File: Doe008
===
NAME: John Done Saw that Number
DESCRIPTION: "John done saw that number, Way in the middle of the air." John the Baptist's preaching is summarized, and his baptism of Jesus described. The descent of the spirit on Jesus concludes the song.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Rev. Moses Mason)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible Jesus
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 61-64, (no title) (1 text)
Roud #11843
RECORDINGS:
Rev. Moses Mason, "John the Baptist" (Paramount 12702A, 1928; on AAFM2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel"
cf. "John Saw the Holy Number" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The feel of this is much like "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel," but the plot is purely New Testament (and the form argues that it is not the same as "John Saw the Holy Number," despite the similarity in first lines). The allusions include (where possible, I quote the text of Mark as the most primitive):
"John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance..." Mark 1:4; compare Matt. 3:1, Luke 3:2
"As it is written in the prophet Isaiah ["Esaias" in the song and the King James Bible]...
'The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
"Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight."'" - Mark 1:2-3; cf. Matt. 3:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23
"Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather girdle about his waist." - Mark 1:6; cf. Matt. 3:4
"In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." - Mark 1:9; cf. Matt. 3:13, (Luke 3:21)
"John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.'" - Matt. 3:14-15
"And just as [Jesus] was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit descending like a dove on him." - Mark 1:10; cf. Matt. 3:16, Luke 3:22, (John 1:32)
"The Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the Wilderness... [the Temptation]" - Matt. 4:1-11; cf.  (Mark 1:12-13), Luke 4:1-13. - RBW
File: CNFM061C
===
NAME: John Doolan: see The Wild Colonial Boy [Laws L20] (File: LL20)
===
NAME: John Dory [Child 284]
DESCRIPTION: John Dory gets a horse and sets out for Paris. There he meets King John. He offers to bring King John "all the churles in merie England" in return for a pardon. Dory  is overtaken by one Nicholl of Cornwall, who takes him prisoner after a sharp battle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1609 (Ravenscroft)
KEYWORDS: ship royalty pardon battle foreigner
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1350-1364 - Reign of John II of France (the only French king named John who lived during the Hundred Years' War)
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 284, "John Dory" (1 text)
Bronson 284, "John Dory" (7 versions)
OBB 133, "John Dory" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 93-96, "John Dory" (1 text, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #1d, #3, #1c}
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 16, "John Dory" (1 text)
ST C284 (Full)
Roud #249
NOTES: In addition to the citation from Ravenscroft, we find a reference to this song in Beaumont and Fletcher's _Knight of the Burning Pestle_; ActII, scene iv, line 35 reads, "Would I had gone to Paris with John Dory."
There is a fish, Latin name Zeus astralis, informally known as the "John Dory." It is apparently carniverous, approaching its prey cautiously and colored so as to resemble seaweed. I do not know if the name is in any way connected with this song. - RBW
File: C284
===
NAME: John Fox
DESCRIPTION: John Fox is caught stealing a hen. Expecting death, he makes his confession: his father was a thief; he steals to support his wife's appetite; he stole lambs before being caught. If you marry such a wife "train her wi' the rod. Use her to nae delicacies"
AUTHOR: Sawney Riddell (source: Greig)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: warning theft humorous animal chickens sheep father wife abuse
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #103, p. 1, "John Fox" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 498, "John Fox" (1 text)
Roud #5984
NOTES: Greig notes that the author, who is also the man who owned the stolen lambs in the song, must have written it "in the earlier part of last [19th] century, when the depredations of the fox had to be reckoned with. The song begins "There lives a man into this place, John Fox it is his name, And o' a' the ill deen hereaboot John Fox he gets the blame." - BS
File: GrD3498
===
NAME: John Francois: see Boney (File: Doe006)
===
NAME: John Funston [Laws F23]
DESCRIPTION: Young, handsome John Funston robs and murders William Cartmell. Although an innocent man is first held, Funston spends money too freely; he is captured and condemned to die. His family claims his body from two doctors who want it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: murder robbery execution corpse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 9, 1825 - John Funston murders William Cartmell
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws F23, "John Funston"
Eddy 119, "John Funston" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Burt, p. 81-82, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 756, JONFUNST
Roud #2261
File: LF23
===
NAME: John Gilbert is de Boat
DESCRIPTION: "John Gilbert is de boat, di-de-o... Runnin' in the Cincinnati trade." Description of the boat's travels, her cargo, the crew. "You see dat boat a-comin', she's comin' round de bend, An' when she gits in, She'll be loaded down again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: ship travel commerce nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 276, "John Gilbert is de Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
MWheeler, p. 43-46, "John Gilbert" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 574, "John Gilbert" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10012
NOTES: Botkin reports (following Wheeler), "The _John Gilbert_ ran from Cincinnati to Florence, Alabama. She was built in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1881, and was named for Captain John Gilbert, of Evansville, Indiana, president of the Ohio and Tennessee River Packet Company." - RBW
File: LoF276
===
NAME: John Grumlie: see Father Grumble [Laws Q1] (File: LQ01)
===
NAME: John Gunn
DESCRIPTION: John Gun, the singer, says his men have robbed many a purse of gold. They stole merchant goods in a market near Inverurie. He names those who gave him trouble and have been or will be repaid. He has been set free from jail and "must go abroad"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: prison robbery exile
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan2 256, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "John Gunn" (2 texts, 1 tune) 
GreigDuncan2 256, "John Gunn" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5849
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "For A' That and A' That" (tune, according to GreigDuncan2)
NOTES: GreigDuncan2: "[The singer] states that John Gunn was a well known robber in the north." "[Another singer] got it about '51 or '52 from a man who had been in the Turruff [sic] district." Maybe Turriff is meant. GreigDuncan3 has a map of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3"; Turriff is at coordinate (v5,h8) on that map [roughly 31 miles NNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: GrD2256
===
NAME: John Hardy [Laws I2]
DESCRIPTION: John Hardy, a "desperate boy... who carried a (gun) every day," threatens to kill any man who wins his money. Finally he does lose his money and shoots the other. Hardy flees, but before he can leave the state he is taken, tried, and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1909 (JAFL22)
KEYWORDS: murder gambling execution
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 19, 1894 - Execution (in Welch, WV) of one John Hardy, convicted for committing murder during a gambling fight
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (18 citations)
Laws I2, "John Hardy"
Randolph 163, "John Hardy" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 244, "John Hardy" (3 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 103, "John Henry" (1 short text, which despite the title appears to have two "John Hardy" verses and only one of "John Henry")
Leach, pp. 759-761, "John Hardy" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 393, "John Hardy" (2 texts)
Lomax-FSUSA 85, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 141, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 124-126, "John Harty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 50, "John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 142, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 246, "John Hardy" (1 text)
JHCox 35, "John Hardy" (9 text, some of John Henry, some of John Hardy, some mixed: A is John Hardy with a John Henry second verse, B, C, and G are John Hardy with a John Henry opening verse, D, F, and I are pure John Hardy, E is John Hardy with material from John Henry and a "Pretty Little Foot" song, H is John Henry)
SharpAp 87, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 179, "(John Hardy)" (1 fragment)
Darling-NAS, pp. 235-236, "John Hardy" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 197, "John Hardy" (1 text)
DT 656, JOHNHARD
Roud #3262
RECORDINGS:
Clarence Ashley, "Old John Hardy" (Columbia 15654-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
Dock Boggs, "John Hardy" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1)
Carter Family, "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man"  (Victor V-40190, 1930; Zonophone [UK] 4294, n.d.; rec. 1928; Bluebird B-6033/Montgomery Ward M-4741, 1935; on AAFM1)
Eva Davis, "John Hardy" (Columbia 167-D, 1924)
Eve David [pseud. for Eva Davis?] "John Hardy" (Diva 6010-G, c. 1930)
Buell Kazee, "John Hardy" (Brunswick 144, 1927; on BefBlues1, ConstSor1) (on Kazee01)
Leadbelly, "John Hardy" (Musicraft 311. 1945)
Frank Proffitt, "John Hardy" (on Proffitt03)
J. W. Russell, "John Hardy" (AFS 3163 A3, 1936)
Mike Seeger, "John Hardy" (on MSeeger01)
Pete Seeger, "John Hardy" (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger27)
Ernest Stoneman, "John Hardy" (OKeh 7011, 1925); "Justin Winfield" [Ernest Stoneman, Willie Stoneman, and the Sweet Brothers], "John Hardy" (Gennett 6619, 1928; on RoughWays1)
Fields Ward, Glen Smith & Wade Ward, "John Hardy" (on HalfCen1)
Walter Williams, "John Hardy" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
NOTES: Cox prints a copy of the execution notice for John Hardy, who was convicted of first degree murder. He follows this with assorted personal reminiscences about Hardy. Unfortunately, the texts he quotes are very confused (most include John Henry verses among the stanzas about John Hardy), and one has to suspect that the reminiscences are also confused.
We also note that Sharp was finding North Carolina texts of the song only 20 years after the murder -- a surprisingly quick diffusion. One is tempted to wonder if Cox's John Hardy is indeed THE John Hardy. - RBW
File: LI02
===
NAME: John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man: see John Hardy [Laws I2] (File: LI02)
===
NAME: John Harty: see John Hardy [Laws I2] (File: LI02)
===
NAME: John He Baptized Jesus
DESCRIPTION: "John he baptized Jesus; 'Twas all through his command. The Holy Bible tells us That John was a righteous man. Little children, our lodging's here tonight (x3), I know you by your little garments. Our lodging's here tonight."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 604, "John He Baptized Jesus" (1 fragment)
Roud #11914
NOTES: Unquestionably a composite. But of what elements? - RBW
File: Br3604
===
NAME: John Henry [Laws I1]
DESCRIPTION: The boss of a railroad crew has brought in a steam drill. John Henry, the best driver in the gang, vows he will never be outclassed by the machine. In a contest between the two, Henry is victorious (in most versions), but dies of the exertion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (JAFL)
KEYWORDS: train work death technology railroading worker
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (27 citations)
Laws I1, "John Henry"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 61-89, "John Henry" (2 texts plus many excerpts and a copy of the Blankenship broadside, 2 tunes)
BrownII 280, "John Henry" (2 texts plus 5 fragments, 1 excerpt, and mention of 1 more, but only the "A" text, plus probably the "C" fragment,  is this song; the fragments are of "Take This Hammer," "Swannanoah Tunnel," etc.)
Chappell-FSRA 103, "John Henry" (1 short text, which despite the title appears to have two "John Hardy" verses and only one of "John Henry")
Leach, pp. 756-759, "John Henry" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 383, "John Henry" (6 texts, but only three are true versions of "John Henry"; the rest appear to be variants of "Take this Hammer")
PBB 109, "John Henry" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 150-153, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 24-25, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 81, pp. 164-165, "John Henry (The Steel-Driving Man)" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 74, "John Henry" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax-FSNA 298, "John Henry-I"; 299, "John Henry-II" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the first containing a large portion of "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me/Been All Around This World" or a relative)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 3-10, "John Henry" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 233-237, "John Henry" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 240-241, "[John Henry]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 52 "Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand (John Henry)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 243, "John Henry" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 111, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 748, "The Death of John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune -- a strange version, sung, and partly spoken, by Dave Macon. It starts with the death and funeral, then goes back to the familiar story)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 111-115, "(John Henry)" (1 text); pp. 280-285, "John Henry" (3 tunes, partial texts); also pp. 137-138, "(John Henry)" (1 text, with a fragment of the plot of "John Henry" but many lyrics from "Take This Hammer")
JHCox 35, "John Hardy" (9 text, some of John Henry, some of John Hardy, some mixed: A is John Hardy with a John Henry second verse, B, C, and G are John Hardy with a John Henry opening verse, D, F, and I are pure John Hardy, E is John Hardy with material from John Henry and a "Pretty Little Foot" song, H is John Henry)
Darling-NAS, pp. 230-234, "John Henry" (3 texts plus a text of "Take This Hammer")
PSeeger-AFB, p. 82, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 107, "John Henry" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 123, "John Henry" (1 text)
DT 317, JHNHENRY* JOHNHENR
ADDITIONAL: Zora Neale Hurston, _Mules and Men_ (New York,1990 (paperback edition of 1935 original)), pp. 251-255, "John Henry" (with tune)
Roud #790
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "John Henry" (on NFMAla3)
DeFord Bailey, "John Henry" (Victor 23336, 1932/Victor 23831, 1933; rec. 1928)
James "Iron Head" Baker, "Little John Henry" (AFS 202 A1, 1934) (AFS 1853 B1, 1853 B2, 1937)
Dock Boggs, "John Henry" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
Big Bill Broonzy, "John Henry" (on Broonzy01)
Callahan Brothers, "John Henry" (Decca 5998, 1941)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "John Henry Blues" (OKeh 7004, 1924)
Bill Cornett ,"John Henry" (on MMOKCD)
(Joe) Evans & (Arthur) McClain, "John Henry Blues" (Oriole 8080/Perfect 181/Romeo 5080/Conqueror 7876, all 1931; on BefBlues3)
G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter, "John Henry the Steel Driving Man" (Gennett, unissued, 1927)
Fruit Jar Guzzlers, "Steel Driving Man" (Broadway 8199, 1928; on TimesAint03)
Woody Guthrie, "John Henry" (Stinson 628, mid-1940s)
Willie Hamilton, "John Henry" (on HandMeDown1)
Vera Hall, "John Henry" (AFS 1320 A2, 1937) [Note: Dixon/Godrich/Rye also identifies this AFS number with a Vera Hall recording of "Po' Laz'us"; one of them is clearly in error, but I don't know which - PJS]
Sid Harkreader, "John Henry" (Broadway 8114, c. 1930)
Sid Hemphill, "John Henry" (on LomaxCD1700)
Doc Hopkins, "John Henry" (Radio 1411, n.d.)
Furry Lewis, "John Henry" (on FLewis01, DownHome)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "John Henry Blues" (OKeh 45101, 1927; on TimesAint02, ConstSor1)
Buell Kazee, "John Henry" (on Kazee01)
Ed Lewis, "John Henry" (on LomaxCD1705)
Furry Lewis, "John Henry (The Steel Driving Man), parts 1 & 2" (Vocalion 1474, 1930; rec. 1929)
Uncle Dave Macon, "The Death of John Henry" (Vocalion 15320, 1926) (Brunswick 112, 1927; Brunswick 80091, n.d.)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "John Henry was a Little Boy" (Bluebird B-6629, 1936); "John Henry" (King 550, 1946)
Earl McCoy, Alfred Meng & Clem Garner, "John Henry" (Columbia 15622-D, 1930)
New Lost City Ramblers, "John Henry" (on NLCR05)
Virgil Perkins & Jack Sims, "John Henry" (on FMUSA, AmSkBa)
Pete Seeger, "John Henry" (on PeteSeeger05) (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger47) (on PeteSeeger23)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "John Henry" (Edison 51869, 1926) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5194, 1926)
Glen Stoneman, George Stoneman & James Lindsay, "John Henry" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1702)
Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett, "John Henry"  (Columbia 15019-D, 1924; Silvertone 3262, 1926 [as Gibbs & Watson]) 
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "John Henry" (Columbia 15142-D, 1927)
Henry Thomas, "John Henry" (Vocalion 1094, 1927)
Welby Toomey, "Death of John Henry" (Champion 15198/Silvertone 5002, 1927)
Willie Turner, "John Henry" (on NFMAla6)
Doc Watson, Gaither Carlton & Arnold Watson, "John Henry" (on WatsonAshley01)
Williamson Bros. & Curry, "Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand" (OKeh 45127, 1927; on AAFM1, TimesAin't3)
Martin Young & Corbett Grigsby, "John Henry" [instrumental] (on MMOKCD)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Take This Hammer" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
Shelton Brothers, "New John Henry Blues" (Decca 5173, 1936)
NOTES: The popularity of this song is shown by its influence on other songs: Not only is John Henry's hammer mentioned in "Take this Hammer" and relatives, but it also inspired W. C. Handy's "John Henry Blues." Quite a record for a song which came into existence only well into the railroad age.
The bibliography of this song is huge, and no attempt is made to reproduce it here. In 1983, when Brett Williams published _John Henry: A Bio-Bibliography_ (Greenwood Press), the bibliography was 13 pages long (though some of the books in the "Background" section are pretty irrelevant). But it lists 13 films about John Henry, and a page and a half of printed works inspired by him -- how many folk songs have such a legacy?
And, of course, more has been published since.
The first two major scholarly books on the topic are Guy B. Johnson, _John Henry: Tracking Down a Negro Legend_, 1929, and Louis Chappell, _John Henry: A Folk-Lore Study_, 1933. Both were attempts to find "the real John Henry." And both eventually turned to West Virginia's Big Bend Tunnel, on the Chesapeake and Ohio (C & O) line -- by far the most common location cited in versions of the ballad. In that case, the contest took place in the early 1870s.
More recently, Scott Nelson's book 2006 book _Steel Drivin' Man_ offered the suggestion that John Henry was John William Henry, a prisoner in the Virginia State Penitentiary, leased to C & O to work at Lewis Tunnel. His body was returned to Pen for burial near the white workhouse there.
The most detailed detective work, however, has been done by John Garst, who has comparied the versions of the song with local traditions about John and such external testimony of witnesses as he can find. (He also looked over this note to make sure I didn't misrepresent him, and made extremely valuable suggestions. And I do mean *extremely* valuable; this is not a perfunctory thanks. He corrected several errors, and amplified points which I had missed. Any remaining errors are of course mine.) He has published an initial version of his findings in "Chasing John Henry in Alabama and Mississippi," _Tributaries: Journal of the Alabama Folklife Association_, Issue No. 5, 2002, 92-129, and an updated (but necessarily short and minimally documented) version in the _Old Time Herald_, Volume 11, #10 (April-May 2009), pp. 14-23.
His conclusions are in stark contrast to what has gone before. He argues that
* The John Henry story took place near Leeds, Alabama, in the Dunnavant Valley, near Oak Tunnel, in the vicinity of Coosa and Oak Mountains (which are two miles apart).
* That the "Captain" of the song is Fred Dabney (born 1835), who was entitled to be called Captain; he had served atthat rank in the Confederate Army, who worked for the C & W railroad -- he was the chief engineer and responsible for building the line through the Dunnavant Valley
* That John Henry was perhaps (John) Henry Dabney, born c. 1850 -- possibly a slave on the Dabney family plantation, or possibly Henry, slave to Captain Dabney's father, Augustine "Gus" Dabney, a lawyer in Raymond, Mississippi. John Garst tells me that the plantation was owned by Captain Dabney's uncle, Thomas Dabney. In 1860, Thomas owned 154 slaves, while Gus owned eight, one of whom we know by name, Henry. Gus's Henry was a teenager during the Civil War, "just the right age to have been John Henry."
* That his wife may have been Margaret Foston, whom he married in 1869. According to John Garst, "This depends on the assumption that the Henry Dabney of Copiah County in the 1870 and 1880 censuses was John Henry. The data suggest that the census Henry and the slave Henry could be the same person, and that makes a tidy story, but that is conjecture. What we have are three separate items that we can interpret as overlapping: (1) Spencer's testimony that he was John Henry Dabney, (2) Letitia Dabney's testimony about the slave boy Henry in her (and Captain Dabney's) family, (3) census and marriage records for Henry Dabney of Copiah County, Mississippi (1870 and 1880)."
* That the most likely date for the contest is Tuesday, September 20, 1887
* That John Henry may be one of the first people buried (in an unmarked grave) at Sand Ridge cemetery, about two miles from the C & W line.
What we unfortunately still lack is, obviously, John Henry's grave -- and also external evidence of a contest with a steam drill (though even here, Dunnavant has a better case, since steam drills apparently were not used on the Big Bend Tunnel. John tells me that "We know that Coosa Tunnel was bored using Ingersoll steam drills. The case for Big Bend rests on the possibility, for which there is testimony, that a steam drill was tried out there against John Henry.  The use of steam drills in boring Big Bend is therefore not required for the Big Bend theory."). These are the sorts of things that, of course, do not show up in census records or the like.
The _Old-Time Herald_ article by itself is not entirely convincing -- too much of the evidence has to be offered in extremely condensed form. John Garst has said himself that it is too short to document the material he has -- and his postings to the Ballad-L mailing list demonstrate this conclusively: He has more than is in the _OTH_ article. We can only hope that he will someday be able to publish in full form -- including not only his conclusions but his source data. (Most notably, I think he needs a textual analysis of the versions of the song "John Henry," attempting to isolate what is original and what a later accretion.)
With all that scholarly caution, however, I must add that I think John Garst has by now presented a very compelling case. I was never persuaded by earlier arguments about John Henry's existence. I now incline to think he was real. I look forward to John's full-length publication of his data. - RBW
File: LI01
===
NAME: John Henry Hammer Song, The: see Take This Hammer (File: FR383)
===
NAME: John Hinks: see Jack Hinks (File: Doy09)
===
NAME: John J. Curtis [Laws G29]
DESCRIPTION: John J. Curtis, a coal miner, is trapped in an avalanche of coal after setting a dynamite explosion. When he succeeds in lighting a match, he discovers he is blind. He asks his listeners for kindness
AUTHOR: Joseph Gallagher
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: mining begging injury
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1888 - John Curtis, age 28, is blinded in a mine in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. He made his living thereafter by singing and selling broadsides of this song, made for him by Joseph Gallagher
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Laws G29, "John J. Curtis"
DT 711, JJCURTIS JOHNCURT
Roud #7724
File: LG29
===
NAME: John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
DESCRIPTION: "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt His name is my name too. Wherever we go out, The people always shout, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Da da da da da da da."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 240, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 199, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" (1 text)
DT, JJJSCHM*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "John Jacob Jinglehaimer Schmitt" (on PeteSeeger11)
File: FSWB240B
===
NAME: John James O'Hara
DESCRIPTION: John James O'Hara from Tara and Mickey McNamara from Mayo "are famous Irishmen no matter where they go." Now "we're returning back to dear old Erin's Isle"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: return Ireland nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 54, "John James O'Hara" (1 text)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
O'Hara From Tara, McNamara From Mayo
NOTES: This sounds to me as if O'Hara and McNamara were musical performers who went to the United States. There was a John O'Hara responsible for a 1941 music, "Pal Joey" (see Gilbert, LostChords, p. 353); with so little background from Tunney's song, I doubt we can tell if they are the same. It doesn't seem very likely. I can't find any candidates for McNamara. - RBW
File: TSF054
===
NAME: John Jasper
DESCRIPTION: "John Jasper was a man, as you all do understand, And he preach-ed to de people with a vengeance... And he preache'ed to de people dat de sun do move." Concerning the power of the preaching of Jasper
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious clergy
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1812-1901 - LIfe of John Jasper, originally a slave, who became a preacher in 1839 after a conversion experience and often preached a sermon, "De Sun Do Move"
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 605, "John Jasper" (1 text plus a fragment)
Roud #11915
File: Br3605
===
NAME: John Kanaka
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "John Kanaka-naka, too-li-ay." The sailors describe how they will "work tomorrow but no work today!" Some details of their trip around the horn on a Yankee ship are given
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977
KEYWORDS: sailor shanty work
FOUND_IN: Barbados
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Hugill, pp. 288-289, "John Kanaka" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p.212]
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 50-51, "John Kanaka" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JONKANAK*
Roud #8238
NOTES: "Kanaka" was a term applied to Hawaiian men. Whether this song is referring to that or to "Canucks" (French-Canadians) is obscure. - PJS
The term is used in Australia for Polynesians in general, especially those who worked in the Queensland sugar plantations. (It is said to mean simply "man.") I have to suspect that the song originally referred to the Polynesians, though of course northern sailors might have thought it meant Canucks. - RBW
File: FaE050
===
NAME: John Ladner
DESCRIPTION: John Ladner leaves PEI to find work in Saint John. Failing that, he goes to Maine and works six years in Madison. Thanksgiving morning he is crushed by logs he is rolling to a stream to be floated to the mill. Doctors cannot save him. He dies at 23.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: death lumbering memorial
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 29, 1900 - probable date of the death of John Ladner (see NOTE)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 40-41, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 60-61,248, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 26, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Din040 (Partial)
Roud #4061
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Peter Amberley [Laws C27]" (plot)
NOTES: This song is item dC40 in Laws's Appendix II.
Dibblee/Dibblee have a report that the grave "is in the Victoria West, P.E.I. Cemetery and it was dated circa 1895."
Ives-DullCare: "John Ladner, 33, of Victoria West was killed in a logging accident in Madison, Maine, on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1900." - BS
Manny and Wilson note a version which dates the accident to 1884. One must suspect confusion with something else - RBW
File: Din040
===
NAME: John Lewis: see Poor Omie (John Lewis) (Little Omie Wise) [Laws F4] AND Naomi Wise [Laws F31] (File: LF04)
===
NAME: John Lovie
DESCRIPTION: A man loves his maid servant. His mother is opposed. She becomes pregnant. He poisons her. Her mother asks for an examination and the doctors find arsenic. The man is tried but guilt was not proven. "We'll leave him to Heaven's just judgement at last"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: murder trial pregnancy poison mother servant
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan2 206, "John Lovie" (1 text)
Roud #5836
NOTES: GreigDuncan2 quotes an account of the trial from Bruce,_The Black Kalendar of Aberdeen_  (Aberdeen, 1854). Margaret Mackessar died August 14, 1827. John Lovie was tried and a "Not Proven" verdict returned. - BS 
File: GrD2206
===
NAME: John MacAnanty's Courtship (The Fairy King)
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees MacAnanty courting a pretty girl, promising to make her his queen. She says she is too poor, and her parents and friends would be angry. He says they can sail around the world and return in a night, and that he has found no other like her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1873 (Joyce)
KEYWORDS: love courting magic beauty rejection
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H56, p. 354, "John MacAnanty's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6875
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Fairy King's Courtship
File: HHH056
===
NAME: John Malone
DESCRIPTION: "I'm going with Captain Murphy ... There's nothing to be had by us in this neglected Isle ... The Irishman that stays at home must wear the Union brand ... I'm sailing for Columbia's shore; may God send fair the wind ... pray for John Malone"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell sea ship America patriotic Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 81, "John Malone" (1 text)
File: Ran081
===
NAME: John Marshall
DESCRIPTION: "We're glad to see you, John Marshall, my boy, So fresh from the chisel of Rogers. Go take your stand on the monument there Along with the other old codgers." The singer tells Marshall of all that has gone wrong since his death.
AUTHOR: Innes Randolph?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: America judge political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1801-1835 - John Marshall serves as Chief Justice of the United States
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 236, "John Marshall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7709
NOTES: This song came out of the post-Civil War reconstruction of Virginia, when the southern states were still treated as occupied territory. The song portrays a state held in subjection, against what the singer views as the requirements of the constitution.
In defense of the Radical Republicans -- who put Virginia in this suppressed condition -- it should be pointed out that their view was that the Confederate states, by withdrawing from the Union, had committed governmental suicide and had therefore to be recreated.
John Marshall (1755-1835), of Virginia,  was not the first Chief Justice of the United States, but he was the first great head of the judiciary. At the very beginning of his term (1803, in the case "Marbury vs. Madison") he established the principle of "judicial review," i.e. that the Supreme Court was the ultimate guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. Although not explicit in the Constitution, this capacity is one of the chief regulators of the U.S. balance of power. - RBW
File: R236
===
NAME: John Martin, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye jolly fishermen a-going to the ice, Beware of the John Martin and don't go in her twice." Skipper Nick Ash is cruel; he throws the singer's teapot overboard and makes the crew work ever harder. They still gather many seal.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Murphy, Songs Sung by Old Time Sealers of Many Years Ago)
KEYWORDS: hunting ship hardtimes work
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, pp. 20-21, "The Song of the John Martin (1)," "The John Martin (2)" (2 texts)
ST RySm020 (Partial)
Roud #12524
NOTES: Doyle, who published this song in his 1927 edition, claims it was written by "in 1845 by John Reardon of Perry's Cove," but the earlier publication by Murphy does not list an author. Doyle also says the _John Martin_ was captained by John Bransfield, who is not mentioned in the song. - RBW
File: RySm020
===
NAME: John McBride's Brigade
DESCRIPTION: "In far-off Africa to-day the English fly dismayed Before the flag of green and gold born by McBride's Brigade." The Irish Brigade fights with Kruger against the English in Transvaal. "Remember '98". The flag will fly with McBride on Ireland's soil.
AUTHOR: (published by Arthur Griffith)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (_United Irishman_, April 7 edition)
KEYWORDS: army war Africa Ireland patriotic
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 92, "John McBride's Brigade" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune) and references there
NOTES: Zimmermann: The _United Irishman_ claimed the ballad "is being sung throughout Mayo" in 1900. "John McBride had become a major in the Boer army after forming an Irish Brigade in South Africa. He stood as a candidate for Mayo in the election of 1900, but was not elected. He was sentenced to death and shot after the rising of 1916." 
For more information about McBride's Brigade and the Irish support for the Boers see the book review of _MacBride's Brigade_ by Donald McCracken at the Republican Sinn Fein site. - BS
The reference is evidently to the second Boer War (the 1899-1902 conflict people usually think of when one mentions the Boer War). The first war (1880-1881) was almost more of a demonstration, in which the Transvaal and Orange Free State won something approximating what the Irish would have called Home Rule: they ran their internal affairs but let Britain handle foreign policy.
The second war was very complicated: The Boers had discovered gold, which the British wanted; on the other hand, the Boers were treating the Black natives even worse than the British.
But there was a lot more to it. The Boers of course wanted independence -- and, after the disastrous stunt known as the Jameson Raid (a private attempt in 1895 to control the Boers, but widely viewed as inspired by the British government), Kaiser Wilhelm II sent a telegram of support to Paul Kruger (1825-1904), the most important Boer leader. What should have been a colonial affair became an international incident.
The Boers were initially very successful, forcing the British to bring in a real army to suppress them. Many of these troops, ironically, were Irish; see "South Down Militia" for one of their songs. But, since the Boers were fighting the British, naturally a lot of Irish radicals supported the Boers.
It should be noted, however, that the two "Irish Brigades" which fought with the Boers were not from Ireland; they were locals. There was a pro-Boer movement in Ireland, but few men enlisted.
One of the Irish Brigades was insignificant; organized by a "Colonel' Lynch, it existed for only a few months, did not fight, and had few even of South African Irishmen (see Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being volume II of _The Green Flag,_ p. 148.)
The other Irish force was more significant. It even had an Irish-born Irishman: John MacBride (1865-1916). Upon his arrival, he was commissioned major, making him the second-in-command behind "Colonel" John Blake (an American emigrant to Africa who did at least have West Point training; see Eversley Belfield, _The Boer War_, p. 23); MacBride did command for a time when Blake was wounded.
Kee, p. 149, notes that MacBride's brigade "played, by comparison with those Irishmen in the British army, a totally insignificant part in the war. It existed only for one year, from September 1899 to September 1900, when it was disbbanded by the Boers and the men gave themselves up to the Portugese frontier post at Kamati."
Charles Townshend, in _Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion_, p. 10, comments on these troops that the "aid of a few hundred Irish miners was probably less valuable as military than as moral support to the Afrikaners."
MacBride would estimate that his unit would suffer 30% casualties -- yet, according to Kee, it lost only about 80 men, of whom 17 were killed. This implies that the "brigade" had an actual strength of 300-350 men, making it not a brigade but an understrength battalion. Presumably it was called a brigade because, well, there were lots of Irish Brigades. At least it makes it less unreasonable to have a major in command.
MacBride continued to find trouble even after coming home. In early 1900, he was nominated for parliament in a South Mayo by-election -- but was crushed by 2401 votes to 427 (Kee, p. 149).
This song may have been written in connection with that election, though it wasn't published until some weeks too late. Kee, who cites it on page 149, isn't clear on whether future Irish president Arthur Griffith -- at that time considered to be a rather militant nationalist, though he would come to be much more conservative -- wrote the piece or just published it.
MacBride in 1903 married the famous nationalist Maud Gonne; their son Sean was a major force in the IRA and in Irish politics after the Civil War.
MacBride did not participate in the planning of the 1916 rebellion (according to Michael Foy and Brian Barton, _The Easter Rising_, p. 89, the leaders "did not trust him to keep a secret"), but he joined the fighting "at the last moment" (see Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 240), and was executed on May 5, 1916. It will tell you something about Maud Gonne that she divorced MacBride after their son was born, then adopted his name only after his execution. To be sure, Golway, p. 204, calls him "a boor, often drunk and menacing"; Yeats would call him "a drunken, vainglorious lout" (Foy and Barton, p. 89).
If this song was indeed published in 1900, it was written at a time when the Boers seemed to be well on their way to expelling the British. The tide would soon turn. - RBW
File: Zimm092
===
NAME: John McGoldrick and the Quaker's Daughter
DESCRIPTION: John McGoldrick loves a Quaker's daughter. Her father opposes McGoldrick and frames him to hang as a radical. The girl gets the jailer and turnkey drunk. The couple escape and are captured. They are freed on the friendly testimony and marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1826 (Sparling)
KEYWORDS: love marriage manhunt prison escape freedom father
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn 98, "John McGoldrick and the Quaker's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 319-320, 512, "John M'Goldrick's Trial for the Quaker's Daughter"
Roud #3047
File: OLoc098
===
NAME: John McKeown and Margaret Deans
DESCRIPTION: "John McKeown and Margaret Deans, they were a matchless pair." As they sneak out, shortly before their wedding, she asks him to pick flowers. He trips and nearly falls off a cliff. She comes to his aid, falls over herself, and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting flowers death
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H129, pp. 141-142, "John McKeown and Margaret Deans" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9447
NOTES: This really sounds like it ought to have a moral at the end (though "don't sneak out to pick flowers on a clifftop" sounds a little strong). It's just that sort of banal-tragic song. There is no hint of such a conclusion in the Henry text, though. - RBW
File: HHH129
===
NAME: John Mitchel
DESCRIPTION: "I am a true-born Irishman, John Mitchell is my name... I laboured hard both day and night to free my native land." He is taken, claiming he committed no crime except loving Ireland. He is transported to Bermuda, but hopes a free Ireland will remember him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1848 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion punishment transportation
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 27, 1848 - John Mitchel is "kidnapped, and carried off from Dublin, in chains, as a convicted 'Felon'." (source: Zimmermann, quoting Jon Mitchel's _Jail Journal_)
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Mar) US(MW)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
PGalvin, p. 45, "John Mitchel" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H179a, pp. 125-126, "John Mitchel's Farewell to His Countrymen" (1 text, 1 tune); H179b, pp. 126-127, "John Mitchell (b)" (1 text, tune referenced)
OLochlainn-More 27, "John Mitchel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 59, "Mitchel's Address" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 92-93, "John Mitchell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, p. 36, "John Mitchell" (1 text)
Roud #5163
RECORDINGS:
"Pops" Johnny Connors, "John Mitchel" (on IRTravellers01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2467), "Mitchells Address," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also Harding B 11(1908), 2806 b.10(55), Harding B 15(205a) , "John Mitchell's Address"
LOCSinging, as108900, "Mitchell's Address," Taylor (Bethnal Green), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Granua's Lament for the Loss of her Blackbird Mitchel the Irish Patriot" (subject: John Mitchel)
cf. "The Wee Duck (The Duck from Drummuck)" (subject: John Mitchel)
NOTES: John Mitchel (1815-1875) was one of the leading literary lights of the Young Ireland movement of the early-to-mid nineteenth century -- a movement which at the start was generally peaceful and liberal, but earnest in its appeal for better conditions.
Mitchel came to prominence in 1847 when he founded the journal _The United Irishman_. This came in the aftermath of the potato famines. (For the background on the Rebellion and the Blight, see the notes on "Skibbereen.") Until that time, Irish nationalism, led by Daniel O'Connell (for whom see "Daniel O'Connell (I)"), had been relatively cautious and had worked in a constitutional framework. There were disagreements -- the Young Ireland party, which published _The Nation_, was a little more radical than O'Connell.
The famines changed that. O'Connell, the pure constitutionalist, was unable to get help from Britain, and then died. Some Irish stayed true to his memory, but the crisis was so severe that many took a harder line. _The Nation_ was one such, but they didn't really have a coherent strategy. That left room for a true radical: Mitchel.
Not only did he found a publication, he also founded United Irish Society. And he used is paper to publish tactical articles on how to fight oppressors.
It is interesting to note that many later leaders were inspired by Mitchel, but they viewed him very differently; some regarded him as a peaceful reformer, others as a fighter for Irish rights at any cost. (In the song, he campaigns for "Repeal," i.e. repeal of the Union with Great Britain; this was the slogan of O'Connell, and supporters of Repeal were generally peaceful.) According to Robert Kee (_The Most Distressful Country_, being Volume I of _The Green Flag_, p. 262), though, even such militants as Meagher (for whom see "The Escape of Meagher") tried to talk him into more peaceful methods.
Kee's comment on the situation (p. 263) seems to me to sum up the disastrous situation pretty well: Young Ireland and Mitchel "can be seen doing the wrong thing when no right thing was discernable. Cautious and sensible as was the main group, audacious as was Mitchel, both were utterly ineffectual. Mitchel was anxious to provoke a climax as quickly as possible. The others... continued to 'bide their time.' What they were really waiting for was a miracle." What they got was a fizzle.
In 1848, almost all of Europe was afire, with revolts in Italy, the Habsburg Empire, France. Few of the revolts were very successful; the Habsburgs, e.g. changed Emperors but not policies, and France got rid of Louis Philippe but soon replaced him with Napoleon III. And, unfortunately for the Irish, Britain was one of the few countries not so afflicted; she had the leisure to crush the abortive rising easily.
Not that it was a serious revolt; a more moderate man, William Smith O'Brien, eventually was pushed to try to raise a mob, but the whole thing ended with a scuffle in a cabbage patch; see the notes to "The Shan Van Voght (1848)."
Mitchel by then was out of circulation. He, Meagher, and Smith O'Brien had all been arrested early in 1848. Meagher and Smith O'Brien were released when the juries in their cases deadlocked (Kee, p. 268). But Mitchel, the most extreme, was convicted May 26 of "treason-felony," and sentenced the next day to fourteen years' transportation.
Despite the song, Mitchel and most of the other leaders of the rebellion ended up in Australia, not Bermuda.
[John Mitchel was indeed exiled to Bermuda in 1848 and subsequently moved to Cape Colony and finally to Van Dieman's Land (source: "John Mitchel of Newry" by John McCullagh (2003) on The Newry Journal site). - BS]
We should note, though, that he suffered far less in Bermuda than most. Although he was taken from Dublin in chains, from the time he went aboard ship he was in "minimum security" -- no shackles, no beating, and, when he arrived in Bermuda, no work ashore; he was allowed to stay aboard the convict hulk. (According to Kee, p. 269, the House of Commons actually inquired into why he was treated so well.)
Ironically, Mitchel was from a Protestant family, as was Smith O'Brien.
Lest someone claim that Mitchel was a man of true liberal principles, it should be noted that, after transportation to Van Dieman's Land, he escaped to the United States, where he edited various journals. And used those journals to advocate slavery -- in fact, according to Allan Nevins, _The Emergence of Lincoln: Douglas, Buchana, and Party Chaos 1857-1859_ (Scribner's, 1950), p. 438, Mitchel in fact produced something called the "honest human flesh program," His plan was to re-open the African slave trade, so as to drive the price of slaves so low that everyone could afford one.
Kee, p. 269, also reports that Mitchel approved of flogging prisoners I'd love to hear him explain how he would reconcile that with the Golden Rule -- or even with his own relatively kind treatment. - RBW
File: PGa045
===
NAME: John Mitchel's Farewell to His Countrymen: see John Mitchel (File: PGa045)
===
NAME: John Mitchell: see John Mitchel (File: PGa045)
===
NAME: John Morgan
DESCRIPTION: "The Baptists think they're a mighty big bug, But behind the door you'll find a jug. John Morgan! Till I die, I'll feed my niggers on chicken pie!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 432, "John Morgan" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Roud #7609
File: R432
===
NAME: John Morgan, Where You Been?
DESCRIPTION: "Says I, 'John Morgan, where you been?' (x2) 'Down on the Ohio a-tryin' to swim.' Says I, 'John Morgan, where's your hoss?' Says he, 'I lost it swimmin' across.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle questions horse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 2-26, 1863 - John Hunt Morgan's Ohio Raid (which also saw him operate in Kentucky and Indiana)
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', p. 66, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: Presumably a reference to confederate general John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864), perhaps the raid-happiest soldier in the western armies. In July 1863, he took a picked force on a raid into Kentucky. Although his superior Braxton Bragg had ordered him not to cross the Ohio, he did so on July 7, and continued chasing around until he and the remnants of his command were captured on July 26. Morgan would later escape, but this was his last major exploit, and he was killed in 1864. - RBW
File: ThBa066
===
NAME: John Morrissey and the Black: see Morrissey and the Black [Laws H19] (File: LH19)
===
NAME: John o Badenyond: see John of Badenyon (File: FVS51)
===
NAME: John o' Badenyon: see John of Badenyon (File: FVS51)
===
NAME: John of Badenyon
DESCRIPTION: "When first I came to be a man, of twenty years or so, I thought myself a handsome youth, and fain the world would know." The young man wanders, meeting girls and getting in trouble; after each disappointment, he "tuned my pipe to John o' Badenyon"
AUTHOR: Rev. John Skinner?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1806 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: rambling youth courting hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 51-55, "John o' Badenyon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2592
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John o Badenyond
NOTES: Ford is unable to explain "John of Badenyon," suggesting such possibilities as a mournful tune or a relative of the author. Personally, I suspect a figure of folklore who had a sad and difficult life.
John Wilkes (1725-1797) and John Horne Tooke (1736-1812), whom the singer professes to have followed, were radicals who fought for liberal causes. Both were arrested and imprisoned at one time or another, as were some of their followers. Wilkes was, in fact, elected to Parliament from Middlesex (producing the slogan "Wilkes and Liberty") but barred from serving. - RBW
File: FVS51
===
NAME: John of Hazelgreen [Child 293]
DESCRIPTION: A lady is weeping for John of Hazelgreen, whom she is not permitted to marry. She is offered marriage to another; this is little to her liking. By some means or other she meets Hazelgreen, and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: elopement love marriage separation
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) US(MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Child 293, "John of Hazelgreen" (5 texts)
Bronson 293, "John of Hazelgreen" (29 versions)
SharpAp 43, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5a}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 369-371, "Willie of Hazel Green" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #27}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 237-238, "Young Johnny of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 281-284, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Davis-Ballads 49, "John of Hazelgreen" (7 texts plus 2 fragments; the J text appears to have print influence; 3 tunes entitled "John o' the Hazelgreen," "John of Hazelgreen"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #3, #26, #2}
Davis-More 45, pp. 350-355, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 225-227, "John of Hazelgreen" (2 short texts, with local titles "John over the Hazel Green"; 2 tunes on pp. 415-416) {Bronson's #8, #7}
Peacock, pp. 537-538, "Johnny from Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 674-678, "John of Hazelgreen" (3 texts)
Friedman, p. 143, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 91-92, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 63, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 95-96, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
DT 293, JOCKHZLD* JOCKHZL2*
Roud #250
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nancy Dawson" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jock o Hazeldean
John over the Hazel Green
Jock o Hazledean
NOTES: Rewritten by Sir Walter Scott as "Jock o Hazeldean" -- a poem which has become perhaps more popular than the original ballad, and which is included in many poetic works (e.g. it is item CCXXVII in Palgrave's _Golden Treasury_).
Scholars since Child have debated the extent to which the Scott text (said to take only a single stanza from the traditional song) is influenced or has influenced tradition. One thing appears certain: The Scott text and some of the traditional versions are related (e.g. Davis's "J" is about 85% identical to the corresponding stanzas of Scott's text). Either the Scott text used more than the single stanza claimed, or his text has influenced tradition. - RBW
File: C293
===
NAME: John Peel: see D'ye Ken John Peel? (File: FSWB208)
===
NAME: John Randolph: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: John Reilly: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: John Reilly the Sailor Lad: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: John Riley: see John (George) Riley (I) [Laws N36] AND John (George) Riley II [Laws N37] (File: LN36)
===
NAME: John Riley (III): see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: John Robertson
DESCRIPTION: When Joe comes to the camp to seek work to help his sick mother, John Robertson trains the boy to be a talented lumberjack. But one day Joe chops a tree with a bad core; Robertson is mortally hurt saving Joe.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: John Robertson is an experienced lumberjack. When a greenhorn comes to camp, seeking work to help his sick mother, Robertson persuades the foreman to take him on, then takes the greenhorn under his wing. The young man, Joe, becomes a talented lumberjack, but one day he chops a tree with a rotten core. The tree falls on him; Robertson pushes him out of the way, but is fatally injured. Dying, he tells Joe that he's "glad 'twas me, not you" because of the sick mother (who recovers)
KEYWORDS: lumbering logger work friend family mother death dying disease apprentice
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 57, "John Robertson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4062
NOTES: This song is item dC41 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Be057
===
NAME: John Roger the Miller: see The Gray Mare [Laws P8] (File: LP08)
===
NAME: John Saw de Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand: see probably The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)
===
NAME: John Saw the Holy Number
DESCRIPTION: "John saw the holy number, Sitting on the golden altar." "Fishman Peter, fish no more, fish no more, fish no more, Fishman Peter, fish no more, Sitting on the golden altar." "Weeping Mary, weep no more...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 538, "John Saw the Holy Number" (1 text)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, pp. 16-17, "John, John, of the Holy Order" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune); p. 77, "The Golden Altar" (1 text,  tune)
Roud #11843
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Done Saw that Number" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The notes in Brown explain, "The chorus apparently refers to John 7:4: 'And I heard the number of them that were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand."
This is a mess. First, this isn't John 7:4; it's Revelation 7:4. And there is no hint that they were sitting on a golden altar -- though in 8:3 they apparently worship before it. But in that case, the holy number is probably seven for the seven angels. Or so it appears to me.
Of course, the whole thing may be moot; the first Allen/Ware/Garrison text, which is probably the oldest, of course makes it a Holy ORDER, and John a member, and that makes perfect sense. But note that Brown's text and Allen/Ware/Garrison's "Golden Altar" version both make it a "Holy Number."
It may appear, from the title line, that this is the same as "John Done Saw that Number," but the form is distinct. - RBW
File: Br3538
===
NAME: John Singleton [Laws C15]
DESCRIPTION: Singleton, chief sawyer in a lumber mill, is killed by the sawmill's machinery. His body is sent home to be buried.
AUTHOR: John Morrison?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: logger death technology lumbering
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws C15, "John Singleton"
Beck 62, "John Singleton" (1 text)
DT 837, JONSINGL
Roud #2223
NOTES: Laws quotes Beck to the effect that the song was by "John Morrison," but Paul Stamler observes that Beck spells the name "Morison." Chances are that Dave D. Smith, who made the attribution, did not spell out the name, and Back and Laws used different spellings. - RBW
File: LC15
===
NAME: John Smith My Fellow Fine
DESCRIPTION: "John Smith, fellow fine, Can you shoe this horse of mine? Ay, sir, and that I can, As well as ony man. There's a nail upon the tae, To make the pony climb the brae; There's a nail upon the heel... There's a horsie well shod."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: horse nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 445, "Robert Barnes Fellow Fine" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 26, "(John Smith, fellow fine)" (1 text)
Roud #12964
File: SNR026
===
NAME: John Sold the Cow Well: see The Crafty Farmer [Child 283; Laws L1] (File: C283)
===
NAME: John Styles and Susan Cutter
DESCRIPTION: John and Susan are popping corn. At last "said she, 'John Styles, it's three o'clock, I'm dying of digestion; Instead of always popping that old corn, Why don't you pop the question?'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: humorous food courting
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 155, "John Styles and Susan Cutter" (1 text+additional composed verses; tune referenced)
ST FSC155 (Partial)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Gray Goose (Lookit Yonder)" (tune)
NOTES: Cazden et al note that this piece is sung to the tune of "The Old Gray Goose (Lookit Yonder)," and was sung continuously with it; the two might form one ballad. - RBW
File: FSC155
===
NAME: John Sullivan (The Moncton Tragedy)
DESCRIPTION: Sullivan kills a widow and her son, takes her cash, and sets the house afire. A daughter survives and blames Sullivan. He flees to Calais, is caught, brought back, tried, convicted and condemned to hang on Friday, March 12.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: execution murder robbery trial gallows-confessions
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 57-58, "John Sullivan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 35, "The Moncton Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Dib057 (Partial)
Roud #9267
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sullivan Murder
The Meadow Brook Tragedy
The Dutcher Murder
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "This sordid crime took place in mid-September, 1896, at Meadow Brook, eight miles from Moncton, New Brunswick."
Manny/Wilson note to "The Moncton Tragedy" has more details about the murder and trial, including further references. - BS
File: Dib057
===
NAME: John T. Williams
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you jolly soldiers, I'll sing to you a song... Concerning my troubles... And how I got around them." "With a bottle of good whiskey I put the guard to sleep." The escaped rebel flees south, apparently making it back to Confederate lines
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: prisoner escape Civilwar
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 74-78, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
cf. "James MacDonald" [Laws P38]
NOTES: Though perhaps based on a historical incident, this of course is built around older materials. Thomas's informant, "Rebel Jack," claimed John T. Williams was his captain, but while he offered many details about Confederate army life, I failed to notice any documentation of the regiment in which Jack served. - RBW
File: ThBa074
===
NAME: John the Baptist: see John Done Saw that Number (File: CNFM061C)
===
NAME: John the Boy, Hello: see The Old Gray Mare (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull) (File: R271)
===
NAME: John the Revelator
DESCRIPTION: "My Lord called John while he was a-writing... Oh, John, John" "Who's that writing? John the Revelator." The song describes what and how John wrote: The book of "Revelations," "The book of Seven Seals," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, Blind Willie Johnson)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So,SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 252, "John the Revelator" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 72, "John the Revelator" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 66, "(John the Revelator)" (partial text)
Roud #6701
RECORDINGS:
Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, "John, the Revelator" (Bluebird B-7631, 1938; Montgomery Ward M-7912, 1939; Victor 20-2073, 1946; rec. 1938)
Blind Willie Johnson, "John the Revelator" (Columbia 14530D, 1930; on AAFM2, BWJ03)
Spiritual Four Quartet, "John the Revelator" (AFS 5160 B1, 5163 A1, 1941; on in AMMEM/FortValley)
Trumpeteers, "John de Revelator" (Score 5012, n.d.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Adam in the Garden Pinning Leaves" (theme)
cf. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (theme)
NOTES: For the record, it is the "Book of Revelation," or properly the "Revelation to John" (Greek APOKALYPSIS IOANNOU), not the "Book of Revelations." - RBW
File: LoF252
===
NAME: John Thomson and the Turk [Child 266]
DESCRIPTION: John Thomson is fighting the Turks when his wife appears. She then sets off and willingly joins the household of Violentrie. When Thomson learns she is missing, he finds her in the Turk's home. He attacks the Turk, burns his castle, and hangs his wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1801
KEYWORDS: love separation war fight foreigner punishment disguise trick
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 266, "John Thomson and the Turk" (2 texts)
Bronson 266, "John Thomson and the Turk" (1 version)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 91-95, "The Trooper and the Turk" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 45-49, "John Thomson and the Turk" (1 text)
DT 266, TROOPTRK
Roud #110
File: C266
===
NAME: John Webber: see Billy Broke Locks (The Escape of Old John Webb) (File: LoF004)
===
NAME: John Whipple's Mill
DESCRIPTION: The singer, goes to work in (John Whipple's) mill and finds himself in a race. He vows to "keep up if I did myself kill." After work, he goes out, fills his pipe, and relaxes. (Probably there is more of a story here, but it has been lost)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958
KEYWORDS: work contest
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
FSCatskills 171, "John Whipple's Mill" (4 fragments, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #50, "Shanelly's Mill" (1 text, tune referenced)
ST FSC171 (Partial)
Roud #3675
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
John Harper's Hill
Trickeyside Hill
NOTES: Roud equates this song with item dC54, "Shanel's Mill," in Laws's Appendix II. But he does not cite the one reference in Laws (NYFQ 11); I cannot verify the connection. Fowke, however, accepts the equation, so here we lump them. - RBW.
File: FSC171
===
NAME: John Yetman
DESCRIPTION: "... a hero brave from St. Mary's Bay, John Yetman was his name" who spent many years fishing alone in his dory. A Yankee captain shoots Yetman but is taken by Newfoundlanders, tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years at hard labor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: murder trial punishment fishing sea ship memorial
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doyle3, p. 34, "John Yetman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 71, "John Yetman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7299
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "John Yetman" (on NFOBlondahl02, NFOBlondahl03)
File: Doyl3034
===
NAME: John, John Crow
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Every Sunday mornin', John, John Crow. When I go a-courtin', John, John Crow." Rhyming verses on courting, working, and eating. Written in dialect.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong courting
FOUND_IN: US Barbados
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 199-200, "John, John Crow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9171
NOTES: Harlow's brief notes say this is a Barbadian negro shanty for unloading cargo. - SL
File: Harl199
===
NAME: John, John, of the Holy Order: see John Saw the Holy Number (File: Br3538)
===
NAME: Johnie Armstrong [Child 169]
DESCRIPTION: Johnie Armstrong "had nither lands nor rents," but "kept eight score men in his hall" by raiding. The king summons Armstrong to court. Armstrong comes; the king orders his execution. Armstrong instead dies fighting. His young son vows revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1658
KEYWORDS: outlaw royalty punishment execution battle death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1530 - James V of Scotland puts down the Armstrongs
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Hebr))
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Child 169, "Johnie Armstrong" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #6, #7}
Bronson 169, "Johnie Armstrong" (10 versions)
Leach, pp. 475-477, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 240, "Johnie Armstrong" (2 texts)
OBB 89, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 127-129+329, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 106, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 153-158, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text, from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition)
TBB 22, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 101-103, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1503, "Is there never a man in all Scotland"
DT 169, JARMSTR1 JARMSTR2
Roud #76
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, S.302.b.2(064), "John Armstrong's Last Farewell," unknown, after 1700
SAME_TUNE:
Fare Thou Well Bonny Gilt Knock Hall (per broadside NLScotland, S.302.b.2(064))
NOTES: Several English texts claim that Armstrong lived in Westmoreland, and raided the Scots. This is, of course, not true; he was a Scot. But neither side had much use for such an outlaw. - RBW
File: C169
===
NAME: Johnie Cock [Child 114]
DESCRIPTION: Johnie, despite his mother's advice, goes out to hunt the king's deer. He brings the deer down, but is betrayed by a passer-by. Seven foresters attack him; he kills all but one (and wounds that one), but is himself mortally wounded
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1780 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: hunting fight death
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber,Bord,High)) US(MA,SE) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (18 citations)
Child 114, "Johnie Cock" (13 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4}
Bronson 114, "Johnie Cock" (16 versions)
Dixon XVI, pp. 77-81, "Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir" (1 text)
Greig #33, p. 1, "Johnnie o' Braidiesley" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 250, "Johnnie o' Braidisleys" (16 texts, 8 tunes) {A=Bronson's #9, B=#7, C=#8, D=#10, E (tune)=#11, F=#15, G=#6}
Ord, pp. 467-469, "Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 29, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 65-67, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 324-332, "Johnie Cock" (4 texts)
Friedman, p. 233, "Johnie Cock" (2 texts)
OBB 136, "Johnnie of Cockerslee" (1 text)
PBB 174, "Johny Cock" (1 text)
Niles 41, "Johnie Cock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 123-126+328, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 108, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
TBB 28, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 83-86, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
DT 114, BRAIDSLY
Roud #69
RECORDINGS:
 John Strachan, "Johnie Cock" (on FSB5) {Bronson's #12}
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnnie o' Braidesley
Fair John and the Seven Foresters
Jock o' Brawdiesley
Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir
Johnnie Naughton
NOTES: The motif of one man fighting and defeating seven adversaries is almost a commonplace (see "Earl Brand," Child #7, and "Erlinton," Child #8, as examples). But this one has an interesting parallel to the French Song of Roland (especially in Motherwell's long text, Child's F):
Like Roland, Johnie sets out freely, despite cautions; like Roland, he is defeated and mortally wounded but defeats his attackers, whose few survivors flee; like Roland, he sends a message of his need only when it is too late; like Roland, he is given great honor after his death. - RBW
File: C114
===
NAME: Johnie Scot [Child 99]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny, serving at the English court, gets the king's daughter with child. He goes back to Scotland and sends for her; she sends word she is imprisoned. He comes with 500 men, fights the king's champion, and gains his lady.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1794 (Ritson-Tytler-Brown ms.)
KEYWORDS: royalty pregnancy prison rescue battle love
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(Ap,NE,SE) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Child 99, "Johnie Scot" (20 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #10, #11}
Bronson 99, "Johnie Scot" (12 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 213-224, "Johny Scot" (2 texts plus 1 fragments and sundry quotations, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #5, #1}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 45-55, "Johnssy Scot" (3 texts, the first being from "The Green Mountain Songster"; 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 101-104, "Johnny Scott" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 15-17, "Johnie Scot" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 303-308, "Johnie Scot" (2 texts)
SharpAp 29, "Johnie Scot" (3 texts, 3 tunes){Bronson's #2, #12, #4}
DBuchan 19, "Johnie Scot" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #10}
SHenry H736, p. 489, "Johnny Scot" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 99, JSCOTT1* JSCOTT2*
Roud #63
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1921), "Johnny Scot," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lang Johnny More" [Child 251] (plot)
File: C099
===
NAME: Johnnie and Molly (I): see Farewell, Charming Nancy [Laws K14] (File: LK14)
===
NAME: Johnnie and Nancy: see William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8] (File: LN08)
===
NAME: Johnnie Cope
DESCRIPTION: "Cope sent a letter frae Dunbar, Said, 'Charlie, meet me, an ye daur, And I'll learn ye the art o' war." Prince Charles accepts the challenge; Cope makes sure his horse is ready to fly. Quickly defeated, Cope is the first to escape to (Dunbar/Berwick)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #234)
KEYWORDS: Jacobites battle abandonment humorous royalty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 21, 1745 - Battle of Prestonpans. Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army routs the first real Hannoverian force it encounters
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Canada
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Hogg2 58, "Johnny Cope"; Hogg2 59, "Johnny Cope" (2 texts, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 125, "Johnny Cope" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNCOPE* JOHNCOP2*
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, Burns: editor, Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #297, pp. 413-415, "Johnie Cope" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1790)
Roud #2315
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(139), "Johnny Cope" ("Cope sent a letter frae Dunbar"), W. and T. Fordyce (Newcastle), 1832-1842; also Harding B 11(138), 2806 c.16(120), Johnson Ballads 3189, 2806 d.31(7), Firth b.28(26b), Harding B 20(82), "Johnny Cope"
Murray, Mu23-y1:119, "Johnny Cope," unknown, unknown
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Barns o' Beneuchies" (tune)
cf. "The Frostit Corn" (tune)
cf. "The Buchan Turnpike" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Barns o' Beneuchies (File: Ord231)
The Frostit Corn (File: GrD3436)
The Buchan Turnpike (File: GrD3460)
Jemmie Forrest (broadside NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(106), "Jemmie Forrest," unknown, 1842?; same broadside as L.C.Fol.74(219a), ABS.10.203.01(151))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Hey Johnnie Cope
NOTES: This song, with its slanging lyrics and sprightly tune, is extremely well known (I have two histories of the Forty-Five Rebellion, and both title their chapters on Prestonpans "Hey Johnnie Cope"), but traditional collections are few and far between. It seems to have survived mostly in texts that borrow the tune.
The song is not as accurate as might be desired. The two armies, although both desired battle, almost blundered into each other. Tactics were minimal; the Jacobites -- having made the one sound strategic move of the battle by making a night march through a swamp into the loyalist rear -- took the field, charged, and routed the army of Lieutenant-General John Cope.
This is not as surprising as it sounds. Cope's army was in most respects inferior. Although theoretically composed of "regulars," in fact the troops were mostly raw. Nor were the units cohesive; it was a company from here and a battalion from there; officers and units had not worked together.
And the army was small. Stuart Reid, in _1745 -- A Military History_, offers evidence implying that the Hannoverian army was only about 2000 strong. It had a few artillery pieces, mostly in rather bad state -- but with no one except two officers to man them, and no ammunition, they played little part in the battle.
Nor is there evidence that Cope (1688-1760) was a coward; his courageous conduct at Dettingen (1743) had earned him a knighthood. If he had a problem, it was lack of brains, not of courage. He assuredly tried to stem the rout. But the disaster was too complete.
The versions I've heard of the song can't seem to agree whether he fled to Berwick or Dunbar. Magnus Magnusson, _Scotland: The Story of a Nation_, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000, p. 594, reports that "Cope and his aide-de-camp could do noything but gallop of southwards to Lauder and Coldstream and on to the safety of Berwick-upon-Tweed next day. Here, it is alleged (incorrectly), he had the humiliation of being the first general ever to bring to his superiors the news of his own defeat."
Cope was "examined" by a board -- in effect, a court martial. But Magnusson, p. 594, notes that their verdict on Prestonpans was that Cope "did his Duty as an Officer, both before, at, and after the Action: and that his personal Behavior was without Reproach."
I can't help but note one great irony. In the British army, according to  John Baynes with John Laffin, _Soldiers of Scotland_, Brassey's, 1988 (I use the 1997 Barnes & Noble edition), p. 105, "Johnnie Cope" is used to sound reveille for a number of Scottish regiments. Among them: The Black Watch, which had soldiers on the losing side at Prestonpans. - RBW
The Burns version is Hogg2 58. The Bodleian and Murray broadsides are Hogg2 59.
Hogg2: "Both sets of 'Johnie Cope' are taken from Gilchrist's collection -- a work in two volumes, published lately...." - BS
File: DTjohnco
===
NAME: Johnnie Gallacher: see Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly) (File: Pea469)
===
NAME: Johnnie Ha: see Archie o Cawfield [Child 188] (File: C188)
===
NAME: Johnnie Johnson's Ta'en a Notion: see Johnny Todd (File: FSWB174A)
===
NAME: Johnnie Lad: see Johnny Lad (File: Log443)
===
NAME: Johnnie o' Braidesley: see Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)
===
NAME: Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir: see Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)
===
NAME: Johnnie O'Rogers: see Jolly Old Roger (File: R496)
===
NAME: Johnnie of Cockerslee: see Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)
===
NAME: Johnnie Sangster
DESCRIPTION: A harvest song about binding sheaves and Johnnie Sangster the bandster. The first part of the song is apparently sung by Johnnie or one of his companions; the end is sung by a girl who wants to marry Johnnie.
AUTHOR: possibly William Scott of Fetterangus (1785-?) (source: Greig)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work harvest
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greig #3, p. 2, "Johnny Sangster" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 407, "Johnny Sangster" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
DBuchan 69, "Johnnie Sangster" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
Ord, pp. 265-266, "Johnnie Sangster" (1 text)
ST DBuch69 (Full)
Roud #2164
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Lad" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
NOTES: Ewan MacColl's version of this is sung to a Lydian melody -- the only such I can recall in traditional Scottish music. This is not universal; Ord's melody is generally quite close to MacColl's, but with that Lydian (sharpened) fourth reduced to an ordinary Ionian fourth. - RBW
File: DBuch69
===
NAME: Johnnie Troy: see Johnny Troy [Laws L21] (File: LL21)
===
NAME: Johnnie, My Man: see Farewell to Whisky (Johnny My Man) (File: K272)
===
NAME: Johnnie, Wontcha Ramble: see Johnny, Won't You Ramble (File: LoF275)
===
NAME: Johnnie's Got His Jean, O: see The Birken Tree (File: FVS088)
===
NAME: Johnny: see The Girl Volunteer (The Cruel War Is Raging) [Laws O33] (File: LO33)
===
NAME: Johnny and Betsy: see Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)
===
NAME: Johnny and Jane
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny and Jane had a falling out; Johnny run Jane right outta sight." She promises to come; he beats and runs her naked around town. She's sentenced to Moundsville (VA) jail. She escapes. Refrain: "Johnny don't allow no lowdown hanging around."
AUTHOR: Frank Hutchison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (recording, Martin & Roberts)
KEYWORDS: fight abuse prison escape humorous lover
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 59, "Johnny and Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNJANE*
RECORDINGS:
[Asa] Martin & [Doc] Roberts, "Low Down Hanging Around" (Conqueror 8207-B, 1933)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. ""Mama Don't 'Low" (lyrics)
cf. "Salty Dog" (tune)
File: CSW059
===
NAME: Johnny and Mary
DESCRIPTION: "Down the burn and thro' the mead, His golden locks wav'd o'er his brow, Johnnie, liltin', tuned his reed, And Mary wiped her bonnie mou'." The poor but handsome couple find happiness and treasure in each other's company
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: love courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 272-273, "Johnnie and Mary" (1 text)
Roud #8498
NOTES: This is either incredibly bawdy or incredibly dumb. I'm betting on the latter.
Ford reports that it is from Bickerstaff's 1762 opera "Love in a Village." The obscurity of this work is shown by the fact that I checked eight different reference works (six devoted solely to classical music) without finding a single reference to opera or composer. - RBW
File: FVS272
===
NAME: Johnny and Old Mr. Henly: see Will the Weaver [Laws Q9] (File: LQ09)
===
NAME: Johnny and the Landlady: see Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)
===
NAME: Johnny Appleseed's Song
DESCRIPTION: "I love to plant a little seed Whose fruit I never see; Some hungry strange it will feed, When it becomes a tree." "I love to sing a little song... And round me see the children throng." "So I can never lonely be." "The tree will tell my deed"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Allsopp)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad travel children
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 272, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: Checking _Granger's Index to Poetry_, I find half a dozen "Johnny Appleseed" songs, none of which are this piece. The way Allsopp presents the poem, it might be traditional, so I've indexed it -- though I suspect it's just Allsopp not documenting sources.
Whether the poem actually goes back to John Chapman (c. 1775-1847) is obviously open to doubt.
It's ironic to note that Johnny Appleseed, though his work brought him fame and praise, in fact was introducing non-native species in many areas, and hence damaging the environment. - RBW
File: FORA272
===
NAME: Johnny Barbour: see Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)
===
NAME: Johnny Bathin: see Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33] (File: LQ33)
===
NAME: Johnny Blunt: see Get Up and Bar the Door [Child 275] (File: C275)
===
NAME: Johnny Bobeens: see The Swapping Boy (File: E093)
===
NAME: Johnny Boker (I)
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: " Do, my Johnny Boker (Booker/Poker), do!" Often with lyrics about the sailor's girl (Sally) or about the abuse inflicted by the Captain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Robinson)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 9, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 44, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 97-98, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 289-290, "Johnny Bowker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EFC, XL, p. 45, "Johnny Bowker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, p. 141, "Johnny Boker" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 168, "Jolly Poker" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 28, "Johnny Boker" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 86, "Johnny Boker" (1 text)
DT, JONBOKER*
Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Johnny Boker" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #353
RECORDINGS:
Capt. Leighton Robinson, "Johnny Boker" (AFS, 1951; on LC26)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Polka
Johnny Poker
NOTES: A blackface piece of the same name is also known, and is felt by some to be the original, but the relationship between the two is difficult to determine precisely. - RBW
File: Doe009a
===
NAME: Johnny Booker (Mister Booger)
DESCRIPTION: About the troubles experienced by a teamster/sailor along the way: A broken yoke, a stalled cart, etc. Chorus something like "Do, Johnny Booker, oh do, do me do, Do, Johnny Booker, oh do" or "So walk a Johnny Booger to help that nigger...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress)
KEYWORDS: work travel
FOUND_IN: US(So) Britain(England(North,South))
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 268, "Mister Booger" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 100, "(Johnny Booker)" (1 fragment, 1 tune, probably this although it's short enough that it might be "Johnny Boker (I)")
Lomax-FSNA 258, "Knock John Booker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 194, "Johnny Booker" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JNBOOKER
Roud #3441
RECORDINGS:
Gus Cannon, "Old John Booker, You Call That Gone" (on AmSkBa, DownHome)
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (Brunswick 2883, 1925)
Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "Johnny Booker" (Decca 24214, 1947; on CrowTold01)
Jack Elliott, "Old Johnnie Booker" (on Elliotts01)
Earl Johnson & his Clodhoppers, "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (OKeh 45171, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Old Johnny Booker Won't Do" (on NLCR17, NLCRCD2)
Walter "Kid Smith, "Old Johnny Bucker Wouldn't Do" (Gennett 6825/Supertone 9407 [as Jerry Jordon, "Old Johnny Bucker Won't Do"], 1929)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse)" (lyrics)
cf. "Went to the River (I)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: "Johnny Booker" includes key verses from "Poor Old Man": "Said an old man come riding by/Said, young man, your mule's gonna die/If he dies I'll tan his skin/If he lives I'll ride him again." This probably entered minstrel tradition via African-American sailors -- or entered the shanty tradition from minstrel shows.
The Chitwood-Landress recording is a bit of a conundrum: it doesn't include most of the canonical mule verses, nor the canonical chorus, but the tune and gestalt are the same. I classify it as a proto-Johnny Booker, and assign it the earliest date, but note its peculiarities; it may be a Chitwood-Landress composition, built on the skeleton of this song. - PJS
File: R268
===
NAME: Johnny Bull, Irishman, and Scotchman: see Paddy Magee's Dream (File: OCon099)
===
NAME: Johnny Bull, My Jo, John
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Johnny Bull, my jo John, I wonder what you mean, Are you on foreign conquest bent, or what ambitious scheme?" The Americans warn their "brother" (England) that their invasions have failed. John is advised to "remain on your fast-anchored isle."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: war patriotic political derivative
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 10, 1813 - Battle of Lake Erie. The Americans under Perry defeat the British.
Aug 24, 1814 - A British force under Robert Ross captures Washington, D.C. after brushing aside the incompetent defenders. (Madison's administration had already fled). Two days later the British leave for Baltimore.
Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which British General Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulse Pakenham.
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 118-120, "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 291, "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (1 text)
DT, JOHNAND4*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo, John" (tune)
NOTES: A broadside from the War of 1812, based on Burns's "John Anderson My Jo, John." This tune seems to have been very popular for political songs at the time; Huntington (pp. 172-174) has another such song, "John Bull's Epistle" (which we might subtitle "Colly Strong"). - RBW
File: SBoA118
===
NAME: Johnny Cake: see Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.) (File: R342)
===
NAME: Johnny Carroll's Camp
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes details of life in a lumber camp.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (recording, Bill McBride)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 13, "Johnny Carroll's Camp" (1 text)
Roud #6516
RECORDINGS:
Bill McBride, "Johnny Carroll's Camp" (AFS, 1938; on LC56)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" and references there
NOTES: There is an entire genre of songs describing life in a lumber camp and the characters to be found there; check the cross-references. - PJS
File: Be013
===
NAME: Johnny Come Down to Hilo: see Johnny Walk Along to Hilo (File: Doe072a)
===
NAME: Johnny Come to Hilo: see Johnny Walk Along to Hilo (File: Doe072a)
===
NAME: Johnny Coughlin: see Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly) (File: Pea469)
===
NAME: Johnny Dhu: see The Little Beggerman (Johnny Dhu) (File: K345)
===
NAME: Johnny Doyle (II): see The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile) [Laws C5] (File: LC05)
===
NAME: Johnny Doyle [Laws M2]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny and his sweetheart plan to elope, but the girl's servant reveals the plan. The girl is taken and forced to wed another. She becomes sick to death. The mother relents and offers to send for Johnny, but it is too late; the girl bids farewell and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1857 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.18(85))
KEYWORDS: elopement love marriage death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (19 citations)
Laws M2, "Johnny Doyle"
Randolph 87, "Johnny Doyle" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 80-81, Johnny Doyle"" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 87A)
SharpAp 83, "Johnny Doyle" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hudson 44, pp. 159-160, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 248-250, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, locally titled "Johnny Dile"; tune on pp. 421-422)
Eddy 73, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 15, "The Lost Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 279-285, "Johnny Doyle" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Warner 81, "Young Johnnie" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H137, pp. 431-432, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 129, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 687-690, "Johnny Doyle" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 16, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 67, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 34, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 16, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
DT 430, JONDOYLE*
Roud #455
RECORDINGS:
Burzilla Wallin, "Johnny Dial (Doyle)" (on OldLove)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(85), "Johnny Doyle" ("There's one thing that grieves me and that I must confess"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1857; also Firth c.18(84), Firth b.25(291), Harding B 11(1911), "Johnny Doyle" ("I am a fair maiden what's crossed in love"); Harding B 18(324), "Johnny Doyle!" [same as LOCSinging as201890]
LOCSinging, as201890, "Johnny Doyle!," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(324) ]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" [Child 239] (plot)
SAME_TUNE:
The Heart That Can Feel for a Suffering Maiden (per broadside Bodleian Firth c.18(85))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Dial
Johnny Dye
It's of a Tender Maiden
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Johnny Doyle II," a variant of Laws C5, "The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile)." Flanders, in Flanders-Ancient3, included this song based on the thematic similarity to "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" -- but Coffin's notes confess "Certaimly 'Johnny Doyle' has little but its basic motif in common with Child 239." - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as201890: H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: LM02
===
NAME: Johnny Dunlay
DESCRIPTION: Johnny Dunlay meets the singer "by the side of Aymer's haunted hall." They part and he rides to battle. The "fair Saxon soldiers" ambush him. He kills the Saxon leader. She curses the traitor who shot Johnny by Aymer's hall. He dies in her arms.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting battle betrayal death lover soldier
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 471-472, "Johnny Dunlay" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea471 (Partial)
Roud #6457
File: Pea471
===
NAME: Johnny Faa: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Johnny Fell Down in the Bucket
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny fell down the bucket, The bucket fell down the well, His wife cut the rope... And Johnny fell down into -- (nonsense chorus)." "Johnny was walking in Hades, As meek and calm as a lamb, She stepped on a red-hot poker, And said, Well, I'll be --"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous Hell wordplay
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 420, "Johnny Fell Down the Bucket" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7631
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hallelujah"
NOTES: Like "Hallelujah" or "Hopalong Peter," this is one of those "hidden word" songs -- the verse leads you to expect the last word, which is usually not fit for polite company. But instead of saying the word, it breaks off into the chorus. - RBW
File: R420
===
NAME: Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One)
DESCRIPTION: "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty One, Hurrah, Hurrah (or "Skiball" or "Football" or some such)... The great rebellion is begun, and we'll all drink stone blind, Johnny, fill up the bowl." A catalog of the events of the Civil War
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1863
KEYWORDS: Civilwar fight army rebellion war death freedom slavery
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 12, 1861 - Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, opening the Civil War
Sept 23, 1862 - Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation published (to be formalized Jan. 1, 1863)
Apr 9, 1865 - Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrenders
May 13, 1865 - General Edmund Kirby Smith surrenders all remaining Confederate forces
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 227, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 222, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 10, "The Three Ravens" (the two texts in the appendix are this song)
Thomas-Makin', p. 54, (no title) (1 text, though the chorus line is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home")
DT, ABEWASH* FORBALES*
Roud #6673
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "In 1861" (on Thieme02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (tune) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
For Bales
Football
NOTES: For what little can be said about the ancestry of this tune, see the entry on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
Davis for some reason thinks this song a parody of "The Three Ravens." He offers no explanation. It's not the tunes, which are not given. - RBW
File: R227
===
NAME: Johnny Fool: see Martin Said To His Man (File: WB022)
===
NAME: Johnny from Hazelgreen: see John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)
===
NAME: Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly)
DESCRIPTION: Johnny takes the bounty to join the army and a shilling to buy ribbons for his sweetheart or cockade. He complains of his cruel stepmother, his uncle "the ruin and downfall of me," and his father -- or recruiting sergeant -- who never "learnt me a trade"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1912))
KEYWORDS: farewell father mother stepmother soldier recruiting
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
GreigDuncan1 80, "Johnnie Gallacher" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 469-470, "Johnny Coughlin" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H574, p. 80, "Pat Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea469 (Partial)
Roud #920
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1912), "Johnny Golicher" ("As I was walking through Newry one day"), H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Firth c.14(119), Firth b.25(358), Firth c.14(120), "Johnny Golicher"; 2806 c.15(312), "Johnnie Gallocher"; 2806 c.15(263), "Johnny Gallacher"; Harding B 17(147b), "Johnny Gallocher"; 2806 c.15(242), Firth c.14(121), Firth c.26(208)[some lines illegible], 2806 c.15(311), "Johnny Gallagher"; 2806 c.15(312), "Johnnie Gallocher"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnnie Glacher
File: Pea469
===
NAME: Johnny German [Laws N43]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor meets a girl who tells him she is sad because of her lover's long absence. When he hears that Johnny is her lover, he tells her Johnny died months before. She takes to her bed; he reveals himself as Johnny
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1856
KEYWORDS: sailor separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,So,SE) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws N43, "Johnny German"
Belden, pp. 155-156, "Johnny German" (1 text)
FSCatskills 23, "The Rainbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H156, p. 315, "Johnny Jarmin/The Rainbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 97, "Johnny Germany" (1 text)
BrownII 94, "Johnny German" (2 texts)
SharpAp 181, "Johnny German" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 55, "Johnny German" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 65, "Johnny German" (1 text)
Chase, pp. 179-181, "Johnny Jarmanie" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 467, JONGERMN
Roud #557
File: LN43
===
NAME: Johnny Germany: see Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)
===
NAME: Johnny Get Your Gun (I)
DESCRIPTION: "One evenin' in de month of May, Johnny get your gun, get your gun, I met old Peter on the way... Moses wept and Abram cried... Satan's coming don't you hide." Johnny is advised to get his gun  and fight Satan "to get to Heaven in de good ole way"
AUTHOR: F. Belasco (Monroe H. Rosenfeld)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1886
KEYWORDS: Devil nonballad fight religious
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 97-101, "Johnny Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 113-114, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 313, "Johnny Get Your Gun"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Get Your Gun (II)" (chorus, tune)
NOTES: This piece does not really belong in a folk song catalog; the song in its original form does not seem to have gone into oral tradition. Rather, pieces of the complex whole survived. There is a nonsense version ("Johnny Get Your Gun (II)"), and the "dance" which concluded the piece provided the tune for George M. Cohan's "Over There." - RBW
File: RJ19097
===
NAME: Johnny Get Your Gun (II)
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly to do with guns and animals: "Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded/Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded." Chorus: "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun/Johnny get your gun, I say."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly having to do with guns and animals: "Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded/Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded"; "Johnny got his gun, says turn me loose/Shot a crow and hit an old goose/Crow went caw, the duck went quack/Ought to seen the goose balling the jack." Plus the perennial "My ol' Johnny was a great ol' man/Washed his face in a frying pan/Combed his hair in a wagon wheel/Died with a toothache in his heel." Chorus: "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun/Johnny get your gun, I say."
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad nonsense floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 198, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (Brunswick 2883, 1925)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (OKeh 45171, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (on NLCR10)
Fate Norris & his Playboys "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (Columbia 15435-D, 1929)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny, Get Your Gun (I)" (chorus, tune, structure)
cf. "Old Dan Tucker" (floating lyrics)
File: CSW198
===
NAME: Johnny Get Your Oatcake Done: see Whip Jamboree (Whup Jamboree) (File: Br3230)
===
NAME: Johnny Grey
DESCRIPTION: A bailiff and soldiers arrive at Johnny's door, announcing, 'Johnny, the court has a warrant for you." He is to be transported, but takes up his gun and fights. Johnny is killed, but he slays bailiff and captain first. Listeners are urged to fight also
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: soldier death rebellion transportation
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
PGalvin, pp. 37-38, "Johnny Grey" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: PGa037
===
NAME: Johnny Harte
DESCRIPTION: A rich farmer's daughter falls in love with Harte, a poor soldier. Her parents complain to his colonel, who threatens to send Harte away. He answers boldly. The colonel is impressed and offers him promotion. The parents consent to the marriage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.14(207))
KEYWORDS: love soldier courting father mother 
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H106, pp. 443-444, "Johnnie Hart" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 88, "Johnny Harte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 32, pp. 84-85,119,169, "Johnny Harte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2929
RECORDINGS:
James Halpin, "Johnny Harte" (on Voice15, IRHardySons)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(207), "Johnny Hart," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also Harding B 26(298), Harding B 19(94)[a few illegible words], "Johnny Hart"
NOTES: At the time this song probably originated, it was still possible for soldiers to gain commissions in the British army by purchase. An ambitious soldier might marry to gain the money to earn a commission, which would make him socially acceptable (more so, anyway). One wonders if that might not be related to what happened here. - RBW
File: HHH106
===
NAME: Johnny Is My Darling
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny is my darling, my darling, my darling, Johnny is my darling, the Union Volunteer." The girl extols the virtues of Johnny, who marched through town to save the Union. She hopes he will return as "Cupid's volunteer." Tune: "Charlie Is My Darling."
AUTHOR: Words: Father Reed
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: Civilwar courting soldier
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-CivWar, p. 11, "Johnny Is My Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: SCW11
===
NAME: Johnny Jarmanie: see Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)
===
NAME: Johnny Jarmin: see Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)
===
NAME: Johnny Jump Up
DESCRIPTION: Beer is sold out; the singer tries cider. Never again. Falling-down drunk after a quart, he fights a policeman. A man on crutches dances and a friend goes to the mad house after cider. A corpse at a wake asks to take a quart for admission to Heaven.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: drink talltale
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OCanainn, pp. 72-73, "Johnny Jump Up" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: OCanainn: "The title of the song is the name of a cider made in Clonmell and well known for its potency, due to being stored in whiskey barrels." - BS
File: OCan072
===
NAME: Johnny Lad (I)
DESCRIPTION: Sundry verses about Johnny, biblical themes, King Arthur, and Scottish politics, with refrain "And wi you, and wi you, And wi you, Johnny lad, I'd drink the buckles o my sheen Wi you, Johnny lad."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (quoted in Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: wife commerce Bible talltale royalty food humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Bronson 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (37 versions, but #21 is a fragment of "Johnny Lad")
Logan, pp. 443-445, "Johnny Lad" (1 text)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 45-47, "Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad" (a fragment of this song is quoted in the notes to that)
Ord, pp. 168-169, "Johnnie Lad" (1 text)
ST Log443 (Full)
Roud #2587
NOTES: The account of Samson fighting with "cuddie's jaws" is in Judges 15:15-16. There is, of course, no Biblical basis for the statement that he "focht a score of battles wearing crimson flannel drawers." While Samson spent most of his life battling the Philistines (mostly by accident), the clothing hardly fits an Israelite of the time.
The story of the Queen playing "fitba' with the lads on Glesga green" is unhistorical; by the time football/soccer became a major sport, Scotland's queen was a German lady living in England -- who, in any case, had no power to order an arbitrary arrest.
The story of King Arthur buying/stealing barley-meal to make pudding seems to have been imported from a nursery rhyme (known to Halliwell; see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #207, p. 144, "(When good King Arthur ruled this land)." Roud seems to lump these verses with "In Good Old Colony TImes"; this strikes me as an extreme stretch.
The man of Ninevah (Thessaly, Bablyon) who scratched out his eyes is unbiblical. But it may be the oldest part of the song, and may have originated independently. The lines appear, in rather different form, in _Tom Thumb's Pretty Song Book_ Volume II  (c. 1744); others appear in the second edition of _Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus_ (c. 1799). These verses can be found in Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #28, p. 40, ["There was a Man so Wise"].
These verses seem to have provoked a great deal of discussion. Katherine Elwes Thomas, who never met a tall tale she didn't blow all out of proportion, connects this to the career of Dr. Henry Sacherevell (died 1724), who for a time was forbidden from preaching, then restored to favour.
It has also been argued that this verse was known to Shakespeare; in _Twelfth Night_, act II, scene III, line 79 (Riverside lineation), Sir Toby sings "There dwelt a man in Babylon, lady, lady." But this is more likely from a broadside known as "The Ballad of Constant Susanna" (BBI ZN2467), which is of course from the deuterocanonical additions to the Book of Daniel (Daniel chapter 13 in Catholic Bibles; it even begins "There was a man living in Babylon"). - RBW
See Opie-Oxford2 11 for the King Arthur lines cited above by RBW. Opie also mentions "There was a man of Nineveh" or Thessaly, etc (Opie-Oxford2 497) as being "similarly embodied" in "Johnny Lad" (I).
Also see Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor, "Johnny Lad" (on Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor, "Two Heids are Better than Yin!," Monitor MF 365 LP (1962)). From the liner notes: "A few years ago, this was probably the most popular song of the folk revival in Scotland. Since then, endless dozens of verses have been added on themes historical, political, satirical, and nonsensical." - BS
File: Log443
===
NAME: Johnny Lad (II): see Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad (File: FVS045)
===
NAME: Johnny Lowre
DESCRIPTION: "Of a' the lads in Tinwald toun... There never was sae droll a loon As bonnie Johnnie Lowrie." The singer describes the ways she visits Johnnie (e.g. "I took the flax unto the mill, My jewel follow'd after still"). They marry and are happy though poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 193-196, "Bonnie Johnnie Lowrie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13112
File: FVS193
===
NAME: Johnny McEldoo
DESCRIPTION: McEldoo and friends are on a drinking spree. They stop at Swann's for food and McEldoo eats everything in sight. McEldoo thinks the bill too high and starts a fight. The police arrive and march the boys away. The boys pay the bill and go home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem01)
KEYWORDS: fight drink food humorous police
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #3390
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Johnny McEldoo" (on IRClancyMakem01)
Jimmy McBeath, "Johnny McIndoe" (on Voice14)
File: RcJoMcEl
===
NAME: Johnny Murphy: see The Banks of the Little Eau Pleine [Laws C2] (File: LC02)
===
NAME: Johnny My Man: see Farewell to Whisky (Johnny My Man) (File: K272)
===
NAME: Johnny Randall: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Johnny Randolph: see Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)
===
NAME: Johnny Riley: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Johnny Riley (III): see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Johnny Sands [Laws Q3]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny says he is tired of life and asks his wife to help him drown. She is to tie his hands and push him into the river. As she comes running down the slope, he steps aside and falls in. When she calls for help, he points out that she has tied his hands
AUTHOR: unknown (claimed by John Sinclair in an 1842 broadside)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1842
KEYWORDS: suicide trick death river drowning
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Ireland Britain(England(South),Scotland) Canada(West)
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Laws Q3, "Johnny Sands"
Belden, pp. 237-239, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, but only the first text, "A", is this piece; there are references to 4 more, probably this but some might be "Marrowbones")
Randolph 754, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, 2 tunes, but the "B" text goes with "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2])
BrownII 181, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus excerpts from 2 more and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 71, pp. 198-199, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Brewster 51, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more; 1 tune)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 13-14, "The Drowning Lady (The Witch Song)" (1 fragment, 1 tune, which might be either "Marrowbones" or "Johnnie Sands")
Eddy 29, "Johnnie Sands" (1 text)
Warner 54, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan2 319, "Johnnie Sands" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, p. 93, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 451, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 222-223, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 575-576, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 48, pp. 114-115, "Johnny Sands"; pp. 115-116, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Johnny Sands" (source notes only)
DT 344, MARBONE4
Roud #184
RECORDINGS:
Grace Carr, "Johnny Sands" (on Saskatch01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Vands
NOTES: A number of editors confuse "Johnny Sands" [Laws Q3] and "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2]. They obviously have thematic similarity, and probably have exchanged parts. But the "gimmick" is different in each case; there seems no doubt that they are now separate songs. - RBW
File: LQ03
===
NAME: Johnny Shall Have A New Bonnet: see Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be? (File: FSWB150B)
===
NAME: Johnny Siddon: see The Collier Lad (Lament for John Sneddon/Siddon) (File: HHH110)
===
NAME: Johnny Stiles: see The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile) [Laws C5] (File: LC05)
===
NAME: Johnny the Sailor: see Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)
===
NAME: Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny comes from sea and asks the innkeeper for a bed and the chance to see her daughter (Molly). Neither is granted. He reveals that his last trip made him rich; the innkeeper offers him all he asked. He ignores the offer; he will go where he is wanted
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian, Harding B 25(1124))
KEYWORDS: sea money courting greed landlord sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (20 citations)
Laws K36, "Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds)"
Belden, pp. 160-162, "Green Beds" (2 texts plus reference to 1 more)
Randolph 53, "Johnny the Sailor" (3 texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 70-72, "Johnny the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 53A)
Eddy 32, "The Green Bed" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 24, "The Green Beds" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Warner 49, "Captain John" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 108, "Green Beds" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 42, pp. 156-158, "Young Johnny" (1 text)
Brewster 31, "Young Johnny" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 430-431, "Jackson" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 58, "The Green Bed" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Greig #115, p. 2, "The Brisk Young Sailor Lad" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan1 48, "Johnny and the Landlady" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 48-49, "The Green Bed" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H779, p. 54, "The Sailor in the Alehouse" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 124, "Young Johnny" (1 text)
Mackenzie 93, "Green Beds" (2 texts, 1 tune); "The Liverpool Landlady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 142, "Jackson" (1 text)
DT 323, JACKBEDS* JACKBED2*
Roud #276
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Johnny" (AFS 4200 A1, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1124), "Liverpool Landlady," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(2177), Harding B 11(2178), Firth c.13(178), Firth c.13(177), "Liverpool Landlady"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wild Rover No More" (plot)
cf. "The Saucy Sailor (Jack and Jolly Tar II) [Laws K38]"
cf. "Snapoo" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jack Tar
I'll Tell You of a Story
The Sailor
NOTES: Laws's numeration of the ballad subfamily known as "Jackson" is confused. In _Native American Balladry_ he lists it as an American song, with no known relatives, and numbers it as dH40. However, in _British Broadsides_, he lists it as a version of "Johnny the Sailor." The latter identification is clearly correct, even though Sandburg describes his text as a "survivor of the years of the War with Mexico." - RBW
File: LK36
===
NAME: Johnny Todd
DESCRIPTION: Johnny Todd ships out, leaving his sweetheart in Liverpool. She meets another sailor, who offers to marry her. She accepts; Todd returns to find his love married. The moral: "Do not leave your love like Johnny/Marry her before you go"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950s (recording, Bob Roberts)
KEYWORDS: infidelity marriage warning travel return sailor
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 9, "Johnny Todd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 174, "Johnny Todd" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 106, "(Johnnie Johnson's ta'en a notion)" (1 text)
DT, JOHNTODD*
Roud #1102
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "Johnny Todd" (on LastDays)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: I include the cross-reference because the verses in which the rival sailor courts the lady seem to be lifted from a broken-token song such as "John Riley (I)". - PJS
Interestingly, the Montgomerie text also has this bit, so it appears to be genuinely traditional.
The group Ossian has recorded a version of this in which Johnny Todd returns to his girl. They admit, however, to having rewritten the ending. To my mind, it doesn't add much.... - RBW
File: FSWB174A
===
NAME: Johnny Troy [Laws L21]
DESCRIPTION: Irishman Troy, a convicted robber, is sent to Australia. He and his fellow convicts escape as they are being taken ashore. Troy turns robber, but steals only from the rich, giving to the poor and transportees. At last he is taken and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Gardner/Chickering )
KEYWORDS: robbery transportation prison execution
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws L21, "Johnny Troy"
Gardner/Chickering 134, "Johnny Troy" (1 text)
Beck 88, "Johnnie Troy" (1 text)
DT 574, JOHNTROY
Roud #3703
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Try
File: LL21
===
NAME: Johnny Walk Along to Hilo
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus, "Johnny walk along to Hilo, Oh, poor old man, Oh, wake her, oh, shake, her, Oh, wake that gal with the blue dress on!" The verses usually consist of a scattering of lines from assorted Black and minstrel songs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 72, "Johnny Walk Along to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 102, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 266-268, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo," "The Gal With the Blue Dress" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 196-197]
Sharp-EFC, XVI, p. 19, "O Johnny Come to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 483-485, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNHILO*
Roud #650
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (on PeteSeeger04)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Uncle Ned" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Come Down the Backstay
Johnny Come to Hilo
Shake Her, Johnny, Shake Her!
NOTES: Doerflinger says of this song that it was "doubtless invented by colored shellbacks, but [was] just as popular with whites" -- and indeed, Doerflinger's version is in white dialect while Lomax has a Black text. Even more interestingly, they don't have any lyrics in common except the chorus -- Doerflinger's only lyric is from "Uncle Ned," which the Lomax version does not quote. - RBW
File: Doe072a
===
NAME: Johnny Was a Baptist
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny was a Baptist, O yes, Johnny was a Baptist, O yes, Johnny was a Baptist, Baptist, Baptist, Johnny was a Baptist, O yes." "He baptized Jesus, O yes." "Crying, Lord have mercy, O yes." "Sign J on your ticket, O yes."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 540, "Johnny Was a Baptist" (1 text)
Roud #11876
File: Br3540
===
NAME: Johnny Will You Marry Me
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny will you marry me and take me out a danger?" "I won't marry you because you are a stranger." "Why didn't you tell me that before you told O'Farrell?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (for USBallinsloeFair, according to site irishtune.info, Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Alan Ng's Tunography, ref. Ng #2618)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection dialog nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Murty Rabbett and Dan Sullivan, "Johnny Will You Marry Me" (on USBallinsloeFair)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Standard on the Braes o' Mar" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Johnny Won't You Marry Me
Love Will You Marry Me
Love Won't You Marry Me
File: RcJWYMM
===
NAME: Johnny, Come Down the Backstay: see John Dameray (File: Doe008)
===
NAME: Johnny, Come-A-Long
DESCRIPTION: "Oh Johnny, Johnny, John, come a-long, come a-long (2X)" Nonsensical verses, with Johnny playing with his gun and playing hide n' seek with the ladies. Long chorus begins: "Down by the sea where the watermelons grow, back to my home I shall not go."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonsense
FOUND_IN: Britain Germany US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 285-286, "Johnny Come-A-Long"
NOTES: Hugill called this a "runaway chorus," possibly referring to the fast pace of the tune and words, and says that it was a popular sea shore song in America. It is in fact, so quick and full of syllables that I think it would be difficult to sing while doing anything but sitting down. - SL
File: Hugi285
===
NAME: Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye
DESCRIPTION: The girl meets her Johnny returned from the wars. She can barely recognize him; he has lost arms, legs, and eyes. She tells him "With your drums and guns and guns and drum, the enemy nearly slew ye... O, Johnny, I hardly knew ye."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(218))
KEYWORDS: soldier disability injury war
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
PBB 94, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 329-330, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew You" (1 text, tune referenced)
Hodgart, p. 212, "Johnny, I hardly knew ye" (1 text)
O'Conor, pp. 92-93, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 388-389, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, pp. 278-279, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 271-274, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye"  (1 text plus excerpts from 3 parodies)
Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, p. 90, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye (1 text)
Roud #3137
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Johnny I Hardly Knew You" (on IRClancyMakem02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(218), "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" ("While going the road to sweet Athy"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 c.8(265), Firth c.26(233), "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye"; Harding B 26(297), 2806 b.9(118)[some illegible words],"Johney I hardly knew ye"[inconsistent spelling throughout]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Wars of America" (plot)
NOTES: Scholars continue to argue whether "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" or the cheerful "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is the original. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," by Patrick S. Gilmore, can be firmly dated to the beginning of the Civil War, while "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" does not appear until slightly later (reportedly 1869, though the earliest date I've been able to verify is 1885).
For further details, see the entry on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."  - RBW
File: PBB094
===
NAME: Johnny, I Hardly Knew You: see Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye (File: PBB094)
===
NAME: Johnny, Lovely Johnny
DESCRIPTION: Annie complains that Johnny had promised to marry her when they courted in her father's garden in County Tyrone. Johnny says "it was all but a jest ... I never intended for to make you my wife." She says she will kiss him if he ever returns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (IRPTunney01)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction sex lie promise separation nonballad lover rake infidelity abandonment
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Morton-Ulster 14, "Lovely Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5168
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Haynes, "Lovely Johnny" (on Voice01)
Paddy Tunney, "Johnny, Lovely Johnny" (on IRPTunney01) (on Voice15)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The High Walls of Derry
File: RcJoLoJo
===
NAME: Johnny, Oh Johnny
DESCRIPTION: "Johnny, oh Johnny, you are my darling, Like a rose that grows in the garden...." The girl's father offers her wealth to marry another; he mother scorns her for wanting Johnny. She intends to follow Johnny anyway, and bids her family farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1970
KEYWORDS: love separation father mother money
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Darling-NAS, pp. 277-278, "Johnny, Oh, Johnny" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Steele, "Johnny O Johnny" (AFS, 1938; on KMM)
NOTES: A commonplace theme, but this doesn't look quite like any of the other versions. - RBW
File: DarNS277
===
NAME: Johnny, Won't You Ramble
DESCRIPTION: "Well, I went down to Helltown To see the Devil chain down. Johnny, won't you ramble, Hoe, hoe, hoe!" The singer tells how the masters plan to make the slaves work harder. The slave offers money to avoid a whipping; master would "rather hear you holler"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (collected from "Lightning," David Tippen, and others by Lomax; first printed 1941 in Our Singing Country; Tippen may also have recorded it for the Lomaxes in 1933)
KEYWORDS: slave work prison hardtimes abuse
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 275, "Johnny, Won't You Ramble" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 128-130, "Jolly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 96, "Johnnie, Wontcha Ramble" (1 text)
Roud #6708
File: LoF275
===
NAME: Johnny's Gone for a Soldier: see Shule Agra (Shool Aroo[n], Buttermilk Hill, Johnny's Gone for a Soldier) (File: R107)
===
NAME: Johnny's Gone to Hilo
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "If I should die and be buried at sea, A mermaid's sweetheart I would be. Johnny's gone to Hilo! Heelo! Hilo! My Johnny's gone, what shall I do? Johnny's gone to Hilo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956
KEYWORDS: shanty mermaid/man sailor death separation
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chase, p. 157, "Johnny's Gone to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #481
NOTES: Possibly a fragment of another Hilo shanty, though the form is unusual -- but the text is so short that I can't identify the original. It is not (based on its form) a version of "Tommy's Gone to Hilo." -  RBW
File: Cha157
===
NAME: Johnny's The Lad I Love: see The False Young Man (The Rose in the Garden, As I Walked Out) (File: FJ166)
===
NAME: Johnson: see The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4] (File: LL04)
===
NAME: Johnson Boys
DESCRIPTION: "I hear the Johnson boys a-coming, Singing and a-hollering and shooting off their guns." A list of exploits of the minimally civilized Johnson Boys, who shoot, court, wash, farm, and fiddle in extravagant ways (but don't know how to court)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: talltale family humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
BrownIII 338, "Johnson Boys" (2 text plus mention of 2 more)
Warner 129, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 115, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 170, "The Johnson Boys" (1 text)
DT, JHNSNBOY* JHNSNBY2*
Roud #6676
RECORDINGS:
Grant Brothers, "Johnson Boys" (Columbia 15460, 1929; rec. 1928)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters [or John Hopkins], "Johnson Boys" (Brunswick 179, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Johnson Boys" (on NLCR03)
Frank Proffitt, "Johnson Boys" (on Proffitt03) (on USWarnerColl01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnson Boys (II)"
cf. "Aunt Sal's Song (The Man Who Didn't Know How to Court)" (theme)
File: Wa129
===
NAME: Johnson Boys (II)
DESCRIPTION: Description of the Johnson boys, who were boys of honor and DID know how to court; song describes their heroic service to the Confederacy as scouts: "When the Yankees saw them coming, They throw down their guns and hide."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: Civilwar family soldier
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 155, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnson Boys"
NOTES: This is an anti-parody, I guess -- a serious takeoff on a song that was originally humorous. - PJS
And if it describes actual people, I have been unable to determine who they are. - RBW
File: CSW155
===
NAME: Johnson's Ale: see When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)
===
NAME: Johnson's Motor Car
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets another Irish rebel, with orders to go to Dunbar. They decide to requisition the car driven by Doctor Johnson. They send a message urgently calling for his services, then ambush him. They promise to return the car when Ireland is free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: IRA rebellion technology travel
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 320, "Johnson's Motor Car" (1 text)
DT, JHNMTR
Roud #4833
NOTES: It probably says something about the state of Anglo-Irish relations that a tale of deception, intrigue, and highway robbery, all in support of terrorism, is regarded as humorous.
It is certainly true that cars were highly valued in the period of the Irish quest for independence. Calton Younger, in _Ireland's Civil War_, tells a story on page 376 of a doctor who had a car -- and deliberately disabled it to prevent theft, before recommissioning it briefly to help Free State leaders. - RBW
File: FSWB320A
===
NAME: Johnson's Mule: see The Old Gray Mule (Johnson's Mule) (File: LPns213)
===
NAME: Johnston's Hotel
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes conditions at "Johnston's Hotel," which smells like corn-flakes; one is sent there by the magistrate Langley. Policemen who scout for boarders are described; all boarders are required to clean up the park and do other odd jobs all day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer sarcastically describes conditions at "Johnston's Hotel," which smells like corn-flakes; one is sent there by the magistrate Langley. The furnishings and carpets are praised, while the beefsteak must be cut with a sword. Some policemen who are scouting for boarders are described; all boarders are required to clean up the park and do other odd jobs all day
KEYWORDS: prison punishment drink humorous moniker nonballad prisoner food
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1920s-1950: Dalton Johnston serves as governor
Late 1940s: Langley retires as magistrate
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #4819
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. Tom Sullivan, "Johnston's Hotel" (on Ontario1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Vilikens and his Dinah (William and Dinah) [Laws M31A/B]" (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "The Mountjoy Hotel" (subject, tune)
cf. "The Banks of the Don" (subject, lyrics)
NOTES: "Johnston's Hotel" is actually the Peterborough County Jail on the banks of the Otonabee River, just across from the Quaker Oats plant. While the resemblance to "The Banks of the Don" is patent, it's a separate song. Edith Fowke met the self-declared author, who said he wrote it in the 1930s (although he clearly derived its tune from "The Mountjoy Hotel" and some lyrics from "The Banks of the Don"). As the author had been an inmate of the establishment at the time of composition, she thought it prudent not to reveal his identity. - PJS
File: RcJohHot
===
NAME: Johnstown Flood, The [Laws G14]
DESCRIPTION: A distraught father tells a stranger about his share of the Johnstown tragedy. He, his wife, and his children had sought shelter from the flood in the upper part of the house, but the waters tore them from his grasp. He was rescued, but his family died
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: flood death family
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 31, 1889 - The Great Flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, kills about 2500 people
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws G14, "The Johnstown Flood"
LPound-ABS, 61, pp. 135-138, "The Jamestown Flood" (1 text)
DT 825, JAMESFLD
Roud #3254
NOTES: There have been many histories of the Johnstown Flood. One of the more recent is David G. McCullough's _The Johnstown Flood_ (Simon and Schuster, 1968), one of the first works of this noteworthy historian.
Johnstown is about 60 miles almost due east of Pittsburg, on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Interestingly, it is not on one of Pennsylvania's major rivers; the stream which caused the flood was the Little Conemaugh River, which joins Stony Creek (or "the Stony Creek," as the locals called it) at Johnstown to become the Conemaugh River, which eventually becomes part of the Kiskiminetas River, which flows into the Allegheny. McCullough, p. 24, describes both the Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek as fast but not particularly large. Stony Creek, because it was deeper, was considered the more dangerous at the time.
Johnstown was a fast-growing town; according to McCullough, p. 23, it had tripled in size in less than three decades. The reason was industrialization; Johnstown made steel and steel products such as plows and rails. It can't have been a very comfortable place to live, with all the pollution and the noise and the cheap company houses, but it was doing well. At least for the company bosses.
What made it vulnerable was a man-made lake. A few miles above Johnstown on the Little Conemaugh was the hamlet of South Fork, where South Fork Creek joined the Little Conemaugh. A bit more than a mile above the town on South Fork Creek was a great dam, built some forty years before to create a lake variously called the Western Reservoir or the Old Reservoir or Lake Conemaugh. The dam itself, made of earth, was sometimes called Three Mile Dam -- which was not very accurate (it apparently was a reference to the size of the lake behind it, but exaggerated). Still, it was an impressive structure, some 72 feet high and 900 wide. And the water usually was within six or seven feet of the top (McCullough, pp. 39-41). The total area of the lake was about 450 acres. The surface level was some 450 feet above Johnstown.
The building of the reservoir was one of those things that give government projects a bad name. The Pennsylvania legislature in 1836 had approved $30,000 to build a reservoir. The final cost, though, was $240,000. Worse, according to McCullough, p. 50, "two years after it was finished the whole thing would be obsolete and of no use whatsoever."
The whole thing was a boondoggle. Pennsylvania was jealous of New York's Erie Canal and wanted its own water transport system, even though that meant running a canal across the mountains! The idea was to haul barges over the passes using railroads. It all worked, more or less, but it needed more water than was reliably available. So the Conemaugh was dammed to supply a steady flow of water in the summer (McCullough, p. 52).
Unfortunately, the whole project was a money pit, and construction was halted at times because the state of Pennsylvania couldn't come up with the cash. And this even though the South Fork dam was built of earth rather than rock because it was cheap to hire people to move dirt. The thing was finally completed in 1852.
Then the Pennsylvania Railroad finished laying track across the state. The big fancy canal system, which couldn't possibly compete on price with the railroads, instantly lost any purpose, and within two years, Pennsylvania was trying to sell it -- and found no buyers. Finally the Pennsylvania Railroad itself bought the canal -- not for the canal itself but for the land it rested on. They paid a low price -- and, naturally, stopped doing any work on the canals and on the useless (to them) dam maintaining the Western Reservoir (McCullough, p. 54).
Not long after, on June 10, 1862, the dam failed for the first time (McCullough, p. 54). The surviving records aren't really good enough to indicate why, but that break was not repaired until 1879. The repairs were, however, rather casual; it appears that little work was done on the dam's foundations (which had been undermined by the first break), and the pipes which relieved pressure, which had failed, were not replaced. The goal, after all, was not to control water flow; it was simply to built a country club for rich men who wanted to fish and breath clear air (McCullough, pp. 56-57).
The locals were somewhat worried -- even the regular spring runoff frequently caused water to fill some of the low-lying streets of Johnstown, and the floods were growing worse each year as the rivers were more tightly channeled and deforestation increased runoff (McCullough, pp. 64-65). But there were enough people who thought the town was safe to make it impossible for the worriers to do anything about a reservoir outside their jurisdiction. A manager of the local ironworks at one point sent an engineer to look things over, and he sent a dire report -- but the club owners refused to pay any attention (McCullough, pp. 73-74) even though the ironworks offered to help pay the costs (McCullough, p. 75).
The dam, in fact, had been rendered even more vulnerable than the engineer had noticed: The top had been lowered to allow a two-lane road across the top, meaning that the spillway to relieve pressure on the dam were barely below the dam's new crest (and the great danger to an earth dam was that water would go over the top and erode the soil). The spillway itself had had bars installed to keep fish from escaping -- but which also meant that the spillway could easily be blocked by rubbish. It is also likely (though not certain), that the vulnerable center of the dam sagged below the edges. McCullough, p. 76, concludes that, at the center, the top of the dam was only four feet higher than the spillway.
Conclusion: Any serious rise in the water level, unless water was released in an orderly way, would result in the overtopping and destruction of the dam. And, because the pipes at the bottom had been removed, there was no possible way to release water. Not only was the dam a disaster waiting to happen, it was a disaster that couldn't even be repaired, because the lake could not be lowered! (McCullough, p. 77).
McCullough, p. 41, estimates the weight of the water at 20 million tons. That's 18 million cubic meters, or 18 thousand million litres, or 5 thousand million gallons.
The flood was the result of a very major storm, first observed in Kansas and Nebraska on May 28, 1889. The next day, it dumped rain from Kansas to Michigan and Indiana. Then it arrived in Pennsylvania. The storm was described as the worst storm ever recorded in the western parts of that state. In the Johnstown area, rainfall totals were usually in the six to eight inch range, though Pittsburg suffered only an inch and a half of rain (McCullough, pp. 21-22). Johnstown was already starting to fill with water before the dam went out (McCullough, p. 79); by the second day of the downpour, the flood was higher than even the previous 1887 record (McCullough, p. 82). Some people left town, but others, with strong houses or on slightly higher ground, stayed behind. It appears that, at some point, a message was telegraphed to the townspeople saying the dam was in danger, but the text has been lost and it is not clear just what it said; in any case, it does not appear to have changed people's behavior much, perhaps because similar messages had been sent in the past (McCullough, p. 87). A rider also took a message, and there were attempts to telephone Johnstown, but many of the lines were down (McCullough, p. 93).
The dam was now so full that it could not be ignored; workers were reportedly trying to cut a new spillway and to raise the central weak point (McCullough, p. 90). But there were too few, and it was too late. An attempt to clear the original spillway, now largely blocked by debris, also failed. By about noon, water started going over the top of the dam, and there were leaks lower down as well (McCullough, p. 95). At 1:52 on May 31, a message went out that water was going over the top of the dam. Word that the dam was in the process of failing reached Johnstown around 2:45 (McCullough, pp. 96-97). It appears that, by 3:00, workmen were refusing to do any more work on the dam itself and were simply trying to clear the spillways. Then, at 3:10, the whole thing crumbled (McCullough, p. 100).
Estimates of how long it took the lake to drain ranged from about half an hour to forty-five minutes. This makes the total amount of water flowing at any given moment roughly equal to Niagara Falls (McCullough, p. 102).
The first place to be affected by the flood was the town of South Fork, where the first casualties occurred (McCullough, p. 105). But the town was mostly on hillsides above the valley of South Fork Creek. It wrecked a bridge and a low-lying mill, but most of the town survived. Johnstown, nine miles away in a straight line but thirteen along the course of the river, would not fare so well, nor would the hamlets in between.
Unfortunately, there was a great bend in the Little Conemaugh a couple of miles below South Fork, and a great railroad viaduct cutting across it. The wreck of this viaduct, plus the miscellaneous refuse picked up along the way, seem to have temporarily blocked the flow of the flood, allowing it to build up another big pressure head (McCullough, pp. 107-109). The village of Mineral Point was next to feel the flood; it was nearly destroyed, though only 16 people were reported killed (McCullough, p. 111). There was quite a tangle as trains in the area had to be halted or re-routed (and places had to be found to put them while the lines were repaired and trains diverted). McCullough, p. 122, says that at least 23 train occupants died, in part because the train's crews did little to warn the passengers that they might need to flee.
Then it was the turn of the towns of East Conemaugh and Franklin, which were largely flooded and saw at least 28 people killed. Then the flood reached Woodvale, a relatively new town of about 1000 people. It had no warning at all, and was almost completely submerged. 250 houses were destroyed, and 314 people listed as killed (McCullough, p. 127). It was still only about an hour since the dam had broken.
Finally the flood reached Johnstown. The best guess is that the crest arrived in the town at 4:07 p.m., and took ten minutes to pass through the town (McCullough, p. 147). Slowed slightly by the wash up the valley of Stony Creek, the flood built another dam of debris at a bridge below the town, which later caught fire (McCullough, p. 149). Hundreds of people were trapped in the debris pile, though it is estimated that only about 80 died in it (McCullough, p. 173). The debris would eventually have to be dynamited to clear the river (McCullough, pp. 227-228).
But even once the fires died down and the waters ran downstream, the ordeal was not over. Probably in excess of 5000 people huddled on the hills above Johnstown (McCullough, p. 184), often ill or injured, with their homes destroyed in the valley below. And the weather at the time was bitterly cold (McCullough, p. 197).
The locals eventually decided to hold a town meeting to appoint a "dictator" to try to manage emergency operations (McCullough, p. 189). At first, there wasn't even enough paper to take notes about the descriptions and properties of the dead bodies (McCullough, p. 192). Lurid initial newspaper reports claimed ten thousand dead (McCullough, p. 203). McCullough, p. 193, notes that there was never an exact count of the dead; he lists 2209 as the "official" total (and gives this full catalog in an appendix) -- though he notes (p. 196) that two bodies were not recovered until 1906; it was obviously impossible to come up with an absolutely correct count. Of the bodies recovered, 663 would never be identified (McCullough, p. 194), in some cases because of decapitation by debris or burns so severe that features could not be made out. Plus many bodies were not discovered until they decomposed beyond recognition.
Nearly 400 children under age ten were killed, and 98 lost both parents. Hundreds more lost one parent (McCullough, p. 195).
The total population of the Conemaugh valley was believed to be about 23,000, so a tenth of the population was killed. The rate for Johnstown itself was higher, though only slightly.
Relief efforts began quickly, naturally enough, and often raised quite a bit of money (McCullough, p. 199; on p. 225, he notes contributions totalling over $3,700,000, and that's in 1889 dollars. The flip side is, Benet's _Reader's Encyclopedia_ lists the damage at ten million dollars). But there was at the time no organization really devoted to emergency relief -- no FEMA, and while the Red Cross existed, it was still fairly new and didn't have standard procedures yet; Clara Barton herself would lead the trek to Johnstown. (It would be the largest operation in Red Cross history to this time; McCullough, p. 231). Often volunteers would just wander into the Conemaugh valley and, having no idea what to do, simply added to the burdens of those who were doing their best. It would be several days before the Pennsylvania militia showed up (McCullough, p. 202), and in the interim, there was a lot of crime and mismanagement.
Fears of epidemics were felt as far away as Pittsburg (after all, the waters of the flood flowed into the Allegheny river); eventually men were assigned to try to clean up the river (McCullough, p. 209).
In a small stroke of luck, the weather was cold and wet for more than a week after the disaster. It made everyone miserable, but it also helped prevent disease and decay (McCullough, p. 229).
In the aftermath, attention naturally turned to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the maintainers of the dam. There were of course engineers who had publicly stated their concerns about its construction. The newspapers had a field day with this, though often exaggerating the engineers' reports (McCullough, pp. 242-249). Some members of the club did contribute to the relief funds -- the Carnegie Company gave $10,000, e.g. (McCullough, p. 255), but many club members did not give, and the club as a whole offered nothing. Lawsuits eventually began to be filed, but there was a limit on what this could yield -- after deducting a mortgage, the club had assets of only about $15,000 (McCullough, p. 257). The members had more, of course, but the whole principle of a corporation is limited stockholder liability.
There are few records of the actual trials, since transcripts were not kept (McCullough, p. 258), but in the end the club was not held liable. McCullough
speculates that the great wealth and power of the club's members helped them.
Plus the great downpour was clearly natural. The only real fault was in the
construction of the dam, and only a few officers would have known about that.
McCullough seems to consider them guilty, and I would too, but they too got off. The people of Johnstown were apparently bitter (McCullough, p. 264), but they were helpless. Perhaps they derived some small consolation from the fact that the flood, while it didn't destroy the club (except for the dam and the lake), did cause it to shut down (McCullough, p. 264); there wasn't much point in a fishing club with nowhere to fish!
Johnstown would begin rebuilding, and the iron mills came back; there were soon jobs for all the remaining workers. But its prosperity seems to have been damaged; the town has only about 30,000 residents now (more than in 1889, but not as much as its pre-flood population growth would suggest). There were fairly major floods there in 1936 and 1977, according to _Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary_, though none to compare with 1889.
It is little surprise that the event produced songs; it was the biggest news of the day, and McCullough, p. 204, notes that a Pittsburg newspaper actually had to reduce the size of its pages to have enough paper to meet the demand. (Ironically, much of what they published was fiction, such as accounts of a messenger named Peyton who tried to warn people of the flood.) Laws believes this song to be too literary to be a purely folk composition; he suspects it of having been originally printed in a newspaper. McCullough, p. 221, mentions poems written about the event.  A popular piece of 1889 was "The Johnstown Flood" of Joe Flynn; I haven't seen a copy to compare. - RBW
File: LG14
===
NAME: Join the Angel Band
DESCRIPTION: "If you look up the road you see father Mosey, join the angel band" (x2). "Do, father Mosey, gader your army." "O do mo' soul dager together." "O do join 'em, join 'em for Jesus." "Sister Mary, stan' up for Jesus." "Daddy Peter set out for Jesus"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 39, "Join the Angel Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10432
File: AWG039
===
NAME: Join the C.I.O.: see I Am a Union Woman (File: Arn174)
===
NAME: Joking Henry
DESCRIPTION: Joke and Henry are asleep on the railroad track when Joke gets hit by a brickbat. Joke says he'll henceforth sleep with a pistol, and with one eye open, and threatens the man who hit him; he thinks he may have seen the perpetrator going over a fence
AUTHOR: Credited to G. B. Grayson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Grayson & Whitter)
KEYWORDS: violence
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Joking Henry" (Victor V40038, 1929; rec. 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (tune)
cf. "Battleship of Maine" (tune)
cf. "White House Blues (II)" (tune)
cf. "The Cannonball" (tune)
NOTES: About as minimal a plot as you can get, but here it is. Clearly the record people misheard the title; it should be, "Joke and Henry". - PJS
Just speculation, but -- could "Joke" be Grayson, the alleged composer, and Henry be Henry Whitter, his accompanist? - RBW
File: RcJokHen
===
NAME: Jolly: see Johnny, Won't You Ramble (File: LoF275)
===
NAME: Jolly Abbot, The: see King John and the Bishop [Child 45] (File: C045)
===
NAME: Jolly Baker, The
DESCRIPTION: "I am a jolly baker, and I bake my bread brown...I've got the biggest rolling pin of any man in the town." A girl asks him to buy her a gown. She arrives with her "chemise up before." The baker lays her in many places, then boasts of other conquests
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1976 (collected by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: cook sex bawdy wordplay
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Logsdon 57, pp. 261-264, "The Jolly Baker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10107
NOTES: Logsdon notes a curious shift in this song: The first part is a double-entendre song, the end merely a series of sexual boasts. The strong impression is that the result is composite. But the first half seems to be unique, an the second too generic to identify, so I file it as one piece. - RBW
File: Logs057
===
NAME: Jolly Barber Lad, The
DESCRIPTION: A lady sends for a barber to come and curl her hair. He comes to the door; the lady says to send him up, for "My husband he's a yeoman, and I might as well have no man." She pays the barber; now he goes to shave her, but never takes his razor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1969 (collected from John MacDonald)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A young lady sends for a jolly barber lad to come and curl her hair; he goes to "shave the lady, don't you know what I mean?" He comes to the door; the maidservant answers, and the lady says to send him up, for "My husband he's a yeoman, and I might as well have no man/He's just like a lady when he goes to bed with me." After the job is finished, she gives the young barber a sovereign and a crown; now he always goes to shave her, but he never takes his razor
KEYWORDS: infidelity sex wife husband work worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 37, "The Jolly Barber Lad" (1 tune, 1 text)
Roud #2515
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Chandler's Wife" (theme)
cf. "The Coachman's Whip" (theme)
cf. "The Farm Servant (Rap-Tap-Tap" (theme)
cf. "My Husband's Got No Courage in Him" (theme)
cf. "Fogan MacAleer" (see notes)
NOTES: Ives-DullCare re "Fogan MacAleer" makes "The Jolly Barber Lad" Lawrence Doyle's "model" for "Fogan MacAleer." Was "The Jolly Barber Lad" ever current in the Canadian Maritimes? Roud #2515 refers to a tape-recording from Ontario of "There Was a Jolly Barber and He Lived in Aberdeen." - BS
File: CcCST037
===
NAME: Jolly Beggar, The [Child 279]
DESCRIPTION: A beggar asks lodging. He is admitted to the house, but wants more than his beggar's fare. Receiving much of what he asks, he at last receives the daughter of the house into his cloak. He then reveals that he is a nobleman; (perhaps he marries the girl)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1769 [Herd]
KEYWORDS: begging courting escape money sex nobility mother children
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(West),Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Ireland US(NE,So)
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Child 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (3 texts)
Bronson 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (37 versions, but #21 is a fragment of "Johnny Lad" and #28 is "Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw)"; it is likely that several of the other texts also belong with other songs.)
Greig #30, p. 2, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 274, "The Jolly Beggar" (10 texts, 7 tunes) {A=Bronson's #8, B=#20, C=#18, D=#14, E or G=#7}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 475-476, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 songster text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 47-48, "Hind Horn" (1 short text, properly titled "The Jolly Beggar," which might be "Hind Horn" [Shild #17] or "The Jolly Beggar" [Child #279] or a mix; 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 223-225, "Hind Horn" (1 short text, properly titled "The Jolly Beggar," which might be "Hind Horn" [Shild #17] or "The Jolly Beggar" [Child #279] or a mix; 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 9-12, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Randolph 37, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 short text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
SHenry H183, p. 268, "The Rambling Suiler" (1 text, 1 tune, in which the visitor is not a nobleman but the colonel of a visiting headquarters; there might be a bit of "Pretty Peggy-O" mixed in)
MacSeegTrav 18, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-More 41, pp. 328-332, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 fragment, which Davis believes to be this song but which in fact could be almost anything)
JHCoxIIA, #14, pp. 61-63, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, but not from West Virginia) {Bronson's #2}
BBI, ZN2500, "There was a jovial Begger-man"
DT 279, BEGGAR1* BEGGAR2 BEGGAR3* BEGGR4* BEGGAR5* BEGGAR6
Roud #118
RECORDINGS:
Jeannie Robertson, "The Jolly Beggar" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #6}
Lucy Stewart, "The Beggar King" (on LStewart1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.13(1), "The Jolly Beggar" ("There was a jolly beggar and a begging he had been"), unknown, n.d.; also Firth c.26(57)[some lines illegible], Firth c.26(57), "Was a Jolly Beggerman" 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gaberlunzie Man" [Child 279A]
cf. "The Beggar-Laddie" [Child 280]
cf. "The Tinker"
cf. "The Pedlar"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
He Wadna Lie in Barn
The Beggar Man
NOTES: Although this ballad is associated in tradition with James V of Scotland, there is no evidence that he ever courted in a manner such as this. James V in fact married a noble foreign lady, Mary of Guise-Lorraine. The basis for the song may be the fact that he was a fairly lusty liege; according to Stanley B. R. Poole, _Royal Mysteries and Pretenders_, Barnes & Noble, 1993, p. 36, he was thought to have had as many as nine illegitimate children.
Child draws a distinction between this and "The Gaberlunzie Man" (which he calls "The Gaberlunyie-Man" -- and, indeed, his texts are metrically distinct ("Gaberlunzie Man" uses eight-line stanzas with four feet per line; "The Jolly Beggar" typically has the standard four-line 4-3-4-3 stanza). In addition, his "Gaberlunyie-Man" lacks the ending. However, both songs occur in tradition and have so heavily cross-fertilized that it is often not possible to distinguish.
If there is a distinction to be drawn, it is probably in the form of the ending. In "The Jolly Beggar," the beggar sleeps with the girl and then reveals his status the next morning (perhaps abandoning her); in "The Gaberlunzie Man," he lures the girl away (as opposed to sleeping with her on the spot), and only later returns and reveals his wealth.
Due to the degree of cross-fertilization of these ballads, one should be sure to check both songs to find all versions. - RBW
Of the Bodleian broadsides listed, "Was a Jolly Beggerman" lacks the usual ending. - BS
File: C279
===
NAME: Jolly Best Lad: see Wrap Me Up in my Tarpaulin Jacket (File: FR439)
===
NAME: Jolly Boatman: see The Boatsman and the Chest [Laws Q8] (File: LQ08)
===
NAME: Jolly Boatsman, The: see Blow the Candle Out [Laws P17] (File: LP17)
===
NAME: Jolly Boatswain, The: see The Boatsman and the Chest [Laws Q8] (File: LQ08)
===
NAME: Jolly Butchermen, The: see The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4] (File: LL04)
===
NAME: Jolly Cowboy (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "My lover, he is a cowboy, he's brave and kind and true"; when he comes home, the two meet joyfully and the boy talks about his life on the trail. She says they will marry when he returns; he is quoted as promising to quit herding when he marries
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: love cowboy work separation reunion promise marriage
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 209-210, "The Jolly Cowboy" (1 text)
DT, JOLLCWBY*
Roud #4482
NOTES: In print, with quotation marks, this song makes sense, though even in print, the transitions seem abrupt. In song, without such helps, it strikes me as hard to comprehend. I wonder if it isn't composite -- after all, it was published by Lomax. - RBW
File: Saffe209
===
NAME: Jolly Cowboy (II), The: see Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys (File: R189)
===
NAME: Jolly Cowboy (III), The: see I'm Bound to Follow the Longhorn Cows (File: LoF186)
===
NAME: Jolly Farmer, The
DESCRIPTION: The farmer sings about the joys of farming, even as a renter, and drinking with friends. "Here I am king so I'll dance, drink and sing, Let no man appear as a stranger, But show me the ass That refuses his glass And I'll order him hay in a manger"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1831 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(88a))
KEYWORDS: farming drink flowers food nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn 30, "The Jolly Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3043
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(88a), "The Farmer" ("Come each jolly fellow"), R. Walker (Norwich), 1780-1830; also 2806 c.8(171), Harding B 25(622), Harding B 11(1150), Johnson Ballads 822 [illegible lines], "The Farmer[!]"
File: OLoc030
===
NAME: Jolly Fellows Who Follow the Plough, The: see All Jolly Fellows That Handles the Plough (File: K241)
===
NAME: Jolly Fisherman (I)
DESCRIPTION: With a storm coming up, Captain Williams of Veronia sends a dory after halibut. Oars are lost and a buoy line parts. To save the dory, they cast halibut oil on the water and bale with their sou'westers until they are picked up next morning by Veronia.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: rescue fishing sea ship storm sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 125, "Jolly Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS125 (Partial)
Roud #1827
NOTES: This song is item dD47 in Laws's Appendix II. - BS
File: CrNS125
===
NAME: Jolly Fisherman (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer says he is a fisherman, and "Fish just like men I've often caught -- crabs, gudgeon, poor John Codfish." He compares various sorts of people to various fish --- e.g. "false friends to eels" and the lawyer like a pike striking
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: work fishing nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H639, p. 59, "The Jolly Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13361
NOTES: Sam Henry claimed this was once a popular song around 1800, but gives no supporting evidence. - RBW
File: HHH639
===
NAME: Jolly Good Ale and Old (Back and Sides Go Bare)
DESCRIPTION: With chorus, "Back and sides go bare, go bare, Both hand and feet go cold...." The singer laments his sad state: "I cannot eat but little meat, My stomach is not good." He discusses his lack of clothing. But he, and his wife, revive for ale.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1575 (Gammer Gurton's Needle)
KEYWORDS: drink clothes hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 190-192, "Jolly Good Ale and Old" (1 text)
DT BACK&SID*
ADDITIONAL: Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 41-42, "Of Jolly Good Ale and Old" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Let the Back and Sides Go Bare" (chorus)
NOTES: This has a literary look, and has been attributed to William Stevenson. But there appear to be variant forms. In the 1575 version in _Gammer Gurton's Needle_ (found in Ault), there are only four stanzas, and the singer's wife is Tib. The version in the Harvard Classics has eight stanzas and gives the wife's name as Kit. Unfortunately, though the Harvard version occurs in a number of anthologies in my library, none of them state their source! (Maybe they stole it from each other.)
The Gammer Gurton version, if I read Ault correctly, was also found in a play, "Diccon of Bedlam." A play of this name was registered 1562-1563 -- though, if it was printed (not all things registered went to the press), no copies seem to have survived.
The "back and sides go bare" chorus seems to have been quite popular; in this index, see also "Let the Back and Sides Go Bare." Granger's Index to Poetry, if I read this right, cites six different poems with this first line. - RBW
File: DTbcksid
===
NAME: Jolly Gos-Hawk, The: see Jolly Old Hawk (File: K298)
===
NAME: Jolly Grinder, The
DESCRIPTION: "There was a jolly grinder Once lived by the river Don. He worked and sang from morn till night, And sometimes he worked none." The grinder rails against teetotalers, informing them, "Attend to your work if you've ought to do And don't interfere with me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (recording, Ian Robb)
KEYWORDS: drink work
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, JOLLGRND*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Miller of Dee" (tune)
cf. "These Temperance Folks" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
The Miller of Dee (File: K229A)
NOTES: This is quite obviously an answer to, and parody of, "The Miller of Dee," providing a somewhat sarcastic response to the (really rather tame) moralizing of that song. - RBW
File: DTjollgr
===
NAME: Jolly Harper, The: see The Lochmaben Harper [Child 192] (File: C192)
===
NAME: Jolly is the Miller (I): see The Miller Boy (Jolly is the Miller I) (File: R518)
===
NAME: Jolly Jack: see Will You Wed with a Tarry Sailor? [Laws K37] (File: LK37)
===
NAME: Jolly Jack Tar: see Jack the Jolly Tar (I) (Tarry Sailor) [Laws K40] (File: LK40)
===
NAME: Jolly Jack the Sailor
DESCRIPTION: "It's Jolly Jack the sailor on board of a man-o'war" returns after seven years and takes the train to Lincolnshire to see his sweetheart. "Won't she jump for joy when she hears the news Jack has come home from sea" "We will set the bells a-ringing"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1975 (recording, George Ling)
KEYWORDS: love wedding war return reunion sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1785
RECORDINGS:
George Ling, "Jolly Jack the Sailor" (on Voice12)
File: RcJoJaSa
===
NAME: Jolly Lumbermen, The: see Canaday-I-O/Michigan-I-O/Colley's Run I-O [Laws C17] (File: LC17)
===
NAME: Jolly Miller (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a miller, says "I care for nobody, no not I, and nobody cares for me." His back is bent with work; his mill has strange new machinery, but he's content with a drop of whisky. He has engaged with Dr. Ramsey, the landlord, and does his bidding
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work drink nonballad miller worker technology
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(North,Lond)) US(NE,So)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Greig #41, p. 1, "The Miller o' Straloch" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 452, "The Miller o' Straloch" (6 texts, 4 tunes)
Belden, p. 271, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 220-221, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 229, "The Jolly Miller" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 352, "There was a jolly miller once" (1 text fragment)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #124, p. 103, "(There was a jolly miller once)"
DT, JOLMILLR
Roud #503
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "The Jolly Miller" (on FSB3)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(449), "Their [sic] was a jolly miller" [error in title, not in text], J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), c.1850; also Harding B 11(450), "Their [sic] was a jolly miller" [error in title, not in text]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Miller of Dee" (refrain, subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Wee Millar
Willie Stroth
NOTES: The Baring-Goulds report that this song, "a favorite of Sir Walter Scott's," was included in Bickerstaffe's 1762 opera "Love in a Village." They also say that it may have been based on the owner of the Dee Mill in Chester, which dated back to around the Conquest but burned down in 1895.
All of these references, however, may be to "The Miller of Dee"; the Baring-Gould fragment is only a single stanza. See Ben Schwartz's note on "The Miller of Dee."  - RBW
File: K229M
===
NAME: Jolly Miller (II), The: see The Miller Boy (Jolly is the Miller I) (File: R518)
===
NAME: Jolly Old Hawk
DESCRIPTION: "Jolly (old hawk/goshawk) and his wings were grey." Cumulative song: The singer asks who will win his love, and recites the animals he gave as gifts: One hawk, two birds, three cocks (or a three-thistle cock), four pigs (or a four-hoofed pig), etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Sharp)
KEYWORDS: cumulative love animal
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 298, "The Jolly Gos-Hawk" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOLLHAWK
Roud #1048
File: K298
===
NAME: Jolly Old Roger
DESCRIPTION: "Oh there never was yet a boy or man Who better could mend a kettle or pan, A bucket, a dipper, a skillet or can, Than jolly old Roger the tinker man." Roger lives in New Amsterdam; the song describes the funny old man
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Flanders and Brown)
KEYWORDS: tinker work
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 496, "Roger the Tinker Man" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Brewster 74, "Johnnie O'Rogers" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 171-173, "Jolly Old Roger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 222-224, "Jolly Old Roger" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Jolly Old Roger" (source notes only)
ST R496 (Partial)
Roud #3733
File: R496
===